Hi, Sue —
You said:
Sometimes when the Act of Contrition is recited the word 'try' is
inserted — as in:
I will try not to sin again.
I have had two different opinions as to whether this is
correct, so I am now confused.
There are no specific Act of Contrition prayers in the Catechism of the Catholic Church but there is a section on Contrition.
The last few words for a perfect contrition are: and to amend my
life. Amen. In my opinion, there is a big difference between [promising] to amend ones life and [trying] to amend ones life. Though we are still only human, I would personally discourage inserting words like try into an Act of Contrition because it indicates a lack of commitment. If there is a Church-preferred way to say the Act of Contrition, I will pass it on.
You said:
- Could you please tell me the correct wording of the Act
of Contrition?
There are two types of contrition: an imperfect and
perfect contrition.
- An imperfect contrition is said out of the fear
of losing our salvation.
- A perfect contrition is said out of a fear of
sinning against God Himself, who is all good and
deserving of all our love.
My ex-girlfriend, Cheryl Ann, (We still have a platonic relationship.) taught me the perfect
contrition.
"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 I 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." |
This is the Act of Contrition you should use in
Confession.
Here another form, I use:
"O my God, I believe in you, I hope in you and
I love you.
I love you with all my mind, my heart and my soul.
I love you because you are infinitely good and
worthy of all my love.
Because I love you, I am heartily sorry for having
offended you.
Have mercy on me, {mention
your first name and last name here}, a
penitent sinner.
Amen." |
I personally like the second type, because in mentioning
my name in the Confession, I remind myself, that
I am made for a specific purpose in life and though
I may fall, I know the Divine Mercy of Our Lord is
always there to pick me up so I can fulfill my plan
in His Divine Providence.
Habitual sins can be very hard to break. Nevertheless,
the more we go to the sacrament of Confession
and firmly resolve not to sin again, the stronger
our will, will be strengthened. Remember: the Creator
of our bodies is the one who is absolving us in Confession:
Jesus, through the priest.
If I am struggling with a particular sin I'll ask,
in Confession, for the grace to be able to do a better
job in resolving to amend my life in that area.
The only time we won't be struggling
with habitual sins, is when we are 6 feet in the
ground at the end of our life. : )
Here are some good articles on New Advent:
Hope this helps,
Mike
|