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Wilhelm_Stoever
Guest
If someone goes to confession, receives Communion and then realizes that they may have commited a Mortal sin that they did not confess. was the Communion sacreligious?
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Tantum_ergo
Guest
No. The person did not deliberately withhold the mortal sin–the whole ‘may have’ could mean anything from the person thinking (erroneously) that they sinned mortally when they didn’t, or that they ‘may have’ forgotten to list it, or they may have done the sin but they’re not quite sure they did, etc. That being said, while the reception of Communion was not in itself sinful, the person should go to confession as soon as possible and confess the forgotten mortal sin (if he is truly sure that he not only sinned, but knew it was sinful at the time and thus met all the criteria for a sin to be mortal), and make an attempt to make a perfect act of contrition immediately.
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teachccd
Guest
No, but you must go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation before you receive again. This is if the sin was committed after the sacrament was celebrated. If you committed this before then it is forgiven but you are required to mention it at your next confession. You are free to receive the Eucharist but just remember to mention that mortal sin next time…teachccd
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Verbum_Caro
Guest
Tantum ergo,
May I suggest some tweaking of your response?
This is why, as teachccd pointed out, one may receive the Eucharist worthily, even when one forgets to mention a mortal sin.
All that is necessary is for the person to confess their forgotten sin at their next confession.
What do you think?
VC
May I suggest some tweaking of your response?
“as soon as possible” is not called for, rather it is at your next confession (so long as you remember what you forgot previously.) There is no requirement to confess a forgotten mortal sin as soon as possible. Why? (see below)
This is also unnecessary. If someone legitimately forget to confess a mortal sin, all their sins are never-the-less absolved in confession, including the forgotten sin. There is no need to make an act of contrition because one has already been returned to the state of grace via sacramental absolution in confession.
This is why, as teachccd pointed out, one may receive the Eucharist worthily, even when one forgets to mention a mortal sin.
All that is necessary is for the person to confess their forgotten sin at their next confession.
What do you think?
VC
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Genesis12345
Guest
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Dark_Warrior
Guest
Confessing sins for me is so difficult because I suffer from OCD. Part of me wants to confess every single thought, detail, all the reasons for if I really did commit it, then also all the reasons for thinking I didn’t commit it, explain graphic detail, which can be sickening, dark and bad, etc. 
And when I feel like this, I don’t feel absolved from ANYTHING! I feel worse, frustrated, confused, and sin EVEN MORE!!
I had my whole confession spelled out in my head not too long ago, confessed my sins, then when I left I thought “oh I didn’t mention that one, or did I? I think I did. What if I didn’t?” and blah, blah blah! I don’t want to be bothered with it any longer, because everytime I dwell on it it destroys me and I fall away from God–EVERYTIME! Last time I had fallen away for almost a year, missing Mass all because of frustration, drifting further from the Church.
I just want to go into the Confessional, pour my heart out to the Lord, simply confess my sins, be absolved and return home, eagerly waiting for the Eucharist the following day, instead of dwelling on “what ifs” all the time.
And when I feel like this, I don’t feel absolved from ANYTHING! I feel worse, frustrated, confused, and sin EVEN MORE!!
I had my whole confession spelled out in my head not too long ago, confessed my sins, then when I left I thought “oh I didn’t mention that one, or did I? I think I did. What if I didn’t?” and blah, blah blah! I don’t want to be bothered with it any longer, because everytime I dwell on it it destroys me and I fall away from God–EVERYTIME! Last time I had fallen away for almost a year, missing Mass all because of frustration, drifting further from the Church.
I just want to go into the Confessional, pour my heart out to the Lord, simply confess my sins, be absolved and return home, eagerly waiting for the Eucharist the following day, instead of dwelling on “what ifs” all the time.
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The_Otaku
Guest
While I’m not as afflicted as you are by this problem, I do sometimes talk to myself or act out the confession myself (at home before confession), usually in my mind, and it gets to the point sometimes where it’s like a script or a speech that I already have planned out in advance for how I’m going to explain, in detail, how I sinned, under what conditions, what other things change and alter the sin, the habit of sin, etc. I apply logic to myself, etc. Then theres that part of me that feels guilty for doing this, because the rational part of me realizes that while I’m just stating how I feel, it also sounds like I’m making excuses for myself, which I then feel bad about because I know that if I went through with this whole deal with a priest, I’d be misunderstood and my sins would probably look worse than they actually are since I’d either be melodramatic, or just plan dramatic when that’s not how it really is in reality. It would be the talking about it that would make it seem that way.Confessing sins for me is so difficult because I suffer from OCD. Part of me wants to confess every single thought, detail, all the reasons for if I really did commit it, then also all the reasons for thinking I didn’t commit it, explain graphic detail, which can be sickening, dark and bad, etc.
And when I feel like this, I don’t feel absolved from ANYTHING! I feel worse, frustrated, confused, and sin EVEN MORE!!
I had my whole confession spelled out in my head not too long ago, confessed my sins, then when I left I thought “oh I didn’t mention that one, or did I? I think I did. What if I didn’t?” and blah, blah blah! I don’t want to be bothered with it any longer, because everytime I dwell on it it destroys me and I fall away from God–EVERYTIME! Last time I had fallen away for almost a year, missing Mass all because of frustration, drifting further from the Church.
I just want to go into the Confessional, pour my heart out to the Lord, simply confess my sins, be absolved and return home, eagerly waiting for the Eucharist the following day, instead of dwelling on “what ifs” all the time.
So what I end up doing is just remembering and focusing on why I’m there and I forget the script and forget what I memorized. The problem isn’t so bad that I don’t know when I’ve done wrong and sinned, especially mortally sinned, since for me at least, God lets me know because I feel a true remorse than any presumed OCD or scrupulosity issue cannot validate or excuse. The feeling of uneasiness, I know, comes from the sin. That is tangible enough for me that I know what I need to say and what I don’t. I’m not there to give the priest my life story, since in reality, it’s God hearing me, and He already knows whatever affliction I might have. It’s the priest that doesn’t, and when I realize this fact, it doesn’t feel like I have to tell him the details, just the sins, and I don’t leave the confessional feeling like I left something out or whatever. I do feel forgiven, my prayer is more effective and focused, and there’s an inward peace…at least until the next mortal sin, which I admit is always masturbation. And, to be honest, I’m glad it’s masturbation and not something more mental, since physically I know I did it and there’s no way for me to imagine, excuse, or rationalize to myself that I didn’t. I was awake, conscious, and in control…but I slipped once or several times, and I let it happen, even if I might suffer from habit for it or have fetishes that make it worse. I look at what the church says about it and I trust that and God rather than myself and that’s where the peace comes from and the knowing I’m forgiven. I don’t trust myself to think I’m forgiven, but I know I am because of what God has to say, through His Church, and that’s enough for me.
You and I and everyone can rest assured that God knows what’s going on in our minds and hearts, and even if the priest is left scratching his head, God’s grace has worked through him.
It’s easy for me to say this, and I almost feel guilty saying it, given that you are far worse off than me it seems and I’m no one to give you advice or to respond even. To be honest, I like to say I have scrupulosity issues, but I’m not so sure I do or I don’t. I cannot honestly say there wasn’t a time I wasn’t in control of my faculties. And when I sinned I knew for sure that I did. Hopefully God will relieve you of this burden, as I imagine you see it as a curse. It’s a cross, though, and it’s a cross that can be turned to your benefit so long as you have it when you give it up to the Lord through prayer.
God bless you for struggling with this and not giving up hope and trying to do the right thing. I’m sure there’s bountiful blessings for you.
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jmcrae
Guest
It’s also not good for the priest’s soul, for him to hear every dirty detail. It’s best just to name the sin, sketch the circumstances to show the context, and then move on.Confessing sins for me is so difficult because I suffer from OCD. Part of me wants to confess every single thought, detail, all the reasons for if I really did commit it, then also all the reasons for thinking I didn’t commit it, explain graphic detail, which can be sickening, dark and bad, etc.
Example: I lied to my mother because I didn’t think it was any of her business, what I was doing out at midnight last night. Actually I was hanging around with some friends at the store and we bought some pies to eat, but I told her I went for a walk by myself.
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The_Otaku
Guest
While I think your advice is good in your example, and it is obviously so, the example/situation itself is easy to work around and more manageable for even a person with an OCD. Talking about lies and pies is one thing, but talking about something deep rooted and mentally conflicting is not as easy a task to work with. In your example, there are other people involved in this, and that can give a person with OCD security and reassurance, and that might make them feel less bad about it, since those other people being there are a validation.
But something that involves just you, for instance, is what is far more troubling and painful for the scrupulous and OCD people, since there’s no one else and the situation usually stems from inward thinking rather than outward action. The example of eating pies with friends and lying to cover this up is obviously wrong to do that, but it involves other people, and makes it easier to come to terms with. A non-afflicted person will have an easier time confessing something like this, and an OCD person might feel more comfortable in their mindset, given that other people were involved, and that changes the dynamic of how they perceive the sin as it wasn’t just them and might not have been up to just them, etc.
Of course, you’re just creating a hypothetical situation and that really doesn’t change the validity of what you’re saying outside of that example. And now here I am talking about it as if you made a whole seperate point when it was only just an example. See, this is how the obessively compulsive mind thinks. It’s going a mile a minute when it detects wrong doing and self doubt and it looks for a way out. And now I’m left thinking whether I should have even responded to you, as it might have been unnecessary, and I might look pitiful or that I should be pitied, or guilty that I’m taking away from him by responding to you when you weren’t talking to me. And to top it off, I’ve never been diagnosed with an OCD, it’s only my assumption that I might have one or that I’m too deep a thinker or whatever, and that might be a sin of presumption that something is wrong with me, and I wouldn’t want that because people might go out of their way to help me or talk to me and I might not even really have a problem and may just be exaggerating the whole thing and I’m really quite sane. But thinking that could be a sin of presumption too, and of pride, in thinking nothing at all is wrong with me, and that perhaps in thinking so much, and deeply at times about it, I’m more sane than the people who don’t have this problem.
I can only thank God I only have these moments infrequently and that it’s only ever vented online and on this site. If I was like this all the time I don’t know what I’d do.
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jmcrae
Guest
Most of what goes on inside your mind is not a sin. If you have a passing thought, it’s not a sin, even if it’s an angry or a lustful thought. It’s only when you allow yourself to dwell on the thought itself (as opposed to dwelling on whether or not it was a sin) - I mean, if you had a passing thought, and as soon as you had the thought you started to wonder whether it was sinful or not, then no - you didn’t sin.
If you have a mental illness then it’s even less likely that you have the ability to think sinful thoughts on purpose, since you probably don’t have a whole lot of control over what is going on in your mind.
If you have a mental illness then it’s even less likely that you have the ability to think sinful thoughts on purpose, since you probably don’t have a whole lot of control over what is going on in your mind.
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Dark_Warrior
Guest
Thanks very much Otaku
In the past I have gone into the horrible details of certain sins of mine, the priest (who I liked alot), said it sounded more so that i have a psycological problem. Today I had to return to Confession to reptent of the immoral sexual desires I looked at off the internet, and committed masterbations to them, from such dark horrible fetishes, quite perverted. This is basically what I told the preist, I didn’t go into the details of the types of fetishes, not this time, I just tried to keep it basic, and simple, confessing my sins of lust. I feel…ok, not so burdened. I hope all is well.
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The_Otaku
Guest
You’re welcome, and good for you.Thanks very much Otaku
In the past I have gone into the horrible details of certain sins of mine, the priest (who I liked alot), said it sounded more so that i have a psycological problem. Today I had to return to Confession to reptent of the immoral sexual desires I looked at off the internet, and committed masterbations to them, from such dark horrible fetishes, quite perverted. This is basically what I told the preist, I didn’t go into the details of the types of fetishes, not this time, I just tried to keep it basic, and simple, confessing my sins of lust. I feel…ok, not so burdened. I hope all is well.
If you can keep it up like that and be brief and concise in the future, eventually you’ll form a good habit and this problem shouldn’t bother you as much. What I would recommend if it still really really troubles you, is to set up an appointment with your priest to talk in greater length about these issues. This can be over the phone or in person at the church. A priest should be willing to do this for you and talk to you at length about it, if necessary.
I don’t know about you, but for me, being able to just talk about this with people helps, as I feel I’ve vented and released it. I cannot talk about this stuff with anyone else at any other time. So I bottle it up until I can post here. So just being able to talk to people who will understand or even just listen to me helps the burden feel less heavy.
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Dark_Warrior
Guest
I know what you mean. It releases a great burden.You’re welcome, and good for you.
If you can keep it up like that and be brief and concise in the future, eventually you’ll form a good habit and this problem shouldn’t bother you as much. What I would recommend if it still really really troubles you, is to set up an appointment with your priest to talk in greater length about these issues. This can be over the phone or in person at the church. A priest should be willing to do this for you and talk to you at length about it, if necessary.
I don’t know about you, but for me, being able to just talk about this with people helps, as I feel I’ve vented and released it. I cannot talk about this stuff with anyone else at any other time. So I bottle it up until I can post here. So just being able to talk to people who will understand or even just listen to me helps the burden feel less heavy.
I have gone to a priest by appointment before to talk about my OCD problems and worries and dark thoughts. It was pretty cool, I like him alot. Though he’s no longer at that Church, another one is there now. I like him too though
In truth, I don’t feel guilty or sorrowful right now for any of my past sins. I don’t feel like a burden is upon for for a specific sin, that I have offended God and He’s still angry with me. Sure my OCD acts up, the “what ifs” about sins. But overall I feel no guilt for my failings since I’ve been to Confession.
Another priest of mine I remember talking to, said do not worry about any past sins you may have or may have not confessed due to pcycological problems or lack of memory, you’re here to confess, you’ve confessed, you are forgiven, ALL OF THEM! Don’t spend any energy worrying about any sins of the past. You’ve repented, are sorry to God, now use that energy to focus on good things, rather than “what ifs.”
I understood that, though have not always listened lol.
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grandfather
Guest
Try thinking about it this way. Before you go into the confessional God who knows everything already knows all of your sins. You can tell Jesus that you need His help in making a good confession and trust Him. He knows you are trying your best. If you forget something He is not going to send you to hell.Confessing sins for me is so difficult because I suffer from OCD. Part of me wants to confess every single thought, detail, all the reasons for if I really did commit it, then also all the reasons for thinking I didn’t commit it, explain graphic detail, which can be sickening, dark and bad, etc.
And when I feel like this, I don’t feel absolved from ANYTHING! I feel worse, frustrated, confused, and sin EVEN MORE!!
I had my whole confession spelled out in my head not too long ago, confessed my sins, then when I left I thought “oh I didn’t mention that one, or did I? I think I did. What if I didn’t?” and blah, blah blah! I don’t want to be bothered with it any longer, because everytime I dwell on it it destroys me and I fall away from God–EVERYTIME! Last time I had fallen away for almost a year, missing Mass all because of frustration, drifting further from the Church.
I just want to go into the Confessional, pour my heart out to the Lord, simply confess my sins, be absolved and return home, eagerly waiting for the Eucharist the following day, instead of dwelling on “what ifs” all the time.
The job of the priest is to discern whether or not you are sorry for your sins. Before you go to confession you know what is in your heart. If you want to tell Jesus you are sorry for your sins, that means you are sorry for your sins. He already knows this. You can’t fool Him. So if you forget something it does not matter.
It is not our jobs to discern if we are sorry for your sins. You are not the judge of that. If it were our jobs we would not need confession. We could just say an act of contrition or tell Jesus we are sorry. If you have OCD you will start picking on yourself whether or not you are truly sorry for your sins, but that is not for you to determine. It is the priest who tells you when he decides if he will give you absolution.
How does he decide? Does he need to hear every last detail? Not at all. You obviously believe that the priest is acting in the person of Christ and you are confessing to Jesus. Then you have to receive the words of the priest as if it were Jesus speaking.
Imagine Jesus appearing before you and telling you your sins are forgiven. What would you do? How would you feel? Would you question Him? Would you tell Him there is some mistake? Maybe He did not know about xyz.
God wants you to be at peace. Do you believe that? Do you think God wants you torturing yourself? He wants to give you His peace. He wants your soul to glorify Him in His mercy.
In order to receive what He has for us all we need to do is be receptive. All the nitpicking makes us unreceptive and unable to receive His grace, mercy and love.
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Fran65
Guest
Thank you. I really needed to hear this. As someone who suffers from depression and anxiety I sometimes end up ‘playing’ mind games with myself along the lines of “You only wanted to go to confession because you are afraid…You’re not really sorry…You’re just a coward” Even though I mean every word of the Act of Contrition and experience tremendous relief once absolved and I have carried out my penance. I’ve never been sure that I am ‘sorry enough’.
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grandfather
Guest
Again, this is not up to you.
The scrupulous who over analyze themselves to see if they have followed the procedures perfectly think that is what is necessary to find mercy and God’s forgiveness. They go over and over it in their minds. The error in this is that they think they are the ones who make the forgiveness happen by what they do or think. It is God who forgives you. It is His forgiveness we need. It does not come from us, but Him and He wants us to be at peace in confidence that He is with us, not separated.
Imagine that you were the person wronged. Someone did something that hurt you and was very sorry and asked for your forgiveness. Do you say, are you sure you are sorry? Have you thought about what you have done? Maybe you should wait a month and come back and then I’ll think about forgiving you. You need a little more pain of guilt.
Then suppose you tell the person you forgive him and you want him to know that so he does not feel the burden of guilt. You tell him you forgive him from the bottom of your heart. Then suppose he refuses to believe you. He thinks you just said that, because it is the Christian thing to do, but you didn’t really mean it.
How would it make you feel if someone you had forgiven still can’t escape the guilt?
That is what the scrupulous soul does to God. He wants the person to know His forgiveness and the person will not allow it.
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Fran65
Guest
Inadequate.
This is an important area for me to work on. Humility and acceptance of God’s grace and forgiveness.
Thank you for explaining this further.
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grandfather
Guest
God offers us forgiveness and mercy. We stress the condition of remorse for our sins to be able to receive mercy and be restored to God. “Go into all nations and preach the good news of repentance for forgiveness of sins.”
But, maybe there is another condition for us to be restored to God and able to be in a communion of love with Him. Maybe we have to accept the foregiveness that is offered.
When the scrupulous imagine the most bizarre things that might block mercy the result is blocked mercy. They are not accepting the offer, even though they have not sinned.
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Poor_Clare_tobe
Guest
:angel1:Confessing sins for me is so difficult because I suffer from OCD. Part of me wants to confess every single thought, detail, all the reasons for if I really did commit it, then also all the reasons for thinking I didn’t commit it, explain graphic detail, which can be sickening, dark and bad, etc.
And when I feel like this, I don’t feel absolved from ANYTHING! I feel worse, frustrated, confused, and sin EVEN MORE!!
I had my whole confession spelled out in my head not too long ago, confessed my sins, then when I left I thought “oh I didn’t mention that one, or did I? I think I did. What if I didn’t?” and blah, blah blah! I don’t want to be bothered with it any longer, because everytime I dwell on it it destroys me and I fall away from God–EVERYTIME! Last time I had fallen away for almost a year, missing Mass all because of frustration, drifting further from the Church.
I just want to go into the Confessional, pour my heart out to the Lord, simply confess my sins, be absolved and return home, eagerly waiting for the Eucharist the following day, instead of dwelling on “what ifs” all the time.
Dark Warrior,
Code:
I am so sorry that you feel so frusterated when coming to the sacrament. If I may make a suggestion??? Perhaps youmight find a priest whom you feel comfortable with? You could make an appointment to see him.. explain your difficulty??? Make your confession and ask for some guidelines to make it easier for you to receive the sacrament without being tortured by the "what ifs"Blessings and I shall be praying for you, as I am sure will all of your other Catholic Brothers and Sisters who may read this.
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