Confession before Eucharist

  • Thread starter Thread starter christianwatson
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

christianwatson

Guest
Hello all.

I was just received into the Catholic church last Sunday. I have a question about confession and communion. I confessed right before my confirmation rite. But do I need to confess before taking communion every Sunday? Given that I confessed the Sunday before, do I need to confess again this Sunday for sins accumulated in the course of the week? My guess is…yes I do.

I’ve had conflicting information about this.

Thanks!
 
If you are failing in deadly sins every week yes. However venial sins can be repaired
with some acts like alms or during the owm mass.
 
You only need to do this if you have unconfessed mortal sins.
 
Minor point: Catholics say we “receive” Communion, not “take Communion”.

With respect to your question, you only need to confess if you think you may be out of a state of grace, in other words you think you committed a mortal sin and need to be absolved to get back in the state of grace to receive.

This is a decision for each individual Catholic to make. It’s my understanding that prior to Vatican 2, a lot of people confessed once a week on Saturday to make sure they were ready to receive Communion at Mass on Sunday. It’s not certain whether they were all in mortal sin or not - it was a habit for them to confess once a week, that’s what they were taught.

Nowadays a lot of people choose to go less frequently to confession. I myself was going about once every month because it is required for the First Saturday devotion to go around the time of First Saturday. Then I started another devotion that requires me to go a little more frequently so I go about twice a month. Of course if I thought I had committed a mortal sin, I go to Confession as soon as possible so I can get back in a state of grace, but if I don’t think I have committed any mortal sins, then I don’t feel a need to confess every week. I also receive Communion at daily Mass many days, so it’s not a matter of being “ready to receive on Sunday” because i am often receiving on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday etc as well.

Some people still choose to go every week. In some cases they may actually be committing grave sins. In other cases they are just keeping up a good habit. But if you haven’t committed a grave, possibly mortal, sin, there is no requirement that you go to confession before receiving communion.
 
Last edited:
OP, were you taught in RCIA that you had to go to Confession before receiving Holly Communion, regardless of whether you had committed a mortal sin?

If you were, so presumng you hadn’t misheard, this is something you need to report to your priest, as it is wrong.
 
As had been pointed out, you likely don’t need to, but confession once a week is a good habit if done well and without taking hubristic pride in it.
 
If you can go frequently, go frequently. Venial sins can certainly be confessed as well. If any of them are habitual, confession will force you to better examine their root, foster contrition and resolve to commit them no more.

Furthermore, it is recommended that one performs an examination of conscience every evening.
 
Last edited:
Hi everyone. Thanks for you replies. Today I tried to confess before mass, but someone was hogging the confessional (ha ha ha!) so I couldn’t. I didn’t go up to receive communion but I did get to confess afterwards.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top