Sacrilegious confession or not? Please help

[FromFinland]

I just made my first ever confession today since I’m converting to Catholicism. I’m very scrupulous and afterwards I thought that maybe I made a sacrilege. I was confessing something that I had previously estimated that I had done thousands of times and had written that down on my notepaper but realised at the confession that’s over the top so I confessed that I did hundreds of times which is a more correct estimate. I still for some reason somehow felt inside that maybe I should have said thousands of times (which I know is wrong) and then I felt a bit bad after receiving the absolution and thought I might be making a sacrilege. Did I actually commit a sacrilege or is that just my scrupulousity? Should I trust my feelings or my intellect? I’ve reasoned that I didn’t commit sacrilege but somehow I still felt like I did. This might sound stupid, I know.

 

[Lou2U]

You need to ask any questions resulting from your scruples to your Priest, who is trained to help you. Sadly we here at CAF cannot provide that help and may actually make your scruples worse. I’d also recommend talking to a health professional about your anxieties.

 

[RolandThompsonGunner]

This might sound stupid, I know.

It doesn’t sound stupid, but it definitely sounds scrupulous. You need to seek the guidance of a priest to deal with this. Asking strangers on the internet will only make your condition worse.

 

[Episcopalian]

I’ve reasoned that I didn’t commit sacrilege but somehow I still felt like I did.

To be honest it sounds like you have strong personal insight to recognize when your scrupulosity is trying to take control.

You’ve reasoned out the facts of the matter and understand that your feelings telling you the opposite is true, doesn’t necessarily hold enough water.

It’s impressive, to be frank, alot of people with scrupulosity on this site tend to ruminate and dwell on their issue, without using tried and true logic.

I get that you’re doing reassurance seeking (which is common with scrupulosity), but it sounds like you already have your answer. Trust in yourself and your reasoned thought patterns.


Keep on with your insightfulness, and stay strong when you think the scrupulosity is rearing its head!

 

[CRV]

As you are a recent convert and this was your first confession, it isn’t a stupid question.

But I do think it is possible you may be or heading in the direction of being scrupulous so my best advice to you would be to stick to one confessor only, and ask him these questions. You are bound to have more as time goes on and you learn/study more. He is the very best person to help you and help you form your conscience.

You were going to state an amount which you knew not to be true in your judgement and so changed it to be more accurate and truthful - which you already have stated and know.

We are not to deliberately lie in confession nor deliberately withhold a mortal sin in confession - neither of which you did by what you’ve posted here.

God bless, welcome to the forums and welcome to the Catholic Family

 

[porthos11]

I just made my first ever confession today since I’m converting to Catholicism. I’m very scrupulous and afterwards I thought that maybe I made a sacrilege. I was confessing something that I had previously estimated that I had done thousands of times and had written that down on my notepaper but realised at the confession that’s over the top so I confessed that I did hundreds of times which is a more correct estimate. I still for some reason somehow felt inside that maybe I should have said thousands of times (which I know is wrong) and then I felt a bit bad after receiving the absolution and thought I might be making a sacrilege. Did I actually commit a sacrilege or is that just my scrupulousity? Should I trust my feelings or my intellect? I’ve reasoned that I didn’t commit sacrilege but somehow I still felt like I did. This might sound stupid, I know.

Just so you know, when the Church says “number of times” it does not need to be exact, or an absolute figure. Frequencies are just as good, especially for situations like these.

“I committed X sins an approximate average of twice or three times a week for the past twenty years.”

No need for complex math, and still sufficiently meets the “number” requirement.

 

[Famulus]

Haha, you just made me a bit nostalgic. You’re fine mate, it most certainly seems like you had the intention to say the truth and did not willfully withold anything from what you have said. No sacrelige committed. Now stop thinking about it!!

 

[InThePew]

But I do think it is possible you may be or heading in the direction of being scrupulous so my best advice to you would be to stick to one confessor only, and ask him these questions. You are bound to have more as time goes on and you learn/study more. He is the very best person to help you and help you form your conscience.

This.

For future reference, what the priest needs is a ballpark estimate of the number of times to know whether something is a recurring problem or not - you do not need to provide a precise number of times.