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Sarcelle
Guest
So I guess my confessions have not been valid. I was raised atheist so I have not kept strict accounting of the sins I have committed both mortal and venial. I do not remember the kind much less the exact number of sins I had committed as an atheist. I am talking decades worth of sins before I started going to confessions regularly.
I am beginning to feel despair.
Well I am going to hell.
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Bookcat
Guest
The Point is sometimes when these sorts of questions are asked people will respond that if the Priest needs to know something they will ask. Now this is true. But confession is not a an interrogation but a confession. * We* are to confess. To accuse ourselves of all our mortal sins and whatever venial sins we are going to directly confess. The Priest is not going to know if one is omitting something serious that one is to confess (unless he has the gift of reading hearts!)- we are to examine and then confess all mortal sins in number and kind. Hence from this perspective it can be misleading to say the Priest guides the confession. We are to confess.
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I hope this is sarcastic.
This type of ‘feeling’ is why I piped in up there.
If a priest needs to know a number that hasn’t been given before absolution, they ask.
I highly doubt there is a person that has gone to regular confession that hasn’t had a priest at some point ask in some way - ‘how often?’
For folks who confess for the first time as adults ‘a lot’ is quite a normal response especially with sins of weakness.
People write from their experiences and don’t always consider there are almost unlimited variations of experiences.
Take care,
Mike
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Guest
A fallen away Catholic who goes to confession for the first time in years might not be informed of anything.
Anything.
So they walk in and say, Father, I’m here, that’s all I know.
Father Larry Richards explains how he guides people through the 10 commandments.
You are not considering where this person who has been absent for x number of years is coming from.
And you come across like she shouldn’t go unless xxxxxxxxx.
That is not the case.
Thus, it is NOT contrary to confessing to be guided by a priest.
Walking in the box is showing God you want to confess!
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Bookcat
Guest
Forgetting a mortal sin or not remember one or not knowing the number does not make a confession invalid.
Not remembering is one of those exceptions I mentioned (tis a kind of impossibility). If I do not know how many times I did mortal sin Y I can approximate according to what I do know -even if it needs to be very general due to not knowing. If I do not remember all mortal sins that were committed - but were seeking to confess all my mortal sins and repent of all - then those that were forgotten are ABSOLVED along with the rest. (If later I remember - oh I committed murder 2x -I forgot to confess that - I am simply to mention that in the next confession).
We are NOT expected to be Mr. Spock - that was 123.56 times Captain.
I am a convert too - and I imagine there are some mortal sins that I do not know I forgot. They too were absolved in confession. That is fine.
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Sarcelle
Guest
Oh okay. That makes me feel better.
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Bookcat
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Nope I simply noted what is required for confession.
I was answering a very particular question.
The question is asked - and so the answer was given… The person is not walking in off the street after many years -they are seeking to form their conscience here on how one is to confess mortal sins.
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Bookcat
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Good.
Ones confessor can guide one - I am giving the general answers regarding confession.
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Personally, I try and go weekly or every two weeks because it’s easier to remember everything (including numbers) in a week or two period.
But more importantly, just as the Eucharist delivers graces, so does confession, so why not get those graces too!
If you are having a crummy day, nothing better than a little grace!
I’ve gone in and said this has been a bad day about the stuff that’s been happening around me or to me, emptying the heart.
Don’t be discouraged. I understand where bookcat is coming from and know the teachings of the Church.
But you are a great example of why I wrote today. I’m glad you chimed in because for an audience on the internet, it’s good to see the effect of our writing.
We have to be careful for how we come across.
It is difficult to not feel bad about past sins prior to a confession, have faith in those words from the priest at the end!
But know you can go in and say that too - ‘Father, I just need to say some things about sins before an earlier confession, they’ve been on my mind and memory’.
He’s not going to say NO!
Take care,
Mike
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Bookcat
Guest
If a person remembers a forgotten mortal sin - they are to confess it in the next confession. So he will say YES! If that was the case.
And even if they were confessed and not forgotten one can mention them again if one wishes. Not cause they are not forgiven but for further healing and grace.
(unless say the person is scrupulous about their confessions and is remembering things say that they do not need to confess or already confessed…but that is an exception)
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ffg
Guest
Good.
I saw how it was going to confuse, as it did for at least one person.
So I wanted to clarify that people have a friend and guide in the priest.
Take care,
Mike
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Totally agree with this.
I’ve had at least 1 where I setup a meeting and went back through life.
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zab
Guest
I did not make any claim at all to whether one was going to hell or not as the person that I replied to did. If one confesses and the priest absolves without asking further questions is that person absolved? If the person is truly sorry and has a firm purpose of amendment, I believe they have been absolved. And my interpretation of my instant healing confirms it in my opinion.Nor is it you who can determine they are not. but more importantly nor can the Church determine what needs to be forgiven. The power to bind and loose was given to Her. How can She exercise it if She does not know the sins She is binding and loosing?
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Deo_Gratias42
Guest
The thing is, that even though a priest says the words of absolution, it is possible for the absolution to not be valid either on the side of the penitent (ie: don’t have a firm purpose of amendment, has wilfully withheld mortal sin or tried to hide it from the priest) or that of the priest (ie: SSPX priests at the moment don’t have jurisdiction to absolve sin so except in danger of death, their absolution is invalid).
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zab
Guest
What does that have to do with my post?
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