Now that September is here, parents up and down the land are registering their children for First Holy Communion programmes. The children are seven or eight years old, usually, and the programme of sacramental initiation will include, as an integral part, First Confession. At least that is the normal practice. At some moments in the past, and in various places, there were moves to detach First Confession from First Holy Communion, and to give children their first Holy Communion, and leave their first confessions to some later date. This, as far as I know, is now not the custom anywhere, and indeed is not allowed. There is a good article on the subject here, which gives all the references to the authoritative documents.
The reason I am thinking of this matter is because a Catholic couple recently broached the subject with me: their eldest child is of an age to make her first Holy Communion, but they do not see why she should make her first Confession before being admitted to Holy Communion. Why, they ask, can’t the first Confession be deferred?
This presents a problem. In a sense, they have a point. After all, a seven year old is not likely to be in a state of mortal sin, and so is not likely to need to go to Confession. But it is also true to say that the vast majority of people who go to Confession do not go because they need to go. They go for other reasons.
People in a state of grave sin need to go to Confession, and, as we all know, these are just the sort of people who never go to Confession – which explains why they are steeped in sin. Those who live virtuous lives and who confess regularly, by contrast, because of that very fact, are not steeped in sin, and thus do not need to go.
But there is another reason to go to Confession: to go not because you need to go of necessity, to restore the grace of God having lost it, but because it is good for your soul, and above all it is the best way to prepare oneself to receive Holy Communion.
I think this in the end is the best reason why first Confession before first Holy Communion, in that order, needs to be maintained: because there is a natural connection between the sacrament of penance and the reception of the Eucharist. Of course you do not have to go to Confession before you got to Holy Communion, but it would be a good thing if you did, most of the time; it is what is called an act of supererogation: it is not a legal requirement, rather something you do because you want to go the extra mile in the love of God. But when you think about it, the moral and religious landscape would be pretty flat and dull if we were only to do what we were required to do by law: all our best acts are acts we do not because we have to, but because we freely want to do so.
That the practice of Confession has declined so steeply in recent years, at least in England (though not everywhere else), represents one of the most worrying facts about the contemporary Church, and the single most vivid illustration of its decline. Unsurprisingly, Mass attendance has also fallen and will doubtless fall further; one reason for this is because if you separate Confession from Holy Communion, the understanding of both will be impoverished, and people will ask themselves why they bother with either.
Holy Communion, the reception of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, is a major event in our lives. It should never be routine or ‘ordinary’. As such, it requires proper and thorough preparation. If you were to meet an important person, a monarch let us say, (many spiritual writers use this analogy), you would prepare for that, wouldn’t you? Likewise with meeting God: one prepares the soul by Confession. Hence Confession derives its importance, most of the time, from its role as the antechamber to Holy Communion.
If on the other hand Holy Communion is a routine matter, then there is no need for special preparations, and no need for Confession. Conversely, if Confession fades away as a regular practice, Holy Communion, and the sense of the holiness of the sacrament, fades away too.
This linkage between Holy Communion and Confession may seem old fashioned, but it is grounded in the Church’s tradition, and, to my mind, it is something that Saint Pius X wished to see maintained when he encouraged frequent Holy Communion, and Holy Communion for the young. Let us not lose sight of our tradition!
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.