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Battle_Bear

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Hello, I believe I have committed a mortal sin, which is masturbation, I would like to ask if this was mortal, yes, I’m young, I’m in my teens (early)
First Of its a grave sin
Second, I never knew it was wrong to do, in religion, and I didn’t know it was a mortal sin.
Third yes I did the sin because I wanted to, but people said it was normal.

Also, I cannot go to confession as my parents say you can just pray to ask forgiveness instead… So they cannot support me.

Is An Act Of PerfectbContrition Acceptable?
 
Your parents are wrong. The Catholic Church teaches us that the normal means of forgiveness is through the Sacramento of Reconciliation. Go as soon as you can.
 
bsroufek said:
Your parents are wrong. The Catholic Church teaches us that the normal means of forgiveness is through the Sacramento of Reconciliation. Go as soon as you can.
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It’s not possible, they haven’t gone in a long time.
 
Judging by Battle Bear’s age, I’m guessing he probably lives in an area where the nearest parish is too far or out of the way to walk to by himself. Is that correct? Or are your parents banning you from going to confession?
 
fallow_spirit said:
Judging by Battle Bear’s age, I’m guessing he probably lives in an area where the nearest parish is too far or out of the way to walk to by himself. Is that correct? Or are your parents banning you from going to confession?
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Too far to walk, and I’m sure my parents walking 3 miles bymyself
 
If you didn’t know it was a mortal sin, then it wasn’t a mortal sin. You have to have full knowledge and consent. Confession will do you good though, so seek an opportunity when you are able. Pray for your parents’ conversion as well. God bless you!
 
Battle_Bear said:
Also, can I take the Eucharist?
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You really shouldn’t take the Eucharist. I applaud your faith, and despite your parents reluctance, I would try to go to confession as soon as you can. I am sure there is a way you can think of to get there, even if it is just talking to your parents about wanting to go and desiring to go. Surely they would take you to a Saturday evening mass where you could go to confession before hand.

For me, as a candidate I have a strong desire to go to confession, but I have to wait like 9 months. My priest told me to just write down my mortal sins as I reflect on my life (been 12 years since my baptism! with no confessions) He recommended I pray and reflect about each one as they come to me and doing acts of contrition.

It is not the same as confession, but it is helpful to the soul until you can go.
 
BeeSweet said:
If you didn’t know it was a mortal sin, then it wasn’t a mortal sin. You have to have full knowledge and consent. Confession will do you good though, so seek an opportunity when you are able. Pray for your parents’ conversion as well. God bless you!
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This is correct.

Confession would be good. And insisting on it would be a great witness to your faith for your parents. Of course, such things can be difficult and you must navigate your family life with care, especially when young and still under their responsibility.

But, technically, if no personal mortal sin was committed, on the basis that you didn’t know it was wrong, then you would be free to receive Eucharist.
 
God bless you! I am proud of you for caring so much about your soul and wanting to go to confession! It is true that you did not commit a mortal sin if you did not know your sin was wrong. The conditions for a sin being a mortal sin are:
1-it has to be grave matter (yes, it was)
2-you have to know it is wrong (you did not)
3-you have to commit the sin freely (it appears as if you did)

I would still do whatever I could to get to confession though. You are going to be tempted again (and again, and again…) to this and other sexual sins over the next few years (well, temptations will always be there, but they are often more difficult in the teen years), and you need God’s grace to help you resist these temptations and to make the right decisions instead. Even if you don’t commit any mortal sins again (masturbation would be a mortal sin for you now that you know better), it would still be good to try to go to confession regularly. The Church doesn’t require this - but many in the Church recommend doing to confession as often as once a month.

Are your parents arguing with you about the value of going to confession, or are they forbidding you to go? If they haven’t forbidden you to go, I would encourage you to ask again. Here’s the thing about your parents’ argument - for VENIAL sin, you don’t absolutely have to go to confession. You can ask God to forgive you. But even for venial sin, confession is recommended by the Church. You receive grace when you are absolved from your sins by a priest, and that extra grace helps you to resist temptation in the future. What’s so bad about receiving a little extra grace? That said, arguing theology with them may be difficult, and isn’t necessarily going to get you what you really need, which is the sacrament of confession. So I would just tell them that you understand what they are saying, but that you really want to go to confession anyway, and ask them if they would please take you to the church on Saturday afternoon for about 15 minutes (if you get there early, chances are you won’t take longer than that) . A few ways to make this convenient would be to suggest that you just go to Mass together as a family on Saturday evening that day, after confession. Or if you have any errands to run, to swing by the church on the way to the errands.
 
Oh I’m sorry, is there someone else that could take you? And are you sure that your parents would take you under any circumstances? Like if you begged your parents would they take you?
 
Battle_Bear said:
So did I commit a venial sin?
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Maybe, maybe not.

You have objectively sinned (ie what you did was wrong); whether you have personally sinned is a different question. Your responsibility for the sin is diminished because of your ignorance. It may even be that your ignorance completely removes any personal responsibility for the sin. But, none of us can say. That’s between you and God, and your confessor.

Since you know what you did was wrong, even if you didn’t know it at the time, it is still appropriate to say sorry to God. Since it is not a personal mortal sin, this can be done without the need for sacramental confession. But since it is an objectively serious sin, it is good to confess regardless.
 
Alright, I’m gonna ask my parents again, after my plane flight…
 
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