Concerned about mortal sins in confession?

[braeden_mackay]

Hello,

I am very concerned about invalidating and committing a sacrilege when i go to confession Tommorrow. I have several mortal sins that i do not know an exact number for. How should i go about confessing them? And if i don’t say a number, will i still be forgiven or no? I feel so scrupulous when it comes to confessing my sins. For example, say i was prideful or jealous, how am. Supposed to remember the exact number i times i committed that sin? Shouldbi just say that i was Prideful or Jealous? Thanks for your help!

 

[Irish_Cabbie]

Hello,

I am very concerned about invalidating and committing a sacrilege when i go to confession Tommorrow. I have several mortal sins that i do not know an exact number for. How should i go about confessing them? And if i don’t say a number, will i still be forgiven or no? I feel so scrupulous when it comes to confessing my sins. For example, say i was prideful or jealous, how am. Supposed to remember the exact number i times i committed that sin? Shouldbi just say that i was Prideful or Jealous? Thanks for your help!

Just tell the priest exactly what you said above. If you don’t remember the exact number of times that you committed a particular sin, simply say that you committed the sin “a few times” or “often”, whatever the case may be. If you still have concerns, ask the priest to help you make a good confession. He will be glad to help you.

I’ll say a little prayer for you when I go to church tomorrow. God bless.

 

[bben15]

You only have to confess the number of times you committed mortal sins, though it could be healthy to confess the number of times for venial sins as well. Just give a rough estimate. Stating the number is not required for forgiveness.

Relax and calm down. God won’t damn you to hell just because you can’t remember how many times you committed a mortal sin. The important thing is that you repent.

 

[Bookcat]

Hello,

I am very concerned about invalidating and committing a sacrilege when i go to confession Tommorrow. I have several mortal sins that i do not know an exact number for. How should i go about confessing them? And if i don’t say a number, will i still be forgiven or no? I feel so scrupulous when it comes to confessing my sins.

For mortal sins (venial sins do not need any number if they are confessed) – one yes confesses them in number and kind (murder 2x) but* if one does not know the number* -one* may approximate* --one gives the number according to …well what you know. It may be “around 5x” or it may need to be “several times” or “many times” etc.

If one becomes scrupulous --seek out a regular confessor to help one.

(and discuss with the confessor regarding what your thought was mortal --for some things are venial not mortal–so one knows for the next time -some get confused on such)

Your seeking to confess all your mortal sins rightly --know that Jesus loves you and is the Good Shepherd.

 

[George_Stegmeir]

Your best bet in Confession is to be direct. If you try to lessen the offense of your sins by “spin doctoring” them you are just kidding yourself.
You can start by doing a good examination of conscience. You are lucky because you can log on to several computer sites that will help you do just that. Instead of trusting to memory, why not write down your sins and the number of times you think you did them.(not all of us have a memory good enough to remember how many times we did something.)
Take your written list with you into the Confessional…many confessional booths have a light you can turn on…if yours doesn’t, you can hold your list up to the grating separating you and the priest. You can get rid of the list discretely after Confession.
Remember, the unsaid part of atoning for your sins is having to admit that you were wrong through your own fault to both the priest and to G*d. Bear in mind that the priest has heard of everything, no matter how gross! So be direct, to yourself and the priest!

 

[Zekariya]

I just want to mention that you cannot accidentally invalidate your confession. Either you are intentionally covering up your sins or you are not. Don’t worry. If you don’t know the number give an approximate number.

 

[Brendan_64]

Your best bet in Confession is to be direct. If you try to lessen the offense of your sins by “spin doctoring” them you are just kidding yourself.

That’s good advice there. Just tell it straight, as it is, and in the words you would normally use to describe it. As you say, the priest will have heard it all before (and probably a lot worse) on a regular basis.

And if a priest stops you part way through and starts to give you absolution before you have confessed all your sins, then don’t worry about it. If you had genuinely intended to confess those sins, but the priest interrupted and gave you absolution before you could confess, then all the sins you were going to confess (including any sins you have genuinely forgotten about) are all forgiven.

The sacrament of Confession is such a wonderful gift from God, it is quite sad how few people actually turn up to receive it.

 

[Bill1940]

Hello,

I am very concerned about invalidating and committing a sacrilege when i go to confession Tommorrow. I have several mortal sins that i do not know an exact number for. How should i go about confessing them? And if i don’t say a number, will i still be forgiven or no? I feel so scrupulous when it comes to confessing my sins. For example, say i was prideful or jealous, how am. Supposed to remember the exact number i times i committed that sin? Shouldbi just say that i was Prideful or Jealous? Thanks for your help!

When you say, “prideful or jealous” it persuades me that your main problem is scrupulosity. To commit a mortal sin in such regard would be an egregious act of the will. We all have inclinations and temptations to these sins but to evaluate these as sin is typical of scrupulosity. Discuss that aspect with your regular confessor.

 

[Mike30]

If yo uknow the number tell the Priest. If not, tell him you committed the sins but don’t recall the number. It’s OK. Don’t stress out over it.

 

[CrossofChrist]

Hello,

I am very concerned about invalidating and committing a sacrilege when i go to confession Tommorrow. I have several mortal sins that i do not know an exact number for. How should i go about confessing them? And if i don’t say a number, will i still be forgiven or no? I feel so scrupulous when it comes to confessing my sins. For example, say i was prideful or jealous, how am. Supposed to remember the exact number i times i committed that sin? Shouldbi just say that i was Prideful or Jealous? Thanks for your help!

If you are a practicing Catholic, which you probably are or else you wouldn’t be going to Confession, it’s pretty hard to commit a mortal sin. Coming across as scrupulous, perhaps you were committing venial sins and that is why you can’t remember the number? You know when you commit a mortal sin. Granted, if you haven’t been to Confession for a while or if you have consistently been committing venial sins it might be hard to know when and how many times you have committed a mortal sin. As long as you give a rough estimate about the #, you’ll be fine. God knows your heart and loves you; you won’t go to hell for not remember the exact number.

 

[dividus]

And if a priest stops you part way through and starts to give you absolution before you have confessed all your sins, then don’t worry about it. If you had genuinely intended to confess those sins, but the priest interrupted and gave you absolution before you could confess, then all the sins you were going to confess (including any sins you have genuinely forgotten about) are all forgiven.

The sacrament of Confession is such a wonderful gift from God, it is quite sad how few people actually turn up to receive it.

This actually happened to me today when I went to Confession.I have been confessing to the same priest for a couple of months now and I have mentioned to him that I struggle with scrupulosity.Today, when I tried to mention sins from many years ago he interrupted and instructed me to put them from my mind.

 

[Brendan_64]

If you are a practicing Catholic, which you probably are or else you wouldn’t be going to Confession, it’s pretty hard to commit a mortal sin.

Really? Mortal sins don’t just include things like murder. There are many opportunities for us to commit mortal sins, and many of us do from time to time. I’m certainly not scrupulous by any means, but I reckon I confessed to one this morning.

The notion that few Catholics commit mortal sins very often, is, in my opinion, a false notion and quite a dangerous one.

 

[blanc10]

It’s pretty good if you know the number, but in the end all that really matters is that you committed it several times and you are sorry for every time you committed it. If you don’t know, you don’t know, so don’t sweat it. God knows.

 

[Brendan_64]

It’s pretty good if you know the number, but in the end all that really matters is that you committed it several times and you are sorry for every time you committed it. If you don’t know, you don’t know, so don’t sweat it. God knows.

 

[braeden_mackay]

Thank you all for your great answers and advice. I went to confession and i feel relieved. However, it just came to mind that i forgot to confess a mortal sin. Does this make the confession invalid? Can i receive Communion tommorrow at mass? Now i am worried again. These scruples only started recently and i dont know how or why i have them.

 

[suissemissed]

Thank you all for your great answers and advice. I went to confession and i feel relieved. However, it just came to mind that i forgot to confess a mortal sin. Does this make the confession invalid? Can i receive Communion tommorrow at mass? Now i am worried again. These scruples only started recently and i dont know how or why i have them.

Remember what Zekariya said above:

Zekariya:

I just want to mention that you cannot accidentally invalidate your confession. Either you are intentionally covering up your sins or you are not.

If you forgot a mortal sin, you are still forgiven. You simply need to mention it next time you go to Confession. But you can receive the Eucharist at Mass until then, because you are in a state of grace.

I used to struggle a lot with scruples, but not so much anymore, praise the Lord. What really helped me was learning that you can’t “accidentally” commit a mortal sin. By definition a mortal sin is an act of grave evil matter, done fully deliberately while knowing how grave the act is at the time that you do it. If you commit a sin that is normally mortal, but you didn’t know it was gravely wrong when you did it, then you have committed no mortal sin (at worst, it would be venial).

So whenever you think you have committed a mortal sin, ask yourself: Did I do this act on purpose knowing it would break off my friendship with God? If the answer is no, then don’t stress about it Trust in Jesus, not in your feelings (which quite often, can be flat out wrong).

 

[Mary_Ellen]

If you are a practicing Catholic, which you probably are or else you wouldn’t be going to Confession, it’s pretty hard to commit a mortal sin. Coming across as scrupulous, perhaps you were committing venial sins and that is why you can’t remember the number? You know when you commit a mortal sin. Granted, if you haven’t been to Confession for a while or if you have consistently been committing venial sins it might be hard to know when and how many times you have committed a mortal sin. As long as you give a rough estimate about the #, you’ll be fine. God knows your heart and loves you; you won’t go to hell for not remember the exact number.

Practicing Catholic here, confession weekly, and yes, I commit mortal sins - not often but sometimes - and it’s not really that hard. I definitely remember number and kind - they are glaringly obvious to me. Scrupulous? No.

 

[Brendan_64]

Thank you all for your great answers and advice. I went to confession and i feel relieved. However, it just came to mind that i forgot to confess a mortal sin. Does this make the confession invalid?

No, your confession is valid. Sins that you have forgotten about in Confession are forgiven. So long as you do not intentionally fail to mention a particular mortal sin while you are at Confession, then ALL your sins are forgiven. You walk out of Confession completely forgiven.

 

[CrossofChrist]

Practicing Catholic here, confession weekly, and yes, I commit mortal sins - not often but sometimes - and it’s not really that hard. I definitely remember number and kind - they are glaringly obvious to me. Scrupulous? No.

So are you also the OP then?