Have I filled the requirements for mortal sin?

[Finnick]

I’m 16 year old boy who’s been battling with a porn addiction. I’ve finally “stopped” my addiction but am still filled with so much anxiety like an addict would be. I searched an inappropriate image cause I was really anxious and wan’t thinking. The second I went to images I realized that I was screwing up all the progress I had made so far I closed the browser and deleted it off my device. I didn’t do anything impure with myself and at the time, was so caught up in the moment it hadn’t come into my head that porn was a mortal sin. While I did look up the porn, I hadn’t that at the time that I was directly defying God and ignoring him. I’ve been so anxious and can’t sleep not knowing if I committed a mortal sin or not. Even though I wasn’t thinking that “this is a mortal sin and I’m doing it anyway” I still looked up the image out of weakness and took a quick glance before finally coming to my senses. Sorry for rambling but I’m a mess…

 

[Finnick]

Also, does a sin only count as a mortal sin if you’re aware, as you’re committing the sin, that’s it’s a mortal sin or does it still count if you forget. I was in such a bad place I did it in the heat of the moment without really thinking about it.

 

[fide]

Hello Finnick -

This is a fear that you need to take into the confessional, to put before the priest as part of your confession. An on-line forum is not the place - no one here (not even a priest here) can give you absolution and the freedom of a good conscience. You can thank God for the fear of mortal sin! And meanwhile, get to a priest and seek Confession asap.

And continue to pray for His holy grace to keep your heart and mind right and true, that you never again fall to looking at pornography. Instead, seek to fill your mind and heart with holy thoughts of holy things and of holy people.

 

[Finnick]

Okay, I just desperately want to know if I committed a mortal sin or not as I’ve been trying really hard to avoid temptation. I also don’t have to means to get to confession this week so I’m really scared.

 

[Canvas]

All of your questions should be brought to a trained Confessor, who can take the principles of Moral and Sacramental Theology and apply it to your specific circumstances.

This forum is not the place to bring your questions. Different posters will give different opinions. Most of us (there are a few Priests on here who may opine) are not trained to evaluate your specific moral culpability in this case.

 

[GospelOfMatthew]

Go to ConfesIon, you will find the most healing there.

Put blockers on your phone and computer. Enable safe-search and disable any incognito or private search. Take cold showers every day so that you can regain control over yourself and give up something you like, perhaps soda? Here is the logic to this:

If you can’t deny yourself a Pepsi how can you deny yourself porn? It’s actually very helpful to build up your self-discipline.

Next, write a letter to yourself on your phone (you can password protect it so only you can see it) when you have not used porn or masturbated. Write how you want to stay pure and how it feels to be pure. When you go to Confession, write about how it feels to be forgiven and how you don’t want an embarrassing confession again. Write about how you want to respect women, not objectify them. Then when you are tempted to use porn or masturbate, quickly pull up this letter on your phone and read it, it will help!

If you need anything else like an accountability partner or anything, just let me know!

St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us!

 

[Roguish]

Okay, I just desperately want to know if I committed a mortal sin or not

No, you didn’t. You’re addicted, so there is the force of habit, and in addition you live in a world where the near occasion of sin is almost impossible to avoid. You didn’t quite intend to sin, and you were overwhelmed by temptation to the point where you actually had only limited control over your actions. These circumstances remove your guilt to some extent – enough to not make it a mortal sin.

P.S. Note that although certain circumstances (e.g. addiction) lessen you guilt, they do not lessen the damage done by the act. In other words: porn remains very unhealthy for you even though your guilt is somewhat limited.

 

[fide]

The opinions of CA members cannot answer that question for you. God knows; a priest in the confessional has been given the authority to judge sin, and to forgive sins. Have you read the Catechism on the subject? The Catechism is on-line [http://scborromeo.org/ccc.htm], if you don’t own a copy; the section on sin is here:

IV. THE GRAVITY OF SIN: MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN

1854 Sins are rightly evaluated according to their gravity. The distinction between mortal and venial sin, already evident in Scripture,129 became part of the tradition of the Church. It is corroborated by human experience.

1855 Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him.

Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it.

1856 Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God’s mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the setting of the sacrament of reconciliation:

1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."131

…

1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart133 do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.

1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.

1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.

1862 One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent.

 

[fide]

And, to repeat, it is good to be “trying really hard to avoid temptation” - but that is not enough - to strengthen your heart and soul. More is required. - There is a vacuum inside us all, and if we do not fill it with God, and godliness, then sin will seek to fill the space. And temptation will be overwhelming - why? - because the heart is not set on its true, God-given need: holy Truth, righteousness, goodness, justice - all the virtues. You must develop your “tastes” for holy virtue, lest the craving for instant gratification by lusts overtake you and you fall so deeply into it that you cannot climb out again.

Addictions are so hard to overcome when they are simply resisted, but never evicted from the heart for good! – Thus, seek the Good!

 

[Jerome7]

What you’ve described is not a mortal sin as it lacks full deliberation. Anytime you think maybe you’ve sinned mortally, make an act of perfect contrition, and then confess it at your next regular confession. But don’t get caught up in worrying (which makes sin more likely).