Unwilling to Speak "from himself", a Priest May Remain Silent if God has not Revealed anything to him

From a conversation with Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh (1914 - 04.08.2003)

There are two examples from the life of Saint Ambrose of Optina that illustrate this. Twice, merchants from neighboring towns came to him for confession, confessed, had a long conversation with him, revealed their entire lives and souls, and waited for an answer. He told them, "I will pray and then I will answer."

And a day later, then another, then a third, in each case, the confessed person would come and say, "I need to go back to the city; why are you silent?" And two times Ambrose of Optina said, "I've been praying to the Mother of God these three days, asking her to reveal to me what to say. She is silent. What can I say?"

And you must respect this when you come to confession. A priest may say, "I can't tell you anything."

And here we shouldn't think, "Well, he doesn't care about me! I opened my whole soul to him, I brought the whole tragedy of my life, and he tells me, 'Well, go away now in peace. I'll give you a prayer of absolution and that's enough for you!'" This is not true. This means the priest responsibly refuses to say anything that isn't rooted in God, in prayer, in communication.

We must remember this, because it happens. If a priest is truly thoughtful and serious, then this must happen, because fabricating an answer is a crime.

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