I was recently told by a SSPX priest that it is okay to go to a NO priest for Confession, but only Confession. The way he explained it, to the best of my understanding, is that Confession is a "personal" sacrament, where as the Mass or Communion is for the Church. He warned me not to attend the NO Mass however, because it can cause the loss of faith, and that the sacrament of Communion may not be valid, and it wasn't worth the risk.
Does this sound right to you guys? It seemed to make sense to me as he explained it, but I am a bit unsure now.
It seems to me that he gave you incomplete advice, unless you've left out part
of it. A lot depends on the individual priest. Is he a good confessor, or is he
a flaming Modernist? I have heard of Novus Ordo priests telling obvious lies in
the confessional. Not just giving bad advice, but telling bold-faced untruths.
I could give examples, but I don't want to spread Internet "rumors," to give
Fr. Rostand more things to complain about.
You might keep it real simple and only go there when you have some very
minor faults to confess, right? Wrong. You could very well be told that
you are 'wasting his time,' and that you shouldn't come to confession like
this and try to confess things that are not a sin. Been there, done that.
So, other examples notwithstanding, you could very well be finding yourself
prone to losing your faith, or worse, leading your children to go there and
find out later that they lost THEIR faith by getting the 'grand sewer of all
heresies' treatment under the guise of a sacrament.
It's a mixed bag, and some Novus Ordo priests are very good with the
sacrament of Penance. I would suggest that you use that word to try out
his attitude. Speak to a priest outside the confessional, and ask him about
something in regard to the "sacrament of Penance," and watch his reaction.
If he scoffs, chuckles and/or smirks at you and corrects your term saying
that it's now referred to as "Reconciliation," then RUN AWAY, and
don't look
back, like Lot's wife did!
If, however, he pauses, and seriously listens to your question and gives you
the attention it deserves and the respect due to your proper use of the
Church's Traditional terminology, then it might be worth giving him a try.