Confession...

[striker_eureka9]

Pax Christi !

Is confession valid if the person unintentionally did not examine his/her conciousness?

Thanks and God bless us all…

 

[dallas_r]

I think so as long it was unintentional. But don’t take my answer to heart I’m sure some other person can give you a definite answer.

 

[e_c]

Pax Christi !

Is confession valid if the person unintentionally did not examine his/her conciousness?

Thanks and God bless us all…

Hopefully, you didn’t have to examine your consciousness - surely, you were awake!

If you mean to say that you literally did not examine your conscience at all, then one must wonder how you had anything to say in confession at all… Perhaps you mean to say you just didn’t really try that hard to think about your sins since your last confession?

Supposing there are no mortal sins which a sincere and thorough examination of conscience would have called to mind, then it does not matter for absolution. If you remembered after confession, “I forgot I skipped Mass last Sunday!” then simply approach the confessional again and explain that you did not examine your conscience to any meaningful degree in your last confession, and announce whatever venial sins you wish to convict yourself of, together with any and all mortal sins (in kind and number - perhaps approximate number) which your sincere and thorough examination of conscience reminded you of. Given that you have not provided many specifics (which I do not recommend you do here), it is impossible to judge in any real way the validity of your confession (if it is your confession you are speaking of). Use your best judgment.

It is not necessary for us to remember every single mortal sin. Sometimes people neglect confession for decades… How could they recall everything? It is impossible. A good effort to recall what one can is enough. If one should remember some mortal sin he omitted by accident after a sincere and thorough examination of conscience, then indeed it has been forgiven, but if one is certain he has not confessed it and is certain it was indeed a mortal sin, then there is an obligation to confess it to lay out one’s sins before God and His Church for judgment. (See c. 988 s. 1)

 

[striker_eureka9]

Ok so this is the short story…

I went in a new church and went to the “Informations”.
I saw a priest and asked him if they have the Sacrament of Confession and he nodded and pointed at the kneeler.
I didn’t know what to do that time and my instict was to walk, and I did.
The priest then went to me and I had confession without self examination.

What do you think? I didn’t know that confession may not be valid without self examination so I just proceeded anyway.

 

[PluniaZ]

Talk to your priest about it.

 

[punisherthunder]

I used to try and make a list of things to say. “And then this one time…and then there was another time…and when I was six years old…etc”. Get the picture?

I would fumble things from my list, then this lead to scruples of the highest caliber. Then I got paranoid about holding up the priest at Confession. The other week I came out and there were 9 people waiting!

What I do now is, I ask the Holy Spirit to help me before I enter. What I can recall, I recall. If I can’t and it is something that bothers me, I’ll try to remember for next time.

I remember reading somewhere though about Jesus speaking to St. Faustina. He tells her that once something is confessed and absolved that he has no knowledge of what is was. Can anyone find that quote or know what I’m talking about?

 

[Blue_Horizon]

Ok so this is the short story…

I went in a new church and went to the “Informations”.
I saw a priest and asked him if they have the Sacrament of Confession and he nodded and pointed at the kneeler.
I didn’t know what to do that time and my instict was to walk, and I did.
The priest then went to me and I had confession without self examination.

What do you think? I didn’t know that confession may not be valid without self examination so I just proceeded anyway.

So basically you went through a mechanical lot of meaningless nothing and you are asking if it meant anything to anybody including God?

Well if somebody approached you and started talking to a bush beside you would you call that a meaninful encounter worthy of anything?

I believe the answer to both the above would be no.

 

[striker_eureka9]

So basically you went through a mechanical lot of meaningless nothing and you are asking if it meant anything to anybody including God?

Well if somebody approached you and started talking to a bush beside you would you call that a meaninful encounter worthy of anything?

I believe the answer to both the above would be no.

What are you talking about sir? Do I really have to say every detail? What does “a mechanical lot of meaningless” mean?

 

[thistle]

Ok so this is the short story…

I went in a new church and went to the “Informations”.
I saw a priest and asked him if they have the Sacrament of Confession and he nodded and pointed at the kneeler.
I didn’t know what to do that time and my instict was to walk, and I did.
The priest then went to me and I had confession without self examination.

What do you think? I didn’t know that confession may not be valid without self examination so I just proceeded anyway.

If you made a sincere confession to the priest and confessed any mortal sins you could remember why on earth would you think that could be invalid?