Another Question About Impure Dreams

[Guest Guest]

I hope this isn't too weird.

Last night I had an impure dream, where I acheived a climax in the dream. It woke me up, but I didn't try to stop anything from happening -- I just let it happen. (But kind of enjoyed it.) This has happened to me in the past a couple of times. However, this is kind of strange because I'm a woman, and I thought this only happened to men. In the past, I just assumed it was some physical/hormonal thing and just dismissed it.

However, a while ago I was thinking about these past experiences and kind of thought "I'd like to have a dream like that again". I realized that thought was wrong, but the thought still occured to me. Then it actually happened.

Did I will this to happen? Is this an act of masterbation? Should I bring this up in confession?

Thank you for your advice.

Worried Woman

[Pio Nono]

JMJ
3/23 - St. Turibius of Mongrovejo

Worried,

There are two really good "gauges" to use when you begin to wonder whether you've sinned. Since I can't read souls (I'm not up to St. John Vianney's level ), I can't "tell" you what to do. But let these be your guide.

1.) When it comes to contemplative prayer, the mystics tell us that if we have to [i]ask[/i] whether we've experienced infused contemplation, then we probably haven't. Similarly, if one has to [i]ask[/i] whether or not a certain action was willed, it probably wasn't.

2.) Always remember - [i]sin lies in the intention[/i]. If I'm cleaning my guns and one of them goes off and hits my neighbor in the head, have I sinned? What if I [i]REALLY[/i] didn't like the guy and was even thinking about how nice it would be if I didn't have to deal with him anymore while cleaning my guns - have I sinned? I never meant to shoot the guy, much less shoot him in the head, so it doesn't seem like it's a sin. Now, I may be guilty of a myriad of other things - should I have cleaned a loaded gun pointed towards my neighbor's house? - but I'm not guilty of murder.

Also, dreams like this remind us that we're normal people - there would be cause for concern if they [i]didn't[/i] occur and if they [i]didn't[/i] seem pleasing. Rejoice in your normalcy. Also, our sleep is when we are most vulnerable to the attacks of the devil, and he attacks us with dreams. They're not our fault, and he [u]wants[/u] us to be shaken up by them - so don't let him win by getting all shook up. Peace, sister.

Yours,
Pio Nono