The Reconciliation of Penitents
Part Three:  Reconciling

Chapter 15 Absolution:  Proclamation of God's Mercy

Historical Survey

For the first six centuries the Mass was the way in which most Christians experienced the absolution from their sins. Beginning with the fourth century, those Christians who fell into grave sin and entered into canonical penance received absolution in the context of the eucharist. When the period of doing penance was over and the penitents were to move from the "order of penitents" to the "order of the faithful", they approached the bishop after the readings and homily on Holy Thursday. With many prayers and supplications on the part of the bishop and the faithful, the penitents were embraced back into full communion with the community. The bishop imposed hands upon them. They shared a kiss of peace and received Holy Communion with the other faithful. Holy "Com-union" -- full "union with" the community -- was the ultimate sign that the sin was forgiven.

If during the long and arduous period of penance, a penitent became ill and was in danger of dying before completing the penance, reconciliation was achieved by the reception of Holy Communion as viaticum. Viaticum symbolized and achieved peace with the Church and union with the community and with God. Penitents who had received viaticum and then did not die but regained their strength had to finish their period of penance; but in this case, once the penance was accomplished, they did not receive the imposition of hands by the bishop on Holy Thursday because they had already been absolved and reconciled to the community by Holy Communion.

During the period of tariff penance, it was the "doing penance" that absolved the sin. After the penitents received their penance, they left to do it. There was no specific emphasis on a formula for absolution because it was the penance that was important.

Tariff penance evolved into the modern system of confession at a time when our understandings of ministry and Church structures were also evolving. Confession and absolution were discussed and understood in the light of the ideas of priesthood and authority prevalent at the time. The cause for forgiveness shifted from the doing of the penance to the words of absolution which the priest (not only the pastor/bishop) pronounced in virtue of the power given him by Christ: "If you forgive men’s sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound, they are held bound." (Jn 20:23; see Mt 16:19, and 18:18).

Already by the eleventh century the emphasis on the penance and satisfaction was waning. Confession and reconciliation came together in the same act: after the telling of the sins, reconciliation was achieved by the words of absolution spoken by the priest, and the penance (acts of satisfaction) was accomplished after the absolution.

The origin of the formula "I absolve you from your sins" is unknown. One of the earliest references to it can be found in a sermon of Raoul of Ardent, who died about 1200. For the first twelve centuries of Christianity the absolution was always in the form of a prayer ("Lord, in your mercy, receive these your servants here present and by your goodness take away their sins without any further delay.") The Eastern Rites have never accepted or used the indicative form of absolution "I absolve you" which became the common formula in the West at the beginning of the thirteenth century. The acceptance of the "I absolve you" form of absolution into the sacrament during this period is crucial to the history of the sacrament. It was at this same time that the scholastic theologians (St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, etc.) were formulating the teaching on the sacrament which would later serve as the basis of the decrees of the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century, responding to the controversies regarding penance at the time of the Reformation.

The following is an English translation of the absolution formula that we knew in the years preceding the Second Vatican Council:

May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you,
and by his authority I absolve you
from every body of excommunication, suspension, and interdict,
to the extent of my power and your need.
Finally I absolve you (ego te absolvo) from your sins,
in the name of the Father and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
 

In the ritual this formula was preceded by two prayers for forgiveness:

May almighty God have mercy on you,
forgive you your sins,
and bring you to life everlasting. Amen.
May the almighty and merciful Lord
grant you pardon, absolution, and remission of your sins. Amen.

The recitation of these two prayers place the "I absolve you" declaration in a context of supplication and give some continuity with the prayer tradition of both East and West. However these two prayers were optional; the ritual instructed the priest: "For a just cause these prayers may be omitted and it is sufficient to say only the absolution." On a Saturday afternoon when a large number of people were waiting in line to go to confession, many priests considered "not making people wait too long" a just cause for omitting these prayers and consequently it is the "Ego te absolvo" formula that we remember as the absolution.

The Second Vatican Council, in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (72), directed that "the rite and formularies for the sacrament of penance are to be revised so that they more clearly express both the nature and effect of the sacrament." Those who were entrusted with the implementation of this directive composed a new formula for absolution, taking into account the prayer tradition of both the East and the West. However, some members of the Congregation for Divine Worship considered the retention of the "I absolve you" important in order to safeguard priestly identity in the light of the contemporary vocation crisis.

Therefore, the absolution formula of the new Rite of Penance had to retain the "I absolve you" of the former ritual. A new formula was composed which enriches the "I absolve you" by a) including the name of the sacrament, "reconciliation"; b) mentioning the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; c) recalling the cause of our reconciliation, the death and resurrection of Christ; d) naming the effects of the sacrament: pardon and peace; and especially by e) placing the "I absolve you" in the context of the ministry of the Church. The Holy Spirit dwells in the Church and therefore, through the ministry of the Church the priest can say "I absolve you from your sins." The resulting formula for absolution in the new Rite of Penance (55) is as follows:

God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, +
and of the Holy Spirit.
The penitent answers: Amen.
 

The "Rite for Reconciliation of Several Penitents with General Confession and Absolution" (62) goes even further toward returning the absolution to a context of remembering God’s saving works, a context of prayer and supplication.

God the Father does not wish the sinner to die
but to turn back to him and live.
He loved us first and sent his Son into the world to be its Savior.
May he show you his merciful love and give you peace.
R. Amen.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was given up to death for our sins,
and rose again for our justification.
He sent the Holy Spirit on his apostles
and gave them power to forgive sins.
Through the ministry entrusted to me
may he deliver you from evil
and fill you with his Holy Spirit.
R. Amen.

The Spirit, the Comforter, was given to us for the forgiveness of sins.
In him we approach the Father.
May he cleanse your hearts and clothe you in his glory,
so that you may proclaim the mighty acts of God
who has called you out of darkness into the splendor of his light.
R. Amen.

And I absolve you from your sins
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, +
and of the Holy Spirit.
R. Amen.

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Documentation

Rite of Penance

6d. Through the sign of absolution God grants pardon to sinners who in sacramental confession manifest their change of heart to the Church’s minister; this completes the sacrament of penance. For in God’s design the humanity and loving kindness of our Savior have visibly appeared to us and so God uses visible signs to give salvation and to renew the broken covenant.

In the sacrament of penance the Father receives the repentant children who come back to him, Christ places the lost sheep on his shoulders and brings them back to the sheepfold, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies those who are the temple of God or dwells more fully in them. The expression of all this is the sharing in the Lord’s table, begun again or made more ardent; such a return of children from afar brings great rejoicing at the banquet of God’s Church.

19 cont. The form of absolution indicates that the reconciliation of the penitent comes from the mercy of the Father; it shows the connection between the reconciliation of the sinner and the paschal mystery of Christ; it stresses the role of the Holy Spirit in the forgiveness of sins; finally, it underlines the ecclesial aspect of the sacrament, because reconciliation with God is asked for and given through the ministry of the Church.

28. After the Lord’s Prayer the priests go to the places assigned for confession. The penitents who desire to confess their sins go to the priest of their choice. After they have accepted a suitable act of penance, the priest absolves them, using the formulary for the reconciliation of an individual penitent.

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Pastoral Reflection

If for the laity the heart of the sacrament was confession, for the clergy it was absolution. In the years before the Second Vatican Council the preparation of seminarians to be confessors often focused on such questions as when could the priest give absolution and when must he deny it? Did the person confess sufficient matter for absolution? Did the priest have the faculties needed to be able to give absolution validly? Rituals of the period (the books used by the clergy) often reduced the sacrament to absolution. One ritual I have before me lists the sacrament of penance in the table of contents simply as "Common Form of Absolution". Knowing how to give absolution was all the priest needed to know ritually.

Today those who are planning celebrations of the "Rite for Reconciliation of Several Penitents with Individual Confession and Absolution" do not need to concentrate on how to cause God to give forgiveness; God is always ready to forgive! The task is rather to find ways to enable the sinner to experience and to accept absolution and God’s forgiveness. The difficulty is not with the giving of absolution but with receiving it. Many Catholics do not return to the sacrament because they do not experience God’s loving forgiveness.

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Suggested Questions for Discussion

Do you hear the absolution as the joyful announcement of forgiveness?

Do you think of the absolution as a prayer?

When you celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation, do you experience absolution as the high point of the rite?

When people participate in a parish celebration of reconciliation but do not go to individual confession and receive absolution, how do they experience the effects of the sacrament? Where do they hear the words of God’s forgiveness for them?

Can the use of symbols heighten the meaning of the absolution prayer?

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© 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 10/07/08 .  Your comments on this site are welcome at tomrichs@psci.net.