Enslavement to sin

"Lord, grant us your forgiveness, and set us free from our enslavement to sin…." (Mass Prayer)

Is it possible to be freed from enslavement to sin while we are alive? Spiritual writers believe that total freedom from the effects of concupiscence comes with death. The enslavement to sin that is referred to in the above prayer is enslavement to venial sins. While it is possible for the committed Christian to fall into mortal sin, such an isolated mishap cannot be described as enslavement. Most of us keep confessing the same venial sins year after year. This is a definition of enslavement to sin.