CONFESSION Resources

Act After Confession

My dear Jesus! how much do I not owe Thee? By the merits of Thy blood I hope that I have this day been pardoned. I thank Thee above all things. I hope to reach heaven, where I shall praise Thy mercies forever. My God, if I have hitherto lost Thee so often, I now desire to lose Thee no more. From this day forward I will change my life in earnest. Thou dost merit all my love; I will love Thee truly; I will no longer see myself separated from Thee. I have promised Thee this already; now I repeat my promise of being ready to die rather than offend Thee again. I promise also to avoid all occasions of sin, and to use such means as will prevent me from falling again. My Jesus, Thou knowest my weakness: give me grace to be faithful to Thee till death, and to have recourse to Thee when I am tempted. My most holy Mary, help me! Thou art the mother of perseverance; I place my hope in thee.

Prayer of Petition

May this confession, O Lord, by the merits of Blessed Mary ever Virgin, Thy Mother, and of all the saints, be pleasing and acceptable in Thy sight. Let Thy goodness and mercy supply for whatever has been wanting in my contrition, and in the purity and integrity of my confession. Deign Thou mercifully to regard me perfectly and entirely absolved in Heaven; Who livest and reignest God, world without end. Amen.

Prayer for Perseverance

O Almighty and most merciful God, Who, according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies, hast vouchsafed once more to receive Thy prodigal child, after so many times going astray from Thee, and to admit me to this Sacrament of reconciliation; I give Thee thanks with all the powers of my soul for this and all other mercies, graces, and blessings bestowed on me; and prostrating myself at Thy sacred feet, I offer myself to be henceforth forever Thine. Oh! Let nothing in life or death ever separate me from Thee. I renounce with my whole soul all my treasons against Thee, and all the abominations and sins of my past life. I renew my promises made in Baptism, and from this moment I dedicate myself eternally to Thy love and service. Oh! Grant that for the time to come I may abhor sin more than death itself, and avoid all such occasions and companies as have unhappily brought me to it. This I resolve to do, by the aid of Thy divine grace, without which I can do nothing. I beg Thy blessing upon these my resolutions, that they may not be ineffectual, like so many others I have formally made; for, O Lord, without Thee I an nothing but misery and sin. Give me grace to be now and always a true penitent, through the same Christ Thy Son. Amen.

Thanksgiving After Confession

Eternal Father! I thank Thee, I bless Thee, for Thy goodness and mercy. Thou has had compassion on me, although in my folly I had wandered far away from Thee and offended Thee most grievously. With fatherly love Thou has received me anew after so many relapses into sin and forgiven me my offenses through the holy sacrament of Penance. Blessed forever, O my God, be Thy loving-kindness, Thy infinite mercy! Never again will I grieve Thee by ingratitude, by disobedience to Thy holy Will. All that I am, all that I have, all that I do shall be consecrated to Thy service and Thy glory. Amen.

“Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in Thee!”
Indulgence of 300 days. – Pius X, June 27, 1906.

“Jesus, my God, I love Thee above all things.”
Indulgence of 300 days, each time. – S.P. Ap., July 28, 1932.

O divine Spirit! penetrate my soul with true horror and loathing of sin. Grant that I may be more exact in the fulfillment of all my duties, and strengthen me by Thy grace, that I may not again yield to temptation.

“Sweet heart of Mary, by my salvation.”
Indulgence of 300 days, each time. – Pius IX, Sept. 30, 1852.

“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.”
Indulgence of 300 days, each time. – Leo XIII, March 15, 1884; S.P. Ap., April 15, 1932

My queen! My mother! Remember that I am thine; keep me, guard me, as thy property and possession.

“O Mary, our hope, have pity on us!”
Indulgence of 300 days. – Pius X, January 8, 1906.

Taken from “On Making a Good Confession” Dominican Mission Booklet, Dominican Fathers.