Mortal Sin Question

[Share_love]

I know that for a mortal sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met:

1. Grave matter, committed with
2. Full knowledge, and also committed with
3. Deliberate consent of the will.

I had recently seen a website that was talking about the difference between mortal and venial sins, but this particular website added a mention about planning the sin. Are the planned sins still mortal? What if you are tempted to do something and then talk yourself out of it or otherwise decide against it? Is that venial because you didn’t actually commit the sin of grave matter? I’m confused because this website seemed to contradict the other websites I had read.

Thank you!

 

[InNomineDomini]

If you **intend **to commit a mortal sin, but then prevent yourself from doing so, then you’ve committed a mortal sin in the will alone, without it being carried into action. But the intention to sin does have to be concrete; it’s not enough to have loads of doubts later and wonder what you were thinking: if you intend to do something sinful, you probably won’t forget.

Being tempted to commit a sin is never sinful. However, I think a lot of people may have difficulty recognizing mere temptations, and will sometimes mistake them for something else, such as sinning in the will but not in action. This is probably especially true in areas regarding lust.

 

[Share_love]

Thanks for your answer. I appreciate it.

 

[chimo]

I know that for a mortal sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met:

1. Grave matter, committed with
2. Full knowledge, and also committed with
3. Deliberate consent of the will.

I had recently seen a website that was talking about the difference between mortal and venial sins, but this particular website added a mention about planning the sin. Are the planned sins still mortal? What if you are tempted to do something and then talk yourself out of it or otherwise decide against it? Is that venial because you didn’t actually commit the sin of grave matter? I’m confused because this website seemed to contradict the other websites I had read.

Thank you!

If a mortal sin constitutes a grave matter the question that needs to be asked is what determines a grave matter? In the Diary of St. Maria Faustina the Lord Jesus had told the saint that only a mortal sin drives Him out of a soul that commits it. It doesn’t mean the person is going to hell for committing this sin but it does mean God is no longer present within the person (if the person was Baptized). Many times the saint thought she had committed a mortal sin but the Lord had reassured her that she had never committed a mortal sin in her life even admonishing her that her unwillingness to go to Holy Communion because she thought she had committed a mortal sin (when she did not) was more of a sin than the sin she had committed (which was only venial in its nature). I assume one needs to think of the (mortal) sin if the sin is to become mortal. I believe this is the case (to begin as a thought) whether the sin is mortal or venial. The Eastern Orthodox Church discusses this in her analogy about the process of a sin that begins in the mind. Many of her saints describes this process that parallels what the Catholic Church says what constitutes a mortal sin. If one follows through with the mortal sin than of course it started with a thought. However if one does not follow through with it (change of mind) I cannot see it as mortal since you had defeated it before it becomes realized.

 

[InNomineDomini]

In the case of St. Faustina, of course, we’re talking about a soul that probably had thousands of times more light than you and I will ever have outside of Heaven. To whom much is given, much is expected. A religious sister who is basically living in a state of mystical marriage to Christ, certainly has a different standard she needs to live up to than someone in the world who struggles to focus during an Our Father.