This is correct. If a sin, in this case a lie, causes someone else damage and pain or causes others to sin, then it is appropriate to disclose more detail.The simple answer is that you only need to confess mortal sins in kind (aka lie) and number (aka twice) with a contrite heart and purpose of amendment without leaving out other mortal sins. It is a great practice to also confess venial sins regularly. So you are fine just saying I lied twice. The priest will probably praise God for your brevity.
The longer answer. If the circumstances (like purpose or reason) make the sin much greater then they might need to be included. For example: telling a few white lies doesn’t merit further elaboration than just saying I lied however many times. But if you lied to your spouse about some major debt for the past five years, you might want to include some more detail. The classic example is don’t say you stole a rope, when there was a cow attached to it. Returning to my lying example, you wouldn’t need to go into deep explanation about the kind of debt or even the exact length of time if you can’t remember or the exact size of the debt or who the debt is to or etc. Just saying I lied to my spouse several times over the past few years about a large debt. In general the priest will ask for more details if he needs them and just sticking with kind and number is fine.
Hopefully that second part doesn’t confuse you too much.
As will everyone waiting in line behind you. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, you don’t want to be the person who takes up 15 minutes of the limited time scheduled for confessions.…The priest will probably praise God for your brevity.…
While I understand that your intention (as with pulsence) in regards to the brevity is well-intentioned, I also wouldn’t want any posts here given an unintended effect of giving the OP the impression that it’s wrong to have a long confession if he needs one.As will everyone waiting in line behind you. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, you don’t want to be the person who takes up 15 minutes of the limited time scheduled for confessions.
I love your “classic example”!The simple answer is that you only need to confess mortal sins in kind (aka lie) and number (aka twice) with a contrite heart and purpose of amendment without leaving out other mortal sins. It is a great practice to also confess venial sins regularly. So you are fine just saying I lied twice. The priest will probably praise God for your brevity.
The longer answer. If the circumstances (like purpose or reason) make the sin much greater then they might need to be included. For example: telling a few white lies doesn’t merit further elaboration than just saying I lied however many times. But if you lied to your spouse about some major debt for the past five years, you might want to include some more detail. **The classic example is don’t say you stole a rope, when there was a cow attached to it. **Returning to my lying example, you wouldn’t need to go into deep explanation about the kind of debt or even the exact length of time if you can’t remember or the exact size of the debt or who the debt is to or etc. Just saying I lied to my spouse several times over the past few years about a large debt. In general the priest will ask for more details if he needs them and just sticking with kind and number is fine.
Hopefully that second part doesn’t confuse you too much.
My intuition is that the priest would ask what do you mean by grave matter, because grave matter is so generic. Whether it’s fine I think would come down to intent of saying grave matter vs what the grave matter was. If on one hand you are trying to down play the sin or hide it by not fully reveal what then sin is, that’s problematic. You are not fully confessing a seemingly mortal sin. On other hand if you’re not sure how to be more specific, but you know that it was something important you can say maybe something like “I lied to my spouse concerning grave matter, but I’m not sure how to further explain.” Then the priest can help guide you through whatever he needs to help you make a complete confession and give proper guidance. Besides that it would seem better to go into at least a little more detail then just saying grave matter if that grave matter is important to what the lie was about (or any sin for that matter).will it be ok to tell priest that “I lied to my spouse on grave matter” (instead of saying …“the debt”)?
And if something changes the kind…like the expensive gold cup you stole…was a chalice (hence also sacrilege) or the person you euthanized was your grandparent…etcMortal sins are to be confessed number and kind (murder, adultery …etc).
Venial sins (which can be forgiven in many other ways -though good to confess) can be confessed without number and can even be more general. No number needed.