Mortal and Venial Sins Defined

Mortal and Venial Sins Defined

Eileen Renders

As Catholics, we are expected to confess our sins to a priest regularly through the sacrament of Reconciliation. This article will distinguish between mortal and venial sins, examining their differences in severity, as well as the distinction between those that require confession and minor venial sins that do not separate us from God’s graces and do not necessarily need to be confessed.

#1 Contraception, the birth control pill, an IUD, In Vitro Fertilization, abortion, or a man using a condom, each of these men and women in any one of these scenarios, is both guilty.

#2 Masturbation and/or Pornography either before marriage or in marriage.

#3 Immodesty, wearing leggings, short shorts, or bikinis. Any type of revealing clothing is immodest, including allowing young girls to dress this way. This offends God. And when this type of clothing is worn to Mass, confessing a sacrilege to the priest should also be part of one’s confession.

#4 Before Marriage-Making out or anything more passionate is a mortal sin. When kissing and caressing, knowing that it is a sin, and consenting anyway for the pleasure, is considered Lustful before Marriage.   

#5 In Marriage, anything unnatural. The two greatest Theologians, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Alphonso Ligouri, both teach that any type of insertion, either anal or oral, is a sin, even in Marriage.

#6 Homosexual Acts – All sexual sins (heterosexual or homosexual) are sins even when committed with consent.  Homosexual sins are not only mortal sins, they are mortal PLUS, as they are said to cry out to God for vengeance. This means that sodomy is one of the four worst sins anyone can commit.

#7 Chronic Failure to Catechize Your Children. Many good mothers and fathers occasionally fail to catechize their children, and that is not a big deal. When parents fail chronically throughout their children’s lifetime, however, to teach them their Catechism is a mortal sin. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My Commandments.

#8 Greatly harming someone’s reputation. Saint Ignatius said, “If we reveal another’s mortal sin, we sin mortally.” “If we gossip about another’s venial sin, we have sinned venially. If we reveal that another has committed adultery, we have sinned mortally.

#9 Missing Mass on Sunday without a good reason/or unnecessary work on Sunday. Unnecessary work on Sunday has always been considered work that consisted of more than two hours. Saint John Vianney said he saw people pushing around their Farming carts on Sunday. Then he said, “I see them pushing their carts into hell.”

#10 Denying your workers a fair wage. Pope Pius X has said in his Catechism, “the sins that are said to cry to God for vengeance are these four: (1) Willful murder; (2) The sin of sodomy; (3) Oppression of the poor; (4) Depriving or defrauding laborers of their wages.

#11 Getting drunk or High. Saint Alphonsus Ligouri has said it is not difficult to determine being buzzed from drunkenness. Drunkenness is determined when a person is unable to use their sense of reason. When a man decides to get drunk, he knowingly deprives himself of his sense of reason.

#12 Taking the name of Jesus in vain. This is blasphemy, a sin worse than perjury. Any word or deed that is an insult to God is blasphemy and calls down judgment upon you. When anyone uses the name of Jesus casually in anger or frustration, the angels around us flee, and demons surround us. When we use the name of Jesus in prayer, demons flee, and angels surround us.

#13 Denying the Catholic Faith, including any involvement in the occult, including Tarot cards or Ouija Boards. Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus said, “Anyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father.” It is a sin to introduce or allow children to occult, Tarot cards, or Ouija Boards.

#14 Skipping Friday Penance. Since the earliest days of Christianity, Fridays were a day of fasting (no meat), since that is the day Jesus died on the Cross to save us from sin. This rule does not apply to individuals who are very young, very old, sick, or pregnant.

#15 Receiving Holy Communion with any of the above sins on your heart. In the Catechism of Pope Pius X, it says, “Receiving Holy Communion with mortal sin, a person may receive the presence of God, but not His grace. Moreover, that individual has committed a grave sacrilege and renders himself to damnation and sentencing.

Finally, the author (The Pilgrim Priest website) says, “If anyone’s parish priest does not agree with these words, tell him I will debate him on the Magisterium in any place or forum.”

Venial Sins  (taken from Catholic Answers). In Catholic teaching, venial sins are defined as lesser sins that do not sever one’s relationship with God, unlike mortal sins. They are offenses that allow Charity to subsist, even though they offend and wound it. Examples of venial sins can include minor acts of impatience, unkind thoughts, or small lies. While venial sins do not require sacramental confession, they can be forgiven through acts of penance, prayer, and participation in the sacraments.