only because I dread the loss of heaven and the pain of hell, but also and principally because by them I have offended Thee, Who art infinitely good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins and to am.end my life. I acknowledge Thee, O God, to be the Supreme Good, and I love Thee with all my heart. Be merciful to me, a poor sinner. I beseech Thee, by the Passion and death of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, to forgive me my sins. Amen.
Approach the confessional with the same recollectedness and reverence as would fill your heart if Christ our Lord were seated there in person ready to hear your confession. The priest is really the representative of Christ.
When you kneel down say: Bless me, Father, for I have sinned, and then begin the Confiteor, proceeding as far as Through my fault, etc.
THE CONFITEOR
I CONFESS to Almighty God, to blessed Mary, ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. . . ,
