God and man, my Creator and Redeemer.

2. From my whole heart I repent of having offended thee, my Lord and my God. 3. Whom I love above all things.

4. I firmly purpose to sin no more, to avoid all occasions of sinning, to confess, and to perform the penance which shall be enjoined me.

5. I offer to thee, in satisfaction for my sins, thy most sacred life, passion, and death, and the whole price of thy blood that has been shed for us, together with the merits of the blessed and ever-virgin Mary and of all the saints, with all my works, and my whole life.

6. I trust in thy infinite goodness and mercy, that for the merits of thy precious blood thou wilt forgive me all my sins.

7. And that thou wilt abundantly give me thy grace, to enable me to lead a holy life, and to serve thee perfectly to the end. Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest God, blessed for ever. Amen.

OF THE ACT OF CONTRITION.

So precious and effectual a thing is contrition in the sight of God, that it can extinguish a thousand most grievous sins in a moment of time, reconcile a person to God, and, if he should happen to die without

opportunity for confession, recover for him the happy eternity which he had lost by sin. A contrite and humbled heart God will not despise.

Contrition, then, principally depends on the love of God above all things. It contains three acts:

The FIRST is, of sorrow for having offended God, who is most worthy to be loved and adored by all men above all things.

The blessing of his friendship, which is lost by every mortal sin, is infinite, and greater than all blessings besides; hence, too, the evil which is incurred by every mortal sin is infinite, and greater than all evils. Hence the loss of so great a good, and the endurance of so great an evil, should strike us with greater sorrow than the loss of all the blessings of this life, health, fame, life, and all the rest. To die ten thousand times is mere play, compared with the everlasting fires of hell, to which even a single sin consigns us.

The SECOND is, of resolution to sin no more, and to make restitution of any thing unjustly acquired.

By this firm purpose of the soul, a man offers himself to keep all the laws of God, so that he is prepared to say, O Lord, I have said I will keep thy law; whatever thou hast commanded, O my God, I will do as fully as I can.

The THIRD is, of hope of pardon, and of prayer for grace earnestly to amend our lives.

To accuse oneself, and not reform oneself, is to tempt God; and it is of no avail to ask pardon of our sins, and then renew them. But the blood and death of the Lord Jesus inspires the good with the confidence, after the commission of offences so heavy and so multiplied, still to hope and still pray for the grace, great as that is, of earnest amendment of life.

SELF-ACCUSATION,

And purpose of amendment of life, for one who has relapsed into a sin against which he knew that he ought to have been the most on his guard.

O my most loving God! I, an ungrateful, abandoned wretch, return to thee after having long strayed away from thee in unlawful paths: after myself making thee my enemy, again I seek thee for my friend. Again I have sinned, and after falling so often already, have fallen again. Alas, O Lord, that into the fault which I knew to be most displeasing to thee, and most hurtful to myself, into that very fault I have again relapsed.

I knew beforehand how much I ought to be on my

guard against it, and yet I took no care. Thus have I offended thy majesty, O God! Thus have I lost thy grace, forfeited heaven, damned myself-and for what? for a thing of no value, a mere vanity; for what else is that pleasure, that advantage, &c. which I sought to obtain?

I know, O Lord, that I ought to love thee above all things. I acknowledge, O my God, that thy law and thy honour ought to be dearer to me than all created things: and yet so blindly do I love myself, that I have now, in very many instances, preferred my own honour, my own paltry gain, my own lust, to thee, thy law, and thy

honour.

Oh, how carnal am I still! Though I should deny it, my works will tell the tale; not only is the world not yet crucified to me, but it is all alive and breathing within me; I am full of depraved tastes, shameful concupiscences and desires, and of miseries without end; and yet I am not humbled, but delight to be esteemed and preferred before others.

My life is a very chameleon, the veriest inconstancy and feebleness: my outward senses expatiate at large in whatever direction they please; how manifold, and how foul are the fancies that too often infest my mind! When called to penance, O

my God, how hard am I, and immoveable as a rock! To speak, how hasty and rash! How deaf to the warnings of salvation! How eager to catch at tales and trifles! Too strange and distasteful to me are the things that relate to heaven and to God, but those that relate to worldly gain and bodily comfort, I most readily apprehend. When I am to pray, I utterly loathe it; when to feast, how keen is my appetite; in haste to go to divine worship I am a tortoise, but to go to sports and amusements, I am swifter than an eagle. I creep to what is good, but fly to what is forbidden; most prone to envy and suspicion, I am very loth to excuse the imperfections of another. To myself I am mild and lenient, but harsh and stern to others. I am scarcely touched but I am angry, and strike with my tongue, at least, if I cannot with my hand. No one hurts me, but I plan how to punish and be revenged on him.

Thou knowest, O God, how near to me are the flames of concupiscence; here, indeed, I hide and dissemble them, but all things are open to thee, O eye of the world! from

thee no secret of the heart can be concealed. Oh, how great things, and how often,

purpose and promise to do! How quickly they vanish out of sight, ridiculously, nay even wickedly forgotten!

Therefore I do well to grieve, that I so often commit what calls for grief; nay, the very fact that I do not grieve more, nor feel my own misery as I should do, is itself an occasion of grief.

But although I have been hitherto most sluggish in the way of piety, and, alas, too prompt and hasty in that of vice, yet will I not be so in future. I will not be myself; I will not be the person have been. I have said, Now have I begun. None ends well the journey to heaven, unless he begins daily.

Therefore I most firmly purpose, by thy aid, O Lord, to guard against those faults, and every occasion of sinning. Oh, may this be the change of the right hand of the Most High!

Create in me, O my Lord and my God, a pure and a chaste heart! Renew, I pray thee, a right spirit within me, that now at length I may amend my life in earnest, love thee from my heart, and persevere in so doing as long as I live.

A FORM

For arousing pious affections of gratitude, contrition, &c. both before and after Confession.

(From F. Christopher Mayer.)

O Jesus, God of my heart! infinite in mercy and long

suffering, infinitely sweet and lovely, how dost thou, with the Father and the Holy Spirit,multiply upon me, amongst the rest of thy elect, the priceless riches of thy mercy, longsuffering, goodness, and love, by so often hitherto looking upon me with Peter, who have been so ungrateful to thee; by so often, when I was gone far astray from thee, recalling me with Magdalen, wretch unworthy that I was, into the way of salvation; by so often cleansing me, that was so unclean, in thy own blood; by so often receiving to the kiss of peace so prodigal a son; by so often inviting to thy closest intimacy so faithless a spouse!

O Lord, thou art truly compassionate and merciful, patient, and of much mercy. Thou art truly gracious to all, and thy mercies are over all thy works. Let all thy works praise thee, especially thy works of mercy and goodness; and let thy saints bless thee who have felt thy pity, and sing of thy mercies for

ever.

I acknowledge, adore, and embrace thy heart that has shewn so much mercy to me and all thy elect, both those that have gained its possession, and those that are yet on their way. In union with their love, and with all the possible love of all possible creatures, I give, and will for ever give thee thanks for that

unspeakable excess of eternal love with which thou hast graciously preserved me, with them, from the consequence of the many sins into which I had fallen; so patiently borne with me, though so often daily falling; so mercifully pricked me to penance when fallen; so lovingly restored me to favour when penitent; and also so bountifully hitherto vouchsafed to me the effectual wish to recover myself, abundant grace to lead henceforward a more holy life, and the firm hope of persevering, and of finally attaining to glory.

For these and other innumerable blessings of thy goodness, oh, that I had given thee thanks, and praised thee all my life long! Oh, that I had ever loved and glorified thee, who art most worthy of infinite honour and love! Oh, that I had never offended thee, and would not hereafter for ever!

But alas, how little have I confessed, loved, and glorified thee, O infinite Goodness! What return have I made thee for all that thou hast done for me, except acts without number of sin, ingratitude, and neglect! From my heart I am sorry for these, and for all and each of the sins of my whole life; not from fear of punishment, or loss of glory, but purely for thy sake, O my God of infinite love, because, above all