May I receive the Eucharist without confession with the priest's permission?

[Holly3278]

Hi everyone. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Mass and I needed to go to confession before receiving the Eucharist. It was a weekly Mass. Well, the priest told me to wait until after Mass for confession and that I could still receive the Eucharist since I fully intended to go to confession as soon as possible. Is this ok?

 

[SimonArizona]

Hi everyone. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Mass and I needed to go to confession before receiving the Eucharist. It was a weekly Mass. Well, the priest told me to wait until after Mass for confession and that I could still receive the Eucharist since I fully intended to go to confession as soon as possible. Is this ok?

My father told me that once, However that is* not* what I do. Last time I did that, I felt very guilty and received no grace at all.

I went to confession yesterday, and waited in line so long that I had to leave to go to work, even though I went with full intention and did my best to reconcile, it didn’t happen. So at Mass I will receive spiritual communion. My sins were done in my flesh, and I will be forgiven by flesh (priest) before I receive the flesh of Christ.-My opinion

 

[LilyM]

Hi everyone. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Mass and I needed to go to confession before receiving the Eucharist. It was a weekly Mass. Well, the priest told me to wait until after Mass for confession and that I could still receive the Eucharist since I fully intended to go to confession as soon as possible. Is this ok?

No, Canon law is very clear:

“Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to … receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is *a grave reason *and there is no opportunity to confess;…”

Someone who is heading off into battle and may be killed before they have another opportunity to receive the Eucharist, or who is on their deathbed, or lives in such a remote place that they only have the opportunity to receive communion once or twice a year, THEY have grave reason, and it is for such situations that this extraordinary rule exists.

You didn’t, and I’m sorry that your priest wrongly advised you.

 

[Lux_et_Tenebrae]

Hi,

Your Priest is your spiritual advisor.

I bring Holy Communion to the hospital, and most areas are not private enough for confession. We were told that it is right to give Communion if the person has the intention to confess as soon as possible.

If you are uncomfortable, don’t do it, but I personally would go with the response from the priest, rather than the internet.

Lux

 

[ForwardProgress]

The bottom line in the above post is one of the most accurate, well thought out posts ever on CAF. It should be a required signature on everyone’s posts.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Hi everyone. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Mass and I needed to go to confession before receiving the Eucharist. It was a weekly Mass. Well, the priest told me to wait until after Mass for confession and that I could still receive the Eucharist since I fully intended to go to confession as soon as possible. Is this ok?

I would say only if you would not have another opportunity to receive Holy Communion for several months.

 

[Lux_et_Tenebrae]

My father told me that once, However that is* not* what I do. Last time I did that, I felt very guilty and received no grace at all.

Hi,

And I’m sorry for your distress.

Feelings do not negate grace. You may not have felt it, but the grace was there. You did not intentionally do anything wrong. You were given advice, and you followed it. If after careful discernment and spiritual advice, you feel this is not what you should have done, that is fine, but sin is not retroactive.

You did not have the elements for sin—serious matter, sufficient reflection and full consent.

You received in good faith. Guilty feelings, whether or not they are founded, may deminish your peace, but feeling in itself cannot negate grace.

Lux

 

[Walking_Home]

No, Canon law is very clear:

“Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to … receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is *a grave reason *and there is no opportunity to confess;…”

Someone who is heading off into battle and may be killed before they have another opportunity to receive the Eucharist, or who is on their deathbed, or lives in such a remote place that they only have the opportunity to receive communion once or twice a year, THEY have grave reason, and it is for such situations that this extraordinary rule exists.

You didn’t, and I’m sorry that your priest wrongly advised you.

---

Ditto.

 

[LilyM]

Hi,

Your Priest is your spiritual advisor.

I bring Holy Communion to the hospital, and most areas are not private enough for confession. We were told that it is right to give Communion if the person has the intention to confess as soon as possible.

If you are uncomfortable, don’t do it, but I personally would go with the response from the priest, rather than the internet.

Lux

Your stance was good enough in days past when we could better trust our priests to be adequately educated and faithful to the Magisterium. Assuming that such days existed.

I know I’ve heard more than enough priests give either advice in the confessional or teaching from the pulpit that was directly contrary to Church teaching that I couldn’t in good conscience advise anyone to simply put faith in what their priest says. God requires obedience, yes, but not in situations where we cannot trust those we are supposed to be obeying, and not contrary to our own well-formed consciences.

Knowing that our priests are way too often often wrong and unfaithful, we cannot any more abrogate our duty to inform our own consciences, nor our duty to obey the collective Magisterium, as expressed in such documents as the Code of Canon Law, rather than one (possibly misguided) priest’s interpretation or misinterpretation of same.

 

[AHapka]

Another point to consider:

Did you inform the priest of the particular sin for which you needed to confess?

Even though you felt you needed confession, he may have judged it venial matter. In which case confession would not have been necissary before receiving.

Just another thing to consider.

 

[palmas85]

Hi everyone. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Mass and I needed to go to confession before receiving the Eucharist. It was a weekly Mass. Well, the priest told me to wait until after Mass for confession and that I could still receive the Eucharist since I fully intended to go to confession as soon as possible. Is this ok?

The obvious question is why would you want to? Unless it was an emergency situation, which I am more or less clueless to come up with, why not confess first and then receive? While receiving is a wonderful thing, and something we should strive for it is not a requirement to receive at every Mass you attend, and I think, just my opinion mind you, that you show much more respect for Christ, the Church and the Mass itself by abstaining from receiving until you are in a state of grace.

Receiving while in a state of mortal sin is not a good thing to do.

 

[jmcrae]

Hi everyone. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Mass and I needed to go to confession before receiving the Eucharist. It was a weekly Mass. Well, the priest told me to wait until after Mass for confession and that I could still receive the Eucharist since I fully intended to go to confession as soon as possible. Is this ok?

The priest has authority over the Sacraments as they are celebrated in his own parish. No lay person has the right to tell him what he ought to do in his own parish; therefore, if he told you it was okay in that instance, then it was okay in that instance.

However (and I’m quite certain that you already realize this) you can’t take that one exception and then apply it as if it were a general rule. You were being given a dispensation for that one situation alone.

I assume you went to Confession directly after the Mass, and that everything is okay, now.

 

[Verbum_Caro]

Lux,

Feelings do not negate grace.

You are right! But neither do feelings *impart *grace where there is none.

You may not have felt it, but the grace was there.

Not if he was in mortal sin before he went to communion.

sin is not retroactive.

Yes, in the sense that he wouldn’t have incurred a new sin by innocently going to communion *if *he didn’t actually know it was sinful to do so. . . but since he was not in the state of grace to begin with he didn’t receive any grace from going to communion.

VC

 

[hamburglar]

The Priest should have allowed you to Confess before Mass. Why did he tell you to wait afterward?

 

[Lux_et_Tenebrae]

Yes, in the sense that he wouldn’t have incurred a new sin by innocently going to communion *if *he didn’t actually know it was sinful to do so. . . but since he was not in the state of grace to begin with he didn’t receive any grace from going to communion.

VC

Hi VC,

I don’t know why I got into this discussion. I prefer never to discuss the sins of others. You do not know the state of another’s soul. I prefer to believe that the 3 elements of sin were not present, so therefore the grace is present. Only God knows for sure.

Guilt over an unintentional situation is not a productive emotion.

Lux

 

[Verbum_Caro]

Hi VC,

I don’t know why I got into this discussion. I prefer never to discuss the sins of others. You do not know the state of another’s soul. I prefer to believe that the 3 elements of sin were not present, so therefore the grace is present. Only God knows for sure.

Guilt over an unintentional situation is not a productive emotion.

Lux

I understand Lux,

But someone can know the state of their own soul. So if SimonArizona determined that he needed to go to confession because he wasn’t in the state of grace, then although he wouldn’t incur sin by going to communion on the advice of his priest if he sincerely believed it to be lawful, it doesn’t mean that he received grace from going to communion.

You stated that it doesn’t matter how he felt receiving communion because his feelings don’t negate the grace from communion. But you may have missed the part that he, presumably, was not in the state of grace in the first place.

But, I’ll let Simon speak to that. My point is that just because one may not be culpable for going to communion without going to confession first, it doesn’t mean that one receives graces from doing so.

VC

 

[DebChris]

The Priest should have allowed you to Confess before Mass. Why did he tell you to wait afterward?

It is common for there to be a line for the confessional even when the priest is the celebrant for the scheduled Mass. That is the main reason for a priest asking a person to return after Mass. This happened to me once. The result was a better confession than would have taken place if I did have the opportunity to receive confession before Mass. The homily provided a reference that I did not otherwise have and completely changed the focus of the confession in a good way.

Hi VC,

I don’t know why I got into this discussion. I prefer never to discuss the sins of others. You do not know the state of another’s soul. I prefer to believe that the 3 elements of sin were not present, so therefore the grace is present. Only God knows for sure.

Guilt over an unintentional situation is not a productive emotion.

Lux

Agreed. We are not called to live in guilt.
As a priest on retreat once said, it was unlikely any of us was in a state of mortal sin, especially if receipt of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a regular part of our lives. Venial sins are forgiven both through reception of the Eucharist as well as the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Going to Confession monthly keeps us from us from developing habits that lead to committing mortal sin. If there are any concerns, the matter can be discussed during your next confession. It is definitely not my place to judge the state of another’s soul. I have my own planks to remove.

 

[Lux_et_Tenebrae]

But, I’ll let Simon speak to that. My point is that just because one may not be culpable for going to communion without going to confession first, it doesn’t mean that one receives graces from doing so.

VC

…and my point is we just don’t know.

Peace,

Lux

 

[Verbum_Caro]

…and my point is we just don’t know.

Exactly. We don’t know the particular case of whether or not someone is in the state of grace, but we do say that *if *someone is not in state of grace they do not receive grace from communion, since it is a sacrament of the living.

VC

 

[hamburglar]

It is common for there to be a line for the confessional even when the priest is the celebrant for the scheduled Mass.

Before every Mass? We only have around 5 people on the scheduled time during Saturday. Sad, I know.