Mortal Sins Question

[Evania]

Is it really a requirement to go into detail about mortal sins and to tell the priest how many times they were commited? If that’s true then I honestly didn’t learn that until recently. In the past, I never went into much detail, and unless the priest asked, I never offered up any more info. I can only remember one time in which a priest asked me how many times a particular sin was commited. Also, I wouldn’t think this would affect the validity of my past confessions, but maybe I’m wrong? Thanks for clearing up my confusion!

 

[lmelahn]

Is it really a requirement to go into detail about mortal sins and to tell the priest how many times they were commited? If that’s true then I honestly didn’t learn that until recently. In the past, I never went into much detail, and unless the priest asked, I never offered up any more info. I can only remember one time in which a priest asked me how many times a particular sin was commited. Also, I wouldn’t think this would affect the validity of my past confessions, but maybe I’m wrong? Thanks for clearing up my confusion!

It is ordinarily not necessary to go into detail. It is only necessary to mention the kind of sin and, for mortal sins, how many times it was committed (approximately, if you can’t remember exactly).

This is especially true of sins against the Sixth Commandment (those that have to do with human sexuality). It is sufficient to say the kind of sin (adultery, fornication, homosexual act, impure acts with oneself, use of contraceptives, use of pornography, and so on) and the number, unless there is a circumstance that really aggravates or mitigates the situation. (For example, if someone commits a sinful act under threat, that would mitigate or even eliminate the guilt; doing it out of revenge would aggravate it.)

If you did not know that you were supposed to confess the number, then that would not invalidate your past confessions. However, I would say that it would be best to bring them up again in your next confession, explaining to the priest that you did not know that you were supposed to confess the number, and would like to mention some past sins. It is only necessary to bring up what you can reasonably remember, obviously.

 

[MichaelHowling]

No details are really necessary so long as you are simply able to let the priest know what was committed. As to numbering sins… the reason why it’s good to give an amount is because it lets the priest know more how bad you are dug into a sin.

Confession is like going to a doctor. The doctor needs to know the symptoms (the sin) and the severity (the number).

Don’t get meticulous, God gave us the confessional to help US…He already knows your sins. A general confession where you dig up all the old stuff and lay it before the priest can be very beneficial. However, if u didn’t know how to make a good confession and you’re not feeling the guilt…I’d let it go. You didn’t do anything wrong. Learn from your mistake and make better confessions from now on.

God bless.

 

[Joe_5859]

The Church obligates that we confess mortal sins in number and kind, not that we go into great detail. Indeed, going into too much detail can be bad.

For example, confessing the sin of fornication and confessing the sin of fornication with someone who is married are two different sins. In the case of the latter, we would want to add that detail because it changes the kind of sin we are confessing. However, we definitely do not need to paint a visual image for the priest of every sordid detail.

As for the numbering, that too does not mean you must provide exact numbers when such is impossible to do. You give it your best estimate. The reason this is required is because it makes a difference whether it is something you only committed once or have been committing several times a day for months and years. I like Michael’s analogy of going to the doctor. Telling your doctor that you have had a cough for the past day is much different than telling him you have had a cough for the past three months. The number impacts the diagnosis. But you wouldn’t sit there and try to count up that you coughed 5,872 times in the past three months.

If you didn’t know, you didn’t know. That doesn’t invalidate your past Confessions. If it is bothering you, simply bring it up to your priest next time you are in Confession that you recently became aware of this requirement and are wondering how that works going forward.

God bless!

 

[Evania]

Thank you everyone! I like the analogy of the doctor…I can better understand the wisdom behind confessing the number of times a mortal sin was commited after having it be explained that way.