I have a question about past sins and a consecration I made

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I have an issue about going over my past and having a certain sin come to mind and being uncertain about whether or not I should confess it. Sometimes I’m not even sure if it has been committed after my Baptism. If I’m not absolutely certain it was mortal and knew it was mortal, should I leave it alone and move on? Sometimes I go to Confession “just to make sure,” but I certainly don’t want to get badly scrupulous. I’d like to go to monthly Confession for a good spiritual formation, but I’ve been going weekly as of late to relieve anxiety. Most of the time, I have not been confessing mortal sins, but something that has been bothering me, with the hope that the Confession would alleviate anxiety.

Also, I said a prayer of eternal consecration that’s attached to the green scapular a while back, and something that went with that was to say a particular prayer daily. Sometimes I forget, and there was a lengthy period of time when I forgot. Should I confess this, or should I simply continue to say the prayer on the days I remember?

Like I said, I don’t want to get badly scrupulous, and I feel like I’m taking this whole thing to extremes. When I know I’ve committed mortal sin, I go to Confession. When I’m unsure, I really wish I could just move on with the comfort that I am lacking a key component for mortal sin, which is knowledge of the gravity of the action.

I apologize for the length of this post, but some assistance would sure be helpful. Thank you! 🙂
 
As far as your remembered sin, you can certainly mention it in Confession, but I think that a good confessor would likely advise you not to agonize over trying to remember past sins. They are absolved.

Forgetting enrollment prayers is not a mortal sin.

Scrupulosity is something to discuss with an experienced priest. He has dealt with scrupulous people before. Listen to and trust his advice.
 
Share_love said:
I have an issue about going over my past and having a certain sin come to mind and being uncertain about whether or not I should confess it. Sometimes I’m not even sure if it has been committed after my Baptism. If I’m not absolutely certain it was mortal and knew it was mortal, should I leave it alone and move on? Sometimes I go to Confession “just to make sure,” but I certainly don’t want to get badly scrupulous. I’d like to go to monthly Confession for a good spiritual formation, but I’ve been going weekly as of late to relieve anxiety. Most of the time, I have not been confessing mortal sins, but something that has been bothering me, with the hope that the Confession would alleviate anxiety.

Also, I said a prayer of eternal consecration that’s attached to the green scapular a while back, and something that went with that was to say a particular prayer daily. Sometimes I forget, and there was a lengthy period of time when I forgot. Should I confess this, or should I simply continue to say the prayer on the days I remember?

Like I said, I don’t want to get badly scrupulous, and I feel like I’m taking this whole thing to extremes. When I know I’ve committed mortal sin, I go to Confession. When I’m unsure, I really wish I could just move on with the comfort that I am lacking a key component for mortal sin, which is knowledge of the gravity of the action.

I apologize for the length of this post, but some assistance would sure be helpful. Thank you! 🙂
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Hi Share Love 🙂

I believe you may be overthinking this too much.

I try to simply go to confession, and when I am in their, let the confession come from my heart, as I am before Christ himself. Hence why doing lists and trying to remember certain sins and things I believe is the wrong way to look at it. I believe it shouldn’t be like ticking off a shopping list.

I find that I get the most graces out of confession by simply keeping the following to St. Faustina in mind and letting it come from my heart (And if you forget to mention certain sins, they are still forgiven after having been to confession).

Jesus to St. Faustina

"…when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls." (Diary, 1603).

I hope this has helped

God Bless You

Thank you for reading
Josh
 
Share_love said:
If I’m not absolutely certain it was mortal and knew it was mortal, should I leave it alone and move on?
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That really depends.

If you are scrupulous, and if your Confessor has told you this, and if he has bound you to only confess definite mortal sins: then yes, what you say above should hold. But just to be clear, this is at the direction of your Confessor, not by our direction, or even necessarily by your own impulse.

I believe very strongly that anyone who thinks they **may **be scrupulous in any sense, should consult with their Confessor.

But generally speaking, if we are not sure that we’ve committed a mortal sin, and if we have a normal conscience, then yes, we should definitely seek council in Confession. That way, we can learn some principles, and they will help us in the future to properly determine the gravity of sins. This is just forming our conscience. Knowing whether or not something is grave matter is not always just some intuitive, obvious thing. We do need to learn how to properly make distinctions with certain things. 🙂

My own, personal dictum is this: if I feel a strong enough doubt about a certain sin that I feel I should ask someone for their help, I think that there is evidence in this desire that I should consult my Confessor. I have found, time and again, that this helps me to make better decisions in the future, and that the occasions of doubt become fewer. This is, I believe, because my conscience is being formed better, and I improve my understanding of things.

However: a truly scrupulous person may not be able to do this. They may even doubt what their priest tells them! So again, they need to specifically address this problem, so that they can be given a course of action to follow.
 
Share_love said:
I have an issue about going over my past and having a certain sin come to mind and being uncertain about whether or not I should confess it. Sometimes I’m not even sure if it has been committed after my Baptism. If I’m not absolutely certain it was mortal and knew it was mortal, should I leave it alone and move on? Sometimes I go to Confession “just to make sure,” but I certainly don’t want to get badly scrupulous. I’d like to go to monthly Confession for a good spiritual formation, but I’ve been going weekly as of late to relieve anxiety. Most of the time, I have not been confessing mortal sins, but something that has been bothering me, with the hope that the Confession would alleviate anxiety.

Also, I said a prayer of eternal consecration that’s attached to the green scapular a while back, and something that went with that was to say a particular prayer daily. Sometimes I forget, and there was a lengthy period of time when I forgot. Should I confess this, or should I simply continue to say the prayer on the days I remember?

Like I said, I don’t want to get badly scrupulous, and I feel like I’m taking this whole thing to extremes. When I know I’ve committed mortal sin, I go to Confession. When I’m unsure, I really wish I could just move on with the comfort that I am lacking a key component for mortal sin, which is knowledge of the gravity of the action.

I apologize for the length of this post, but some assistance would sure be helpful. Thank you! 🙂
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Sounds like you may have a delicate and tender conscience. And a one confessor guide is a help for this.

If you have a sin which you think may be serious and have not mentioned in the confessional for one reason or another, just say that you may have not confessed this but that you don’t really know and would like to say it now for peace of mind…then just say what the sin was. There need be no further explaination … just the sin itself. And then its over and done with.

May God our Father give you grace and peace.
 
A person struggles with scruples - what ought they do?

A person with scrupulosity --ought to have a* “regular confessor” who can direct them --and even give them some general principles* to follow -to apply (principles for them due to their particular scruples -they are usually not for those with a normal conscience).

Thus with their direction they can “dismiss scruples” (in the older language despise them) - “act against them” (agere contra).

Scruples are to be dismissed ~ not argued with.

To borrow and image from a Carthusian from centuries ago: Scruples *are like a barking dog or a hissing goose -one does not stop to argue with a barking dog or a hissing goose does one? * No one keeps walking.

Such ‘obedience’ to a regular confessor who knows of ones scruples (except in what is manifest sin - such as if he told them it was ok to murder someone or something certain like that) is key. Such is the age old practice.

Also counseling -(especially if one also has OCD) could be helpful depending on the case -but one would want to look for a counselor who can assist one in following the Churches Teachings - not go contrary to them (I have heard CA staff mention catholictherapists.com/)

Here was a not too long ago post from Jimmy Akin of CA that I saw in the Register and saved for those who struggle with such.

ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/6-tools-for-the-scrupulous
 
Thank you all for the great information! I really appreciate it. 🙂
 
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