EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
There are different methods of examining one’s conscience. One simple way of doing
it is by examining.
a. Our relationship with God
b. Our relationship with our neighbour
c. How we manage our own selves
A sample examination of conscience based on these three areas is given below:
a. Our relationship with God
1st Commandment: love the Lord above all else
Do I pray daily?
Do I have doubts about the truth of Catholic faith?
Do I have superstitions?
2nd Commandment: Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain
Do I speak badly about God, our Lady, Angels and Saints?
Do I make jokes about my holy faith?
Do I wish evil upon my brothers and sisters?
3rd Commandment: Keep Holy the Lord’s day
Am I regular for Holy mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation?
Did I receive Holy Communion while in a state of mortal sin?
Do I approach the sacrament of confession at least once a month?
Do I often visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament?
4th Commandment: Honour your father and mother.
Do I obey and honour my parents and elders?
Do I treat well my brothers and sisters?
Do I study and work hard? Have I been lazy?
5th Commandment: You shall not kill
Do I hate others? Do I forgive others?
Did I injure others? Do I take drugs?
Did I put my health in danger?
6th and 9th Commandment: You shall not consent to impure thoughts and actions.
Am I pure in thoughts, words and actions?
Did I do something impure? How many times? Alone or with others? Or with same
gender?
Do I dress modestly? (Dress is meant to cover the body and not to reveal the body).
7th and 10th Commandment: You shall not steal, nor you shall desire your neighbours’
goods
Did I steal anything?
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Have I returned what I had stolen?
Do I waste my time?
Have I been jealous? Greedy? Selfish?
8th Commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour
Did I tell lies? Have I gossiped? Did I speak badly behind someone’s back?
Have I been uncharitable? Have I revealed secrets?
b. Our relationship with our neighbour
Do I show respect towards my neighbour?
Do I spoil their good name?
Do I take others’ things? Do I steal?
Do I fight with my neighbour?
Do I love my neighbour? Other children?
Do I respect and obey the priests and the nuns?
Do I treat others as objects and things for my personal satisfaction? Do I abuse
others?
c. How we manage our own selves
Am I lazy to get up in the morning?
Do I do my homework every day?
Am I greedy?
Do I keep anger and bitterness in my heart?
Do I mortify my eyes?
Do I keep my body clean?
Do I grumble when I am corrected?
Do I watch dirty movies?
Do I help the poor and the sick?
Do I take revenge?
Do I show concern for everyone especially the poor and the discriminated?
How do you make a good confession in preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation?
I make good confession in this way:
1. I make the signi accept of the cross and say:
(forgive (Bless) me father because I have sinned.
I made my confession one week/month ago and I performed my penance. My
resolution was ………..
I accuse myself of these sins….)
1. (now confess the sins you have discovered after making the examination of
conscience)
a. God b. Neighbour C. Myself
For all these my sins and the sins which I don’t remember, I as pardon, penance
and absolution from you Father
I then listen to what the priest tells me and accept the penance he gives me.
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2. I accept the blessing as the priest forgives me and I say: O my God, I am sorry
because, I have sinned against you. I am not worthy to be called your child
(son/daughter). Sweet Jesus, have mercy on me and pardon me.
3. Then I make the sign of the cross and say: Amen
4. I do the penance the priest gives me
5. I thank Jesus for forgiving me my sins.
How to prepare for confession?
Confession consists of three steps:
1. Preparation 2. Confession 3. Absolution
1. Preparation:
Before we go to confession we examine ourselves and see what sins we have committed
(grave or venial sins). To recall the sins, we have committed it is good to examine what
you have done or failed to do that concerns the Ten Commandments, the precepts of the
Church, ourselves and others. God does not pardon our sins unless we are truly sorry
for them. So, we make a sincere and first commitment not to sin again.
2. Confession:
Then we go to the confessional and kneel before the priest.
1. The sign of the cross: “In the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy
Spirit”.
2. Say; “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned”.
3. My last confession was… days ago. These are my sins
4. Now tell your sins….
Then ask the confessor any questions that may be troubling you.
5. Answer the confessor’s questions, if he asks any. Listen to his advice and the
penance he imposes.
6. While the priest is giving you ‘absolution’, say the Act of Contrition
Act of Contrition:
“O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee and I detest all my sins, because
of thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend thee. My God, who are all
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good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to sin no
more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.”
3. The confession ends with the priest’s absolution:
“God, the Father of mercies, through the death and Resurrection of His Son, has
reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of
sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I
absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.”
