Can you enter into the sacrament of matrimony when in a state of mortal sin?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JanSobieskiIII
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Lol you must be new here. This is pretty tame compared to a lot that get asked.
 
Any citation to back that up? Everyone keeps stating an opinion, some contradictory, but no ones posted any sources.
 
Not for sure what you mean by “you would receive it validly, but illicitly”. If by “it” you mean the sacramental graces, you would not receive those until confession and absolution. If you are trying to say marrying in a state of mortal sin is valid, but illicit, I think you might be wrong. It is certainly valid. Illicit, with reference to sacraments, means you are receiving (or ministering) a sacrament against Church law. I do not think there is any law that says a person in the state of mortal sin cannot marry.
 
Sorry I didn’t include a source with my post. I was instructed on the sacraments with the Baltimore Catechism, so I checked to make sure I wasn’t misremembering, and it says:
Q. 598. Why are Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony called Sacraments of the living?

A. Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony are called Sacraments of the living because those who receive them worthily are already living the life of grace.

Q. 599. What sin does he commit who receives the Sacraments of the living in mortal sin?

A. He who receives the Sacraments of the living in mortal sin commits a sacrilege, which is a great sin, because it is an abuse of a sacred thing.
Click to expand...
(For Extreme Unction/Anointing of the Sick I think one who cannot confess may receive it if there is adequate contrition for confession, and it remits mortal sins.)
 
Last edited:
It would be nice if someone or who knew Canon law would give an informed answer instead of conjecture.
 
Thank you, so basically in a union where only one party is catholic, that person would have to make a good confession before marrying. Correct?
 
To avoid committing a mortal sin it would seem so, although the validity is dependent on form, matter and intention which doesn’t necessarily mean one must be in the state of grace.

Also, the sacrament wouldn’t be fruitful in terms of receiving grace unless/until the person is in the state of grace. The sacrament will still have taken place (i.e. validly) however.
 
Last edited:
I do not believe so. The catholic can marry, and it would be valid. But the sacramental graces would not occur until he/she went to confession. I just did a quick review of the Canon Law and the only thing I found relevant was the following:
Can. 1065 §1. Catholics who have not yet received the sacrament of confirmation are to receive it before they are admitted to marriage if it can be done without grave inconvenience.
§2. To receive the sacrament of marriage fruitfully, spouses are urged especially to approach the sacraments of penance and of the Most Holy Eucharist.
Click to expand...
The second part seems to imply that one who marries, but is not in a state of grace would not receive the sacramental graces (ie the sacrament would not be fruitful).
No where does it say that not being in a state of grace is an impediment to marriage.
 
JanSobieskiIII said:
If an unmarried man and woman have had pre marital sex can they marry without confessing that sin?

Not a question of if they should, just wondering if that sacrament can be administered when not in a state of grace.
Click to expand...
It is a hypothetical question, but in my opinion, yes, they can, simply because the Sacrament of Matrimony is not the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, where one can attend it but cannot receive Communion unless in a state of grace.

Of course, the spouse with the mortal sin cannot receive Communion, if it is in a wedding mass.

In reality, a priest would ask both to go for Confession or be in a state of grace, because during the mass they may have to receive Communion. Like some posters said, it would be a good start for the marriage in a state of grace, and why would they not want that? Is marriage important to them or not? Are they serious about sacramental marriage? Are they serious that the marriage to last? Are they serious that the marriage is an affirmation of their faith? And so on.
 
Mortal sins not repented of are not valid matter for confession. Only sins for which one is contrite are valid matter.
 
I disagree. A Catholic getting married to someone that they have been having premarital sex with is basically remedying the situation of sin and ensuring that they will not sin going forward. This is an excellent start towards getting right with the Lord, whether the people confess or not.
 
Reuben_J said:
In reality, a priest would ask both to go for Confession or be in a state of grace
Click to expand...
My priest (old school, well educated, and back in the 90s) did not mention any such thing to me.

I tend to think that a lot of priests are primarily interested in just getting people married in the Church rather than have them continue to live together or dump a lot of catechesis on them that might cause them to throw up their hands and go down to the judge’s office instead.

I also have no idea why you would somehow think that a person’s marriage wasn’t important to them because they were not going to regular Confession. As we are discussing on another thread, there are Catholics who have convinced themselves that Confession isn’t necessary. I will say that back in my 20s and 30s when I was dating and getting married, it was not my favorite thing either. But the fact that I had issues with Confession and probably did not perform it up to the standard of this forum had nothing to do with my taking my marital commitment seriously. Not going to Confession may be a failure or a sin, but it does not automatically make you a failure, lax, or a sinner at everything else associated with the Church.
 
I agree with all of this, but as an aside, we have to be careful not to push people to get married quickly just because they’ve been sleeping together (which I know you’re not advocating). That could be throwing good money after bad, so to speak.
 
I agree, but given that Catholic churches require you to start your marriage prep 6 months to a year in advance, no one is getting married quickly in the Catholic church unless there is some emergency situation (and in this day and age, a premarital pregnancy is no longer considered an “emergency situation”).

Also, there is a lot involved just with the marriage prep. It is really not the time to be addressing someone’s doubts and issues with the Sacrament of Confession on top of trying to prepare them for marriage.

I’m sure there are priests who disagree and may choose to discuss Confession as well as Matrimony during the prep, but I for one was glad my priest did not go that route as I had a lot of issues with Confession, even though at that point I was still going at least once a year for “Easter duty” which I was under the impression at that time that one had to make or be thrown out of the Church. I did not manage to address all my issues with Confession until 20 years down the road, and I managed to have a happy marriage during all those 20 years. Maybe it was lacking in grace that only flowed in later after I confessed, but it doesn’t mean I was miserable with the marriage going all wrong for 2 decades until I suddenly made it back to the confessional.

(PS. Happy cake day BoomBoom)
 
Last edited:
I would actually question why they wouldn’t WANT to receive confession prior to the marriage, knowing they have done wrong. And if they don’t know they have done wrong, of course they won’t go to confession and in fact the sin would be grave not mortal.

All I know is when I have sinned I have trouble even going to Mass without confession, let alone partaking of any sacraments. The shame is enough to keep my head down and my heart heavy.

Very interesting replies in the thread though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top