Confession question

[Matthew12]

Hi! When I was prepared for my first Confession in third grade, we were never taught that we had to confess the number of times that we commited a sin. Recently, I asked my pastor and he said it wasn’t necessary for absolution, but it was a good thing to do. I have never confessed exact numbers, but I usually say that I have done something a lot or a few times. Sometimes I get nervous and forget to say anything like that, just the sin. If we don’t confess numbers, does that mean that our sins aren’t forgiven? I tried to ask at EWTN.com, but those darn mailboxes are always filled. Thanks.

Matt

 

[Tonks40]

Hi Matthew -

I’m not an expert on Confession (I just went to my first one in years a couple of months back) and I’m not really happy about going, but I think what your pastor meant by “a good idea” of giving the number of times you committed a sin is that while you do your examination of concious prior to your confession, you can come to see for yourself patterns of behavior that may keep you away from living a life of grace in God with the Holy Spirit. Once you recognize this, you can take steps to correct yourself to not fall into these patterns again, or at least less frequently. Yes, God forgives all sins, no matter how big or how small. Confession is one of those “sacramental tools” in which we can obtain grace and give us more conviction into leading a more virtuous life.

I’m sure others on here can give better explanations, but I hope this little bit helps.

In Christ,
Tonks40

 

[Matthew12]

Thanks, Tonks40! That makes a lot of sense. Most of my sins are repetitive.

Matt

 

[Lux_et_veritas]

We are suppose to confess in number and kind and I did not know this either. I never confessed the numbers and the priests never asked me. This does not invalidate the confession, but we are suppose to do so.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=66132&highlight=confess

Let’s think for a minute what this really does.

If you committed a particular sin, once during a monthlong period, that is different than say, committing it 4x that month, or 16, or heck, just say it happened daily.

Now, if you commit this just once monthly and confess it, the confessor is likely to absolve you and give you some advice on it if he thinks you need it. On the other hand, a confessor who sees what amounts to sinful practice that has risen to the level of addiction can do a few things:

1. The addiction may mitigate culpability, but does not take away the grave matter (i.e., masturbation).
2. The confessor may recommend that you come back weekly to work through it. He can give pointers and help the penitent who truly wants to stop a particular sinful addiction and coach him or her through gradual reduction or other means (i.e., lets reduce it from 7 times a week down some amount).

There are probably more reasons, but these two reasons stand out. And, it is not necessarily the number that counts, but an idea of what kind of level this sinfulness is at. If you are doing something daily, then it’s probably a good idea to tell the priest, “hey, it has risen to a level of addiction”.

Chances are, such a penitent has good company with lots of other penitents.

Here is a really nice article on confession by Pope John Paul II.

ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP960322.htm