According to the
Baltimore Catechism... (emphasis added)
Q. What should
we pray for in preparing for confession?
A. In preparing
for confession we should pray to the Holy Ghost to give us light to know our
sins and to understand their guilt; for grace to detest them for courage to
confess them and for strength to keep our resolutions.
Q. What should
we do before beginning the examination of conscience?
A. Before
beginning the examination of conscience we should pray to God to give us light
to know our sins and grace to detest them.
Q. How can we
make a good examination of conscience?
A. We can make a
good examination of conscience by calling to memory the commandments of God, the
precepts of the Church, the seven capital sins, and the particular duties of our
state in life, to find out the sins we have committed.
Q. What faults
do many commit in preparing for confession?
A. In preparing
for confession, many commit the faults (1) of giving too much time to the
examination of conscience and little or none in exciting themselves to true
sorrow for the sins discovered; (2) of trying to recall every trifling
circumstance, instead of thinking of the means by which they will avoid their
sins for the future.
Q. What, then,
is the most important part of the preparation for confession?
A. The most
important part of the preparation for confession is sincere sorrow for the sins
committed and the firm determination to avoid them for the future.
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