How to Make a Good Confession

Perhaps, we have a friend or family member that would like to go to Confession but feels embarrassed to go because they don't know what to do or say. Well, you can share this with them, and they can print it out too. I'll detail the steps one can follow to make a good confession.

1. Pray for God's Inspiration

You cannot make a good confession on your own. You must ask for God's assistance. Here is the Come, O Holy Spirit prayer that is often used:

Come, O Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of the faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the Earth. Amen.

2. Examine Your Conscience

Here is where you acknowledge the ways you have offended God, both in type and number. It is best to write your sins down on paper if you believe you will forget at the time of your confession.

The Ten Commandments are wonderful in helping you to organize your offenses.

1. Thou shalt have no Lord but the Lord thy God. (i.e. Do you put anything or anyone before God?) 
2. Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in Vain. (i.e. Do you use the Lord's name irreverently?)
3. Thou shalt keep the Sabbath day Holy. (e.g. Do you attend Mass every Sunday and Day of Obligation? Do you work unnecessarily on Sunday?)
4. Thou shalt honor thy father and mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill. (This also includes hate and thoughts of killing.)
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. (This includes lustful thoughts and impure actions.)
7. Thou shalt not steal. 
8. Thou shalt not bear false testimony. (i.e. Have you lied?)
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. (i.e. Do you desire your neighbor's wife and wish he wasn't married to her? This applies to husbands as well.)
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. (i.e. Do you desire your neighbor's private property and wish he didn't have that property?)

3. Be Truly Sorry for your Sins

Your confession is useless, and a sacrilege, if you are not truly sorry for your sins. God doesn't want lip service; he wants your repentance. Realize that your sins are the cause of Jesus' suffering and death. 

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

4. Make your Confession

Here are the steps you want to follow when you are in the confessional and making your confession. Some steps also mention what the priest will do.

1. Kneel down and begin with the Sign of the Cross: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen"
2. If the priest does not begin with the Sign of the Cross, say, "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned." The priest will bless you with words such as, "May the Lord be in your heart and upon your lips that you make a good confession." Make the sign of the cross while the priest is blessing you. 
3. Mention how long it's been since your last confession. (e.g. "It's been two months since my last Confession.") If this is your first confession ever, then you can mention that.   
4. Confess all your sins, and in number. (e.g. "I stole ten dollars from three different people.")
5. After confessing all your sins, say, "For these sins and all the sins I can't remember, I am heartily sorry." 
6. Priest will speak to you. This usually includes words of insight and advice. He will also give you penance. (e.g. Pray a decade of the Rosary.) 

5. Pray the Act of Contrition

Pray the Act of Contrition sincerely while still in the confessional. 

"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. 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, to do penance, and to amend my life." 

As you are saying the Act of Contrition, the priest will be praying for you. 

After you finish praying the Act of Contrition, the priest will absolve you of your sins - by the power given to him by God - "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." He may also say something such as, "God bless you. Go in peace and sin no more." 

In response, you say, "Thank you, Father. God bless you."

Leave the confessional.

6. Do your penance

Don't forget about doing your penance after leaving the confessional. God has forgiven you of eternal punishment if you have committed any mortal sins. However, out of justice, you must still atone - by the grace of God - the temporal punishment deserved by all your sins.

Analogy to understand penance: 
If you intentionally crash into a car and the driver of the other car dies, the family of that driver may forgive you and choose not to end your life, but you still need to pay for what you've done by spending time in prison.

Concluding Comments

In summary, to make a good confession, you must pray for God's inspiration, examine your conscience, be truly sorry for your sins, confess your sins, pray the act of contrition sincerely, and do penance. 

Don't forget, that you can print this out just in case you think you will forget the steps. Also, if you blank out during your confession, you can always ask the priest to guide you through the rest of the confession. He will be more than happy to guide you.

This is a basic version on how to make a good confession. You can find a more in depth and fuller version in the Roman Missal. 

God bless you for desiring to make a good confession. God is pleased with a contrite heart.

Sources: 

1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal


By: Fidel Valenzuela

© Servants of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts