What if you can't remember the number of times you committed a sin

[catholic235]

I am having a hard time remembering the number of times i committed a sin I don’t want to guess and be wrong that could possibly be lying? Should or could I just say too many times to remember or I don’t remember. Yes I know mortal sins must be confessed in kind and number but if you can’t remember the number what do you do.

 

[followingtheway]

In number? I don’t remember that. I would like to know this too :sad_yes:

 

[livingwordunity]

If you can’t remember the exact number of times that you committed a sin, tell the priest that you can’t remember how many times, and give him your best estimate. If it happened too many times to give an estimate of a number, like if it happened nearly every day, then tell the priest that it happened too many times to remember exactly, and just say that it happened a lot of times and nearly every day. Basically, you only have to confess as much as you can best remember. Don’t worry about what you can’t remember when you go for confession. The sins you can’t remember are forgiven in the sacrament of penance along with the ones you confessed.

 

[NFrancis]

You can just say “too many times to remember”. That is completely fine. Or you can say “many times” or that you did this “for so many years maybe around three times a week”. Or you can say “maybe around 300 to 500 times”. You do not have to say an exact number. Just say it in a way to give an idea to the best of your ability how often you did it.

 

[ClearWater]

I would try to estimate…hundreds…dozens…thousands…etc.

 

[mountee]

During my confessions the priest has been very helpful with his questions that p(name removed by moderator)oint different issues. Just talk it over, I am certain that if you are trying to be honest the priest will help you with everything that needs to happen.

 

[OraLabora]

I think the words “once”, “occasionally”, or “many” or similar are sufficient if you don’t remember the exact number. Those words aren’t lies, they are estimates. There’s no reason to beat yourself up over this otherwise you risk falling into scrupulosity.

 

[Melissa]

I am having a hard time remembering the number of times i committed a sin I don’t want to guess and be wrong that could possibly be lying? Should or could I just say too many times to remember or I don’t remember. Yes I know mortal sins must be confessed in kind and number but if you can’t remember the number what do you do.

I think the best way would be to try to think about frequency (several times a day, daily, a few times a week, only on work days, weekly, etc) and an approximate length of time that is involved. Then you can say something like “several times a day for the last year and a half” or whatever fits. That’s probably more useful from the standpoint of recognizing the hold the particular sin has on you than being able to come up with the exact number.