Sacrilegious Confirmation? Please help

[francesco920]

For some reason I’ve been thinking about my confirmation today, and I realized that I might have committed sacrilege when I received it. I just turned 15 when I received it and now I am about one month away from being 18. At the time, I knew very little about Catholicism and didn’t know what Confirmation was. I just came back to the faith this year and started going to Confession in Lent. I never thought about whether or not I was in the state of grace when I was confirmed. (When I got confirmed I didn’t even know what the state of grace was…shows how sad my CCD program was.) Anyway, I know that if indeed I committed this sin it is already forgiven by my first confession I had this year, but I know that mortal sins that are remembered have to be confessed even if they were previously forgotten.

To get to my question though: If I really cannot remember whether or not I received the sacrament of Confirmation in the state of grace, should I confess that I committed a sacrilege? I am pretty sure I was committing sins that were at least objectively mortally sinful at the time (such as masturbation) but I am also pretty sure that I did not know they were mortally sinful at the time. I don’t think I even knew what mortal sin was. As you can see, my memory is fuzzy. I hope I’m not being scrupulous. Perhaps I should confess that I might have received the sacrament unworthily?

I’m really not quite sure what to do about this.

Thanks.

 

[DebChris]

I do not know that you committed any sin. Confirmation is Sacrament of Initiation. Do set up an appointment with your parish priest for confession. Discuss with him what you are experiencing. He is a much better guide than I would be.

 

[Grace_Angel]

I do not know that you committed any sin. Confirmation is Sacrament of Initiation. Do set up an appointment with your parish priest for confession. Discuss with him what you are experiencing. He is a much better guide than I would be.

Good advice given by DebChris, however, apart from reiterating that you go and see your parish priest, or the priest who has helped you to return to the faith, please be very careful about scrupulosity. It is an insidious trap.
GraceAngel.

 

[THurifer2]

I know that if indeed I committed this sin it is already forgiven by my first confession I had this year, but I know that mortal sins that are remembered have to be confessed even if they were previously forgotten.

Thanks.

That is not correct. When a priest absolves you from sin that is it…PERIOD. It may however be helpful to get a spiritual director and discuss those past sins. Your confirmation was valid, Sacrilige is an intentional act.

 

[SiouxsieQ]

I recently went through something similar. I had my first communion this past Friday after Confession the week before. Right after I took Communion I remembered lots of mortal sins. I panicked. I asked my uncle/Godfather, who is a priest, if my First Communion was sacrilegious. He said that as long as you confess all remembered sins all of your sins are forgiven. You are OK. You did not know then, and you were young. Even if it was sacrilege then, you have been forgiven.

 

[promethius95945]

[sacrilage question]

The three qualifications of sin:

1. Moral Understanding (You have the mental capacity to understand that something is right or wrong and shouldn’t be done) This was present at the age of fifteen
2. Moral KNOWLEDGE (you know that this specific case is wrong and offensive to the Lord, your God) This, according to how you have recounted the situation, was not present in your case.
3. Deliberate action (despite your knowledge that what you are about to do is wrong and offensive to God, you deliberately and of your own will choose to engage in that action) Granted you didn’t even know what sacrilage and a state of grace are, this is a very unlikely situation.

You should be okay, but i would still seek out your priest for counsel if it bothers you.

 

[Evan]

For the reception of sacraments, the grace received is based on the disposition of the one receiving the sacrament.

If you were confirmed when you were not disposed to receive grace, that grace would become available when you had confessed your sins and your internal disposition opened your heart to receive the grace.

Similarly in marriage. The grace of marriage is available throughout the marriage, but your disposition changes over time. Try to remain open to God’s grace throughout your marriage so you may constantly avail yourself of the grace offered by God.

Repeatable sacraments work differently. The grace can only be received at the time of the sacrament eg communion, anointing of the sick, confession. You cannot go to confession, confess a sin but in your heart intend to continue in that sin (thus not being properly disposed – an example is co-habitation) then later have a change of heart. After the change you must re-confess the sin, for it was not forgiven.