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browser1
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Just went to my first confession today. It’s been a long, long time and I cried a lot, but now I am in a state of grace and tomorrow I can receive Holy communion. I haven’t been so happy for a long time.
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NPC
Guest
Welcome back! That is wonderful! I’m sure I had a similar experience about six months ago when I rediscovered Confession after a long time away. I decided to take the sacrament very seriously, and devote as much time as I needed to proper examination of conscience - to work up sincere contrition for sins which I really needed to confess… That Confession was a scary thing to do at the time because I had never devoted serious time to the examination of conscience beforehand, but the feeling when I came out of the confessional…Amazing! I felt so refreshed & (though perhaps a bit cliche to say this) I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I stayed in the church for the Holy Mass - receiving Holy Communion is always a most august and grace-filled moment, but directly after confessing, it is simply beautiful! Thanks be to God I have kept the habit of going to (at least) monthly Confession. It truly is a great gift.
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jmcrae
Guest
:extrahappy: That’s such wonderful news!!
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millersatthefar
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Congratulations! It feels good to come home. Soak it up and love it but be sure that the Devil is on the prowl for you now that you have escaped his clutches. Take care to avoid the near occasions of sin and frequent the sacraments and the Mass. God Bless You
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Joe_Kelley
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Congratulations and welcome home - Joe K.
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Mike5575
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Congratulations! I can’t wait for my first confession, or first mass. Not to get in anyone’s business or anything, but how exactly is your first mass supposed to go? I am 27, have been a Presbyterian all my life. How would I go about confessing a lifetime full of sins? I’m sure I would miss a few in the confessional. LOL. Not to mention the mortal ones. Those are the most important.
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jmcrae
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The Mass is our service of worship, and it will take place whenever you choose to go. All are welcome to attend. Obviously, you don’t receive Holy Communion yet, and First Confession isn’t for a while yet, so just sit quietly and take it all in. I would recommend not trying to “follow along” the first few times you go - you can get so caught up in “am I doing it right” that you miss the whole experience. So, I would recommend that the first few times, you just sit and listen. (No one will bother you for not following along - and if they do, just tell them it’s your first time, and you’re just visiting.)
One step at a time.
You can go back as many times as you need.
Yes, they are. The best idea is to mention them first. But you don’t need to worry about that for a while, yet. Get started with coming to Mass and coming to RCIA, first. The rest will come in it’s own order, one step at a time - just like how you eat an elephant - one small bite at a time - or how you climb a mountain - one foot before the other, one at a time, until you finally get there.
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Mike5575
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Oh, my bad. I meant first Communion, not mass. I have gone to Mass several times, but have only been able to go to RCIA once.The Mass is our service of worship, and it will take place whenever you choose to go. All are welcome to attend. Obviously, you don’t receive Holy Communion yet, and First Confession isn’t for a while yet, so just sit quietly and take it all in. I would recommend not trying to “follow along” the first few times you go - you can get so caught up in “am I doing it right” that you miss the whole experience. So, I would recommend that the first few times, you just sit and listen. (No one will bother you for not following along - and if they do, just tell them it’s your first time, and you’re just visiting.)
One step at a time.
You can go back as many times as you need.
Yes, they are. The best idea is to mention them first. But you don’t need to worry about that for a while, yet. Get started with coming to Mass and coming to RCIA, first. The rest will come in it’s own order, one step at a time - just like how you eat an elephant - one small bite at a time - or how you climb a mountain - one foot before the other, one at a time, until you finally get there.
As far as first Confession, I’m not sure that helps. I mean, I have never kept a diary of all my sins since I was baptized as a Presbyterian as an infant. I can’t ever hope to come close to confessing half of my sins.
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jmcrae
Guest
I think it’s really a very personal experience for each person. For me, I was really nervous, but I was thankful to be able to be so close to Jesus, for the first time in my life. I don’t think I really felt “different” except that I had a much stronger sense of my responsibility as a believer, to live the right kind of life and be a good example to others.
Once you get going to RCIA on a regular basis, they will set you up with a schedule, and you will have an idea of when things will happen. When we were doing the year-round style, I used to wait until I saw someone three times in a row, before I would get into scheduling and all that, because that’s when I knew they were serious about sticking it out.
The Holy Spirit will help you remember the most serious ones, and anything that you have honestly forgotten about will be covered in the Absolution, as well, so really, there is very little to worry about. You actually have to work quite hard at it to make a “bad Confession” - Confession is one of those things that, if you sincerely intended to do it right, then as far as God is concerned, you did. It’s not a quiz to see how much of your life you can remember. It’s the Prodigal Son, trudging up the road towards his home, and the Father rushing out to meet him, so glad to see him back that he doesn’t even pay any attention to his confession of sins, but is already putting a robe and a ring on him, before he even gets his whole story out.As far as first Confession, I’m not sure that helps. I mean, I have never kept a diary of all my sins since I was baptized as a Presbyterian as an infant. I can’t ever hope to come close to confessing half of my sins.
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NPC
Guest
It sounds to me like a good traditional examination of conscience formula would be of help to you. Of course there may be sins that you will not remember, which is why after you’ve confessed you also beg pardon for any sins which have escaped your memory - if you remember them later, you should confess them though.Oh, my bad. I meant first Communion, not mass. I have gone to Mass several times, but have only been able to go to RCIA once.
As far as first Confession, I’m not sure that helps. I mean, I have never kept a diary of all my sins since I was baptized as a Presbyterian as an infant. I can’t ever hope to come close to confessing half of my sins.
So, in the examination of conscience the first step should be a prayer to the Holy Spirit. Pray that the Spirit will help you to recall your sins and to be honest about your failings. Then you should begin the examination proper by asking yourself how you have obeyed/disobeyed the Ten Commandments and the Precepts of the Church. This examination of conscience formula could be of use to you. When you’ve finished examining your conscience, pray once again, this time for great contrition - without a contrite heart, you cannot resolve to amend your life and avoid habitual sins in the future. Take your time in preparing for Confession & also when you are in the confessional. Don’t be afraid to ask the priest to help you if you are feeling overwhelmed or nervous!
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dnar
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That is great! It was just a few months ago, I went to my first confession. I was so scared, but afterward I was walking on air.
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crenfro
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Praise be to God!!! You just made my day.
Please pray for me.
And many, many blessings to you.
Please pray for me.
And many, many blessings to you.
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datingtrappists
Guest
You have been given very good advise about how first confession is to go. May of 2008 was my very first confession (I, too, converted from the Presbyterian church, PC(USA), to be exact), so I didn’t have a big long list written down of all of my sins and failings. The priest who heard my first confession was very helpful and did all in his power to help me make a complete and honest confession, but I still failed to remember all that I needed to confess… To this day, there are some past sins that I will remember (about every other month, now… at first, it seemed that every week I remembered something I had forgotten), so I have to confess those even after all of this time… When doing so, I’ll let Fr. know that I had recently remembered that I had committed x sin, a long time ago, and had never confessed it, since I had just remembered. When that happens, you don’t need to run to the nearest confessional right then and there, but just make a note of it for when you go to confession again.Oh, my bad. I meant first Communion, not mass. I have gone to Mass several times, but have only been able to go to RCIA once.
As far as first Confession, I’m not sure that helps. I mean, I have never kept a diary of all my sins since I was baptized as a Presbyterian as an infant. I can’t ever hope to come close to confessing half of my sins.
As far as recurrent sins go, you probably wouldn’t remember exactly how many times you committed that particular sin, but just give your best estimate, such as: “I committed x on average 3 times a week” Like jmcrae pointed out with the parable of the Prodigal Son, God isn’t looking to trip you up on a technicality. He is looking for your best effort, and most especially for your repentance. If you have done your best to make a complete and honest confession, then you have very, very little to worry about.
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Monica4316
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how awesome!!
this just made my day hope you have a wonderful Holy Communion. God bless you and welcome back :hug1:- Status