Receiving Communion with a mortal sin

[TaizeDisciple]

Okay so the problem is that I didn’t go to confession since I was 8 years old.
I was required to go there once in order to receive my first communion.

I didn’t really have a reason to go there again so I didn’t until now.

This summer I’ll have confirmation and during the preparation for that I rebuilt my relationship with god and learned a lot about catholicism.

But in between receiving communion at the age of 8 and now I didn’t really think a lot about god or the church and for about a year when I was like 12 I started to believe in other gods and EVEN PRAYED TO THEM.
During that time I would feel very bad every time I attended church (which I had to because at that time my younger sister was receiving communion) because I kind of knew that i was commiting a grave sin but not really.

I didn’t know about mortal sin and such but I knew the prayers I did for those other gods were contradicting to what I said and prayed during mass.

It was really hard for me and I felt bad so one day I broke down crying talking to a friend and since then I quitted those other gods and spiritual things and became fully christian even though I didn’t attend mass regularly.

Only recently I started attended mass weekly again because of my upcoming confirmation and I have been receiving communion everytime I attended mass since I was eight EVEN THOUGH I commited that mortal sin about 3 years ago.

I want to go to confession but my priest knows that I have been receiving communion which is not allowed with a mortal sin so I don’t know what to do.

Is it that big of a deal? Can I still go to confession?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Yes, you can and should go to confession. Discuss the situation with your confessor.

If you are concerned or embarrassed about your parish priest hearing your sins, remember that he hears a lot of confessions, may not recognize you behind the screen, and in any event will likely forget the whole thing the minute he leaves the room. If you’re still concerned, go to another confessor.

 

[Avila123]

Tis_Bearself has given sound advice. On a personal note, I committed moral sin and received holy communion because i did not know that I had committed any mortal sins. When I started to understand, fear and shame took hold, but in the confessional box I received God’s mercy, loving kindness and forgiveness. No judgement or condemnation, just a meeting of healing and love. I left feeling lighter and could move forwards in faith - reconciled to God and his Church.

 

[dconklin]

I committed moral sin and received holy communion because i did not know that I had committed any mortal sins.

Moral or mortal sin? If your asking about mortal is it really a mortal sin if you did not know it was a mortal sin? Sure, it may have been grave but did you know it was a mortal sin when you did it and did you deliberately do it?

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Just from a light reading of your OP your parents kind of dropped the ball by not taking you to confession regularly.
Plus you were very young when all this went down.
Get to confession, explain the situation, the priest has heard everything before, get your absolution and don’t look back.

Peace!

 

[Avila123]

No it wasn’t deliberate - it was not knowing that I was doing wrong. Once I knew and accepted that I went to the sacrament of reconciliation. The first step in the gentle process was discovering I had done wrong or sinned, rejecting it, then after a battle with truth, I emerged with full knowledge. Then I was able to go for forgiveness, mercy and healing.

 

[TheLittleLady]

When I am embarrassed to go to confession, I remember St Damien of Molokai.

As the only priest, he had to wait until the Bishop would visit to go to Confession. There came a time when the fear of catching/spreading leprosy was so bad that the government would not allow the Bishop to go ashore at Molokai, nor would they allow Fr Damien to board the ship.

So, Fr Damien rowed out in small boat. While the Bishop stood on the deck of the large ship, Fr Damien shouted his confession to the Bishop.

If you have ever spent time around a body of water, you know that sound carries farther over water than on land. People in other boats, on the deck of the ship and on the shore all heard the priest’s confession, yet, Fr Damien knew that this sacrament was more important than the public embarrassment.

Ask St Damien to pray that you have courage to confess your sins.