Valid or invalid confession...?

[nahbios]

A state of grace has to do with mortal sins…not venial ones.

If one has two mortal sins …confesses the one and intentionally withholds the other…none are absolved. And a further mortal sin may be added of sacrilege.

If a person has a mortal sin for which he is contrite and many venial sins …of when he is not contrite for some (venial ones)…the moral sin is absolved and the sins he was contrite for are absolved.

To argue otherwise would be not in keeping with the understanding of the Church and will open the door to all sorts of scruples.

This simply the theological understanding of the Sacrament.

Has been and will continue to be…see almost any orthodox book that goes into this sort of detail…such as Frequent Confession by Benedict Bauer or other works dealing with the sacraments.

The CCC and CIC are dealing the confession of moral sins. One must confess and be sorry for all of these. Venial sins are as the CCCC puts it simply essentially different.

From the Catechism approved for he Diocese of Rome by Pope (St) Pius X

“19 Q. Which are the effects of the sacrament of Penance?
A. The sacrament of Penance confers sanctifying grace by which are remitted the mortal sins and also the venial sins which we confess and for which we are sorry; it changes eternal punishment into temporal punishment, of which it even remits more or less according to our dispositions; it revives the merits of the good works done before committing mortal sin; it gives the soul aid in due time against falling into sin again, and it restores peace of conscience.”

Note that is says in confession…mortal sins are remitted. And that venial sins…“for which we are sorry” are remitted (implying that a venial sin which we are not sorry for will not be forgiven)…

Mortal sins must be submitted…and be contrite for…all or nothing.

Venial sins are different.

Sam commits murder and steaks a pack of gum as well.

He goes to confession and is contrite for the murder but intents to keep stealing packs of gum from time to time.

Do you really think the murder is not absolved …over the pack of gum?

The murder is absolved…the stealing is not.

Sam is back in the state of grace…but with still has the guilt of the venial sins of gum theft…which will not keep him from Communion or Heaven…(though he may have to be purified a bit in purgatory by the love of God for his gum stealing…)

Further the Catechism approved by Pope Pius X for the Diocese of Rome says:

56 Q. If one has only venial sins to confess, must he be sorry for all of them?
A. If one has only venial sins to confess it is enough to repent of some of them for his confession to be valid; but to obtain pardon of all of them it is necessary to repent of all he remembers having committed.

In addition …for a plenary indulgence one has the added requirement of being detached from all sins…even venial sins…which is a further indication that one may be attached to venial sins (not repenting is a form of attachment) and still be absolved of other sins one repents of…otherwise this would not be a special requirement for a plenary indulgence…(a person may gain many partial indulgences and still be attached to venial sins…but note…one must be in a state of grace…thus confession of mortal sins can put them in a state of grace …even if they are still attached to venial sins…) if you think about it this little side trip may help flush things out.

I will note for your assurance as well that I have degree in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville …and was praised by my professor for a perfect score on my exam in Sacraments…I am not a book or a document from the magisterium …just a bookcat…but perhaps this will help you to feel assured that I have a very good grasp of this topic…and a good understanding of the CCC as well as the CIC.

Of course again I add regarding repeated deliberate venial sins…it is not good…and can even lead to later falling into mortal sins…so the theoretical person in question should follow the words at the beginning of Lent

“Turn away from sin and believe the Gospel”!

I know I’m a few months late posting this - I’m sorry if I shouldn’t be rooting up a cold thread - I just have to say that this post (and the thread as a whole) has been so helpful to me. Thanks!

I agree that we have to strive for perfection with God’s help. So I gotta work harder to stop committing venial sins. I want to be sorry for all my sins (with perfect contrition too), yet I’m hanging on to some of the venial ones.

 

[baltobetsy]

To come at this question from another direction …

Many of us have been told, even by priests, that “laundry list” confessions are to be avoided. Of course, we must confess our mortal sins by kind and number and be at least imperfectly sorry for them. When it comes to venial sins, however, we are not encouraged to tell them all (and, for me at least, all would be a whole lot) in every confession, because it’s simply impossible for most of us to conquer all these bad things at once. The advice I’ve received from reliable sources is to choose one or two venial sins for which I am particularly sorry and which I want to work hard at eliminating from my life, and confess those. When those have been conquered, pick a couple more and repeat. This is a good, orderly way of picking off one’s bad habits of venial sin, and more likely to be successful than having a general intention of stopping all sin.

Of course, this leaves a bunch of them unconfessed and, in a particular sense, unrepented. Of course, we have a general intention to stop all our sins eventually, but in a practical sense, not all of them right now. This does not invalidate our confession, nor do I imagine it offends God, because He knows we’re working in an orderly way to eliminate our venial sins one by one.

Betsy

 

[Bookcat]

To come at this question from another direction …

Many of us have been told, even by priests, that “laundry list” confessions are to be avoided. Of course, we must confess our mortal sins by kind and number and be at least imperfectly sorry for them. When it comes to venial sins, however, we are not encouraged to tell them all (and, for me at least, all would be a whole lot) in every confession, because it’s simply impossible for most of us to conquer all these bad things at once. The advice I’ve received from reliable sources is to choose one or two venial sins for which I am particularly sorry and which I want to work hard at eliminating from my life, and confess those. When those have been conquered, pick a couple more and repeat. This is a good, orderly way of picking off one’s bad habits of venial sin, and more likely to be successful than having a general intention of stopping all sin.

Of course, this leaves a bunch of them unconfessed and, in a particular sense, unrepented. Of course, we have a general intention to stop all our sins eventually, but in a practical sense, not all of them right now. This does not invalidate our confession, nor do I imagine it offends God, because He knows we’re working in an orderly way to eliminate our venial sins one by one.

Betsy

Though of course…one may still “list” as many sins as one would like that one is sorry for etc. (but I would still make it a shorter list …)

But yes as Betsy notes here…it is good (after one confesses any mortal sin if one should have such) to pick a few…or a few kinds to be particularly sorry for and work on these in particular…

ALSO being sorry for all ones sins…one can add at the end of the confession…according to custom “and all the sins of my life…particular those of x and y”