An Examination of Conscience

Make your next Confession and all the ones that follow deeply personal, intimate, honest,  meaningful, and pleasing to God.
 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end! 
 
My patient and merciful Father, I have come to love and honor You, to thank You for loving me, to beg Your forgiveness for my many faults and sins, to ask You to be my constant guide,  and to give  my life to You completely.
  

I have been defiled by my many sins, enmeshed in my own passions, made uneasy by so many fears, overwhelmed with unceasing cares, impatient, self-centered, self-serving, self-indulgent, vain and prideful, hard-hearted, distracted with curiosities and endless vanities, blinded by the errors of my ways, have at times been a poor example to others, have been burdened by so many responsibilities, untrusting, irreverent, tormented by temptations to worry, doubt, become angry or hate, and so drawn in to worldly pleasures. 1

Send the light of Your grace and dispel all evil thoughts from me.  I beg You to purify all my motives.  Help me prepare every day for the moment of my passing from this world.  1

Oh Most High God, You have willed to be my Father, grant that I may be Your loving, devoted child, attentive and submissive to every manifestation of Your will, desiring to serve and please You in everything.  May Your will be my will, my duty, and my honor.  Grant that I may seek it, find it, and accomplish it.  Show me clearly and grant that I may follow, so as to obtain the salvation of my soul.  Let my piety be a continual impulse of your Sacred Heart unified with mine.  May my spirit always seek you, and know where to find You, my sweet and Gentle Jesus.  May my one desire be that of pleasing only You.  Help me give myself to You completely, on Your most perfect terms, and I beg in return the intimate possession of You.  2

"I beg of Thee, o sweet and gentle Jesus, to pierce my heart, so that my tears of penitence and love may be my bread night and day.  May I be converted entirely to Thee;  may my heart be Thy perpetual resting place, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit heaven, and there with Thy saints praise Thee forever.  Amen." 3   ~ St. Bridget of Sweden

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Sources:  
 1. Adapted from the text of Thomas A. Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (New York:  Catholic Book Publishing Corporation, 1993), pp. 200-201.
2.  Adapted from the text of Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., Divine Intimacy:  Meditations on the Interior Life For Every Day of the Liturgical Year (Rockford, IL:  Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1996), p. 846.
3. Taken From The Revelations of Saint Bridget, The Magnificent Prayers of Saint Bridget of Sweden (Rockford, IL:  1983), p. 19.