Research on the Act of Perfect Contrition

" In the general Council of Trent (Session XIV, c. 4) the Church has placed in clear and
unmistakable light the most important dogmas of faith which were always taught in the Church.
This great Council teaches, `Perfect contrition, contrition from love of God, justifies man and
reconciles him to God even before the reception of the Sacrament of Penance.'" From PERFECT
CONTRITION, Rev. J. Von Den Driesch, Imp. Archbishop Glennon. p. 18
Contrition is defined by the Council of Trent as a sorrow of the soul and a detestation of the sins
committed, with the firm determination not to sin again. (Sess. XIV, Cap. 4). Note that contrition is a
sorrow of the soul—not of the body. It does not consist in words, or in tears, or in an emotion, or in
striking one’s breast, or in mere outward signs.
“And many of them that believed came confessing and declaring their deeds. And many of them
who had followed curious arts, brought together their books, and burnt them before all; and
counting the price of them, they found the money to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.” —Acts
19:18-19
“Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and
whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.” —Matthew 18:18
“He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you.
When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are
retained.” —John 20:21-23
The Catholic Faithful have been taught that the Sacrament of Penance is the method given by
Christ to the Church by which individual men and women may be freed of sins committed after
baptism. This sacrament is known Penance, and is often referred as confession. I have thought
and researched the Sacrament of Penance, and the place of Perfect Contrition and Imperfect
Contrition. Here, it is necessary to distinguish between these two acts of Contrition.
Perfect Contrition rises from a deep and pure love of God, Who has been grievously offended.
Imperfect Contrition, arises principally from some other motives, such as loss of heaven, fear of
hell, the heinousness of sin, etc. (Council of Trent, Sess. XIV, ch. iv de Contritione).
In his book My Catholic Faith(1949). Bishop Louis La Ravoire Morrow provides the following
example of Perfect Contrition.

“Perfect contrition implies a fervent love of God. We are sorry for our sins because they offend
God, Who is so good. Mary Magdalene had perfect contrition. Her contrition was so perfect that
she never sinned again. She followed Our Lord and was at the foot of the cross when He was
crucified. Her perfect contrition and love were greatly rewarded, for He appeared to her on Easter
morning. We should all try to imitate Mary Magdalene's contrition, arising from sorrow at offending
God”.
Therefore it should be easy to see that a Perfect Contrition comes out of a deep love for God and
sorrow for our sin. Perfect Contrition brings with it resolve to sin no more.
A sincere examination of conscience brings a person face to face with the many maladies and
deplorable weaknesses of his soul. He has found out the number, kind and gravity of his sins, and
this must fill him with confusion and make him exclaim with the publican: “O God, be merciful to
me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). Hence, he will pass from self-examination to contrition. Contrition is
the key to God’s mercy and pardon. It is the most essential condition for a worthy reception of the
Sacrament of Penance. Sin is a great evil. Even though at times it may affect the body, its chief

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effect is on the soul, for it separates the soul from God, either entirely (in the case of mortal sin), or
partially (in the case of venial sin), by loosening the ties of our friendship with God.
What is Contrition?
Contrition comes from the Latin contritus “to ground to pieces”, i.e. to be overwhelmed and
crushed by guilt). Contrition then, is a sincere regret or remorse with a deep sense of guilt for sins
one has committed. This remorseful person is said to be contrite. This need to be contrite is the
key when we are seeking divine forgiveness through the sacrament of Penance and is the
prerequisite to divine forgiveness.
We find in Holy Scripture many exhortations to repentance: "I desire not the death of the wicked,
but that the wicked turn from his way and live" (Ezech., xxxiii, 11); "Except you do penance you
shall all likewise perish" (Luke, xiii, 5; cf. Matt., xii, 41).
At times this repentance includes exterior acts of contrition (Ps. vi, 7 sqq.); it always implies a
recognition of wrong done to God, a detestation of the evil wrought, and a desire to turn from evil
and do good.
This is clearly expressed in Psalm.1 (5-14): "For I know my iniquity ... To thee only have I sinned,
and have done evil before thee ... Turn away thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create a clean heart in me …”
A very clear example is given to us in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke, xviii,
13), and the parable of the prodigal son (Luke, xv, 11-32): "Father, I have sinned against heaven
and before thee: I am not worthy to be called thy son".

What is the nature of contrition?

Theologians have called the desire of deep interior repentance "contrition".

It is defined explicitly by the Council of Trent (Sess. XIV, ch. iv de Contritione):
"a sorrow of soul and a hatred of sin committed, with a firm purpose of not sinning in the future" or
also "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to
sin again" (Catechism of the Catholic Church:1451).
It is also known as animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) and compunctio cordis (repentance of heart).
The word contrition itself in a moral sense is not of frequent occurrence in Scripture (cf.Psalm.1,
19). The etymology of it implies a breaking of something that has become hardened. St. Thomas
Aquinas in his Commentary on the Master of the Sentences thus explains its peculiar use:
"Since it is requisite for the remission of sin that a man cast away entirely the liking for sin which
implies a sort of continuity and solidity in his mind, the act which obtains forgiveness is termed by a
figure of speech 'contrition'" (In Lib. Sent. IV, dist. xvii; cf. Supplem. III, Q. i, a. 1).
This sorrow of soul is not merely speculative sorrow for wrong done, remorse of conscience, or a
resolve to amend; it is a real pain and bitterness of soul together with a hatred and horror for
sin committed; and this hatred for sin leads to the resolve to sin no more. The early Christian
writers in speaking of the nature of contrition sometimes insist on the feeling of sorrow, sometimes
on the detestation of the wrong committed (Augustine in P.L., XXXVII, 1901, 1902; Chrysostom,
P.G., XLVII, 409, 410).
St. Augustine includes both when writing: "Compunctus corde non solet dici nisi stimulus
peccatorum in dolore pœnitendi" (P.L., Vol. VI of Augustine, col. 1440). One must realize that
nearly all the medieval theologians hold that contrition is based principally on the detestation of
sin. This detestation presupposes knowledge of the heinousness of sin, and this knowledge begets
sorrow and pain of soul.

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"A sin is committed by the consent, so it is blotted out by the dissent of the rational will; hence
contrition is essentially sorrow. But it should be noted that sorrow has a twofold signification--
dissent of the will and the consequent feeling; the former is of the essence of contrition, the latter is
its effect" (Bonaventure, In Lib. Sent. IV, dist. xvi, Pt. I, art. 1).

What are the qualities of contrition?

The qualities of contrition, whether it be perfect or imperfect must be at once

(a) interior, (b) supernatural, (c) universal, (d) sovereign, and (e) Intense

(a) Interior

Our contrition must be real and sincere sorrow of heart, and not merely an external manifestation
of repentance. The Old Testament Prophets laid particular stress on the necessity of hearty
repentance. The Psalmist says that God despises not the "contrite heart" (Ps. I, 19), and the call to
Israel was, "Be converted to me with all your heart . . . and rend your hearts, and not your
garments" (Joel, ii, 12 sq). Holy Job did penance in sackcloth and ashes because he reprehended
himself in sorrow of soul (Job, xiii, 6).
Christ and his Apostles considered the contrition necessary by was no mere formality, but the
sincere expression of the sorrowing soul (Luke, xiv, 11-32; Luke, xviii, 13); and the grief of the
woman in the house of the Pharisee merited forgiveness because "she loved much". The
exhortations to penance found everywhere in the Fathers have no uncertain sound (Cyprian, De
Lapsis, P.L., IV; Chrysostom, De compunctione, P.G., XLVII, 393 sqq.), and the Scholastic
doctors from Peter Lombard on insist on the same sincerity in repentance (Peter Lombard,
Lib. Sent. IV, dist. xvi, no. 1).

(b) Supernatural

The Catholic Church’s teaching regarding contrition is that it ought to be prompted by God's grace
and aroused by motives which spring from faith, as opposed to merely natural motives, such as
loss of honour, fortune, and the like (Chemnitz, Exam. Concil. Trid., Pt. II, De Poenit.). In the Old
Testament it is God who gives a "new heart" and who puts a "new spirit)" into the children of Israel
(Ezech., xxxvi, 25-29); and for a clean heart the Psalmist prays in the Miserere (Ps. 1, 11 sqq.). St.
Peter told those to whom he preached in the first days after Pentecost that God the Father had
raised up Christ "to give repentance to Israel" (Acts, v, 30 sq.). St. Paul in advising Timothy insists
on dealing gently and kindly with those who resist the truth, "if peradventure God may give them
full repentance" (II Tim., ii, 24-25).
St. Augustine insisted on the supernaturalness of contrition in the days of the Pelagian heresy.
He wrote, "That we turn away from God is our doing, and this is the bad will; but to turn back to
God we are unable unless He arouse and help us, and this is the good will."
All the doctors have insisted on the absolute necessity of grace for contrition that disposes to
forgiveness (Bonaventure, In Lib. Sent. IV, dist. xiv, Part I, art. II, Q. iii; also dist. xvii, Part I,
art. I, Q. iii; cf. St. Thomas, In Lib. Sent. IV). In keeping with this teaching of the Scriptures and
the doctors, the Council of Trent defined; "If anyone say that without the inspiration of the Holy

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Spirit and without His aid a man can repent in the way that is necessary for obtaining the grace of
justification, let him be anathema."

(c) Universal

The Council of Trent defined that real contrition includes "a firm purpose of not sinning in the
future"; consequently he who repents must resolve to avoid all sin. This doctrine is intimately bound
up with the True Church’s teaching concerning grace and repentance. There is no forgiveness
without sorrow of soul, and forgiveness is always accompanied by God's grace; grace cannot
coexist with sin; and, as a consequence, one sin cannot be forgiven while another remains for
which there is no repentance.
This is the clear teaching of the Holy Scriptures. The Prophets urged men to turn to God with their
whole heart (Joel, ii, 12 sq.), and Christ tells the doctor of the law that we must love God with our
whole mind, our whole strength (Luke, x, 27). Ezechiel insists that a man must "turn from his evil
ways" if he wish to live.
Scholastics have inquired rather subtly into the question when they asked “”Whether or not there
must be a special act of contrition for every serious sin, and whether, in order to be
forgiven, one must remember at the moment all grievous transgressions? To both these
questions they answered absolutely NO, judging that an act of sorrow which
implicitly included all his sins would be sufficient.

(d) Sovereign

The Council of Trent insisted that true contrition includes the firm will never to sin again, so that
no matter what evil may come, such evil must be preferred to sin. This doctrine is surely Christ's:
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?" Theologians
have discussed at great length whether or not contrition which must be sovereign appreciative, i.e.,
in regarding sin as the greatest possible evil, must also be sovereign in degree and in intensity.
The decision has generally been that sorrow need not be sovereign "intensively", for intensity
makes no change in the substance of an act (Ballerini, Opus Morale: De Contritione;
Bonaventure, In Lib. Sent. IV, dist. xxi, Pt. I, art. II, Q. i).
(e) Intense
Often in “the form of contrition, we express this intense determination with the word "detest." I
might ht say that I do not like to eat spinach. However, I say that I "detest" eating rotten crow. In
like manner, we do not say that we just do not like sin, but we detest it as we detest eating rotten
crow”. Small Catechism of the Catholic Religion by Bishop John Neumann of the Congregation of
the most holy Redeemer, Fourth Bishop of Philadelphia, Imprimatur by the Most Rev. James
Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, given 24 July 1884 :

Purpose of Amendment

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“ There is a final element that is not mentioned in the qualities of the act of contrition, and that is
the purpose of amendment. In practical speech, we make a division in regard to contrition and the
purpose of amendment. However, there is no real distinction between the two except the element
of past and future. If one is sorry for his sins, he determines automatically not to sin again. Any
time that a person living in adultery is really sorry for his sins, he automatically leaves his sinful way
of life. A person who is in bad company is not merely sorry for his sinful life-style, but he
determines to give up one and all of his evil companions”. Small Catechism of the Catholic Religion
by Bishop John Neumann of the Congregation of the most holy Redeemer, Fourth Bishop of
Philadelphia, Imprimatur by the Most Rev. James Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, given 24 July
1884:

Is contrition really necessary?

It has been said that before the Reformation no theologian ever thought of denying the necessity of
contrition for the forgiveness of sin. But with the coming of Luther and his doctrine of justification by
faith alone the absolute necessity of contrition was excluded as by a natural consequence.
Leo X in the famous Bull "Exsurge" (Denzinger, no. 751 (635)) condemned the following Lutheran
position: "By no means believe that you are forgiven on account of your contrition, but because of
Christ's words, 'Whatsoever thou shalt loose', etc. On this account I say, that if you receive the
priest's absolution, believe firmly that you are absolved, and truly absolved you will be, let the
contrition be as it may."
Luther could not deny that in every true conversion there was grief of soul.
Catholic Church has always taught the necessity of contrition for the forgiveness of sin, and they
have insisted that such necessity arises (a) from the very nature of repentance as well as (b) from
the positive command of God.
(a) the Nature of Repentance 'They point out that the sentence of Christ in Luke, xiii, 5, is final:
"Except you do penance", etc., and from the Fathers they cite passages such as the following from
Cyprian, "De Lapsis", no. 32: "Do penance in full, give proof of the sorrow that comes from a
grieving and lamenting soul . . . they who do away with repentance for sin, close the door to
satisfaction." Scholastic doctors laid down the satisfaction' principle, "No one can begin a new life
who does not repent him of the old" (Bonaventure, In Lib. Sent. IV, dist. xvi, Pt. II, art. 1, Q. ii,
also ex professo, ibid., Pt. I, art. I, Q. iii), and when asked the reason why, they point out the
absolute incongruity of turning to God and clinging to sin, which is hostile to God's law. The Council
of Trent, mindful of the tradition of the ages, defined (Sess. XlV. ch. iv de Contritione) that
"contrition has always been necessary for obtaining forgiveness of sin".
(b) the positive command of God is also clear in the premises. John the Baptist sounded the
note of preparation for the coming of the Messiah: "Make straight his paths"; and, as a
consequence "they went out to him and were baptized confessing their sins". The first preaching of
Jesus is described in the words: "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"; and the
Apostles, in their first sermons to the people, warn them to "do penance and be baptized for the

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remission of their sins" (Acts, ii, 38). The Fathers followed up with like exhortation (Clement in
P.G., I, 341; Hermas iii P.G., II, 894; Tertullian in P.L., II).
What makes the Act Contrition Perfect?
Our contrition is perfect when we are sorry for our sins because sin offends God, Whom we love
above all things for His own sake.
"Wherefore I say to thee, her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she
has loved much. But he to whom little is forgiven, loves little.' And he said to her, 'Thy sins
are forgiven.' And they who were at table with hi began to say within themselves, 'Who is
this man, who even forgives sins?" But he said to the woman, 'Thy faith has saved thee; go
in peace' " (Luke 7: 47-50).
1. This contrition arises from a pure and perfect love of God. If we have a perfect love of God, our
contrition for sins will be perfect. It ought not to be difficult for us to have a perfect love of God. We
generally love our parents not for the food and clothes they give us, but for themselves, because
we see their self-sacrifice, their unselfishness, and other good qualities.
Thus we shall be sorry, not only because we fear punishment or dread the loss of His gifts, but
because we offend the good God, to Whom nothing is more evil than sin. If we can love our
parents spontaneously, not for any reward we expect, or punishment we wish to avoid, why can we
not love God, Who is infinitely more lovable than our parents? If we love God spontaneously,
because He is lovable in Himself, our love is perfect.
2. It is easy to make an act of perfect contrition if we sincerely love God. We can excite
ourselves to it by thinking of the Passion, of how good God is, how many favors He has granted
us, and how ungrateful we have been to Him in return for His goodness.
It is by thinking of God's gifts, we realize a little the goodness of God and His worthiness to be
loved for His own sake. We then feel sorry for having offended our Benefactor by the sins we have
committed.
3. If a layperson happens to be assisting at a deathbed, and no priest is available, we should help
the dying person make an act of perfect contrition.
Bishop Louis La Ravoire Morrow provides the following story: “The father of a family met with
an accident and was at the point of death. The youngest child, who had recently made his first
communion, saw that his father would die before the priest could arrive. He therefore took a crucifix
from the wall, and holding it before his father's eyes repeated aloud an act of contrition. Tears filled
the dying man's eyes. He died before the priest arrived, but his act of contrition washed his soul
clean of sin”. My Catholic Faith(1949)
4. We should form the habit of making an act of perfect contrition as often as possible.
It is only necessary to raise our hearts to God in pure love, and say some such words as: "O my
God, I am sorry I ever offended Thee, because Thou art so good, and I love Thee!"
What is Imperfect Contrition?
Our contrition is imperfect when we are sorry for our sins because they are hateful in themselves or
because we fear God's punishment.
1. Imperfect contrition is called attrition. The fear of hell is a common motive of attrition. It is a
good motive, but it is imperfect, because it arises from fear of God's punishments, and not from
pure love for Him.

A mother sent her three young sons to take a big jar of honey to their grandmother. On the way the
boys stopped to play. They stumbled over the jar, breaking it and spilling the honey. They all began
to seep.

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The first said, "Mother will surely spank us?" The second cried, "She will be so displeased she will
give us no cookies!" And the third wept, "Mother will surely be sad!"
The first two boys had attrition: one had the fear of punishment, and the second had sorrow at the
loss of reward. The third child had perfect contrition, for he thought only of the sadness and
offense he caused to one he loved.
2. To receive the sacrament of Penance worthily, imperfect contrition is sufficient. However, an
act of attrition cannot obtain forgiveness of mortal sin without the absolution of a priest.
Even if we feel only attrition for our sins, we can easily develop it into perfect contrition by
remembering what we should be because of God’s Love. We should always try to have perfect
contrition in the sacrament of Penance.
3. A purely servile fear of God is not sufficient for imperfect contrition. That is one which makes a
person avoid sin only because of punishment: so that, if there were no punishment, he would not
be sorry, but ready and resolved to sin, regardless of the laws of God. To receive the sacrament of
Penance worthily, purely servile fear would not be sufficient.
We call this fear "servile" because it is the fear of slaves, afraid of a hard taskmaster; they would
quickly disobey his commands were they not afraid of his whips. Shall we look upon God thus?
Servile fear does not make the sinner turn away from his sin. The "fear of God" that produces
attrition is called filial fear. It is a fear of God's punishments that makes the sinner turn away from
sin and return sincerely to God; it is the fear that a good son who has offended his father seriously
feels when he begs forgiveness.
What are the considerations to excite Contrition?
1. Place before yourself, as distinctly as you can, the sins which have come to your remembrance,
and their circumstances.
2. Consider WHO GOD IS, against Whom you have sinned, how great, how good, how gracious to
you; that He made you, that He gave His Only Son to die for you, that He made you His child in
Baptism, that He has loaded you with blessings and prepared heaven for you. Consider how
patient He has been with you -- how longsuffering in calling you and moving you to repent: Say, O
most loving God, Infinite Goodness, I repent of having offended Thee; behold me at Thy feet. O
my Father, my Creator, my Benefactor, grant me the grace of a true repentance, and the blessing
of a pardon, for Thy dear Son's sake.
3. Consider the infinite wickedness of sin, against a Loving God who has cared for you so much
that He sent His Son to die for Us.
4. Consider the consequences of one mortal sin: that you might justly be now banished from God's
presence for ever for one single unrepented, deadly sin, how many have you not committed!
We must remember that we can easily develop contrition into perfect contrition by remembering
what we should be because of God’s Love. We should always try to have perfect contrition in the
sacrament of Penance.
How can we regain Grace?
A person in mortal sin can regain the state of grace before receiving the sacrament of Penance, by
making an act of perfect contrition, with the sincere purpose of going to confession.
1. An act of perfect contrition takes away sin immediately. Our sins however grievous are
forgiven before we confess them, although the obligation to confess as soon as we can remains.
Therefore, if one makes an act of perfect contrition after having committed a mortal sin, and then
dies before being able to go to confession, he is saved from hell by the act he made. Let us
remember the penitent thief: "And he said to Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when thou comest

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into thy kingdom.' And Jesus said to him, 'Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with
me in paradise'" (Luke 23: 40-43).
2. If we have the misfortune to commit a mortal sin, we should ask God's pardon and grace at
once, make an act of perfect contrition, and go to confession as soon as we can.
With the act of perfect contrition must be our intention to go to confession as soon as we
can, in times in which we live if we should die without being able to confess to a priest we shall be
saved from hell by our act of perfect contrition.
We may not receive Holy Communion after committing a mortal sin, if we merely make an act of
perfect contrition; one who has sinned grievously must go to confession before receiving Holy
Communion.

What about Perfect Contrition without the Sacrament?

Focusing on Perfect Contrition that has for its motive the love of God, the Council of Trent
declares: "The Council further teaches that, though contrition may sometimes be made perfect by
charity and may reconcile men to God before the actual reception of this sacrament, still the
reconciliation is not to be ascribed to the contrition apart from the desire for the sacrament which it
includes.
Perfect contrition, with the desire of receiving the Sacrament of Penance, restores the sinner to
grace at once. This is certainly the teaching of the Scholastic doctors (Peter Lombard in P.L.,
CXCII, 885; St. Thomas, In Lib. Sent. IV, ibid.; St. Bonaventure, In Lib. Sent. IV, ibid.). This
doctrine they derived from Holy Scripture certainly ascribes to charity and the love of God, the
power to take away sin: "He that loveth me shall be loved by My Father"; "Many sins are forgiven
her because she hath loved much".
Since the act of perfect contrition implies necessarily this same love of God, theologians have
ascribed to perfect contrition what Scripture teaches belongs to charity. Nor is this strange, for in
the Old Covenant there was some way of recovering God' grace once man had sinned.
God wills not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live (Ezech., xxxiii,
11). This total turning to God corresponds to our idea of perfect contrition; and if under the Old Law
love sufficed for the pardon of the sinner, surely the coming of Christ and the institution of the
Sacrament of Penance cannot be supposed to have increased the difficulty of obtaining
forgiveness. That the earlier Fathers taught the efficacy of sorrow for the remission of sins is very
clear (Clement in P.G., I, 341 sqq.; and Hermas in P.G., II, 894 sqq.; Chrysostom in P.G.,
XLIX, 285 sqq.) and this is particularly noticeable in all the commentaries on Luke, vii, 47.
The Venerable Bede writes (P.L., XCII, 425): "What is love but fire; what is sin but rust? Hence it
is said, many sins are forgiven her because she hat loved much, as though to say, she hath burned
away entirely the rust of sin, because she is inflamed with the fire of love."
Theologians have inquired with much learning as to the kind of love that justifies with the
Sacrament of Penance. All are agreed that pure, or disinterested, love (amor benevolentiæ, amor
amicitiæ) suffices; when there is question of interested, or selfish, love (amor concupiscentia)
theologians hold that purely selfish love is not sufficient. When one furthermore asks what must be
the formal motive in perfect love, there seems to be no real unanimity among the doctors. Some
say that where there is perfect love God is loved for His great goodness alone; other, basing their
contention on Scripture, think that the love of gratitude (amor gratitudinis) is quite sufficient,
because God's benevolence and love towards men are intimately united, nay, inseparable from His

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Divine perfections (Hurter, Theol. Dog., Thesis ccxlv, Scholion iii, no 3; Schieler-Heuser, op.
cit., pp. 77 sq.).
“The motive of perfect contrition is the perfect love of God, i.e. Charity. It consists in this that God is
loved for His Own sake above all (amor benevolentiae or amicitiae). Its formal object is God’s
goodness in itself (bonitas divina absoluta).” (Father Ludwig Ott in the Fundamentals of
Catholic Dogma on page 427)
Perfect Contrition is not only a moral virtue, but the Council of Trent defined that it as more, quasi
materia,” in the Sacrament of Penance. "The (quasi) matter of this sacrament consists of the acts
of the penitent themselves, namely, contrition, confession, and satisfaction. These, inasmuch as
they are by God's institution required in the penitent for the integrity of the sacrament and for the
full and perfect remission of sin, are for this reason called parts of penance.
"In consequence of this decree of Trent theologians teach that sorrow for sin must be in some
sense sacramental. La Croix went so far as to say that sorrow must be aroused with a view of
going to confession, but this seems to be asking too much; most theologians think with Schieler-
Heuser (Theory and Practice of Confession, p. 113) that it is sufficient if the sorrow coexist in
any way with the confession and is referred to it. Hence the precept of the Roman Ritual, "After the
confessor has heard the confession he should try by earnest exhortation to move the penitent to
contrition" (Schieler-Heuser, op. cit., p. 111 sqq.).

Our Present Day Situation

At this time, it would appear there are no priests, whose orders have be legalized and regularized
by the Holy Pontiff that are available to hear Confessions. Therefore the Catholic Faithful must
have a comprehension of how to prepare themselves for heaven when there is no priest available
to hear their Confession and grant sacramental absolution. Therefore, it becomes very clear that
the Act of Perfect Contrition becomes important to our eternal salvation.
Even though there are no priests to hear our confessions we must within our hearts have the
desire according to Sacrament of Penance to be determine to confession, he must also determine
to confess all the mortal sins they have committed since baptism. The Faithful Catholic must be
determine to obey all God's commandments, and this includes the commandment to confess all
mortal sins committed after baptism to a duly authorized priest. If there is no priest available to
hear the confession then God accepts the Act of Perfect Contrition but only if there is no true Priest
with Jurisdiction duly authorized by the Holy Father. We recognize that in this situation the act of
perfect contrition is accepted by God, and Our Sins are forgiven.

It must be understood that for the act of contrition to be complete, one must fulfill all the obligations
that follow from ones sins. We must correct those things which we can correct such as a thief
would return what they have stolen. If we have brought injury to another we must apologize and do
what we can restore what has been damaged or taken away. It must be understood that we must
do all that we can do in regard to the act of perfect contrition, if we do these things we should have
moral assurance that we have placed ourselves in the merciful hands of God.

The Faithful Catholic (Christian) making the act of perfect contrition, must pay very close attention
to every word in the form. This means that they are to make the acts that are required by the form.
It is not the mere formula of the Confession to God that makes it Perfect Contrition, but the act of

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the will (expressed in words) by which one clearly is repentant for past sins, and that sorrow
extends also into the future. It requires decision and determination to never commit those sins, in
the future.

A General Confession of Sin

I a poor, sinful man, renounce the evil enemy, all his suggestions, works and temptations. I believe
in God the Father, in God the Son, and in God the Holy Ghost. I also fully believe everything that
the universal Christian Church [1] teaches me to believe. In this faith I confess to God the
Almighty, to Mary Christ’s most blessed Mother, and to all the saints, that from the days of my
childhood to this very hour, I have sinned often and much in thought, word, and deed, and in the
omission of good works, and all this either publicly or secretly, voluntarily or involuntarily, against
the Ten Commandments, by the seven deadly sins, the five senses of my body, against God,
against my neighbor, against the salvation of my poor soul. For these and all my sins I am sorry
from my heart. Therefore I humbly beseech Thee, Eternal Merciful God, to grant me Thy divine
grace, to prolong my life until I have confessed and done penance for my sins and obtained Thy
divine mercy, receiving after this miserable life eternal joy and happiness. I strike my sinful breast
and say with the publican: O Lord, have mercy on me, a poor sinner. Amen.

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