Question about a wet dream

[David1988]

Maybe go to Confession, tell the priest what has been happening, and ask his advice in determining how culpable you are.

In the end, you are the only one who can determine whether or not you have comitted a mortal sin, but the priest may be able to help you figure it out.

david

 

[Kazimer]

I’m getting a little angry with myself. The same thing happened again this morning. I was half-asleep and thinking about lustful things. But I’m pretty sure I was in good control of what was going on in my head. So as I was dwelling on these thoughts, I about had an orgasm, but I fully woke up and stopped myself before I did. Would this be considered a mortal sin? Should I go to confession again even though I went yesterday morning?

ShaunH ~

Allow me to tell you my response plain and straight as I would want someone to speak to me.

You’re post reminds of the saying " A little bit pregnant". I am not sure if you have ever heard of it before.

Basically, it means you’re either pregnant or not pregnant i.e there is no such thing as “a lilttle bit pregnant”.

Re-read your post.

You’re playing mind games with yourself with your soul’s eternity ( heaven or hell ) in the balance.

Take a deep breath, gather your courage and make the contact with a priest to go to confession again regardless that you just went yesterday.

Tell the priest what has been going on —all of it —including your coming on CAF ( or leave the forum name out if you want/need anonymity ) —and posing your questions regarding this subject.

The reason you need to let it all out is so that priest has the relevant information to guide you in combatting this sin, avoid self deception and take responsibility.

As a priest told me, a priest can guide you but it will be up to you to find out - in your moment of temptation(s) what your course of action(s) will be ie when the desire to sin / tempation comes do you: go to church / pray the rosary/ recite the Divine Mercy Chaplet,etc.

The devil knows your weakness and he will do whatever is necessary to defeat you.

Specifically, you need to have a course of action in place ahead of time so that you are not caught off guard as to what to do in these spiritual attacks.

In conclusion, the same priest I mentioned above offered the following reference of hope and reassurance ----What did Gabriel say to the Blessed Virgin Mary? He said “with God all things are possible!” This applies to you (and all of us ) as well!

 

[Tryin2bGood]

Great idea! Someone posted this link on another thread

couragerc.net/PIPMasturbation.html

“Masturbation is sometimes called self-abuse, or onanism, and in secular textbooks, “self-pleasuring.” When the psychic stimulation takes place during sleep, it is known as nocturnal pollution. Father Benedict Groeschel uses the term masturbation to denote actions that take place in sleep or semi-sleep, …”

This article was very informative and I thank the person who posted it. I think it was over on the Moral Theology pages.

By confessing it you will be on your way to identifying the problem and fixing it. Good for you for being so vigilant.

This was a good article - I think the following excerpt is even more appropriate to this topic.

"This is even more true when persons struggle against this impulse when they are trying to sleep at night, or are surprised by temptation in the middle of the night or upon awakening. Farraher comments at length on these situations in which the individual who has resisted the temptation to masturbate during waking hours is sometimes overwhelmed with sexual fantasies as he tries to go to sleep, or upon awakening in the morning. As long as the person makes a real effort to turn his mind away, he commits no sin even if orgasm occurs. If he is uncertain whether he really tried hard enough to get rid of fantasy, he may settle the doubt in favor of his innocence. According to traditional norms of moral theology one may presume that his intention during waking hours was also present in the moment of nocturnal temptation. Confessors and spiritual guides should reassure guilt-ridden persons who feel that since they were awake at the time of orgasm they are guilty of sin that they have not sinned inasmuch as the masturbation is presumed to be involuntary. “To tell him that he can avoid even these involuntary experiences if he tries hard enough and uses supernatural means can cause severe anxiety and even despair since he may not be able to avoid what is really involuntary.”

Confession is always good, but I don’t think we need to be scrupulous about what happens when we are not fully awake.

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

This was a good article - I think the following excerpt is even more appropriate to this topic.

"This is even more true when persons struggle against this impulse when they are trying to sleep at night, or are surprised by temptation in the middle of the night or upon awakening. Farraher comments at length on these situations in which the individual who has resisted the temptation to masturbate during waking hours is sometimes overwhelmed with sexual fantasies as he tries to go to sleep, or upon awakening in the morning. As long as the person makes a real effort to turn his mind away, he commits no sin even if orgasm occurs. If he is uncertain whether he really tried hard enough to get rid of fantasy, he may settle the doubt in favor of his innocence. According to traditional norms of moral theology one may presume that his intention during waking hours was also present in the moment of nocturnal temptation. Confessors and spiritual guides should reassure guilt-ridden persons who feel that since they were awake at the time of orgasm they are guilty of sin that they have not sinned inasmuch as the masturbation is presumed to be involuntary. “To tell him that he can avoid even these involuntary experiences if he tries hard enough and uses supernatural means can cause severe anxiety and even despair since he may not be able to avoid what is really involuntary.”

Confession is always good, but I don’t think we need to be scrupulous about what happens when we are not fully awake.

My dear friend

I don’t think this answers this young mans question. He never sinned by action but woke up at the point of pollution which is unusual but normal in so far as wet dreams are the natural release which must happen occasionally for men. God has deemed this release happen as a wet dream for single men. To wake up at the point of release with no cooperation from ones self cannot be a sin. It’s completely natural. If one has involvement then there is probably no sin without full consent but one must ask the question - did I sin?

God bless you:thumbsup:
John

 

[ShaunH]

Well, I thought I wouldn’t have to be dealing with this issue after almost a year, but I am.

Last night, I wasn’t dreaming anything lustful. However, at one point, I could somewhat feel a nocturnal emission coming on. Having realized that, I think I was trying to ease myself into it. Then, it happened. But it did not just happen one time, as the same exact thing happened the night before. I don’t know why this keeps happening. Is there a chance it could be a mortal sin? Because of this thought, I am unsure as to whether or not I should recieve communion at today’s Mass. I would normally bring it to confession just to be safe, but the earliest I can get into confession is Tuesday morning, unless I make an appointment. But the last time I tried to do so on a Sunday, no luck.