The Sacrament of Confession

• Begin with “Bless me Father for I have sinned, it has been [time] since my last confession. I am [age, status (married with children, single, widow, etc.), sex], and these are my sins....”

REMEMBER: Begin by confessing your mortal sins by number and kind, and do not be afraid to ask for assistance from a priest if you are struggling with the confession process. As our priests are known to say, they are professionals, they do this for a living.

There is no need to share circumstances. If the priest needs to know them, he will ask for them.

While it is possible that a habit may mitigate the gravity of a sin, we cannot know in each case how this might apply. Therefore, we treat all objectively mortal sins as mortal sin.

• End your confession with “For these and all the sins of my past life I am truly sorry,” or words to that effect (the priest should not have to ask you if that is all you have to confess).
• Say an Act of Contrition when the priest asks you to recite it, thinking about the words you are saying, unless you have a question for Father about your confession, his advice or penance, or some other matter appropriately brought up in the confessional – this would be the time to ask it.
• When the priest finishes giving you absolution, you may say “Thank you Father,” or some other suitable closing.

REMEMBER: You can go to Communion, after Confession, before you have done your penance, as long as you have the intention to do your penance. The sins are forgiven. The penance is not part of taking away the sins. The penance should be done at your earliest convenience, so as not to forget about it. The sins are taken away as soon as the priest says, "I absolve you (ego te absolvo)."