Guide for making an Individual Confession:

Steps for making a good Confession:
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Pray that the Holy Spirit will help you toknow your sins.
Examine your conscience.
Express in prayer your sorrow for having
committed these sins, or pray for the help
to be truly sorry.
Resolve not to commit these sins again,
and to avoid the situations that lead to sin.
Confess your sins to the priest.
Pray or perform the penance the priest
gives you as soon as possible.

•Act of Contrition
O my God I am heartily sorry for having
offended You, and I detest all my sins becauseYour just punishments, but most of all because
they offend You, my God, who are all good anddeserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, withthe help of Your grace, to sin no more and toavoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.

Begin by making the sign of the cross and saying:“Bless me Father for I have sinned. I has
been (how long?) since my last confession.”•The priest may give you a blessing at this time. If
he has already done so, continue by confession
your sins, in kind and number, to the best of yourability:

Guide to

“These are my sins…”•You may conclude by saying:“For these and all my sins, I am sorry.”Prayer Before Confession
Come Holy Spirit into my soul. Enlighten mymind that I may know the sins I ought to confess,and grant me your grace to confess them fully,
humbly and with contrite heart. Help me tofirmly resolve not to commit them again. O
Blessed Virgin, Mother of my Redeemer, mirror ofinnocence and sanctity, and refuge of penitentsinners, intercede for me through the Passion ofYour Son, that I may obtain the grace to make agood confession. All you blessed Angels andSaints of God, pray for me , a most miserable
sinner, that I may repent from my evil ways, thatmy heart may henceforth be forever untied withyours in eternal love. Amen.

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria

Confession

If you do not know how to confess, feel uneasy, orforget your sins, ask the priest to help you.
•The priest may offer some advice and will assign
you your penance. He may then ask you to pray an

Act of Contrition•The priest will then grant you Absolution:God, the Father of mercies, through the death andresurrection of his Son has reconciled the world toHimself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for theforgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve youfrom your sins n the name of the Father, and of the Son,and of the Holy Spirit.
Respond: “Amen.”•The priest may say:“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.”
Respond: “His mercy endures forever!”Priest: “Go in peace.”•After Confession, pray or perform your penance assoon as possible. It is a good practice to pray andextra prayer for your priest-confessor.

I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over
one sinner who repents than overninety-nine righteous people who haveno need of repentance. (Luke 15:7)

•Examination of Conscience
The Ten Commandments:•I:•

I am the Lord your God: you shall not havestrange gods before me.
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II:

Have I denied the existence of God?
Does someone or something other than God
influence my choices?
Have I doubted or denied my faith?
Have I rejected the Christian faith, associating
myself formally with another religion?
Have I received communion at a non-Catholicservice?
Have I engaged in superstitious or occult practices?

•V:

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III:

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Have I used the name of God in cursing orblasphemy?
Have I failed to keep the vows or promises that I
have made to God?
Have I spoken about the Church, the saints, orsacred thing with irreverence, hatred, or defiance?
Have I watched television or movies, or listened tomusic that treated God, the Church, the saints, orsacred things irreverently?
Have I been disrespectful in my behavior inChurch?

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Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
•••••••••VI:

Have I set time aside each day for personal prayer toGod?
Have I missed Mass on Sunday or other Holy Daysof Obligation?
Did I habitually come late to and/or leave early from
Mass without a good reason?
Have I fasted an hour before receiving Communion?
Have I received a sacrament while in a state ofmortal sin?
Did I do unnecessary shopping and business on
Sunday and the other Holy Days of Obligation?
Do I do penance every Friday, if not abstaining frommeat, then some other form of penance?
If I am 14 years of age or older, did I abstain frommeat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent?
If I am between the ages of 18 and 59, did I fast on
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday?

Honor your father and mother.
•If still under the care of my parents, did I obey allthat they reasonably asked of me?

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You shall not kill.
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You shall not take the Name of the Lord yourGod in vain.

•Have I neglected the needs of my parents in theirold age or in their time of need?
Do I live in humble obedience to those who
legitimately exercise authority over me?
Have I provided for the religious education andformation of my children for as long as they are
under my care?
Have I broken the law?

VI:
IX:

Have I intentionally killed a human being?
Have I procured, performed, cooperated, or advised
another in the intentional killing of an unborn childthrough abortion?
Have I seriously considered or attempted suicide?
Have I unjustly inflicted bodily harm on anotherperson?
Have I afflicted another person with verbal oremotional abuse?
Have I failed to forgive?
Have I harbored hatred, anger, or resentment?
Am I prejudiced or have I unjustly discriminatedagainst others because of their race, color,nationality, gender or religion?
Did I, by my actions, recklessly endanger my life or
health, or that of another person?
Have I gotten drunk or abused drugs?
Do I endanger my health by not eating right or
exercising?
Have I encouraged others to sin by giving scandal?

You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
•••••••••Have I committed adultery, having sexual relations
with someone who is married, or with someone
other than my spouse?
Have I committed fornication, having sexual
relations with someone of the opposite sex whenneither of us is married?
Have I committed sodomy, having sexual relations
with someone of my own sex?
Have I raped someone?
Have I committed masturbation (impurity withself), using my sexual organs for my own sexualpleasure?
Have I engaged in sexual foreplay reserved formarriage?
Have I used artificial means of birth control?
Have I undergone an operation to render myself
sterile for contraceptive purposes?
Have I willfully entertained impure thoughts?

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VII:
X:

Have I purchased or made use of pornography in
any form?
Have I watched movies and television that involvesex and nudity?
Have I listened to music or jokes that are harmful topurity?
Have I set out to seduce someone, or allowed myself
to be seduced?
Have I made uninvited and unwelcome sexual
advances toward another?
Have I purposely dressed immodestly?
Am I living in a valid and licit marriage according tothe laws of the Catholic Church?
Have I given scandal by living with a member of theopposite sex without the benefit of marriage?

You shall not steal.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
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VIII:
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Did I take something that doesn’t belong to me?
Did I deface, destroy, or lose another’s property
without making restitution?
Did I cheat on a test, on my taxes, or in business?
Do I pay employees a living wage, or fail to give afull day’s work for a full day’s pay?
Did I take advantage of another’s hardship orignorance by charging more for a product than it isworth?
Have I squandered money in compulsive gambling?
Am I envious of others on account of theirpossessions?
Have I misused natural resources?
Do I contribute my time, talents, and money tosupport the poor, my parish, and the work of theChurch?

You shall not bear false witness against yourneighbor.
Have I deceived another by lying?
Did I perjure myself under oath?
Am I guilty of passing gossip?
Am I guilty of detraction, destroying a person’sreputation by telling others about his faults for nogood reason?
Am I guilty of slander or calumny, telling lies aboutanother person in order to destroy his reputation?
Am I guilty of libel, writing lies about anotherperson in order to destroy his reputation?
Am I guilty of rash judgment, assuming the worst ofanother person based on circumstantial evidence?
Have I failed to make reparation for a lie I told, orfor harm done to a person’s reputation?
Did I betray another’s confidence through speech?