Prayers After Confession
Is it possible, O my God, that having been a criminal but a few moments ago, I should now be cleansed from my sins by virtue of this sacrament? Yes, I firmly believe it; because thou hast left to thy church the power of forgiving sins, and hast inclined my heart to comply with the necessary conditions for obtaining pardon. Thou hast declared to thy apostles, that “whatever they should loose on earth, should be loosed also in heaven; and that whosoever sins they should forgive, should be forgiven.” This is the sacred warrant of their tribunal, whose authority thy faithful have ever acknowledged. Here are the keys of thy heavenly kingdom, solemnly made over to thy church in our favour; we are therefore obliged to have recourse to them. This power was not confined to the apostles, no more than the power of baptising nations; but being granted in as general terms, doth in like manner, extend to their successors. I give thee thanks, O my God, for this tender proof of thy love, and invite all creatures to glorify thee for it. Thou hast invested a power in the sons of men, which thou wouldst not confer on angels or archangels; whatever ye shall bind on earth, &c. was not addressed to them. “The princes of this world have dominion only over the body, but the power of the priest affects the very soul. The eternal Father hath given all power to his Son; but then I behold this very power delivered by the Son to mortals. The Jewish priests could only pronounce those clean whose bodies had been already cleansed from the leprosy; but to our priests it was given, not merely to pronounce clean, but really to cleanse, not the infections of the body, but the very stains of the soul.”—[St. Chrys. b. iii. of the Priesthood.] “Thus thy manifold mercy hath provided succour for human frailty; that as by baptism, so also by penance, the hope of life should be renewed; for Christ Jesus, our Mediator, authorized the rulers of his church to impose penance upon persons confessing, and to admit them, thus purified by wholesome satisfaction, to share in the sacraments.”—[St. Leo. ep. 23.] This is an effect of that precious blood which thou, O amiable Redeemer, hast shed for my sake: I acknowledge the wonders of thy love in accepting this poor satisfaction, in pardoning all, in forgetting all, instead of punishing me as I deserved. It is necessary to be what thou art, a God of infinite goodness, to deal in such a compassionate manner with so miserable a sinner: and therefore, I humbly beseech thee to imprint on my heart a just sense of this favour, that I may gratefully remember it all the days of my life, and extol without ceasing the multitude of thy mercies. Amen.
O most sweet Lord Jesus! graciously vouchsafe to remember all those holy thoughts that have passed in thy divine mind from the beginning of the world to this very moment, and particularly thy tender design in becoming man for the redemption of the world: pardon, through the merits of these, not only all the evil thoughts and vain imaginations I have ever conceived of myself, but also those I might have excited in the minds of others. Amen.
O most pious Lord Jesus! I, a poor sinner, do humbly remind thee of all those words of salvation which have ever fallen from thy sacred lips, or which others have uttered, or shall hereafter utter, to the glory of thy holy name. I earnestly beseech thee, through these divine expressions, to forgive whatever I have spoken offensive to thee, or what others, through my means, may have sinfully uttered. Amen.
O most amiable Lord Jesus Christ! look on all the good works thou has performed for our salvation; and be pleased now to pardon whatever I have committed against thee. Mercifully direct all my thoughts, words, and actions, to thy greater glory, and regulate them by the model of thine own blessed life. Amen.
O Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world, who invitest the sinner to return to thee, kindly receiving, refreshing, and consoling him, remember that with thy precious blood thou wert pleased to redeem me. To thy sacred wounds I fly for refuge; and as in thy mercy thou didst pray for thine enemies, and pour forth thy life for thy persecutors and tormentors, so impart here to me the benefit of thy passion; Grant I may never again crucify thee by mine offences, but that sincerely grieving for what is past, and resolutely striving against future temptations, I may fervently persevere in thy service to the end.
Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my whole being. O Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.
Receive, O Lord, in thy great mercy, the poor remains of my life. I am heartily sorry for the years I have misspent; they have vanished as a shadow, they have passed away without fruit; but as I cannot recall them, suffer me at least to think of them in the bitterness of my soul. Suffer me no longer to yield to my accustomed failings. Let the ardour with which I pursued a life of sin, be henceforth more diligently applied to thy service, that where sin hath abounded, thy grace may still more abound. Remember, O Lord Jesus! that it is not thy desire to lose any of those whom thy Father hath given thee, but rather to have mercy always, and to spare; to destroy no one, but to save all; because thy Father hath sent thee into the world, not to judge the world, but to grant us life through thee. May, therefore, O Lord, thy boundless merits plead for me now, and at my last moments, that I may obtain the full remission of my sins; that I may truly know thee; that I may ever love thee; that I may tend to thee incessantly; and at length arrive to the eternal enjoyment of thee, who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest, &c. Amen.
I sincerely detest all my sins, and am fully resolved, O Lord, through the assistance of thy divine grace, never to offend thee hereafter. I therefore earnestly beseech thee to confirm all those good resolutions I have made. Increase my fervour in thy service, and render it efficacious, that my change of life may be visible to all, and that in future my conduct may be as edifying as it has been heretofore scandalous. Amen.
O that I had never sinned! O that I had never transgressed thy commands, my God! Happy those souls who have preserved their innocence, and never lost that grace they received at the baptismal font! Most loving Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am not worthy to be called thy child. I confess my ingratitude, and seek refuge in thy mercy. I have wandered like a sheep that is gone astray; but have compassion on me, and save me. Forgive me what is past; and through the bowels of thy infinite goodness, grant me a true steadiness of spirit, that from this moment I may never offend thee more.
O blessed Virgin Mary, my holy patron, [name him or her,] and all ye Saints and Angels, praise and extol our Lord for his boundless goodness towards me a most miserable sinner. Beseech him to accept of this my humble confession, and to supply, through his infinite mercies, all its deficiencies. Beg of him to ratify in the archives of heaven, the sentence of absolution which his minister, the priest, hath pronounced in my favour at the tribunal of confession. Amen.