A priest’s prayers for before and after hearing confessions

Some time ago I posted these but they are worth bringing out again into the light.

In old prayer books intended for the use of priests there are glorious little gems.  Here are two prayers in Latin for priests to pray before and after hearing confessions along with my own translations.  I used good ol’ “Thou” and retained something of the flowery style of yesteryear because, after all, there’s really nothing wrong with that at all.

I have used these prayers during my whole priesthood now, over 35 years.  They say it all. You could do a lot worse, Fathers, than to adopt them as your own. They provide a realistic view of the gravity of the office and work of the confessor.  They are a mirror in which we can scrutinize ourselves as confessors. They are at the same time, instructive, sobering and consoling.

Over time, they become old friends.

The Latin, frankly, is richer in content then the translations

ORATIO SACERDOTIS ANTEQUAM CONFESSIONES EXCIPIAT

Da mihi, Dómine, sédium tuárum assistrícem sapiéntiam, ut sciam iudicáre pópulum tuum in iustítia, et páuperes tuos in iudício. Fac me ita tractáre claves regni caelórum, ut nulli apériam, cui claudéndum sit, nulli claudam, cui aperiéndum. Sit inténtio mea pura, zelus meus sincérus, cáritas mea pátiens, labor meus fructuósus. Sit in me lénitas non remíssa, aspéritas non sevéra; páuperem ne despíciam, díviti ne adúler. Fac me ad alliciéndos peccatóres suávem, ad interrogándos prudéntem, ad instruéndos perítum. Tríbue, quaeso, ad retrahéndos a malo sollértiam, ad confirmándos in bono sedulitátem, ad promovéndos ad melióra indústriam: in respónsis maturitátem, in consíliis rectitúdinem, in obscúris lumen, in impléxis sagacitátem, in árduis victóriam: inutílibus collóquiis ne detínear, pravis ne contáminer; álios salvem, me ipsum non perdam. Amen.

PRIEST’S PRAYER BEFORE HEARING CONFESSIONS 

Grant to me, O Lord, that wisdom seated beside Thy throne, that I may know how to judge Thy people with justice, and Thy poor ones with discernment. Make me so to use the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, that I may open the gates to no one upon whom they should be closed, nor close them upon any for whom they should be opened. May my intention be pure, my zeal sincere, my charity patient, my labor fruitful. Let there be in me a gentleness which is not negligent, a severity which is not harsh; let me not look down upon the poor, nor let me fawn upon rich. Make me pleasant for attracting sinners, prudent in questioning them, resourceful in directing them. Grant, I beseech Thee, ingenuity for drawing them back from sin, earnestness in confirming them in good, diligence in urging them to better things. Grant me mature judgment in responses, rectitude in advice, light in obscure matters, wisdom in complications, victory in adversities. Let me not be delayed in useless conversations, neither let me be stained by perversities. Let me save others, and let me not lose myself. Amen.

ORATIONES SACERDOTIS POSTQUAM CONFESSIONES EXCEPERIT

Dómine Iesu Christe, dulcis amátor et sanctificátor animárum, purífica, óbsecro, per infusiónem Sancti Spíritus cor meum ab omni affectióne et cogitatióne vitiósa, et quidquid a me in meo múnere sive per neglegéntiam, sive per ignorántiam peccátum est, tua infiníta pietáte et misericórdia supplére dignéris. Comméndo in tuis amabilíssimis vulnéribus omnes ánimas, quas ad paeniténtiam traxísti, et tuo pretiosíssimo Sánguine sanctificásti, ut eas a peccátis ómnibus custódias et in tuo timóre et amóre consérves, in virtútibus in dies magis promóveas, atque ad vitam perdúcas aetérnam: Qui cum Patre et Spíritu Sancto vivis et regnas in saecula saeculórum. Amen.

Dómine Iesu Christe, Fili Dei vivi, súscipe hoc obséquii mei ministérium in amóre illo superdigníssimo, quo beátam Maríam Magdalénam omnésque ad te confugiéntes peccatóres absolvísti, et quidquid in sacraménti huius administratione neglegénter minúsque digne perféci, tu per te supplére et satisfácere dignéris. Omnes et síngulos, qui mihi modo conféssi sunt, comméndo dulcíssimo Cordi tuo rogans, ut eósdem custódias et a recidíva praesérves atque post huius vitae misériam mecum ad gáudia perdúcas aetérna. Amen.

PRIEST’S PRAYERS AFTER HEARING CONFESSIONS

Lord Jesus Christ, sweet lover and sanctifier of souls, I pray Thee, through the infusion of the Holy Spirit, purify my heart from every corrupt feeling or thought and, through Thy infinite compassion and mercy, deign to make good any transgression whatsoever made by me in my service due to my negligence or my ignorance. I commend to Thy most lovable wounds all the souls whom Thou hast drawn to repentance, and whom Thou hast sanctified by Thy Precious Blood, so that Thou mayest preserve them from every sin, keep them in Thy love and in Thy fear, promote more virtues in them each day, and lead them to eternal life. Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, accept this ministry of my obedience with that surpassing love with which Thou didst absolve Saint Mary Magdalene and all sinners flying to Thee for refuge, and deign Thyself to supply and satisfy whatsoever in the administration of this Sacrament I performed negligently and less than worthily. I commend to Thy most sweet Heart each and every person who has just now confessed to me, begging that Thou mayest guard them and keep them from backsliding and, after the misery of this life, that thou mayest lead them with me to joys everlasting. Amen.

I did some digging for more about these prayers.   Another title for the first prayer, for before hearing confessions, is Oratio a confessariis recitanda antequam ad sacramentales fidelium confessiones excipiendas assideant.

The earliest securely documented source is a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences dated 27 March 1854. At the petition of Father Giacomo, or Jacobus, Pignone del Carretto, Superior General of the Theatine Clerics Regular, Pope Pius IX granted an indulgence of one hundred days, once daily, to confessors who recited it devoutly before hearing confessions. The decree prints the prayer in full but does not identify its composer.   The prayer subsequently entered the Raccolta and other priestly manuals. It appears in the 1952 Enchiridion Indulgentiarum as no. 753, under the same designation, with the indulgence then listed as five hundred days and with references to the decrees of 1854 and 1933.

Something that struck me back when I worked on the translation of the first prayer is the opening which it obviously a deliberate scriptural reference. The first words come from Wisdom 9:4:

Da mihi sedium tuarum assistricem sapientiam
Give me Wisdom, who sits beside thy throne.

The following petition,

ut sciam iudicare populum tuum in iustitia, et pauperes tuos in iudicio,

is adapted from Psalm 71:2 in the traditional Vulgate: iudicare populum tuum in iustitia, et pauperes tuos in iudicio. The confessor is thus placed in the position of Solomon, asking for divine wisdom to exercise judgment justly, especially toward the poor and vulnerable.

The next section, concerning the proper use of the claves regni caelorum, applies Christ’s grant of the keys and the power of binding and loosing in Matthew 16:19 to the sacramental tribunal:

Fac me ita tractare claves regni caelorum, ut nulli aperiam, cui claudendum sit, nulli claudam, cui aperiendum.

This asks that the priest neither absolve someone who must presently be refused absolution nor deny absolution to one who is properly disposed.

The remainder is an exceptionally compact description of the confessor’s virtues: purity of intention, sincere zeal, patient charity, firmness without severity, gentleness without laxity, impartiality between rich and poor, prudence in questioning, competence in instruction, maturity in responses, and vigilance against both idle conversation and moral contamination.

Concerning the two prayers for after hearing confessions, the first prayer is derived from Father Joseph Schneider, S.J.’s Manuale sacerdotum published in Cologne in 1861. His preface says he attempted to collect and arrange suitable material ex optimis scriptoribus ecclesiasticis, “from the best ecclesiastical writers.” The concluding petitions offer a theology of sacramental perseverance. The penitent has received pardon, yet must still be guarded from sin, preserved in holy fear and love, advanced daily in virtue, and conducted to eternal life. Absolution is treated as the beginning of renewed Christian life rather than an isolated juridical event. The full doxology, Qui cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivis et regnas, gives the oration the form and cadence of a Roman collect.

The second prayer is older, substantially with the same wording from Alexander Scheffler’s Horologium manuale devoti Christiani, published at Ottobeuren in 1766. The two were joined as complementary prayers. The first emphasizes purification of the confessor and preservation of the penitents through Christ’s wounds and Blood. The second offers the completed ministry to Christ’s perfect love and commends the penitents to his Sacred Heart. The commendation to Christ’s dulcissimum Cor places the prayer within the affective and reparative spirituality associated with devotion to the Sacred Heart. Such language was common in the 17th and 18th devotional writings. The Heart of Christ is presented as the place in which penitents remain after leaving the confessional. The priest releases them from his immediate care and entrusts them to the continuing custody of Christ.

The Congregation for the Clergy printed them together in the 2011 vademecum The Priest, Minister of Divine Mercy, under the heading Oratio sacerdotis postquam confessiones exceperit.

Moreover, there are also two prayers for the priest for before and after he makes his own confession!