What Do You Do if You're Uncertain That a Sin is Mortal?

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7violinS

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What do you do when unsure about a sin and probably unable to go to confession for a few weeks? (transportation is a bit of an issue) Should I abstain from the Eucharist or take it, hoping that I didn’t commit sacralige? I am having a horrible time debating this and often swing from hope to hopelessness. It seems that everyday i find that i possibly commited a mortal sin and spend the entire day in agony. I want so badly to go to confession but am stuck at home in immense distress.
 
7violinS said:
What do you do when unsure about a sin and probably unable to go to confession for a few weeks? (transportation is a bit of an issue) Should I abstain from the Eucharist or take it, hoping that I didn’t commit sacralige? I am having a horrible time debating this and often swing from hope to hopelessness. It seems that everyday i find that i possibly commited a mortal sin and spend the entire day in agony. I want so badly to go to confession but am stuck at home in immense distress.
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If you are not certain it is a mortal sin the odds are overwhelming it is not. I would not deny myself the Eucharist if i were in your situation.
 
estesbob said:
If you are not certain it is a mortal sin the odds are overwhelming it is not. I would not deny myself the Eucharist if i were in your situation.
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Mortal sin is nothing to take lightly. I wouldn’t want to play the odds with my soul.

I understand your desire to participate completely in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and I know how uncomfortable it is to feel like the only one not going up in the Communion line. I also believe that God would be happier to see you kneeling in your pew praying for forgiveness rather than possibly adding insult to injury by receiving Him into your body while in a state of mortal sin.

Could you possibly call your priest, honestly tell him your dilema, and get his opinion on the matter? You could then, in good conscience, choose either receive or not based on the outcome of your conversation.

May God bless you and keep you,
Mike
 
Here’s my take:

Does the Catechism of the Catholic Church identify the matter – i.e., the sin you committed – as “grave”? (I’m betting it does.)

Did you know at the time you committed it that the Church (the Catechism) believes this sin to be “grave matter”? (I’m betting you did.)

Did you freely and willfully consent to commit this sin or did you deny its gravity even though in your heart of hearts you knew better? (Hm. I’m betting you’re not sure.).

If you’ve said yest to two out of three, then I think you’re close enough to the line to deny yourself Communion, even though the smart money will tell you that all of the three above named ingredients are required for sin to be mortal.

A lot of people get tangled up because they cannot tell the difference between the objective evil and the subjective culpability.

I’m thinkin’ that if you know a sin is considered “grave matter” and you do it anyway, then you’ve consented. But I’m a hard-liner.

The counsel of the Church is that habituation and immaturity can mitigate subjective culpability. Pish tush. If you’re capable of identifying the matter as grave, then you’ve put yourself on another platform.

Good luck. You have a lot of company. God is mercy. But don’t presume upon it.
 
On the other hand, the other questions you have asked here reveal that you consider things to be grave matter that many times are not. Perhaps you have a touch of scrupulosity, which would change all the rules for you. You should really consult a priest in confession about forming your conscience.

Now, if you can get to Mass, there must be a priest. Perhaps you could call the parish and arrange to meet the priest before Mass on a Sunday for confession and get these things settled once and for all.

Betsy
 
When evaluating whether a sin is mortal, the three conditions must be met:
  1. It must be objectively serious (grave). You can know this from the Catechism.
  2. You must know that it is grave.
  3. You must fully consent to doing it.
Now if you sincerely do not know whether the sin was grave at the time you committed it, then you are not in mortal sin, and the sin is venial. But even if you knew, you can also evaluate whether you freely consented to doing it anyway. If you didn’t, then the sin is venial.

Nevertheless, if in doubt as to the gravity of a sin, you are obligated to ask a priest or consult the Catechism.

A healthy conscience knows with full certainty whether you are in mortal sin or not. There is no such thing as “Mortal Sin! Surprise!” Those who are in mortal sin know it.
 
If you are unsure whether it’s mortal, then it is not.

You can’t commit a mortal sin by accident or by being unsure.
 
You’re allowed to abstain from the Eucharist even if you’re not in mortal sin. You should want to give Our Lord the most fit dwelling place possible. If you don’t feel right with the Lord, abstain until you have reconciled with him. Make a spiritual communion instead. The Anima Christi prayer is good for this purpose.
 
Hi,

You could always get in line and ask the Priest for a blessing, thats what I do when I am not sure about something but still want to “participate” as much as I can in the Mass.

Peace,
Lee44
 
Most good examinations of conscience will tell you that if you are in doubt of committing a sin (like receiving unworthily) and choose to do so anyway, then you are guilty of the sin. So I would say that since you are having doubt on whether or not to receive, then clear choice would be to abstain from receiving until you make a good confession.

At the very least better to be safe than commit sacrilege. 😉
 
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(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Out of all that I have read, this is by far my favorite. It’s 79 pages and you can get it for $0.65!

Here’s a link.
 
7violinS said:
What do you do when unsure about a sin and probably unable to go to confession for a few weeks? (transportation is a bit of an issue) Should I abstain from the Eucharist or take it, hoping that I didn’t commit sacralige? I am having a horrible time debating this and often swing from hope to hopelessness. It seems that everyday i find that i possibly commited a mortal sin and spend the entire day in agony. I want so badly to go to confession but am stuck at home in immense distress.
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*Possibly committing mortal *is like being sort of pregnant. IMHO, we sometimes believe that we can plumb salvation. We get hung up on finding the right formula versus really examining our will. I agree with others that if you have this much doubt about whether what you did was mortal, then it probably wasn’t at the time you did it. If after some research you discover that what you did was of a very grave nature, then the next time you do it…it would be a mortal sin as you would have full knowledge.

Christ doesn’t want you wallowing in the misery of your sin but rejoicing in the depths of His mercy. Give yourself a break. Go to confession as soon as you can, but don’t sit around thinking of yourself as damned. That’s a sure way to let the devil get a foothold to keep you away from Christ.

Why not call your parish priest and ask his opinion? He cannot hear confessions over the phone, but he might be able to counsel you on whether you should or shouldn’t receive Eucharist.
 
JimG said:
If you are unsure whether it’s mortal, then it is not.

You can’t commit a mortal sin by accident or by being unsure.
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Not according to any good examination of conscience. Also read what the Catechism says:
1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. **It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, **of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.

1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.
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Emphasis mine.

We should not be giving advice that could possibly be a detriment, rather we should always lean towards “better safe than sorry”.
 
E.E.N.S said:
We should not be giving advice that could possibly be a detriment, rather we should always lean towards “better safe than sorry”.
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I agree with this thought, but the “safe” route is very different for someone suffering with scrupulosity. We must keep that in mind when reading and applying 1859 and 1860.
 
CuriousInIL said:
I agree with this thought, but the “safe” route is very different for someone suffering with scrupulosity. We must keep that in mind when reading and applying 1859 and 1860.
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Yes, and with the case of scrupulosity, a person who suffers with it NEEDS a good spiritual confessor, and NEEDS to obey them without question. It would not help them any to come to a public forum like this, nay it may even serve to deepen their scrupulosity.
 
Nobody can examine the OP’s conscience but himself. Even when he goes to confession, he as the penitent is the one accusing himself of sin. Certainly, he needs to have an informed conscience. But he says this: “It seems that everyday i find that i possibly commited a mortal sin and spend the entire day in agony. I want so badly to go to confession but am stuck at home in immense distress.”

“Possibly” does not to me describe either full knowledge or full consent. Spending the whole day in agony would seem to indicate either full contrition or obsession.
 
here’s my situation (one of them anyway) i posted this on another thread but haven’s been anwsered.

‘another similar thing happened today. I was feeling sick and rushed to the bathroom. In my ahem awkward state i thought about how someone in my situation would react and immediatly thought ’ Holy Mary’ (as something someone might say when a wave of nausea hits) a second later added ’ Pray for me’. I knew using holy names as swearwords is grave matter but that seemed to escape me at the time. and once again, im terribly frightened that i commited a mortal sin.’

I’m planning on talking to my preist today but since i have no appointment i’m hoping he’ll have the time.

thoughts like these that i know are wrong are popping up so fast i hardly know what to do. I think here i might have given consent because i thought about what someone might say and since unfortunatly, i hear the Lord’s name and others daily taken in vain, it was the first thing that came to mind. I am scrupulous and terribly unsure because i think and fear that i allowed this thought subconsciously or consciously, i just don’t know or remember or whatever. I’m hoping to catch my priest today after mass.
 
7violinS said:
here’s my situation (one of them anyway) i posted this on another thread but haven’s been anwsered.

‘another similar thing happened today. I was feeling sick and rushed to the bathroom. In my ahem awkward state i thought about how someone in my situation would react and immediatly thought ’ Holy Mary’ (as something someone might say when a wave of nausea hits) a second later added ’ Pray for me’. I knew using holy names as swearwords is grave matter but that seemed to escape me at the time. and once again, im terribly frightened that i commited a mortal sin.’

I’m planning on talking to my preist today but since i have no appointment i’m hoping he’ll have the time.

thoughts like these that i know are wrong are popping up so fast i hardly know what to do. I think here i might have given consent because i thought about what someone might say and since unfortunatly, i hear the Lord’s name and others daily taken in vain, it was the first thing that came to mind. I am scrupulous and terribly unsure because i think and fear that i allowed this thought subconsciously or consciously, i just don’t know or remember or whatever. I’m hoping to catch my priest today after mass.
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I suggest you talk to your Priest about beinbg overly Scrupolous.
 
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