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Melek
Guest
Can Mortal Sins be forgiven by praying to God or does one need to confess to a Priest?
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mommyof4
Guest
You need to confess them in the sacrament of confession.
In order for a sin to be mortal, it must meet three conditions:
In order for a sin to be mortal, it must meet three conditions:
- Mortal sin is a sin of grave matter
- Mortal sin is committed with full knowledge of the sinner
- Mortal sin is committed with deliberate consent of the sinner
This means that mortal sins cannot be done "accidentally." A person who commits a mortal sin is one who knows that their sin is wrong, but still deliberately commits the sin anyway. This means that mortal sins are "premeditated" by the sinner and thus are truly a rejection of God’s law and love.
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Bookcat
Guest
They need to be confessed and absolved…
but yes if one has “perfect contrition” then they are forgiven prior to this via prayer…but one needs to still confess them…and one should not go to Communion until then…
Catechism:
1452 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called “perfect” (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.51
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Bookcat
Guest
A mortal sin is when one has a grave matter…with full knowledge and deliberate (complete) consent…
they are done knowingly…(one does not have to reject God or something like that …one only needs a grave matter…that is done knowingly with full consent…for whatever reason)
they are done knowingly…(one does not have to reject God or something like that …one only needs a grave matter…that is done knowingly with full consent…for whatever reason)
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Melek
Guest
What if the mortal sin is very embarrassing? Does this have to be specifically mentioned during the Confession?
Also, what if a person honestly forgets to mention a mortal sin during the Confession?
Also, what if a person honestly forgets to mention a mortal sin during the Confession?
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Barbkw
Guest
What if the mortal sin is very embarrassing? Does this have to be specifically mentioned during the Confession?
Just remember, we’re all human and we’ve all been there and done that.
Personally, I do specifically mention the sexual sins, as a painful deterrent so that I don’t allow myself to fall back and do them again.
Just remember, we’re all human and we’ve all been there and done that.
Personally, I do specifically mention the sexual sins, as a painful deterrent so that I don’t allow myself to fall back and do them again.
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Redratfish
Guest
I can guarentee, your priest has heard it all. If you are truly sorry, you will have the courage to confess it. If you PURPOSEFULLY withold a mortal sin from the priest, then you are lieing to the priest, and the whole confession itself becomes a mortal sin. If you are sorry, find the courage to carry on, and admit that you are human. The priest will not judge you, Im 15, and Ive had to confess some embarrassing stuff myself, then altar serve for the same priest that Sunday. You might be embarrassed, but the priest will probably compliment you that you had the courage to admit it.
However, if you HONESTLY forget a mortal sin, it is still forgiven by absolution. Remember though, if you don’t forget it, your basically lieing to God.
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Barbkw
Guest
*Also, what if a person honestly forgets to mention a mortal sin during the Confession? *
Return back to confession, before receiving the Eucharist again.
Return back to confession, before receiving the Eucharist again.
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ElizabethPH
Guest
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LilyM
Guest
If you had a really embarrassing illness or injury, you’d just have to swallow your pride and talk to your doctor about it if you wanted to be cured.
And the doctor, who treats LOTS of embarrassing illnesses and is trained to behave as a professional with all their patients, probably wouldn’t raise an eyebrow and would do everything they could to minimise your embarrassment.
Likewise with priests - they are there to minister God’s mercy to you in the confessional, no matter how embarrassing your sin may be. And are trained as professionals as well.
Above all, remember, your priest goes to confession for his own sins too - and probably is embarrassed by some of them when he does.
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LilyM
Guest
No, that’s not necessary at all. When you are in confession you are absolved of sins you genuinely forgot to confess, as well as those you have confessed, so you don’t need to avoid communion or go back again specifically to confess those forgotten sins.
Although the next time you ARE at Confession you should mention that you forgot to confess sin xyz in your last confession.
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teachccd
Guest
No, actually if you forgot to mention a mortal sin and it was not deliberate you are absolved and can receive the Eucharist. It is necessary that you do mention it during your next confession mainly for counsel and the humility of the action. But during a valid confession ALL sin is remitted thus rendering you free to receive the Eucharist. If you deliberately left out a mortal sin then the WHOLE confession is invalid and ALL your sins must be brought back since your absolution did not take place.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is never partial. When a penitent is honest all sin is absolved… teachccd
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Bookcat
Guest
What if the mortal sin is very embarrassing? Does this have to be specifically mentioned during the Confession?
Yes in number and kind…murder 3 time…etc
Also, what if a person honestly forgets to mention a mortal sin during the Confession?
If honestly forgotten…(assuming the person was repentant of it along with the others…basically they were repentant of all mortal sins …they just forgot it) it was absolved “indirectly” together with the rest…but one is obliged to mention it in the next confession…one can return to Communion though in the meantime…and one does not need to go sooner to confession because of it.
Yes in number and kind…murder 3 time…etc
Also, what if a person honestly forgets to mention a mortal sin during the Confession?
If honestly forgotten…(assuming the person was repentant of it along with the others…basically they were repentant of all mortal sins …they just forgot it) it was absolved “indirectly” together with the rest…but one is obliged to mention it in the next confession…one can return to Communion though in the meantime…and one does not need to go sooner to confession because of it.
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Bookcat
Guest
it is for more than that…it needs to be “submitted to the keys”…to really be confessed…hence the obligation to mention it in the next confession…
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Newbie2
Guest
Exactly. The Priest does not say “I absolve you of all sin except for that which you have forgotton”
In terms of the specificity of the sin, addressing the OP, don’t sweat the details on the specifics and number. For example, masturbation is one of the most embarrasing sins to confess for many people. One does not have to say “I masturbated sixty-three times since my last confession a year ago” or describe the acts in detail.
If you say, for example, “I’m guilty of sins of impurity, both in thought and action”, the priest will get the idea. He might ask you to be a little more specific if it’s unclear “You mean Masturbation?”
However, I’ve found that I feel that I’ve come more “clean” when I state clearly and accurately what I’ve done. It sorta feels to me like I’m holding back a bit when I’m a bit vague on the sin.
In either case, though, God knows whether or not you’re truly sorry, whether or not you clearly state the accurate number and specifics.
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Bookcat
Guest
This is not correct really…In terms of the specificity of the sin, addressing the OP, don’t sweat the details on the specifics and number. For example, masturbation is one of the most embarrasing sins to confess for many people. One does not have to say “I masturbated sixty-three times since my last confession a year ago” or describe the acts in detail.
If you say, for example, “I’m guilty of sins of impurity, both in thought and action”, the priest will get the idea. He might ask you to be a little more specific if it’s unclear “You mean Masturbation?”
However, I’ve found that I feel that I’ve come more “clean” when I state clearly and accurately what I’ve done. It sorta feels to me like I’m holding back a bit when I’m a bit vague on the sin.
In either case, though, God knows whether or not you’re truly sorry, whether or not you clearly state the accurate number and specifics.
The Church has been very clear that one must confess all mortal sins since (valid) Baptism in number and kind. (One would also confess any circumstance that really changed the nature of things…such has the person you killed was your brother or the Gold cup you stole was a Chalice from Church…) And in fact the CDF or one of the other Congr. in Rome reemphasized this again some year back.
If one committed Masterbation 3 times. One would say “I accuse myself of masterbation 3 times” (or self abuse or the like) or I committed adultery 2 times or I committed murder 6 times or I had lustful thoughts (that one consented to with full knowledge of course) 3 times…
Now if one can not say for sure how many…well one makes a reasonable guess and tells the priest that this is what it is… or if it has been years…the priest can help you…it may be that one will only be able to say…I committed Y around 3-4 times a month pretty much every month for the last 12 years…that sort of thing.
But one does need to be specific…in a way that the priest knows what you are talking about…“I’m guilty of sins of impurity, both in thought and action” it too vague…one needs to be more specific than that…though yes one can find valid ways of saying things that are both understood and but they need to be more specific…
Jimmy Akin goes into this…both the need to be specific…and that some things are said are understood…but still need to be specific enough…jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/2007/03/specific_confes.html
And here is the Canon:
Can. 988 §1. A member of the Christian faithful is obliged to confess in kind and number all grave sins committed after baptism and not yet remitted directly through the keys of the Church nor acknowledged in individual confession, of which the person has knowledge after diligent examination of conscience.
§2. It is recommended to the Christian faithful that they also confess venial sins.
(grave sins here = mortal sins)
(also I should note that a person with difficulty with scruples …should follow their confessor …for they often can scruple on these things…)
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teachccd
Guest
Can you offer some documentation that provides this requirement as you stated? Thank you… teachccd
P.S. Canon 988 does not address mortal sins that were honestly forgotten. Since confession cannot be partial all sins are forgiven. Since this person can receive the Eucharist there is no contigency to this forgiveness. It is recommended that the person confess this sin at their next confession but not for forgiveness. If the person were seeking further forgiveness then that means that that particular sin was retained and that person should not have approached the Eucharist…
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Bookcat
Guest
SureCan you offer some documentation that provides this requirement as you stated? Thank you… teachccd
Code of Canon Law:
Can. 988 §1. A member of the Christian faithful is obliged to confess in kind and number all grave sins committed after baptism and not yet remitted directly through the keys of the Church nor acknowledged in individual confession, of which the person has knowledge after diligent examination of conscience.
When the code says “not yet remitted directly through the keys of the Church” etc…it means not directly submitted to the keys (the power to bind and loose given by Christ which is employed in confession) --that is not yet confessed in a valid confession…and absolved…
When a mortal sin is forgotten it is “indirectly” absolved…
but it has not yet been directly submitted in number and kind…we still need to do this if and when we remember it…
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Bookcat
Guest
It actually does…as I explained while you were adding this line.
One is not “RECOMMENDED” one is “obliged”…
Yes…and even though the sins have been absolved…forgiven already and the person can go to Holy Communion.
The obligation still remains to submit them to the keys directly…ie confess them in the next confession (if one remembers them). Even though they have been forgiven indirectly already…together with the sins that were directly submitted and absolved (if one was repentant of course etc)
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teachccd
Guest
Ok. This is what I do and teach since it only makes sense but I never found anything written that obliges one to confess a sin that was already absolved, directly or indirectly. I guess that this is why we have canon lawyers to interpret these kinds of things. Anyway, I always confess anything that I remember from the past if it was forgotten but not under obligation. I still would need to read something that addresses sins absolved (indirectly) and the obligation to confess these. I guess I have an interpretation issue and lean more towards the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. Thank you for your reply. God bless… teachccd
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