Confession, Sin, Scrupulous

[havok579257]

so i went to confession today and talked to the priest about being scrupulous and not being able to remember if i confessed certain past sins or even if i commited these sins in the first place. being scrupulous, its hard to tell sometimes. the priest then told me to confess any past mortal sins for a good confession. i don't know if he understood what i was asking or not. so i said to the effect of "if i have committed these sins and not confessed them in my previous confessions i confess them now". looking back obviously if i can't remember if i sinned or not, i did not sin or at least commit a mortal sin.

my question is, by doing this in confession, by saying what i said is that a sin since i am confessing sins i am not even sure i commited?

[Jaime]

[quote name='havok579257' timestamp='1305589504' post='2242563']
so i went to confession today and talked to the priest about being scrupulous and not being able to remember if i confessed certain past sins or even if i commited these sins in the first place. being scrupulous, its hard to tell sometimes. the priest then told me to confess any past mortal sins for a good confession. i don't know if he understood what i was asking or not. so i said to the effect of "if i have committed these sins and not confessed them in my previous confessions i confess them now". looking back obviously if i can't remember if i sinned or not, i did not sin or at least commit a mortal sin.

my question is, by doing this in confession, by saying what i said is that a sin since i am confessing sins i am not even sure i commited?
[/quote]

I think the thing to focus on is that you received absolution.

Being scrupulous can be a good thing and it can be an unhealthy thing. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is about us being in relationship with God. If you come back and receive the sacrament often and sincerely, the grace received will help you to be a better person and feel more secure that you are making a good confession. If you sincerely apologize to someone you love in your life, do you then worry that you apologized enough? Or do you rejoice in hearing "Its ok, I forgive you"? I'm guessing the latter. If you are sincere in your confession, you can rejoice in the forgiveness.

[cappie]

One thing that scrupulous people must learn to do is to separate what they know from what they feel. I know that is not always easy to do, but that is one thing you must try to do.

When you know something, you are certain and there is no doubt. You do not question whether the thing is true or not, because you know something like you know your
own name. You don’t question what your name is. You know it. You don’t get confused about whether your parents really named you that. You have known your own name for years, and you are not in an agony of doubt over what your name is.

You know you have sinned in just that way. When you commit a serious sin, you always know it, there is no room for doubt. That is because mortal sin requires full consent
of the will and knowledge that the action is sinful. If you wonder if something is serious before you do it, then don’t do it until you find out. If you wonder if something is a serious sin after you do it, the answer will be, “No, it is not.”

When you are scrupulous, the way you feel will not help you decide what to do. You must decide based on what you know, not what you feel or fear.