[Question:]{.underline} How does the Confessor determine the penance to give to his penitent in the confessional?
[Answer:]{.underline} The Council of Trent, in its decree on the Sacrament of Penance, gives the principle for the determination of the penance to be given by the Confessor: “The priests of the Lord ought, therefore, so far as the spirit and prudence suggest, to enjoin salutary and suitable satisfactions, in keeping with the nature of the crimes and the ability of the penitents” (Session xiv, 8, Db 905). This means in practice that the priest is bound to give a heavy penance when the penitent confesses a mortal sin unless there is a just reason for not doing so, such as the inability of the penitent to do a heavy penance. A heavy penance is a work that would oblige under pain of mortal sin, if commanded by the Church, such as five decades of the Rosary, assistance at Mass, a one day fast. A Way of the Cross would also be a heavy penance. However, shorter prayers are light penances, unless they are enjoined to be done several times over.
The precise determination of the penance is not an easy thing to do since prudence demands that it be adapted to the condition of the penitent. In this, two grave dangers are to be avoided. The first is for the Confessor to be too lax in giving a very light penance “lest,” as the Council of Trent teaches, “if they should connive at sins and deal too leniently with penitents, by the imposition of certain very light works for grave offenses, they might become participators in the crimes of others” (ibid.). Indeed, excessive mitigation of the penance fails to impress on the penitent the need for a true amendment of life and can lead to routine confessions and repetition of the same sins. The second danger is to be too harsh and demanding on the penitent, so as to give excessively burdensome penances that make Confession disagreeable, that are not accomplished very willingly, and that can turn penitents away from ready and frequent confession.
In general, the Confessor ought to err on the side of giving a lighter penance, and of being rather too benign than too harsh, for Confession is the sacrament of God’s mercy, and he could do much more harm by exceedingly harsh penances than by being too soft. Moreover, it is better that the penitent do a lighter penance more willingly than a heavier penance begrudgingly or with negligence. However, the penitent should want, and can certainly request, a moderately hard penance, providing that he truly is willing to do it and wants to do it out of a sincere desire to make up for his sins.
One of the great challenges for the Confessor is to avoid routine in the giving of penances. It is an unfortunate but frequent occurrence that the penitent can almost always predict the penance, and that the penance is the same for nearly any sin. In such cases, the penance does not have the full satisfactory value that it could have had. This danger is overcome by the Confessor’s effort to apply a remedial penance, namely one which is at the same time a real atonement for sins and an effective remedy, such as imposing almsgiving on the avaricious or mortification on those who commit sins of sensuality. This is what the Council of Trent has to say: “Let them keep before their eyes that the satisfaction which they impose be not only for the safeguarding of a new life and a remedy against infirmity, but also for the chastisement and atonement of past sins” (ibid.).
The Confessor who is a little creative in this way will think of different ways in which to impose the three chief kinds of penances, or good works, that satisfy for sins. The first kind are works of religion, such as various prayers; the second are works of charity, such as helping the poor and almsgiving; and the third are works of mortification, such as fasting and abstinence. The penitent should not be surprised to receive as a penance some such work. However, he does have the right to say so, if he feels that the penance is too difficult or too demanding for him to accomplish. He can also point out that the priest does not have the right to impose a public penance (which could harm a person’s reputation), nor one that is incongruous, inappropriate, or astonishing. Yet all other things being equal, the penitent should thank God for (and even request) a penance which is a remedy for his fault, as also for a penance which is more difficult to accomplish, for it will be more effective in satisfying for his sins.
Answered by Father Peter Scott, SSPX.