Being a theologian who travels in circles that take their faith seriously, one of the subjects people ask me about most often is scrupulosity.
In case you don’t know what scruples are, the term comes from the Latin idiom for a pebble in one’s shoe. It’s a nagging irritant that causes persistent distress, but on the spiritual, not the physical, level.
Scrupulosity comes in two general types, but both are most often seen in folks who are striving to be perfect in virtue.
Those two broad categories of scruples are:
- Anxiety over a lack of clarity pertaining to past sins
- Distorted judgment regarding sin, i.e. seeing sin where none exits or judging venial sins to be mortal
Though perhaps not as bad as the opposite error of presumption, severe cases of scrupulosity can, if left unaddressed, cause deep spiritual torment that may in extreme instances cause the sufferer to decide he’s beyond saving and abandon the faith. So it’s a hazard pastors and spiritual directors should be on the lookout for and know how to treat.
The good news is, scrupulosity is like an illusion. Getting the right perspective can let the scrupulous person see that what was tormenting him wasn’t ever there to begin with. It was all in his head.
Here are some basics of faith formation that should help when scrupulosity attacks …
Mortal sins differ from venial sins, not just in degree, but in kind
Sin comes in two types – venial and mortal.
Venial sin only damages one’s relationship with God. One guilty of venial sin still retains charity and grace in the soul.
As the scrupulous know all too well, mortal sin destroys charity in the soul and removes the sinner from the state of grace.
Of the two, only mortal sin is grounds for eternal damnation. But it only takes one unrepented mortal sin to condemn a person to Hell.
That sounds heavy, and it is. But we can draw two conclusions from that teaching which offer substantial consolation:
- No amount of venial sins can add up to a single mortal sin
- It is impossible to commit a mortal sin without knowing it.
That is because 3 conditions are necessary for the commission of a mortal sin:
- Serious matter – a deed, word, or thought that constitutes grave intrinsic evil
- Full knowledge – guilt of mortal sin requires knowing before the fact that the act is gravely wrong
- Perfect consent – for a sin to be mortal, the sinner’s will cannot be inhibited. Coercion, force of habit, or the heat of passion can impede the will enough to render a materially grave act venial or even remove guilt altogether.
In a nutshell, the decision process required for a sin to be mortal is, This act is gravely wrong. I know that doing it would be gravely wrong. But I choose of my own free will to do it anyway.
If that describes anything you did since your last confession, go to confession.
Now, if any of the above 3 criteria are missing, the act is venial, or perhaps no sin at all.
While the sacrament of confession is the ordinary means of obtaining remission of mortal sin, venial sin can be forgiven through private penitential prayer, using sacramentals like holy water, participating in the penitential rite at Mass, and receiving the Eucharist. Do note that forgiveness of venial sins by these means does require a properly penitent disposition.
Standard Disclaimer: It’s still a holy and pious practice to confess venial sins in the confessional, both to receive a penance to deal with temporal punishment due to venial sins, and to receive graces to keep from committing them again.
And speaking of the confessional …
Returning to confession again and again to reconfess past sins is a symptom of scrupulosity
Ever have thoughts like these pop into your head?
Did I properly state that sin’s species, the exact number of times I did it, and all the circumstances when I confessed it last week? Better go back again today.
I just remembered one night back in college when I drank at that party. But I can’t recall if I drank to stupor. What if I’ve been in mortal sin this whole time?
Oh, no! I didn’t confess French kissing my prom date back in high school because I just recently learned it’s grave matter. Have I been profaning the Eucharist every time I’ve received it since then?
If so, you might be scrupulous.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t confess every serious sin of which we’re aware in number and kind with any conditions that may affect a deed’s moral character. We are in fact bound to do just that.
It is to say that if you make honest sacramental confession of all the sins you can recall at the time with sorrow and a firm purpose of amendment, then ALL of your sins up to that point are absolved.
Yes, even ones you legitimately forgot to mention.
Including mortal sins you omitted due to a genuine memory lapse.
If you do recall a mortal sin you forgot to confess since your last confession, just bring it up next time – not because it hasn’t been forgiven (it has) – but so you can get advice, a fitting penance, and grace to avoid committing it in the future.
Such is the power of the Sacrament.
It is like dropping a nuke on Satan.
Which reminds me …
Demons love to use your scruples against you
Recall that demons can influence your imagination. And they know your faults.
Will they use those capabilities as leverage against people suffering from scrupulosity?
Oh yes they will – to their fullest possible advantage.
That is why wracking your brain in an attempt to get full clarity on past sins is a fool’s errand.
The human memory is eminently fallible. And your tempting demon loves to wait until you think you’ve resolved a question of past sin before jumping in with You sure about that?
As with real nuclear war, the only way to win that game is not to play.
Because you’re not going to get clarity during a scruple attack. It de facto can’t happen.
Your best course of action is just to relax and stop thinking about it.
If that sounds hard, just ask yourself “Is this for Him or for me?”
Serious question. Why do you want to avoid sin?
Is it to glorify God by cooperating with His grace, or is it for your own self-satisfaction?
Because guess what choice 2 is.
That’s right – pride.
Let me save you a whole lot of time.
- If you’re not clear on whether you committed a mortal sin, you’re not guilty of mortal sin.
- If you can’t recall whether you forgot to confess a certain mortal sin in a past confession, you’re not guilty of a mortal sin.
- If a gravely disordered thought popped into your head, and you’re not sure if you consented to it or not, you’re not guilty of mortal sin.
The reason is simple. Since mortal sin requires full knowledge and perfect consent, a lack of clarity as to the moral character of an act automatically means it doesn’t satisfy one or both of those conditions.
Add in the fact that sacramental confession remits every sin (except those knowingly and willingly held back), and you’re covered. Be at peace.
For a more knowledgeable and thorough treatment of the subject, watch the formidable Fr. Chad Ripperger take on scrupulosity here:
Another sound spiritual warfare strategy is not giving demons ammo.
Steer clear of degenerate Current Year entertainment that can pollute your imagination and make you vulnerable to temptation.
Read how in my #1 best seller:
Good advice in general. I suffer from this sort of thing quite a bit, and I recommend Scrupulous Anonymous for those suffering. One issue, however, is that scrupulosity is likely at least partially a kind of OCD. Faith formation and good spiritual direction can help, but they often aren’t as helpful as one might hope in overcoming scruples, because the problem in scruples isn’t really a lack of knowledge. Indeed, if you have scrupulosity you likely study the exact definitions of sin over and over, to little avail. What the scrupulous really need is a closer relationship with Jesus, because TRUST is the main thing that is lacking. Just like “normal” OCD sufferers fret and worry about every little detail ten times more than necessary, the scrupulous often feel that if they are not absolutely certain that they are in a state of grace then they are not right with God, and that they will be condemned for it. It’s called the “Doubting Disease” for a reason – it’s akin to having a heckler permanently lodged in your mind, constantly engaging in FUD tactics to disturb your peace and give you anxiety. ScrupAnon even goes so far as to recommend that sufferers be reluctant to perform an examination of conscience, because if you have Scruples then your judgment about yourself is severely skewed from the get-go and you are almost certainly going to condemn yourself for no good reason. For the same reason, it actually counsels against habitually receiving the Sacrament of Confession (unless actually necessary because of clear mortal sin, obviously) if you’re a sufferer, because you can end up turning the Sacrament into just another OCD-anxiety-relief ritual, which actually ends up strengthening your scruples. Basically – it is good indeed to know what is and isn’t a mortal sin, but if you have scruples, even perfect knowledge won’t be likely to do much good, because you likely won’t be able to internally convince yourself that you actually aren’t in mortal sin *even if* that is in fact the case.
Thank you for covering scrupulosity’s overlap with OCD. Not being a trained mental health professional, I opted to stick with the condition’s theological dimension.
Also, this is a very late reply, but I didn’t learn this fact until later. Fr Thomas Santa, the priest director of Scrupulous Anonymous, identifies two different but similar phenomena often both called “scrupulosity”. Given that he has more than 20 years of experience ministering directly to the scrupulous, I doubt there are many people in the world more qualified to make such a judgment. He splits them into the “tender conscience”, which more closely resembles the description of scrupulosity mentioned in classic literature, and OCD-Scrupulosity, which is a mental disorder. According to him, a tender conscience can be cured by proper formation and will often benefit greatly from the “traditional” remedies and spiritual literature. OCD-Scrupulosity, on the other hand, cannot be cured but only managed. He is of the opinion that it requires an extensive psychiatric regimen alongside an understanding spiritual director, and counsels people with such a condition against engaging with many of the traditional methods and literature, on the grounds that it is harmful instead of helpful for people with such a disorder.