Confession/Act of Perfect Contrition

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ErinMagdala

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Hello Everyone.
I am new to Catholicism as after I received my First Communion, my parents ceased my instruction in the ways of the Catholic church. I fell away from God at the ripe age of eight, and have committed almost every mortal sin (except murder) since then. I was married outside of the church about 1.5 years ago. In the past month or so I have felt an incredibly strong and spontaneous pull back to Christ and have been desperately been trying to fix my relationship with the Lord and return to his church. Since I am married outside of the church, I must have my marriage blessed before confessing to the priest which he estimates will take about six months. My faith in the Lord is very strong right now, and the sins are weighing heavily on my mind. My priest told me that in the time being I should complete an Act of Perfect Contrition “just in case.”

I did not know about Perfect Contrition before, but now I realize I have been saying an informal ,personal version every night since the renewal of my faith. Last night I had a rather strange experience while completing my act of contrition and I’d like if you could tell me if this “counts.”

I was talking to God and telling him that I was truly sorry for hurting him and doing wrong in his name. I told him I understand how much sin hurts him as he is all good, and that I am thankful for the sacrifice of Jesus that he suffered for my sin that I may be forgiven.
Now here’s the weird aspect:
Right as I was about to recite the act of perfect contrition, I fell asleep.
I had a very intense and detailed dream that I was crying at the Lord’s feet and begging him to forgive me for wronging him. I went over the scenes of the passion in my mind and felt a heartbreaking sorrow for falling out of grace in God’s eyes. Afterwards,** I remember very clearly speaking the act of perfect contrition in my dream.** Usually I would say that dreams are random, but considering the very personal nature of the dream and its relevance to what I was doing when I feel asleep, I think that this was most likely my subconscious expressing my feelings on the matter. **Does the fact that I feel asleep negate the validity of my prayer, or do you think it “counts” because my subconscious tried to “continue” it in my dream? **
 
I suppose your prayer of contrition in a subconscious state counts. The Lord knows that you are restoring your communion with him and your canonical unity with the Church. He knows your intentions and your soul and heart.

You will be in my prayers and always keep steadfast in the journey home!😃

Act of Contirition

O my God, I am Heartily Sorry for having Offended Thee, and I Detest all my Sins, because I dread the Loss of Heaven and the Pains of Hell, but most of all because they Offend Thee, my God, Who art All-Good and Deserving of all my Love. I firmly Resolve, with the Help of Thy Grace, to Confess my Sins, to do Penance and to Amend my Life.

Amen
 
The only one who can tell you whether or not you have perfect contrition (i.e. sorrow for your sins solely because of love of God rather than any sense of self) is God. We cannot really know with certainty whether we have perfect contrition. That’s why the Sacrament of Confession is so great. It gives us the assurance of forgiveness even if our contrition is imperfect.

Now, in your situation, you are doing everything you can to be reconciled to the Church and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation as soon as possible. As God’s mercy knows no bounds, I am sure that (God forbid) if something happened to you before your situation was rectified, he would certainly not overlook the great desire of your heart to come home and your great sorrow for your sins. Of course, I am not God and I am not in the position to judge your soul, but I have a hard time believing you would be condemned to hell when that desire to receive Reconciliation at the earliest possible opportunity is present in your heart.

Just keep on that walk with the Lord. Welcome home! 👍
 
perfect contrition (i.e. sorrow for your sins solely because of love of God rather than any sense of self)
I would not use the word “solely” there.

For there can co-exist other sub -motives.
 
The act of contrition in ones sleep…well that would be an involuntary act so one would need to make the act while awake.

We can neither sin nor act with virtue in our sleep…

----------nor truly turn into a bird and fly 🙂
 
I’d like to suggest a small booklet called “The Golden Key to Paradise, Perfect Contrition” by J.De Driesch. Its available for free at www.ANF.org
 
I would not use the word “solely” there.

For there can co-exist other sub -motives.
Fair enough. It would have been more accurate for me to say “primarily”.

Thanks for keeping me theologically precise. 👍 😉
 
I would add though the quote from the Catechism:

Contrition

1451 Among the penitent’s acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again."50

1452 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called “perfect” (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.51

1453 The contrition called “imperfect” (or “attrition”) is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration of sin’s ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner (contrition of fear). Such a stirring of conscience can initiate an interior process which, under the prompting of grace, will be brought to completion by sacramental absolution. By itself however, imperfect contrition cannot obtain the forgiveness of grave sins, but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance.52

Also to note is that one can have true contrition without the “feelings” one would like to have…it is more a matter of grace and will then of feelings (which do not follow commands very well…:))
 
Thanks everyone for the replies I really appreciate your (name removed by moderator)ut since I’m so new at all of this!
 
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