Confession Guide | Theology AI

Prepare for Confession

Before entering the confessional, collect your thoughts and try to recall all of your sins. You can use the below examination of conscience to help with this.

Prayer before Confession

O most merciful God! Prostrate at your feet, I implore your forgiveness. I sincerely desire to leave all my evil ways and to confess my sins with all sincerity to you and to your priest. I am a sinner, have mercy on me, O Lord. Give me a lively faith and a firm hope in the Passion of my Redeemer. Give me, for your mercy's sake, a sorrow for having offended so good a God. Mary, my mother, refuge of sinners, pray for me that I may make a good confession. Amen.

Examination of conscience

Use the questions to examine your conscience. Your selections stay on this page only and clear when you leave or reload.

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1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.

Do I give God time every day in prayer?Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I been involved with the occult?Do I seek to surrender myself to God's word as taught by the Church?Have I ever received communion in the state of mortal sin?Have I ever deliberately told a lie in Confession or have I withheld a mortal sin from the priest in Confession?Are there other "gods" in my life? Money, Security, Power, People, etc.?

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Have I used God's name in vain: lightly or carelessly?Have I been angry with God?Have I wished evil upon any other person?Have I insulted a sacred person or abused a sacred object?

3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation?Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of rest?Do I do needless work on Sunday?

4. Honor your father and your mother.

Do I honor and obey my parents?Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?Have I given my family a good religious example?Do I try to bring peace into my home life?Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?

5. You shall not kill.

Have I had an abortion or encouraged or helped anyone to have an abortion?Have I physically harmed anyone?Have I abused alcohol or drugs?Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading him or her into sin?Have I been angry or resentful?Have I harbored hatred in my heart?Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?Have I engaged, in any way, in sins against human life such as artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization?Have I participated in or approved of euthanasia?

6. You shall not commit adultery.

Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and action?Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?Have I used any method of contraception or artificial birth control in my marriage?Has each sexual act in my marriage been open to the transmission of new life?Have I been guilty of masturbation?Do I seek to control my thoughts and imaginations?Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as mere objects?Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words,actions?Am I careful to dress modestly?

7. You shall not steal.

Have I stolen what is not mine?Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?Do I waste time at work, school, and home?Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their needs?Do I pay my debts promptly?Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?Have I cheated anyone out of what is justly theirs, for example creditors, insurance companies, big corporations?

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Have I lied? Have I gossiped?Do I speak badly of others behind their back?Am I sincere in my dealings with others?Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?Have I injured the reputation of others by slanders?

9. You shall not desire your neighbor's wife.

Have I consented to impure thoughts?Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, television, conversation or curiosity?Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?Have I behaved in an inappropriate way with members of the opposite sex: flirting, being superficial, etc.?

10. You shall not desire your neighbor's goods.

Am I jealous of what other people have?Do I envy the families or possessions of others?Am I greedy or selfish?Are material possessions the purpose of my life?

In the confessional

Step 1

You always have the option to go to confession anonymously, that is, behind a screen or face to face, if you so desire.

Step 2

Priest

Greets you in the name of Christ.

Penitent

Make the sign of the cross. And then say,

“Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been (state how long) since my last confession. These are my sins.”

Step 3

Tell your sins simply and honestly to the priest. You might even want to discuss the circumstances and the root causes of your sins and ask the priest for advice or direction.

Step 4

Listen to the advice the priest gives you and accept the penance from him. Then make an Act of Contrition for your sins:

Act of Contrition

My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against You whom I should love above all things, I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ, suffered and died for us. In His name, my God, have mercy. Amen.

Step 5

Priest

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.”

Penitent

“For His mercy endures forever.”

Priest

“The Lord has freed you from your sins. Go in peace.”

Penitent

“Thanks be to God.”

Step 6

Spend some time with Our Lord thanking and praising Him for the gift of His mercy. Try to perform your penance as soon as possible.

Thanksgiving & penance

Spend some time with Our Lord thanking and praising Him for the gift of His mercy. Try to perform your penance as soon as possible.