Validity of Absolution

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I was in Confession and the Priest said the following prayer of absolution (more or less):

“May the Lord/God absolve/forgive you of your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Now, I’ve been trying to determine if this prayer of absolution is licit or, more importantly, whether it’s valid. I understand that, at least in the Latin Rite, the words “I absolve you” are the bare minimum for validity of absolution. So it seems there’s a problem.

Does anyone know as a matter of fact if this absolution is invalid?
 
This is an invalid absolution. I would seek a re confession immediately if you confessed a mortal sin.

I would also talk to the priest and say something like “the absolution you use is invalid.”
 
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Do you have some sort of documentation of this? For some reason, I think some Priests from a certain generation seem to use this prayer, and not only do I wonder where they got it from, but I wonder if it hasn’t directly been addressed. Would you know anything about that?

See, the thing that’s confusing about the situation is that this sort of deprecatory prayer of absolution is used in the East, if I’m not mistaken, which rather calls into question the lack of validity.
 
LaetenturCaeli12 said:
“May the Lord/God absolve/forgive you of your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
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If he said that verbatim, then unfortunately the priest made a grave error and your absolution was invalid.

The key form for validity in the Roman Rite is “Ego te absolvo” - “I absolve you.”

If he said what you are reporting, the absolution was invalid and you should ask him to absolve you using the valid form of the Sacrament.

If he refuses to use the valid form, find another confessor and report the errant priest to the Bishop.
 
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It is the teaching of the Council of Trent that the form of the Sacrament of Penance, wherein its force principally consists, is placed in these words of the minister, “I absolve thee”; to which words certain prayers are, according to the custom of Holy Church, laudably added etc. (Sess. XIV, iii).
 
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Here’s the full source:

“The holy synod doth furthermore teach, that the form of the sacrament of penance, wherein its force principally consists, is placed in those words of the minister, I absolve thee, &c: to which words indeed certain prayers are, according to the custom of holy Church, laudably joined, which nevertheless by no means regard the essence of that form, neither are they neces sary for the administration of the sacrament itself.”

http://www.thecounciloftrent.com/ch14.htm
 
Thank you both for your responses, then.

I’m going to go ahead an assume the absolution was invalid, try to have a word with the Priest in question, and avoid going to that parish in the future.

Do you suppose it would be a good idea to tell my next Confessor about this situation, and that I am “reconfessing” certain sins? Or should I simply not bother with this story, and just announce to him when my last good, valid confession was?
 
LaetenturCaeli12 said:
Do you suppose it would be a good idea to tell my next Confessor about this situation, and that I am “reconfessing” certain sins? Or should I simply not bother with this story, and just announce to him when my last good, valid confession was?
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Whichever you feel more comfortable with - me personally, for the sake of convenience, I would just say when my last valid confession was and confess the sins.
 
I’m trying to think how you could respectfully confront the priest on his error… I’m thinking something like "Father, could you please use the prescribed form of absolution to absolve me? "

It’s kind of concerning thinking there’s a priest out there who either doesn’t know or doesn’t care what the valid form of the Sacrament is… This is as disturbing as if there were a priest celebrating Mass and saying “This looks to be a symbol of my body”… How many souls are being led astray by this error? Very concerning…

The good news is, those who confess and don’t realize the absolution is invalid, IMO, could be rest assured that they are absolved by God, and that if the priest is knowingly being disobedient or heretical in some way he will be the one to suffer in the end.
 
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Yeah I was about to say, if a priest is using invalid sacramental form that is terribly regrettable and I pray that such an error is corrected with haste. You would indeed do well to take action here OP.
 
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It’s extremely concerning indeed.

As it happens, I just moved to this area around three weeks ago, and decided to go to a little parish down the road for Confession. The Priest in question seems like a very kind and gentle elderly man, and I would have no problem at least alerting to him to the idea that his absolution was dubious at best. But such are the times: we as the laity have to be very careful and even sweet old Priests can present us with challenges.
 
Did he bungle the rest of the absolution? Maybe he forgot the words and tried to improvise and messed up the essential form?

I had an elderly Bishop who forgot the words, but had the presence of mind to still say “I absolve you in the Name of &c…”
 
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No, what I quoted above was the only thing he said for a prayer of absolution.
 
See, the thing that’s confusing about the situation is that this sort of deprecatory prayer of absolution is used in the East, if I’m not mistaken, which rather calls into question the lack of validity.
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I’m looking at an Orthodox Service Book and the part of the form that you mention reads: “May that same God forgive thee all things, through me a sinner”

So it seems like the Eastern form does actually preserve the sense of the priest administering absolution on behalf of God.

Additionally, a deliberate change to Sacramental form immediately calls into question whether the priest intended to do what the Church does, which is essential for validity.
 
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The current form for Slavic Byzantine Churches is this:

“My child, N. N., may our Lord and God Christ Jesus by the mercy of His love absolve thee from thy sins; and I, His unworthy priest, in virtue of the authority committed to me, absolve thee and declare thee absolved of thy sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.”

The Greek Byzantine form is:

“May our Lord and God Jesus Christ, through the grace and bounties of His love towards mankind, forgive thee, my child, N., all they transgressions. And I, His unworthy priest, through the power given unto me by Him do forgive and absolve thee from all they sins, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

The current form for the Armenian Orthodox is:

“May the merciful Lord have pity on thee and forgive thee thy faults; in virtue of my priestly power, by the authority and command of God expressed in these words, ‘whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven’, I absolve thee from thy sins, I absolve thee from thy thoughts, from thy words, from thy deeds, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and I restore thee to the Sacrament of the Holy Church. May all thy good works be for thee an increase of merit, may they be for the glory of life everlasting, Amen.”

As can clearly be seen, the necessary form “ego te absolvo” is certainly present in all the various Eastern forms as well as the Western.
 
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Very interesting, thank you both for showing us those texts.
 
Spyridon said:
The current form for Slavic Byzantine Churches is this:

“My child, N. N., may our Lord and God Christ Jesus by the mercy of His love absolve thee from thy sins; and I, His unworthy priest, in virtue of the authority committed to me, absolve thee and declare thee absolved of thy sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.”

The Greek Byzantine form is:

May our Lord and God Jesus Christ, through the grace and bounties of His love towards mankind, forgive thee, my child, N., all they transgressions. And I, His unworthy priest, through the power given unto me by Him do forgive and absolve thee from all they sins, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The current form for the Armenian Orthodox is:

“May the merciful Lord have pity on thee and forgive thee thy faults; in virtue of my priestly power, by the authority and command of God expressed in these words, ‘whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven’, I absolve thee from thy sins, I absolve thee from thy thoughts, from thy words, from thy deeds, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and I restore thee to the Sacrament of the Holy Church. May all thy good works be for thee an increase of merit, may they be for the glory of life everlasting, Amen.”

As can clearly be seen, the necessary form “ego te absolvo” is certainly present.
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These are both Latinizaions, even though the former is used in Russian Orthodox churches. You won’t find the direct absolution in Melkite Churches, Greek Orthodox Churches, Etc.
 
Interesting.

I found this form for the Coptic Orthodox which doesn’t have the direct “ego te absolvo” form - though I would argue it’s implicit in the prayers.

“Master, Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son and Logos of God the Father, Who has broken every bond of our sins through His saving, life-giving sufferings, who breathed into the face of His holy disciples and saintly Apostles, and said to them, �Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you will remit, they are remitted to them, and those which you will retain, they shall be retained�. You also now, our Master, through Your holy apostles, have given grace to those who for a time labored in priesthood in Your Holy Church, to forgive sin upon the earth and to bind and to loose every bond of inquiry. Now, also, we ask and entreat Your goodness, O Lover of Mankind, for Your servants my fathers, and my brethren and my weakness, those who bow their heads before Your Holy Glory. Dispense unto us Your mercy, and loose every bond of our sins, and if we have committed any sin against You, knowingly or unknowingly or through anguish of heart, or in deed, or in word, or from faint-heartedness, You O Master, who knows the weakness of men, as a good and loving God, grant us the forgiveness of our sins (the priest signs the confessing person, then says…) Bless us, purify us, absolve us (and absolve your servant …). Fill us with Your fear, and straighten us unto Your holy, good will, for You are our God, and all glory, honor and dominion and adoration are due unto You.�”

There’s a note on the website I found this on that says:

"Now He asks God to grant him the necessary remedies : �Bless us, purify us, make us absolved, straighten us unto Your Holy, good will�. When the sinner is granted these divine remedies, he is healed from sins and walks in holiness which leads to eternal life.

After the absolutions, the priest says the blessing, and concludes with the Lord�s Prayer, which is also said by the confessing person.

The priest breathes into the face of the confessing person three times asking the Holy Trinity to absolve and forgive them.

The confessing person prostrates, touching the ground with his forehead, then stands and kisses the priest�s Cross and hand saying: �Father absolve me�, and the priest answers: �May God absolve you�. "

Nevertheless, this person is a Roman Rite Catholic who confessed to a Roman Rite Priest - so both the Priest and Penitent are canonically bound to uphold the sacramental forms of the Roman Rite.
 
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Spyridon said:
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As can clearly be seen, the necessary form “ego te absolvo” is certainly present in all the various Eastern forms as well as the Western.
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Absolution is a juridic act of the Church.

Each Church sui iuris, may define its own juridic form(s) for a valid absolution. This means that the actual words can indeed vary from one Church sui iuris to another; and that what is valid in one Church might not be valid in another.

In the West, the only valid form is “ego te absolvo.” No other form constitutes a valid absolution.

In the East, there are several valid forms. Some of them contain the words “I absolve” but some do not.
 
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FrDavid96 said:
This means that the actual words can indeed vary from one Church sui iuris to another; and that what is valid in one Church might not be valid in another.
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Thank you, Father, for weighing in on this. You and the others have definitively settled this question for me, and should I ever encounter this again, I will certainly ask Father to use a valid form of absolution.

I will make an effort to speak to this Priest and possibly consider writing to the Bishop if Father appears to not be overly concerned with the validity of his absolution.
 
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