saints. Secondly, you must carefully examine your conscience, in order to find out the different ways in which you have offended Almighty God, and how often you have fallen into each particular kind of sin. Thirdly, you are to implore God's pardon with sorrow of heart for having offended him, and resolve, with the help of his grace, to lead a virtuous life for the time to come. And you should bear well in mind, that you cannot be truly sorry for your sins unless you be firmly resolved to keep away from all dangerous occasions. In the Sacred Scripture it is said, “ He who loves the danger shall perish in it.”
AT CONFESSION WHAT MUST BE DONE,
BEGIN by devoutly making the sign of the cross; saying at the same time, Bless me, O Father, for I have sinned. Then repeat the Confiteor, or “I confess to Almighty God,” &c., till you come to the words “through my fault,” at which strike your breast, full of compunction, like the humble publican in the Gospel, and so proceed to accuse yourself with candour and sincerity, telling first, how long it is since you were last at Confession, whether you were then absolved, and whether you performed your penance. Make an humble acknowledgment of your guilt. Let there be no excuses, no throwing the blame on others; but above all, let not shame, or fear, or hypocrisy, tempt you to tell lies, or conceal a mortal sin in confession. Should you feel a difficulty in confessing a certain sin, pray to God for help to overcome that difficulty; and recollect that without the confession of that sin you have no hope of pardon, and that by concealing it you draw down upon your soul the heaviest evils both for time and eternity.
“ O God! What a hell does a soul suffer within
