Reconciliation
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History of the Sacrament of Reconciliation |
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| Name | (Jesus and Sub-apostolic Church) | Canonical Penance (Order of Penitents) | Celtic Penance (Tariff Penance) | Confession | Reconciliation |
| Dates | 30-300 | 300-600 | 600-900 | 900-1974 | 1974-present |
| Paradigm (Think...) | Jesus in the Gospels | Baptism | Doctor visit | Juridical trial | |
| Process (Stages) |
Former life conversion catechumen elect faithful |
Sin contrition penance eucharist (=absolution) reconciliation |
Sin telling penance |
Sin conscience confession absolution penance |
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| Liturgy | Baptism-confirmation-eucharist |
Order of Penitents: weepers kneelers hearers |
None |
[None] words of absolution |
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| Ministries | Community and its ministers and its overseer | Community and its ministers and its overseer | Holy person (who can read a tariff from the book) | An ordained priest with proper jurisdiction | |
| Positive Aspects | Part of the ongoing journey of the holy Church | A liturgical process involving the whole community | Healing; quicker; repeatable | Repeatable; eradicate sins, sin by sin | |
| Negative Aspects | No provision for exceptional tragic situations | Once only; long and very hard; punishment | Private; no liturgy; (danger of money abuses) | Sin is private; not liturgical but devotional; routine | |
Name: Church called it "Penance"; people called it "Confession."
Dates: 900 to 1974 when the Rite of Reconciliation was published
Paradigm: Juridical trial, Law court. [Going before the judge; judge must have proper jurisdiction; judge must hear the case clearly and accurately in order to impose the sentence and punishment.]
Process (Stages): sin, contrition, repentance, examination of conscience, confession, ABSOLUTION, penance, [reconciliation?] Note: Absolution is given before the penance is done!
Liturgy: None. The ritual simply contained "Chapter III: Common Form of Absolution." The priest sometimes wore a stole. but no one saw whether he had it on or not.
Ministries: The minister of the Sacrament is the ordained priest with power of orders and the power of jurisdiction (faculties). [The rite is reduced to absolution. questions of power and jurisdiction "When can I give absolution and when do I deny absolution?"
Positive Aspects: [i.e. values which are emphasized in this form of the sacrament]
It was repeatable
Somewhat more liturgical than the tariff penance
Can get to Communion quicker
Penance less severe
The "Passio" prayer applied the super-abundant merits of Jesus, Mary and the other Saints to the sinner
The "humility" required on the part of the penitent to tell his or her sins to the priest was itself seen as a penance
Saint Thomas warns the confessor not to heap to many logs on the fire when it is only beginning to be enkindled
Ordinary penance becomes 6 Our Father's for big sins and 3 Hail Mary's for little sins
Negative Aspects: [i.e. values which are not emphasized or not emphasized sufficiently in this form of the sacrament]
Not very liturgical (absolution only)
Not ecclesial except in that you need an ordained priest with jurisdiction.
Focus is on forgiving the sin and not on the reconciliation
Absolution placed before doing the penance
Emphasis on the absolution
Open to the suspicion of magic
Open to abuses of money, stipend payments, misuse of indulgences and power.
Scholastic Confession was an attempt to integrate the best parts of Canonical and Tariff Penance:
As in Canonical Penance
There is a public, ecclesial minister
There is an absolution prayer
As in Tariff Penance
The rite is repeatable
The rite is available for all sins
Contrition / Attrition
Perfect and Imperfect
What removes sin? Contrition or Absolution
Scholastic question now in different perspective
Sacrament celebration of gift given
Be able to take Scholastic Penance through the History Grid from memory.
© Copyright: Tom Richstatter, Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist, Cincinnati Ohio, Order of Friars Minor. All Rights Reserved. This page was created by Fr. Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M. Every effort has been, and is being made, to acknowledge sources when the ideas are not my own. Any failure to comply with the United States Copyright Act (Title 17, United States Code) will be corrected immediately should I become aware of it. This site was updated on 07/18/08 . Your comments on this site are welcome at webmaster2@tomrichstatter.org.