Baptism

[Jonni]

Hi,
I have a question about being baptised again and will be grateful with your answers.

I am 41 and taking the RCIA. I was baptised as a child C of E. My family was not really religious although my mother did go to sunday school a few times off here own back about 7yrs years before I was born. She does believe there is a god but doesn’t fully understand religion. She does have a good heart and tries to do good by people.
My grandmother was and still is a jehovah witness (when it suits).
My mother mainly baptised me as it was the normal thing to do when you had a child.

I asked the sister who i am under if i could be baptised again as i want to do it properly and have now truly found god and am trying to understand and learn religion. She said she would have a word with the priest. I know I could wait until i discuss it with him but I want to make sure i get the correct answer.

My question is Would being baptised as a Catholic wipe my sins as I have sinned really bad over the years through my own fault of not knowing, not caring, not fully believing and being ignorant.
Would i still have to confess as i struggle to talk about the the sins.

I dont want to cheat my way to forgiveness, i just want a fresh start with my life. I only found out about being baptised again through studying.

Thanks in advance and hope you can help as I cant seem to move on from the problem.

 

[bmullins]

A second baptism would do nothing for you if the first one was done correctly. Baptism only occurs once. (See the creed). It makes a mark on your soul. If you already have the mark, you can try to do it again and again… but it’s already there. If you have been baptized in the name of the father, son and holy spirit, with the proper intent… then you don’t need baptism again… you need Reconciliation(Penance).

Confession will give you that same start, the new fresh slate that you are looking for. You just need to do a good examination of conscience and go in with your heart open to God to receive his forgiveness.

 

[martininthefiel]

If you were baptized in C of E, you were baptized according to the Trinitarian Formula, and cannot be Baptized a second time. However, you will have an opportunity to participate in the Rite of Reconciliation prior to Confirmation, where you will receive Absolution for your past sins.

Welcome Home to the Catholic Church. You are almost there.

 

[gentle_atheist]

My mother mainly baptised me as it was the normal thing to do when you had a child…

Really? In the Church of England? Wasn’t it normal for the parish priest to do that?

My question is Would being baptised as a Catholic wipe my sins…

Yes. However, you can only be baptized once. You could have been validly baptized by your mom if she did it right. Did she say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” while at the same time pouring water over your head (or immersing you in water) each time she mentioned the Father, then the Son, and then the Holy Spirit? If so, then that is a valid baptism. If you had a valid baptism, then you must confess every sin that you can now recall having committed since then.

Don’t worry , though. There isn’t a sin you could confess that the priest hasn’t heard before, and a lot that he’s probably committed himself. Even the Pope goes to confession.

What will probably happen is that the priest will conditionally baptize you in case your mom didn’t do it right. Then you will go to confession in case your mom did do it right. That will cover all the bases.

 

[Jonni]

A second baptism would do nothing for you if the first one was done correctly. Baptism only occurs once. (See the creed). It makes a mark on your soul. If you already have the mark, you can try to do it again and again… but it’s already there. If you have been baptized in the name of the father, son and holy spirit, with the proper intent… then you don’t need baptism again… you need Reconciliation(Penance).

Confession will give you that same start, the new fresh slate that you are looking for. You just need to do a good examination of conscience and go in with your heart open to God to receive his forgiveness.

Thank you that has helped a lot.

If you were baptized in C of E, you were baptized according to the Trinitarian Formula, and cannot be Baptized a second time. However, you will have an opportunity to participate in the Rite of Reconciliation prior to Confirmation, where you will receive Absolution for your past sins.

Welcome Home to the Catholic Church. You are almost there.

Thank you and thanks for the welcome that’s a nice thing to say

Really? In the Church of England? Wasn’t it normal for the parish priest to do that?

Yes. However, you can only be baptized once. You could have been validly baptized by your mom if she did it right. Did she say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” while at the same time pouring water over your head (or immersing you in water) each time she mentioned the Father, then the Son, and then the Holy Spirit? If so, then that is a valid baptism. If you had a valid baptism, then you must confess every sin that you can now recall having committed since then.

Don’t worry , though. There isn’t a sin you could confess that the priest hasn’t heard before, and a lot that he’s probably committed himself. Even the Pope goes to confession.

What will probably happen is that the priest will conditionally baptize you in case your mom didn’t do it right. Then you will go to confession in case your mom did do it right. That will cover all the bases.

Sorry I am not the best at writing. I meant my mother wanted to do the norm by having me baptised by in church by the victor.

Would I have to name the sin or could I just sum them up without going into detail.

 

[peace2u2]

.

Would I have to name the sin or could I just sum them up without going into detail.

Yes. Don’t worry, the Priest will help you to make a good confession. Mention that you have been away for a long time and you need help to make a good confession.

You may even want to call your Parish and schedule an appointment if you have been away for a long time. I know that sounds strange, but don’t worry everything will be okay and keep praying for the Precious Blood of Jesus to cover you and protect you. The devil will do whatever he can to prevent you from going.

I have provided some links for you that explains this beautiful sacrament and how to make a good confession by preparing with an examination of conscience.

My prayer for you is that God will send His Holy Spirit to you with the gift of Courage to enter the confessonal, restore your relationship with Him and His Church and receive His beautiful gift of grace and healing. I hope you will embrace and receive the Sacrament of Reconcilliation in the same manner that we do the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Remember, the devil’s most hated place is in the Eucharist and the devils second most hated place is in the Confessional. The reason: because he knows the real presence of Jesus in both of those sacraments and the healing you receive as a result and the devil doesn’t want you to be healed. . . BUT, JESUS DOES!

ewtn.com/library/BISHOPS/GUIDEPEN.HTM

catholicyouthministry.com/wp-content/files/free/ExaminationofConscience.pdf

beginningcatholic.com/catholic-examination-of-conscience.html

Good luck and Peace 2 U.

 

[Jonni]

Thank you for your time in answering my questions.
I will look at the links you have posted and hope they can help me with confession as at the moment I am not sure if I can do it.

Many thanks again

 

[gentle_atheist]

Sorry I am not the best at writing. I meant my mother wanted to do the norm by having me baptised by in church by the victor.

OK. Sorry I misunderstood. Then it’s certain that you were validly baptized. So it’s on to confession.

Would I have to name the sin or could I just sum them up without going into detail.

Well, you could try saying, “Bless me , Father, for I have sinned. This is my first confession. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I am sorry for these and all the sins of my past life.” But I don’t think that the priest would let you get away with that.

You have to confess the sin and the number of times that you committed it. For a recurring sin, instead of giving a sum total of how many times you committed it, you would state the sin, how often you committed the sin, and for how long. For example, “I took the name of God in vain about 5 times a day for about 20 years,” rather than saying, “I took the name of God in vain about 36,500 times.”

If you stole something you have to mention what you stole.

I know. The sexual sins are the most embarrassing. Just remember that the priest isn’t a robot.

Just be honest and forthright and you’ll do fine.

 

[Jonni]

Thanks for your reply It was very helpful and appreciated.

I did ask the sister who is helping me with the RCIA and she did say the priest would more than likely let me sum the sins up without going into detail. Is that not correct or is it down to the priest.

 

[gentle_atheist]

Thanks for your reply It was very helpful and appreciated.

I did ask the sister who is helping me with the RCIA and she did say the priest would more than likely let me sum the sins up without going into detail. Is that not correct or is it down to the priest.

I don’t know what you mean when you say “sum the sins up.” The traditional requirement has been to confess the type of sin and the number of times it was committed. I don’t think that that has changed.

If a penitent were to confess, “I’ve been sexually promiscuous,” well, what does that mean? Fornication? Adultery? Both? How often and for how long?

The Catholic Church doesn’t run as tight a ship as she used to. Some priests are more lax about administering the sacraments than others.

 

[thistle]

Hi,
I have a question about being baptised again and will be grateful with your answers.

I am 41 and taking the RCIA. I was baptised as a child C of E. My family was not really religious although my mother did go to sunday school a few times off here own back about 7yrs years before I was born. She does believe there is a god but doesn’t fully understand religion. She does have a good heart and tries to do good by people.
My grandmother was and still is a jehovah witness (when it suits).
My mother mainly baptised me as it was the normal thing to do when you had a child.

I asked the sister who i am under if i could be baptised again as i want to do it properly and have now truly found god and am trying to understand and learn religion. She said she would have a word with the priest. I know I could wait until i discuss it with him but I want to make sure i get the correct answer.

My question is Would being baptised as a Catholic wipe my sins as I have sinned really bad over the years through my own fault of not knowing, not caring, not fully believing and being ignorant.
Would i still have to confess as i struggle to talk about the the sins.

I dont want to cheat my way to forgiveness, i just want a fresh start with my life. I only found out about being baptised again through studying.

Thanks in advance and hope you can help as I cant seem to move on from the problem.

If you were baptised in the Church of England then that is a valid baptism. You will not be baptised to become a Catholic. I was a baptised Methodist and went through the RCIA program. On the Easter Sunday when all the non-Christians in my group were baptised I was formally accepted into the Catholic Church without the need for baptism.
Incidentally the first Confession for all of us was on the Saturday, the day before we became Catholics.