Unintentional masturbation?

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I know that for something to be a mortal sin it has to be done in full consciousness.
But what if I don’t remember if a part of it was conscious? If it was maybe just a second between becoming aware of it and stopping that I am not sure about?

I was scratching myself, un- or halfconsciously, and suddenly became aware of where I was scratching… and of course I can’t say if maybe I subconsciously had kept scratching because it had felt good in some way? And then, when I became aware, did I stop right away, did I stop fast enough?
I know I tend to be scrupulous, but is there a definition for this sort of thing? Could it have been a mortal sin?
I am especially asking because quite likely I won’t make it to confession tomorrow or Saturday because of work.

Thanks for any (name removed by moderator)ut…

Kathrin
 
Kathrin,

I don’t think you could make it out to be a mortal sin unless you made it to be like a game. We are all human and have ich’s in many odd places. But unless you begin doing it for no apparent reason other than it feels good, in the sense you really don’t have an ich there than it would be an act of mortal sin and would need to be confessed.

To be honest since you’ve brought this out I have wondered the same thing because obviously I have been ichy down there before too, an innocent example is when you shave or wax your bikini line it ich’s like the devil when it begins to grow back.

Does this make sense?

God Bless,

Katie
 
Kathrin said:
I know that for something to be a mortal sin it has to be done in full consciousness.
But what if I don’t remember if a part of it was conscious? If it was maybe just a second between becoming aware of it and stopping that I am not sure about?

I was scratching myself, un- or halfconsciously, and suddenly became aware of where I was scratching… and of course I can’t say if maybe I subconsciously had kept scratching because it had felt good in some way? And then, when I became aware, did I stop right away, did I stop fast enough?
I know I tend to be scrupulous, but is there a definition for this sort of thing? Could it have been a mortal sin?
I am especially asking because quite likely I won’t make it to confession tomorrow or Saturday because of work.

Thanks for any (name removed by moderator)ut…

Kathrin
Click to expand...
I think you’re fine, just scratching “down there” isn’t necessarly even masturbation to begin with. For instance did it maybe itch? That can happen. Either way it doesn’t sound like this was actual masturbation. If you still have concerns I would bring it up in confession… But at least from this laymans keyboard it doesn’t even necessarly sound venial.
 
Yes it makes sense what you say.
There is just some blurriness between consciousness and unconsciousness that I am abit worried about.
 
At face value it seems that you are being too scrupulous. Check with your confessor but I don’t think that you need to run to confession for scratching and itch whether you were conscious or not. Many times I’ve scratched my foot to a degree where it felt really good but that’s not masturbation…teachccd 🙂
 
If you are always itchy there see a doctor. Even those who are not sexually active can get yeast infections which itch like crazy.
 
Scratching… self/un/ OR consciously is not a grave act… therefore not a mortal sin… trying to relieve an itch (I have a recurring systemic allergic reaction that I have to deal with daily. And occasionally scratching feels better than a lot of sex I’ve had…) if you try to please yourself with your scratching you have a fetish… if, however, you are only scratching to relieve an itch (or that’s your initial intention) than I doubt you have a thing to worry about… worry more about your actions towards others… scratching yourself is unlikely to hurt anyone else… however, your outward actions to others may…
 
For an action to be sinful it requires full consent of the will. Subconscious scratching, by definition, falls outside of full consent of the will. No sin. Talk with your confessor.
 
Scratching an itch, even when it’s “down there”, is definitely not a mortal sin. I had this same problem (as well as a problem with scrupulosity) and my confessor reassured me that it wasn’t. I was actually so bent out of shape over this problem that I even stopped washing “down there”, which made the itchy feeling even worse.
 
I went to confession once for scratiching an itch at my ankle… a mosquito bite… it felt so good I was afraid I had gotten some “forbidden” pleasure out of it.
 
Kathrin said:
I know that for something to be a mortal sin it has to be done in full consciousness.
But what if I don’t remember if a part of it was conscious? If it was maybe just a second between becoming aware of it and stopping that I am not sure about?

I was scratching myself, un- or halfconsciously, and suddenly became aware of where I was scratching… and of course I can’t say if maybe I subconsciously had kept scratching because it had felt good in some way? And then, when I became aware, did I stop right away, did I stop fast enough?
I know I tend to be scrupulous, but is there a definition for this sort of thing? Could it have been a mortal sin?
I am especially asking because quite likely I won’t make it to confession tomorrow or Saturday because of work.

Thanks for any (name removed by moderator)ut…

Kathrin
Click to expand...
There is no such thing as unintential masturbation! Masurbation is always a deliberate act.
 
scrupulosity killed the cat…but unless you scratched your wiener for the purpose of offending God its still venial.
 
What you have explained does not even sound remotely approaching “deliberate”. Your concern, although worthwhile, sounds overwrought…

Do not fear your god… his forgiveness surpasses all actions…

Your fear that you may have transgressed (even though you probably haven’t) is more than sufficient…

God does not want us to live our lives in fear of transgression… he forgives us before we even sin… much to our chagrin…

Please understand that although you might have doubts… Jesus does not…
 
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