Traditional Catholic prayer
Act of Contrition
The Act of Contrition is the prayer of sorrow made before God, especially in confession. It names sorrow for sin, trust in grace, and a firm purpose to confess, do penance, and amend your life.
Traditional text
Act of Contrition for Confession
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 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.
When it is said
Use it when sorrow becomes prayer
- During confession, when the priest asks you to make your act of contrition.
- Before confession, after examining your conscience and stirring up sorrow for sin.
- At night, especially after the daily examination of conscience.
- Any time you return to God after sin and ask for grace to amend your life.
What the prayer does
Contrition is more than regret
It is sorrow before God
Contrition is not only embarrassment or regret. It is sorrow for sin because sin offends God, Who is all-good and deserving of all love.
It includes amendment
The prayer does not stop with sorrow. It asks for grace to confess, do penance, and amend your life.
It steadies confession
The words help the penitent speak plainly, trust mercy, and leave the confessional with a real purpose to avoid sin.
Fuller and shorter forms
The confession formula gives sorrow fuller words
The traditional confession formula names both fear of punishment and, more perfectly, sorrow because sin has offended God, Who is all-good and deserving of all love.
Shorter acts of contrition can still be useful for daily prayer. In confession, use the form your priest asks for; this page preserves the fuller traditional text used in older Catholic prayer books.
A shorter daily form
O my God, I am truly sorry for having sinned, because Thou art infinitely good and sin displeases Thee. I am firmly resolved, with the help of Thy grace, never more to offend Thee, and I will carefully avoid the occasions of sin.
Next steps
Source note
This page uses Francis Xavier Lasance, With God: A Book of Prayers and Reflections (1911), especially the Act of Contrition for Confession on page 391. The short daily act above is also kept from the same older prayer-book source.