confession

[angell1]

i get paranoid when it comes to confession, what if i didn’t give enough details? what if i can’t remember how many times i committed a particular sin? what if i forget some?

also, after confession, what do i do? for example, if my sin affected someone else, do i have to go reveal it even if it won’t help the situation? for example, if i told a lie to my mom about going to the mall but i went to my friend’s house, do i have to now tell her i didn’t actually go to the mall? (hypothetical situation), i mean things that are a bit less serious i guess.

also, if i was given a restitution to pay something back, am i in mortal sin if i can’t do it all at once and have to pay in intervals?

 

[isaacalsop]

If you forgot a sin forever, then hypothetically i suppose itd be forgiven…but if you remember it later no worries say it next time. Do an examination of conscious before confession, to get an idea of what you will say. Also, think about the 10 commandments as you g, and think how many times have i broken this rule, just to make it simpler. And if you forget its no worries. Not a mortal sin, in fact i dont think its a sin at all, as long as it was an accident. If you confess a lie, it would be good to make it up to whoever you lied to…which you probably wil have to do for penance, but i dont know if you have to. Hope this helps.

 

[ChibiViolet]

You only have to confess the number of times you committed a sin if it is a mortal sin and if you don’t know how many times you committed it, than say you did it “a few times,” “about five times,” or something like that. If you forget to mention a sin, but had the intention of confessing it, it is forgiven, but if it’s a mortal sin than you have to confess it the next time you go to Confession–assuming you remember having committed that sin. I forget exactly why that is, but if you never remember, but would confess if you remembered, it’s still forgiven. If you do commit a small sin against someone else, you don’t have to reveal it.

 

[ccmcmg]

i get paranoid when it comes to confession, what if i didn’t give enough details? what if i can’t remember how many times i committed a particular sin? what if i forget some?

also, after confession, what do i do? for example, if my sin affected someone else, do i have to go reveal it even if it won’t help the situation? for example, if i told a lie to my mom about going to the mall but i went to my friend’s house, do i have to now tell her i didn’t actually go to the mall? (hypothetical situation), i mean things that are a bit less serious i guess.

also, if i was given a restitution to pay something back, am i in mortal sin if i can’t do it all at once and have to pay in intervals?

As others have said here, you do not have to reveal your sins to anyone else. There is no obligation; in fact, a priest might say NOT to reveal the sin.

Have you thought about finding a spiritual director? Keeping a list of your questions for them, and writing the answers in a notebook might be an easy reference for you, as well as keep things from popping up that might confuse the issue. The search feature on Catholic Answers forum might also help you to find answers to questions you might have, without waiting for someone else to answer for it. Prefilled and ready to go.