Another Absolution Question

[Dave]

I almost completely forgot about this, but anyway, once, when I was out of town, I went to confession at a particular parish, and the priest, when he absolved me, said, in part " . . . it is my pleasure to absolve you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Would this also be invalid? I haven't been back to that parish since then, mainly because I haven't been in that area since then.

[cappie]

In the Rite of Penance which is part of The Roman Ritual number 19 of the Introduction says " After this the penitent manifests his contrition and resolution to begin a new life by means of prayer for God's pardon. It is desirable that this prayer should be based on the words of scripture.

Following this prayer, the priest extends his hands, or at least his right hand, over the head of the penitent and pronounces the formula of absolution, in which the essential words are: "I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Hope this answers your question. However it does'nt address the silliness of the priest. I must be getting old :irate:

[Dave]

In the Rite of Penance which is part of The Roman Ritual number 19 of the Introduction says " After this the penitent manifests his contrition and resolution to begin a new life by means of prayer for God's pardon. It is desirable that this prayer should be based on the words of scripture.

Following this prayer, the priest extends his hands, or at least his right hand, over the head of the penitent and pronounces the formula of absolution, in which the essential words are: "I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Hope this answers your question. However it does'nt address the silliness of the priest. I must be getting old :irate:

Well, cappie, thanks for your reply. Apparently, the formula must not have been valid. But another thing -- what you cited says the priest extends his right hand over the penitent's head. One priest to whom I've confessed 2-3 times, when I did face-to-face confession, put his hand on my shoulder, although he got all the words right. Should I be concerned?

[Adeodatus]

Dave, should you be concerned? Briefly, no. The 'form' of this sacrament is the absolution ('I absolve you from your sins...'). As long as that is right, provided you are penitent and confess, and the priest intends to do what the Church does in her sacraments, then this is a valid sacrament.

If the priest added some gesture not prescribed in the rite itself, I should--in charity-- take this (most likely subconscious) gesture as a sign of encouragement from Jesus, using His priest as His instrument.

Having said that, I don't approve of people deliberately messing with the sacraments and introducing their own innovations into the rites, most of which are crass and appalling, and probably heterodox.

Go in peace....