No confession before First Communion

[FrancescaMaria]

Hello,
I was baptized Protestant, but was raised atheist in a country where religious education was forbidden. I was confirmed and received my First Communion in America after taking a few classes and attending a bible study. At that time, nobody advised me to make my first Confession. In fact, I think I was told it was only for those who were baptized Catholics; those baptized Protestant needed to first be received into the church. I received no instruction on the sacrament of penance at all. After about six months of receiving communion, I approached a priest for my first confession, and he told me to just tell him what I want to work on now (i.e. now that I know there is a loving God and what his Commandments are) and go from there. So I did, and I have been practicing regularly for almost 30 years now. However, now I am hearing and reading everywhere that baptized Protestants are allowed (even required) to make a confession of all their sins since baptism before they are received into the church. I don’t know if I could now remember my childhood and teenage sins, and assess when exactly I started believing and developing conscience. I am now really confused and feel guilty that I never made that first general confession, and the idea that I might have received all the sacraments in a state of sin is really scary for me. I used to love my spiritual journey, but now I have some serious doubts about the state of my soul. I was wondering, if anyone might have any thoughts on that or have a similar experience. Thank you.

 

[1ke]

Francesca, it’s not a sin to have received the sacraments in good faith. If you were not instructed properly, that fault does not lie with you.

What you can do now is make an appointment to talk to your pastor about it and do a general confession if he deems it appropriate.

 

[Wesrock]

You did not know and don’t seem to have been properly catechized on that issue. It seems like you have not committed any mortal sin, as the criteria was not met.

Confession is for all sins remembered and forgotten. In your next confession, I suggest bringing this up with the priest, if you think it will help, and it’s his guidance you should be seeking on an issue that troubles you this much, not anonymous people on a message board. But don’t feel anxious! Don’t second guess!

 

[Joe_5859]

Francesca, it’s not a sin to have received the sacraments in good faith. If you were not instructed properly, that fault does not lie with you.

What you can do now is make an appointment to talk to your pastor about it and do a general confession if he deems it appropriate.

Excellent advice.

 

[FrancescaMaria]

Thank you very much for your answers, I am definitely planning to bring this up with my priest in my next confession. I just wanted to know if this is a common problem, and how it is usually dealt with. Thank you.

 

[corsair]

I was never Baptized until I was 30 years old, which is when I converted from hedonism to the Catholic church. Imagine 30 years of sin being washed away with one Sacrament. The next week, however, I had to go to confession. (bad habits are tough to break).