The one I learned for my first confession in the mid-1960s is this one:
- Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because I have offended 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.
Did you learn a different one, perhaps a variant to the one above? Share it with us in the comments box!
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
“Lord Jesus Christ Son of the Living God Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.”
Rcia didn’t teach me one.
kind of a mash up with some variations – it is a combination of the one I learned as a child (same as yours) and the one I taught my son just recently for his first confession:
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you, whom I should love above all things. With the help of your grace, I firmly intend to do penance, sin no more, and avoid near occasions of sin. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Amen.
I use a similar one toy yours, Father, but sadly I don’t know it by heart… the Parish Priest has it hanging up next to the grille in the Confessional.
The one I used to know by heart (learned when I first returned to the Faith, twenty years ago next month) has unaccountably deserted me as I started to type!!!
We learned the same one, but I think I’ve allowed bad habit to change it a little:
Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because I fear the loss of heaven and the fires of hell, but most of all, my God, because You are all good and worthy of all my love and I firmly resolve with the help of thy grace to sin no more, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
I say this multiple times throughout the day so it would be hard to change back now. I’ve never been corrected in Confession so it must be okay.
Mrs Dreher decided that it was too hard for us 2nd graders to learn the real Act of Contrition so she wrote her own which is still stuck in my head after 43 year!
Oh my God, I have sinned, I am sorry, forgive me. I disobeyed you and hurt others. I deserve to punish. I know you love me and I want to love you more. With Jesus help I will try to make up for my sins and all that leads me into sin.
More then one priest has looked at me strangely. Thanks Mrs Dreher!
Went to Confession this afternoon and used the one you have there, Father. (A full house of people waiting, young and old). The second time I ever went to confession I started to read an act of contrition and Father said pointedly, “You should memorize one.” So I did. That said, I love the one NatStelle lists and I say it sometimes during the day.
This is what I use Father:
Oh 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.
Very close to what Dismas uses.
Oh my God I am hearty sorry for offending thee;
and 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,
and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen!
Assumption of Mary Parish
Diocese of Cleveland Ohio (1968)
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, worthy, and deserving of my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen
Also my pastor has us say, “Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
I love the one you have posted and use that one when I go, but I am one of those nervous types in the Confessional that need a piece of paper to remember the words. I get stage fright. “Forgive me, Father, for I can’t remember my lines.” I know what I want to say, but I get flubber tongue. I love this one too (I tried to memorize it for Lent one year):
Have mercy on me O God in your goodness. In the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse. For I acknowledge my offense and my sin is before me always. Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. Cleanse me of sin with hyssop that I may be purified. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness. The bones you have crushed shall rejoice. A clean heart create for me O God and a steadfast spirit renew with in me….I think I am messing it up. The boys are watching a movie in the background, so it’s hard to concentrate. Psalm 51? It’s much easier in the morning with a clear mind and silence. Thanks for the post:)
I use the same as yours, Fr- the one taught by the nuns at school- but somehow I learned “heartfully” instead of “heartily”. What I would like to know is why we say “Bless me, Fr for I have sinned…”? “forgive me” seems like it would make more sense- and if I am the only one who learned it that way (and was never corrected) i am going to feel like a real jack***.
Hi Father. When I attended RCIA, we were shown the confessional and told to make our own Act of Contrition. We weren’t shown how to examine our conscience, etc. The first confession was a horrible experience. However, despite the lack of proper instruction, I try regularly go to confession anyway.
The Act of Contrition that my present church uses is one:
I confess to Almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, and in what I have done and in what I have failed to do. (strike your breast three times while saying:)Through my fault, Through my fault. Through my most grievous fault. Therefore, I ask blessed Mary ever-virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God. Amen.
This is the Act of Contrition that I use in the Emergency Chaplet of the Immaculate Conception.
Don’t worry Rebecca, “forgive me” is the way that I think everyone learned it back in the day. I think the blessing part refers to the priests prayer for you that you might know your sins and confess them well. By the way, Jackasses are really cool. They are always with the Holy Family, in Bethlehem, Egypt, back to Nazareth, and then in Jerusalem before the crucifixion. And they can sing. And only do what they understand, which is really intelligent!
Hello Catherine — That one is O.K., I guess. It can be used in one of the rites. But it might be a good idea to learn an actual act of contrition which expresses your own personal sorrow, etc.
Another convert who wasn’t taught any act of contrition in RCIA, so I cobbled together the following from what I’ve seen posted in confessionals: Almighty God, I am heartily sorry for all of my sins, not only because of Your justice, but because they keep me from You, Whom I should love above all things. I resolve with the help of Your grace to do penance, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died for us, in His name, my God, have mercy. Amen.
Father, I don’t know what other one I could use. Are there any prayers in the commentaries above that would be acceptable? I had been offering my confessor a prayer of contrition from the heart with my own words but those prayers don’t conform to any form prayer of the Church. I don’t know why but lately, I have switched over to “form prayers of contrition” thinking that that’s what I should be offering up but it doesn’t feel as personal. I admit that it is easier saying a “practiced” prayer than focusing on “prayers from the heart” . What do you think I should do?
After the Catechism, there are so many great little booklets on Confession. My favorite is Encounter with Mercy by His Eminence Justice Cardinal Rigali. Not only does it have one of the best examinations of conscience based on each of the Ten Commandments that I’ve ever seen, it also lists the Beatitudes, the 3 theological virtues, the 4 cardinal virtues, the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, the 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit, the 5 precepts of the Church, the 7 corporal works of mercy, the 7 spiritual works of mercy, the 7 capital sins and the last 4 things. I refer to this little booklet fairly often, it’s 58 pages of greatness!
http://www.catholicword.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=614&idcategory=0
I’ve always wondered about purpose of the “bless me” part too! At my parish, the priest opens with a prayer asking for the grace to make a good confession for me, which sounds like a blessing – but why am I asking for his blessing if I just got it? Or maybe I’m supposed to be quicker and get m part in before he starts?
The one. I learned is the same as yours, I teach 2nd grade CCD and I always have a hard time when I teach my class their act of contrition because it is different. I get them all mixed up.
However, the best is….my grandson belongs to another parish and made his First Confession and Communion this year. When I asked him to recite his act of contrition, all I heard was this long convoluted prayer ( to me it was long/convoluted), I just watched with amazement as I asked him two more times to repeat. That prayer flew out of his mouth like a freed fly. I still can’t even recite the first 3 words of his prayer. So I have determined it doesn’t matter what the words so long as we mean them. God Bless
This is the short act of contrition we learned as children (many many years ago) here DownUnder, and which has stayed with me despite later learning a longer one which now escapes me:
“Oh my God, I am very sorry that I have sinned against Thee because Thou art so good and with Thy help I will not sin again.”
This is also the one I say with the emergency chalet of the Immaculate Conception
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins because of your just punishment, but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to sin no more, and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.
And I’ve definitely forgotten it in the confessional and been able to say it repeatedly a few minutes later.
The one I learned is:
O my God, I am very sorry that I have offended thee because you are so good and with Your help, I will not sin again.
But lately, when I go to confession and I say that Act of Contrition one particular priest always scowls me and says…”no, It should be ‘I will TRY and not sin again’ “.
I think the other way is right.