Mis-speaking during confession

[Matthew91]

I went to confession today with my dad and my brother, and I only had venial sins to confess. I usually make a list, and I did this time, it was somewhat long, and since they were all venial i decided to leave a few ones that i recalled out of my list, and during confession, I had confessed my sins, and usually when I’m done, I wrap up what I’m saying with the kinda phrase were taught, like “for these sins and all the sins of my life i am sorry” my dad also used to tell me when i was younger to finish by saying that" these are the sins I can remember". So I said that without thinking (Ive been saying it since my first confession, sometimes I change the phrasing) , but right after i realized that that was not accurate considering there were some venial sins that I left out even though I was aware of them. I thought of mentioning that to the priest, but he was already speaking, and I thought that it was just a misspeak and did not need to be corrected so I received absolution and left. For the record I am a scrupulous person, and I know that I did not lie, I had no intention of doing so, and It was simply an occasion where I mis-spoke. What I am concerned about is if I should have told the priest, and is my confession a good one?

 

[Leopard]

It is not necessary to mention all venial sins in Confession if you have communicated an accurate general sense of your current state of sinfulness to your confessor. Don’t worry about it.

 

[StCsDavid]

Your confession was likely valid…good is another question. What I mean by this is that when you go to confession, especially if you have no mortal sins to confess, perhaps you should leave the list at home along with the scripted mantra learned from childhood, and simply have a conversation with Our Lord. Confess what is on your heart. Also, your venial sins are forgiven at mass during the Confetier. So anything you forgot or misstated in the confessional would be forgiven there as well.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Sister Ann Shields tells of being refused absolution once when using the grocery list. She was told to come back the next week with one sin that she was really sorry for. I have found that a good approach. Pick one sin, or a group of similar sins and work on them.

Lumping your little sins under the appropriate capital sin is an approach that works for me. What do all those little sins have in common - Pride? Greed? Lust?