Question: I was Baptized
five years ago. I have never been to Confession. I want to confess during the
Great Fast. Is it necessary to remember and tell about what I did before
Baptism? I’ve heard that when a person is Baptized, then he is considered clean
before God and doesn’t need to confess what was before Confession, even if it was
something horrible: I had an abortion. Is this the case? After all, the soul of
my killed child exists all the same. Could Baptism have taken this sin from me?
Do I need to talk about it at Confession?
Answer: In the Mystery of Baptism, man is cleansed of all
sins, regardless of age. “Know ye not,
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His
death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:
knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might
be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is
freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also
live with Him” (Rom. 6:3-8). This truth is consolidated in the Symbol of faith:
“I confess on Baptism for the remission of sins.” St John of Damascus writes:
“Therefore, the forgiveness of sins is give through Baptism to all equally, and
the grace of the Spirit according to the measure of faith and pre-cleansing.”
If a sin (including mortal ones) were after Baptism,
forgiveness is given to man through sincere repentance. St Dimitry of Rostov
writes: “Are sins always forgiven if we repent of them according to the
necessary correction? Always; at the same time, when the sinner calls out to
the Lord with a contrite heart, he is heard by Him, like the publican,
Zacchaeus, Manasseh, David, the sinful woman, etc.
Source: http://ishmaelite.blogspot.com/2010/06/sins-before-baptism.html
CONVERSATION