How Can I Be Forgiven From Venial Sins Without Confession?

What is the difference between Mortal & Venial Sin?

Sins can be grouped into two categories: mortal and venial sins. This is attested to in the Scriptures which mention this distinction in 1 John 5:16-18:

"If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that is not a deadly sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not deadly. There is sin which is deadly; I do not say one is to pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not deadly. We know that anyone born of God does not sin, but He who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him."

Mortal sin is "deadly" sin since it destroys satisfying grace in the soul. The consequence of this is the most serious - to die with mortal sin on the soul is the only determinant if a soul will go to Hell for all eternity or not.

All sins are venial sins unless they are mortal sins. And to be a mortal sin, it must meet 3 characteristics:

1. Grave Matter: The act must involve a serious offense or violation of a moral law. Not all sins are considered grave matter; they must be significant in their nature. Examinations of Conscience will help determine which sins are mortal. Offenses against the Commandments or the Church's precepts are mortal sins. For an examination just on venial sins, the guide by St. Anthony Mary Claret is a good resource.
2. Full Knowledge: The person committing the sin must have a clear understanding that what they are doing is a serious offense against God's law. Ignorance or lack of awareness may reduce culpability.
3. Deliberate Consent: The individual must commit the sinful act with full and voluntary intent. Coercion or external factors that compromise free will may diminish culpability. If someone commits a sin while sleepwalking, for instance, there would likely be no sin committed.

The Forgiveness of Mortal Sins: The Sacrament of Confession

The Sacrament of Confession is the means that our Divine Lord has established so that we may receive forgiveness for our sins. This is the ordinary means of forgiveness. Ordinarily, this means that only in Confession can a soul in the state of mortal sin be restored to a life of grace and friendship with God as a result of the way that God has ordered the world to work. Q. 780 of the Baltimore Catechism states:

What sins are we bound to confess? A. We are bound to confess all our mortal sins, but it is well also to confess our venial sins.

What can those do who may not access the Sacrament of Reconciliation? If someone is in a faraway distant land or on a battlefield and dying, what do they do? What even should we do if we become ill with a virus and feel life slipping away and fear that no priest will be able to hear our Confession?

In such situations, we are reminded that God has bound salvation to the Sacraments, but He Himself is not bound by His Sacraments. St. Maximilian Kolbe wrote to his followers shortly before WWII:

"Whoever can, should receive the Sacrament of Penance.  Whoever cannot, because of prohibiting circumstances, should cleanse his soul by acts of perfect contrition: i.e., the sorrow of a loving child who does not consider so much the pain or reward as he does the pardon from his father and mother to whom he has brought displeasure."

The Forgiveness of Mortal Sins: An Act of Perfect Contrition

Thus, there is one additional means to receive forgiveness: An Act of Perfect Contrition. This, too, is the only way that protestants with valid Baptism, but without valid Confession, can be saved. We know that there is no salvation outside of the Church, but for those souls who die seemingly separated from the Church, we must pray that they can make a perfect Act of Contrition, repent of their sins, long for union with God and His Church, and thus cheat the devil and merit a crown of glory.

There are two kinds of contrition (i.e., sorrow) that we can have for our sins. The most common is imperfect contrition which is sorrow out of a fear of losing Heaven or suffering in Hell. The other is perfect contrition which is sorrow entirely out of a love of God and regret for offending Him.

The Catholic Encyclopedia on Contrition states: "Catholic teaching distinguishes a twofold hatred of sin; one, perfect contrition, rises from the love of God Who has been grievously offended; the other, imperfect contrition, arises principally from some other motives, such as loss of heaven, fear of hell, the heinousness of sin, etc. (Council of Trent, Sess. XIV, ch. iv de Contritione)."

While those who are dying without Confession and with mortal sin on their souls will need to make such a perfect Act of Contrition in order to avoid hell, we too can seek to make perfect acts of contrition whenever we sin, even if we plan to soon seek out the Sacrament of Confession and receive absolution.

The formula for an Act of Contrition:

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.

The perfect act of contrition, though, is not just a mere fact of saying this formula. It truly requires the proper disposition of being detached from all sins - even venial sins. It is not an easy thing to do, especially those who sin often throughout their lives.

If you are in good health now, make a resolution to say 3 Hail Marys every day to ask for the grace to die in the state of grace with Last Rites.

 The Forgiveness of Venial Sins:

What has been mentioned so far is the forgiveness of mortal sins, those that would deprive a soul of Heaven. The Sacrament of Confession and Perfect Acts of Contrition would both remove mortal sins and venial sins. Is there, however, a way to remit venial sin by itself? There actually is.

However, an important clarification: assuming a person has both moral sin and venial sin on his soul, it is not possible to remove only the venial sins this way and leave the mortal sins for the Confessional. Why? St. Thomas Aquinas explains:

"As stated above (III:87:3), there is no remission of any sin whatever except by the power of grace, because, as the Apostle declares (Romans 4:8), it is owing to God's grace that He does not impute sin to a man, which a gloss on that passage expounds as referring to venial sin. Now he that is in a state of mortal sin is without the grace of God. Therefore no venial sin is forgiven him" (Summa Theologica, Third Part, Question 87: The remission of venial sin, Article 4)

For those, however who only have venial sins on their souls, the Angelic Doctor continues by explaining what the means for remitting the venial sins are:

"No infusion of fresh grace is required for the forgiveness of a venial sin, but it is enough to have an act proceeding from grace, in detestation of that venial sin, either explicit or at least implicit, as when one is moved fervently to God. Hence, for three reasons, certain things cause the remission of venial sins: first, because they imply the infusion of grace, since the infusion of grace removes venial sins, as stated above (Article 2); and so, by the Eucharist, Extreme Unction, and by all the sacraments of the New Law without exception, wherein grace is conferred, venial sins are remitted. 

"Secondly, because they imply a movement of detestation for sin, and in this way the general confession [i.e. the recital of the Confiteor or of an act of contrition, the beating of one's breast, and the Lord's Prayer conduce to the remission of venial sins, for we ask in the Lord's Prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses."

"Thirdly, because they include a movement of reverence for God and Divine things; and in this way a bishop's blessing, the sprinkling of holy water, any sacramental anointing, a prayer said in a dedicated church, and anything else of the kind, conduce to the remission of venial sins" (Summa Theologica, Third Part, Question 87: The remission of venial sin, Article 3)

Thus, we learn that the Sacraments, such as receiving Holy Communion, remit venial sin, although we of course may never receive Holy Communion without prior Sacramental Confession for mortal sin. We also learn that the Confiteor, the Our Father, and blessing ourselves with Holy Water all remit venial sin.

So if you find yourself away from the Sacrament of Confession, do not lose heart. Make use of the prayers and Sacramentals at your disposal.