PLEASE HELP: A question about Confession

[Tripp_B]

So I learned that you had to count the times you committed a mortal sin so I am going back, it said you were forgiven a mortal sin but you just redo them at your next confession. It said you have to recieve Communion if you confess a mortal sin, but since I was already forgiven im just redoing them do I have to receive Communion?

Also if I ask a parent to take me and they ask me why if I say because I want to go is that a lie since I’m going to redo my mortal sins (also going to say sins that I have committed since my last confession) because I didn’t say the number of times?

I made a list on my phone of venial and mortal sins but I accidentally deleted it, I’m redoing it im pretty sure I got all the mortal sins but if I forget any will it make the Confession a not good Confession? ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED THANK YOU SO MUCH P.S. I’m really worried that I’m doing this wrong or somehow I’m leaving something out and it won’t be a good Confession so any advice will really really really help!

 

[Cierra17]

So I learned that you had to count the times you committed a mortal sin so I am going back, it said you were forgiven a mortal sin but you just redo them at your next confession. It said you have to recieve Communion if you confess a mortal sin, but since I was already forgiven im just redoing them do I have to receive Communion?

Also if I ask a parent to take me and they ask me why if I say because I want to go is that a lie since I’m going to redo my mortal sins (also going to say sins that I have committed since my last confession) because I didn’t say the number of times?

I made a list on my phone of venial and mortal sins but I accidentally deleted it, I’m redoing it im pretty sure I got all the mortal sins but if I forget any will it make the Confession a not good Confession? ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED THANK YOU SO MUCH P.S. I’m really worried that I’m doing this wrong or somehow I’m leaving something out and it won’t be a good Confession so any advice will really really really help!

Greetings Some clarification regarding confession: Your sins are always forgiven, even the ones you forget to mention. This includes mortal sins, though you are right you have to be sure to confess those sins next time you go to confession.

As for your question about whether you are lying or not, I say not at all. As long as you are honest and say you want to go : ) you dont have to explain why, just saying “because I’d like to go today” is enough. It’s a great thing to do anyway!

What makes a confession good is not what you have written down on paper, but what is written down in your heart. If you are truly trying and want to be forgiven, you have done a good confession. Just you trying means so much to God I’m sure.

In general, do your best! Make the best confession you can : ) God is happy you are coming to see him!

Take care and God bless~

Cierra

 

[CatholicRaven]

I have a terrible short-term memory, so I’ve forgotten to mention sins several times before–though I also do try harder to remember them than I used to. When I go to Confession, after I’ve confessed any mortal sins I can remember, I add, “For these and any sins I may have forgotten, I am truly sorry.” Maybe that would help you, too.

I don’t know what you are reading, but as far as I know, there is not a requirement to receive Communion after each Confession of any mortal sin. You should not receive Communion if you have unconfessed mortal sin… but I’ve never heard that you MUST receive after confessing mortal sins. Unless maybe you are doing a particular novena or other prayer/devotion that has certain obligations attached to it?

You do not have to “redo” your last confession just because you didn’t know that you should say the number of times you sinned, unless you were purposely trying to “hide” the number from your Confessor (the priest hearing your confession). For instance, if you didn’t want to admit, “I’ve lied every day, at least twice a day, for the past two weeks,” so you just said, “I lied,” then you might have a problem and need to confess that sin again. Otherwise, if the priest really needed to know more detail, he would ask. It doesn’t sound like you were intentionally leaving out any important information, though, you just didn’t know, so most likely, you made a good Confession.

You should just try to confess all mortal sins in number and kind in the future. Numbers don’t have to be exact; you can give an estimate if you aren’t sure of the number, or you can say things like, “daily,” “a few times,” “often,” etc. The idea is to help the priest (and you) understand how much of a problem this particular sin is for you.

Also, if you do ask your parents to take you again because you want to have a clear conscience, that’s enough of a “want” that saying, “I want to go” would not be a lie. You don’t have to be wildly enthusiastic about something to want it (or to want the benefits of it).

Before each Confession, try to do a good examination of conscience (going over what mortal sins you committed), but don’t worry if you forget one or two when you’re in the Confessional–as long as your intention was to confess them all, you are forgiven them and it was a “good” Confession. If you remember one later that you forgot to confess and it bothers you, you should probably mention it at your next Confession, but you do NOT have to make a special trip for Confession for just those sins that you forgot to mention last time. You can also still receive the Eucharist in that case (assuming you’ve not committed any mortal sins since).

Be very careful with making a list of your sins–you don’t want someone else to accidentally see that! I would really not encourage you to keep a list of sins that way. If you find it necessary, just be very careful with it and destroy or delete it as soon as possible after they’re confessed. With that said, your priest or a good spiritual director would be in a much better situation to give you specific advice about that.

Don’t forget, you can also ask your priest these questions.

 

[Linusthe2nd]

So I learned that you had to count the times you committed a mortal sin so I am going back, it said you were forgiven a mortal sin but you just redo them at your next confession. It said you have to recieve Communion if you confess a mortal sin, but since I was already forgiven im just redoing them do I have to receive Communion?

Also if I ask a parent to take me and they ask me why if I say because I want to go is that a lie since I’m going to redo my mortal sins (also going to say sins that I have committed since my last confession) because I didn’t say the number of times?

I made a list on my phone of venial and mortal sins but I accidentally deleted it, I’m redoing it im pretty sure I got all the mortal sins but if I forget any will it make the Confession a not good Confession? ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED THANK YOU SO MUCH P.S. I’m really worried that I’m doing this wrong or somehow I’m leaving something out and it won’t be a good Confession so any advice will really really really help!

You sound very confused. So let’s take it by the numbers. If you forgot to tell how many times you committed a mortal sin and the priest forgives your sins, they have been forgiven, unless you deliberately omitted telling him how many times you committed that particular sin. If you did it deliberately, you have to make another confession and tell the priest you deliberately did not mention the number of times. In that case you may not receive communion until you go to confession again and confess these sins and the number of times and tell the priest you deliberately made a bad confession. You also have to tell all the other mortal sins you confessed in that confession and any new ones since.

However, if you accidently forgot to mention the number of times, your sins have been forgiven and you may receive communion. But you must tell the priest about this sin the next time you go to confession and the number of times you committed it and any new ones…

Of course you must be sorry for having committed any mortal sins you confessed because you fear the loss of heaven and/or the pains of hell and because they have offended God and you must promise to make a serious effort not to commit these sins again and to avoid all the occasions of sin in the future.

You need to spend some time reading the Catechism linked below. It has a good section on reconcilliation and the way to make a good confession and a good discussion on the commandments. You must always make a good examination of conscience before going to confession and reflect seriously on who you have offended.

God Bless
Linus2nd

 

[ChurchSoldier]

Be cautious about writing a high level of details about sins on a device which can be hacked.

 

[St_Francis]

If you committed a mortal sin and confessed it, then commit it again, and find you have trouble with that, ask the priest for advice about how to stop committing that sin.

If he is not helpful, then you can ask here for advice (be discreet, please ) and there are books like Spiritual Combat by Dom Scupoli, which can be found online.

Confession is a gift to us, not a huge exam, so pray to the Holy Spirit for help and do the best you can. You are telling God, Whom you should love above all things, that you are sorry you have hurt Him and that you want to apologize so your relationship with Him will be right again.