The Catholic's pocket prayer-book/Prayers for Confession
Prayers for Confession.
PRAYER BEFORE THE EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE.
O MERCIFUL Redeemer! Hope and refuge of sinners, look with compassion on my guilty soul. I am about to prepare myself for the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation. But without Thy assistance all my endeavors to obtain the requisite dispositions will be unavailing. I beseech Thee, pour forth Thy grace into my heart, and preserve me from the misfortune of performing this holy action negligently, or of being deluded by a false sorrow. Grant that I may be deeply penetrated with all those feelings and sentiments I should have, in recurring to this institution of Thy infinite goodness. Grant, also, that my first desire in approaching the tribunal of Penance, and my first motive in desiring to be reconciled to Thee, may be to accomplish Thy divine will. Purify, I beseech Thee, in the furnace of Thy own love, my poor, miserable heart, from all self-seeking and self-love; grant that I may, in every part of my preparation for this holy Sacrament, be guided by Thy divine Spirit. I ask this favor in Thy own sweet name, that name through which Thou hast promised to grant whatsoever we ask of Thee.
O Virgin, Mother of my Jesus, thou hast a clearer knowledge than any other created being of the excess of His love and mercy toward poor sinners; and thou knowest much better the ingratitude and deplorable misfortune of the sinner who offends him. I beseech thee by that sword which pierced thy soul at the foot of the cross, and by the knowledge of His love and mercy, obtain for me such sentiments of contrition, that I may be perfectly restored to His favor and love, and never again do, say, or think of anything in the least offensive to Him.
My dear Guardian Angel, to whose care I am committed, obtain for me, through thy intercession with God, the favor of making this confession with the most perfect dispositions.
My holy patrons, and all ye blessed inhabitants of heaven, interest yourselves in my behalf, and obtain that my conversion may be entire.
EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE.
I. The preceding Confession and Communion.
Have you forgotten anything; neglected the due examination of your conscience; concealed any mortal sin, or colored it so as to make it appear less grievous? If you have had this misfortune, you must say what space of time has since elapsed, and whether you confessed or communicated during that interval. Have you neglected to submit to your confessor well-founded doubts, legitimate disquietudes; received absolution without sincere sorrow and a firm purpose of amendment; neglected the due fulfilment of the sacramental penance, or deferred it without necessity?
II. Commandments of God.
Have you wilfully doubted of any article of faith; rashly exposed yourself to the danger of infidelity, by reading bad books or keeping bad company? Have you by word or deed denied your religion; gone to places of false worship, so as to join in the worship, or to give scandal; been ignorant of the articles of your creed, of the commandments, of any of those things which Christians in your station are bound to know; despaired of salvation, or of the forgiveness of your sins; rashly presumed upon finding mercy; gone on in your sins without any thoughts of amendment, or depending on a death-bed repentance? How long have you been in this way? Have you, after falling into mortal sin, neglected for a long time to return to God by repentance; neglected your morning and evening prayers; employed prayers or sacred names to superstitious uses; profaned the holy Scriptures by any whimsical or unauthorized interpretation, or construction; profaned or abused holy places or things consecrated to God; believed in fatality, magic, dreams, or superstition; consulted fortunetellers, taken notice of omens, or made any other superstitious observations?
2. Have you trifled with the name of God, by using it irreverently; taken rash or false oaths; induced others to do so; cursed or sworn, or caused others to do so; violated your lawful promises or led others to do so; executed what you rashly swore to do?
3. Have you neglected to sanctify the Lord's day, either by omitting to attend Mass without sufficient cause, or hearing it irreverently; spent the Sunday, or any part of it, in servile work, without necessity?
4. Have you shown any disrespect to your parents, answering them in a petulant manner; grieved them, or provoked them to anger; neglected them in sickness, poverty, or any other necessity; disowned them, or been ashamed of them before others; abused or cursed them; lifted your hand against them; stolen or squandered their substance; been impatient or peevish when they reminded you of your faults; disregarded their good advice; neglected to execute their will after their death; delayed unnecessarily to do so? Have you shown contempt or disobedience to your lawful superiors, spiritual or temporal; contempt or disrespect to aged persons? Parents should remember that if children owe them love, respect, and obedience, they themselves are bound to discharge certain duties, on the performance of which depends, in a measure, the conduct of their children. Have you loved your children with a Christian love; corrected them for their faults in a Christian manner, that is, without irascibility, but with firmness and meekness, and at the favorable moment; been attentive to inspire them with sentiments of fear and love of God; to teach them their prayers and the Christian Doctrine? Have you neglected to see that they regularly approach the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist; to remove from them the occasions of sin, such as dangerous companions and bad books; to educate them according to your means? Have you flattered their passions, connived at their faults, or allowed them to indulge in their evil inclinations; scandalized them, endeavored to dissuade them from embracing the state of life to which they appeared to have been called by the Almighty; compelled them to embrace a particular state of life, or to marry a particular person?
5. Have you committed any act that was likely to lead to the death of a fellow creature; encouraged others to do so; desired any one's death through hatred, malice, or self-interest; provoked, challenged, or struck others, or been guilty of quarreling or fighting; desired your own death through passion or impatience; entertained a deliberate hatred for any fellow creature; refused to pardon those who did you injury; taken private revenge for real or supposed injuries; suborned others to do it, or desired it in your heart?
6. 9. Have you wilfully entertained unchaste thoughts and desires; said or listened to filthy things; sung or listened to bad songs; looked at unchaste objects; read or lent bad books; made or kept lascivious pictures; dressed indecently; committed any unchaste act; yielded to evil desires, or induced others thereto; kept up a guilty friendship; given away to familiarity, or taken part in improper amusements? In this matter you must express yourself with the greatest sincerity and modesty possible; declare the circumstances that may change the kind of sin; and be not afraid to ask and give all the necessary explanations, just as a sick person desirous of being cured, discloses all, without reserve, to the physician.
7. 10. Have you possessed, or desired to possess, unjustly, the property of your neighbor; bought or received goods from suspicious persons; through malice, envy, or revenge, done injury to your neighbor's property; declined, when in your power, to pay your just debts; refused when in your power, or delayed to make restitution for the injury done your neighbor?
8. Have you privately or publicly sworn, said, or insinuated that which is false or doubtful against your neighbor; spoken ill of him; called him by abusive names; declined to defend his character when it was your duty to do so? Have you flattered people in their crimes and excesses; accused them of faults of which you knew or had reason to think that they were innocent; listened to the private conversation of others; setting your neighbors at variance by relating the private business of one to another.
III. The Precepts of the Church.
Have you broken days of abstinence, or eaten more than one meal on fasting days, or been accessory to others doing so? Have you obeyed the precept of annual confession and Pascal Communion?
IV. The Seven Deadly Sins.
Pride. Have you vainly esteemed yourself on account of your fine appearance, your riches, your talents, or your birth? Have you blushed at the condition of your parents; spoken vainly of yourself, and taken pride, even in your faults; taken delight in the esteem and applause of others; been ruled by human respect in your exercises of piety?—Covetousness. Have you given alms according to your means; had too much attachment to the goods of this world; deferred to pay your debts?—Lust. See the Sixth Commandment.—Envy. Have you been chagrined at the success or good fortune of another; sought to lessen him in the estimation of others; rejoiced to see him disappointed or mortified?—Gluttony. Have you indulged an inordinate gratification of your appetite; been guilty of eating or drinking to excess, or caused others to do so?—Anger. See the Fifth Commandment.—Sloth. Have you remained in bed through laziness, after the appointed hour of rising; squandered your time in idleness or useless occupation; feigned to be sick, thereby to be dispensed from work?
Observe that in each of those sins you may have been guilty, not only of your own sin, but of the sins of others, by counselling, commanding, consenting to or praising the sins of others; assisting or otherwise sharing in them; not hindering them when you could, and by concealing them when it was your duty to make them known. You may have been guilty of the sins of others, also, by giving them bad example.
PRAYER AFTER THE EXAMINATION.
O GOODNESS inconceivable! against Thee alone have I sinned, and in Thy sight have I committed iniquity. My God, is this the result of all the protestations of fidelity I have so often made Thee? Alas! my heart is wrung with anguish in considering the number of times I have despised and outraged Thee. O bountiful God, open to me the treasures of Thy graces, that I may thence draw a profound sorrow for having so often offended Thee. Touch my heart, that it may be overwhelmed with regret. O my adorable Redeemer, lend an attractive ear to the supplications I make Thee. Grant me tears to weep over the sins which I have committed in Thy presence; let Thy sacred blood flow on my guilty soul; let Thy sacred wounds plead to Thy heavenly Father in my behalf. Receive me into Thy extended arms; shelter me, merciful Jesus, in Thy sacred heart, and with Thy precious blood seal me Thy own forever.
SELF-ACCUSATION OF SINNER.
O LORD, my God, Thou unfathomable abyss of compassion, my sins are greater in number than the sands upon the seashore, and I am not worthy to lift mine eyes toward Thee. My soul is a loathsome sink of iniquities. My iniquities have gone over my head, and as a heavy burden, have become heavy upon me. Within me reigns unchecked pride, vain glory, and all kinds of evil. What shall I do, wretch that I am, or where hide myself from the face of the anger of God? Alas! O my Lord God, how many are my wounds! how utter the weakness of my soul! To whom shall I pour out my complaint by reason of all my evil and my sin but unto Thee, O Lord, Thou Saviour and Redeemer of my soul? O Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, for with Thee nothing is impossible, save to refuse mercy to the wretched.
O sweet Jesus, restore to me Thy grace once more, and receive me into Thy friendship. Look upon me, not according to my merits, but according to Thy goodness. I grieve exceedingly for all the sins whereby I have offended Thee, my kind and loving God. O my God, I detest all my sins even as Thou dost detest them; would that I could grieve for them as Thou dost desire. And to supply what is lacking in my grief, I offer Thee all that aversion to sin, which Thy Son felt and endured in the Garden of Olives, when, by reason of His excessive sorrow and anguish of soul, His sweat fell in drops of blood to the ground; beseeching Thee that Thou wouldst accept that contrition in supply to what is lacking in mine, and to absolve me from my sins. Amen.
PRAYER OF ST. GERTRUDE FOR PARDON.
O MOST compassionate Jesus, full of pity and mercy, who despisest not the sighing of the wretched, my whole life is gone without fruit. To Thee, therefore, I betake myself, imploring Thy clemency. Do Thou speak to me, do Thou satisfy for me. Wash away all the defilement of my sinful eyes with the pure tears of Thy holy sight. By the sweet compassion of Thy blessed ears, take away the iniquity of my sinful hearing. By the pure intention of Thy holy thoughts, and by the ardent love of Thy pierced heart, wash away the guilt of my evil thoughts and of my wicked heart. By the power of Thy sweet words blot out the offences of my polluted mouth. By the perfection of Thy actions and the crucifixion of Thy hands, and by the painful weariness of Thy blessed feet, and their cruel piercing with nails, wash away all the evils committed by my sinful hands and feet. By the majestic innocence of Thy life, and by Thy unblemished holiness, wash away the iniquity of my corrupt life. Finally, do Thou wash away all the sins of my heart and my soul in the abundant streams of Thy most precious blood, that by Thy holy merits I may be thoroughly cleansed and henceforth keep all Thy commandments. Amen.
ACT OF CONTRITION.
TURN not, O Lord, a deaf ear to my supplications; be appeased by the lamentations of a heart sincerely repentant for its sins. O that my sorrow could equal their enormity. O agonizing Lord, infuse into my heart one drop of that bitterness with which Thy soul was overflowed in the garden of Gethsemane, that I may thereby be rendered truly contrite. Pardon me, O merciful God, for all the sins that I have committed, or to which I have been accessory; pardon me for the good which I have neglected to do, or which I have done badly; pardon me for all the sins of which I acknowledge myself guilty and those I may have forgotten. I detest them, and I wish to repair, at the price of all that is dearest to me, the misfortune of having offended Thee.
ACT OF FIRM PURPOSE.
I HAVE sinned, O Father, against heaven and before Thee; I am no longer worthy to be called Thy son. I am firmly resolved to immolate all that I hold most precious rather than again offend Thee. Because Thou art infinitely good, and because Thy mercy knows no bounds, shall it be said that I abuse Thy favors to offend Thee? No, Lord, it shall not be so; never shall I be ungrateful. In Thy presence, O divine Jesus, and before Thy holy altar, I take a firm resolution to flee from sin, to avoid the occasions, and to strive efficiently to destroy that (here name the habitual sin which you strive to overcome) to which I am addicted and which is so displeasing to Thee. Yes, Lord; rather die a cruel death than violate the resolution I have taken of serving Thee with inviolable fidelity. I well know that my passions will again wage war against me, but with the assistance of Thy holy grace, I will fulfil the engagement that I have made. Amen.
THE ACCUSATION.
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 remission of all my sins; and to accuse myself with most profound humility and contrition before the priest, thy representative, of all and each of my sins, in so far as I can recall them to my mind; nor will I knowingly hide any mortal sin, however vile and shameful it be. And I desire to include in this confession all those sins which I cannot now recall to my memory, and all my venial sins. And I confess them all to Thee, as to my great High-Priest, I beseech Thee, therefore, O most merciful Father, to look on me, a miserable sinner, with that eye of compassion wherewith Thou didst look upon Thy Son when He fell upon His face in the garden of Gethsemane, crushed to the earth by the sins of mankind, and graciously to hear me while I implore Thy pardon. And to supply what is lacking to my most imperfect contrition, I offer Thee all that overwhelming grief which Thine only begotten Son endured throughout His whole life on earth by reason of the sins of the world, and especially when in the garden the extremity of his anguish wrung from Him His sweat of blood; beseeching Thee that Thou cleanse my soul from all its defilements in the stream of that most holy blood, and adorn it with a purity whiter than snow. Amen.
ACT OF CONTRITION.
O SWEET Jesus, I grieve for my sins. Vouchsafe to supply whatever is lacking to my sorrow, and to offer for me to God all the grief which Thou hast endured because of the sins of the whole world. Amen.
PRAYERS AFTER CONFESSION.
O GOD of goodness and mercy, I have now been absolved by virtue of the power which Thou hast granted to the ministers of Thy Church. That sentence of mercy and forgiveness has restored me in Thy favor, if I have approached the sacred tribunal with the requisite dispositions. This is the effect of the precious blood Thou hast shed for me, O Jesus, my God and my Saviour. Yes, Thou hast loved me, and washed me from my sins in Thy own blood.
O MERCIFUL Redeemer of my soul, what praise, love, and thanks shall I return to Thee for having cleansed my defiled soul in the sacrament of Penance? Let my body, soul, and all that is within me bless Thee eternally. O almighty and most merciful God, whose mercy is boundless and everlasting, and the richness of Thy goodness infinite, I give Thee thanks with all my mind and my heart for the most amazing and. exceeding goodness which Thou hast now shown me, in that Thou hast so graciously pardoned all my sins and restored me to Thy grace and favor. Blessed be Thy divine compassion, O my God, and blessed be the incomprehensible love of Thy beloved Son, which constrained Him to institute so gentle a remedy for our sins. Wherefore, in union with all the thanksgivings which have ever ascended to Thee from truly penitent hearts, I sing aloud Thy praises in behalf of all in heaven, on earth, and in purgatory, forever and ever. Amen.
RECEIVE, I beseech Thee, O my dear Lord, by the merits of Thy blessed Mother, and the merits of all Thy saints, this my confession; let it be pleasing to Thy sacred Majesty and profitable to my own soul; let Thy infinite sweetness of love and bitterness of sorrow supply all its defects; whether a want of fervent contrition, of perfect integrity, of humility, of charity, of simplicity, of a true sense of feeling of the heinousness of my sins, or of a firm resolution of amendment.
O most holy Father, I offer Thee this my confession and my satisfaction in union with all the acts of penance which have ever been done to the glory of Thy holy name; beseeching Thee that Thou wouldst vouchsafe to accept it, and to render it availing, through the merits of the passion of Thy beloved Son, and through the intercession of the ever blessed Virgin Mary, and of all the holy apostles, martyrs, confessors, and virgins. Whatever has been lacking to me in sincere and earnest preparation, in perfect contrition, in frank and clear confession, I commend to the most loving Heart of Thine only begotten Son, that treasury of all good and all grace, from whose overflowing abundance all debts to Thee are fully acquitted; that through it all my negligences and defects in the reception of this holy sacrament may be fully and perfectly supplied to Thine everlasting praise and glory, and that Thou mayest effectually absolve me in heaven, even as Thy minister has, with Thy authority, absolved me here on earth: through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.
In case absolution has been refused, say:
O DIVINE Jesus! I have laid open to Thee the interior of my soul; Thou hast examined my wounds, yet I leave Thee without being healed; Thou hast known my infidelities, yet Thou hast not pardoned me. Ah! when shall I obtain this inestimable favor? What shall I do, O my dear Jesus, to merit it? I will implore Thy grace to fight with more vigor my inveterate enemies, and to triumph over my corrupt inclinations; I shall say with Thy apostle: "Lord, save me, or I perish."
Thou art all-powerful and I am weakness itself. I cast myself at Thy feet to implore Thy clemency. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be moved at the sight of Thy prodigal son, who bitterly weeps for his sins. I am determined to belong entirely to Thee. Fortify my will so that, having accused and humiliated myself anew, I may merit to hear from Thy sacred mouth those words of grace and benediction: Thy sins are forgiven thee. Amen.
