was my absolution valid?

[MaeganFlinchum1]

I went to my first Confession recently and at the end i said that yhat was jt. And he said ok say the act of contrition as i pray the prayer of absoluttion. And then he asked if i knew it. And we said it together. I never heard “i absolve you” or “your forgiven” is that ok???

 

[babochka]

Congratulations on your first confession! You don’t have to hear the absolution, the priest just has to say it. If he said the absolution while you prayed the act of contrition, that is perfectly fine.

 

[Lormar]

Maegan, every priest does it differently. Most priest will wait until you recite the Act of Contrition to say the words of absolution, but some quietly recite the absolution as you are saying the Act of Contrition, especially if they are saying it in Latin.

You wrote that he said to pray the Act of Contrition “as I pray the prayer of absolution”, so he must have said it while you were praying.

You can always ask him to ease your mind.

 

[MaeganFlinchum1]

Congratulations on your first confession! You don’t have to hear the absolution, the priest just has to say it. If he said the absolution while you prayed the act of contrition, that is perfectly fine.

Even if he didnt say anything or do anything at all? It surprised me when he didnt.

 

[MaeganFlinchum1]

Maegan, every priest does it differently. Most priest will wait until you recite the Act of Contrition to say the words of absolution, but some quietly recite the absolution as you are saying the Act of Contrition, especially if they are saying it in Latin.

You wrote that he said to pray the Act of Contrition “as I pray the prayer of absolution”, so he must have said it while you were praying.

You can always ask him to ease your mind.

Sorry im scrupulous. But he said it outloud with me at the same time.

 

[BVMFatima]

Congratulations on your first confession! You don’t have to hear the absolution, the priest just has to say it. If he said the absolution while you prayed the act of contrition, that is perfectly fine.

Even for us Roman Catholics? Would it be different in the East or no?

 

[Edmundus1581]

It sounds like the confession may be invalid because of a mistake by the priest. He intended to say the absolution while you said the act of contrition, and then he said the act of contrition with you and forgot to say the absolution.

If that is the case then I would recommend that proceed as if you had been validly absolved (ie. receive communion) but mention all this next time you are in confession.

After all, you don’t KNOW that you weren’t validly absolved.

Fr Serpa addresses a similar question…

What do I do if I don’t know if my past Confessions were valid?Q.

…I wasn’t even sure if he said absolution at the end. I was a little worried about that Confession,

**A.**Worry not! You are not held responsible for a priest’s error in past Confessions. The responsibility lies with him; not you.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.

 

[babochka]

Even if he didnt say anything or do anything at all? It surprised me when he didnt.

I’m sorry, I must have been confused. When you said

And he said ok say the act of contrition as i pray the prayer of absoluttion. And then he asked if i knew it. And we said it together. I never heard “i absolve you” or “your forgiven” is that ok???

I assumed that he did what he said he was going to do, and said the absolution while you prayed the act of contrition. My priest does that all the time. I usually finish up the act of contrition just before he says the words of absolution. I I prayed a bit slower, I might not hear them at all.

Generally speaking, though, priests know what they are doing and they perform the sacraments correctly. I personally wouldn’t worry about it, but as someone else said, you can always ask if you’re concerned.

Priests know what they are doing and the vast majority strongly believe in what they are doing. They are also quite used to the process and do not suffer from nerves in the same way that we do. It is highly unlikely that a priest would omit, accidentally or deliberately, the most critical element of the sacrament. Even if he did, I believe that our loving God would not hold it against you, who with contrition and humility, approached him in this sacrament.

 

[WingsOfEagles]

I guess I’m of the mindset that if you go into confession with the right mindset to be forgiven, a priest error is not going to make that invalid. I truly believe the big guy upstairs knows what’s in your heart of hearts so if you attempted to make a confession, I wouldn’t sweat it.

 

[babochka]

Even for us Roman Catholics? Would it be different in the East or no?

As long as the priest says the absolution with an approved formula, East or West it is the same. Every priest has his own style and manner of speaking. I’ve never had a Latin priest say the absolution while I was praying the act of contrition, but I understand that it used to be quite common. At any rate, he might say it in a whisper that the penitent can’t hear, or the sound of the words might be obscured by a loud noise outside. Maybe the penitent sneezed or had a coughing fit at the very moment the priest said “I absolve you” and didn’t hear it. Either way, it is still valid.

 

[babochka]

I guess I’m of the mindset that if you go into confession with the right mindset to be forgiven, a priest error is not going to make that invalid. I truly believe the big guy upstairs knows what’s in your heart of hearts so if you attempted to make a confession, I wouldn’t sweat it.

 

[Iron_Donkey]

Sorry im scrupulous. But he said it outloud with me at the same time.

You can ask him to ease your mind, but if you’re scrupulous, and if you have a habit about worrying about the validity of confessions that you make, it may be better just to assume that it’s much more likely that you didn’t hear or don’t remember than that the priest, who does this regularly, messed up.

 

[Robertanthony]

I went to my first Confession recently and at the end i said that yhat was jt. And he said ok say the act of contrition as i pray the prayer of absoluttion. And then he asked if i knew it. And we said it together. I never heard “i absolve you” or “your forgiven” is that ok???

Are you someone who worries a lot about lots of other things apart from religion/God? I wonder if scrupulosity doesn’t walk hand in hand with an anxious temperament?

 

[Gorgias]

he said ok say the act of contrition as i pray the prayer of absoluttion.

And we said it together.

By ‘together’, you mean ‘at the same time’, not ‘we said the same prayer’, right?

I never heard “i absolve you” or “your forgiven” is that ok???

Validity doesn’t depend on you hearing the prayer of absolution.

 

[MaeganFlinchum1]

By ‘together’, you mean ‘at the same time’, not ‘we said the same prayer’, right?

Validity doesn’t depend on you hearing the prayer of absolution.

It was coming out of his mouth as it was coming out of mine. I think he didnt know that i knew it and was trying to help me.

 

[babochka]

It was coming out of his mouth as it was coming out of mine. I think he didnt know that i knew it and was trying to help me.

“It” meaning the act of contrition? That seems a little strange, but I still go with the benefit of the doubt. The priest knows what he’s doing.

 

[MaeganFlinchum1]

“It” meaning the act of contrition?

Yes.

 

[Gorgias]

It was coming out of his mouth as it was coming out of mine. I think he didnt know that i knew it and was trying to help me.

OK. So you both prayed the act of contrition together. Then what happened? Did he say anything? Did he say something that began “God, the Father of mercies…”?

 

[MaeganFlinchum1]

OK. So you both prayed the act of contrition together. Then what happened? Did he say anything? Did he say something that began “God, the Father of mercies…”?

After the act of contrition it was"this is a sacrement of love…" i forgot exactly and then he told me “i want you to make a heartfelt prayer to God, ask Him to forgive you, also pray for humility, obedience, and to always do what you know u should” i guess that was my penance and then wwe were done and he said nothing else

 

[Zekariya]

Your confession is valid if you confessed your sins and the priest absolved you. Receiving penances and praying the Act of Contrition is important but does not affect the validity of the Sacrament. Before Vatican II it was common for the priest to absolve you while you were saying the Act of Contrition. This seems to be what your priest did. Maybe you could explain that you would prefer to listen to him absolving you instead of praying while he absolves you?

After you confess your sins the priest absolves you. “I absolve you from your sins” is generally considered the necessary part of the form of absolution (in the Latin Church) to be validly absolved. Though the Council of Trent (and St Thomas Aquinas) seem to suggest that “I absolve you” is all that is actually necessary for correct form:

“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 necessary for the administration of the sacrament itself.” - The Council of Trent, Session XIV, Ch 3
Source: thecounciloftrent.com/ch14.htm

“Pastors should not neglect to explain the form of the Sacrament of Penance. A knowledge of it will excite the faithful to receive the grace of this Sacrament with the greatest possible devotion. Now the form is: I absolve thee, as may be inferred not only from the words, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven, but also from the teaching of Christ our Lord, handed down to us by the Apostles.” Catechism of the Council of Trent, The Sacrament of Penance
Source: cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/trent/tsacr-p.htm