CONFESSION GUIDE FOR ADULTS
EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
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 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?
How to go to Confession
1.You always have the option to go to confession
anonymously, that is,
behind a screen or face to face, if you so desire.
2.After the priest greets you in the name of Christ, make
the sign of the
cross. He may choose to recite a reading from
Scripture, after which you
say: "Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been
(state how long)
since my last confession. These are my sins."
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 asks
the priest for advice or direction.
4.Listen to the advice the priest gives you and accept
the penance from
him. Then make an Act of Contrition for your sins.
5.The priest will then dismiss you with the words of
praise: "Give thanks to
the Lord for He is good. You respond: "For His mercy
endures forever."
The priest will then conclude with: "The Lord has
freed you from your
sins. Go in peace." And you respond by saying: "Thanks
be to God."
6.Spend some time with Our Lord thanking and praising Him
for the girt of
His mercy. Try to perform your penance as soon as
possible.
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, prays for me that I may
make a good
confession. Amen.
AN ACT OF CONTRITION
Oh 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.
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