mortal and venial sin

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OK, I’ve been reading about mortal and venial sin, and now I am afraid I may be in a state of mortal sin. I was always taught that when you go to confession, you do not necessarily have to confess everything single thing you’ve done, but that all your sins will be washed away anyway, assuming you go with an open heart and are sorry for all your sins. Now I am reading contradictory things saying you must confess EVERY sin you’ve committed, and that withholding a confession of a sin is in itself a mortal sin! Which is true! (I’m on my way to confession tomorrow either way. I can’t handle the stress!)
 
Calm down Moo. 🙂

Since you were misinformed its okay; just confess all mortal sins you have committed tomorrow and it will be fine.

Here’s a good guide by Jimmy Akin of Catholic answers on: How to go to Confession

Be at peace.

Miguel.
 
Moo,
Its not so much as confessing everything you have ever done, every little tiny sin but making some generalizations, like if you lied to your mother and your father 10 times each instead of describing ever little detail about each lie you might say that you lied to your parents and leave it at that. Now purposely withholding a sin because you don’t want to confess it is a mortal sin. But since you are gonig tomorrow just confess all that you remember and trust in Gods mercy for the rest. No one is perfect 🙂

I will be praying for you,
 
I know where you are coming from. I was away from confession for about 10 years. When I came back, I confessed everything I could remember. (With the help of the priest) If I forgot anything, I confessed it the next time. I don’t think it was the mortal sins I forgot but the venial sins. (so many) Anyway, just confess everthing you remember. Open up your heart to Christ. Beleve me, its the only way to go.

Kevin
 
Hello. I believe the rule is that you must confess every mortal sin. Every mortal sin that you are aware of must be confessed in order for your sins to be absolved. If we were in there confessing every single venial sin, we’d probably have a hard time remembering every single one and we’d be in there for a while! :confused:

I think the reason for this is because the Church wants us to seek repentance with a humble heart. It’s an incredibly humbling experience to confess your sins to a priest, and a person willing to fully confess all of their serious sins to a priest shows a repentant heart and willingness to change for the better. Hope this helps! 👍
 
Where oh where is God’s mercy? Is your God a God of vengence, or a God of mercy?

You are required to confess any mortal sins you are aware of. If, later, you realize that there was a mortal sin you did not confess, because you were unaware of it at the time, and you would have confessed had you been aware of it, you do not need to confess because you were forgiven. If it is one that you would not have confessed, then you need to do so.

God doesn’t play “gotcha!”. He is not looking for some way to send you to Hell. He is looking for you to return to Him; He is looking for a change of heart, for metanoia (a “turning around”).

If you do recall a serious sin you would have confessed but forgot, and are uncomfortable, then go, confess it. But you need to learn that God is a loving God, not a condemning one.
 
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otm:
Where oh where is God’s mercy? Is your God a God of vengence, or a God of mercy?

You are required to confess any mortal sins you are aware of. If, later, you realize that there was a mortal sin you did not confess, because you were unaware of it at the time, and you would have confessed had you been aware of it, you do not need to confess because you were forgiven. If it is one that you would not have confessed, then you need to do so.
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Wrong

We are bound to confess all mortal sins, in type and number, that we can recall. If one honestly forgets a sin it is absolved anyways and one can approach communion. HOWEVER, one is bound to Confess it the next time.

As fare as venial sins, it is a good practice to confess them, but sticking to the general nature of them is fine, unless there is a particular one that weighs on your soul.
 
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Ichthus:
Wrong

We are bound to confess all mortal sins, in type and number, that we can recall. If one honestly forgets a sin it is absolved anyways and one can approach communion. HOWEVER, one is bound to Confess it the next time.

As fare as venial sins, it is a good practice to confess them, but sticking to the general nature of them is fine, unless there is a particular one that weighs on your soul.
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What if I still don’t remember it till kingdom come? 😛
 
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beng:
What if I still don’t remember it till kingdom come? 😛
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Then you do not enter the eternal flames for that sin, as already stated it was absolved in the first Confession

The Confession of it when remembered, though it was already absolved, is possible because already forgiven sins can be Confessed again and are proper matter for the Keys. It is required because Confession is also meant to reconcile us to the Church, as well so that the Confessor may grant you a proper penance, among other things.
 
This is a good thread - mortal and venial sins. I have a question…could someone give examples of mortal sins besides the usual ones. Usual ones I am thinking of would be deliberately and intentionally missing Mass on Sunday, adultery, murder, stealing large items or amounts, etc.

pat
 
Pat Laub:
This is a good thread - mortal and venial sins. I have a question…could someone give examples of mortal sins besides the usual ones. Usual ones I am thinking of would be deliberately and intentionally missing Mass on Sunday, adultery, murder, stealing large items or amounts, etc.

pat
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Masturbation

A very touchy topics today is… tada… File Sharing

I would really like the Church to dogmatically define that File Sharing is OK :

If anyone says that File Sharing is a sin, either mortal or venial, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA 👍

So that way I could hunt down PED (Ichtus) for making me delete all my mp3s :mad:
 
For me, a good way to think of what is and is not a mortal sin is to look at the act under the definition of mortal sin. Is it grave matter committed with full concent of will and knowlege of its sinfulness? The problem is that when we look at our own sins, we can always convience ourselves that we have limited culpability (i.e. additcited to some immoral act). So, I just try to focus on all the grave matter that I went along with and let the priest absolve away. I try not to justify the act, I just say I did it knowing I should not have. Generally speaking, a person who commits few mortal sins will KNOW when they’ve messed up.

As far as venial sins go, I lump them together, such as I lied, etc.
The more you confess venial as well as mortal sins, the more distaste of sin you build up.

Here’s a question: is it a venial sin to lie to a telemarketer to end the call early? They can be quite pushy and tend not to understand the words “not interested.”
 
Interesting question Ralphinal. If I remember correctly St. Ignatius of Loyola said something about mental reservation. This is the way I understand it. . . You can say something to a telemarketer like, “No thanks, we already have that” and in your head think “because I do not want to do business with you”.

pat
 
Yikes, I am off to confession tomorrow.
I was under the impression that if I went to my priest and confessed a sin such as arguing with my parents, all my other sins would be absolved, that is , the mortal sins that I am too embarassed to speak out loud.
Thanks for clearing this up for me guys
Love Kellie
 
I think that with the stress you have placed upon yourself you need to understand one of the best parts of confession. For me it is the Priest stands in the place of Christ and I can talk to him it does not have to be all formal. If you are having a doubt in your mind you should be feel free to ask the Priest, and seek advice from him. I like to talk to him about the new temptations I am facing and what he does to avoid them or if he does not have them any ideas he may have on how to help me avoid the occasion.
 
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kellie:
I was under the impression that if I went to my priest and confessed a sin such as arguing with my parents, all my other sins would be absolved, that is , the mortal sins that I am too embarassed to speak out loud.
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That’s what I thought. AND, here’s the kicker! I am learning that if you deliberately withhold a mortal sin in confession, that itself is a sin. AND, since I did just that, I am guilty of the sin, guilty of the sin of withholding the sin, and guilty of the sin of pride from withholding the sin! AAHHH! TOO MANY SINS! :eek:
 
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MooCowSteph:
That’s what I thought. AND, here’s the kicker! I am learning that if you deliberately withhold a mortal sin in confession, that itself is a sin. AND, since I did just that, I am guilty of the sin, guilty of the sin of withholding the sin, and guilty of the sin of pride from withholding the sin! AAHHH! TOO MANY SINS! :eek:
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Hahahahahahaha, boy, are our priests going to be busy now hey?
Love Kellie
 
Guys I was away for 5 years and when I came back the first thing I did was go to confession. It was a new Priest Fr. Dan. As I was standing in line I kept letting other people get in front of me, as I knew it was going to take a while. This old man came in and when I offered to let him go in front of me he said that was ok he would wait, I said you dont understand I am going to be in there a while, he smiled at me and said that is ok it will give me more time to pray for you. I thank God for that old man because I know now I was talking my self into leaving.

At the start of my confession the screen was between us after the first 15 mins I asked Father Dan if I could change to face to face and he said that would be great. We were able to share a lot and when I walked out the old man just smiled at me. Little did he know but I was smiling inside because for maybe the first time I was truly free.

By the way some parts of my pennance doing the dishes, and the wash. Is there a spot in cannon law the forbids a Priest from handing down such a steep pennance???😉

At least he did not say anything about the windows.
 
I have an interesting twist to venial sins. Venial sins are forgiven when one goes to Mass. Do they still need to be confessed? I usually do because I want the counsel.
 
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K-McD:
I have an interesting twist to venial sins. Venial sins are forgiven when one goes to Mass. Do they still need to be confessed? I usually do because I want the counsel.
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I wonder this too, but on a different level. I have re-dicovered the joy and grace of confession in my mid 30’s. When I realize that I have sinned, especially regarding purity with my eyes or in my mind, I seek confession for the grace and counsel and absolution. In my own life I don’t think these are mortal sins necessarily, but I feel compelled and called to confess. I wonder if I can approach the altar worthily for communion before confessing these sins because of the fact that I feel I should go confess. And if venial sins are forgiven in the Mass and the Eucharist, does it show a lack of trust in Divine Mercy to confess them later to the priest? If I am aware of sins x y and z but only confess z to the priest, can forgiveness be found later for unspoken sins lifted up at Mass (venial)?
 
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