Act of Contrition

Any of them. There is no single authorised text, and a priest will not correct you for using one rather than another. Several forms are in ordinary use, and the reason people ask is that they learned one and then heard a different one in a confessional.

What follows are the forms you are most likely to meet. If you cannot remember any of them, say in your own words that you are sorry and mean to do better. That is a valid act of contrition, and the priest will help you if you falter.

The traditional form

The one above, and the one most English-speaking Catholics were taught. Its distinguishing mark is the phrase “because of Thy just punishments” before “but most of all because they offend Thee”.

The 1950s form, without the punishments clause

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 offend 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.

This is the version many older Catholics know from the Baltimore Catechism. It says the same thing in the same order; it names heaven and hell where the other names just punishment.

The modern form, from the Rite of Penance

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 Saviour Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy.

This is the form printed in the current Rite of Penance and used in most parishes since the 1970s. It is the one a younger Catholic is most likely to have been taught for First Confession.

The short form

Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

The Jesus Prayer, and entirely sufficient. If you are in a confessional and your mind has gone blank, this is the thing to say.

If it is the confessional itself rather than the prayer that is worrying you — what to say first, how long it takes, what happens if you freeze — that is set out step by step in how to go to confession.

The distinction matters more than the wording, and it is what the traditional form is actually built around.

Imperfect contrition is sorrow for sin arising from a lesser motive — fear of hell, fear of punishment, shame at what you have become. It is genuine sorrow and it is enough for a valid confession. The Church has never asked anyone to manufacture a purer motive than the one they have.

Perfect contrition is sorrow arising from love of God for his own sake, because sin offends someone who is good and who deserves to be loved. Perfect contrition, together with the intention to confess as soon as one is able, forgives even mortal sin before the sacrament is reached — which is why it matters to anyone who cannot get to a priest.

Read the traditional form again and you will see it does both in order: it names the just punishments first, then reaches past them to “most of all because they offend Thee”. It is a prayer that starts where the penitent is and moves them.

• In confession, after confessing your sins, usually while the priest is speaking the words of absolution or just before. If you forget, he will prompt you.
• At night, as part of an examination of conscience before sleep — the oldest and most common daily use.
• When you cannot get to confession and are conscious of grave sin: an act of perfect contrition, with the firm intention of confessing at the first opportunity.
• In danger of death, when no priest can be reached. This is the situation the prayer was preserved for.

It is not absolution, and saying it does not remove the obligation to confess mortal sin to a priest. It is not a formula whose power depends on getting the words right; God is not listening for a password. And it is not a measure of how sorry you feel — sorrow of the will is what is asked for, and on many days that is all anyone has.