The Penitential Act (capitalized in the Roman Missal) is a Christian form of general confession of sinfulness that normally takes place at the beginning of the celebration of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholicism, as well as in Lutheranism. [1] In Anglicanism, it is said as part of the Eucharist, but it is not considered an official sacrament. [2]
The term used in the original text of the Roman Missal (in Latin) is Actus Paenitentialis. In the English translation of the Roman Missal used from 1973 to 2011, it was called the Penitential Rite.
The Penitential Act, also known as A "Brief Order of Confession", takes place at the start of Lutheran Divine Service, and may include an Absolution, giving it sacramental weight. [1]
In the Order of Mass of the Roman Rite, which is the most widespread liturgical rite in the Catholic Church, the introductory part of Mass normally includes a Penitential Act after the making of the sign of the cross and the priest's greeting. [3] The Roman Missal provides three forms. The priest begins each with an exhortation to acknowledge one's sinfulness as preparation for celebrating the sacred mysteries and he ends it with the prayer, "May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life", a deprecatory absolution, as distinct from the declarative or indicative absolution, "I absolve you from your sins". [4] Between these two interventions by the priest, sinfulness is acknowledged in one of three ways;
The Penitential Act is followed by the Kyrie eleison chant (unless the third form of the Penitential Act has been chosen) and on solemnities and feasts by the Gloria. [5]
If certain celebrations are combined with Mass, then the Penitential Act and other parts of the Introductory Rites are omitted or performed in a different way. [6] An example is the Mass of Ash Wednesday, in which the Penitential Act is replaced by the blessing and imposition of ashes after the homily.
"On Sundays, especially in the Season of Easter, in place of the customary Penitential Act, from time to time the Blessing and Sprinkling of Water to recall Baptism may take place." [7]
The Tridentine Roman Missal (editions from 1570 to 1962), which does not use the term "Penitential Act", has an equivalent, within the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, in the Confiteor :
The priest says:
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Deacon and subdeacon at a solemn Mass, server(s) at a low Mass, or server(s) and people at a dialogue Mass respond:
The Confiteor is then repeated by the others, replacing vobis fratres and vos fratres (you, brethren) with tibi pater and te pater (you, Father). The priest responds with the Misereatur is spoken by the priest replacing tui with vestri, tuis with vestris, and te with vos. The priest responds with two prayers: Misereátur vestri omnípotens Deus, et dimíssis peccátis vestris, perdúcat vos ad vitam ætérnam (May Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins and bring you to everlasting life) and (making the sign of the cross) Indulgéntiam, absolutiónem, et remissiónem peccatórum nostrórum, tríbuat nobis omnípotens et miséricors Dóminus (May the Almighty and Merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution, and remission of our sins).
In the original Tridentine Roman Missal (1570), the Misereatur prayer added the adjective omnibus ("all") to the phrase dimissis peccatis tuis/vestris ("forgive you [all] your sins"). [10]
The Lutheran Mass (Divine Service) begins with a brief order of confession. [1] The pastor and congregation say a Confiteor and the pastor may make a Declaration of Grace or an Absolution. [11] If an absolution is spoken, the brief order of confession is understood to be sacramental. [1] However, if private, individual confession is a common practice in a congregation, the brief order of confession may be omitted during the celebration of the Mass. [12] Auricular confession occurs in private, with the penitent enumerating his sins to the priest, who then absolves him/her of the same. [1]
As in the Roman Rite, a Thanksgiving for Baptism (similar to the Blessing and Sprinkling of Water) may replace the brief order of confession. [13]
Below is an example, taken from the Lutheran Service Book, Divine Service Setting I:
Pastor:If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
People:But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Pastor:Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.
People:Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of your Holy Name. Amen.
Pastor (Declaration of Grace):In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for His sake God forgives us all our sins. To those who believe in Jesus Christ He gives the power to become the children of God and bestows on them the Holy Spirit. May the Lord, who has begun this good work in us, bring it to completion in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
OR Pastor (Absolution):Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People:Amen.
Anointing of the sick, known also by other names such as unction, is a form of religious anointing or "unction" for the benefit of a sick person. It is practiced by many Christian churches and denominations.
Mass is the main Eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity. The term Mass is commonly used in the Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Old Catholicism, and Independent Catholicism. The term is also used in some Lutheran churches, as well as in some Anglican churches, and on rare occasion by other Protestant churches.
The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass, the Traditional Rite, or the Extraordinary Form, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in 1570 and published thereafter with amendments up to 1962. Celebrated almost exclusively in Ecclesiastical Latin, it was the most widely used Eucharistic liturgy in the world from its issuance in 1570 until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI.
Confession, in many religions, is the acknowledgment of sinful thoughts and actions. This may occur directly to a deity or to fellow people.
Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of repentance for sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. It also plays a part in confession among Anglicans and Methodists, in which it is a rite, as well as among other Protestants.
An Act of Contrition is a Christian prayer genre that expresses sorrow for sins. It may be used in a liturgical service or be used privately, especially in connection with an examination of conscience. Special formulae for acts of contrition are in use in the Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed Churches.
The epiclesis refers to the invocation of one or several gods. In ancient Greek religion, the epiclesis was the epithet used as the surname given to a deity in religious contexts. The term was borrowed into the Christian tradition, where it designates the part of the Anaphora by which the priest invokes the Holy Spirit upon the Eucharistic bread and wine in some Christian churches. In most Eastern Christian traditions, the Epiclesis comes after the Anamnesis ; in the Western Rite it usually precedes. In the historic practice of the Western Christian Churches, the consecration is effected at the Words of Institution though during the rise of the Liturgical Movement, many denominations introduced an explicit epiclesis in their liturgies.
A mortal sin, in Christian theology, is a gravely sinful act which can lead to damnation if a person does not repent of the sin before death. It is alternatively called deadly, grave, and serious; the concept of mortal sin is found in both Catholicism and Lutheranism. A sin is considered to be "mortal" when its quality is such that it leads to a separation of that person from God's saving grace. Three conditions must together be met for a sin to be mortal: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent." The sin against the Holy Spirit and the sins that cry to Heaven for vengeance are considered especially serious. This type of sin is distinguished from a venial sin in that the latter simply leads to a weakening of a person's relationship with God. Despite its gravity, a person can repent of having committed a mortal sin. Such repentance is the primary requisite for forgiveness and absolution.
"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is a Christian hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn/Hymn of the Angels. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.
Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the practice of absolution vary between Christian denominations.
The Confiteor is one of the prayers that can be said during the Penitential Act at the beginning of Mass of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. It is also said in the Lutheran Church at the beginning of the Divine Service, and by some Anglo-Catholic Anglicans before Mass.
The Roman Rite is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the sui iuris particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs rites such as the Roman Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours as well as the manner in which sacraments and blessings are performed.
The Sacrament of Penance is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, in which the faithful are absolved from sins committed after baptism and reconciled with the Christian community. During reconciliation, mortal sins must be confessed and venial sins may be confessed for devotional reasons. According to the dogma and unchanging practice of the church, only those ordained as priests may grant absolution.
The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner". The Church describes the Mass as the "source and summit of the Christian life", and teaches that the Mass is a sacrifice, in which the sacramental bread and wine, through consecration by an ordained priest, become the sacrificial body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ as the sacrifice on Calvary made truly present once again on the altar. The Catholic Church permits only baptised members in the state of grace to receive Christ in the Eucharist.
The Divine Service is a title given to the Eucharistic liturgy as used in the various Lutheran churches. It has its roots in the Pre-Tridentine Mass as revised by Martin Luther in his Formula missae of 1523 and his Deutsche Messe of 1526. It was further developed through the Kirchenordnungen of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that followed in Luther's tradition.
In liturgical use the term preface is a formal thanksgiving that immediately precedes the Canon, Eucharistic Prayer, Prayer of Consecration or analogous portion of the Eucharist. The preface, which begins at the words, "It is very meet and just, right and salutary" is ushered in, in all liturgies, with the Sursum corda and ends with the Sanctus.
In Lutheranism, the Eucharist refers to the liturgical commemoration of the Last Supper. Lutherans believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, affirming the doctrine of sacramental union, "in which the body and blood of Christ are truly and substantially present, offered, and received with the bread and wine."
In the Lutheran Church, Confession is the method given by Christ to the Church by which individual men and women may receive the forgiveness of sins; according to the Large Catechism, the "third sacrament" of Holy Absolution is properly viewed as an extension of Holy Baptism. Unlike Roman Catholicism, the practice of private confession in the Lutheran Church is voluntary, not obligatory.
The Lutheran sacraments are "sacred acts of divine institution". They are also defined as “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.”.
The General Confession is a prayer of contrition in various Christian denominations, including Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Methodism, and Roman Catholicism.
The Sacrament of Holy Absolution has two forms: the General Confession (known as the Penitential Rite or Order of Confession of Sins) that is done at the beginning of the Divine Service. In this case, the entire congregation says the confession, as the pastor says the absolution. Private Confession - done privately to a pastor, where the penitent confesses sins that trouble him/her and pleads to God for mercy, and the pastor announces God's forgiveness to the person, as the sign of the cross is made. Private confession is subject to total confidentiality by the pastor. In historic Lutheran practice, Holy Absolution is expected before partaking of Holy Communion. General confession, as well as Private Confession, are still contained in most Lutheran hymnals. Two works which are part of the Book of Concord lend support to the belief that Holy Absolution is for Lutherans the third sacrament. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession acknowledges outright that Holy Absolution is a sacrament, referring to it as the sacrament of penitence. In the Large Catechism, Luther calls Holy Absolution the third sacrament.