Posted on 08/02/2002 6:38:11 PM PDT by JMJ333
Come Holy Spirit into my soul. Enlighten my mind that I may know the sins I ought to confess, and grant me your grace to confess them fully, humbly and with a contrite heart. Help me to fimly resolve not to commit them again.
Supreme and adorable majesty, God of heaven and earth, I firmly believe You are ever present, and that You see me and know the disposition of my heart. I adore You, and render to You my humble homage, acknowledging You for my God, my Creator, my Sovereign Redeemer. In testimony of this, my faith, I prostrate soul and body before the throne of Your infinite majesty, and offer You the adoration which is due to You alone. O Father of light, who enlightens everyone who comes into the world, send into my heart a ray of light, of love, of sorrow, that I may know, detest, confess the sins I have committed against You. I wish to see my sins in all their enormity, just as they are in Your sight. I wish to detest them for my love of You, and to confess them with the same sincerity now that I would give at the moment of death. I know, my God, that this knowledge of my sins, the sorrow for them, the sincerity in declaring them to your minister can come only from Your bounty. As You wish that the sinner should not die, You sent Your Son into the world to purchase his forgiveness, I implore this grace through the merits of Jesus Christ, who died upon the cross of my sins, and who is now sitting at Your right hand, where He continually shows You, in my behalf, the wounds He endured for me.
O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, worthy of all my love, I humbly present myself before You. Look upon me with merciful eyes and help me to be reconciled to You by a good confession. But as I can do nothing if You do not help me, I implore You in Your tender mercy to enlighten me, that I may know all my sins and detest them with my whole heart.
O Jesus, ever flowing fountain of compassion, I approach You to cleanse me from all my sins. O Divine Physician heal my soul. O infinite Love, enkindle the flames of Your Love in my soul that it may love nothing but You. May this Confession bring about in me an entire change in my life so that I may be fully reconciled to You.
Mother of God, You are so charitable to sinners who desire repentance, assist me to make a good Confession. My Guardian Angel, help me to discover the sins I have committed. My Patron Saint and all you Saints of Heaven, pray for me that I may bring forth worthy fruits of repentance. Amen.
My loving Jesus, out of the grateful love I bear you, and to make reparation for my unfaithfulness to grace, I give you my heart, and I consecrate myself wholly to you; and with your help I purpose never to sin again. Amen.
Prayer After Reconciliation
I give you thanks, O Lord Jesus, because you have cleansed me from my sins. I adore and praise your infinite mercy. I consecrate myself entirely to your love and service. Give me, good God, the grace to avoid sin and the occasion of sin. Mary, my Mother, bless my good resolution, and may my Guardian Angel help me to keep it. Amen.
Prayer for Avoiding Sin
Hear, Lord, the prayers we offer from contrite hearts. Have pity on us as we acknowledge our sins. Lead us back to the way of holiness. Protect us now and always from the wounds of sin. May we ever keep safe in all its fullness the gift your love once gave us and your mercy now restores. Amen.
Minor or venial sins can be confessed directly to God, but for grave or mortal sins, which crush the spiritual life out of the soul, God has instituted a different means for obtaining forgiveness—the sacrament known popularly as confession, penance, or reconciliation
As students in catholic elementary school, we always saved the "tough" questions for the monthly visit by the parish priest.
"But, Father, what if your family drags you to a friend's house for dinner on a Friday and they serve you something that contains meat ... but, you didn't know it until after you swallowed it ... would that still be a sin and would you have to confess it?" I'm sure that many priests qualify for sainthood simply by their virtue of witholding corporal punishment for the "demon" kids who plotted these convoluted questions.
As I recall, a sin is mortal when:
1. you know that the action is a sin.
2. you agree that it is a sin, and
3. you do it anyway.
Right?
I had to take a day of rest yesterday after the purgatory thread. =)
And you are right about what constitutes mortal sin. I try to get to confession once a month, but I don't always make it. It is required that you do so only once a year if you haven't committed any mortal sins, but I like to go anyway because its like having a burden lifted from your shoulders.
For newly converted members, I have found that they often dread this sacrament because it can be nerve-wracking not knowing what to expect in the confessional. However, after done once or twice it really is something one comes to enjoy.
I think some new converts or others believe you have to tell every mortal sin you can think of since early childhood, but for new members I think two or three issues is enough to tackle on the first time--that will be plenty of time to talk to the priest and develop a comfort level.
And after confession ALL past sins are forgiven ,even ones not mentioned. I usually say something to the effect when nearing the end of my list: And for everything that I cannot now remember, but want to be forgiven with a sincere heart.
It really is painless and it draws you closer to Christ.
Now I'm not saying one should air out all their dirty laundry to everyone in the middle of a church meeting(while truthfully it might be a good Christian ideal I don't think it's going to catch on!!) but I'm not sure I see the reason to pick a priest in particular. Because in verse 20 the public deed in confession was used to spread the Word and the power of God. Wouldn't my confession be a witness and furthermore show other Christians if God can overcome what He did in my life than He can be just as powerful for them? A confession to a priest alone wouldn't allow that the way I see it because it would be kept between the priest and myself
I am curious as to what you thought of the biblical references in the article, and also to how you view apostolic tradition.
Here is the Catholic viewpoint on the issue:
This sacrament is rooted in the mission God gave to Christ in his capacity as the Son of man on earth to go and forgive sins (cf. Matt. 9:6). Thus, the crowds who witnessed this new power "glorified God, who had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:8; note the plural "men"). After his resurrection, Jesus passed on his mission to forgive sins to his ministers, telling them, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. . . . Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:21–23).
Now I'm not saying one should air out all their dirty laundry to everyone in the middle of a church meeting(while truthfully it might be a good Christian ideal I don't think it's going to catch on!!) but I'm not sure I see the reason to pick a priest in particular.
The ealry Christians really did confess their sins in church in front of everybody! Of course, we don't do it like that today. We go into a confessional, a practice that evolved over the time. Most of us like to go behind a screen and not face to face.
Because in verse 20 the public deed in confession was used to spread the Word and the power of God. Wouldn't my confession be a witness and furthermore show other Christians if God can overcome what He did in my life than He can be just as powerful for them? A confession to a priest alone wouldn't allow that the way I see it because it would be kept between the priest and myself.
It would indeed be a testament. Norma McCorvy comes to mind on this issue. She is brave to say how wrong she was in Roe Vs Wade. However, I think it can be traced in the above biblical passages and from the quotes showing that they were promulgating this doctrine as far back as 41 years ofter Christ's resurrection, which gives the issue more weight.
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