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| My sins nailed you to that cross |
Lord Forgive me for I have sinned....
The Act of Contrition is usually associated with the
Sacrament of Confession, but Catholics should also pray it every day as part of
their normal prayer life. In it, we acknowledge our sins, ask God for
forgiveness, and express our desire to repent. Does sorry seem to be your
hardest word? It shouldn’t be! The Act of Contrition is a prayer in which we
ask God to forgive our sins. We say it in the sacrament of reconciliation, or
penance (otherwise known as confession). Our Lord thought so much of this
sacrament he made it one of seven He instituted to give us grace! The Act of
Contrition acknowledges our need to stay close to God for His help in dealing
with our sinful nature.
There are two types
of contrition: perfect (where we are truly sorry for our sins out of our love
for God) and imperfect (where our sorrow comes more out of fear of God’s
punishments or perhaps from the dreadful nature of the sin itself). Both are
reflected in this version of the Act of Contrition:
O my God, I am heartily sorry for
having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of
Heaven and the pains of Hell, 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 confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
Note that there are several other versions of this prayer.
The one above is perhaps best known, however. You can say the Act of Contrition
any time. (It is often used in night prayers, for example.)
There are two main types of sin, venial and mortal. Venial
sins can weaken our relationship with God while mortal sins can kill it! (Hence
the name.) Note there are three main conditions for a sin to be mortal: the sin
itself must be grave, we must know it is so, and yet still freely consent to
committing it anyway. A mortal sin, if not forgiven through confession, can
lead to our eternal separation from God (that is to say, our damnation) for
eternity!
When we sin we turn
away from God and His will for us. However, when we recite the Act of
Contrition, especially after confession, we turn back to Him acknowledging our
need for His healing power in our lives. His mercy is there for us as long as
we approach him with humility and make a sincere effort not to repeat our sins.
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| Jesus, please forgive me. |
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