Struggle for purity

[youngsterat16]

ok so, I am going to try this again since I guess I put in too much detail.

dealt with masturbation, stopped over a year ago.

since then I have orgasmed in my sleep monthly for 13 months now.

I’ve done what I could to not do so. it just makes it hard for me not to think about it when it happens.

This probably doesn’t explain a lot but I don’t want to try rewriting it over again.

 

[1AspiringSaint1]

Alright the first thing to say is congrats! Congrats and praise be to God that you have stopped with the masturbation.

Secondly, I think you seem to know this, but the nightly orgasms are not sinful b/c you cannot control them. When they happen, just forget about it and move on. It is simply how the body works, especially if you are married/having intercourse.

These could be occurring if you frequently think of lustful images as well, because sometimes these images can lead to such dreams.

Not sure if this helps

 

[psalm90]

If you read the beginning of the letter to the Ephesians, you will see

chap 1 verse 3 (NAB) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.”

We HAVE BEEN blessed with every spiritual blessing. We need to grow into our faith and into greater holiness.

Ephesians is a short letter, but it contains some powerful advice from St. Paul (it is believed). And, we are to “mortify” our passions and life a new life of holiness “in Christ.”

We are ALL challenged by that, in every way, every day. Yes, YOU are meant to be holy. And, you become holy by these free spiritual gifts of knowledge, wisdom, perseverence, etc. to live a holy life.

We are confronted by strong impulses and temptations, and as it says in the letter of St. James, these can turn into full-blown sins, if we let them. So, we are to use prayer and our experience and our knowledge that Christ is our Savior to turn away from all sin.

As Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, no one condemns you and I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.

we have to be on our guard constantly for those thoughts and temptations that come our way.

 

[youngsterat16]

well, I’m going to trygoing into what I had posted last night and try to filter out anything that would cause them to take it down.

What I gave to you about past is all I will say.
here’s a post i did last year
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=1016898

I understand that it is not a sin. I’ve done what I could to research it. Someone on my post last year connected it with my cycle, which makes sense
It would be so much easier if I could copy and paste part of my post last night on this

but, I have done well when I first stopped and was able to resist. It lasted a few weeks, and then I had my first dream. I woke up immediately after it happened sweaty and racing.

but then it didn’t happen again… until the next month.

the issue isn’t the dreams themselves. but it’s when I think back upon them does it stir some arousal and brings back all of the temptations that I’ve worked so hard to push through.

Every month. at least once, sometimes twice. I thought I was over this. not comepletely, but so close. after the first two or three months, the dreams weakened some. I still had orgasmed once a month, but the dreams became more nonsensical and random, so it didn’t cause much of an issue when I wake up.

Lately though, in the last few months, the dreams became smart. More realistic. once so real, I almost lost my virginity to my dream. So very close, but then I woke up right beforehand. And those have been causing me more stress

I hate to want them, but when I wake up right after the dream, I find myself trying to drift back into the same dream. Throughout the next few days of the week, I get to thinking of those dreams, Trying to find a pattern. And tempted to think on further. unfortunately, it sometimes takes me a few minutes to snap myself out of it.

And it happens every month. I can think absolutely clean and clear for 22 two days and still it happens. Every month. for 13 months now and counting. I don’t want to revert back. Its a battle I have to defeat over and over and over again.

I’ve tried to keep a clean head. I don;t know what sprung the more realistic (and i fear potentially becoming sexual now) dreams. In the moment I am asleep, I enjoy them. I know I do. I have some awareness when it happens somehow. but I don’t want to be dealing with it for days after each dream, then get it to fade, only to have to do it all over again in 30 days.

I don’t think it’s going to stop. Not for a while. ihave a feeling I am going to have to fight this every month for who knows how long. I just don’t want this to harm my spirit. It certainly brings it down some days. And it’s not going to end for a while. I just have a gut feeling it won’t.

it just makes me cry sometimes. :imsorry:

 

[Estevao]

Sin is in the will. This is what St. Augustine said, and if you reflect on it I believe you’ll find that it’s true. You don’t will your dreams, and you don’t have full possession of your will during them (if you even have any possession of it at all). So it is not a sin to have these dreams. In fact, I think that these kinds of dreams (presuming you are a man) are the equivalent of the female reproductive cycle. The menstrual cycle gets rid of old eggs, and a wet dream gets rid of old sperm. Now i know the old sperm is disposed of in other ways, but a wet dream is also a way. At least this is how I look at them. They are just a man’s version of the monthly visit from aunt flow. Nothing wrong with them. Be at peace.

If they do trouble you however, consider asking your guardian angel to protect you from them before you go to sleep. But I really don’t think you’ll find any Catholic theologian argue that they are sinful. So don’t worry about them.

St. Augustine actually talked about these kinds of dreams in his confessions in Book Ten. He is a doctor of the church. I find what he says very helpful.

 

[youngsterat16]

Sin is in the will. This is what St. Augustine said, and if you reflect on it I believe you’ll find that it’s true. You don’t will your dreams, and you don’t have full possession of your will during them (if you even have any possession of it at all). So it is not a sin to have these dreams. In fact, I think that these kinds of dreams (presuming you are a man) are the equivalent of the female reproductive cycle. The menstrual cycle gets rid of old eggs, and a wet dream gets rid of old sperm. Now i know the old sperm is disposed of in other ways, but a wet dream is also a way. At least this is how I look at them. They are just a man’s version of the monthly visit from aunt flow. Nothing wrong with them. Be at peace.

If they do trouble you however, consider asking your guardian angel to protect you from them before you go to sleep. But I really don’t think you’ll find any Catholic theologian argue that they are sinful. So don’t worry about them.

St. Augustine actually talked about these kinds of dreams in his confessions in Book Ten. He is a doctor of the church. I find what he says very helpful.

… maybe I should have specified I connected it (I think) to ovulation

but good information on the male anatomy never knew that

 

[Estevao]

… maybe I should have specified I connected it (I think) to ovulation

but good information on the male anatomy never knew that

Oh I see. I should read threads better before jumping in with advice I find I have the same struggle with these dreams. They’re tough to deal with. I find cold showers reverse the physiological process and get me back to a baseline. I know that my grandparents’ generation knew this too, so it’s a tried and true method.