There are some set forms of that prayer, and many parishes have copies within the confessional for people to use. (Also, see: “You can’t do it wrong.”)Īs to what it is, the act of contrition is a prayer that the person makes just before the prayer of absolution in which they express their sadness about what’s happened and their desire to change. To be clear: an act of contrition is not necessary for the confession to “count.” You’ve come to the sacrament and confessed your sins. Either they don’t remember the prayer exactly, or they don’t have any idea what that is.Īn act of contrition is not necessary for the confession to “count.” You’ve come to the sacrament and confessed your sins. In my experience, though, the act of contrition often throws people. The person makes an act of contrition, and the priest does the prayer of absolution. The priest offers some sort of penance, usually a prayer or something else that can be done pretty much immediately after the confession. Then they and the priest might talk a little bit about what they’ve said, in a conversation that should not be intrusive on the priest’s part but advisory and caring. The sacrament of reconciliation has a pretty simple structure: The person comes in and confesses whatever it is that is on their minds a lot of people start their confessions with “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned, it’s been X many months since my last confession.” But if it helps you to add that, go for it!ģ) You don’t have to know the Act of Contrition (or even what it is). With this in mind, one question I like to consider when thinking about confession is “What is bringing me to confession right now? What is most weighing on me?” Those are the things that I want to make sure I mention.Īnd if you’re someone that feels like forgetting something means it has not been forgiven, you might end your confessions with some sort of reference to your sins more generally, like “I ask God to forgive me for these and all my sins” or “to forgive me for these sins and anything I might have forgotten.” Doing that is absolutely not necessary-again, it is understood in the formula for absolution that God is forgiving you of your sins in general. In the formula of absolution the priest says, “I absolve you of your sins,” not “the sins you’ve mentioned” or “the sins you’ve described in detail” but simply “your sins.” So if you forget something or want to focus on some things at the expense of others, that’s O.K. This is an absolutely fine way to proceed, within reason-remember, in most circumstances there are other people also waiting to confess. I think most of us were taught as kids that you prepare for the sacrament of reconciliation by making a list of all your sins, and then in confession you read that list. But if it’s been a while, that can be kind of a daunting idea. Lent is a time when a lot of people think about returning to the sacrament of reconciliation. We cannot very well believe that but then say, “But if you say the words wrong this doesn’t count.” Your confession always counts because to God you always count.

In the church, we can sometimes get so wrapped up in things being done in some version of the “right” way that we forget that the fundamental truth of the sacrament of reconciliation is that God loves us even though we make mistakes. Even if you don’t remember the act of contrition (we’ll get to that) or realize after the fact that there was something you forgot to include (we’ll get to that, too) or, God forbid, you get a priest who treats you poorly, the sacrament still “happens”-that is, you are still forgiven by God. The most important thing you need to know about the confession is that you can’t do it wrong. If you’re someone who’s thinking about going back to the sacrament, here are a few tips to help you get more comfortable. What are the words I’m supposed to say, exactly? And what happens if I don’t do it right?

Mobile confessions forgive me father