PRAYERS FOR CONFESSION.
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worthy, so criminal a state, instead of obtaining pardon, you would but add to your former guilt the horrid crime of sacrilege. "Do you not see," says St. Francis de Sales, "that as long as you keep your sins concealed in your soul, they are like so many thorns which unceasingly inflict cruel wounds, but when they are brought to light by an humble and sincere accusation, they become harmless?"
PRAYER BEFORE CONFESSION.
O SWEETEST Jesus, who, in Thy loving desire for our salvation, has instituted the sacrament of Penance for the consolation of all sinners, that by its virtue we may be cleansed from all our iniquities and recover the grace we had lost; behold, I, a wretched sinner, who have offended Thee again by many sins and denied my soul with many stains, come back once more to Thee, resolving to receive this most munificent sacrament with most steadfast hope and confidence, that Thou wilt grant me
