Confession before Confirmation

[Computer8]

I know that before being confirmed in the Catholic Church, you must go to confession. Is confession needed because you are in a state of mortal sin or for another reason?

 

[Seatuck]

I know that before being confirmed in the Catholic Church, you must go to confession. Is confession needed because you are in a state of mortal sin or for another reason?

Confession is advised before all sacraments except baptism because the cleaner the soul is the better the reception of the grace. When you are in a state of grace you are very open to communicating with God and receiving his gifts.

 

[Computer8]

Another question:

I’ve heard that mortal sins require some effort to commit. If a person knew about the Catholic Church growing up but decided not to attend Mass until they were 20 years old, would they have to confess (the mortal sins) for all the Masses they’ve missed up to the time they started attending Mass?

 

[CatholicZ09]

I had to go to Confession before Confirmation. I think it’s because you want your soul to be clean and worthy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit when you get confirmed. A sin-filled soul is harder to receive those graces.

 

[puzzleannie]

I know that before being confirmed in the Catholic Church, you must go to confession. Is confession needed because you are in a state of mortal sin or for another reason?

one must be in the state of sanctifying grace in order to receive any sacrament of the Church (other than baptism, which restores that state by removing original sin and all actual sin, and confession which removes all actual sin). Since Confirmation is normally conferred on adults it is assumed that those candidates will have accumulated some sins, and some of those may be grave enough to separate them completely from relationship with Christ, or grace. It would be a rare adult who has gone through life without sinning. It would be a grave injustice to call the candidat to confirmation without first offering him the opportunity for sacramental confession, so he may fully receive and enjoy the graces of confirmation.

 

[CatholicZ09]

Another question:

I’ve heard that mortal sins require some effort to commit. If a person knew about the Catholic Church growing up but decided not to attend Mass until they were 20 years old, would they have to confess (the mortal sins) for all the Masses they’ve missed up to the time they started attending Mass?

This question always bothers me too. I think that if they knew what the Catholic Church actually teached (don’t believe in the lies about it), and they didn’t attend Mass for 20 years, even though they believe that the Catholic Church was the true church, yet they stayed within their religion, then I believe it would be a mortal sin, because you know what the Catholic Church teaches, yet you continue to go to your religion. It’s like choosing the wrong path almost. The person chooses to continue going to their church and not coming to the Catholic Church, so they have full knowledge of their actions, which I believe, it’s a mortal sin when you have full knowledge of what you’re doing is wrong, and you proceed to do it anyways.

 

[puzzleannie]

the mortal sins, which separate us completely from God’s grace, are those which involve grave matter–serious offenses against the commandments–done with full knowledge and free will consent. It must be gravely wrong, you must know it is gravely wrong, you must do it any way without compulsion or force. Those sins must be confessed and absolved before confirmation or first communion, or you do not benefit from the graces of those sacraments (and you commit a sacrilege, an additional sin). That in no way diminishes the validity of the sacrament, which depends on the minister, not you.

 

[cyberwolf001]

Before my Baptism and confirmation Father had me in confession. His reasoning was never too soon to start a good habit.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Another question:

I’ve heard that mortal sins require some effort to commit. If a person knew about the Catholic Church growing up but decided not to attend Mass until they were 20 years old, would they have to confess (the mortal sins) for all the Masses they’ve missed up to the time they started attending Mass?

A person can be guilty only if they choose something. So unless you knew that you were required to attend Sunday Mass and had the ability to get yourself to Mass, you cannot be guilty of not attending Mass. So circumstances do play a role in the guilt. The best place to ask is in the Sacrament of Confession.

 

[Elizabeth502]

So unless you knew that you were required to attend Sunday Mass and had the ability to get yourself to Mass, you cannot be guilty of not attending Mass. So circumstances do play a role in the guilt. The best place to ask is in the Sacrament of Confession.

With regard to Mass attendance, a new member from a different Christian tradition is not bound retroactively by obligations particular to the Catholic tradition.

Nevertheless, this kind of statement always blows me away:

I’ve heard that mortal sins require some effort to commit.

Um, unless the person was extremely poorly catechized, the absolute reverse is true, and I will say it more emphatically: It requires tremendous effort to avoid committing mortal sin after the age of reason. Mortal sin is not just really egregious stuff like adultery, abortion, and major felonies like assault and murder. Mortal sin, and the capital sins that motivate them (pride, envy, anger, avarice, sloth, lust, etc.), underlie much of what we do in the course of everyday life. Not saying that we commit mortal sins daily. No of course not. But we are tempted almost daily to commit mortal sins, and rare is the person who can escape all that temptation in the course of, say, a few months. You have had a better fortress around temptation and sin if you have already been receiving sacraments regularly (frequent Eucharist and Confession), however.

So it’s believable to me that someone consciously cultivating a state of grace and sincere prayer life is generally avoiding mortal sin, but it’s not believable to me that someone not in such regular routine is completing avoiding mortal sin in the span of say, a year. I would never presume to judge who has and hasn’t! Of course! I’m just saying as a theoretical: the more self-reflective one becomes, the more one really examines one’s life, and has a good grasp of the full spectrum of what we are bound to by the commandments and other dimensions of moral theology, the more one sees how much (unfortunately!) we all sin.

 

[turtle18]

You are supposed to go to Confession once a year, more if your sin life involves mortal sin. It would be an extremely rare person who would not fit into at least the once a year category.

I’ve known people who believe they fit into the don’t need to go category because I don’t sin much but I could easily roll off ten sins they committed in just one week.

So even if you subscribe to the pie in the sky notion that it is really hard to commit a mortal sin, you still are supposed to be going at least once a year.