Catholic Prayer for Forgiveness of Sins
The act of contrition is a prayer in which we acknowledge our sins and ask forgiveness for them. The prayer of repentance invites all of us sinners to rely totally on God’s mercy. Below are Catholic prayer for forgiveness of sins:
Dear Lord, I truly repent.
I regret that I have done evil
and left the good behind.
By my sins I have offended You who are my highest good,
and worthy of all love.
It is my firm resolve, with the help of your grace,
to repent, to sin no more, and to avoid what may lead to sin.
Amen
God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.
In choosing to do wrong and failing to do what is 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 Savior Jesus Christ, suffered and died for us.
In His name, my God, have mercy. Amen.
Dear Lord, here I am before you today to open my heart to you. Only you can come to my rescue.
I know you can shower me with your blessing. That’s why I give myself entirely to you: see what I am, contemplate my flaws and help me to become better. I have faith in your promise of love to never abandon me.
Forgive me, Lord, for my sins and all the times when, thinking I was doing the right thing, I made mistakes. I was mistaken.
I recognize my mistakes. Often, when I follow my path blindly, I leave you aside, forgetting your love and your mercy.
Many times I have wandered away from your sincere love. You who love me unconditionally, forgive me for the resentment still present in me, for not being able to forgive myself for the hurt I have caused and for all the times that I have believed in bad luck or foolish things that have taken me away from your goodness.
Deliver me, Lord, from all these chains that make me suffer.
Sometimes I think I’m unworthy of your forgiveness. Thus, I implore you to sow in me humility, love and confidence and thus be able to forgive me for having turned away from you.
Forgive me, Lord, for all the wrongs done against my brethren, for falling into the trap of gossip. I did not know how to show generosity, solidarity and kindness towards them, preferring to let myself be guided by anger.
Forgive me for the times when I devalued myself, when I deemed myself useless in this world. Purify my heart and set me free.
I want to feel your presence by my side and be reassured by the power of your Cross.
You alone give me life in abundance. Thanks to your love I feel forgiven, purified and liberated.
Give me your strength and your power now and for the days to come. It is with your love and forgiveness that I can move forward. I want to feel your presence, your peace and your joy in every moment of my life.
But above all send me your Holy Spirit, comforter, so that he may guide me and that I may journey to meet you, trusting in your forgiveness and in your love.
I forgive myself, I forgive myself by your love and your goodness, I forgive myself by your Cross and your Word which purifies and renews all things. Amen.
For Self and Others – Catholic prayer for forgiveness of sins
Version I, called Traditional
My Lord Jesus Christ, God and true man, Creator, Father and my Redeemer. Because you are who you are and because I love you above all things, I am sorry with all my heart for having offended you, I firmly propose the amendment of my life never to sin again, to depart from all occasions of offending you, confess and do the penance imposed on me. I offer you, Lord, my life, works, and works in satisfaction of all my sins, and as I beg you, so I trust in your infinite goodness and mercy, that you will forgive me through the merits of your most precious blood, passion and death and will give me grace to amend me and persevere in your holy service until the end of my life. Amen.
Version II, variant
My Lord Jesus Christ, God and true man, my Creator and Redeemer, because you are who you are, and because I love you above all things, I regret having offended you with all my heart; I firmly propose never to sin again, to confess, to perform the penance imposed on me, and to keep myself from all occasions of offending You; I offer You my life, works and sufferings in satisfaction of all my sins, and
I trust in your goodness and mercy
that you will forgive them for the merits of your most precious Blood, Passion and Death, and you will give me grace to amend and persevere in your holy service until the end of my life. Amen.
Version III, by Saint Alfonso
My Lord and my God! From the depths of my heart, I weigh all the sins of my life. It weighs me down because with them I deserved purgatory or hell; because I have despised heaven and because I have been so ungrateful to you, my greatest benefactor. Above all, I am heavy because with my sins I have flogged and crucified Thee, my most loving Saviour. Now, however,
I love you, my greatest benefactor, my most amiable father and most merciful Redeemer; I love you with all my heart and above all things, and because I love you, I am sorry and sorry for having offended you, my God, who art infinitely beautiful, good and worthy of being loved. I firmly propose to amend my life and no more sinning. O my Jesus! give me your grace to fulfill it. Amen.
Version IV
My Lord Jesus Christ, God and true man, You created me in Your image and likeness, You redeemed me with infinite love, dying on the Cross and You want to take me to Heaven to make me eternally happy.
I, on the other hand, have offended You so many times with my sins and I have deserved just punishments in this life and the next.
Yes, I am guilty of your Blood and your wounds; I have afflicted and embittered your most loving Heart of Redeemer with my sins and my ingratitude. I detest this ingratitude and, to make up for it, I love Thee with the most ardent love, above all things. And because I love Thee, I am heavy with all my heart and above all things, for having offended Thee, my Lord and my God. Forgive me, I beg you. I want since this moment mend me with fervor. Give me, merciful Jesus, your grace for this. Amen.
Version V, by Saint Francis Xavier
My God does not move me to love you, the Heaven that you promised me, Nor does hell move me, so feared, To stop offending you. You move me, my God, move me to see you Nailed to a cross, mocked; It moves me to see your body so wounded, Your affronts and your death move me; Finally, your love moves me in such a way that, even if there were no Heaven, I would love you, And even if there were no hell, I would fear you. You have nothing to give me because I want you; Because if I didn’t expect what I expect, I wanted you the same as I want you.
Version VI, by S. Marcos de Aviano
I, evil and unworthy creature, cast myself at your feet, my God, and with a contrite and afflicted heart, I recognize and confess before you, Redeemer of my soul, that from the moment I was born until now, I have committed innumerable neglects and sins.
I have offended You, my God! I have sinned, Lord! However, I hate my sins and repent from the depths of my heart. Therefore, I solemnly promise not to sin any more. But if you, in your most high wisdom, predict that I may offend you again and fall again into your displeasure, with all my heart I ask you to take me from this life now, in your grace. I wish my pain was so great that the purpose of not offending You any more would always remain unchanged!
Because I owe You infinite gratitude for Your divine goodness and because You deserve to love You above all things, I repent of my sins, not so much to free myself from the eternal torments that I merited for them, nor to enjoy the delights of Heaven, which I have so inconsiderately despised you, as because you are displeased with you, my God, who, through your goodness and infinite perfections, you are worthy of infinite love. I hope all creatures show you without interruption love, reverence and acknowledgment. Amen.
Version VII
O my good Lord and my adorable God, how I feel a deep pain in my chest for having unfortunately offended you and with that lost heaven and deserved hell. It is for your pure kindness that I still see the light of day, do not allow me to die without receiving the sacraments. At that moment, I, a sinner, accuse myself before You and confess my sin to You. I detest them all with all the repulsion of my soul, not only because I fear the loss of Heaven and deserve the pains of Hell, but above all because these sins so offend You, my God, who are all-good and worthy of all. my love. I firmly decide, with the help of your divine grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, to satisfy your justice and to change my life. Amen.
Version VIII
Lord Jesus Christ, I have sinned; I am also sorry that I lost heaven and deserved hell, and I firmly propose, with the help of your Divine Grace, to make amends and never offend you again, and I hope to gain forgiveness for my wrongdoing, through Your Infinite Mercy. Amen.
Version IX
O my God, with all my heart I repent I repent of all my sins and I detest them with all my might, because in sinning I not only deserved the penalties that You justly established in punishment, but mainly because I offended You, Supreme Well and worthy worthy of all my love. Therefore, I am firmly resolved, with the help of your divine grace, in the purpose of confessing my sins, no more sinning and fleeing the near occasions of sin. Amen.
Version X
O my Jesus who died on the cross to save us I repent of my sins and promise not to sin anymore. Amen
Version XI
O Lord, because You are so good, I am very sorry to have offended You. Help me not to sin again. Amen.
Version XII
My God, because you are infinitely good,
and I love you with all my heart,
I regret having offended you,
and, with the help of Your divine grace,
I firmly propose to amend
and never again offend Thee.
I ask and hope for the forgiveness of my faults
for Your Infinite Mercy.
Amen.
Version XIII
My good Jesus, crucified for my fault, I am very sorry for having sinned, for I offended You so good, and I deserved to be punished in this world and the next; but forgive me, Lord, I do not want to sin anymore. Amen.
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