What's the implication of been told 'God bless you' by a confessor rather than the traditional words of absolution after confession?

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What’s the implication of been told ‘God bless you’ by a confessor rather than the traditional words of absolution after confession?
 
If you mean the the priest said “God bless you” after confession and absolution, then nothing.

If you mean the the priest didn’t say the words of absolution, but instead said “God bless you,” then obviously absolution didn’t occur.

If you didn’t confess any sins, and the priest rightly omitted absolution, he might have just given you a blessing.
 
Last time I went to confession, I think I heard Father bless me while I did the sign of the cross in the beginning of my confession. I initially thought of it as beautiful, but are there any tradition for doing so?
 
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It seems that oftentimes, penitents miss the absolution as it is being spoken softly during the Act of Contrition. We are intended to hear it, and I’ve found that I can if I but listen while making the act.
 
That seems kind of odd to me. Every priest I´ve ever confessed to says the absolution clearly, and not in any way at the same time as I say the act of contrition. I´ve also experienced that many priests here don´t even ask for the act of contrition. But I don´t know exactly why.

Either way, I love hearing the words of absolution spoken. And thus I don´t think it should be said in a manner where you´d have to listen very carefully in order to hear a part of it.
 
Well, there are 402,000 priests. Going to be some variances - as long as the elements are there.

EDIT: Years ago, I had the most utterly amazing encounter with the Holy Spirit during absolution. No surprise, but the intensity of it literally shook me to the core of my being.
 
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Kima said:
Either way, I love hearing the words of absolution spoken. And thus I don´t think it should be said in a manner where you´d have to listen very carefully in order to hear a part of it.
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It is very important for me to hear the “I absolve you” clearly. That is when you can exhale 🙂
 
When I first started going to comfession at a young age long ago, the words of absolution were spoken in Latin, and we were instructed to recite the act of contrition while the priest was giving absolution.
 
Kima said:
That seems kind of odd to me. Every priest I´ve ever confessed to says the absolution clearly, and not in any way at the same time as I say the act of contrition.
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Similar. I’ve experienced a mixture in terms of whether or not priests murmur something(I’ve presumed prayers) while I recite the Act of Contrition – but purely anecdotally, in my case even when they do, they separately and clearly state the part where they tell me my sins are absolved.

Maybe there are some regions, though, where there’s a different norm?
 
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Hmmm, I´m not sure. I live in Northern Europe and haven´t experienced anything but this in confession.
 
Hmmm. This has happened to me on 2 occasions consecutively. May be it’s the case of me being engrossed with saying the act of contrition and not hearing the absolution said. And I really want to hear it. It just gives one a certain peace of mind realizing that their sins have just got wiped away. I appreciate your responses🙏
 
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It is part of the liturgical action of confession for the priest to pray a blessing over the penitent at the start. It is also customary to begin by saying to the priest, “Bless me father, for I have sinned. It’s been (so and so) since my last confession…”

As for absolution, as others have stated, the important thing is that the priest absolves you, not so much that you hear him clearly. Although the beautiful prayer of absolution is one of my favorite prayers and I love hearing it, the key thing determining if a confession is valid or not is that the priest says “I absolve you of your sins.” I’ve heard many priests modify or shorten this prayer; I can’t imagine why, since it is short and quite powerful as-is. But he may not substitute the last line with “I wish you well” or “Jesus forgives you” and celebrate the Sacrament properly.

Again, as others have said, what comes after the absolution is after the completion of the Sacrament; at this point polite words like “Have a blessed week” or “Merry Christmas” are fine and dandy! :hugs:

Peace.
 
It is hard to answer your question having not been there. Of course, no one else should be so that makes it difficult.

If the priest decided to grant absolution then failed to say the prescribed words (the form) then no valid absolution occurred.

Perhaps the priest did say the correct form of absolution then blessed you and you missed the words of absolution and your sins are absolved.

Perhaps the priest decided there was a reason to withhold absolution and gave you a blessing because he could not absolve you. In this case he should have explained things to you.

Did you actually make a confession? Sometimes people go into the confessional to seek advice rather than confess their sins. Did you do that and somehow thought you would still get absolution?

As you were there you will need to give it some serious thought. If you are satisfied you made a confession of sins and you reasonably doubt you did not receive absolution you could go to confession with another priest. Without naming anyone or giving away other identifying information tell him what happened and be advised by him.
 
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