The holy Roman Catholic Church teaches that sex outside of marriage is always gravely immoral. wet dreams are not sinful (unless you are looking for them), if they happen they just happen. But since lusting is obviously a sin, don’t you think that it is better to mastrurbate without lust every 3 weeks than have lustfull wet dreams and a lust problems day before wet dreams? The above article is a "Straight Answers" column he wrote for the Arlington Catholic Herald. However, some Catholic couples mistakenly believe that, within marriage, a husband and wife can make use of any kind of sexual acts with one another. The Author. Indeed, he theorized that not only was depression common in this condition, but that medications that treated depression actually had the beneficial side effect of lowering the libido. However, most dreams are not God-inspired and can even involve sin and horrors of all kinds. Therefore, one cannot be sinning during dreams. Anthony Saroki explains what the Catholic Church teaches about temptation. (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1857) Condition # 2 & 3 above cannot be met in dreams. It must be committed with full consent. Fr. He says that wet dreams are not sinful. masturbation is. Lately I have begun to experience periodic impotence. He is dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College. The Bible refers to dreams and visions interchangeably, and often the people themselves were not sure if they were living in reality or in a dream (see Acts 12:9). That’s not to say that wet dreams are sinful, but I do believe that they are “unnatural” (they are a grave matter, but the necessary full-consent is missing from the act which negates it’s sinfulness). "Wet dreams" are vivid dreams that cause males to become sexually excited during sleep to the point of a nocturnal emission. According to the moral teachings of the Church, "wet dreams… This article is reprinted with permission from Arlington Catholic Herald. Is it wrong to dream about sinning? If in the dream we did something that in a waking state would have been a sin, we are not guilty of a sin, even though we may have a certain sense of shame or remorse for even having dreamed it. But if u think wet dream [come out by itself while u sleeping] is a sin, then u should think why god create that kind ability to our body to make it come out by itself. Nonetheless, dreams do reveal to some extent where our heart is in real life. For more on this subject, see the Church’s teaching on the distinction between mortal and venial sin (CCC 1854-64), chastity (CCC 2337ff. ), lust and masturbation (CCC 2351-52), and purity of heart (CCC 2517ff. In addition, see also our resources at the Catholic Answers website (Catholic.com). My doctor recommends masturbation as he thinks my problem is psychological. I recommend sleeping with a rosary under your pillow to help reduce these sorts of dreams. Q. I am 78 years old and have been married to my wife for 53 years. Father William Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope parish in Potomac Falls, Virginia. It must be committed with full knowledge that it is a mortal sin; 3. It is always a serious sin against God to have sex of any kind outside of marriage. Thankfully, and perhaps to your surprise, St. Thomas Aquinas answers this question in Summa Theologiae. so the choice is pretty much simple. It shouldn't be a sin to have wet dream, but i guess masturbate or sex before marriage considered as sin cause our society have their paradigm bout it, like it's not a good thing. And if in the dream we did something meritorious, there is no merit. In the Catholic Answers radio show I heard the speaker associated depression with pornography viewing in some (and with masturbation as well). So he cannot consent (# 3). 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