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Author Topic: When is lustful thoughts grave matter?  (Read 669 times)

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Änσnymσus

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When is lustful thoughts grave matter?
« on: September 11, 2023, 07:40:57 AM »
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    • Struggling to understand if I committed a mortal sin or not. Every now and then I am afflicted with temptations of lustful thoughts. Sometimes they come and go quickly. Over times it seems like I cannot get rid of them, and I become confused, unsure if I consented to them or not. I know (I think) the rational soul tries to resist, but the sensual part desires wrong things.
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    Änσnymσus

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    Re: When is lustful thoughts grave matter?
    « Reply #1 on: September 11, 2023, 07:46:42 AM »
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    • Fr. Alphonsus cites St. Alphonsus saying that when temptations come, such as you describe, repeat the holy name of Mary and rest assured, you have not sinned.
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    Änσnymσus

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    Re: When is lustful thoughts grave matter?
    « Reply #2 on: September 11, 2023, 08:59:02 AM »
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    • Quote from: Änσnymσus on September 11, 2023, 07:40:57 AM
    Struggling to understand if I committed a mortal sin or not. Every now and then I am afflicted with temptations of lustful thoughts. Sometimes they come and go quickly. Over times it seems like I cannot get rid of them, and I become confused, unsure if I consented to them or not. I know (I think) the rational soul tries to resist, but the sensual part desires wrong things.
    As long as you struggle against them, you have not committed sin. Your body will work against you, and it will feel the pleasures; but in your mind you must not consent. Immediately call on the name of Mary to help. Also, make sure you do not feed the imagination with additional images or sensations that will excite the lustful thoughts. That may mean avoiding certain people, places, websites, etc. Keep busy with other thoughts to occupy your mind, such as a hobby, solving a problem, studying the Faith.  Also mortify your body, regulate your meals, no snacking in-between meals, control your eyes, do not look around at everything. Go to confession regularly and admit if you have been too slow in fighting the lustful thoughts or played with it too long before banishing from your mind. Put all your efforts in the fight and you will live (not commit sim), but if you give up, you will be taking in a vortex (sin) and it will be harder to get out, as the millions upon millions of souls before you that consented to lustful thoughts. Pray a Hail Mary then add, "by Thy pure and Immaculate Conception, keep my body pure and my soul holy."
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    Änσnymσus

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    Re: When is lustful thoughts grave matter?
    « Reply #3 on: September 11, 2023, 09:30:21 AM »
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    • If you're a scrupulous individual, and the post makes it sound as if you are, if you're not SURE that you consented, it's unlikely that you did and a confessor would advise you to act accordingly (i.e. not refrain from Holy Communion, etc.).  Generally speaking, unless you're very lax, if you "don't know" if you consented, then you haven't.  If you consented with your will, then you'd pretty much know that you did, since the will doesn't operate without your knowledge.

    Where it can get tricky is that you might exhibit some weakness in resisting the temptation, where your will isn't strongly rejecting it, or there's some degree of partial consent, perhaps an impure curiosity, perhaps some aesthetic but not quite so-called venereal delight, short of the full consent.  But those situations would typically entail venial sin, not mortal.

    IMO, unless you're extremely lax, you can't commit a mortal sin without knowing it and without being "sure" that you committed it.
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    Re: When is lustful thoughts grave matter?
    « Reply #4 on: September 11, 2023, 09:39:51 AM »
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    • Quote from: Änσnymσus on September 11, 2023, 08:59:02 AM
    As long as you struggle against them, you have not committed sin. Your body will work against you, and it will feel the pleasures; but in your mind you must not consent. Immediately call on the name of Mary to help. Also, make sure you do not feed the imagination with additional images or sensations that will excite the lustful thoughts. That may mean avoiding certain people, places, websites, etc. 
    At work I saw the letters V and Y and had a bad thought, simply because of the shape of the letters...
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    Änσnymσus

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    Re: When is lustful thoughts grave matter?
    « Reply #5 on: September 11, 2023, 10:28:52 AM »
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    • Quote from: Änσnymσus on September 11, 2023, 09:39:51 AM
    At work I saw the letters V and Y and had a bad thought, simply because of the shape of the letters...
    Unfortunately with the way society is today, many things will provoke perverse thoughts. We can't go through life fearing such things as that fear will certainly give rise to such thoughts. Rather, don't let it bother you, just think of something good and holy (a prayer, a virtue or bible verse to work on living by in that moment, a meditation on one of the 4 last things or on the rosary, pray a decade, ect). By immediately putting away perverse thoughts without agitation or fear of them, and by thinking something good instead, you will develop a habit opposite to perversion.

    Wan putting such perverse thoughts out of your mind, do it by distraction, but don't try to think about what you are distracting yourself from. That will only cycle you back to the perverse thoughts. They are a temptation only. Don't consent, and they will eventually go away. Stay away from sources of perverse thinking: non-Catholic company, movies, TV, bad music, dirty comedy, ect.
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