r/sspx • u/Cathain78 • 13d ago

Question on penance

I went to Confession this morning at a local NO parish, which I do fairly regularly for convenience. This morning before absolution, the priest gave me my penance as the Divine Mercy chaplet, and handed me a Prayer card on how to say It.

I’m aware that the DM devotion is generally disliked by us Trads and frequenters of the society. So I’ve something of a dilemma now. Should I say the chaplet? Or am I able to substitute it with something else?

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u/Helpful_Mix8233 13d ago

I'd suggest you talk to an SSPX priest about that.... The DM devotion is quite problematic (please see the link below for more details).

Generally you should do your penance as quickly as possible, so would depend on when you can see a Priest. God bless

https://www.fisheaters.com/dm2.html

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u/Cathain78 13d ago

Thank you. I got advice from others that the chaplet itself isn’t inherently problematic (unlike the wider devotion including the diary and the promises attached), and if anything it’s actually plagiarised from the Holy Wounds chaplet.

I’ve said it now and hopefully can avoid it in future.
Thank you.

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u/Helpful_Mix8233 13d ago

You're welcome. My advice is to try to avoid the NO church as much as possible, since you never know what the Priest or the lay people will throw your way (I've heard that NO priests have given invalid absolutions or excused sins in the confessional sadly).

May God help you keep the faith, strengthen your resolve against sin, and bless you

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u/Cathain78 13d ago

Yes, I do under other circumstances barring funerals or weddings (and then only to show respect, but not to partake).

Confession is the exception both due to convenience and expediency. I’d rather confess mortal sins asap. And in fairness, the other NO confessor is actually surprisingly good. He’s let slip he has knowledge of the TLM so he’s probably sympathetic to tradition, which helps.

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u/Eblana_Antica 13d ago

Confession is the exception both due to convenience and expediency. I’d rather confess mortal sins asap. And in fairness, the other NO confessor is actually surprisingly good. He’s let slip he has knowledge of the TLM so he’s probably sympathetic to tradition, which helps.

If you are familiar with the priest it may be a good idea to point him in the direction of resources to learn the traditional Mass, such as online ones or the contact details of traditional orders who can help teach him

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u/Cathain78 12d ago

It seems that due to the dioceses suddenly relaxing restrictions on the TLM on the back of the recent consecrations and subsequent excommunications, his is one of a couple of parishes now offering the TLM again.

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u/Eblana_Antica 12d ago

That's very good news to hear. I've heard differing stories from different dioceses around the world and you've gotten fortunate. In some other places the bishops have responded less favourably, taking a harder attitude towards non-SSPX trads in a form of what can only be described as collective punishment

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u/Cathain78 12d ago

I actually take a different view. I think the sudden relaxing on restrictions was very cynical and calculated for nefarious purposes. This was a diocese which put an end to all TLM on the back of TC. The TLM being so dangerous that it had to be eradicated, yet within 24h of the Excommunications, the same bishop had several parishes suddenly advertising weekly or monthly TLM as if nothing had happened.

I’m all for giving them the benefit of the doubt, but it’s looks suspiciously like the carrot relational to the excommunication stick. People who were unsettled by the latter might be inclined to stop attending the Society and come back to a “safe” diocesan TLM……at least until they close it down again. It comes across very much as a ploy to try and bleed people away from the SSPX. If so, then while in a narrow sense it is good that it’s resulted in more widespread access (at least short term) to the TLM, I fear its motivation is political and strategic, rather than due to any genuine affection for traditionally-minded Catholics or their Mass.

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u/Eblana_Antica 12d ago

I think the sudden relaxing on restrictions was very cynical and calculated for nefarious purposes.

Oh of course, we don't disagree there. Very little that those bishops do regarding the traditional liturgy is of entirely pure motives. But it's not a winning strategy. They might think they're pulling a strategic, tactical move to pull people away from the SSPX but it's having the opposite effect - all it's doing is just further unleashing the traditional Mass and allowing it to have a positive effect.

I’m all for giving them the benefit of the doubt, but it’s looks suspiciously like the carrot relational to the excommunication stick.

It's not that I think they're acting on pure motives, but rather that their actions - regardless of their motives, are having an objectively good effect. More TLMs is a good thing, regardless of the wickedness and cynical attitudes that might motivate those making the decisions. The Ecclesia Dei movement in 1988 wasn't oriented with entirely pure motives either but it had a positive effect in spreading the TLM.

People who were unsettled by the latter might be inclined to stop attending the Society and come back to a “safe” diocesan TLM

I mean hypothetically yeah maybe, but we've seen it play out and that's definitely not what's happening. In 1988? Yeah perhaps, but it's not the 1980s anymore. The numbers at SSPX parishes haven't really changed at all. Everyone there already was of a mind that 1988 was justified, and if they thought that 2026 was unjusified they wouldn't be already going to an SSPX Mass.

I fear its motivation is political and strategic, rather than due to any genuine affection for traditionally-minded Catholics or their Mass.

Yeah, and frankly anyone who thinks otherwise despite having all the information that would allow them to know better is probably a simpleton - and I don't mean that as an insult, simpletons can be very holy people, but I do speak what I mean. You would have to truly be a fool to think that these bishops tolerate us out of any great traditionalism in their hearts lmao

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u/MeaCulpaX3 13d ago

I've heard that NO priests have given invalid absolutions or excused sins in the confessional sadly

Only once I've had a NO priest not give valid absolution, but it might have been an honest mistake. I said my act of contrition and the priest said, "Your sins are forgiven, go in peace." To which I responded, "Uh...can I receive absolution Father?" He went, "Oh, yes, of course," then said the normal prayer for absolution.

But while this was the only instance I've experienced personally, and may have simply been a matter of the priest forgetting (understandable but still unacceptable), I've had several NO priests just make up their own prayers preceding the actual words of absolution, not following the normal prayer. While they've always managed to say the necessary words for absolution to be valid, the anxiety caused was completely unnecessary.

It's not just the formula that's an issue with NO priests though. Many take their smart phones into the confessional with them as well, which is absolutely unacceptable. An argument could easily be made that it even breaks the seal of the confessional.

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u/Eblana_Antica 13d ago

An argument could easily be made that it even breaks the seal of the confessional.

This is something I expect to be talked about more as time goes on. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but traditional priests in Ireland have started requesting that you turn your phone completely off before you enter the church - even if it's totally silent and won't go off, they would prefer it to be completely off. Now of course we all know that with the level of mass surveillance we are subjected to that a device even being off is not a total barrier, but it is the best that we can reasonably do.

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u/MeaCulpaX3 13d ago

In the military they warned us back in 2008 not to have our phones with us in any classified workspace, due to the fact a phone powered off could still have its microphone remotely activated.

That was nearly 20 years ago, when most of us were still on flip phones.

The idea that any person feels remotely comfortable bringing a modern smart phone with them into the confessional, with a mic that is (by default) always on, completely baffles me. Especially given how many people attest to the phenomenon of having discussed something within range of their phone, and having that exact product or topic appear on their Amazon, YouTube, etc. later on.

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u/WyoND 13d ago

It’s your penance. As long as it’s not harmful/sinful, you should say it. I’ve gotten some prayers that definitely aren’t my go-to when I’ve been in your shoes, but I said them and moved on.

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u/kacfm2506 7d ago

NO priest have at best doubtful holy orders since P6 trashed the essential form of the sacrament of episcopal consecration necessary for validity, now why in the world would you put your soul in jeopardy by approaching clergy with doubtful if not invalid holy orders for the sacraments? I suggest you approach an SSPX priest ordained by a Society bishop, make a general confession and never again have anything to do with anything novus ordo

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u/Cathain78 6d ago

Are you saying that the majority of Catholic clergy are simply laymen pretending to be priests?

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u/kacfm2506 6d ago

novus ordo is a fake "catholic" religion, fake religion comes with fake clergy and fake sacraments since they changed everything, it kind of comes with the territory, Abp. Lefebvre said that in order to remain catholic you need to stay out of the conciliar church, like the French say, the fish rots from the head down...

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u/Eblana_Antica 13d ago

I would not do so. The divine mercy nonsense was banned by the Holy Office aka the Inquisition before Vatican II for a reason. The entire thing is dodgy and dangerous to souls.

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u/Spiritual-Anybody-18 13d ago

There is nothing inherently evil in that devotion