Act of Contrition & Examination of Conscience
Act of Contrition and Examination of Conscience
The Act of Contrition prayer is part of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You can also find a basic examination of conscience on this page.
Act of Contrition Prayer
There are a variety of different Acts of Contrition suggested in the Rite of Penance. We chose one posted on the Vatican website.
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.
Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, suffered and died for us. In His name, my God, have mercy.
A Basic Examination of Conscience
The Two Greatest Commandments
First, we can consider the two greatest commandments Jesus spoke of in Matthew 22: 37-40. He reminds us to love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind and then to love our neighbour as ourselves.
– How well have I loved God and others?
The 10 Commandments (Exodus 20: 2-17)
My Relationship with God
1. I am the Lord, your God. You shall have no other gods before me.
– Is there anyone or anything I treat as more important than God?
2. You shall not take the Name of the Lord, your God, in vain.
– Have I respected God’s Name in my thoughts and words?
3. Keep the Lord's Day holy.
– Have I missed Mass without a good reason? Do I avoid unnecessary work on Sundays?
My Relationship with Others
4. Honour your father and mother.
– Am I respectful toward my parents?
5. You shall not kill.
– Have I hurt others through my thoughts, words, or actions?
6. You shall not commit adultery.
– Have I respected the dignity of others or myself?
7. You shall not steal.
– Have I taken or wasted something that doesn’t belong to me?
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
– Have I spread gossip that could damage the reputation of others?
9. You shall not covet your neighbour's spouse.
– Have I respected others in my thoughts, words, and actions?
10. You shall not covet your neighbour's goods.
– Am I content with what I have? Have I longed for something that belongs to someone else?
The Beatitudes: Matthew 5: 1-16
Blessed are the poor in spirit...
– Do I consider how much I need God in my life?
Blessed are those who mourn...
–Do I turn to God at the death or loss of a loved one? Do I support others who are going through loss?
Blessed are the meek...
-Do I pray to know God’s will and then strive to follow it? Can I put the needs of others before my own?
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...
-Do I help those in need? Or am I more concerned about my own needs?
Blessed are the merciful...
-Do I forgive others? Or do I let hurt feelings get in the way?
Blessed are the pure in heart...
-Do I turn to God in prayer to help me stay pure in mind, soul, and body?
Blessed are the peacemakers...
-Do I try to bring peace to situations? Do I pray for world peace?
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake...
-Am I only a Christian in situations that are easy or do I stand up for what is right? Do I complain easily, or do I turn to God in prayer?
Blessed are you when others revile you, persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account...
-Am I concerned about what others think? Do I deny what I believe in to keep their good opinion, or do I stand up for what I believe in?
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CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere in 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Lukas Rychvalsky from Pexels shared the photo of a silhouette against the morning sky.
Vytautas Markunas SDB shared the photo of the priest hearing Confession on Cathopic.
Nicholas Nunez LC shared the photo of the rosary prayers at sunset on Cathopic.
The photo of the hands is by dinax on Cathopic.
Parroquiamadridejos shared the photo of the hands in the shape of a cross on Cathopic.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet resources. We’d like you to use it as a starting point for your research to verify facts and build a reference list.
Art
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
Carlo Esteban Murillo painted The Return of the Prodigal Son circa 1667 to 1670.
Philippe de Champaigne painted Moses with the Ten Commandments in 1648.
Pelegri Clave painted The Good Samaritan in 1838.
Heinrich Hoffman painted Figure of Christ in 1884.
Heinrich Hoffman painted Jesus and the Young, Rich Ruler in 1889.
IN REVIEW
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.
Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, suffered and died for us.
In His name, my God, have mercy.
First, we can consider the two greatest commandments: to love God with our heart, soul, and mind and then to love our neighbour as ourselves. How well have I loved God and others?
The 10 Commandments:
My Relationship with God:1-3
Is there anything I treat as more important than God? read more…
My Relationship with Others: 4-10
Have I hurt others in my thoughts, words, or actions? read more…
Blessed are the pure in heart… Do I turn to God in prayer to help me stay pure in mind, soul, and body? Blessed are the peacemakers… Do I bring peace to situations? Do I pray for world peace? Read more…