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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Confession	Ken	Saturday, August 18, 2012
Question: Hello brother. My question regards confession. It has been 3 years since I have been to confession. I have committed many grave sins since then, mostly impure in nature, along with other sins. I don't want to be in a state of mortal sin anymore. I am afraid of going to hell. I am aware one should state kind and number, however, when it's been so long as in my case how do I go about confessing how many times I had impure thoughts. It would be very difficult for me to determine how many impure thoughts I had in the past 3 years. The same goes for lying. I can remember lying during the past 3 years but don't know how many times. I could go on, I just want to come back to the church but this problem of confessing 'how many times' has delayed my confession. Thank you in advance and God Bless.
Question Answered by Dear Ken: Be not afraid or confused. Examine your conscience, make a list of your sins, then go to confession. As to number of your sins, just guess, or say "too numerous to remember." In some cases you can estimate by thinking "I how many times per week did I do this sin?" Take that number times 156 (3 years), or say, "on average three times per week." Do not fret over the number of times. Just do the best you can. God knows the number. The Church asks for number primarily to help you understand the gravity and accumulation of your sin. It sounds to me like you know the gravity of your sins. Get to confession, Ken, this week. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Confession

Ken

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Question:

Hello brother. My question regards confession. It has been 3 years since I have been to confession. I have committed many grave sins since then, mostly impure in nature, along with other sins. I don't want to be in a state of mortal sin anymore. I am afraid of going to hell. I am aware one should state kind and number, however, when it's been so long as in my case how do I go about confessing how many times I had impure thoughts. It would be very difficult for me to determine how many impure thoughts I had in the past 3 years. The same goes for lying. I can remember lying during the past 3 years but don't know how many times. I could go on, I just want to come back to the church but this problem of confessing 'how many times' has delayed my confession. Thank you in advance and God Bless.

Question Answered by

Dear Ken:

Be not afraid or confused. Examine your conscience, make a list of your sins, then go to confession. As to number of your sins, just guess, or say "too numerous to remember."

In some cases you can estimate by thinking "I how many times per week did I do this sin?" Take that number times 156 (3 years), or say, "on average three times per week."

Do not fret over the number of times. Just do the best you can. God knows the number. The Church asks for number primarily to help you understand the gravity and accumulation of your sin. It sounds to me like you know the gravity of your sins.

Get to confession, Ken, this week.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum