Help! I might of taken a Sacrament when I wasn't suppose too!

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This is what Fr. Serpa said, “You must be a Catholic to receive the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist.” I know your not suppose to take Eucharist when your not a Catholic. But I went to the Confessional and got a Penance…and I even told my Priest I was not a Catholic. Is the Sacrament still valid?
 
JD27076 said:
This is what Fr. Serpa said, “You must be a Catholic to receive the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist.” I know your not suppose to take Eucharist when your not a Catholic. But I went to the Confessional and got a Penance…and I even told my Priest I was not a Catholic. Is the Sacrament still valid?
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What was the priest’s reaction? Did he pronounce the words of absolution? Or did he give you a general absolution?
 
The Sacrament is valid. The question is if you are unbaptized, would your soul have received the graces of God through the Sacrament? From what the Church teaches, that answer would be no.
 
Are you a non-Catholic who is converting to the Church, or are you a baptized but not yet confirmed Catholic? If the former, did you tell the priest in the confessional that you are not Catholic yet? It seems to me that in preparation for your entering the Church, “practicing” confession (for lack of a better phrase) would not be a bad thing if you are honest with the priest and let him know you are not Catholic yet. If you are a baptized Catholic who simply has not received Confirmation yet, then you are perfectly fine in going to Confession (in fact, you SHOULD be going to Confession if you are in mortal sin).
I have no idea if you committed any sin in attempting to receive the sacrament, since I don’t your intent or the state of your knowledge of the sacraments. If you are truly concerned that you may have done something wrong, bring it up with the priest in charge of your RCIA class.
 
I am Baptized*, but not in the Catholic Church. Oh I dont know anymore :(*
 
JD27076 said:
I am Baptized*, but not in the Catholic Church. Oh I dont know anymore :(*

Relax. You didn’t do anything wrong if you were honest with the priest about not being Catholic. Just talk to your RCIA director or to the priest about what happened.
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JD27076 said:
This is what Fr. Serpa said, “You must be a Catholic to receive the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist.” I know your not suppose to take Eucharist when your not a Catholic. But I went to the Confessional and got a Penance…and I even told my Priest I was not a Catholic. Is the Sacrament still valid?
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What is the use of saying YES. or NO?
Done is done. Period.
 
yes, if you were really baptised, it was valid.

If the original “baptisim” wasn’t valid, you won’t need it anyways, since your conditional baptism will wash away all your sins.
 
JD27076 said:
This is what Fr. Serpa said, “You must be a Catholic to receive the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist.” I know your not suppose to take Eucharist when your not a Catholic. But I went to the Confessional and got a Penance…and I even told my Priest I was not a Catholic. Is the Sacrament still valid?
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I think this is outside of my knowledge… but don’t worry, don’t dwell on this. You can reconfess those sins when you make your first Confession as a Catholic. If you’re getting a conditional baptism, you’ll probably go to Confession anyways before Communion: because it’s conditional. (I think).
 
I did the same thing accidentally. I didn’t realize the rules were the same as Communion. When I realized the mistake I resolved to stay away from Confession until I am received into the Church this Easter.

What’s interesting is that although I was honest with the priest he didn’t stop me. He only asked if I was baptized, which I replied affirmatively(being infant baptized Lutheran). Even though I was infant baptized validly I should have waited since I have been unable to obtain my baptismal certificate and will probably be conditionally baptized this coming spring(haven’t talked with the priest yet).

If you didn’t know better I wouldn’t fret over it but bring it up with the priest and make a resolution to wait until you’re confirmed. God knows the heart.
 
I was baptized as an infant in the UMC, but I have only practiced the Catholic Faith. I did not need to get rebatized when I took my first communion. And it is common for the Children to get their first Reconciliation a half year before their first communion.

I think the Absolution was valid. Whether or not you are suppose to, I don’t know.

One of my old pastor’s, now retired, let someone who couldn’t attend RCIA because of Scheduling issues, Join the church through a confession and a First Communion. She was already validly baptized, and she just did a couple of meetings with the Priest.

You should be able to get a copy of your Baptism Certificate from your old Lutheran Church. My uncle is a non active ordained Lutheran Minister, and I think they pretty much do what Catholics do with Records. I know they are strictly Trinitarian, and no “I baptize you in Jesus’ Name” baptisms
 
JD27076 said:
This is what Fr. Serpa said, “You must be a Catholic to receive the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist.” I know your not suppose to take Eucharist when your not a Catholic. But I went to the Confessional and got a Penance…and I even told my Priest I was not a Catholic. Is the Sacrament still valid?
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If you have been baptized, then the sacrament was valid. Since you are in the process of becoming Catholic, and since reconciliation is not a formal part of the rites of initiation, it is up to the pastor to decide when those who are already baptized are ready to make a confession.
 
Even if you were REALLY baptized? [edited] So my questions is. Will a conditional baptismal wash away all sins even if you were REALLY baptized the first time?
 
JD27076 said:
Even if you were REALLY baptized? [edited] So my questions is. Will a conditional baptismal wash away all sins even if you were REALLY baptized the first time?
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It is called a conditional baptism because there was an uncertainty about the first Baptism taking place, or if it was validly done. Therefore, it needs to be presumed that the first Baptism may have been valid, therefore the Sacrament of Reconciliation is necessary for the forgiveness of mortal sins.
 
JD27076 said:
Even if you were REALLY baptized? [edited] So my questions is. Will a conditional baptismal wash away all sins even if you were REALLY baptized the first time?
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**To answer the initial post - NO. Original sin is ONLY forgiven on a valid Baptism.

Why be concerned bout this when the Sacrament of Reconciliation will take care of any sin(s).

I recommend one not worry about this and receive the Sacrament. In the case of an infant or a child before the age of reason…need not worry.**
 
[edited] I think the order of sacraments you will receive will be the conditional Baptism, followed by Sacrament of Reconciliation, with a conditional absolution.

If your baptism in the previous church was valid, then the Sacrament of Reconciliation will be valid, and that will forgive your mortal sins, and your conditional baptism will be merely symbolic and provide no additional graces.

If your first baptism however was defective, then the sacrament of reconciliation will be unnecessary, as your conditional baptism will be a true baptism, and will indeed wash away all your sins, as well as the temporal punishment due to those sins. You would be in a supreme state of grace, and reconciliation would simply contribute to these graces.

Either way, the conditional baptism will include all the special blessings offered to a Catholic infant or catechuman at baptism, and you will benefit from these additional prayers that were missing from the original baptism.
 
Dorothy said:
It is called a conditional baptism because there was an uncertainty about the first Baptism taking place, or if it was validly done. Therefore, it needs to be presumed that the first Baptism may have been valid, therefore the Sacrament of Reconciliation is necessary for the forgiveness of mortal sins.
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I agree with this…
 
No. Hence such is done privately --prior to the easter vigil. Thus one subsequently makes a confession of all mortal sins since the first potential baptism --prior to Communion of course… (saying that one was just conditionally baptized…thus the sins may have been washed away…hence the term "conditional absolution was in use at least in times past)
 
JD27076 said:
Will a conditional baptismal wash away all sins even if you were REALLY baptized the first time?
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No. You can only be baptised once. As no one knows the actual outcome of conditional baptism you go to confession after conditional baptism.
 
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