To Make a Good Confession: Pray & Examine Your Conscience

Come, Holy Spirit, divine Spirit of light and truth, assist me to discover all my sins, to be truly sorry for them, to confess them sincerely, and to amend my life. Amen. Holy Mary, Pray for me. St. Joseph, pray for me My Guardian Angel, help me that I may make a good confession. Amen.

  • Did I give time to God each day in prayer?
  • Did I receive Holy Communion in the state of mortal
    (serious, grave) sin?
  •  Did I deliberately tell a life in confession or withhold a
    mortal sin from the priest in confession?
  •  Did I seriously believe in something superstitious or
    engage in a superstitious practice such as palm-reading,
    horoscopes, dream interpretations, finjan/Turkish coffee
    reading, fortune telling, OUIJA board, evil eye (‘ain),
    energy stones, séances, etc.?
  •  Did I seriously doubt a matter of Faith?
  •  Have I committed the sin of sacrilege (profaning a sacred
    person, place or thing)?
  •  Have I put people, money, work, clothing, jewelry, and
    entertainment before God?
  •  Did I love God with my whole heart?

  • Did I take the name of God in vain? Did I make use of
    God’s name mockingly, jokingly, angrily, or in any other
    disrespectful manner?
  • Did I use the Blessed Virgin Mary’s name or another
    saint’s name mockingly, jokingly, angrily, or in any other
    irreverent manner?
  • Did I endanger my faith by attending meetings, activities
    or services of organization opposed to the Catholic faith,
    for example of non-Catholic or of other religions or cults?
  • Did I tell a lie under oath? Did I break vows?
  • Did I use profane language?

  • Did I miss Mass on Sunday?
  • Did I fail to dress appropriately for Mass?
  • Was I attentive, reverent, and participating during Mass?
  • Did I cause another to be distracted?
  • Have I performed any work or business activity that would
    inhibit the worship due to God, the joy proper to the
    Lord’s Day?

FOR PARENTS:

  • Have I neglected to teach my children their prayers, take or
    send them to church, or give them a Christian education?
  • Have I set a bad example for my children?
  • Did I disobey my parents or lawful superiors in important
    matters?
  • Did my anger lead me to be uncharitable to my children?
  • Have I neglected to visit and care for my elderly parents?

FOR CHILDREN:

  • Did I listen to my parents? Did I treat them with respect?
  • Did I neglect to help my parents when my help was
    needed?
  • Did I treat my parents with respect?
  • Did I react pridefully when my parents corrected me?
  • Did I do my chores?
  • Did I humbly accept correction from my parents?

  • Did I easily get angry or lose my temper?
  • Was I envious or jealous of others?
  • Did I injure or take the life of anyone? Was I ever reckless
    in driving?
  • Did I hold a deep hatred or resentment toward a family
    member or friend? Did I try to make peace?
  • Was I an occasion of sin for others by way of
    conversation, the telling of jokes religiously, racially, or
    sexually offensive, my way of dressing, inviting somebody
    to attend certain shows, lending harmful books or
    magazines, helping someone to steal, etc.? Did I try to
    repair the scandal done?
  • How many persons did I lead to sin? What sins were
    involved?
  • Did I neglect my health? Did I attempt to take my life?
  • Did I mutilate myself or other another?
  • Did I get drunk or use prohibited drugs?
  • Did I eat or drink more than a sufficient amount, allowing
    myself to get carried away by gluttony?
  • Did I participate in any form of physical violence?
  • Did I consent to or actively take part in direct sterilization
    (tying tubes, vasectomy, etc.)?
  • Have I engaged, in any way, in sins against human life
    such as artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization?
  • Did I consent to, advise, or actively take part in an
    abortion?
  • Did I hold a grudge or seek revenge against someone who
    wronged me?
  • Did I cause harm to anyone by my words or actions?
  • Did I desire revenge or harbor enmity, hatred, or ill
    feelings when someone offended me?
  • Did I ask pardon whenever I offended anyone?
  • Did I refuse to forgive?
  • Did I insult or offensively tease others?
  • Did I fight with one of my brothers or sisters?
  • Do I complain more than I compliment?
  • Am I prejudiced against people because of their color,
    language, ethic or religious background?

  • Did I willfully entertain impure thoughts?
  • Did I dress immodestly?
  • Did I consent to evil desires against the virtue of purity,
    even though I may not have carried them out?
  • Did I engage in impure conversations? Did I start them?
  • Did I look for fun in forms of entertainment that tempts me
    to sin, such as certain dances, movies, shows, or books
    with immoral content? Do I keep bad company?
  • Did I share a room with a person I find sexually attractive,
    or was I alone with such a person in circumstances that
    could lead to sin?
  • Did I fail to take care of those details of modesty and
    decency that are the safeguard of purity?
  • Did I fail, before going to a show or reading a book, to find
    out its moral implications, so as not to put myself in
    immediate danger of sinning and in order to avoid
    distorting my conscience?
  • Did I willfully look at indecent pictures (any form of
    pornography) or sell any pornography? Did I willfully
    desire to commit such a sin? Did I have lustful thoughts?
  • Did I lead others to sins of impurity or immodesty? Which
    sins?
  • Did I commit an impure act? By myself, through
    masturbation or with someone else? How many times?
    With someone of the same or opposite sex?
  • Do I have friendships that are habitual occasions of sexual
    sins? Am I prepared to end them?
  • In dating: is true love my fundamental reason for wanting
    to be with the other person? Do I live the constant and
    cheerful sacrifice of not putting the person I love in danger
    of sinning? Do I degrade human love by confusing it with
    selfishness or mere physical pleasure?
  • Did I engage in any inappropriate acts such as petting,
    necking, passionate kisses, or prolonged embraces?

FOR MARRIED PEOPLE:

  • Did I, without serious reason, deprive my spouse of the
    marital right? Did I claim my own rights in a way, which
    showed no concern for my spouse’s state of mind or
    health?
  • Did I cheat on my spouse?
  • Did I take “the pill” or use any other artificial birth control
    device (or practice) before or after new life had already
    been conceived?
  • Did I suggest to another person the use of birth control
    pills or any other artificial methods of preventing
    pregnancy (like condoms)?
  • Did I have a hand in contributing or selling any form of
    contraception?
  • Did I have a contraceptive mentality while using Natural
    family planning?
  • On abortion, contraception, sterilization, etc., see the 5th
    Commandment.

  • Did I steal? How much? How much was the object worth?
    Did I give it back, or at least have the intention of doing
    so?
  • Have I done or caused damage to another person’s
    property? To what extent?
  • Did I harm anyone by deception, fraud, or coercion in
    business contracts or transactions?
  • Did I unnecessarily spend beyond my means? Do I spend
    too much money because of vanity or caprice?
  • Was I envious of my neighbor’s goods?
  • Did I neglect to pay my debts?
  • Did I knowingly accept stolen goods?

  • Did I tell lies? Did I repair any damage that may have
    resulted as a consequence of this?
  • Have I unjustly or rashly accused others?
  • Did I sin by detraction, that is, by telling the faults of
    another person without necessity?
  • Did I sin by calumny, that is, by telling derogatory lies
    about another person?
  • Did I engage in gossip, backbiting, or tale-telling?
  • Did I reveal a secret without due cause?

REQUIREMENTS FOR CONFESSION
1) To be truly sorry for your sins— Rejection of sin.
2) The resolution to avoid committing these sins in the future
(amendment)— This does not mean that one will never sin
again. A resolution is to try to avoid the near occasion of
repeating the same sins.

HOW TO GO TO CONFESSION
1) Make the Sign of the Cross and say, “Bless me, father, for I
have sinned. My last confession was [give the number of
weeks, months, or years].”
2) Confess all of your sins to the priest. The priest will help you
to make a good confession. If you are unsure about how to
confess or you feel uneasy, just ask him to help you. Answer
his questions without hiding anything out of fear or shame.
Place your trust in God, a merciful Father who wants to
forgive you.
3) The priest will assign you some penance and give you some
advice to help you to be a better Christian. Listen to the words
and be willing to do the penance as soon as possible.
4) Pray the Act of Contrition.
5) The priest will absolve you of your sins. Make the Sign of the
Cross followed by: Amen.
6) Do your penance after you leave the confessional

ACT OF CONTRITION:
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.
Amen.

WHAT IS A MORTAL SIN?
In Confession you should confess all your mortal sins (serious
sins) that you have committed since the last time you confessed.
For a sin to be considered mortal it must be:
1) Grave Matter – something serious that is against the 10
Commandments directly or indirectly.
2) Done with full knowledge – you knew it was sinful but still did
it.
3) Done with full consent of the will – you freely choose to do it.