Change one word in the Act of Contrition

[chrisg93]

*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 art 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. *

The Act of Contrition could be (name removed by moderator)roved by changing “all-good” to “Holy”. Think about it, God is more than all good. Gods primary charactoristic is that he is all-Holy.

I think this would be a real improvement to our realization that we should all strive for holiness and to remember from whom holiness comes from. God says in the Bible “Be holy, for I am holy”. It would also be more revential to God to proclaim his holiness.

…But most all all beacuse they offend Thee, my God, who art all Holy and deserving of my love…

Can I get an Amen?

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

The Act of Contrition is not an article of faith. Such an act during the process of confession can be as simple as, “Be merciful to me, O Lord, a sinner.” So, if you want to rewrite the Act of Contitition for yourself, go for it. There are at least six I know of the prewritten variety that are variations of the same theme.

 

[jmcrae]

I mess up my Act of Contrition almost every time, but the priest and God both know what I mean, so it’s all good.

I don’t think they would even notice if you changed it from “good” to “holy” so, go for it!

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

I prefer the revised form of the Confiteor, because it includes a confession of sins of omission, which the older one did not.​

What we “fail to do” when we should not have failed to, is at least as important as our more active sins. ##

 

[thistle]

*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 art 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. *

The Act of Contrition could be (name removed by moderator)roved by changing “all-good” to “Holy”. Think about it, God is more than all good. Gods primary charactoristic is that he is all-Holy.

I think this would be a real improvement to our realization that we should all strive for holiness and to remember from whom holiness comes from. God says in the Bible “Be holy, for I am holy”. It would also be more revential to God to proclaim his holiness.

…But most all all beacuse they offend Thee, my God, who art all Holy and deserving of my love…

Can I get an Amen?

You can make up your own act of contrition as we are not obliged to use any particular one or any particular wording.

 

[Swiss_Guard]

I prefer the revised form of the Confiteor, because it includes a confession of sins of omission, which the older one did not.​

What we “fail to do” when we should not have failed to, is at least as important as our more active sins. ##

I confess to almighty God, to blessed Mary ever virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, to all the saints, and to you father, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, all the saints, and you father, to pray to the Lord our God for me.

Sinning in deed means not only committing sins but also omitting a good deed. Back then Catholics knew and understood the faith better, so there was no need to state sins of omission separately. Catholics knew that one can commit sins by commission or omission. Now some Catholics don’t believe in sins of commission, let alone sins of omission. God loves everyone, He doesn’t care what you do.

Yeah, God doesn’t care what we do. I guess He died on the cross for nothing.

Oh, for the old days, when Catholics knew and practiced their faith.

 

[LilyM]

Sinning in thought also certainly includes sins of omission - that awareness that you could’ve done something good and the conscious choice not to do so.

The additional emphasis doesn’t hurt though. It’s a shame the Confiteor isn’t recited often in the NO.

 

[AJV]

Sinning in thought also certainly includes sins of omission - that awareness that you could’ve done something good and the conscious choice not to do so.

The additional emphasis doesn’t hurt though. It’s a shame the Confiteor isn’t recited often in the NO.

Said almost all the time here. Once there was a visting priest who decided to use form B instead of the Confiteor and ended up reciting the whole thing himself because hardly anyone knew it.

I seem to recall that at least previously (before 1970) there were certain forms of the Act of Faith/Hope/Contrition, etc. approved for certain countries. So the one in the USA was different from the UK which was different from France, and so on. Has that now been removed?

 

[jmcrae]

It’s a shame the Confiteor isn’t recited often in the NO.

What are you talking about?

I’ve never been to a Mass where it wasn’t, other than during the Easter season, when we have the Rite of Sprinkling in place of the Confiteor.

 

[hilde_the_dog]

What are you talking about?

I’ve never been to a Mass where it wasn’t, other than during the Easter season, when we have the Rite of Sprinkling in place of the Confiteor.

That seems to be my experience also.

 

[Ted_in_Charlott]

What are you talking about?

I’ve never been to a Mass where it wasn’t, other than during the Easter season, when we have the Rite of Sprinkling in place of the Confiteor.

I agree, at least in the Charlotte diocese.

 

[japhy]

The Confiteor is only one of three options for the Penitential Rite; I usually only hear it in my parish on weekdays.

 

[THurifer2]

The Act of Contrition is not an article of faith. Such an act during the process of confession can be as simple as, “Be merciful to me, O Lord, a sinner.” So, if you want to rewrite the Act of Contitition for yourself, go for it. There are at least six I know of the prewritten variety that are variations of the same theme.

Is the ACT of cotrition required for a good confession…YES…

We are required to be contrite at least for the fear of HELL

The forumla or wording itself is not an article of faith.

OK now please correct me. My wording sounds sketchy

 

[jmcrae]

Is the ACT of cotrition required for a good confession…YES…

You do have to make an Act of Contrition for Confession, but it doesn’t have to be a memorized one; you can also pray it in your own words. The three elements of a good Act of Contrition are:

1. Sorrow for sins
2. The intention to sin no more
3. The intention to avoid the near occasion of sin.

We are required to be contrite at least for the fear of HELL

Yes.

The forumla or wording itself is not an article of faith.

As long as it contains the three elements, the actual wording isn’t important - a child might say, “I’m sorry for what I did, may God help me to not do it again, and I will avoid the people and places that make me want to do it.”

 

[Corki]

The Act of Contrition is not an article of faith. Such an act during the process of confession can be as simple as, “Be merciful to me, O Lord, a sinner.” So, if you want to rewrite the Act of Contitition for yourself, go for it. There are at least six I know of the prewritten variety that are variations of the same theme.

I teach CCE and the version we say at gathering is different than the one I said for 40+ years so I always mess up. My poor son had to learn three when he was in second grade: I had taught him the one I knew, his CCE teacher taught him a different one and his Catholic school teacher required him to recite a third.

Our pastor has three different English versions and one Spanish one taped to the kneeler in the confessional for those of us who get tongue tied.