Devotions for Confession and Communion.
Confession.
Before Confession.
A Prayer For Sincere Contrition.
I have now, O my God! aided by Thy grace, endeavored to discover the number of my transgressions, and have examined, to the best of my power, the state of my conscience. But, alas! O Judge of the living and the dead! how far different is my judgment from Thine! How many offences are still perhaps hidden from my view, though perfectly known to Thee! But, my God! as I am persuaded it is not so much a knowledge of their number, as sorrow for their deformity, that Thou requirest, I now earnestly implore of Thee to give me that lively, sincere, efficacious contrition, which I know is a necessary condition of my pardon. My heart was formed by Thee, Thou alone canst change it; it is in Thy hands, and though most ungrateful, most insensible, it is not too obdurate for Thee to penetrate and soften. One drop of Thy adorable blood, one of those precious tears which my offences drew from Thy eyes, would suffice to produce in my soul the most lively contrition. Ah! look on me, eternal Light! and my understanding will be enlightened to conceive the enormity of sin; touch my heart, and it will be broken with sorrow for having ever offended [pg 607] Thee. Convert me, and I shall be converted; for my destruction, my misery, and my misfortune, is from myself, but my salvation must come from Thee, O my most merciful Father! from Thee, Whom I have so ungratefully abandoned, and so grievously offended.
Act of Contrition For Those Who Are Guilty of Mortal Sin.
O infinite majesty of my God! I am so full of shame at the sight of the ingratitude and malice of which I find myself guilty before Thee, that I dare not raise my eyes to heaven. I confess, O most gracious and merciful Lord, that by the multitude and enormity of my sins I have deserved to be abandoned by Thee, and condemned to eternal torments. Ah, unhappy being that I am, how can I have dared to offend Thee! Can it be, O my Saviour, that I have trampled under foot Thy blood, by which I was redeemed; and that I have thus renewed the pains of Thy Passion and of Thy death! Ah, why, why did I not die at once, rather than displease Thee! How could I dare to offend against Thee, Who art infinite goodness, wisdom, and beauty!... Thee, Who art perfection itself!... Thee, Who art my God, my Creator, my beginning, my end, my happiness, my all!... Thee, from Whom I have received my being, my life, and all that I am!... Thee, Who hast guided and protected me with the tenderest love under the shadow of Thy wings!... Thee, Who hast adopted me for Thy child, and made me heir to Thy eternal kingdom!... Thee, Who hast redeemed me by Thy most precious blood, and hast so often nourished me with [pg 608] Thy most sacred body and blood in the Sacrament of the Eucharist! And yet, notwithstanding these, Thy great and manifold blessings, I have offended Thee, O my God! I have abandoned Thee, to league with Thy enemies against Thee. I have preferred a vile gratification to Thy love. Oh, ingratitude! Oh, delusion! Oh, madness! Ah, when shall I detest my sins as much as they deserve! O my sweet and merciful Lord Jesus, of Whose goodness there is no end, and of Whose mercy the treasure is infinite, have pity on me, and save my soul! Pardon me, O most bountiful Lord, pardon me, I entreat Thee, by the merit of Thy bitter Passion and death! Remember not my iniquities, but regard Thy infinite mercy. I promise that, by the help of Thy grace, I will never fall into them again. From this very moment I break all the ties that bind me to the world, to the flesh, to the devil, and to sin. I am from this moment firmly resolved to trample under foot all worldly vanities, and to consecrate myself entirely to Thy holy love. Oh, never allow me to fall back into my old habits of sin! Never permit that honors, or interest, or pleasure, or pride, or the love of life, or the fear of death, or any other motive, shall cause me to swerve from Thy divine commands. Grant that I may keep them with my whole heart, though it should cost me the sacrifice of my life, and of all I hold dearest in the world.
Ah, what has been my folly and my wickedness in having so often and so grievously offended my God, my heavenly Father, my gracious and loving Redeemer! What ingratitude, what an excess of malice! At the very moment I was receiving with one hand the greatest favors and graces from this my most [pg 609] tender and merciful Lord, with the other I was plunging a dagger into His bosom—I was crucifying Him again within my soul! I have sold myself to the devil for a worthless pleasure; I have renounced the kingdom of heaven and all the joys of paradise for a trifling enjoyment; I have signed the decree for my eternal damnation to gratify my pride; I have condemned myself to suffer an eternity of torments and all the agonies of hell, to indulge an unworthy passion! Ah, who will give to my eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep and lament over my sins!