I worry sometimes, about that word “attached”. There are a number of major sins I committed many years ago, which I truly regretted, confessed with what I hope was true contrition, and was absolved. Yet I often find them come creeping back in my mind for no good reason, which creates the feelings of guilt, regret, and shame all over again, and the want to tell God I am sorry for them again, which I know is wrong. It’s some type of mental defect I have, along with OCD. I was afraid that was a form of “attachment” to sin.
First of all, I would recommend that you forget those past sins of yours because you already confessed them and you already received absolution. They are already gone, finished, caput
! When God forgives, He forgets . So, stop worrying about them and stop reminding Him of those past sins. He knows your heart and he knows you were sorry for them.
He is NOT interested in hearing them again from you.
Anyway, I don’t think it is the kind of attachment that the Apostolic Penitentiary is talking about when it says that you must be free of every attachment to sin, including venial sin. One possible example of an attachment to sin might be a person who is in the habit of committing a sin against purity. He goes to confession each time he falls, and is sorry for his sin, but just a few days later he commits the same sin again. This person, although he has made a confession, and receives valid Holy Communion, is nevertheless still attached to sin. I’m afraid he might not be able to gain a plenary indulgence until he succeeds in breaking his bad habit completely.
I used a person who commits a sin of impurity only as an example. Others, who are habitual drunkards, habitual gamblers, etc. have the same misfortune of being still attached to sin. But the requirement of the Apostolic Penitentiary is that those who wish to gain a plenary indulgence must be free of attachment to sin,
including venial sins. This means that we should break all habitual sins, even those which are venial, such as the habit of saying bad words, cursing, habitually being late for mass, habitually watching movies that you know are near occasions of sin to you, etc. All bad habits and tendency to sin must be absent from your heart if you want to gain a plenary indulgence.
I am not the Apostolic Penitentiary, so you have to read the above as
just my opinion only of what “attachment to sin” means. If the readers on this thread have a different interpretation, I would like to learn from you, too.
