mortal and venial sin

[beckie_clark]

can some one ecxplain mortal and venial sin im confused

 

[oldgraymare2]

Hi beckie,

I can tell you myself that mortal sins are considered to be more grave or serious sins by the Church, and venial sins are considered to be less serious sins by the Church, and again are considered not so serious, but are still sins never the less.

Some examples of mortal sins include Adultery, and Murder.

Here is a link to an article from EWTN’s library regarding the difference between Mortal sins and venial sins. It explains the differences better than I can:

ewtn.com/expert/answers/mortal_versus_venial.htm

 

[Iron_Donkey]

The very short version is that mortal sins are so serious that they destroy our relationship with God and, if not repented of and forgiven (ordinarily through confession), lead to hell, whereas venial sins are still bad, and still can damage our relationship with God (and if done often enough/repeatedly and carelessly enough, tend to lead to us to commit mortal sin eventually), but do not in themselves directly destroy the relationship with God

 

[jmcrae]

can some one ecxplain mortal and venial sin im confused

“Mortal” means deadly - these sins kill the soul.

“Venial” means unremarkable - these sins are embarrassing or dumb, but not deadly.

For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met.

**First, **the action itself must be grave matter (serious stuff) - sex outside of marriage, killing an innocent person, stealing something valuable, or sins against the Church such as missing Sunday Mass without a good reason, using God’s name as a swear word, and that sort of thing.

**Second, **you must have had knowledge at the time (or the ability to know) that the action was a sin.

**Third, **you must have done the action deliberately and of your own free will - no one was forcing you, and you didn’t have what seemed to you a good reason at the time for doing it.

Venial sins would be things you do mostly by accident, such as walking off someone’s pen without realizing it, or failing to return a library book, or saying something thoughtless to your friend without having intended to hurt her feelings - stuff like that.

 

[Vico]

can some one ecxplain mortal and venial sin im confused

Catechism IV. THE GRAVITY OF SIN: MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN

1854 Sins are rightly evaluated according to their gravity. The distinction between mortal and venial sin, already evident in Scripture,129 became part of the tradition of the Church. It is corroborated by human experience.

1855 Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him.

Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it.

1856 Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God’s mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the setting of the sacrament of reconciliation:
When the will sets itself upon something that is of its nature incompatible with the charity that orients man toward his ultimate end, then the sin is mortal by its very object . . . whether it contradicts the love of God, such as blasphemy or perjury, or the love of neighbor, such as homicide or adultery. . . . But when the sinner’s will is set upon something that of its nature involves a disorder, but is not opposed to the love of God and neighbor, such as thoughtless chatter or immoderate laughter and the like, such sins are venial.130

1857 For a *sin *to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."131

 

[Bookcat]

From the Compendium issued by Pope Benedict XVI
**
394. How are sins distinguished according to their gravity?**

1854

A distinction is made between mortal and venial sin.

**395. When does one commit a mortal sin?
**
1855-1861
1874

One commits a mortal sin when there are simultaneously present: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. This sin destroys charity in us, deprives us of sanctifying grace, and, if unrepented, leads us to the eternal death of hell. It can be forgiven in the ordinary way by means of the sacraments of Baptism and of Penance or Reconciliation.
**
396. When does one commit a venial sin?**

1862-1864
1875

One commits a venial sin, which is essentially different from a mortal sin, when the matter involved is less serious or, even if it is grave, when full knowledge or complete consent are absent. Venial sin does not break the covenant with God but it weakens charity and manifests a disordered affection for created goods. It impedes the progress of a soul in the exercise of the virtues and in the practice of moral good. It merits temporal punishment which purifies.

vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

Buy it here shop.catholic.com/compendium-to-the-catechism-of-the-catholic-church.html

More from the Catechism: scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c1a8.htm#IV

 

[Bookcat]

“Mortal” refers to that the sin kills the life of grace in the soul (the terms grave sin and serious sin refer to mortal sins- but simply emphasize other aspects of the sin).

“Venial” comes from “venia” meaning pardon - these sins are “pardonable” from the inside for person in the state of grace…

See next post…for a good overview of the three aspects of mortal sin.

 

[Bookcat]

From the Compendium issued by Pope Benedict XVI
**
394. How are sins distinguished according to their gravity?**

1854

A distinction is made between mortal and venial sin.

**395. When does one commit a mortal sin?
**
1855-1861
1874

One commits a mortal sin when there are simultaneously present: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. This sin destroys charity in us, deprives us of sanctifying grace, and, if unrepented, leads us to the eternal death of hell. It can be forgiven in the ordinary way by means of the sacraments of Baptism and of Penance or Reconciliation.
**
396. When does one commit a venial sin?**

1862-1864
1875

One commits a venial sin, which is essentially different from a mortal sin, when the matter involved is less serious or, even if it is grave, when full knowledge or complete consent are absent. Venial sin does not break the covenant with God but it weakens charity and manifests a disordered affection for created goods. It impedes the progress of a soul in the exercise of the virtues and in the practice of moral good. It merits temporal punishment which purifies.

vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

Buy it here shop.catholic.com/compendium-to-the-catechism-of-the-catholic-church.html

More from the Catechism: scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c1a8.htm#IV

 

[beckie_clark]

I think I understand it now

 

[Brendan_64]

Mortal sin effectively kills the soul resulting in complete separation from God. It can only be healed either through the sacrament of Confession or through a perfect act of contrition,

Venial sin is a separation from God, but one that does not kill the soul, it is not a complete separation from God. We can still receive Holy Communion and our sins can be healed through the Mass or through a personal act of contrition.

 

[shawnbm]

The very short version is that mortal sins are so serious that they destroy our relationship with God and, if not repented of and forgiven (ordinarily through confession), lead to hell, whereas venial sins are still bad, and still can damage our relationship with God (and if done often enough/repeatedly and carelessly enough, tend to lead to us to commit mortal sin eventually), but do not in themselves directly destroy the relationship with God

This sounds right to me, as when I went through RCIA. An example may be masturbation due to constant interfacing with inappropriate pornographic sites on the web by a teenager or a married man. It is not adultery per se, but failing to grow in self-mastery and chastity and falling back into this lesser sin may eventually lead to fornication outside of marriage or outright adultery. One could also mention drinking to excess and knowing you have a problem with that but you fail to call it quits, etc. That can eventually lead to worse sins of a more grievous nature.

 

[Brendan_64]

An example may be masturbation due to constant interfacing with inappropriate pornographic sites on the web by a teenager or a married man. It is not adultery per se, but failing to grow in self-mastery and chastity and falling back into this lesser sin may eventually lead to fornication outside of marriage or outright adultery.

Masturbation is not a ‘lesser sin’. Masturbation is fornication and is gravely sinful in its own right.