I am so confused....confession experience

[Brother Adam]

Okay, so I went to confession today and I mentioned the thing about not knowing we were suppose to say the number of mortal sins every single time we confess them and asked the priest if I would need to reconfess all the grave sins over the past year which I knew I wouldn't be able to remember anyway.

He said "[b]Yes you do need to reconfess them[/b], but you can't right now with the long line".

*Confesses sins I came to confess*

During advice: Remember all of your other sins that you did not give the specific numbers for, [b]and all other forgotten unconfessed sins are completely forgiven and absolved[/b], purified in the fire of God's love"

*penance*
*act of contrition*
*absolution*
*closing*

[Thy Geekdom Come]

*blink*

He wants you to confess them even though they're forgiven. I think it's more a pastoral matter of accountability, but I'd refrain from making that judgment for certain myself. Maybe ask the Q&A...

[Brother Adam]

too dern confussing.

[Fides_et_Ratio]

Dude.. don't go to Confession on campus... lol. My weirdest confession experiences took place when I tried going to confession on campus...

[Brother Adam]

Fr. Dan and Fr. Dave and Fr. Scanlan are all great confessors. Never had this guy before though. Yeah, I should stick to St. Peters, but I really needed to go and how can I not go when it is available?

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Sep 13 2005, 09:07 PM']Okay, so I went to confession today and I mentioned the thing about not knowing we were suppose to say the number of mortal sins every single time we confess them and asked the priest if I would need to reconfess all the grave sins over the past year which I knew I wouldn't be able to remember anyway.

He said "[b]Yes you do need to reconfess them[/b], but you can't right now with the long line".

*Confesses sins I came to confess*

During advice: Remember all of your other sins that you did not give the specific numbers for, [b]and all other forgotten unconfessed sins are completely forgiven and absolved[/b], purified in the fire of God's love"

*penance*
*act of contrition*
*absolution*
*closing*
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Why don't you ask Father Cappie cause this answer doesn't really make sense. Once a sin is forgiven its over, so why would you have to re-confess them?

[Fides_et_Ratio]

Well, out of courtesy, I have to keep my mouth shut... I went to 2 of them for "spiritual direction" on the recommendation of alumnis...



once I really needed to go to Confession and went on campus, and as he was giving me my penance the priest told me that I spoke too softly and he hadn't heard a thing I'd said, so he was just going to give me a generic penance and said that I "looked like a good kid" and then finished the Sacrament... it was really weird.

[thessalonian]

I think his thoughts are you made a good faith effort to come there and make an honest confession. You were willing to confess all there and then in the confession and form that the Church required. The fault was not yours that there was not sufficient time. Therefore he gave you the abosolution. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Pastorally I think he handled the situation well. His requirement that you come back and confess them is in line with canon 963:

Can. 963 Without prejudice to the obligation mentioned in ⇒ can. 989, a person whose grave sins are remitted by general absolution is to approach individual [b]confession as soon as possible[/b], given the opportunity, before receiving another general absolution, unless a just cause intervenes.\

Grave sins must be confessed and so he instructed you properly. This canon I know applies to general absolution. Yours is a very specific and rare case and I don't think his absolution was out of line. God is the judge of course but personally I wouldn't worry about it. For what it's worth from an egghead amaeture theologian.

By the way, good job with the submitting to the Church on this. You've done well.

God bless

Edited September 14, 2005 by thessalonian

[Brother Adam]

yeah. I never left out a grave sin when I went to confession, it was just I didn't really ever say 2 times 1 time 3 times or whatever and they never asked.

[Extra ecclesiam nulla salus]

that means i will proably have to go and confess my sins agian

no biggy really

i think priests need to be proactive about this. if the priest had asked i would have told him. but now my confession may or may not be invalid.

but after i had the eucharist on sunday, it was magical. my heart started beating, and i could feel christ move within me. its the best ive ever felt. i miss it.

Edited September 14, 2005 by Extra ecclesiam nulla salus

[morostheos]

i really should do the same thing....i've never confessed a number....

[Era Might]

It doesn't matter if you honestly didn't know that you had to say the number of times. What that does is excuse you from culpability for failing to do so. But you must still fulfill the duty to confess the number of times you committed these sins, because the canonical form requires it. Hence, a reconfession is necessary.

But don't fret about the validity of your past confessions, because you acted in ignorance. This is just a canonical necessity. Your past confessions were still valid, so long as you never intentionally failed to state the number of times. If you forgot a mortal sin, you would have to confess it the next time as well. Canon Law requires confession be made of KIND and NUMBER.

Edited September 14, 2005 by Era Might

[cappie]

Sounds like the priest is confused. It's fairly clear

[i]Forgotten grave[/i] sins should be mentioned in the subsequent confessions. One need not on this account confess sooner, and one may communicate in the meantime.

If the [i]number[/i] cannot be given exactly it should be given as near as possible. The [i]species[/i] must be indicated to the extent in which the penitent recognised the specific malice in the sinful action.

The really important thing is contrition for sins......

[skellmeyer]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Sep 13 2005, 09:07 PM']Okay, so I went to confession today and I mentioned the thing about not knowing we were suppose to say the number of mortal sins every single time we confess them and asked the priest if I would need to reconfess all the grave sins over the past year which I knew I wouldn't be able to remember anyway.

He said "[b]Yes you do need to reconfess them[/b], but you can't right now with the long line".

*Confesses sins I came to confess*

During advice: Remember all of your other sins that you did not give the specific numbers for, [b]and all other forgotten unconfessed sins are completely forgiven and absolved[/b], purified in the fire of God's love"

*penance*
*act of contrition*
*absolution*
*closing*
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[/quote]

From a spiritual perspective, the more accurately you describe your sins, the more aware you are of them and the less likely you are to engage in them again.

It's like anything else, for instance, the more attention a graphic artist pays to getting something exactly centered, the more likely he is to get it exactly centered.

Not since I was in grade school have I heard anyone say you have to confess the number - it's good spiritual practice, but not necessary for the grace of the sacrament.

That having been said, however, there are a number of saints who recommend making a "general confession" once a year or so. That means confessing every sin you have ever committed. RCIA candidates who were validly baptized and are entering the Church do this.

Obviously, if you already confessed the sins you mention in a general confession, you aren't getting absolution for those sins since they are already forgiven - it is simply a convenient place and way of reminding yourself where you are at in your spiritual walk.

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='cappie' date='Sep 13 2005, 11:57 PM']Sounds like the priest is confused. It's fairly clear

[i]Forgotten grave[/i] sins should be mentioned in the subsequent confessions. One need not on this account confess sooner, and one may communicate in the meantime.

If the [i]number[/i] cannot be given exactly it should be given as near as possible. The [i]species[/i] must be indicated to the extent in which the penitent recognised the specific malice in the sinful action.

The really important thing is contrition for sins......
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[/quote]

So Fr Cappie, should I make an appointment and reconfess what little I can remember of the past year regarding such numbers, or not worry about it? I honestly do my best to forget and move on after a confession lest I fall into dispair... I really can't recall much of anything. The most I think I could say is "In the past I didn't attach a number to such and such a sin when I confessed it

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Sep 14 2005, 08:16 AM']So Fr Cappie, should I make an appointment and reconfess what little I can remember of the past year regarding such numbers, or not worry about it? I honestly do my best to forget and move on after a confession lest I fall into dispair... I really can't recall much of anything. The most I think I could say is "In the past I didn't attach a number to such and such a sin when I confessed it
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[/quote]

Sounds like you may have a touch of scrupulosity. The best I can say in confession is really, "I did it a lot or I did it a few times" lol...I, being scrupulant, worry that everything is a sin, and therefore, I can't really determine a number.

That "do my best to forget and move on after a confession lest I fall into dispair" is what makes me think you may be scrupulant.

[Brother Adam]

I think you try to see scrupulicity in everything

The problem here is I don't have any kind of definitive answer on what I need to do, which is what I am looking for. I realize that all the sins are forgiven regardless, so that isn't the problem. But if we are going to be correct on canon law obligations here, I need to know what to do.

I say that I do my best to forget, because why would I want to dwell on sins of the past when I can look towards the hope of the future?

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Sep 14 2005, 08:01 AM']I think you try to see scrupulicity in everything [right][snapback]722737[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Sep 14 2005, 09:01 AM']I say that I do my best to forget, because why would I want to dwell on sins of the past when I can look towards the hope of the future?
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Yes, but most non-scrupulants don't have any problem or need to force themselves not to dwell on the sins of the past.

Scrupulants do.

[Brother Adam]

I guess that says it then. I don't need to force myself to forget sins of the past. Sorry for any confusion.