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Credo Catholic
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| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1212 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Sep 14th, 2007 01:49 am |
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Yesterday when I made confession and Father asked me to make a good act of contrition, I read the usual little card I carry with me:
"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 Savior Jesus Christ
suffered and died for us. In His name,
my God, have mercy."
As I began to say/read to prayer, I could tell Father was annoyed, even through the screen. He sighed loudly. I have tried to memorize the prayer but when I get in there, it goes right out of my head. Does anyone else have this problem? Is it okay to learn a very short act of contrition? Also, when we were in RCIA and getting ready to make our first confessions, we were given little sheets of paper with the proper "form" for making confession. When I went into mine, it didn't go anything like the paper! Do priests have much leeway with how they conduct this? I still get very uncomfortable, not so much with the confession itself, but the process. Not knowing who speaks first, when to shut up, etc.!
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kimdyuma
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Arizona USA |
| Posts: | 710 |
| First Name: | Kim | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | cradle Anglican, Episcopal /Catholic-04/07/07 |
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Posted: Fri Sep 14th, 2007 12:14 pm |
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Me - I have trouble memorizing several of the prayers including that one because they are so close but slightly different from the prayers used in the Anglican church and so I find myself mixing the two. The second to last time I went to confession I found myself praying the Anglican version and not even trying to pray the Catholic version and my last confession was very informal and turned into a session on how to help improve my prayer life so...
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Adopt from your local Humane Society- Please spay or neuter your pets
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Credo Catholic
Member
| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1212 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Sep 14th, 2007 12:31 pm |
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| I know. The first time I made confession, I didn't know any better so I walked around the screen and sat face to face with the priest, which turned out okay but I wouldn't have done it if I had known to just kneel at the door. Then he didn't follow the form we had been given, at all. Especially when I said it was my first confession, it turned into an informal conversation. That was fine, maybe better, but now I'm confused every time I go, because it's not always to same confessor and they seem to have slightly different words or forms. At the end of the first confession I was glad I had sat face to face, when I received absolution Father placed his hand on my head for the blessing. It seemed very like having Christ place His hand on my head.
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 4981 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Fri Sep 14th, 2007 11:36 pm |
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The best thing to do is tell the priest you've recently joined the Church and you're still not familiar with the procedure, and ask him to help you. He'll be glad to do it.
He is accustomed to having people confess who do know what to do, so let him know up front that this is still new to you. Once he understands that, he'll be glad to help you along.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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spanishgrad
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| Joined: | Thu Sep 20th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1 |
| First Name: | Diane | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Raised Presbyterian USA, attended United Methodist church for a bit, ... |
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Posted: Thu Sep 20th, 2007 08:32 am |
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There are a number of prayers you can say as the Act of Contrition--some shorter than others. I've been using a shorter one adapted from Psalm 51, which none of the priests has criticized...
Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; blot out my offense. Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me. Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight That you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn. Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt. A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit. For myself, I feel like I'm praying with my whole heart when I'm praying a memorized prayer, so I understand why your priest wants you to memorize one, although the sighing isn't really appropriate.
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AlanM
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| Joined: | Wed Feb 27th, 2008 |
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| Posts: | 2 |
| First Name: | Alan | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Raised Methodist (First United), came to the conclusion around 9th ... |
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Posted: Thu Feb 28th, 2008 04:01 pm |
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I just became a Catholic on Easter of 2006 and I am still working on getting the act of contrition memorized. It isn't a big deal at the church near my home since the confessionals are well lit and different acts of contrition are taped on the wall, I thought this would be the case in all confessionals. Well I went to confession at a church near work and the booth was completly dark and no acts of contrition on the wall! So when the priest asked me for an act of contrition I told him I had just recently converted and hadn't memorized an act of contrition since they were taped to the wall in the church I normally attend. He just sighed and said "Well are you really sorry?" lol I yes and all was well.
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Credo Catholic
Member
| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1212 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Feb 28th, 2008 04:09 pm |
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Nothing like cutting to the chase is there?! A contrite heart is the bottom line after all. 
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Kayla
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| Joined: | Mon Jul 30th, 2007 |
| Location: | Emmitsburg, Maryland USA |
| Posts: | 349 |
| First Name: | Kayla | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Atheist, kind-of Mormon, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Feb 29th, 2008 01:18 pm |
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I use a certain act of contrition but the priest always cuts me off before I finish..
"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against Thee, whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with the help of Thy grace, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid the near occasion of sin. ((And this is where I get cut off)) My savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for my sins, in His name, my God, have mercy. Amen."
I've experienced a few.. odd.. confessions. I find it kind of differs between priests. Some open with a prayer before you say anything, some wait for you to begin. Some say a certain prayer at the end that I guess has a response that I don't know, so they wait a moment and once they realize I'm clueless, they finish it.
It all just kind of depends.
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I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.
Jesus, I trust in You!
There's not a lot of job security for us after death. I suppose that's one advantage of being a philosopher. - Peter Kreeft
http://kayla23mount.blogspot.com/
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Annie
Member
| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 718 |
| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Feb 29th, 2008 02:09 pm |
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The New St. Joseph's People's Prayer Book has a whole bunch of acts of contrition that are acceptable. When I go to confession I bring the entire rite with me and ask the priest if he follows it or if he just wants to cut to the chase.
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Annie
Ora et labora
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 4981 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Fri Feb 29th, 2008 04:12 pm |
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Kayla wrote: to sin no more, and to avoid the near occasion of sin. ((And this is where I get cut off))
This is where the "traditional" Act of Contrition ends, so the priest probably just things you're finished.
"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins because of thy just punishment. 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 occasion of sin. Amen."
____________________
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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