- Jump!:
- And then when you tell him your sins, doesn't he tell you what you have to do to "purify yourself" ?
E.G:
"forgive me Father, for I have sinned."
"confess your sins to me, child."
"Father, I have cursed 6 times in the past week."
"Wash your mouth out with holy water 6 times, only that way will you be clean"
or something like that? >>
We're talking about Catholic churches, right?
The way to be forgiven is normally through prayer - certain amout of Hail Mary's, Our Fathers, Glory Be...all those prayers. It all depends on what you've done, too.
And the "I have sinned against you" is what you say. That's the Act of Contrition.
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong
and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above
all things. I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more,
and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and
died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy.^ That, though, is the Modern Day version. If you're a hard core Catholic this is what you say;
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my
sins because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend
Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly
resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near
occasions of sin.I haven't been to confession in a few years, so I forget exactly what the priest says in return. All I know is that he says something along the lines of "You're forgiven, my child. Save -enter amount and type of prayers-"
