Valid confession?!

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lena28

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If you forget to say ‘I am sorry for all these sins and any sins I have forgotten’ at confession, are the forgotten sins still forgiven?

This happened to me today and I am confused. I had written a list of the sins I was going to confess. I then realised while walking to the church that I had forgotten to write one down (it was a very minor sin but I get really worked up about it and now I’m afraid I’m still in a state of sin. I don’t think it was mortal but I still have a really gnawing sense of guilt). I resolved to remember to say it after reading off the other sins, but in the emotion I forgot say it and didn’t indicate that I was finished confessing.

I think this was because I was hoping Father would give me some advice about this kind of scupulosity I get which is getting worse so I just waited for him to say something.

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.
 
Lena,

I struggle with scrupulosity and it honestly sounds to me like you are going through this too. Please talk to your confessor about this and follow his guidance.

If you forget a sin, YES it is still forgiven. Just mention it at your next Confession. But yes you have been forgiven, and are in a state of grace.

Ask your confessor to clarify the difference between mortal and venial sin for you… that was a big issue for me too and my priest helped me see the difference more clearly. Mortal sin is a deliberate choice, grave matter, full knowledge… random little mistakes, thoughts that you didn’t consent to, etc, - those are venial. Furthermore everything that you don’t consent to is venial. Talk to your priest 🙂

Think of God’s mercy for you in Confession… He is not looking for reasons to invalidate your Confession 🙂 it’s not something so technical… He is more looking at your heart, and whether you honestly said all that you could remember that is a mortal sin. The ONLY thing on your part that could invalidate a Confession, is if you lie.

God bless
 
lena28 said:
If you forget to say ‘I am sorry for all these sins and any sins I have forgotten’ at confession, are the forgotten sins still forgiven?
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Yes.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is not a quiz or exam about how much you can remember about your sins (although at the same time, it’s important to make as good an Examination of Conscience as you can, beforehand, and there is nothing the matter with writing things down) .

You have to remember that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is about the Father welcoming home His sinful child. In the parable about the Prodigal Son, which is a kind of “word picture” of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Father didn’t even wait for the son to finish his Confession before welcoming him in and forgiving everything that he had done. 🙂

I am sure that the son meant to confess many other things, but didn’t get the chance before his father started putting the beautiful clothes on him and giving him the wonderful party. Was he any less forgiven, for having forgotten or omitted those sins? Not at all. And in the same way, we are also forgiven when we mean to make a good Confession, and when we do the best we can at the time. 👍

Do not worry. If you think of it next time, you can mention the other sin the next time you go. But don’t get yourself stressed out about it.
 
I always forget to mention that I am sorry for all my sins (to cover forgotten sins) and was wondering the same thing. Taking my little girl in a little while to the base chapel for confession-might go myself. I do have a question-and hope I am not in the wrong-sometimes, when given penance, I don’t say it right away-sometimes it is during the week or the following weekend, I realize that I haven’t done my penance and get down to saying penance. Am I committing another sin by procrastinating or putting it off until I have the time to say it? Many thanks-:signofcross::harp:
 
lena28 said:
If you forget to say ‘I am sorry for all these sins and any sins I have forgotten’ at confession, are the forgotten sins still forgiven?

This happened to me today and I am confused. I had written a list of the sins I was going to confess. I then realised while walking to the church that I had forgotten to write one down (it was a very minor sin but I get really worked up about it and now I’m afraid I’m still in a state of sin. I don’t think it was mortal but I still have a really gnawing sense of guilt). I resolved to remember to say it after reading off the other sins, but in the emotion I forgot say it and didn’t indicate that I was finished confessing.

I think this was because I was hoping Father would give me some advice about this kind of scupulosity I get which is getting worse so I just waited for him to say something.

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.
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I’m not yet Catholic, but from all I’ve been reading, you are ok. Just mention this at your next confession and start thanking the Lord for His love and goodness. These thoughts of “you are not forgiven, this wasn’t good enough, etc.” aren’t from God. The devil is trying to steal your joy…don’t let him. Praise God over and over, thanking Him and your joy in Christ will return.👍

Blessings,
mlz
 
Thank you for all the reassuring answers! It really helps to hear the voice of reason sometimes.

Something I have just remembered: if I said that my last confession was a week ago, when it was actually 6 days ago, does this count as a lie?
I can’t remember whether I said it was ‘about a week ago’ or not and it is bothering me.
I guess the priest would probably have known it was 6 days ago since I scheduled an appointment on a day when there usually aren’t confessions, but I am still at a loss.
Any suggestions?
 
lena28 said:
Thank you for all the reassuring answers! It really helps to hear the voice of reason sometimes.

Something I have just remembered: if I said that my last confession was a week ago, when it was actually 6 days ago, does this count as a lie?
I can’t remember whether I said it was ‘about a week ago’ or not and it is bothering me.
I guess the priest would probably have known it was 6 days ago since I scheduled an appointment on a day when there usually aren’t confessions, but I am still at a loss.
Any suggestions?
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No, that is not a lie.
 
We are obliged to confess mortal sins ( in number and kind…)

If one forgets a mortal sin …but one is intending to confess them all and are contrite etc …it is absolved with the rest. When one remembers it…then one is obliged to confess it in the next confession.

Venial sins need not be confessed at all…but it is very good and recommended to confess at least some of them. They can in fact be forgiven in many ways…so do not wait til confession to ask forgiveness. If one forgets a venial sin…no need to confess it of course…though one can.

(one should not wait for confession to make a perfect act of contrition for mortal sins either…but one must wait for communion until after confession in such a case)
 
lena28 said:
Thank you for all the reassuring answers! It really helps to hear the voice of reason sometimes.

Something I have just remembered: if I said that my last confession was a week ago, when it was actually 6 days ago, does this count as a lie?
I can’t remember whether I said it was ‘about a week ago’ or not and it is bothering me.
I guess the priest would probably have known it was 6 days ago since I scheduled an appointment on a day when there usually aren’t confessions, but I am still at a loss.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
This is called being scrupulous. You are focused on little things instead of the wonder and grace of the sacrament. How can it be a lie if you don’t remember how long it’s been? If you KNEW it had been 2 weeks and you lied and said it had been 3 days, that would be a sin. Keep it simple.
 
lena28 said:
Thank you for all the reassuring answers! It really helps to hear the voice of reason sometimes.

Something I have just remembered: if I said that my last confession was a week ago, when it was actually 6 days ago, does this count as a lie?
I can’t remember whether I said it was ‘about a week ago’ or not and it is bothering me.
I guess the priest would probably have known it was 6 days ago since I scheduled an appointment on a day when there usually aren’t confessions, but I am still at a loss.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
If you did not intend to lie, then it was not a sin 🙂 and if you had intended to lie, you would defintiely know it and remember it now. Try to not complicate these things, don’t get too focused on your thoughts… be at peace 🙂
Bookcat said:
We are obliged to confess mortal sins ( in number and kind…)

If one forgets a mortal sin …but one is intending to confess them all and are contrite etc …it is absolved with the rest. When one remembers it…then one is obliged to confess it in the next confession.

Venial sins need not be confessed at all…but it is very good and recommended to confess at least some of them. They can in fact be forgiven in many ways…so do not wait til confession to ask forgiveness. If one forgets a venial sin…no need to confess it of course…though one can.

(one should not wait for confession to make a perfect act of contrition for mortal sins either…but one must wait for communion until after confession in such a case)
Click to expand...
👍
 
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