Forgotten sins

[stephen161958]

In father Thomas M. Santa’s book Understanding Scrupulosity I read that there is no need to mention forgotten sins in your next confession.
I always thought that if you forgot te mention a serious sin in confession you had to mention it in your next confession.
Thats one of my problems with confesion also strugling with scrupulosity.

 

[baltobetsy]

Your best course of action right now is to choose one priest for your confessions, speak to him about your scrupulosity, and obey him in everything. That book you mention is a good one, but it is really best to be obeying your confessor when you make decisions about things like what to mention in your confessions and what to leave out. You need personalized advice guided by the Holy Spirit. God bless you.

Betsy

 

[PhilotheaZ]

Sometimes things that are recommended for most people (those who do not suffer from scrupulosity) can actually be harmful for someone who is scrupulous. Follow Betsy’s advice — find one priest-confessor whom you trust, confess to him only, and obey his direction.

 

[gvogt4]

In father Thomas M. Santa’s book Understanding Scrupulosity I read that there is no need to mention forgotten sins in your next confession.
I always thought that if you forgot te mention a serious sin in confession you had to mention it in your next confession.
Thats one of my problems with confesion also strugling with scrupulosity.

Well, here is the problem with someone telling everyone else what’s ok not to do. While those who have replied have given good advice, the Church teaching is** “One who desires to obtain reconciliation with God and with the Church, must confess to a priest all the unconfessed grave sins he remembers after having carefully examined his conscience. The confession of venial faults, without being necessary in itself, is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church.” **

If a person unintentionally fails to mention a mortal sin in confession, once he/she does remember, he/she must resolve to confess at the next available opportunity. (This does not mean that the person has compounded the sin, for example by receiving the Eucharist after the incomplete confession but before the recollection of the sin, so long as it was the intention of the penitent to confess all sins in the prior confession.)