In A State Of Grace?

[ChristopherM]

My Wife and I had been away from the church for awhile, and we are coming back, (my full story is on my blog in my Sig.) We were not married int he church but in a civil ceremony… we are currently working on getting a convalidation but until them how can we be in a state of Grace?

We have been attending Mass regularly now, and even had confession once or twice… While we are striving to live “as Brother and Sister” we sometimes Fail and have our Martial embrace.

We have not been receiving communion at all even after our confessions as we are under the belief that as we are still married civilly we are not In a state of Grace to receive communion.

With Divine Mercy Sunday coming up and the completion of the Divine mercy novena should we continue to make spiritual communion, or If we attend Confession and do not commit Mortal Sins after are we in a State of Grace to receive our lord?

I hope I have came across clearly but if not I will be more than happy to answer any other questions.

Thanks

Christopher

 

[catholicmessage]

After you have confessed your sins and completed your penance, you are in the state of grace. This assumes that you have firmly resolved to avoid your sins in the future. If your intention was sincere, and you really try to avoid sex, then your confession is valid, and you may receive the Eucharist.

If you should fall, you must confess your sin again before receiving Eucharist. Being married civilly is not a sin, so long as you realize that a valid marriage is necessary and you are attempting to have your marriage blessed by the Church.

Please do not abstain from the Eucharist if you are in the state of grace. The Eucharist gives you tremendous grace that can help you live chastely as you await the validation of your marriage.

 

[steve_green_2]

After you have confessed your sins and completed your penance, you are in the state of grace. This assumes that you have firmly resolved to avoid your sins in the future. If your intention was sincere, and you really try to avoid sex, then your confession is valid, and you may receive the Eucharist.

If you should fall, you must confess your sin again before receiving Eucharist. Being married civilly is not a sin, so long as you realize that a valid marriage is necessary and you are attempting to have your marriage blessed by the Church.

Please do not abstain from the Eucharist if you are in the state of grace. The Eucharist gives you tremendous grace that can help you live chastely as you await the validation of your marriage.

This is not correct. Once you have gone to confession you may recieve the eucharist even if you have not finished your penance the priest gave you to do.

 

[catholicmessage]

This is not correct. Once you have gone to confession you may recieve the eucharist even if you have not finished your penance the priest gave you to do.

Not performing the prescribed penance is a sin. You are correct, however in asserting that the performance of the penance does not remove confessed sins. The act of absolution removes the sin. Perhaps I should have made that distinction. Thanks for bringing that up.

 

[chrysostom15]

Indeed He is Risen!

First, as long as you have made a valid confession since your last mortal sin, you are in a state of grace.

It is possible to be in a state of grace and not be allowed to recieve communion. In terms of the need to be in a state of grace and your situation, the two keys for your current situation are:

1. Not engaging in sexual relations
2. Not giving off the impression that you are married

If you act publically as though you are married, which is often shown by things such as co-habitating, maintaining a civil marriage licence, filing joint taxes, wearing wedding rings, etc… you would still be engaging in a serious sin.

Of course, for a serious sin to be mortal, you’d need to be aware that it is a serious sin, and still choose to do it. Likewise, to the degree that decisions were made in the past that were wrong, it may make things even more complicated.

If you do not engage in sexual relations, and do not give off the appearance of being married, you may be allowed Communion in private or possibily even in public, depending on the situation. You’re sort of in a pastoral situation, where some things need to be determined by you talking with your priest.

My Wife and I had been away from the church for awhile, and we are coming back, (my full story is on my blog in my Sig.) We were not married int he church but in a civil ceremony… we are currently working on getting a convalidation but until them how can we be in a state of Grace?

We have been attending Mass regularly now, and even had confession once or twice… While we are striving to live “as Brother and Sister” we sometimes Fail and have our Martial embrace.

We have not been receiving communion at all even after our confessions as we are under the belief that as we are still married civilly we are not In a state of Grace to receive communion.

With Divine Mercy Sunday coming up and the completion of the Divine mercy novena should we continue to make spiritual communion, or If we attend Confession and do not commit Mortal Sins after are we in a State of Grace to receive our lord?

I hope I have came across clearly but if not I will be more than happy to answer any other questions.

Thanks

Christopher

 

[stbruno]

Wait until receiving communion until you have your marriage convalidated. It will be an exciting moment, because more than likely if you have your marriage validated during a nuptial mass, you will be receiving it together for the first time. Continue to receive it spiritually. Hopefully you wont’ have to wait much longer!

God bless you!

 

[ChristopherM]

Thanks for the reply’s everyone

The plan was not to have a mass for the convalidation as that would require more time and funds… we are trying to get it done as soon as possible.

We shall continue to wait… just wanted the full Grace of divine mercy Sunday

 

[puzzleannie]

My We have been attending Mass regularly now, and even had confession once or twice… While we are striving to live “as Brother and Sister” we sometimes Fail and have our Martial embrace.

We have not been receiving communion at all even after our confessions as we are under the belief that as we are still married civilly we are not In a state of Grace to receive communion.
r

this is a matter for each of you to discuss individually with the priest in confession. no one here is competent to say whether or not you are in a state of grace. we can give you references for relevant Church teaching, which you already know, but cannot apply it to an individual circumstance.