OCD/Scrupulosity Group

Hey Arturo, you have my prayers!

Please pray for me as I have felt my scrupulosity kicking in. I had some impure thoughts that came out of nowhere, and I felt lured by them for a moment, until I realized what was happening and I just let this thoughts go. I felt bad though for this and felt anxious.

I should have just let myself know that all I had to do was go to confession, but instead I let anxiety kick in. This did not help and just made it easier for more intrusive thoughts to kick in, as it is easier to have these types of thoughts, when you are anxious.

Thanks Maria

Happy New Years to you too

How is everyone holding up? Hope you are all doing good. I have had some scruples as of late, but not too much. Hope you guys have a Happy New year. May The Lord Jesus Christ be with you, God bless you all.

Mleonetti, I didnt read all of your post because I am on mobile,

But I also had the same problem about the blasphemy.
I thought I excommunicated myself because I witheld a sin in confession before my first communion. :/
I had a huuuge anxiety attack and Fr. Serpa on here told meI was being scrupulous and to be at peace.

You need to talk to a priest to give you the answers and attention you need. Confession helps everyone, even people who ecommunicated themselves by having abortions. Please try and remember anything you do cannot surpass the mercy of God, and is NOT stronger then the blood of Christ.

I can see it in your words how much you love God and his church.
It takes time to study everything about the church, Im pretty sure you, like myself, don't know everything about the church.



Say the St. Michael prayer. Divine mercy chaplet helps. Ask the Lord Jesus to calm your anxiety, to clear your mind,and to protect you. This is similar to me, I went through times of trial like this. You will get better, keep praying. , confession is 'fool proof'. The priest absolves by the power of God, and God will forgive all sins. Through this, you will be closer to the Lord. This came to pass.

I think for the heresy question, a priest would know how to answer your question much better then I could since I do not know much on the subject. you said you accept all teachings of the church, which is the opposite of a heretic.

I truly wish I could help you more, but I know someone nore knowledgable will be able give you the answer you need and ease your anxiety.I know the pain. Whenever the anxiety starts to kick in, try saying a short prayer and be strong, and try and keep yourself busy with things.

I will pray for you, and may God protect you, may Mama Mary protect you, and may you get the help and strength you need. May the Holy Spirit guide you through this time you are going through.

I am scrupulous about having committed heresy or voluntary doubt, or blasphemed against the Holy Spirit.

I accept whatever the church teaches as being true. But last night and even now, I was worried that I" withheld assent even in the presence of sufficient or prudentially adequate evidence," to whether I committed doubt or heresy, or blasphemy. [[/i] I read this quote after I still accepted church teaching. But I am afraid that me refusing to believe that I have committed this, even right now, has cut me off from the church.

But if I am wrong, I accept that I am wrong, but I am not sure what I am saying or what my OCD is saying.

I keep having second thoughts, but the beliefs in the church that I was struggling with had to do with what should be done if a pregnant woman's life is in danger. I accepted whatever the Church held to be true, but when I looked information in a thread, I was not sure about the first few responses, until I read one that I understood. I accepted even then what the church teaches, and even now.

I can't find the original thread, but it was a traditional Catholic thread about abortion when a woman's life is in danger of death. There was also a poll taken too.

I am worried that I have blasphemed against God, or if I voluntarily doubt that I committed a sin of heresy or doubt. I still accept what the church teaches, but I am afraid of being excommunicated, or that I am. I am worried about whether I have committed formal heresy, or material heresy.

If I have committed formal heresy, I know that confession will not help me, so I am constantly worrying.

I accept whatever the church teaches, and that a child cannot be directly killed to save a woman's life. So I do not know whether I committed heresy.

I am in such a great fear, because when I say that I did not commit doubt, I feel less guilty, but when I say that I have doubted I feel more guilty. I am afraid to admit that I have committed voluntary doubt, but I am afraid of being cut off from the church.
I am constantly going back and forth about whether I have committed voluntary doubt. Last night I read the definition of voluntary doubt, even when I accepted the church's teaching on abortion.

But I was unwilling to believe that I did, and now that I am typing now, I am afraid to admit that I did. I still BELIEVE WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES BECAUSE THE CHURCH CANNOT LIE. But I am really unsure about what to do.

Is it a sin for me to not believe I committed voluntary doubt now that I read what voluntary doubt teaches? If I have committed voluntary doubt, I accept that I have committed the sin, but I keep thinking and fearing about formal heresy. If I accept what the church teaches, then am I still excommunicated?

I just keep going back and forth.

I do not want to despair, but what should I do if I am excommunicated?

I do not intend to commit heresy, but I am not trying to be obstinate.

I just keep having a feeling in my chest that comes when I feel guilty. I do not want to be cut off from the Church. I don't want to. I accept God's will. Please someone message me soon. My email is tuc53539@temple.edu

I am thinking of what priest I should have as my confessor.

So far, I have been reading the book "Understanding Scrupulosity" by Fr. Thomas Santa.

One of the important things the book suggests is to have ONE confessor.

I went to confession last night, and it was not the priest I am used to going to; which did not help much, even though this priest was helpful in some parts.

One of the things that the confessor last night said was that if you remember a forgotten mortal sin, then you cannot go to communion. ( he just became a priest this past May, and is from a different parish)

But my pastor (my main confessor), who knows more about my scrupulosity, and was a priest for at least thirty years (and was a dean at the seminary), told me I should go because I need to receive Christ to gain strength.

He said that of course you should go to confession for remembering forgotten mortal sins, but he told me that I should not go to confession right away (he stressed to me that it becomes a compulsion).

My regular confessor also affirmed to me that certain things such as stress, and other conditions, diminish the gravity of a sin

I know I MUST obey my confessor, but what should I do now? Did the priest I go to last night possibly miss something that my regular confessor knows?

Other issues:

Can someone explain to me in a nutshell what fundamental option is?

As I was looking up some suggestions on choosing a confessor, one big suggestion is to choose a confessor that does not believe in that theory, because it is condemned as heresy.

I know that the counterargument is that (1) serious matter, (2)sufficient reflection, and (3) full consent are all required to make a sin mortal.

Even if the person chooses the option to not offend God, the person offends God anyway if all three parts of his/her actions are present.

The last thing is that I was wondering why "Understanding Scrupulosity" does not have an Imprimatur, and if I should be concerned about that.

Well just wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

I myself am having a pretty good Christmas although I am having a whole lot of intrusive thoughts that I am having right now wish is preventing me from fully enjoying this day.

Did you make it to communion?

I had a similiar problem, that I remember making them out of Panic/fear.

I am being scrupulous about making a private vow. I am worried that I won't follow it because it is too vague and easily can be broken. I said aloud at first that I vowed to follow God's will or that I would do my best to make one. But I never used the words such as "if it is your will" or "so help me God." When I was looking up about the conditions of a vow, I was compulsively checking to see if I made a valid vow. And I said aloud while I was looking up that I would keep that vow but I felt that I couldn't because it is easy to not follow God's will. I looked up that if you still made a vow, even if you were ignorant, about some part of it, it is still valid, but because I did not know that before I made a vow, I recanted it; I also recanted it. recanted it because I doubt think I could follow it that well. And the one link that said it would still be valid was written in 1910....it's the Catholic Encyclopedia. And I am being scrupulous because I knew that a vow must be kept but I do not think I could keep it. And I believe that since I did not say for God's will to be done, and that after I had doubts I would be able to keep that vow, I said to God that I don't t think I made a valid vow. And since then I gave been constantly checking on how a vow must be made. I really believe it is many OCD that is making need think I must keep this vow. Plus, I looked up what a simple vow was, too.

But how about this:

" Also invalid is a vow made out of ignorance or error concerning an element which constitutes the substance of the vow or which amounts to a condition sine qua non (c. 126). Ignorance is lack of knowledge; error is mistaken judgment. Ignorance or error invalidates a vow if the person vowing lacked knowledge of, or erred in judgment about, something that is of the substance of the vow. "

I looked that up last nght, and today. And I do not think I made a legitimate vow because I did not know that one line from Catholic Encyclopedia Before I made the mistaken judgement of saying that I would keep the vow...So I think, and hope it's my OCD.

The fact that I kept checking shows it is just my OCD. And I feel that it is my OCD that is making me think I committed a mortal sin. Not my consceince. It's hard to distinguish the two.

http://www.penitents.org/vows.htm

Because of this, I think it was invalid. It's just my OCD. I do not think that I would be held accountable, and I didn't know the Catholic Encyclopedia excerpt before I made a vow.

I am hoping to go to communion today. Someone please help me.