Losing memory and repentance

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Lea101

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Was wondering about the best possible response for this question: if someone were to lose their memory and die soon after, would they be held accountable for the sins they committed in the past? As they’re unable to repent (because they weren’t aware of their sins),of course.
 
The Sacrament of Anointing. One need not even be conscious for grace to flow. When I hear of someone close to death, I ask if they are Catholic. If yes, then I urge their loved ones to call a priest to administer the Sacrament. That, and prayer, are the least we can do for their souls.

If anyone doubts the efficacy of the Sacrament, just ask. I have received it more times than I can count, and was given a 99.5% of expiring to the three cancers I have had, the stem cell transplant and rejection issues.
 
From what I understand, if someone goes to confession with the intention of making a good confession, and confesses all mortal sins of which they are aware, they are forgiven all of them, including any that they forgot. So it would only be an issue if they didn’t go to confession before dying.
 
DarkLight said:
including any that they forgot. So it would only be an issue if they didn’t go to confession before dying.
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Well that’s the thing. If they weren’t aware of any unrepented sins, they may not go to confession because they assume they’re in a state of grace. Or if they are not Catholic, they just have zero knowledge of the things they have done and hence won’t repent in their dying moments as well.
po18guy said:
The Sacrament of Anointing. One need not even be conscious for grace to flow
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Thanks, I completely forgot about this. If they’re not close to death what happens? E.g. If someone wakes up from a coma and forgot their past, and then gets into an unexpected car accident.

Do we just hope for grace in that situation? I know we say God gives souls a chance to choose him after death, but I have no idea what this actually means.
 
The Lord is not waiting around a corner for us to mess up and send us straight to hell. We all depend on His grace, and He is delighted to supply it. His mercy is inexhaustible, He knows our hearts and He wants us to be at peace.

To have an authoritative and definitive answer, simply ask your priest at next confession or after mass.
 
God knows that our brains can “break”, as well as our bodies.
If a person who was walking with the Lord, receiving the sacraments regularly, started to show decline in their moral and spiritual life due to organic causes, I’m confident that God would take that into account.
 
Lea101 said:
… unable to repent (because they weren’t aware of their sins),of course.
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Valid contrition is always for all mortal sins since baptism, remembered or not.
1452 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called “perfect” (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.
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I have been told that if one confesses all mortal sins remembered, then all are forgiven.
 
Vico said:
Valid contrition is always for all mortal sins since baptism, remembered or not.
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So you’re saying if the person has this contrition, even though in his mind he has not committed anything, he would be saved?
Dourbest said:
I have been told that if one confesses all mortal sins remembered, then all are forgiven.
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Yup, I know this. I was referring to the people who don’t confess anything because they can’t remember any sin.
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
If a person who was walking with the Lord, receiving the sacraments regularly, started to show decline in their moral and spiritual life due to organic causes, I’m confident that God would take that into account.
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If the person isn’t catholic/was living his whole life in sin?

There seems to be no opportunity for him to repent if he can’t remember anything before his death. So i guess that leads to whether he is given an opportunity to repent after his death, but I’m not sure how legitimate this teaching is.
 
Lea101 said:
Vico: “Valid contrition is always for all mortal sins since baptism, remembered or not.”

So you’re saying if the person has this contrition, even though in his mind he has not committed anything, he would be saved?
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Every confession adds the sorrow for the current sins being absolved and the sorrow for all the absolved sins of the past continues. One sin cannot be forgiven while another remembered mortal sin remains for which their is no repentance.

So salvation is to die in the state of sanctifying grace. That can happen through baptism of water, blood, or desire. If a mortal sin is committed since that baptism, then if there is not an opportunity to confess before death, it may be forgiven through an act of perfect contrition.

Catechism
1451-1452 … Contrition is "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again."50 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called “perfect” (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.51
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Although no one knows for sure what God might do, I think God in his mercy might very well provide some means for them to regain their memory and repent at the last moment. We also don’t really know what goes on spiritually in the mind of people who have a mental or a communications impairment. God may be communicating with them on some whole other level.
 
po18guy said:
The Lord is not waiting around a corner for us to mess up and send us straight to hell. We all depend on His grace, and He is delighted to supply it. His mercy is inexhaustible, He knows our hearts and He wants us to be at peace.
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^^This.

I have some difficulty understanding why people come up with such scenarios. It is like they doubt the ability of God to provide for some situation where a person, through physical impairment or barrier, cannot repent and confess in the normal way.
 
It would depend whether or not the “someone…” you speak of was “in Christ” or not.
 
It is not specified, but for the sake of charity, let us assume that this is a person baptized into Christ’s Church. If not, then a “deathbed” baptism can easily be arranged. Also, you did read James 5:16, did you not? That is the Sacrament of Anointing.
 
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If the man who is “in Christ” is unable to repent, or, unwilling to repent, he will answer for it at the Judgment Seat of Christ either way. We all must stand before our God and give an account.
 
Well, what if your assembly followed James 5:16 and actually had the power of binding and loosing given to it by Christ? If you are arguing against scripture, I can’t help you!
 
What does confessing your faults to one another to be healed have anything to do with one who cannot or will not repent? Please connect these theological dots for me. I honestly do not know your angle on this.
 
My bad. James 5:13-15, immediately preceding the confessing of sin. That is the Sacrament of Anointing. Millions, including myself, can bear witness to its efficacy.

And, that is what I spoke of in my prior posts.
 
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