No reconciliation before first communion?

[AmericanRose]

When I was in second grade, the priest we had at our parish was not the best, I will leave it at that. Anyway, I didn’t get my first reconciliation before my First communion. I went to reconciliation in fifth grade, and a big deal was made of it. Since then, we received a priest who returned to the way you’re supposed to do it. I am 17 now, but I still wonder if my first communion was valid?

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

Communion is communion unless you go to a Mass where a priest doesn’t consecrate the hosts or use previously consecrated hosts it doesn’t matter.

Also, in the Greek church children receive communion at Baptism. They cannot confess.

 

[Spencerian]

Hi. If you have been to Confession since that time, it shouldn’t be an issue. While that priest might have missed something in the process, you’re not the one responsible for resolving it if the Church has otherwise recognized your membership and you have stayed in good standing. If you still have concerns, just ask your priest about it.

 

[DignumEtJustum]

I’m sure your first communion was fine. I sometimes wonder the same about mine and even if I was in a state of grace for my confirmation but to begin to worry along those lines is futile because many are probably in this same boat today. Some of the others I received these sacraments with have really gone off the deep end in recent years.

 

[Joe_5859]

As @Xanthippe_Voorhees said, the validity of your First Communion doesn’t depend on you but on the priest. So long as the priest does what priests do, the Eucharist would have been the Eucharist.

Now, Communion is not like certain other sacraments that can only be received once. It’s not as though your receiving First Communion prior to First Reconciliation negates the Communion and means that you cannot receive Communion again until you make a proper “First Communion”. All that would be necessary for you (as for anyone) is to go to Confession, and then go to Mass and receive Communion.

In this case, though, this isn’t even something that was your fault nor is it something that you had control over. So it would be no sin of yours.

So don’t worry over it too much. You’re in good shape now, which is what matters.

 

[bquinnan]

The bread and wine become the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord at consecration – the state of the communicant’s soul has nothing to do with it. So you received the Eucharist.

It is a sin to knowingly receive the Eucharist when not in a state of grace, but how would a second-grader know about that unless they were told? My guess is that it’s relatively rare for a second-grader to be in a state of mortal sin, as they would need to not only commit a grave sin, but do so knowingly and willfully. However, it is technically possible, since they are presumed to be at the age of reason, and that’s why one’s first Confession ought to take place before First Communion.

If somehow you were not in a state of grace at the time of your First Communion and received it anyway, that wasn’t your fault. You did not deliberately profane the Body of our Lord by receiving him unworthily. It probably wasn’t even your parents’ fault, as they were likely assuming that the way things were being done was the right way.