Can i take holy communion tomorrow at mass?

[mjb472012]

I fell into the sin of fornication yesterday and am sorry for offending God and damaging my relationship with Him. I asked God for forgiveness and did my best to make a perfect act of contrition. I will bring this up at my next confession (I go on Saturday afternoon)
Am I eligible to take communion tomorrow morning?

 

[Rhuarc]

I fell into the sin of fornication yesterday and am sorry for offending God and damaging my relationship with Him. I asked God for forgiveness and did my best to make a perfect act of contrition. I will bring this up at my next confession (I go on Saturday afternoon)
Am I eligible to take communion tomorrow morning?

I don’t know, I am in the same position as you are right now.

 

[Jguerra]

No, you cannot. Mortal sin excludes one from receiving Communion. Consider going earlier than usual before Mass and see if Father can hear your confession.

Joe

 

[Ron_Conte]

The rule is that if you commit an actual mortal sin,
and then repent by an act of perfect contrition (thus returning to a state of grace),
you nevertheless cannot receive Communion,
unless you have a grave reason. You must go to Confession first.
But you are still obligated to attend Mass, to fulfill your Sunday obligation.

Fr. Z. answers this question on his blog:
wdtprs.com/blog/2010/11/quaeritur-in-mortal-sin-but-i-have-to-go-to-mass-what-do-i-do-fr-z-rants/

And his tips for making a good Confession:
wdtprs.com/blog/fr-zs-20-tips-for-making-a-good-confession/

 

[Irishgal49]

You will need to go to Confession first. If you get ahold of your priest you can usually say Confession prior to Mass. I’ve done it before. Maybe you could email him or leave him a voice mail message.

My prayers are with you,

Lorrie

 

[Zosimus41]

No, you cannot. Mortal sin excludes one from receiving Communion. Consider going earlier than usual before Mass and see if Father can hear your confession.

Joe

This is why in todays mass “everyone” goes up to receive communion.

People just have no idea how important cofession is.

I remember as a child in the 70s having to navagate around people that remained seated.
Nowadays communion seems like a free for all.

Its rare to even hear a priest talk about being in a state of mortal sin and not going to communion.

Just seems like its all upside down.

 

[ChibiViolet]

Not if you don’t *at least try hard *to go to Confession before recieving. You can ask a priest to hear your confession before Mass tommorow.

 

[suissemissed]

Not if you don’t *at least try hard *to go to Confession before recieving. You can ask a priest to hear your confession before Mass tommorow.

Canon law states that only a grave reason can excuse a person from confessing a mortal sin before receiving Holy Communion (i.e., like impending death, a priest who has to say a Mass and can’t get to confession first, etc.). Simply wanting to receive is not a sufficiently grave reason. It’s not even grave at all. No Catholic ever has to receive the Eucharist, except once a year during the Easter season. It’s not a sin to choose not to receive.

Canon 916: A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess".

As you can see, simply not being able to confess before Mass is not enough - there must be an additional grave reason. Otherwise, we must wait until after the Sacrament of Penance.

EDIT: Oh, and I should note that, in the context of this Canon, “celebrating” a Mass only applies to priests. All Catholics, no matter if they are in mortal sin or not, are required to attend Mass on Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

You are not BOUND to RECEIVE communion at Mass. In fact, you should only do so when you are in a state of grace. If you are not in a state of grace and receive anyway, you will commit the mortal sin of receiving in mortal sin on top of the first mortal sin (fornication).

You cannot be sure you made a perfect act of contrition. Do you know what that entails? You must be free from EVERY inclination to sin. You must be perfectly sorry, not for the penalty of hell, but because it offends God. Very few of us can do ANY action perfectly. I know I surely can’t!!! And you are not in danger of death (which would be the ONLY reason to ATTEMPT that perfect Act of Contrition and receive) in the first place.

So you should wait until next Saturday, go to confession, remain in a state of grace, and receive the following Sunday.

Stay in your pew tomorrow and make a spiritual communion. Tell you how much you love Him and that BECAUSE you love Him so much, you will wait until you have gone to confession and are SURE of being in a state of grace so that you may receive Him with a pure heart. That will make Him very happy.

 

[Catholic80]

I fell into the sin of fornication yesterday and am sorry for offending God and damaging my relationship with Him. I asked God for forgiveness and did my best to make a perfect act of contrition. I will bring this up at my next confession (I go on Saturday afternoon)
Am I eligible to take communion tomorrow morning?

No. If you had premarital sex, you are in the state of mortal sin.

 

[suissemissed]

You cannot be sure you made a perfect act of contrition. Do you know what that entails? You must be free from EVERY inclination to sin.

Where is the “free from every inclination to sin” part taught by the Church in regards to perfect contrition? Is there a specific source for this? Thanks

 

[ChibiViolet]

I forgot to add (and I’m very sorry about this) that if you unable to go to Confession and need to, but can’t recieving Communian, than if you make a perfect act of contrition, which requires that you ask God’s help to make it, you must plan to go to Confession as soon as possible after recieving.

I’ve never read anything in the Cathechism contradicting this information (and I didn’t just think it up on my own just so you know.) I asked a priest about it too and he agreed with it.

 

[thistle]

I forgot to add (and I’m very sorry about this) that if you unable to go to Confession and need to, but can’t recieving Communian, than if you make a perfect act of contrition, which requires that you ask God’s help to make it, you must plan to go to Confession as soon as possible after recieving.

I’ve never read anything in the Cathechism contradicting this information (and I didn’t just think it up on my own just so you know.) I asked a priest about it too and he agreed with it.

Sorry but that is not correct. Making an act of perfect contrition requires the firm intent to get to Confession as soon as possible but it does NOT allow you to receive Communion before getting to Confession.
I would also dare anyone to say they are absolutely sure they have even made an act of perfect contrition.

 

[Actaeon]

I forgot to add (and I’m very sorry about this) that if you unable to go to Confession and need to, but can’t recieving Communian, than if you make a perfect act of contrition, which requires that you ask God’s help to make it, you must plan to go to Confession as soon as possible after recieving.

I’ve never read anything in the Cathechism contradicting this information (and I didn’t just think it up on my own just so you know.) I asked a priest about it too and he agreed with it.

To add to what thistle said, because thistle is absolutely right in stating that an act of perfect contrition is NOT sufficient to go to communion without grave reason (essentially, danger of death) without ALSO attending sacramental confession first…

An act of perfect contrition is no substitute for sacramental confession. To start with, perfect contrition itself is INCREDIBLY difficult to attain. We might TELL ourselves we have it, but REALLY having it is not a simple feat of thought. If we could all walk around with PERFECT contrition ALL the time, then there would be a much reduced level of sin in our lives (if any at all) and much less need for confession.

The reality is that an act of perfect contrition does not stand in for sacramental confession… it is a stop-gap measure for those in danger of death (or in other grave circumstances) to make their reconciliation with God before they become unable to do so (and only when sacramental confession is unavailable).

As an example of when one might take communion without sacramental confession, one example would be a large army in the field, about to go into battle, and the priest does not have any time to offer confession to all. In that case, the priest might give a general conditional absolution to distribute communion… with the condition that those who survive attend confession AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. That is the type of grave circumstance expected… not simply that one “tried really hard” to get to confession.

 

[suissemissed]

I forgot to add (and I’m very sorry about this) that if you unable to go to Confession and need to, but can’t recieving Communian, than if you make a perfect act of contrition, which requires that you ask God’s help to make it, you must plan to go to Confession as soon as possible after recieving.

I’ve never read anything in the Cathechism contradicting this information (and I didn’t just think it up on my own just so you know.) I asked a priest about it too and he agreed with it.

I agree with Thistle and Actaeon - your priest, in giving this advice, is disregarding the law of the Church and encouraging people to commit sacrilege. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, in 1385: “Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.” Moreover, in 1388, it states: “It is in keeping with the very meaning of the Eucharist that the faithful, if they have the required dispositions,221 receive communion when they participate in the Mass.” Now what are the dispositions that are listed in footnote #221? They refer to the rules found in Canon Law, the same rule I referenced in my above post and below, #916. Again, all Latin Catholics are required to obey the Canon Law.

Canon 916: A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess".

In addition to all this, the older Baltimore Catechism has the following to say on the topic:

*#405: May we receive Holy Communion after committing a mortal sin if we merely make an act of perfect contrition?

We may not receive Holy Communion after committing a mortal sin if we merely make an act of perfect contrition; one who has sinned grievously must go to confession before receiving Holy Communion.

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. (I Corinthians 11:27)*

 

[djames99]

I would go to confession again in humility and sacrifice, then, at the next mass go to communion.

We should remember next time, between absolution and communion, to be especially self aware and observant in what we do. This “dry run” should help us set the template until the next confession. After penance, self control and awareness is our promise we made for absolution. We should be in a heightened state of awareness, and be at the ready when occasions of sin present themselves again.

 

[Vico]

I forgot to add (and I’m very sorry about this) that if you [are] unable to go to Confession and need to, but can’t receive] Communi[o]n, then if you make a perfect act of contrition, which requires that you ask God’s help to make it, you must plan to go to Confession as soon as possible after recieving.

I’ve never read anything in the Cathechism contradicting this information (and I didn’t just think it up on my own just so you know.) I asked a priest about it too and he agreed with it.

Its in the canon law CIC that “there must be both a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess”. It is not “or” but "and".

Canon 916
A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.