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gatewood1988
Guest
I was wondering do you have to memorize an Act of Contrition and memorize it in Latin if going to Old Rite confession?
Does One Have to Have An Act of Contrition Memorized if Confessing In Old Rite?
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Stavros
Guest
Nope, English is good. And for a long time I brought in my holy card with the prayer on it, because I’d get nervous and couldn’t remember it.
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mullenpm
Guest
What you mean by the “Old Rite”? 
We never said the Act of Contrition in Latin at Confession; and, yes, we did memorize it. The Nuns taught us to memorize all of our prayers. :nun2: No harder than remembering the Lord’s Prayer or the Hail Mary.
:harp:
We never said the Act of Contrition in Latin at Confession; and, yes, we did memorize it. The Nuns taught us to memorize all of our prayers. :nun2: No harder than remembering the Lord’s Prayer or the Hail Mary.
:harp:
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Love_Divine
Guest
The place I go has it posted in English in the confessional. I kind of sort of have it memorized, but I get caught up because there’s two that are very very similar.
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mullenpm
Guest
Love Divine,
I understand what you mean about several forms of the Act of Contrition; it has happened to many prayers.
I am too old to have changed my ways in my prayers. I say the Act of Contrition as I was taught in the 1930s. It is what I always said and works for me.
I suppose when a Priest hears me say the old prayer he knows immediately I am of a certain age. Oh Well.
I understand what you mean about several forms of the Act of Contrition; it has happened to many prayers.
I am too old to have changed my ways in my prayers. I say the Act of Contrition as I was taught in the 1930s. It is what I always said and works for me.
I suppose when a Priest hears me say the old prayer he knows immediately I am of a certain age. Oh Well.
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TheMc
Guest
Don’t be so sure about that.I suppose when a Priest hears me say the old prayer he knows immediately I am of a certain age. Oh Well.
Lots of younger people around here say the “old” prayer.
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TrueLight
Guest
Anyone have the text of or a link to the “old” prayer?
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TheMc
Guest
I think this is the “old” prayer. It’s what I use (from EWTN)
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.
J
James_Trevor
Guest
I’m 19 and I’ve said that version my whole life. I prefer the “old English” forms of most prayers, and I was actually taken aback when I started noticing the different form in the confessional. (Probably sounded like I forgot it)
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TrueLight
Guest
Thank you!
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mullenpm
Guest
Actually, the correct wording is:
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
Baltimore Catechism No. 1
Most of you said “offend Thee, my God, who ARE all good”
and that is not the original wording.
Now, if we could get back to the old wording of "The Apostles’ Creed and “The Confiteor”
all of which I say in their original form.
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
Baltimore Catechism No. 1
Most of you said “offend Thee, my God, who ARE all good”
and that is not the original wording.
Now, if we could get back to the old wording of "The Apostles’ Creed and “The Confiteor”
all of which I say in their original form.
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Love_Divine
Guest
I’m 25 and say the old version because that’s the one I learned off of Father Z’s blog. When I was being catechised for Reconciliation we weren’t taught any Act of Contrition. We weren’t even taught the same form of Confession I use now.
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Claire_from_DE
Guest
I have often heard that one but the one we were taught in the 1950’s was a little different, so there must be more than one form of the ‘old’ prayers. You know, the wording of some of the answers in the Baltimore Catechism changed somewhat from the early 1930’s to the 1950’s also. The catechism varied according to the grade levels, but I assume that was mostly due additional material as we got older and learned more advanced doctrine. At some elementary grade level I remember memorizing in detail what each commandment commanded and forbade.
The form we learned was:
O my God,
I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins, because I fear
Thy just punishments, 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 sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.
The form we learned was:
O my God,
I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins, because I fear
Thy just punishments, 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 sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.
C
Claire_from_DE
Guest
Um, what do you mean by “old rite” confession? Do you just mean that the priest absolves you in Latin?
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mullenpm
Guest
I have never heard of “old rite” Confession; for some reason that terminology (old rite) is appearing with more frequency in this Forum.
“Old Rite” Mass; now “Old Rite” Confession. Never heard of such a thing.
Confession is Confession just as the Mass is the Mass.
As to the different forms of the Act of Contrition - I learned my prayer from the Holy Nuns at Catholic Grade School in the “early” 30’s.:nun1:
In the early grades we did use the Baltimore Catechism #1 and as we got older the lessons became more advanced as to doctrine; but, the prayers we learned as youngsters did not change.
The Act of Contrition, probably has changed over time for those born later; but, for me, it has never changed. I see no reason for change. The prayer says exactly what I mean.
“Old Rite” Mass; now “Old Rite” Confession. Never heard of such a thing.
Confession is Confession just as the Mass is the Mass.
As to the different forms of the Act of Contrition - I learned my prayer from the Holy Nuns at Catholic Grade School in the “early” 30’s.:nun1:
In the early grades we did use the Baltimore Catechism #1 and as we got older the lessons became more advanced as to doctrine; but, the prayers we learned as youngsters did not change.
The Act of Contrition, probably has changed over time for those born later; but, for me, it has never changed. I see no reason for change. The prayer says exactly what I mean.
L
Love_Divine
Guest
Maybe in some places, but not here.
In the “New Rite” we have “Reconciliation” where we go into a “Reconciliation Room” with nice comfy chairs and sit face-to-face and have an “open dialogue” about “what’s on your mind.” After that we get a penance and absolution.
In the “Old Rite” we have “Confession” where we go into the “Confessional Box” and kneel down behind the screen from the priest and confess our sins in both kind and number, and circumstances if needed. After that the priest gives us cousel, assigns us a penance, has us say an Act of Contrition, and then he gives us absolution.
In the New Rite we actually get scolded for doing it the old “Bless me Father, for I have sinned” and confessing our sins as if they’re a list. I don’t question the validity of the absolution, but the confessing part doesn’t follow what Council of Trent requires (ie: confess mortal sins in both number, kind, and circumstances.), so I prefer to avoid it as much as possible. Plus I don’t do non-anonymous confession.
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PacoG
Guest
Maybe it might be a regional thing, but most new churches that I have confessed in have confessionals. They might be a little larger to accommodate whether the penitent whats to go face-to-face or behind the grille.
I have never heard or seen a priest (and I went to college in Austin where the priests are a lot more liberal than they are down here in South Texas) ask me “what is on your mind” or dialog with me about my sins. You exaggerate.
That sounds like every confession I have been in.
In the 33 years since I did my first confession, I have never been scolded for saying “Bless me father, for I have sinned.” In fact, that is how I was taught to confess in the 1970s.
And I have never been scolded for confessing my sins as if they are on a list.
And every Reconciliation guide I have read says to confess mortal sins by number, kind and circumstance. I have never been stopped from doing it like that.
I think you are prevaricating and exaggerating.
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nicolep
Guest
That’s grossly over exaggerated and simply not true on a wide-scale. I have no doubt that is doesn’t happen in some place, but it most certainly isn’t the norm. I hasn’t happened to me even one time at all of the parishes I’ve gone to confess.
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Love_Divine
Guest
Well, it’s the norm in my diocese. They’re trying to “move away from the minimalistic approach” to this.
An excerpt from an article in my diocese newsletter:
It’s this new-age approach in my diocese that has kept me away from Confession for 10 years. I finally went to Confession in another diocese in the Old Rite with an FSSP priest, and, despite confessing 10 years worth of youthful indiscretions, it was the greatest experience I had. The first couple I had while I was young were torture because of the confusion of how it’s supposed to be done.
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StillCatholic
Guest
YAY! Thanks! This is the one I’ve been after. The wording, JUST PUNISHMENT, helps me to realize that I’m not so much worried about hell as I am avoiding immediate and JUST punishment well deserved. That which would be unhappy for me and may even cause those I love pain. Just saying. I like this version the best.
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