Devotions for Confession

Since confession is one of the most efficacious means of advancing in virtue, you should resolve to approach the sacred tribunal at regular, stated times. The longer you delay going to confession, the more difficulty you will feel in doing so. You will, besides, forfeit the interior happiness of a good conscience, you will lose the habit of attention to the presence of God, your customary exercises of piety will become irksome; the duties of your state will be discharged negligently, and at last be totally disregarded. Delay not, then, to return to your merciful Redeemer, whose heart is open to receive you; seek Him in the holy tribunal, and you will assuredly find Him; consider in Him the future Judge of the loving and the dead, who at the end of ages will come in terrible majesty to require an account of His blood and His graces. Adore His infinite goodness, which will enbrace you, heal your wounds and forgive your sins, if you truly repent.

BEFORE CONFESSION

Whoever you are, Christian reader, that designs to approach the holy Sacrament of Penance, remember that you are going to undertake a work on the good performance of which, more than any other duty, your eternal welfare depends.
Therefore, retire apart from every external source of distraction, place yourself in the presence of God, and humbly adore Him. Represent to yourself that this may be the last confession you will ever have the opportunity of making. Let this reflection induce you to discharge every part of your duty, both as to the examination of your conscience, your sorrow for your sins, your firm purpose of amending your life, and the sincerity of your confession, in the most perfect manner possible. Begin by imploring the light and grace of almighty God, who alone can discover to you the malice of your sins, and give you true repentence. For this end you may pray as follows:

Supreme and adorable majesty, God of heaven and earth, I firmly believe that Thou art present, and that Thou seest me and knowest the disposition of my heart. I adore Thee, and render Thee my humble homage, acknowledging thee for my God, my Creator, and my Sovereign Redeemer. In testimony of this, my faith, I prostrate my soul and body before the throne of Thine infinite majesty, and offer Thee adoration which is due Thee alone. O Father of lights, who enlightenest every man that cometh into the world, send into my heart a ray of light, of love, and of sorrow, that I may know, detest, and confess the sins which I have committed against Thee! I desire to see my sins in all their enormity, and just as they are in Thy sight, I wish to detest them for the love of Thee, and to confess them with the same sincerity as I should be glad to do at the moment of my death. But, my God, this knowledge of my sins, and these dispositions of sorrow for them, and sincerity in declaring them to Thy minister, can come only from the hand of Thy bounty. Since, then, in Thy desire that the sinner should not die, Thou didst send Thy Son into the world to purchase his forgiveness, I implore this grace through the merits of Jesus Christ, who died upon the cross of my sins, and who is now sitting at Thy right hand, where He continually shows Thee in my behalf the wounds which he endured for me.
Mother of my God, who art so charitable to sinners that desire to repent, assist me by thine intercession. My holy angel, who hast been a spectator of all my crimes, help me to discover the sins which I have committed against my God. My blessed patron and all ye saints of heaven, pray for me, that I may bring forth fruits of penance. Amen.

OFFERING OF THE EXAMINATION

Jesus, my God and Saviour, I offer Thee the examination which I am going to make, that Thy divine justice may be glorified in it. I look to Thee with confidence for the grace to do it well. Thus, therefore, in the spirit of charity, in order to please Thee, and to accomplish Thy holy will, together with every intention that can procure Thee the greatest honor and glory, I undertake it.

AN ACT OF CONTRITION

O Lord Jesus, lover of our souls, who, for the great love wherewith Thou hast loved us, willed not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live, I grieve from the bottom of my heart that I have offended Thee, my most loving Father and Redeemer, unto whom all sin is infinitely displeasing, who hast so loved me that Thou didst shed Thy blood for me, and endured the bitter torments of a most cruel death. O my God! O infinite Goodness! would that I never offended Thee! Pardon me, O Lord Jesus, most humbly imploring Thy mercy. Have pity upon a sinner for whom Thy blood pleds before the face of the Father.
O merciful and forgiving Lord, for the love of Thee, I forgive all who have ever offended me. I firmly resolve to forsake and flee from all sins, and to avoid the occasions of them: and to confess, in bitterness of spirit, all those sins which I have committed against Thy divine goodness, and to love Thee, O my God, for Thine own sake, above all things and for ever. Grant me grace so to do, O most gracious Lord Jesus!

A PRAYER AFTER CONFESSION

What thanks do I not owe to Thee, my God, not only for having created me, redeemed me, and called me to the bosom of Thy Church, but still more for having waited for my return, whilst I was wandering from Thee in the miserable paths of sin, for having so often pardoned me as I hope thou hast done this day, and for having preserved me from so many other sins, into which I should have fallen had I not been prevented by Thy gracious hand. But my enemies will not cease to tempt until death, and if Thou support me not, alas! I shall soon begin again to offend Thee more grievously than ever. Grant me, then, through the merits of Jesus Christ, the precious grace of final perseverance. This divine Saviour has assured me that whatever we ask in His name Thou wilt grant to us. I entreat Thee therefore, through all that Thy dear Son has suffered for me, never to let me forsake Thee any more. I feel the greatest confidence that, if I continue to pray for His grace, I shall obtain it, because Thou hast promised to hear our prayers. But I tremble with fear lest, in some unguarded moment, I should forget my dependence on Thee, fail to involke Thy help, and thus relapse into my former misery. Grant therefore that, under all my temptations, I may have instant recourse to Thee, by invoking the holy names of Jesus and Mary. Thus, O my God, I may confidently hope to die in Thy grace, and to love Thee for ever in heaven, where I shall be sure never to be separated from Thee, and to be consumed in the fire of Thy holy love for all eternity. Amen.

From: The New Marian Missal for Daily Mass by Sylvester P. Juergens, S.M., Doctor of Sacred Theology, Regina Press, New York, Imprimatur C. Eykens, vic. gen., Antverpiae, 24 Februarii 1963

On Conversion: its necessity; signs denoting it; means of preserving it

From: Letters and Writings of Marie Lataste

"My daughter, conversion is necessary to the sinner. God, in fact, wills not his death but his conversion. Since such is the will of God, the sinner ought to turn to God. But he ought to do so, not only for the sake of God, but also for his own sake. Without this, what will become of him? He will die in sin, he will merit the malediction of God, he will be wretched forever. He ought, then, to be converted, and quickly. What is the continuance of life to a sinner but a merciful means which God gives him that he may work out his conversion? This gift of God will not last for ever. No one knows how long it will endure. God may withdraw it any moment. And yet what do sinners say? They put it off to a later time. What is this later time of theirs? They say, 'To-morrow.' Does this to-morrow belong to them? To-morrow! and why not to-day? Is not God ready to-day? And is it not their interest to-day? Is it not madness to count on the future? Is conversion to be found in death? No; in death there will be nothing but condemnation, because there will be nothing but justice. Every day numbers of sinners are surprised by the justice of My Father. These also said, 'To-morrow, later.' On the morrow Hell opened beneath their feet. The conversion of the sinner, then, is not only necessary, but urgent, and one which must not be delayed under any pretext whatsoever.

"How is a true conversion to be recognized? As a tree has its fruits, so conversion has its acts. A proud man converted becomes humble; a covetous man becomes full of compassion for the poor and detached from his riches; a passionate man becomes calm and peaceable; a voluptuous man becomes mortified; a slothful man becomes a lover of labour. This is not saying therefore that the proud man will never sin again from pride, the covetous from avarice; and so of the rest. They may again fall because of their weakness, but they will make haste to rise. They know of the sacrament of My mercy; they will come to humle themselves before My minister, ask forgiveness of him, and, rising up stronger and more courageous, they will walk on with their eyes turned towards God. Conversion, to be real, must be sincere and from the very depth of the heart; when it proceeds from the heart and is sincere, the conversion lasts, endures, and is perfected. The sinner may still commit faults, but their number diminishes, while his acts of love for God increase every day more and more.
"I say this to you, My daughter, that you may not be discouraged: on the contrary, always have confidence and hope in My mercy, remain always turned towards Me.

"What is necessary, My daughter, in order to preserve the fruits and benefits of conversion? A great humility, a complete distrust of yourself, an utter abandonment of yourself to God; it is necessary to fight against your inclinations, against the most obstinate, and then against the others; to mortify yourself in your body, in your mind, in your heart; above all, to pray much, to go to God and show Him how miserable you are, to move His compassion for you; in fine, to approach the Sacrament of My Love. It is the sacrament of strength, the sacrament of courage, the sacrament of life, and so long as you have this you possess the fruits and benefits of conversion."