Is this what the Church teaches?

[JD27076]

I heard you have to be in a state of grace before going to communion. If I pray to God for my forgiveness of Mortal and Venial Sins…THEN Will I be in a state of grace or is it by the Priest we are in a state of grace?

 

[mwok]

Especially for Mortal Sins you have to see a priest who then acting as Christ absolves your sins and reunites you with the Father.

 

[George_Stegmeir]

Confession is a must for mortal sins and strongly advisable for a large number of venial sins before receiving Holy Communion.

 

[Anathama_Sit]

I heard you have to be in a state of grace before going to communion. If I pray to God for my forgiveness of Mortal and Venial Sins…THEN Will I be in a state of grace or is it by the Priest we are in a state of grace?

Greetings JD27076,

Yes you have to be a in a state of grace before going to Communion.

The other posters have posted going to Confession before going to Communion. And this is correct.

Some people may be able to make a Perfect Act of Contrition which does wipe away the eternal guilt that their mortal sins incurred, however this does not preclude or do away with the obligation of going to Confession to confess the mortal sins. An Perfect Act of Contrition is made with the intention of going to Confession as soon as possible. To make an Act of Perfect Contrition is a grace. One must be sorrowful for their sins for no other motive than because their sins offended the love of God.

If I am wrong, please let me know guys. I have problems expressing thoughts sometimes and it may come out confusing. I shall look up some sources and when I find them I shall post them back to this thread.

God bless.
Anathama Sit

 

[mwok]

Greetings JD27076,

Yes you have to be a in a state of grace before going to Communion.

The other posters have posted going to Confession before going to Communion. And this is correct.

Some people may be able to make a Perfect Act of Contrition which does wipe away the eternal guilt that their mortal sins incurred, however this does not preclude or do away with the obligation of going to Confession to confess the mortal sins. An Perfect Act of Contrition is made with the intention of going to Confession as soon as possible. To make an Act of Perfect Contrition is a grace. One must be sorrowful for their sins for no other motive than because their sins offended the love of God.

If I am wrong, please let me know guys. I have problems expressing thoughts sometimes and it may come out confusing. I shall look up some sources and when I find them I shall post them back to this thread.

God bless.
Anathama Sit

I’ve heard of this too. Sounds right to me.

 

[Miriam1947]

I heard you have to be in a state of grace before going to communion. If I pray to God for my forgiveness of Mortal and Venial Sins…THEN Will I be in a state of grace or is it by the Priest we are in a state of grace?

Until you complete RCIA and are received into the CC you will not be receiving communion anyway. So don’t worry about it now. You will go to confession first (unless you are being baptized).

 

[Heuchler]

Well the church teachings say that you can only go to communion if you are free of mortal sins. There are 2 ways in which we achieve this state of Grace

1. Is to simply go to confession which you will be able to partake in after RCIA. You simply lay out your sins and receive forgiveness.
2. This one is harder and is not a sure-fire way. You have to have perfect contrition and regret of that sin. However, you will probably not know if you have a perfect contrition and meaning that its a lot easier and reassuring to just go to confession.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

JD-
If it helps, the Biblical rationale for this is in I Corinthians 11:27-29. And although Paul says “examine yourself”, we understand this to mean exactly that - examining ourselves; not that we can then remove any impediment (sin) on our own except as the other posters have described. Some Protestant sects will interpret “examine yourself” as “pray for forgiveness alone” - which makes sense to them since they don’t acknowledge sacramental reconciliation.

 

[Suslar]

Setting the more serious sins aside (as they were already addressed above), venial sins are actually forgiven in the context of the Holy Mass beginning with praying the Confiteor . . . .

 

[Anathama_Sit]

Setting the more serious sins aside (as they were already addressed above), venial sins are actually forgiven in the context of the Holy Mass beginning with praying the Confiteor . . . .

Greetings Suslar,

Yes that is one of the many blessings of the Eucharist. Eucharist remits all venial sins.

Though it does not hurt at all to confess the Venial Sins at Confession, it is most helpful in breaking vices and learning virtues.

God bless.
Anathama Sit

 

[Anathama_Sit]

Greetings Heuchler and JD27076

Well the church teachings say that you can only go to communion if you are free of mortal sins. There are 2 ways in which we achieve this state of Grace

1. Is to simply go to confession which you will be able to partake in after RCIA. You simply lay out your sins and receive forgiveness.
2. This one is harder and is not a sure-fire way. You have to have perfect contrition and regret of that sin. However, you will probably not know if you have a perfect contrition and meaning that its a lot easier and reassuring to just go to confession.

Heuchler’s number 2 is putting what my first post in this thread said very concisely. I wanted to say that Heuchler’s number 1 is the ordinary way [or most common way] for Mortal Sins to be forgiven.

There is a third way that Mortal Sins can be forgiven, but this way as well as an Act of Perfect Contrition are extraordinary ways [meaning they are less common than Confession] for Mortal Sins to be forgiven. The third is matrydom for the faith. I had forgotten to write that down as well.

God bless.
Anathama Sit