Whats The Biggest Penance You Ever Got?

[Tony]

all my pennances have been just a few Hail Mary's or Our Fathers..

I dont think it would be wrong to add your own pennances if you wish though.. as long as you inlude what was suggested by the priest into it

[Paladin D]

A full rosary, but that's because I requested it.

[toledo_jesus]

mine was kind of funny, the priest said, "well first, do something special for your girlfriend." I was at a loss to find something, and I thought about it all during work. Well, work that night was security for a wedding, and wouldn't you know it there was a vase of roses left in the bathroom (this was a really upscale place). really nice roses. So, I asked the bride's mother if anyone wanted to take those home and she says, "hmm? no, they're yours." so, my girlfriend got a dozen red roses and my sincere apologies, and my penance was completed.

[curtins]

I went to Confession in Early December like 2 years ago- the priest told me to say a Hail Mary every day till Christmas. I forgot and on Christmas Eve I said "Oh shoot I forgot to say my Hail Mary's" So I counted up the days between then and Christmas Eve and ended up saying like 20 Hail Mary's on the way down to my aunt's house in the car for Christmas.

That was before my reversion. Now a days I say at least 1 Hail Mary a day so it wouldnt really be a problem : :

[Andrea348]

the campus minsiter at my college had the greatest confessions ever....you always spent at least 10-15 minutes in there....the time always flew...and he really spent time discussing and understanding what is going on......he gives the best penances.....never hail mary's or our father's....but usually meditating on something.....or thinking about something....i'm gonna miss going to confession with him

[prose]

Funny this topic came up! My husband and I were talking about the same thing the other day.

One priest I went to told me to pray the Our Father slowly, concentrating on every word and exactly what I was saying... I really think doing that (even now) strengthens my faith. It's nice to really think about what you are saying sometimes.

When I first came back to the Faith, my first confession in like 12 years, the priest told me I was to get actively involved with my parish. Now, 4 years later, I am a youth minister!!

I find penances have always led me closer to God, even if they are "just 'Hail Mary's' " or 'Our Father's"...

As for the cruciform one. Holy Cow! I have never heard of anything like that!!!!

[Joey1976]

I had to go to 3 extra Masses during the week once.

[ForHimAlone]

I've never had a huge penance, but one priest told me that I was to truly meditate on the extent of God's love for me the day of my Confession. I thought that was really neat.

[the_rev]

This one priest always asks me what I want to do for a penance.

[curtins]

lol

[TrinityAddiction]

The most I've ever gotten (to my memory) is thinking about something throughout the week.

My last one was one Hail Mary... and it was one of the more spiritually strengthening Hail Marys I'd ever said.

[thessalonian]

Saying the whole rosary on every bead. Just kidding. I did get a whole rosary one time. That was after I came back from my hiatus from being a good Catholic. I deserved it.

[Birgitta Noel]

LOL, once Fr. told me to read the whole bible, before going to bed, but he was kidding.

But, I did have a priest give me a penance to go to daily mass for a week. It was hard because I was in a town where the only one I could get to was after work and I had to wait a half hour for it to start. Now I wouldn't mind the half hour wait, but at the time it drove me mad. And my Dad thought it was a bad penance as it really messed up my/our schedule. LOL

[MilesChristi]

[quote name='DeeDee' date='Aug 19 2005, 04:38 PM']
This was the most interesting penance I ever received:

I was told to imagine I was taking Jesus down from the cross, preparing him for burial, and then bury him. It took me about 45 minutes to do the whole thing, and it was a very profound and moving experience. This penance was given to me by my Jesuit friend.
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I think that's one of the best penances I've ever heard of.

[FlyLikeABird]

I don't know if It's the biggest I've ever gotten but the most important one (to me personally) I ever got was to say "Jesus, I Love You" 20 times. I was crying by the end of it and I think I ended up saying around 50 as I lost track. There is a bigger story to it, perhaps I will tell sometime.