Obligation to confess forgotten sins

[Graceful_Lamb]

From the Code of Canon Law: vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3H.HTM

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.

Can. 989 After having reached the age of discretion, each member of the faithful is ob-liged to confess faithfully his or her grave sins at least once a year.

 

[Reuben_J]

If a penitent forgets a mortal sin during a confession, but makes an honest confession addressing all mortal sins remembered, it is my understanding that they are forgiven for all sins and reenter a state of grace.

I have also read that if after the confession the penitent remember a mortal sin, they remain in a state of grace but should confess it at their next confession. Does that obligation constitute grave matter?

That is to say, if after a sincere confession, the penitent remembers a mortal sin, but then decides not to bring it up at their next confession, does that constitute grave matter? Are they opening themselves to reentering a state of mortal sin if they knowingly decide not to confess that (forgiven but unconfessed) sin?

CAF get many questions that cover very unusual circumstances in a Catholic’s life. This is one of them.

It is likely we would not forget a mortal sin. Venial sins, yes, especially if they happened a long time before.

Examining ourselves every night before sleeping which we are supposed to do would very well help in keeping our sins well under our consciousness.

But yes, of course, we forget those things during Confession or even with sincere examination of conscience. Not for me though and not once have I forgotten a sin that I wanted to confess, the reason why I find forgetting sins strange. But nevertheless I concede that it may happen that we can forget.

To your question, yes, if you forget a sin but made a sincere Confession, you can consider yourself in a state if grace and should receive Holy Communion. What this means is that after a reasonable Confession, you are in a state of grace. That’s the grace of the Sacrament of Confession, to make you pure and as white as snow, as all your sins are forgiven.

Remember the Lord is not a fault picking God. He sees your repenting heart, and that delights him.

Of course once you remember those mortal sin which you forgot, yes, you should confess it in your next Confession. And perhaps miss on the Communion until you do.

Try to enjoy the mass when you are not receiving Communion. The Lord honors you for it rather that receiving it unworthily.

A final reminder, which is very effective in dealing with forgetfulness, just say at the end of your list of sins, “Father, for all these sins and the sins that I cannot remember now, I am truly sorry.” So, you see, you will be covered in the sins you might have forgotten.

 

[Reuben_J]

§2. It is recommended to the Christian faithful that they also confess venial sins.

I agree with this. Have not stopped confessing venial sins ever since I can remember.

Wonder what sins the Pope were confessing every week? St JP II was a regular penitent when he was alive.

 

[Convert_in_99]

Yes that is a very good practice - but that does NOT mean that is not to confess the mortal sins if later remembered.

One is still* obliged* to confess them (forgotten mortal sins) in the normal way (number and kind) in the next confession if remembered. See my two longer posts above.

Clare didn’t say that you weren’t obliged to mention them at your next confession, but that saying that phrase at the conclusion of ones confession covered those in remembered mortal sins until your next confession.

This is also what I do.

 

[Vico]

If a penitent forgets a mortal sin during a confession, but makes an honest confession addressing all mortal sins remembered, it is my understanding that they are forgiven for all sins and reenter a state of grace.

I have also read that if after the confession the penitent remember a mortal sin, they remain in a state of grace but should confess it at their next confession. Does that obligation constitute grave matter?

That is to say, if after a sincere confession, the penitent remembers a mortal sin, but then decides not to bring it up at their next confession, does that constitute grave matter? Are they opening themselves to reentering a state of mortal sin if they knowingly decide not to confess that (forgiven but unconfessed) sin?

Yes. Baltimore Catechism:

Q. 794. May a person who has forgotten to tell a mortal sin in confession go to Holy Communion before going again to confession?

A. A person who has forgotten to tell a mortal sin in confession may go to communion before again going to confession, because the forgotten sin was forgiven with those confessed, and the confession was good and worthy.

Q. 795. Is it a grievous offense willfully to conceal a mortal sin in Confession?

A. It is a grievous offense willfully to conceal a mortal sin in Confession, because we thereby tell a lie to the Holy Ghost, and make our Confession worthless.

Q. 796. How is concealing a sin telling a lie to the Holy Ghost?

A. Concealing a sin is telling a lie to the Holy Ghost, because he who conceals the sin declares in confession to God and the priest that he committed no sins but what he has confessed, while the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, saw him committing the sin he now conceals and still sees it in his soul while he denies it.

Q. 797. Why is it foolish to conceal sins in confession?

A. It is foolish to conceal sins in confession:

1. Because we thereby make our spiritual condition worse;
2. We must tell the sin sometime if we ever hope to be saved;
3. It will be made known on the day of judgment, before the world, whether we conceal it now or confess it.

Q. 798. What must he do who has willfully concealed a mortal sin in Confession?

A. He who has willfully concealed a mortal sin in Confession must not only confess it, but must also repeat all the sins he has committed since his last worthy Confession.

 

[Ad_Orientem]

… must also repeat all the sins he has committed since his last worthy Confession.

This was a bit of unfortunate wording in that version of the B.C.