Act of Contrition?

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What is the act of contrition that is used most regularly? I have not been to confession in over two years and I really need to go, but I don’t know any Acts of Contrition. You are supposed to say the Act before you confess, out loud when in the confessional, right? And would it be weird if I had it written down so I didn’t forget, and brought it with me, because I get really nervous about confession and I might forget it even if I had previously memorized it.
 
sunflower74 said:
What is the act of contrition that is used most regularly? I have not been to confession in over two years and I really need to go, but I don’t know any Acts of Contrition. You are supposed to say the Act before you confess, out loud when in the confessional, right? And would it be weird if I had it written down so I didn’t forget, and brought it with me, because I get really nervous about confession and I might forget it even if I had previously memorized it.
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I haven’t been asked to say an act of contrition during confession in at least 10 years.
 
Go to confession and tell the priest it has been x number of years and that you don’t remember the order in which things happen. I few years ago I went for the 1st time in 10 years and the priest pretty much walk me through though every step. He was very nice about it and there was a sheet in the confessional with all the prayers on it. 👍
 
Any of the form acts of contrition will do just fine. You can even wing it, from the heart.
 
sunflower74 said:
What is the act of contrition that is used most regularly? I have not been to confession in over two years and I really need to go, but I don’t know any Acts of Contrition. You are supposed to say the Act before you confess, out loud when in the confessional, right? And would it be weird if I had it written down so I didn’t forget, and brought it with me, because I get really nervous about confession and I might forget it even if I had previously memorized it.
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Act of Contrition
O my God, I am sorry for my sins because I have offended you.
I know I should love you above all things.
Help me to do penance, to do better, and to avoid anything that might lead me to sin.
Amen.
 
Well I use and was taught:

*O my God,
I am heartily sorry for
having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins,
because I dread the loss of heaven,
and the pains of hell;
but most of all because
they offend Thee, my God,
Who are all good and
deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve,
with the help of Thy grace,
to confess my sins,
to do penance,
and to amend my life.
Amen.
I know there are many versions but I also find this to be my favroite.
 
I am interested in finding a more traditional one (i.e. for the Sacrament as celebrated according to the 1962 Missal), but the one I grew up with was:

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.
 
japhy said:
I am interested in finding a more traditional one (i.e. for the Sacrament as celebrated according to the 1962 Missal), but the one I grew up with was:

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.
Click to expand...
Hey japhy, the one I use is exactly what is found in my 1962 Missal and what my grandmother was taught in the 1920’s.
 
sunflower74 said:
What is the act of contrition that is used most regularly? I have not been to confession in over two years and I really need to go, but I don’t know any Acts of Contrition. You are supposed to say the Act before you confess, out loud when in the confessional, right? And would it be weird if I had it written down so I didn’t forget, and brought it with me, because I get really nervous about confession and I might forget it even if I had previously memorized it.
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I have taken the Act of Contrition into the confessional with me before, the priest did not say a word. Another time, I forgot it while I was saying it and the priest simply helped me through it.

Here’s the Act of Contrition that I use:
O God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee and detest my sins because of thy just punishment, but most of all because they offend thee, O Lord my God, who are all good and deserving of all of my love. I firmly resolve with the help of thy grace to sin no more and avoid the near occasion of sin.
Amen.
 
The shortest “Prayer of the Penitent” in the liturgical book, Rite of Penance is:
“Lord Jesus, Son of God
have mercy on me, a sinner.”
 
japhy said:
I am interested in finding a more traditional one (i.e. for the Sacrament as celebrated according to the 1962 Missal), but the one I grew up with was:

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.
Click to expand...
 
japhy said:
I am interested in finding a more traditional one (i.e. for the Sacrament as celebrated according to the 1962 Missal), but the one I grew up with was:

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.
Click to expand...
I use this one but add:
Our Savior Jesus Christ
suffered and died for us
In His name O Lord have mercy
 
Praying the Act of Contrition comes at the end of the confession when the Priest tells you to say it. Many Priests these days tell you to say it with your penance prayers of they give those to you. I’ve been told to go say my Act of Contrition ,slowly, before the Blessed Sacrament many times as my penance.

I always bring it with me. I have a total mental block about memorizing this prayer.
 
The Act of Contrition that Hijikata posted is the one that seems to be used most regularly. But don’t worry, the priest will sometimes ask you to say one in your own words, or he may hand you a little card with the Act of Contrition written on it. It’s not weird at all if you take the Act of Contrition with you to help you say it. The priest asks you to say it at the end. He’ll say something like, “And now your Act of Contrition”. In the beginning of the confession, you cross yourself and say bless/forgive me father for I have sinned, it’s been _ days/weeks/months/years since my last confession. Then you proceed to state your sins and the number when possible. Please don’t be nervous though, confession is a holy time when our souls are embraced by God’s forgiveness and mercy.

May God’s love encourage you and give you beautiful peace as you wait to go to confession. God bless you :).
 
Hijikata said:
Well I use and was taught:

O my God,
I am heartily sorry for
having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins,
because I dread the loss of heaven,
and the pains of hell;
but most of all because
they offend Thee, my God,
Who are all good and
deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve,
with the help of Thy grace,
to confess my sins,
to do penance,
*and to amend my life. *
Amen..
Click to expand...
That’s exactly the same Act of Contrition that I learned way before Vatican 2, and I still love it best of all. It’s interesting to see someone say that this is the most commonly used version–I always assumed that it marked me as a “dinosaur”…😃
 
I like:

Lord, I have sinned against heaven and against you,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
 
This is the one I use and the one my daughter’s class learned last year for first reconciliation:

O my God,
I am heartily sorry for
having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins,
because of your just punishment;
but most of all because
they offend Thee, my God,
Who are all good and
deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve,
with the help of Thy grace,
to sin no more,
and to avoid the near occasion of sin.
Amen.

Sometimes the confessional has the Act of Contrition on a piece of paper. I think you’d be fine to bring it in with you if you need it. I think I’ve only been to confession once where I wasn’t asked to pray the Act of Contrition.
 
I learned this one a long time ago when one of my grandmothers gave me her missal to use when I went to Rome on a scholarship… It went like this:

Oh my Jesus I am heartily sorry for having offended you,
for you are infinitely good and sin displeases you.
I despise all my sins and wish to atone for every one of them.
Through the divine mystery of your body and blood, wash clean
my soul from all stain of sin, that I might worthily approach the
most holy Sacrament of the alter, (I added this line myself),
and do any work you deigned fit for me to do.
 
I learned two different versions; one as a child growing up; pretty much the one most of you all posted with, but when I went to live in Rome for eight months when I was 20 years old; my grandmother gave me her missel she came to this country with; she picked it up in Britain, and they came here in 1951 so it was definitely BEFORE Vatican II. I wrote it below…

Oh My Jesus; I am heartily sorry for having offended you;
For you are infinitely good and sin displeases.
I despise all my sins and wish to atone for every one of them.
Through the Divine Mystery of Your body and blood; wash
clean my soul from all stain of sin so that I might worthily
approached the most Holy Sacriment of the altar,
and do any work you dained fit for me to do. (Ok I added this line…)
 
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