Going to Confession to much?

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MJford

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My mom thinks I am a bit scrupulous ( I may have spelled that wrong). I seem to keep remembering sins I should have confessed. I have a hard time talking to my parents about the specific sins and really want to talk to a priest. I went to Confession twice last week and want to go tomorrow (It will have only been 5 days). Please help. By the way I’m 13.
 
You might be showing signs of scrupulosity, but you are still pretty young.

I am very scrupulous and the advice that I have been given in regards to sins you have unintentionally forgot to confess in your last confession is that they have been forgiven and you do not need to rush back to confession as soon as you remember them. If they are considered to be mortal sins and you just happened to forget through no fault of your own, then mention them in your next confession, but it doesn’t have to be immediate. You are free to go to Communion until then. But, it would probably be good when the opportunity arises to go to confession. Just don’t stress too much on it.

HOWEVER! If you purposely chose not to mention a known mortal sin in your confession and kept silent with this one, the confession is invalid and you need to go back and reconfess all mortal sins from the invalid confession as well as the sin of willfully withholding a known MORTAL sin in a previous confession. You CANNOT receive Communion until you have made a valid confession, otherwise, you would be adding another sin (sin of sacrilege) if you decide to receive Holy Communion while under mortal sin.

Now, mortal sin needs three requirements for it to be considered a mortal sin.
  1. Sufficient knowledge
  2. Grave Matter
  3. Full consent
If any one of the three are missing, you have not sinned mortally. It may be venial or objectively mortal, but you are not guilty if you didn’t know (unless you willingly chose to not want to know if something was considered sinful, which means you would be guilty of a sin) or didn’t give full consent (partial consent does not make it a mortal sin, but venial).

Scrupulosity is a terrible thing to suffer from, so please do speak with a good, holy and patient priest about this. I strongly recommend you talk to a priest regardless of the advice given on this board. At times, I go to confession three times a week! Only now am I about to seek professional help (I already have a spiritual director). If the priest you will be seeing thinks you are suffering scrupulosity, put an end to it as soon as possible. Even if he recommends you to counseling, don’t be scared or discouraged by that. It would be best for you to do so if it is recommended.

I’ll pray for you. Pray to St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Ignatius of Loyola as they suffered from scrupulosity.

If you do commit any MORTAL sins since your last confession (venial sins do not require to be confessed in the sacrament of confession but a simply Act of Contrition and sorrow is sufficient for forgiveness and the Eucharist forgives venial sins), please confess those as soon as you can. In the meantime until you can go to confession, make a perfect act of contrition and trust in God’s mercy. Never fall into despair.
 
I think you should listen to your mom. And the next time you go to confession, repeat exactly what you said in your first post, and then follow his advice.
 
I used to be VERY scrupulous. I have cut down a bit in the last couple months, but one incident had me going to Confession before the 8:00 AM Mass, then going back 5 hours later for the 1:00 PM Tridentine Mass. I hadn’t committed any Mortal Sins, but I just felt too unworthy for Communion at that time.

Saying “Father, it has been 5 hours since my last Confession” seemed a bit awkward.

My dad is a non-practicing Catholic, and he thinks once a week is more than enough.

Any way, best of luck to you.

Pius :knight1:
 
Arkadin said:
You might be showing signs of scrupulosity, but you are still pretty young.

I am very scrupulous and the advice that I have been given in regards to sins you have unintentionally forgot to confess in your last confession is that they have been forgiven and you do not need to rush back to confession as soon as you remember them. If they are considered to be mortal sins and you just happened to forget through no fault of your own, then mention them in your next confession, but it doesn’t have to be immediate. You are free to go to Communion until then. But, it would probably be good when the opportunity arises to go to confession. Just don’t stress too much on it.

HOWEVER! If you purposely chose not to mention a known mortal sin in your confession and kept silent with this one, the confession is invalid and you need to go back and reconfess all mortal sins from the invalid confession as well as the sin of willfully withholding a known MORTAL sin in a previous confession. You CANNOT receive Communion until you have made a valid confession, otherwise, you would be adding another sin (sin of sacrilege) if you decide to receive Holy Communion while under mortal sin.

Now, mortal sin needs three requirements for it to be considered a mortal sin.
  1. Sufficient knowledge
  2. Grave Matter
  3. Full consent
If any one of the three are missing, you have not sinned mortally. It may be venial or objectively mortal, but you are not guilty if you didn’t know (unless you willingly chose to not want to know if something was considered sinful, which means you would be guilty of a sin) or didn’t give full consent (partial consent does not make it a mortal sin, but venial).

Scrupulosity is a terrible thing to suffer from, so please do speak with a good, holy and patient priest about this. I strongly recommend you talk to a priest regardless of the advice given on this board. At times, I go to confession three times a week! Only now am I about to seek professional help (I already have a spiritual director). If the priest you will be seeing thinks you are suffering scrupulosity, put an end to it as soon as possible. Even if he recommends you to counseling, don’t be scared or discouraged by that. It would be best for you to do so if it is recommended.

I’ll pray for you. Pray to St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Ignatius of Loyola as they suffered from scrupulosity.

If you do commit any MORTAL sins since your last confession (venial sins do not require to be confessed in the sacrament of confession but a simply Act of Contrition and sorrow is sufficient for forgiveness and the Eucharist forgives venial sins), please confess those as soon as you can. In the meantime until you can go to confession, make a perfect act of contrition and trust in God’s mercy. Never fall into despair.
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The only thing I would add to this post for you is that sometimes the devil can also tempt us to be too scrupulous, in the hopes that eventually we become so discouraged with our constant imperfections or sins that we give up altogether. Don’t let this happen to you! Everyone has flaws. Flaws and imperfections are not venial sins and they are a far cry from mortal sins. Examine yourself carefully- are you willing these supposed sins? Because both venial and mortal sins involve the will. Spend some time before each confession praying to the Holy Spirit to prompt you with anything you need to lay before God; and then afterwards pray to Him the Prayer after Confession. In the confession itself, if you are inclined to scrupulousity, it often helps to say after you have listed your sins, “and for these and all the sins of my life, especially those I have forgotten to confess, I am most heartily sorry.”

God bless you!
 
MJford said:
My mom thinks I am a bit scrupulous ( I may have spelled that wrong). I seem to keep remembering sins I should have confessed. I have a hard time talking to my parents about the specific sins and really want to talk to a priest. I went to Confession twice last week and want to go tomorrow (It will have only been 5 days). Please help. By the way I’m 13.
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the priest will tell you if it is too much
you don’t need to talk to your parents about specific sins unless of course you have hurt them or disobeyed in some way and need to apologize or make reparation. Yes more than once a week is probably too much.
 
Thank you all. Arkadin, I think the sin i question was down played a bit in my head so I forgot some of it and the matter was probably serious from what my examination of conscience said but it happened before my last confession. I still think it would be a good idea to go to confession because they have it all day real close to my house. Since I don’t think there will be people there all day it would probably be a good idea to talk to a priest then. Wat do you think? Thanks again 👍.
 
MJford said:
Is there a rule about how often you can receive absolution.
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No there is no “rule”.

But one should use reason and prudence and avoid scruples and scrupulosity.

Remember daily sins…venial sins…can be forgiven in many varied ways …such as praying “Our Father…” but of course it is very recommended to confess them (some of them…one need not seek to “get em all” directly…)

(Of course one needs to also repent …like not plan to commit mortal sin …)
 
MJford said:
Is there a rule about how often you can receive absolution.
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Pope John Paul II went to reconciliation once per week.

By this example I would guess that daily is not necessary. I went once per month the first year after joining the church through RCIA and I still go often, sometimes once a month sometimes every six weeks.

I agree with the previous response that you should avoid becoming scrupulous, that is, ruminating and/or obsessing over small sins.
 
I usually go every other week. My husband who goes weekly (usually) or sometimes twice a week has been told by at least one priest that he goes “too often.” Then again, this is at the University where they removed most of the confessionals to move in an art gallery that hosts exhibits of pagan gods and buddhist meditation sessions (inside the church) so I’m not sure they really have their priorities straight… :confused:
 
you have asked the same question twice, that means it is really an issue. Don’t ask us, don’t ask your parents, ask the priest, how often you should be coming to confession. this is essential if you think you have problems with scrupulosity.
 
While we are on the topic of confession and frequency I would like to bring up what may be considered a side-issue.

Recently I have become more aware of certain sins: lack of charity, judging/being critical, pride. These are habitutal. They are more like a state of being than specific acts. When do these things become mortal? If they are mortal, I might as well just move my sleeping bag into the confessional and start paying rent.
 
puzzleannie said:
there is no rule but if your confessor tells you that you are going too often obey him.
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Yes…if one has scruples…one should usually follow the advice of ones confessor…such is very important for one (of course if he tells you to murder someone or other objective evil…do not do that!..but you know what I mean)

However one need not “obey” such a direction… per se…one has a right to confession and one can also change ones confessor.
 
Thanks everyone. The reason I ask is that in a book about Padre Pio it seemed like people could only go to confession with him every 10 days. Of course that may be because tey had to take a number (the lines were really long).
 
puzzleannie said:
you have asked the same question twice, that means it is really an issue. Don’t ask us, don’t ask your parents, ask the priest, how often you should be coming to confession. this is essential if you think you have problems with scrupulosity.
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Actually I was wondering if there was a limit of time in the other thread because of people only being allowed to go to Padre Pio every ten days.
 
MJford said:
Thanks everyone. The reason I ask is that in a book about Padre Pio it seemed like people could only go to confession with him every 10 days. Of course that may be because tey had to take a number (the lines were really long).
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This was quite possibly a limit that was set by his order or himself. It was not a mandate of the church.
 
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