There were two kinds of sin: mortal, which was the more serious kind, and venial. Committing a mortal sin means knowing that what you are about to do, think, want, or say is really bad…but doing, thinking, wanting, or saying it anyway. Most of the things we did wrong fell into the less offensive category of venial sin. Committing a venial sin meant doing something that is not really so bad, or doing something really bad that you don’t think is really bad or that your heart really isn’t into doing.
