The Confiteor & The Act of Contrition

On By CantelonIn Uncategorized
 
I am doing some research on the practice of confession for an upcoming sermon and stumbled across some prayers of my childhood.
 
There are two prayers from my Catholic childhood that continue to echo in my mind to this very day. I remember many of the prayers like the Our Father, the Glory Be, the Hail Mary, etc. but those only come to me upon willful recall. The Act of Contrition and The Confiteor however, come often and of their own free will. When they come they are usually jumbled together because in many ways they are cut from the same cloth. Both prayers are prayers of confession – one is personal and the other corporate.
 
          The Confiteor
 
I confess to almighty God,

and to you, my brothers and sisters,

that I have sinned through my own fault,

in my thoughts and in my words,

in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do;

and 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.

 

          The Act of Contrition

O my God, I am heartily sorry

for having offended Thee

and I detest all my sins

above every other evil

because they displease Thee, my God,

Who, in Thy infinite wisdom,

art so deserving of all my love

and I firmly resolve

with the help of Thy grace

never more to offend Thee

and to amend my life.

Amen.

The Confiteor is a corporate prayer which opens every mass and is started by the priest while the entire congregation joins him in finishing it. The Act of Contrition is the prayer said after having participated in confession (the sacrament of reconciliation/penance).

For no reason that I am aware I often find the words of these prayers bouncing around in my mind in the midst of daily thoughts some 27 years after my last regular attendance of mass and confession. The words are in some way comforting because they offer a kind of formal apology to God and the community for harms I have done them. They are also something of a period at the end of confession and yet they continue to come back. It is as though, of all the prayers I have learned, these two are the strongest reminders of our endless need of God’s grace.

We seek forgiveness, repent and are forgiven by a gracious God. The stubborn return of these prayers to my mind is a constant reminder of my need to live in His grace because my state is one of constant brokenness. A state of healed, being healed and will be healed. A state of forgiven, being forgiven and will be forgiven. The struggle is always to allow the awareness of my sin to drive me to the joy of His grace and not to hopelessness.

One thought on “The Confiteor & The Act of Contrition”

  1. Unknown's avatar April

    Huh. While I learned the same version of the confiteor, the version of the act of contrition that I learned was a waaaaaaaay simpler version. Perhaps watered down for our 7 year old selves? But then, why not the confiteor? But then again, I recall the confiteor being said during mass itself by the priest and the congregation, while the act of contrition we had to say on our own in confession.Anyway, the version I learned:Oh my god, I am very sorryFor having offended you,because you are so good. And with your help,I will try not to sin again.Amen.

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