I'm deeply troubled...the devil is laughing

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hurst:
Conclusion: we must confess forgotten mortal sins if we later remember them.

hurst
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Thank you, hurst, for the quotes. I wonder, though, if we do not go to confession regarding a recently remembered past mortal sin, are we “unforgiven” of that sin that was previously absolved, or are we simply guilty of a new grave sin?

I would think the latter makes more sense, but perhaps you can clarify.

Peace,
javelin
 
Paris Blues:
Okay, it goes like this:

Last Friday, I tried to confess all the sins I could remember. I was absolved. After a few hours later, I fell again and commited a couple venial sins PLUS remembered a couple more sins I forgot about while talking to the priest. Planned to go to Confession Saturday because the 20th was the big day!

Went to Confession for the second time on Sat. and confessed the sins I commited the previous day and the ones I forgot about on Friday.

On Sunday was the big day, I knew I was absolved from all sins. Recieved the Eucharist and was not aware of any sins all day Sunday.

Now Tuesday I just remembered a maybe-maybe-not mortal sin that I totally FORGOT and was UNAWARE of!! I was deeply troubled and was more scrupulous than ever and couldn’t remember if I said that sin and was even MORE scrupulous that I had to dig in the trashcan after shredding the “list of sins” and trying to find if I confessed that or not!!! See how crazy I am?

Turned out I DID confess that Friday and thought that the devil was getting on my case. GRRR!:mad: I also thought I was being a too-scrupulous young lady.

However, I was more deeply troubled when I just remembered another sin and hope that I didn’t commit a sacralige by recieving the Eucharist even though I was UNAWARE of it.

See how scruplous I am? Therefore, I was planning to go to a couple Daily Masses this week PLUS to the Thanksgiving Mass tomorrow but now I can’t because I just remembered another sin and WILL NOT recieve the Eucharist until I know I’m absoloved.

Is this also normal for a convert or is the devil doing everything and anything he can do to get me to be scrupulous than ever as well as not want me to go to Daily Mass?
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(I’m sorry, but I haven’t read anyone else’s posts so I hope I’m not repeating too much.)

I’d just like to say that you need to relax. If you sincerely forgot your sins, which it sounds like, God knows that and is all-merciful - just confess them next time. I used to be the same way and so did another guy, I think his name was…Martin Luther! He would go to Confession for hours on end until he eventually snapped and invented the doctrine of sola fide to comfort himself. Also, I don’t think you need to be too worried about having forgotten venial sins before receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist because the Church teaches that all venial sins are absolved at Mass. Hope that helps. Just relax, trust in Christ, and pray that the Holy Spirit reveals your sins to your mind. God bless! 👍
 
Paris Blues:
All right peoples…

I can either go to Mass and recieve the Eucharist (and still be aware of the sins I forgot and totally were unaware of during Confession) and HOPE that I can TRUST on God’s Mercy when recieving the Eucharist (whether the sin I forgot were mortal or not) or NOT go and wait until Saturday to be absolved.

Which one?

My gosh, I really need Michael the archangel to kick Satan out of my face!
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Paris Blues, I was in the same boat as you. Every venial sin I treated like a mortal and if I forgot a mortal sin in confession I was mortfied. The Priest told me, if you SINCERELY forget a mortal sin, it is forgiven, just mention it the next time you go to confession. BUT once you go to confession, DO NOT try to remember past sins, it will drive you crazy. Father Levis on EWTN stresses this to someone on their website who thinks exactly like you. Check out the answer FAther Levis gave her!

God Bless. BTW Welcome home!

ewtn.com/vexperts/showresult.asp?RecNum=454411&Forums=6&Experts=0&Days=14&Author=&Keyword=&pgnu=2&groupnum=0&record_bookmark=72&ORDER_BY_TXT=ORDER+BY+ReplyDate+DESC&start_at=
 
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javelin:
I wonder, though, if we do not go to confession regarding a recently remembered past mortal sin, are we “unforgiven” of that sin that was previously absolved, or are we simply guilty of a new grave sin?
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Hmm. This is a bit technical, but an interesting question.

Being truly sorry yet unwilling to confess it is a sort of contradiction. But even if you were sorry and forgiven of the guilt, your temporal punishment remains. And if you simply refuse to confess a forgotten mortal sin, then it is a new sin.
  1. If you don’t go, it might be that you were never sorry to begin with, and that negates your past confession, meaning you were never forgiven to begin with. True contrition is the primary ingredient, and will motivate you to act appropriately, obediently, and completely.
Confession produces its effect, on the presupposition that there is contrition which blots out guilt … but … the punishment for the sin … through failing to confess it to the priest, is not diminished.
newadvent.org/summa/501005.htm
  1. If once we were sorry, we must remain sorry and grieve for that sin the rest of our life. If we don’t, we lose our pardon.
Augustine says in his book, De Poenitentia: “What remains for us to do, save to sorrow ever in this life? For when sorrow ceases, repentance fails; and if repentance fails, what becomes of pardon?”
newadvent.org/summa/408408.htm
  1. If you were forgiven, then it cannot be “unforgiven”, and thus refusing to confess a recently remembered mortal sin must be a new sin of ingratitude which brings upon you the effects of the old sin.
… sins pardoned through Penance are said to return, in so far as their debt of punishment, by reason of ingratitude, is virtually contained in the subsequent sin

newadvent.org/summa/408800.htm
  1. It is a mistake to believe we can confess a sin and think that since it was absolved we no longer need to be sorry.
Ecclesiasticus 5:5 Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin upon sin: 6 And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins.

Augustine says: “The penitent should always grieve, and rejoice in his grief.”

Matt 5:5 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Conclusion: We must persevere in penance for our sins, even after we confess them. Thus, if we recall a forgotten mortal sin, we are bound and obligated to confess it during our next confession.

hurst
 
Paris Blues:
I think the main reason why I can get so darn scrupulous is because I’m recieving the MOST SACRED Eucharist and taking the Eucharist with sin on my soul is the LAST THING I want to do.

I’d rather burn in Hell than to recieve the Eucharist with sin on my soul.

THAT’S WHY!!!
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Paris, I’m not a Catholic anymore, but please read this anyway.
I’m worried about you.

I used to be Catholic, and I remember feeling the same way. All it did was drive me farther away. It didn’t bring me closer to God at all. I want you to imagine something, it might help.

Let’s pretend that you and I are friends. One day, for no reason, I turn on you. I do all sorts of nasty, despicable things that make you ragingly, furiously angry. I mean I’m really, really terrible, and on top of all of the hideously mean things I say, I call you fat.

But later I realize what a total idiot I’ve been, I realize what a truly fanatastic friend you’ve been, and I go and beg for your forgiveness. I lay it on the line, and let you know that I am willing to go to any lengths to make things right, that I am truly sorry for what I’ve done, and I will dedicate myself to making sure that I don’t offend you ever again. I tell you the exact nature of what I did wrong, and I search my soul to find out why I did it, and how I can prevent going down that road again. I’m truly sincere in my apology. But I forget that I called you fat, the only thing I forgot. I’m so anxious to make things right with you that I go to you twice to make sure I’ve got it all. I repeat things, just so you’ll know, but for some reason that comment slips my mind.

I’m going to go out on a limb, and assume you’ll forgive me. I really am sorry after all, and I’m really going to try and be an even better friend to you, and deep down, you really do like me. So let’s assume you forgive me. To show me that we are once again friends, you tell invite me over to dinner. (Thanks, I accept. 😃 )

Oops, I just remembered the comment. Oh my word, you must HATE me. Do you really want me to cancel on dinner? Do you want me to move farther away from you until I get a chance to mention it? Haven’t you already forgiven me? Sure you didn’t specifically tell me that you forgave me for that one comment, but you told me you forgave me for all of it.

Do you really want me to pull away? Do you really want me to severe all ties with you for all eternity?!? Hell, if I understand it correctly is total and eternal separation with God. Do you think, the God who loves you will be HAPPY with that? You don’t think that he would rather that you came, ate, shared with Him, and mentioned it the next time you saw him? An “Oh yeah, I forgot, I meant to apologize for this too.”

You’ve told Him you were sorry, he told you he forgave you, what else do you need to hear?

As I’ve said before, I’m not Catholic, I’m not even a believer anymore (although after writing all that about God, it’s a little harder to not believe in Him) but I find it hard to believe that God would be less understanding, or forgiving than I am, and I would never hold it against you that you forgot to mention one thing. Not if you were sincere about everything else. So I can’t imagine God would either.

Ever
 
As I’ve said before, I’m not Catholic, I’m not even a believer anymore (although after writing all that about God, it’s a little harder to not believe in Him) but I find it hard to believe that God would be less understanding, or forgiving than I am, and I would never hold it against you that you forgot to mention one thing. Not if you were sincere about everything else. So I can’t imagine God would either.
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The thing is, if you are truly contrite when you confess, even if you forget to mention something, you are still forgiven…God doesn’t hold it against us if we forget things…

I will pray for you, Everstruggling. I’ve read a few of your posts and I sincerely hope that you can find some peace in the light of the Spirit of truth.

-ACEGC
 
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