Did i commit a mortal sin?

[Timi_Celcer]

I think i never commited a mortal sin in my life except for one time im not sure. So i mastrubated a time ago but when i found out that masturbation was a sin i stopped. But for some reason i only thought the peak of masturbation was a sin (dumb i know). So we went on vacation (me, my mum, step father and his children). I was alone in the trailer and i went masturbating. I don’t remember correctly but at one point i was “right before” the peak and i couldn’t stop. Remember, i did not think of masturbation as sinful, only the peak was sinful. So i was right before the peak and then, well you know what then happened. So i felt really bad… But at that time i think i didn’t seperate mortal from venial sins so this sin came to my mind recently when i was thinking about mortal sins. I know there are three conditions for a mortal sin:
1.Its subject must be a grave (or serious) matter.
2. It must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense
3.It must be committed with deliberate and complete consent, enough for it to have been a personal decision to commit the sin.
So i think i must of meet the criteria for first two, but for the third part i don’t remember well if my flesh made the decision for me at the time before the peak or if i didn’t think at the time…But i know that if i would be asked that time either to commit the sin or don’t i would say NO! Its just that the flesh made me did it at that time(before the peak) and i couldn’t go back at that time. Also im still not completely sure if masturbation is a sin, that is a question i must still do a research on. Anyways have i commited a mortal sin here? Please help.

 

[ready]

The Church teaches that masturbation is objectively a mortal sin, so you must believe that it is. Please be obedient to the Church for the sake of your soul and in order that you may be pleasing to God.

 

[ready]

Taken from a very reputable book from the 19th century called *The Way of Interior Peace *by Fr. Eduard Lehen, pg. 99:

“To a mortal sin belong three points: 1st. Weighty matter; – a jesting lie, for example or a vain, self-conceited thought, is not sufficient for a mortal sin. 2d. Full knowledge of the evil; that is, the deliberate consciousness that what one does is a mortal sin. This excludes all cases in which the sin proceeds from surprise, or in which the soul is not full master of her powers; as, for example, in half-slumber, and the like. 3d. Full consent of the will to that which the understanding knows to be mortal sin. As long as the consent remains imperfect, or we are conscious of a certain hesitancy, a deferring, or a reproach of conscience in consequence of our neglect in combating the temptation, the sin is only venial.”

I hope this helps.

 

[Mary_Ellen]

Timi,

As many of us have suggested, you should probably get a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In it you could read the church’s teaching on masturbation:

CCC 2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. “Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action.”138 “The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose.” For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of “the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved.”

and

CCC 2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.

What you described may not have been a mortal sin, because of your ignorance and possible lack of consent, but just to be safe you may want to bring it to confession, anyway. However, now you have been informed that “deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure”, whether or not it leads to climax, **is **gravely sinful and therefore a mortal sin. You must not do it again.

May God bring you peace.