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I am an adult, in my late 20s, who is returning to the faith after being away for fifteen years. Growing up, there was little catechesis in my household, so I'm still learning.
I recently had a Confession as I re-entered the Church (my first Confession since I was a kid), where among my sins, I included some sins about coveting thy neighbor's goods. When I went in the confessional, I had a list and had written down three sins pertaining to that and I vocalized two of them, but in my nerves and a moment of over thinking, I didn't say all three out loud.
Have I profaned the sacrament by not naming all mortal sins or am I forgiven since I accused myself of violating one of the commandments?
I've found it somewhat stressful to discern since the Catechism states that all mortal sins must be said, however I'm unsure about the specificity required since that Confession was somewhat similar to a general Confession as I was re-entering the Church.
Thanks!
Matthew
{ Have I defiled this sacrament by not saying all mortal sins or am I forgiven since I mentioned one? }
Eric replied:
Matthew —
You have not profaned the sacrament. You intended to confess it and simply overlooked it. Just bring it up at your next Confession. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says,
When Christ's faithful strive to confess all the sins that they can remember, they undoubtedly place all of them before the divine mercy for pardon. But those who fail to do so and knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for remission through the mediation of the priest, for if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know.
(Council of Trent (1551): DS 1680 (ND 1626); cf. St. Jerome, In Eccl. 10,11:PL 23:1096)
Note that it refers to "knowingly withhold[ing] some", which you did not do, and "confess all the sins that they can remember", which you did do.
You should, for mortal sins, confess the number (how many times you did it) and kind (what you did), and (any circumstances that might affect the "species" of the sin), like for sexual sins if you were married or single, whether it was homosexual or incestual or solitary or whatever.
Do not go into details, do not confess other people's sins, do not confess feelings, do not excuse or justify yourself, but be brief and confess matters of the will, for example,
I showed impatience
I gossiped
I showed grouchiness
I was harsh, not gentle
I ate too much
I was lazy
I wasted time with television
I watched immodest scenes deliberately
We used contraceptives
I masturbated
etc.
Hope this helps!
Eric
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