“Israel, come back to the Lord your God; your iniquity was the cause of your downfall. Provide yourself with words and come back to the Lord. Say to him, ‘Take all the iniquity away so that we may have happiness again and offer you our words of praise’”.

[Hosea 14:2-3]

Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as “the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace.

(Catechism of the Catholic Church 1446)

This sacrament gives Christ’s faithful the further possibility of conversion.  All of us know that we are not perfect and depend on God for the grace necessary to change our lives. Through Confession, we announce our sins to the priest who sits in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) and exercises the command of Christ to His Apostles, ‘Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’ (Jn 20:23)

Six Steps to a Good Confession

• Examine your conscience – what sins have you committed since your last Confession?
• Be sincerely sorry for your sins
• Confess your sins to the priest
• Make sure that you confess all your mortal sins and the number of them
• After your Confession, do the penance the priest gives to you
• Pray daily for the strength to avoid the occasion of sin, especially for those sins you were just absolved from

St. Patrick’s Confession Schedule:

Saturday 12 noon – 1pm and 6pm – 7pm or by appointment.  Please consult the parish bulletin for seasonal Penance Services during Advent and Lent.

O my God, I thank you for loving me. I am sorry for all my sins, for not loving others and not loving you. Help me to live like Jesus and not sin again. Amen.