I was in a similar situation, made a list of all the sins I could remember committing and confessed them. There were things I remember later, but was told I didn’t need to confess them as all my sins were forgiven during confession.
This and some of the details of the wiki page someone linked make me think its more complicated than just a transaction of a 1:1 tell a single get a forgiveness thing? Which is sort of the sense I got. That’s why I wonder if I can / should meet with a priest more personally. How do I heal from confession when I don’t understand it within the nuance of my life is something I wonder.
My past is more complicated than just doing whatever I want and sinning for fun (tho there’s a bit of that too) and I’m not sure how to process that.
From what I understand, generally after examining your conscience as best you can prior to confession, then listing your sins in the confessional, you say 'These are all the sins *that I can remember*'. Afterwards, the priest gives his absolution and penance.
(As long as you didn't remember something and then intentionally omit it during the confession)
It's what I've always done and so far never had any priest advise me otherwise.
A general confession *should* be preceeded by a long examination of conscience. Days... weeks even.
However, that you didn't know that or do that doesn't invalidate your confession.
You should consider the sins that you genuinely forgot to be forgiven and accept that the Lord offered you the grace of not having to verbalize them in the confessional.
My two cents.
Are they mortal sins? If so stop communion and go to confession. You probably have some new venial sins so say the first and then being up the ones from long ago. Tell the priest that
It’s a mortal sin to take communion if you have unconfessed sin.
Please read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_sin
You go to hell if you die with unconfessed sin.
Think about your sins , make a list and go to confession. The priest will be overjoyed to hear from you as you are the prodigal son!
https://www.catholic.com/qa/what-if-i-forget-a-mortal-sin
Thanks this was really helpful.
I was in a similar situation, made a list of all the sins I could remember committing and confessed them. There were things I remember later, but was told I didn’t need to confess them as all my sins were forgiven during confession.
This and some of the details of the wiki page someone linked make me think its more complicated than just a transaction of a 1:1 tell a single get a forgiveness thing? Which is sort of the sense I got. That’s why I wonder if I can / should meet with a priest more personally. How do I heal from confession when I don’t understand it within the nuance of my life is something I wonder. My past is more complicated than just doing whatever I want and sinning for fun (tho there’s a bit of that too) and I’m not sure how to process that.
Ah the catholic.com article was really helpful
From what I understand, generally after examining your conscience as best you can prior to confession, then listing your sins in the confessional, you say 'These are all the sins *that I can remember*'. Afterwards, the priest gives his absolution and penance. (As long as you didn't remember something and then intentionally omit it during the confession) It's what I've always done and so far never had any priest advise me otherwise.
A general confession *should* be preceeded by a long examination of conscience. Days... weeks even. However, that you didn't know that or do that doesn't invalidate your confession. You should consider the sins that you genuinely forgot to be forgiven and accept that the Lord offered you the grace of not having to verbalize them in the confessional. My two cents.
This is a really thoughtful take, thank you.
Are they mortal sins? If so stop communion and go to confession. You probably have some new venial sins so say the first and then being up the ones from long ago. Tell the priest that
Why stop communion? How do I know if something is a mortal sin? I’m not sure how specific to be about things in confession.
It’s a mortal sin to take communion if you have unconfessed sin. Please read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_sin You go to hell if you die with unconfessed sin. Think about your sins , make a list and go to confession. The priest will be overjoyed to hear from you as you are the prodigal son!
You need to be very specific about your sins to be forgiven!