How to go to Confession or receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation:

Step 1: *Examine your conscience beforehand praying to realize any sins you have committed since

your last confession. This can be done as a group during a Penance Service or by yourself. An

Examination of Conscience is a time to look at our actions so we can identify sins or bad choices that we have made in all areas of our lives—our thoughts and words, what we have done, and what we have failed to do (to paraphrase the Confiteor).

Step 2: In the confessional. 

The Priest and You: Do the Sign of the Cross, “In the name of the Father,

and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.”

Step 3: 

You: Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned, this is my first confession. 

The next time you go, you say Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned, it has been ____weeks,

months or years since my last confession. (say how long it’s been since your last confession.)

Step 4: You: Share sins.

Step 5: The Priest: usually offers some counsel/advise. Say a few words about what the person just said.

Step 6: The Priest: assign penance. *

Step 7: You: Say the Act of Contrition. (*We will be saying this prayer as a group before students begin going to the priests.)

Step 8: The Priest: (raises his right hand) God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of your son, you have reconciled the world to Yourself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of the church, may God grant you pardon and peace. And I absolve you of your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (signs a cross of the person in the air) Amen.

Step 9: You: Do the sign of the cross (as the priest does it)

In steps 3, 4, 5, & 6, you are talking to

our Lord through the priest.

Step 10: Go and do your penance.

Sometimes: At the very end of confession the priest says “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good” and

you respond, “His mercy endures forever.”