I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed
Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles
Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly,
in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through
my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin,
blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy
Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray to the Lord our God
for me.
May the Almighty God have mercy on me, forgive me my sins, and bring me
to everlasting life. Amen.
May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant me pardon, absolution, and
remission of all my sins. Amen.
This is another beautiful prayer. In it we can imagine that we are
permitted to enter Heaven. What do we see there? God, the Blessed
Virgin, the thousands of angels, the Apostles, all the saints, martyrs,
confessors, doctors and virgins. They cease singing God's praises, as we
enter, and fix their eyes upon us. Our guardian angel conducts us before
the great throne of God, and we kneel down in the presence of the whole
court of Heaven, to acknowledge our sins and faults, while all listen
attentively. Touched by so sublime a sight and the thought of having
offended a God of so much glory, we begin our accusation of ourselves.
We fix our eyes first upon God, and say: "I confess," i.e., accuse
myself, "to Almighty God." Then we look upon the rest of the blessed,
and say: "to the Blessed Mary ever Virgin," etc. Thus we call the whole
court of Heaven to be a witness of the fact that we "have sinned," not
lightly, but "exceedingly," i.e., very greatly, and in three ways: "in
thought," by thinking of things sinful and forbidden; "in word," by
lies, curses, slanders, etc.; "in deed," by every bad action that we
have committed; and each of us can say: I have done all this "through my
fault," i.e., willingly and deliberately; and it was not a small fault,
but an exceeding great fault, because God was helping me by His grace to
overcome temptations and avoid bad thoughts, words, and actions, and I
would not accept His help, but willingly did what was wrong. What am I
to do, therefore? Will God pardon all these offenses if I alone ask Him,
seeing that all the angels and saints know that I have thus offended
Him? What shall I do? I will ask them to help me by their prayers, and
to beg God's pardon for me. He may grant their prayers, especially those
of the Blessed Mother and of the saints, when He would not grant mine.
"Therefore I beseech the Blessed Mary ever Virgin," etc., "to pray to
the Lord our God for me."
When we kneel down to say the Confiteor, if we could imagine what I have
just described to take place, how well we should say it! With what
attention, respect, and sorrow we should ask the prayers of the saints!
When we say the Confiteor, and indeed any prayer, we say it in the
presence of God, and of the whole court of Heaven, though we are not in
Heaven and cannot see God. The angels and saints do hear us and will
pray for us. When, therefore, you are saying the Confiteor, imagine that
you see all I have described, and you will never say it badly.