HELP! Third precept of the Church!

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I am scrupulous. I have not received communion since some time last summer. Today is the last day to receive communion and fulfill third precept of the Church, which would be a MORTAL SIN if I didn’t.

I went to confession last Saturday, but am worried about it’s validity. For one, the priest stopped me during confessing what I believed to be mortal sins (albeit doubtful mortal sins, as far as I remember) and said that he would absolve me of any other sins (though I don’t know if I actually said anything along the lines of “for these and all my sins”). Also, I’m skeptical as to whether I had sufficient contrition and a sufficient firm purpose of amendment. Aside from this, I’m worried that I have committed mortal sin between then and now.

I don’t think I really KNOW for absolute certain that I’ve committed mortal sin since my last confession which may or may not have been valid. Before that, I think it’s most likely that I’ve committed a mortal sin, but again, not completely certain. Does this count as not being conscious of mortal sin?

If I received today, I would have to receive at every other Mass (unless I committed a certain mortal sin) otherwise I would be accepting that I committed a mortal sin of unworthy reception today.

Please, I need help and there’s not much other places I can go right now. :crying:
 
Stop.It.

Go to mass, receive communion. The priest absolved you and your confession was valid. If you don’t **know **if you committed a mortal sin, then you didn’t.

Get yourself under the supervision of a priest, pronto.
 
McatholicN said:
I am scrupulous. I have not received communion since some time last summer. Today is the last day to receive communion and fulfill third precept of the Church, which would be a MORTAL SIN if I didn’t.

I went to confession last Saturday, but am worried about it’s validity. For one, the priest stopped me during confessing what I believed to be mortal sins (albeit doubtful mortal sins, as far as I remember) and said that he would absolve me of any other sins (though I don’t know if I actually said anything along the lines of “for these and all my sins”). Also, I’m skeptical as to whether I had sufficient contrition and a sufficient firm purpose of amendment. Aside from this, I’m worried that I have committed mortal sin between then and now.

I don’t think I really KNOW for absolute certain that I’ve committed mortal sin since my last confession which may or may not have been valid. Before that, I think it’s most likely that I’ve committed a mortal sin, but again, not completely certain. Does this count as not being conscious of mortal sin?

If I received today, I would have to receive at every other Mass (unless I committed a certain mortal sin) otherwise I would be accepting that I committed a mortal sin of unworthy reception today.

Please, I need help and there’s not much other places I can go right now. :crying:
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Hi MCatholic,

You are embroiled in serious scruples, and you need a regular confessor. Therapy might also be a good idea; seek out a good Catholic who can be sympathetic to your Faith.

There is no way that your experience is what God wants for anyone. Confession is an effective Sacrament; worries that one is not “sufficiently” contrite are useless and inappropriate. These teachings refer to those who go to Confession out of habit, with full intention of sinning again and no regrets for their past actions. Probably more of a problem in the past when many Catholics would go to Confession just to look good or feel good, but they had attachments to serious sin anyway.

I would be very surprised if you had any mortal sins to worry about. Scruples are your problem; fight them by being obedient to a good priest who knows you.

I’d receive Communion, but even if not don’t let that further undermine your peace! Just get yourself some good direction and tell the priest what your situation is.

I would love to hear from you more if I managed to be helpful, or if you still wanted to exchange with someone who is in sympathy and praying for you.

God Bless,
Joan
 
I will quote from Fr. John Hardon, S.J. 's essay on the Examination of Conscience:
“The Enemy” says St Ignatius, considers carefully whether one has a lax or a delicate conscience. If one has a delicate conscience, the evil one seeks to make it excessively sensitive in order to disturb and upset it more easily. Thus, if he sees that one will not consent to mortal sin or venial sin, or even to the appearance of deliberate sin, since he cannot cause him to fall in a manner that appears sinful, he strives to make the soul judge that there is a sin, for example in a word or passing thought, where there is no sin" (, 349).
 
McatholicN said:
I am scrupulous. I have not received communion since some time last summer. Today is the last day to receive communion and fulfill third precept of the Church, which would be a MORTAL SIN if I didn’t.
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As another scrupulous person, I HIGHLY recommend you to get a spiritual director and make sure to start receiving the Eucharist again. The same thing happened to me where I didn’t receive Communion for more than 8 months. I was a complete spiritual wreck by the end. I lost out on so many graces, and now I see clearly the devil was preventing me from receiving Communion. My priest helped me to get back to Communion… I went to Confession before Mass, and then received Communion at that Mass, and - I’m glad I did 🙂 I think you should really talk to a good priest about this and figure out a way to get you receiving Communion again… this is really dangerous for you 😦 I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I went through with this scrupulosity.
I went to confession last Saturday, but am worried about it’s validity. For one, the priest stopped me during confessing what I believed to be mortal sins (albeit doubtful mortal sins, as far as I remember) and said that he would absolve me of any other sins (though I don’t know if I actually said anything along the lines of “for these and all my sins”). Also, I’m skeptical as to whether I had sufficient contrition and a sufficient firm purpose of amendment. Aside from this, I’m worried that I have committed mortal sin between then and now.
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my priest described mortal sin as signing a cheque for a million dollars. You know what you are doing and you are consciously choosing it. Your Confession is valid if you were honest and repentant. Contrition is in the will, not necessarily the feelings, always. Furthermore, you don’t need perfect contrition for Confession!!! even fear of hell is enough, as long as you don’t want to do the sins again. Repentance is turning away from sin… not wanting to do them anymore.

Is there a way you can ask a priest to hear your confession before Mass? I think it might really help having a regular confessor who knows what you’re struggling with, and can guide you with Confession. Only with a priest’s help can you overcome scrupulosity. Please understand that scrupulosity is dangerous for salvation… it keeps a person from learning to trust God, and put God’s judgement above their own. It also keeps them from focusing on virtue, cause they’re always worrying. Please get help with this…
I don’t think I really KNOW for absolute certain that I’ve committed mortal sin since my last confession which may or may not have been valid. Before that, I think it’s most likely that I’ve committed a mortal sin, but again, not completely certain. Does this count as not being conscious of mortal sin?
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If I received today, I would have to receive at every other Mass (unless I committed a certain mortal sin) otherwise I would be accepting that I committed a mortal sin of unworthy reception today.
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Please, I need help and there’s not much other places I can go right now. :crying:
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😦 seems you’re really going through a lot here… can you talk to a priest before Mass? can you maybe talk to him after and ask for Confession, explain the whole situation, and then ask him if you can receive Communion? (we can receive the Eucharist outside of the Mass too).

You said you are uncertain if you’ve committed mortal sins… what’s the part that’s making you doubt that they’re mortal: consent, knowledge, or grave matter? with a mortal sin, a person generally knows that it’s mortal - the only time they wouldn’t is if their conscience is “lax”, but your conscience is the other direction: scrupulous. What we need is a rightly formed conscience, but that is best done under guidance of a good priest.

God bless
 
Here’s how you know if you’ve made a valid Confession. (someone please correct me if any of this is wrong).
  • you were repentant (imperfect contrition still counts as long as you strove for contrition… just do your best). So: you didn’t want to do the sins again.
  • you were honest, in that you didn’t deliberately lie to the priest.
  • the priest said the absolution
 
Alright, I will lean on the fact that I’m not truly conscious of having a mortal sin and trust that my confession was valid. I still fear that when I do this, I will almost be making a promise to receive communion at all other masses I go to (unless of course I commit an actual mortal sin) because if I don’t, I’ll be admitting to myself that today’s communion was unworthily received. And if I look at this now, I feel scared to receive communion today.

Also, I’m a bit worried about having pieces of the Eucharist in my mouth and be committing a sin that way. Any thoughts?

(Thanks for the responses so far!)
 
McatholicN said:
Alright, I will lean on the fact that I’m not truly conscious of having a mortal sin and trust that my confession was valid. I still fear that when I do this, I will almost be making a promise to receive communion at all other masses I go to (unless of course I commit an actual mortal sin) because if I don’t, I’ll be admitting to myself that today’s communion was unworthily received. And if I look at this now, I feel scared to receive communion today.

Also, I’m a bit worried about having pieces of the Eucharist in my mouth and be committing a sin that way. Any thoughts?

(Thanks for the responses so far!)
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You need to get help from your priest and a therapist. You have a serious problem and we cannot help you here.
 
MCatholicN,

I’m just going to re-emphasize what everyone else has said here:
  1. Go to communion. Don’t even think about not receiving. You are seeing potential sins where there is absolutely no danger,* at all*, of any kind of sin, mortal or venial.
  2. Talk to your priest immediately. You need serious help. Trust me; I suffered from severe scruples as well, and I would have snapped had I not been able to talk to a wise and holy priest.
Please let us know when you have talked to a priest. And please update us on how you are doing! I’m about to say a chaplet of Divine Mercy, and I’ll be offering it up for you.
 
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