Steps for making a good Confession: Guide for making an Individual Confession: The Catholic Diocese of Peoria

• 1. Pray that the Holy Spirit will help you to Begin by making the and saying: know your . “Bless me Father for I have sinned. I has 2. Examine your . been (how long?) since my last confession.” 3. Express in prayer your sorrow for having committed these sins, or pray for the help • The may give you a blessing at this time. If to be truly sorry. he has already done so, continue by confession 4. Resolve not to commit these sins again, your sins, in kind and number, to the best of your Guide to and to avoid the situations that lead to . ability: “These are my sins…” 5. Confess your sins to the priest.

6. Pray or perform the the priest • gives you as soon as possible. You may conclude by saying: “For these and all my sins, I am sorry.” Confession

Prayer Before Confession If you do not know how to confess, feel uneasy, or forget your sins, ask the priest to help you. Come Holy Spirit into my . Enlighten my mind that I may know the sins I ought to confess, • The priest may offer some advice and will assign and grant me your grace to confess them fully, you your penance. He may then ask you to pray an humbly and with contrite heart. Help me to firmly resolve not to commit them again. O Act of Blessed Virgin, Mother of my Redeemer, mirror of innocence and sanctity, and refuge of penitent • The priest will then grant you : sinners, intercede for me through the Passion of Your Son, that I may obtain the grace to make a , the Father of mercies, through the death and good confession. All you blessed Angels and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to Saints of God, pray for me , a most miserable Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the sinner, that I may repent from my evil ways, that forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church my heart may henceforth be forever untied with may God give you and peace, and I absolve you yours in eternal love. Amen. from your sins n the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Act of Contrition Respond: “Amen.”

O my God I am heartily sorry for having • The priest may say: offended You, and I detest all my sins because “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.” Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and Respond: “His mercy endures forever!” deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to Priest: “Go in peace.” I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen. one sinner who repents than over

• After Confession, pray or perform your penance as ninety-nine righteous people who have soon as possible. It is a good practice to pray and extra prayer for your priest-. no need of . ( Luke 15:7 )

Examination of Conscience • Have I neglected the needs of my parents in their • Have I purchased or made use of pornography in old age or in their time of need? any form? The : • Do I live in humble obedience to those who • Have I watched movies and television that involve legitimately exercise authority over me? sex and nudity? : II: am the Lord your God: you shall not have • Have I provided for the religious education and • Have I listened to music or jokes that are harmful to strange before me. formation of my children for as long as they are purity? • Have I denied the existence of God? under my care? • Have I set out to seduce someone, or allowed myself • • Does someone or something other than God Have I broken the law? to be seduced? • Have I made uninvited and unwelcome sexual influence my choices? V: You shall not kill. • Have I doubted or denied my faith? advances toward another? • • • Have I rejected the Christian faith, associating Have I intentionally killed a human being? Have I purposely dressed immodestly? myself formally with another religion? • Have I procured, performed, cooperated, or advised • Am I living in a valid and licit marriage according to • Have I received communion at a non-Catholic another in the intentional killing of an unborn child the laws of the Catholic Church? service? through abortion? • Have I given scandal by living with a member of the • • Have I engaged in superstitious or occult practices? Have I seriously considered or attempted suicide? opposite sex without the benefit of marriage?

• Have I unjustly inflicted bodily harm on another VII: You shall not steal. II: You shall not take the Name of the Lord your person? God in vain. X: You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods. • Have I afflicted another person with verbal or • • Have I used the name of God in cursing or emotional abuse? Did I take something that doesn’t belong to me? blasphemy? • Have I failed to forgive? • Did I deface, destroy, or lose another’s property • Have I failed to keep the vows or promises that I • Have I harbored hatred, , or resentment? without making restitution? have made to God? • Am I prejudiced or have I unjustly discriminated • Did I cheat on a test, on my taxes, or in business? • Have I spoken about the Church, the saints, or against others because of their race, color, • Do I pay employees a living wage, or fail to give a sacred thing with irreverence, hatred, or defiance? nationality, gender or religion? full day’s work for a full day’s pay? • Have I watched television or movies, or listened to • Did I, by my actions, recklessly endanger my life or • Did I take advantage of another’s hardship or music that treated God, the Church, the saints, or health, or that of another person? ignorance by charging more for a product than it is sacred things irreverently? • Have I gotten drunk or abused drugs? worth? • Have I been disrespectful in my behavior in • Do I endanger my health by not eating right or • Have I squandered money in compulsive gambling? Church? exercising? • Am I envious of others on account of their • Have I encouraged others to sin by giving scandal? possessions? III: Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day. • Have I misused natural resources? VI: You shall not commit adultery. • • Do I contribute my time, talents, and money to Have I set time aside each day for personal prayer to IX: You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. God? support the poor, my , and the work of the • Have I missed on Sunday or other Holy Days • Have I committed adultery, having sexual relations Church?

of Obligation? with someone who is married, or with someone VIII: You shall not bear false witness against your • other than my spouse? Did I habitually come late to and/or leave early from neighbor. Mass without a good reason? • Have I committed fornication, having sexual • Have I fasted an hour before receiving Communion? relations with someone of the opposite sex when • Have I deceived another by lying? • Have I received a sacrament while in a state of neither of us is married? • Did I perjure myself under oath? ? • Have I committed sodomy, having sexual relations • Am I guilty of passing gossip? • Did I do unnecessary shopping and business on with someone of my own sex? • Am I guilty of detraction, destroying a person’s Sunday and the other Holy Days of Obligation? • Have I raped someone? reputation by telling others about his faults for no • Do I do penance every Friday, if not abstaining from • Have I committed masturbation (impurity with good reason? meat, then some other form of penance? self), using my sexual organs for my own sexual • Am I guilty of slander or calumny, telling lies about • If I am 14 years of age or older, did I abstain from pleasure? another person in order to destroy his reputation? meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of ? • Have I engaged in sexual foreplay reserved for • Am I guilty of libel, writing lies about another • If I am between the ages of 18 and 59, did I fast on marriage? person in order to destroy his reputation? Ash Wednesday and Good Friday? • Have I used artificial means of birth control? • Am I guilty of rash judgment, assuming the worst of • Have I undergone an operation to render myself another person based on circumstantial evidence? VI: Honor your father and mother. • sterile for contraceptive purposes? Have I failed to make reparation for a lie I told, or • If still under the care of my parents, did I obey all • Have I willfully entertained impure thoughts? for harm done to a person’s reputation? that they reasonably asked of me? • Did I betray another’s confidence through speech?