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In order to prepare
yourself for a proper reconciliation (formerly called confession), take some time prior to
going to the church to reflect on your thoughts, words, and actions since
your last successful reconciliation.
Examine your conscience, think about your
sins, feel the sorrow of your sins, and resolve to do better in the future.
If its been a while
since you've made your last reconciliation, take some time to practice what
you're going to say.
Arrive early and
sit quietly in your pew as you mentally prepare yourself.
If there is a line
outside the confessional stand quietly in line.
Enter the
confessional room when appropriate. You may kneel at the confessional or, if
you are comfortable with a face-to-face conversation, sit in the chair
facing the priest.
Begin by saying, "Bless
me Father, for I have sinned. It has been (how long) since my last
confession."
"I am (married,
single, widowed, etc.)"
Tell Father your
sins. When finished say, "I am sorry for these, and all the sins of my
whole life."
Father may then
talk to you. He will also assign a penance.
You then say an Act
of Contrition:
Oh my God, I
am sorry for having offended you. I detest all my sins because they
offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I
firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to sin no more and to
avoid whatever leads me to sin. Amen.
Father will then
give you absolution. (He may give you absolution as you are saying the Act
of Contrition.)
You say, "thank
you, father" and leave the confessional.
You then go to your
pew and say your penance.
Back to Sacrament
of Reconciliation Back to top
This page last updated
on Tuesday, May 17, 2005
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