In the life of the body a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life a man is sick on account of sin. For that reason, he needs medicine so that he may be restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the Sacrament of Penance.
–St. Thomas Aquinas
Five Steps for a Good Confession
- Examine your conscience.
- Be sincerely sorry for your sins.
- Confess your sins to a priest.
- Resolve to amend your life.
- After your confession, do the penance the priest assigns.
Procedure in the Confessional
Begin by saying:
“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been – (state the length of time) – since my last confession. These are my sins.”
Then tell your mortal sins and the number of times committed. If you have no mortal sin to confess, then confess the venial sins you have committed since your last confession. When you have finished telling your sins, you should say:
“For these and all the sins of my past, I am truly sorry.”
The priest now gives the necessary advice, assigns your penance and asks you to say the Act of Contrition (in some form). Then wait and listen as the priest gives the absolution.
Then say “Thank you, Father”, then leave the confessional and then perform the penance assigned by the priest.
The Differences in sins
There are two kinds of actual sin: mortal and venial.
Mortal sin is a horrible offense against God, so horrible that it destroys the life of grace in the soul.
Three simultaneous conditions must be fulfilled for a mortal sin:
- the act must be something very serious;
- the person must have sufficient understanding of what is being done;
- the person must have sufficient freedom of the will.
AN ACT OF CONTRITION
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 sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen. http://stgerald.org/doc/good_confession.pdf