I inadvertantly broke some lenten fasting rules - do I need to go to confession?

[djmauck]

I’m a relatively new Catholic. I didn’t realize that Ash Wednesday was a fasting day and meat abstinence day. Needless to say, I neither fasted nor abstained from meat. Also, today, I twice ate meat because I forgot that I wasn’t supposed to, realizing what I had done shortly afterwards. Do I have to go to reconciliation before I get communion this weekend?

 

[YoungTradCath]

If you have full knowledge of what you did at the time and gave full consent of the will, then yes, you do need to confess it.

 

[Windmill]

If you forgot, then there is no act of the will in breaking the fast. You did it without thinking. Sin requires full knowledge and consent.

 

[latingirl]

Even though you forgot, I’d still mention it in confession. Trust me, it will help you to remember next time.

God bless you on being a new Catholic!

 

[2HeartsSlave]

Even though you forgot, I’d still mention it in confession. Trust me, it will help you to remember next time.

God bless you on being a new Catholic!

Amen. But don’t be hard on yourself! You did what you said; you forgot. But fasting is such a precious gift for us. It cleans us from the inside out! Ask your priest in confession-or better yet, find a spiritual director if you don’t have one-and let him set personal guidelines for you.

Blessed lent!

 

[Guineviere]

I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. It was an honest mistake, take note and strive to do better.

 

[mdgspencer]

I agree, this is no sin. You cannot sin if you do not realize at all that something was wrong. When I became married ten years ago I lost track of the days during my honeymoon and didn’t realize at all that it was Sunday and I ought to go to church then. I regretted it a few days later when I realized this had happened, but I knew it was no sin.

 

[Reuben_J]

I’m a relatively new Catholic. I didn’t realize that Ash Wednesday was a fasting day and meat abstinence day. Needless to say, I neither fasted nor abstained from meat. Also, today, I twice ate meat because I forgot that I wasn’t supposed to, realizing what I had done shortly afterwards. Do I have to go to reconciliation before I get communion this weekend?

That does not seem to be a sin.