Confession and the rosary

[billcu1]

If one has a sin on their conscience that they haven’t confessed does the holy spirit leave? Is saying the rosary heard? Sin separates us from god. What happens to one’s faith as they have sinned?

B

 

[Luvtosew]

yes the rosary is heard, say an Act of Contrition and go to confession. Your Holy Spirit is still there in you. Proff is your worried about it.

 

[billcu1]

yes the rosary is heard, say an Act of Contrition and go to confession. Your Holy Spirit is still there in you. Proff is your worried about it.

What does it mean that the holy spirit will not dwell in an unclean temple? I thought it might go then reestablish itself at reconciliation.

 

[Cristiano]

What does it mean that the holy spirit will not dwell in an unclean temple? I thought it might go then reestablish itself at reconciliation.

It simply means that we kill our relationship with Him, we close the communication channels. However, remember that He still resides within us and remember that contrition is really a grace that we still get from the Holy Spirit even if we committed mortal sin.

 

[KimberlyAnn0218]

I don’t believe the Holy Spirit leaves. Just from personal experieince mind you. In RCIA I NEVER went to confession–it was never even discussed. When I got hit with my “conversion” in Dec 2010 I would say the Holy Spirit was with me in a very unconfessed sinner state. I said going to confession for the first time was like Jesus taking my hands and pulling me forward and the Holy Spirit giving me a divine push from behind!

 

[ConstantineTG]

If one has a sin on their conscience that they haven’t confessed does the holy spirit leave? Is saying the rosary heard? Sin separates us from god. What happens to one’s faith as they have sinned?

B

Any prayer is always heard, sinner or saint. We can never be separated from God in a way that He does not hear our prayers. We would vanish out of existence if that were the case for we cannot exist without God and God is in all of His creation, always. The separation that happens with sin from our own point of view, that when we sin the less we see of God even though He is always right in front of us. But God’s vision cannot be clouded nor His hearing dim, He will certainly hear your prayers no matter what state you are in.

 

[ConstantineTG]

What does it mean that the holy spirit will not dwell in an unclean temple? I thought it might go then reestablish itself at reconciliation.

The Holy Spirit does not leave us. That is why in Confirmation the Holy Spirit is sealed within us. Its there forever.

 

[NeedImprovement]

I found this article - The Spiritual And Psychological Value of Frequent Confession ; Fr. John Hardon, S.J. , to be a big help in understanding myself - particularly in relation to the same type of questions asked by the OP.

The Rosary is always a good idea . For me, it’s like a child calling out “Mother.” Our Blessed Mother is attentive to each of her children’s cries (one could say, arguably more so when a child of hers is in distress). If my soul should happen to be in a state similar to the one billcu1 describes -

If one has a sin on their conscience that they haven’t confessed … Is saying the rosary heard? Sin separates us from God…
B

… The Rosary is usually one of the first things I reach for . I remind myself that one of Our Blessed Mother’s popular titles is Refuge of Sinners , and when I pray those Hail Marys under those circumstances, it seems to be an additional help if I can put a little particular emphasis on certain words in the prayer, ie " … Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for **us sinners **, now , and at the hour of our death. AMEN."

 

[Like]

Any prayer is always heard, sinner or saint. We can never be separated from God in a way that He does not hear our prayers. We would vanish out of existence if that were the case for we cannot exist without God and God is in all of His creation, always. The separation that happens with sin from our own point of view, that when we sin the less we see of God even though He is always right in front of us. But God’s vision cannot be clouded nor His hearing dim, He will certainly hear your prayers no matter what state you are in.

Even in Hawaii?

 

[twf]

Mortal sin deprives our soul of sanctifying grace - that is the divine indwelling of the Blessed Trinity (particularly the Holy Spirit) that we receive as a gift of God at our baptisms. While in a state of sanctifying grace, we are in an intimate communion with God as we are given a share in the life of the Trinity; sanctifying grace empowers us to live Christian lives of faith, hope, and charity, and transforms us into the image of Christ, whose adopted brothers and sisters we are (a process that the East calls theosis and which the West calls deification or sanctification. While mortal sin deprives us of sanctifying grace, it does not deprive us of all grace - as other posters have correctly pointed out, for the sacraments of baptism and confirmation leave what the Church calls an ndellible (permanent) mark on our souls - we are sealed as God’s children no matter what we do. It is the grace of the Holy Spirit, what the Church calls actual graces (little nudges from God) that draw us back to divine life when we make a good confession and are restored to a state of sanctifying grace. God will still hear our prayers in a state of mortal sin, but we can not merit salvation for ourselves nor others. Through prayer, the Lord can grant us Merit is a tricky subject (and often misunderstood), but basically the Church teaches that when we are in a state of sanctifying grace (that is, we have “put on Christ”, as St. Paul says, through baptism), Christ enables us, by the infinite merits he won through his passion, death, and resurrection, to perform good works that are pleasing to the Father - something that we can not do on our own. We are thus invited to participate in Christ’s work of redemption, in our own lives as well as in the lives of others, “meriting”, in him, through our prayers, works, and penances…this isn’t an option when we are in a state of sin…so rush to confession as quickly as possible!

But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. (John 1:12)

…now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his b ody, which is the church… (Col. 1:24)

 

[Laudate_Dominum]

Being in a state of sin is all the more reason to be saying your rosary. Of course a sinner’s prayers will merit you nothing. When we are in a state of sin we are truly dead. However it will, if faithfully and devoutly said, obtain you the grace of contrition to make a good confession. And what is more, you will be trusting to Our Lady and her intercession is absolute before God.

 

[billcu1]

It simply means that we kill our relationship with Him, we close the communication channels. However, remember that He still resides within us and remember that contrition is really a grace that we still get from the Holy Spirit even if we committed mortal sin.

I notice a great difference after a sin and after reconciliation. I am struggling with some things though that might take a long time to work out and I noticed the holy spirit gets down deep and works with you on these things. The last time I went to confession our new asst pastor is from India and I couldn’t understand him and I know I missed out on some things.

B

 

[billcu1]

Mortal sin deprives our soul of sanctifying grace - that is the divine indwelling of the Blessed Trinity (particularly the Holy Spirit) that we receive as a gift of God at our baptisms. While in a state of sanctifying grace, we are in an intimate communion with God as we are given a share in the life of the Trinity; sanctifying grace empowers us to live Christian lives of faith, hope, and charity, and transforms us into the image of Christ, whose adopted brothers and sisters we are (a process that the East calls theosis and which the West calls deification or sanctification. While mortal sin deprives us of sanctifying grace, it does not deprive us of all grace - as other posters have correctly pointed out, for the sacraments of baptism and confirmation leave what the Church calls an ndellible (permanent) mark on our souls - we are sealed as God’s children no matter what we do. It is the grace of the Holy Spirit, what the Church calls actual graces (little nudges from God) that draw us back to divine life when we make a good confession and are restored to a state of sanctifying grace. God will still hear our prayers in a state of mortal sin, but we can not merit salvation for ourselves nor others. Through prayer, the Lord can grant us Merit is a tricky subject (and often misunderstood), but basically the Church teaches that when we are in a state of sanctifying grace (that is, we have “put on Christ”, as St. Paul says, through baptism), Christ enables us, by the infinite merits he won through his passion, death, and resurrection, to perform good works that are pleasing to the Father - something that we can not do on our own. We are thus invited to participate in Christ’s work of redemption, in our own lives as well as in the lives of others, “meriting”, in him, through our prayers, works, and penances…this isn’t an option when we are in a state of sin…so rush to confession as quickly as possible!

But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. (John 1:12)

…now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his b ody, which is the church… (Col. 1:24)

Are venial sins then taken care of my mass? How do we communicate with the holy spirit while in a state of sanctifing grace? I know it’s there and when it’s not but I don’t know how to ask for things like healing and so on.

B

 

[Cristiano]

… The last time I went to confession our new asst pastor is from India and I couldn’t understand him and I know I missed out on some things.

That made me laugh. It reminded me when I went to confession to a priest from Bolivia that was speaking in Spanish and I was speaking in Italian. He barely understood my confession and I barely understood his suggestions on how to improve my life.

 

[NeedImprovement]

There is nothing which will ever surpass the benefit of getting our butts to Confession at the earliest possible convenience , but the OP’s question relates to circumstances which would cause some delay in that regard, including lack of availability of the sacrament for given reasons. For those circumstances, relating to the *Rosary and prayer *part of the OP’s question, an additional consideration :

… The Rosary is usually one of the first things I reach for . I remind myself that one of Our Blessed Mother’s popular titles is Refuge of Sinners , and when I pray those Hail Marys under those circumstances, it seems to be an additional help if I can put a little particular emphasis on certain words in the prayer, ie " … Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for **us sinners **, now , and at the hour of our death. AMEN."

Along with added emphasis applied to “…pray for **us sinners **, now…” , there is a similar benefit inherent to emphasis on particular wording in the Our Father.

When the apostles asked our Blessed Lord to teach them how to pray , I believe that in His response, He may well have anticipated precisely these circumstances which we’re discussing on this thread - those moments where we would find it difficult to pray to Him because of unconfessed sin on our conscience … sin giving way to feelings and consequences mentioned in Fr. Hardon’s article -
The Spiritual and Psychological Value of Frequent Confession:

… as sinners, we have offended God and become estranged from His love in the measure of our sins.

… all sin incurs guilt. Every sin we commit deprives us of more or less of the grace of God. The subjective experience that is called guilt is only the tip of an iceberg. Beneath the feeling of guilt is the objective fact that we have been deprived, however minimally, of God’s friendship.

And it is these type of feelings which (logically) bring to mind questions such as , “How could God really hear me right now ? I have this serious sin which I haven’t confessed … I’ve gone and blown our relationship…”

But , what if God had given us a prayer that could be prayed particularly at times like these ; a prayer that would be efficacious to us in such dire moments of spiritual need - during that *fallen, weighed-down interval *between commission of sin and reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation ?

Need we look any further than the Our Father ? Can I pray this prayer with “sin on my conscience which I haven’t confessed” ?

Four words in the prayer say I can : “… forgive us our trespasses…”

Volumes have been written on the Our Father by exegetes ; on the multiple implied meanings , fruits and implications of this perfect prayer. But its pertinence to the sentiments expressed by the OP can actually be reduced to one simple question :

While it is certainly true that in that prayer ( which is for every situation ), we are reminded that we also must forgive others- at that opportune moment so conducive to humility because we are simultaneously considering our own sins/sinfulness , the question remains : What are we asking ?

In the entire prayer, the answer is, “We’re asking everything !” . But in those four words – “… forgive us our trespasses…” , what are we asking ?

• We aren’t asking God to forgive sins we’ve previously committed and which He has already forgiven. That would be fruitless.
• We aren’t asking God to forgive sins which we may commit in the future. That would imply a lack of trust in his mercy when we pray “… and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…” ( Neither is our earthly existence in relation to sin and forgiveness geared to any *bargain type mentality *, where God might say, “Hey, forget about the next time – it’s already paid .” )
• “ … forgive us our trespasses…”

 

[NeedImprovement]

… And one more Rosary invocation which may be recited after each mystery, (which , I believe we received from the third apparition of our Blessed Mother at Fatima) :

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of your Mercy.

 

[Lamafacaja]

If one has a sin on their conscience that they haven’t confessed does the holy spirit leave? Is saying the rosary heard? Sin separates us from god.** What happens to one’s faith as they have sinned?
**
B

It will begin to weaken one’s faith. That’s why confession is so important! Confession will give you the grace and strength to resist sin. No matter how many times you fail, pick yourself up and make a firm purpose of amendment. Swallow your pride and get to confession–again and again. Each time you do, it’ll weaken the devil’s ability to influence you to do the wrong thing… Eventually you will overcome the sin.

 

[twf]

Are venial sins then taken care of my mass? How do we communicate with the holy spirit while in a state of sanctifing grace? I know it’s there and when it’s not but I don’t know how to ask for things like healing and so on.

B

We communicate with the Holy Spirit through prayer…don’t worry, He Himself will teach you how to pray if you seek Him! Yes, venial sins can be forgiven by receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist, by blessing yourself with holy water, or by simply making an act of contrition at any time any where.