A Good Confession, Scrupulosity, And Habitual Sin

[Slappo]

I've been having a lot of struggles with confession, mortal sins, habitual sins, discernment of sin and properly accusing myself of my sins in confession.

With habitual sins of grave matter I always feel the need to go to confession before recieving the Holy Eucharist. With the knowledge that I am/will be purposfully not recieving Holy Communion out of fear of being in mortal sin and thus committing another sin I then know that I must go to confession asap (if there is a mortal sin than confession is better for ones soul than even Holy Mass). As I have said earlier, the sins are habitual and therefore confession is quite frequent (a couple times a week, poor priest ).

Well... frequent confession is a great thing, however I'm finding it frustrating to go as much as I have been, especially confessing the same sin(s) over and over. I'm also finding the way I accuse myself of my sins is pretty lacking. "I have fallen into the sin(s) of.... (missing sunday mass, lying to parents, etc)... rather than "I have commited the sin(s) of...." Also, to continually try to have a firm purpose of ammendment of sins of habit is a huge struggle.

In and out of confession I have had different confessors, my spiritual director, and many others say various things... and unfortunately the one that I would think holds the most ground, my spiritual director hasn't given any firm direction on habitual sins and frequent confession other than that we cannot know the state of our own souls so when in doubt go to confession. I have of course then had another priest tell me that I am extremely scrupulous and to not withhold myself from the Eucharist (a very SOLID and orthodox priest from my knowledge). Someone with a scrupulous conscience, from my knowledge would be constantly doubting... therefore I end up going to confession every single time I fall into a habitual sin of grave matter.

So really... I need help on the following list:
Firm purpose of ammendmant and how to make one
Scrupulosity with habitual sins of grave matter and whether or not they are mortal (are they never mortal, always mortal unless more than habit has influence, depends on occasion?)
Accusing oneself of sins in confession and how to properly do it
Frequency one struggling with habitual sins should go to confession

Thanks guys!

[Archaeology cat]

I'm the same way! I've had priests tell me I'm overly scrupulous, and that I shouldn't deny myself the Eucharist, but I still struggle with it. So I'd be interested in an answer as well.

[Ziggamafu]

Buy a good book on moral theology and trust it. Perhaps the best (and the one that I plug all the time) is Heribert Jone's [i]Moral Theology[/i] by Tan Books. The important thing?

*know the list of matters that are actually [b]GRAVE [/b]([u]not [/u]what people, out of reverence for the Lord, [i]feel [/i]should be grave)!!!

*know what it means to give DELIBERATE CONSENT; lack of full consent is what makes many objectively grave errors venial sins, which the Eucharist destroys.

When is your consent not deliberate? When any force (whether external or internal) so leans upon your will that you no longer may be said to be fully "reasonable" - that is, whenever you have lost at least some of your faculties of reason. This can occur by "force of habit" or "force of threatening coercion" or "force of passion"...etc.

Point being: if you strive to live a devout life, detest sin, recognize that you always deserve Hell and everything that's *not Hell* is GRACE, and (despite your best efforts) find yourself having made a grave error, it is probably a venial sin; one of weakness rather than deliberation.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' post='1370811' date='Aug 26 2007, 03:55 AM']Buy a good book on moral theology and trust it. Perhaps the best (and the one that I plug all the time) is Heribert Jone's [i]Moral Theology[/i] by Tan Books. The important thing?

*know the list of matters that are actually [b]GRAVE [/b]([u]not [/u]what people, out of reverence for the Lord, [i]feel [/i]should be grave)!!!

*know what it means to give DELIBERATE CONSENT; lack of full consent is what makes many objectively grave errors venial sins, which the Eucharist destroys.

When is your consent not deliberate? When any force (whether external or internal) so leans upon your will that you no longer may be said to be fully "reasonable" - that is, whenever you have lost at least some of your faculties of reason. This can occur by "force of habit" or "force of threatening coercion" or "force of passion"...etc.

Point being: if you strive to live a devout life, detest sin, recognize that you always deserve Hell and everything that's *not Hell* is GRACE, and (despite your best efforts) find yourself having made a grave error, it is probably a venial sin; one of weakness rather than deliberation.[/quote]

Thanks. I'll have to see if I can find that book.

[journeyman]

Given what they know about me Amazon.com thought I might be interested in pre-ordering

[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592763316/ref=pe_pe_5050_6544560_pe_snp_316"]A Pocket Guide to Confession by Michael Dubruiel[/url]

From the excerpts I was able to preview, I'm not sure it contained anything not already available to us from the discussions and links here at PM, but, books have a way of being useful when computers are far away

Scheduled release date is September 15

[tvu_srfan]

I have struggled through scrupulosity this year, and it can be a very heavy burden. I'm not sure how scrupulous you have been, but as for me every single time I was tempted I would get confused and wouldn't be sure if I had fallen into sin or not. I would analyze the situation for such a long time, it was agonizing. And once it was time for mass, I would feel so confused and guilty because I didn't know if I should receive communion or not. For some people in a scrupulous state, they fail to see the love of God because they are so worried. I eventually came across theses site on the internet one day and they really helped me, they're from Scrupulous Anonymous and apparently there are also people who suffer from Scrupulosity all the time because of OCD, and then there are people who suffer from it temporarily like you and me. I will be praying for you.

[url="http://mission.liguori.org/newsletters/scrupulosity.htm"]"Ten Commandments for the Scrupulous"[/url]

[url="http://mission.liguori.org/newsletters/scrupulosity2.htm"]"Ten Commandments for the Scrupulous (revised)"[/url]

All for JMJ,
Dory

Also there is a good book on Scrupulosity, I don't own but I did run across it at the Franciscan U bookstore and flipped through it for a while. Its [url="http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Scrupulosity-Questions-Helps-Encouragement/dp/0764815768/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_1_img/002-2255335-4496039?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-2&pf_rd_r=06DJ3A7MR9YT5E86FZDR&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=304485601&pf_rd_i=0764803735"]here[/url] on amazon.

Edited September 1, 2007 by tvu_srfan

[jeffpugh]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' post='1370811' date='Aug 25 2007, 10:55 PM']Buy a good book on moral theology and trust it. Perhaps the best (and the one that I plug all the time) is Heribert Jone's [i]Moral Theology[/i] by Tan Books. The important thing?

*know the list of matters that are actually [b]GRAVE [/b]([u]not [/u]what people, out of reverence for the Lord, [i]feel [/i]should be grave)!!!

*know what it means to give DELIBERATE CONSENT; lack of full consent is what makes many objectively grave errors venial sins, which the Eucharist destroys.

When is your consent not deliberate? When any force (whether external or internal) so leans upon your will that you no longer may be said to be fully "reasonable" - that is, whenever you have lost at least some of your faculties of reason. This can occur by "force of habit" or "force of threatening coercion" or "force of passion"...etc.

Point being: if you strive to live a devout life, detest sin, recognize that you always deserve Hell and everything that's *not Hell* is GRACE, and (despite your best efforts) find yourself having made a grave error, it is probably a venial sin; one of weakness rather than deliberation.[/quote]
Your post gave a really good start about combating scrupulosity. Thanks. I'll check out the book too.

[quote name='tvu_srfan' post='1375542' date='Sep 1 2007, 10:57 AM']I have struggled through scrupulosity this year, and it can be a very heavy burden. I'm not sure how scrupulous you have been, but as for me every single time I was tempted I would get confused and wouldn't be sure if I had fallen into sin or not. I would analyze the situation for such a long time, it was agonizing. And once it was time for mass, I would feel so confused and guilty because I didn't know if I should receive communion or not. For some people in a scrupulous state, they fail to see the love of God because they are so worried. I eventually came across theses site on the internet one day and they really helped me, they're from Scrupulous Anonymous and apparently there are also people who suffer from Scrupulosity all the time because of OCD, and then there are people who suffer from it temporarily like you and me. I will be praying for you.

[url="http://mission.liguori.org/newsletters/scrupulosity.htm"]"Ten Commandments for the Scrupulous"[/url]

[url="http://mission.liguori.org/newsletters/scrupulosity2.htm"]"Ten Commandments for the Scrupulous (revised)"[/url]

All for JMJ,
Dory

Also there is a good book on Scrupulosity, I don't own but I did run across it at the Franciscan U bookstore and flipped through it for a while. Its [url="http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Scrupulosity-Questions-Helps-Encouragement/dp/0764815768/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_1_img/002-2255335-4496039?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-2&pf_rd_r=06DJ3A7MR9YT5E86FZDR&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=304485601&pf_rd_i=0764803735"]here[/url] on amazon.[/quote]
I've read the commandments before. They're definitely recommended.

Thanks for the help on this one, guys.

[genxcathedra]

Can someone pdf the pages about scrupulosity by Fr. Heribert Jone that is, unless you don't know of any free e-books? Thank you!

Phil


[quote name='Sacred Music Man' post='1376290' date='Sep 2 2007, 12:45 PM']Your post gave a really good start about combating scrupulosity. Thanks. I'll check out the book too.
I've read the commandments before. They're definitely recommended.

Thanks for the help on this one, guys. [/quote]

[rizz_loves_jesus]

I don't want to distract attention from the original poster, but I struggle with scrupulosity also, and I didn't even know it before I read those two links (thought it's not as bad as it was a few years ago.) I'm going to Confession later this afternoon. Should I tell my priest, and if yes, how do I tell him?

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='rizz_loves_jesus' post='1492986' date='Apr 5 2008, 03:42 PM']I don't want to distract attention from the original poster, but I struggle with scrupulosity also, and I didn't even know it before I read those two links (thought it's not as bad as it was a few years ago.) I'm going to Confession later this afternoon. Should I tell my priest, and if yes, how do I tell him?[/quote]

Yes, because it helps us understand where you are coming from.

[LouisvilleFan]

I probably tend towards the other extreme of tolerating sins and allowing a few months to go before receiving Reconciliation, though like you all, I sometimes refrain from receiving Communion when I can't go forward in good conscience.

However, there are times when I tend towards what may be scrupulosity, when I'm too hard on myself and basically wallow in depression because of all the horrible things I've done. It's so easy to fall into that when we focus on our sins, so what I find helpful is to stop myself at that point when I've already committed a sin and realized it: at this point, I can choose to either be depressed about it and beat myself up, or I can choose to anticipate the joy of Reconciliation (because I know I'm going eventually and will confess this) and be glad that Christ's blood washes away anything and everything I could do against him.

Of course, this could devolve into some "power of positive thinking" junk that Oprah would cuddle with my weeble and wub, but I find that choosing to remain joyful helps defend against additional sins I would commit were I to become depressed and moan and groan.

[Saint Therese]

It is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL that you find a good, experienced priest confessor, and obey him as a little child. There really is no other remedy for scrupolosity.
Also, try to understand that the work of redemption is not something that YOU do, even by going to confession, but that is something that Jesus does for us. A lot todo with scrupulosity is and a focus on self instead of God.
Take heart, you can overcome it,with God's help and with the help of an experienced priest.
I've been through this myself and trust me when I say that you will get beyond this!

Edited April 6, 2008 by Saint Therese

[dominicansoul]

I struggled with scrupulosity early in my childhood. It came to a point where it was very debilitating, and I was exhausted emotionally and physically. That's when I had had it, and totally surrendered everything to Jesus, because there was no way I was ever going to get out of that madness...

Thank God I had a beautiful spiritual director, who became "my conscience." Obedience to him was a must.

Pray to St. Alphonsus Liguori. He was the saint I embraced during this struggle. He was very scrupulous. There are many saints who were. St. Therese of Lisieux, and St. Bernadette both struggled at some point in their lives with it. The saints will help you. They know what hell you are going through...because it becomes a living hell.

[Guest]

i suffer with this big time.
i didnt even know it was something other people deal with.
thanks for posting.