Prayer ever not appropriate?

[Elizastaci]

Question: if a person has fallen from grace, and confession’s not till Saturday…should they abstain from prayers, like the Rosary and the grace before meals, until after confession? I really want to do the right thing and not be disrespectful, but I’m only just starting my prayer life really and I miss it…advice please?

Thank you very much!

 

[LilyM]

Question: if a person has fallen from grace, and confession’s not till Saturday…should they abstain from prayers, like the Rosary and the grace before meals, until after confession? I really want to do the right thing and not be disrespectful, but I’m only just starting my prayer life really and I miss it…advice please?

Thank you very much!

There’s nothing disrespectful about praying in such a situation. We’re commanded, after all, to attend the prayer of the Mass weekly, rain hail shine or unconfessed mortal sin - on pain of *further *mortal sin in fact. And in order to obtain forgiveness through the sacrament of Penance we need to say a prayer - the Act of Contrition.

I’d suggest, though, that you make a sincere Act of Perfect Contrition (which is just your regular Act of Contrition with an added promise to confess as soon as you can) before you say any other prayer.

That (the act of contrition) is like apologising to your mother for breaking her china plate and asking her to forgive you and stop giving you the silent treatment

Confession is something we do to put ourselves to rights regarding the more practical consequences of our sins - for example our unfitness for Holy Communion or other sacraments - so it’s rather like offering to pay for your mother’s broken plate. Doesn’t mean you can’t speak to her before you’ve paid for it!

 

[baltobetsy]

Never stop praying! The only thing you should not do before Confession is receive Holy Communion.

Pray for the grace of true contrition. Pray for the priest who will hear your confession. Pray for the grace not to sin again.

Do all your usual prayers. If you stop because you have committed a sin, at this stage in your life (just beginning to live a life of prayer) it would be very easy to simply slide back into your old life, and you don’t want to do that.

God bless you!

Betsy

 

[baltobetsy]

Oh, and one more thing. When you get to Confession, be sure to ask the priest if what you did is truly a mortal sin. When you are just starting out, it’s easy to be mistaken about the gravity of your sins. The more you can learn, the better.

Betsy

 

[puzzleannie]

Question: if a person has fallen from grace, and confession’s not till Saturday…should they abstain from prayers, like the Rosary and the grace before meals, until after confession? I h!

absolutely not there is never, never a good reason not to pray. we pray for the grace to have perfect contrition, to return to the state of grace, for strength to overcome our temptations, and in gratitude for God’s mercy.

What is disrespectful is to obstinately continue in a sinful state of life, yet all the while pray to God for more favors and blessings, even as we shut ourselves off from his grace deliberately, that is mocking his generosity. Even worse is to pray from something evil, such as praying for the injury of another person, revenge, or for his assistance in our vices.