First Catholic Communion Eligibility at Saturday Vigil

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Senecus

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Hello,

Can communion be received at the Saturday Holy Vigil mass, for RCIA candidates under the following scenario:
Was baptized at age 13, using the Trinitarian Formula, in a non Catholic church,
Completed the RCIA program,
Been through the rites of the Vigil service for new members (including confirmation),
But, not having received the sacrament of reconciliation (I’m assuming, one has to be a full, confirmed member to confess to a priest).
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So, would my prior (to conversion) prayers to God the Father, confessing my sins (including mortal sins), be sufficient? Or is there an implied confession/forgiveness of sins via the Confirmation sacrament? Or is there a congressional or corporate forgiveness via Vigil service (as is the custom at Lutheran churches)?

All the above predicated by the senior priest advising communion is offered to all RCIA candidates during the Holy Saturday Vigil.

Any clarification is appreciated. Thanks much.
 
As a candidate, you will go to Reconciliation before your reception into the Church.

To receive any sacrament, including Confirmation, one must be in a state of grace. Confirmation does not remit mortal sin.

Usually a week or two before you are scheduled to be received, confirmed, and admitted to the Eucharist.

Your RCIA coordinator and/or priest will guide you through the steps.
 
Thank you 1ke, even for an older guy like me, there’s a lot to learn.
 
I’m not sure why your question relates specifically to the first Mass of Sunday on Saturday evening. If you are eligible to receive Holy Communion in the Catholic Church you can receive it at any Mass (subject to the limit on the number of times per day you can receive).

From the information in your OP it would seem that you have been received into full communion with the Catholic Church; therefore, you are now a Catholic. So, you can receive Holy Communion in the Catholic Church (subject, of course, to the fact you’re not subject to any canonical penalty that prohibits you from receiving).

Like all Catholics you should not receive Communion if you know you are in a state of mortal sin. If you know you are in a state of mortal sin you must go to sacramental confession before you can take Communion.

General absolution is only given in the Catholic Church in very rare and grave circumstances, e.g. a large number of Catholics on a plane that is going to crash and there’s only one priest on board who obviously wouldn’t have time to hear everyone’s individual confession.
 
Senecus said:
Hello,

Can communion be received at the Saturday Holy Vigil mass, for RCIA candidates under the following scenario:
Was baptized at age 13, using the Trinitarian Formula, in a non Catholic church,
Completed the RCIA program,
Been through the rites of the Vigil service for new members (including confirmation),
But, not having received the sacrament of reconciliation (I’m assuming, one has to be a full, confirmed member to confess to a priest).
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you need to direct your question to the pastor of the Catholic parish where you will be received into the Church. He will know the approved practice in your diocese for reception into full communion for baptized non-Catholics. Yes it can be done during the Easter Vigil. NO you are not properly disposed for either First Communion or Confirmation unless and until you have made a sacramental confession, in private, to a priest and received absolution. A communal penance service sets the stage for, but does not replace, individual confession to a priest.
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puzzleannie said:
you need to direct your question to the pastor of the Catholic parish where you will be received into the Church. He will know the approved practice in your diocese for reception into full communion for baptized non-Catholics. Yes it can be done during the Easter Vigil.
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OP has already stated he’s been received into the Church.
 
I don’t know what country OP is located in. The National Statutes for the Catechumenate for the US . “Reception Into Full Communion” begins on page 367. A Candidate may be received into the Church during any Holy Mass. I myself was received during a weekday Mass.

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops state (page 368 number 33)
"it is preferable that receptions into full communion not take place at the Easter Vigil,,"
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Code: 
  Number 30
"…reception into full Catholic communion should be determined according to the individual case, that is, it should depend on the extent to which the baptized person has led a Christina life within a community of faith and been appropriately catechized to deepen his or her inner adherence to the Church… Number 21…Those baptized persons who have lived as Christian and need only instruction in the Catholic tradition and a degree of probation within the Catholic community **should not be asked to undergo a full program parallel to the catechumenate. **
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See also page 275 “Reception of Baptized Christians Into Full Communion of the Catholic Church”
This is the liturgical rite by which a person born and baptized in a separated ecclesial Community is received, according to the Latin rite, into the full communion of the Catholic Church. **The rite is so arranged that no greater burden than necessary is requires for the establishment of communion and unity. **
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The intention is that a baptized Christian be received into full communion as soon as it is deemed they are ready, without unnecessary delay.

I’m unclear how a baptized Christian was confirmed in the Catholic Church without in the same Mass receiving First Holy Eucharist. What is “rites of the Vigil service for new members”?

If OP is in the US then his/her parish isn’t following what the National Conference of Catholic Bishops has established. Nothing new there. A great many parishes don’t follow what the Bishops have set forth.
 
Imho (my wife is about to convert) the required recent process for a baptized person to be admitted into the Roman Catholic Church
  • sufficient catechesis (RCIA; the pastor of the parish has the legal obligation for this related to the communion and confirmation)
  • ‘Confession of Faith’ (this is reciting a formula about the Catholic faith in the presence of a priest; I still do not know the details)
  • sacramental person to person to a priest confession of all mortal sins committed after the baptism
  • communion and confirmation in any order. (both requires previous confession)
The communion could be private, the confirmation by my knowledge is administered in the Easter Vigil Liturgy for the new accepted together with the newly baptized. Also there are regular adult confirmation times in most dioceses.
 
puzzleannie said:
no he did not state that, his OP is very confusing as to timing. he says he completed instruction, not that he has had the sacraments.
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1ke said:
I think you misread the OP. He is talking in the future tense, about the scenario that *will *happen at Easter Vigil.
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Sorry, my apologies. I read the OP’s bullet point: “Been [past tense] through the rites of the Vigil service for new members (including confirmation)” but not linked it with OP’s preamble: “Can communion be received at the Saturday Holy Vigil mass, for RCIA candidates under the following scenario:”, which, of course, puts the whole thing in the future.:o

So, what I’ve already said on this matter is redundant.😃

I’ve never had experience of RCIA. I sometimes wonder though at the “quality” of the instruction given when you see how many posts there are on the forum asking this type of question. I would presume that all this should be explained to the convert/candidate in RCIA/instruction.🤷
 
Matthew_Holford said:
I’ve never had experience of RCIA. I sometimes wonder though at the “quality” of the instruction given when you see how many posts there are on the forum asking this type of question. I would presume that all this should be explained to the convert/candidate in RCIA/instruction.🤷
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It is all explained, but not all at once. It will be explained numerous times as the process goes on, step by step.

A lot of people on here (not necessarily the OP) start out asking about 20 questions all at once about how everything works and they’ve only been to 1 or 2 sessions-- or they haven’t even contacted the RCIA coordinator yet!
 
Thanks everyone, for the responses to my initial question, and let me offer my apology for writing in a confusing way, by mixing present & future tenses.

To clarify, I am presently going through the RCIA process, which commenced in September and (God willing), will finish at the Easter Vigil mass. Catachumens will receive three sacraments, and the rest of the class will receive the other two.

The program for Baptized Christians and non-Christians is the same, as far as I can tell. A one-half year step-by-step program using Michael Pennock’s abbreviated catechism for adults. In our class of aprox 30 members, we have a mix of Christians, non-churched, and a couple borderline sects. But, we have not been advised (yet) of prerequisites for that concluding event, hence the reason for my original question.

Thanks again.
 
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