What to call this sin? and is it venial or mortal?

[thememphisman]

some background:
i’ve struggled with sins of impurity for a good two - three years now, having to go to confession at least once a week for the sins of viewing pornography and masturbation.

well, for the past three weeks i have gone without pornography or masturbation and am very grateful for the graces that God has given me to do that.

why question is this: i was deciding wether or not to see the movie notorious, i looked it up on the internet and saw part of the sex scene: i didnt see any nudity (except the man’s chest) but perhaps that was enough for my mind to wander, bc that afternoon in the shower i began touching myself; however, not touching the genital areas, just like my arms and legs, and chest (i’m a guy). anyway i was “aroused” by this, but that was all, after the shower, i dried off and went on with my day. i never ejaculated or anything else.

what would you call these sins when brought to confession, and are they mortal or venial?

thank you very much

 

[Elizabeth502]

Dear memphisman,

I’m not trying to be mocking or sarcastic, but think about it: Is it not difficult to shower without touching oneself (such as arms, legs, chest)? I’ve never been able to shower successfully without making skin contact.

Deliberate self-arousal (as opposed to an unintentional effect of arousal, which is what you seem to report) is what you should concern yourself with. It does not sound as if that’s what happened. I can completely understand your fear of relapsing, given recent success, but no need to be scrupulous.

Sensuality and sexuality can be, to some degree, associated. It sounds as if you experienced the normal sensual pleasure of bathing, which is a gift from God. Water, bathing, being massaged, even feeling rain & wind on the skin can be very sensual experiences, even “provocatively” so. That is very different from deliberate genital stimulation with the specific purpose of pleasuring oneself.

Peace,
E.

 

[passus]

Praise God for your finding purity in His saving grace! We should never become too comfortable, however, in our faithfulness, because that leads to arrogance and it is in that pride that Satan takes advantage and we fall.

It doesn’t sound from your situation like you committed any sin at all. Arousal can result from even non-sexual forms of stimulus which appeal to any one of the senses; it’s just the way our bodies work. If it wasn’t intentional, then you have nothing to worry about.

In the future, if you want to check up on movies before seeing them (a wise and prudent practice), the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has an office of Film and Broadcasting, which reviews all the movies that come out. Just search for them in the search bar or use the buttons on the left panel. Here is the review for Notorious.

I hope that helps.

God bless.

 

[Lazerlike42]

If you were touching yourself with the intention of arousing yourself, or if you began touching yourself absentmindedly or otherwise, and then upon realizing that it was arousing you and continued to do it for that purpose, then it would be a sin, and, unless there was some unusual circumstance, a mortal sin, as intentional self-arousal is always a mortal sin when done willingly (willingly means that you knew it was wrong and had full control of your free will).

However, if you were touching yourself for some useful reason, such as to spread soap or to wash away something, and realized it was arousing you, but continued, not to arouse yourself, but because you needed to do this to clean yourself, then as long as you didn’t consent to the pleasure of arousal but tried to ignore it or avoid it or not think about it, then it was not even a sin.

Finally, if you were touching yourself, noticing the enjoyment of brushing your arms or legs or whatnot, and continued to do so not for the genital arousal, but because you enjoyed the feeling on your arms, legs, chest, or whatnot, then it is probably not a sin of any kind. However it is something that I would strongly advise against doing if you are only 3 weeks out from having masturbated as it is an easy gateway to that.

The most important thing I would say to you is that you should pray ardently to the Lord and to the Virgin to keep you from this sin, especially now that you have seen this video and it got you slightly aroused. I have much personal experience in this sort of thing, and I can tell you that sometimes it will seem as though impurity is no problem at all for days or weeks, and then something minor catches your attention, stays in your mind, and slowly but surely leads back to the sin. The only countermeasure possible is total dependance upon the Lord and prayers of the saints. That, and not getting anxious about what you saw or the fact that various thoughts may come to your mind and just moving on with your life and paying attention to other things - especially holy things, of course.

God bless I shall pray for you

 

[thememphisman]

i would say that it was done accidentally and then continued purposefully, so by that i suppose that it was a mortal sin?

i have received the eucharist 5 times since then, i figured that it was venial and would be forgiven at mass. now that i am coming to realize that it was mortal, am i also at fault for receiving the eucharist while under mortal sin?

also, does the fact that this is a sin i’ve been struggling with for a few years now, and in some sense, i feel like it was actually a victory, because i did not masturbate, only a venial sin?

thanks again for any help

 

[passus]

i would say that it was done accidentally and then continued purposefully, so by that i suppose that it was a mortal sin?

To purposely arouse oneself is a mortal sin.

One of the conditions required to commit a mortal sin is full knowledge of the matter. If you did not know that you were committing a mortal sin when you were doing this, then formally, you did not commit a mortal sin.

i have received the eucharist 5 times since then, i figured that it was venial and would be forgiven at mass. now that i am coming to realize that it was mortal, am i also at fault for receiving the eucharist while under mortal sin?

No, since you did not formally commit a mortal sin.

also, does the fact that this is a sin i’ve been struggling with for a few years now, and in some sense, i feel like it was actually a victory, because i did not masturbate, only a venial sin?

The fact that you’ve been struggling with the sin for a few years may lessen your culpability for this sin if it has become a habitual or routine practice. It might also be said that that you do not commit these types of sins with full consent of the will, but there is a certain amount of restraint the Lord expects us to perpetuate and so I don’t think that makes it a venial sin.

This would be something to discuss with your confessor.

 

[Lazerlike42]

Passus has given good advice. I would only add that the reception of the Eucharist those 5 times would not have been a sin anyways so long as you sincerely thought you were ok to receive it. It’s only a mortal sin when you know or have reason to believe you shouldn’t receive it but ignore this and do it anyways.

So far as your habit, you should talk about it with a good priest or confessor (as opposed to one who thinks masturbation is ok, or that sort of thing). That said, in order for a habit to excuse from mortal sin entirely, it has to have so strong a physiological effect that the person is not capable of abstaining from the behavior. That is is very hard to avoid the sin, while making it *less *of a mortal sin, does not cause it to cease being a mortal sin.

God bless