From a priest reader…
Thank you for your post: HERE (very helpful; answered a question of mine some time ago).
I have had some discussions with some of our Priests regarding Baptism. Here’s a scenario that came up:
Many times, baby baptisms are unpredictable in that babies constantly move their heads, etc.
Say, during Baptism, Fr. (n), says,
“(N.), I baptize you in the name of the Father, (water pour), and of the Son (water pour, but, say, father sneezes or coughs and misses while pouring or the child thrashes or moves head so the water either misses the head completely or Priest is unclear if it really hit the head, so he repeats, “and of the Son” [water pour]), and of the Holy Spirit.”
I assume the above scenario also applies to the other Sacraments, say, Confession, e.g., during the recitation of the Absolution formula, Father (N.) sneezes and mispronounces a phrase or word so he repeats it correctly, e.g. “And I absolve you from your sins (coughs/sneezes to the point where he’s flustered, so he repeats, “and I absolve you from your sins . . .”).”
Good to go?
Good to go.
Those blips don’t change the essence of the form, it’s meaning, or matter. Especially if there is a repetition.
In the case of baptism it doesn’t make any difference whether the water is poured once, twice or three times. This was clarified by the Council of Trent.
Three times can help assure that water has run on the head. What is critical for validity is that water is used (pouring, immersion, sprinkling) and the Trinitarian form is used.
On a related issue:
From a reader…
I have noticed that priests sometimes add the word “all” to the formula i.e “I absolve you from ALL your sins…”
Would this have any bearing on validity? I hope not.
This does not have any bearing validity. The priest should stick to the exact form. However, the addition of “all” merely makes explicit what is implicit in “a peccatis tuis …“. “I absolve you from your sins” means “from all your sins”, not “from some of your sins”.
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Dear Father,
I really wish Bishops would take more seriously the sacrament of confession. I go to a Latin mass offered by one of the Ecclesia Dei groups. Father hears confession before mass and its in Latin and always the same. Penances may vary but not by much.
In the Novus Ordo parishes its a whole different story. Because of the distance I occasionally will attend a Novus Ordo confession. They are all different. Some priest will give the full absolution prayer, require an act of contrition, and give a decent penance. That is pretty rare in these parts. The majority range from that to no act of contrition, one Our Father for Penance even for very grave sins, and what I call the bikini absolution. A simple I absolve you of all your sins in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So maybe its a small “t” and there is no need to worry but I still do. We had a priest screwing up baptisms in Texas resulted in hundreds of illicit baptisms. (If Latin was still used all of it would be standard boiler plate stuff). I have to think God being merciful will overlook a messed up confession on the part of the priest but it becomes like a 10 lb weight on your shoulders. If we can just get consistency all the priests doing the same thing just like the TLM priests do.
Then there is availability. Confession always seems to be the first thing to get canceled for a special event in the parish. Father will be attending a symposium on sock darning this weekend so Saturday confessions have been canceled. The soul is held in balance by this sacrament and should not be taken lightly.
Al Schroeder
I understand that we want everything done by the letter and it should be. We must also take into account that Man is not perfect. God knows our intentions.
I am reminded of a story of a Woman from NY who traveled to have St. Padre Pio hear her confession. He revealed to her that she was being overly scrupoulous on saying her Penance. She would loose track and start again. He told her that if he caught her doing it again he would slap her.
Back in NY she went to confession at St. Patricks. While praying her penace, she lost track and started again. Just then she received a loud slap to the face. So loud that the Priest, looked ou of the confessional and asked if she was ok.
Our parish priest got tired of changes in translation for the formula of absolution, so he memorized the Latin version and just uses that now.