[continued from yesterday]
It may now be best to give some kind of Act of Contrition, not merely which shall be an act, but which shall help to secure the sinner's sincerity.
I have the burden of my sin upon my conscience; I would gladly be rid of that burden; I know that God can free me from it; I know He will free me if I am sincerely sorry for my offence against Him. So I come before Him; I recall to myself Who He is, and who I am in comparison; I let my thoughts and affections then run on, repeating each that I may be sure that I mean them.
AN ACT OF CONTRITIONConcluding with the "Our Father," the "Our Father" itself becomes an act of perfect contrition.
My God,
My Creator,
My Master,
My Friend and Lover.
My Judge,
Almighty yet ail-merciful,
All angry yet all-loving,
All just yet all-seeing,
This evil thing I have done,
Evil in itself,
Evil in its degrading consequences,
Evil in its offensiveness to you,
For you have forbidden it,
You detest it,
It violates your law, your order,
It in some way hurts you,
I have done this thing,
I deserve the consequences,
I have no excuse,
Father, forgive me.
I have offended you,
The creature the Creator,
The slave the Master,
The beloved the Lover,
The culprit the Judge,
I deserve the consequences,
I have no excuse,
Father, forgive me.
I have offended you,
The son the Father,
The brother the Brother,
I have crucified your Son, Jesus,
I deserve the consequences,
I have no excuse,
Father, forgive me.
I wish I had not done it,
For my own sake,
For the sake of others,
But most for your sake,
For the sake of Jesus Christ.
I have hurt Him,
Hurt Him in His tender heart,
It shall not happen again,
With your help it shall not,
Though my evil nature craves,
Though my weakness fears,
I am determined,
For my own sake,
For your sake more than mine,
I will take the means,
To keep it far from me,
To avoid the danger,
To put it out of my life,
And all that leads to it,
But I am needy and poor,
O God! help me.
___________
From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918
1 comment:
This (with the accompanying extracts before it) is a beautiful piece of spiritual reading - I was amazed to find it dates back to 1918 as I found the writing so contemporary and fresh! The Act of Contrition was beautiful and I could heartily follow it.
My sincere thanks to you for publishing this on your blog.
God bless... :-)
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