Dear Judith:

No, this does not need to be confessed since you are not sure it even happened and full knowledge and full consent of will must be present for a grave sin to be mortal.

As a standard practice when I confess I try to remember to say, "Father forgive me for I have sinned. It has be five minutes since my last confession. In that time I accuse myself of A, B, C. For these and all other sins for which I do not now remember I heartedly ask forgiveness."

This is good practice to take care of anything that you are not sure about or do not remember.

Since you have had a reawakening spiritually, you may consider doing what is called a General Confession. This is really a psuedo-confession since what is confessed as long been forgiven (except for any current outstanding sins that are included in the General Confession).

The purpose of a General Confession is to review one's life. It helps to review your past, where you have been, especially as you go forward in renewed spirit.

As for the question about mentioning "masturbation" in confession, do not fear. The priest will NOT think less of you. He hears this all the time. Never be too embarassed to confess anything.

If you cannot get over the shyness to confess to a priest who knows you, then go to another parish where the priest does not know you, but NEVER avoid confession due to embarassment.

You might have seen my previous answer about this where I told the story of a nun who everyone thought was "saintly". When she died everyone presumed she went straight to heaven. One night in a vision this dead nun came to one of the sisters and beg her to tell everyone in the convent to never be too embarassed to confess any sin. She has been too embarassed and never confessed one mortal sin. As a result she was in hell since she died with that one mortal sin on her soul.

NEVER avoid confessing any sin. The priest will never think less of you. This particular sin is one of the most common sins confessed from what my priest friends tell me. Frankly, this sin is probably boring to priests since they hear it so much :)

In any event, you do not need to worry about this "maybe" sin when you were ten.

God bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary