Devotions for Confession
I hope this tool will help you prepare for a Holy Confession, one that should be looked upon as being your last confession should you die.
Prior to Confession
Reflect that this confession may be the last of your life. Therefore, prepare yourself for it as if you were lying sick upon your deathbed, and already at the brink of the grave. Ask God to give you the grace to make a good examination of conscience, the light to see your sins clearly, and the strength to make a sincere confession and to amend your life.
Examination of Conscience
Begin by examining yourself on your last confession: Whether a grievous sin was forgotten through want of proper examination, or concealed or disguised through shame. Whether you confessed without a true sorrow and a firm purpose of amendment. Whether you have repaired evil done to your neighbor. Whether the penance was performed without voluntary distractions. Whether you have neglected your confessor's counsel, and fallen at once into habitual sins.
Then examine yourself with the following items.
The Ten Commandments of God
I am the Lord thy God, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
Honor thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's wife.
Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's goods.
The Six Commandments of the Church
To hear Mass on Sundays and holy-days of obligation.
To fast and abstain on the days appointed.
To confess at least once a year.
To receive Holy Eucharist during the Easter time.
To contribute to the support of our pastors.
Not to marry persons who are not Catholics, nor who are related to us within the third degree of kindred, nor privately with out witnesses, nor to solemnize marriage at forbidden times.
The Seven Deadly Sins and the Opposite Virtues
Pride................................Humility
Covetousness...................Liberality
Lust..................................Chastity
Anger...............................Meekness
Gluttony............................Temperance
Envy.................................Brotherly Love
Sloth.................................Diligence
The Four Sins which Cry to Heaven for Vengeance
Willful murder (includes abortion).
The sin of Sodom.
Oppression of the poor.
Defrauding the laborer of his wages.
Nine Ways of Being Accessory to Another's Sin
By counsel.
By command.
By consent.
By provocation.
By praise or flattery.
By concealment.
By partaking.
By silence.
By defense of the ill done.
The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy
To admonish sinners.
To instruct the ignorant.
To counsel the doubtful.
To comfort the sorrowful.
To bear wrongs patiently.
To forgive all injuries.
To pray for the living and the dead.
The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy
To feed the hungry.
To give drink to the thirsty.
To clothe the naked.
To visit and ransom the captives.
To harbor the harbor less.
To visit the sick.
The bury the dead.
Preliminary Examination
When did you make your last confession?
Did you take sufficient pains to awaken contrition?
Did you omit to confess a mortal sin either intentionally or through forgetfulness?
Did you intentionally neglect to say the penance which was imposed on you, or were you so careless as to forget it?
Have you carried out the resolutions you made at your last confession or have you paid no need at all to them?
Examination of the Ten Commandments
First Commandment
Have you doubted in matters of faith?
Murmured against God at your adversity or at the prosperity of others?
Despaired of His mercy?
Have you believed in fortune-tellers or consulted them?
Have you gone to places of worship belonging to other denominations?
Have you recommended yourself daily to God?
Neglected your morning or night prayers?
Omitted religious duties or practices through motives of human respect?
Have you read books, papers, and periodicals of anti-Catholic or atheistic tendency?
Made use of superstitious practices?
Spoken with levity or irreverence of priests, religious, or sacred objects?
Second Commandment
Have you taken the name of God in vain?
Profaned anything relating to religion?
Have you sworn falsely, rashly, or in slight and trivial matters?
Cursed yourself of others, or any creature?
Angered others so as to make them swear, or blaspheme God?
Third Commandment
Have you kept holy the Lord's Day, and all other days commanded to be kept holy?
Bought or sold things not of necessity on that day?
Done or commanded some servile work not of necessity?
Missed Mass or been willfully distracted during Mass?
Talked, gazed, or laughed in the Church?
Fourth Commandment
Have you honored your parents, superiors, and masters, according to your just duty?
Deceived them?
Disobeyed them?
Have you failed in due reverence to aged persons?
Fifth Commandment
Have you procured, desired, or hastened the death of anyone?
Have you had an abortion or helped someone obtain one?
Borne hatred?
Oppressed anyone?
Desired revenge?
Not forgiven injuries?
Refused to speak to others?
Used provoking language?
Injured others?
Caused enmity between others?
Sixth and Seventh Commandments
Have you been guilty of lascivious dressing?
Been in lewd company?
Read immodest books?
Been guilty of unchaste songs, discourses, words, or actions?
Willfully entertained impure thoughts or desires?
Eighth Commandment
Have you been guilty of stealing, or of deceit in buying, or selling, in regard to wares, prices, weights, or measures?
Have you willfully damaged another man's goods, or negligently spoiled them?
Ninth Commandment
Have you borne false witness?
Called injurious names?
Disclosed another's sins?
Judged rashly?
Tenth Commandment
Have you coveted unjustly anything that belongs to another?
Examination on the Precepts of the Church
Have you gone to confession at least once a year?
Received holy communion during Easter time?
Have you violated the fasts of the Church, or eaten flesh-meat on prohibited days?
Have you sinned against any other commandment of the Church?
Examine yourself also in regard to the seven capital sins and the nine ways of being accessory to another's sins.
After the Examination
Having discovered the sins of which you have been guilty, together with their number, enormity, or such circumstances as may change their nature, you should endeavor to excite in yourself a heartfelt sorrow for having committed them, and a sincere detestation of them. This being the most essential of all the dispositions requisite for a good confession, with what humility, fervor, and perseverance should you not importune Him Who holds the hearts of men in His hands to grant it to you!
Invocations
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Indulgence of 300 days, each time - Leo XIII, March 15, 1884; S.P. Ap., App. 15 1932
In Thy conception, O Virgin Mary, thou wast immaculate; pray for us to the Father, Whose Son Jesus, after He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, thou didst bring for into the world.
Indulgence of 300 days, each time - Pius VI, Nov. 21, 1793; S.P. Ap., Apr.. 24, 1933.
Holy Virgin, Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our Mother, speak thou for us to the Heart of Jesus, Who is thy Son and our Brother!
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. (Note: The Confiteor is seldom said in a Novis Ordo confession)
Then tell when you made your last confession and begin the avowal of your sins. Confess all your sins with a contrite and humble heart, and conclude thus:
For these and all the sins of my past life, especially my sins of (naming some grievous sin), I am heartily sorry, beg pardon of God, and absolution of you, my Father (then finish the Confiteor).
Listen then with humility and docility to the instruction of your confessor, and during this time avoid all recurrence as to the confession itself; remembering that sins forgotten after a serious examination are really comprised in the absolution. Accept with submission the penance imposed, and if any obstacle that you foresee will prevent your accomplishing it, state this respectfully.
While the priest pronounces the words of absolution, endeaver to excite an act of perfect contrition. Should your spiritual Father deem it proper to defer absolution, acknowledge your unworthiness, and do not murmur. Leave the confessional resolved to use every effort, by an amendment of life and sincere repentance, to obtain God's pardon. which His minister will ratify.
Thanksgiving after Confession
Eternal Father! I thank Thee, I bless Thee, for Thy goodness and mercy. Thou has had compassion on me, although in my folly I had wandered far away from Thee and offended Thee most grievously. With fatherly love Thou has received me anew after so many relapses into sin and forgiven me my offenses through the holy sacrament of Penance. Blessed forever, O my God, be Thy loving-kindness, Thy infinite mercy! Never again will I grieve Thee by ingratitude, by disobedience to Thy holy will. All that I am, all that I have, all that I do shall be consecrated to Thy service and Thy glory.
"Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in Thee!"
Indulgence of 300 days. -Pius X, June 27, 1906.
"Jesus, my God, I love Thee above all things."
Indulgence of 300 days. each time. - S.P. Ap. July 28, 1932.