Need some help with understanding these quotes

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Can someone help me understand these quotes from EWTN Catholic Q&A?

One is a quote from St. Alphonsus, another from St. Bosco, another that I’m unfamiliar. These quotes are serious temptations to despair. Need help

NOTE: I see that the answer by the expert says that it’s private revelations, but I accept that they are true, since St. Alphonsus and St. Bosco are prudent names to follow. So, if we were to accept them as true, can someone help??
 
I think that this quote is relevant:

“We must avoid scrupulousness and remember that God’s graces are infinite.”
 
Is your location really in the Arctic?
Is there no priest available anywhere nearby to speak to? Maybe a religious?
Someone whom you can speak to via Skype?
 
From another saint - St. John Paul II:
I plead with you - never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.
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If you search hard enough, you can find a quote from a saint to back up almost any position you want to take. But I do like “be not afraid” - after all, it’s in the Bible. 😉
 
The quote from St. Alphonsus is merely what happens if you die in the state of mortal sin. The man committed a mortal sin by consenting to impure thoughts even after he confessed on his death bed. This places him in the state of mortal sin and, because of that, he was damned. As for the damned oratory boys, it’s a sin to lie in Confession. You can see in both of these examples that God gave them mercy by allowing them to have recourse to the Sacrament of Penance but they willfully chose to sin anyway, either by sacrilege or by consenting to impure thoughts after being absolved. This was a matter of free will, not a deficiency in the mercy of God nor the depriving of chances to repent. There is no need to despair over this.
 
pianistclare said:
Is your location really in the Arctic?
Is there no priest available anywhere nearby to speak to? Maybe a religious?
Someone whom you can speak to via Skype?
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I don’t live in the arctic, because if you keep going North of the North pole, you can go anywhere on the globe 😃

It takes too much time to ask my pastor or parish priest, but it’s much faster to get an answer from “orthodox” Catholics
 
PraiseChrist said:
I don’t live in the arctic, because if you keep going North of the North pole, you can go anywhere on the globe 😃

It takes too much time to ask my pastor or parish priest, but it’s much faster to get an answer from “orthodox” Catholics
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Never mind that quote :eek:
 
PraiseChrist said:
It takes too much time to ask my pastor or parish priest, but it’s much faster to get an answer from “orthodox” Catholics
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This is a shortsighted approach. Your pastor can help you form your conscience over time, can work through spiritual issues with you, and knows you.

Random answers on the internet are not a way to systematically form your conscience, or get help with spiritual matters. And moreover, you will get all sorts of answers on the internet, including those that contradict each other.
 
From your link, OP:
Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Tan Books, 1982: page 358 tells the story of a man who made a valid deathbed confession, and thereafter rejected a dirty thought that came to his mind twice, but a third time consented to it. He came back in a vision after his death and explained to the seer that he was damned because of this.

Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco: tells the story of how Don Bosco saw some of his oratory boys in hell, and the devil explained to him that these boys confessed, but instead of confessing the 4 or 5 impure thoughts they had, they said it was 2 or 3. He mentions other rigid demands of confession
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These seem to be well-designed attacks from the “accuser of the brethren” who delights in alarming us, and using scare tactics about the loss of salvation.

There is no proof that these are authentic revelations. The devil can appear as an angel of light, as you know, and he has appeared in the form of a religious on several occasions, notably to St. Pio. That does not mean we should assume it was of God, or that the person making the revelation was authentic.

God does not damn anyone for impure thoughts, unless they are freely and willingly indulged and pleasure taken in them, with no desire to resist them. Of themselves, thoughts resisted are not sinful otherwise. An example of this is St. Catherine of Siena who was deluged with impure thoughts from Satan. After exhaustion in combatting them, she asked the Lord, “where were you when I suffered these?” He replied, “I was in your heart helping you to oppose them.” For her, it was pure virtue.

As for the second one, when we make a valid confession, sometimes the number of sins is forgotten. If it is not deliberately withheld in confession by human desire to appear less sinful, the person is absolved. That is why we say, “around” x-number of times. I suspect the author of that Tan Book is telling tall tales that are not born of the Spirit, and are formulated to initiate scare tactics. Disregard this and focus on God’s infinite mercy that desires to save us at all costs!

The old Baltimore Catechism Act of Hope:

O My God, relying on thy INFINITE goodness and MERCY, I hope to obtain the pardon of my sins, the help of thy grace, and life everlasting. Amen.
 
PraiseChrist said:
I don’t live in the arctic, because if you keep going North of the North pole, you can go anywhere on the globe 😃

It takes too much time to ask my pastor or parish priest, but it’s much faster to get an answer from “orthodox” Catholics
Click to expand...
You have no idea of strangers orthodoxy. But you can rely on your priest. He’s responsible for your formation.
If you don’t trust him, that’s all the more reason to speak to him. You need that influence, judging from your past posts.
 
Confiteor_Deo said:
The quote from St. Alphonsus is merely what happens if you die in the state of mortal sin. The man committed a mortal sin by consenting to impure thoughts even after he confessed on his death bed. This places him in the state of mortal sin and, because of that, he was damned. As for the damned oratory boys, it’s a sin to lie in Confession. You can see in both of these examples that God gave them mercy by allowing them to have recourse to the Sacrament of Penance but they willfully chose to sin anyway, either by sacrilege or by consenting to impure thoughts after being absolved. This was a matter of free will, not a deficiency in the mercy of God nor the depriving of chances to repent. There is no need to despair over this.
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Another perspective: the Church treats suicides mercifully in that they are assumed to be in a state of mental duress and not fully responsible for their actions. Surely to knowingly be on one’s deathbed produces a state of mental distress such that one might not be fully rational. The idea that following Confession on one’s deathbed one could then go on to give “full consent” to an “impure thought” that fulfills all the requirements for mortal sin - specifically “sufficient reflection” given the circumstances - is beyond anything I can imagine. I think no good service is done when stories like this are cited.
 
Sirach2 said:
From your link, OP:

These seem to be well-designed attacks from the “accuser of the brethren” who delights in alarming us, and using scare tactics about the loss of salvation.

There is no proof that these are authentic revelations. The devil can appear as an angel of light, as you know, and he has appeared in the form of a religious on several occasions, notably to St. Pio. That does not mean we should assume it was of God, or that the person making the revelation was authentic.

God does not damn anyone for impure thoughts, unless they are freely and willingly indulged and pleasure taken in them, with no desire to resist them. Of themselves, thoughts resisted are not sinful otherwise. An example of this is St. Catherine of Siena who was deluged with impure thoughts from Satan. After exhaustion in combatting them, she asked the Lord, “where were you when I suffered these?” He replied, “I was in your heart helping you to oppose them.” For her, it was pure virtue.

As for the second one, when we make a valid confession, sometimes the number of sins is forgotten. If it is not deliberately withheld in confession by human desire to appear less sinful, the person is absolved. That is why we say, “around” x-number of times. I suspect the author of that Tan Book is telling tall tales that are not born of the Spirit, and are formulated to initiate scare tactics. Disregard this and focus on God’s infinite mercy that desires to save us at all costs!

The old Baltimore Catechism Act of Hope:

O My God, relying on thy INFINITE goodness and MERCY, I hope to obtain the pardon of my sins, the help of thy grace, and life everlasting. Amen.
Click to expand...
I hope you are not implying that these revelations are not true. I think they are true and nothing in them seems to contradict doctrine. The first one was clear that the man consented to the impure thought, which means he committed a mortal sin. One mortal sin already leads to hell. In the second example, it looks like the boys lied, not that they forgot. It doesn’t say that they forgot. Lying in Confession makes it invalid.
 
Monica4316 said:
I hope you are not implying that these revelations are not true.
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It doesn’t really matter if they are true or not - it is impossible to verify them. But it is a private revelation which need not be believed.
 
Bonnie said:
It doesn’t really matter if they are true or not - it is impossible to verify them. But it is a private revelation which need not be believed.
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If a Saint said something or its something the Church approves even through an Imprimatur, I think its more simple to just believe it. If we only do what we ‘have’ to, we would miss out on many gifts like Adoration, Rosary, devotions, etc 🙂
 
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