An Examination of Conscience before Confession

L AVE you been guilty of heresy, or; disbelief of any article of faith, or of voluntary doubting of any article of faith? How often? And for how long a time? Or have you rashly exposed yourself to the danger of infidelity, by reading bad books, or keeping wicked company? How often? Have you by word or deed denied your religion; or gone to the churches or meetings of hereticks, so as to join any way with them in their worship? or to give scandal? How often? Have you been ignorant of the articles of your creed, or of the commandments; or of any of those things which Christians in your station are bound to know? For how long a time? Have you been negligent in the worship of God; seldom or never adoring and praising him, or giving him thanks praying but little, or with little attention;; and neglecting to make acts of faith, hope, or love of God? How long has this negligence continued? Have you despaired of salvation, or of the forgiveness of your sins? or have you rashly presumed upon finding mercy; going on in your sins without any thoughts of amendment; or depended upon a death-bed repentance? How long have you been in this way?

Have you been guilty of idolatry, or of giving divine honours to any thing created? Or used any witchcraft, or charms, or spells, or such like diabolical inventions? How often? And with what scandal or ill example to others?

Have you employ’d prayers or sacred names to superstitious uses? How often?

Have you consulted fortune-tellers, or made use of any superstitious practices to find out things to come, or recover things lost, &c. 2 How often?

Have you given credit to dreams, taken notice of omens, or made any other superstitious observations? How often?

Have you blasphemed God or his saints? How often?

Have you abused the holy Scripture, or scoff’d at holy things? How often?

2. Have you sworn falsely, or what you did not certainly know, whether it was true or false? Or have you sworn to do any thing that was wicked or unlawful? Or broken your lawful oaths? How often?

Have you had a custom of swearing rashly and inconsiderately by the name of God, by ' your soul, or by the way of imprecation upon yourself? How long have you had this custom? How many times a day have you sworn in this manner? Have you sworn by the blood or wounds of God, or any other blasphemous oath? How often?

Have you cursed yourself or others, and if so, was it from your heart? How often?

Have you been accessory to others swearing, cursing, or blaspheming? How often? Have you broken any vow, or solemn promise made to God? How often?

3- Have you neglected to hear Mass upon Sundays and holidays of obligation? Or have you heard it with wilful distractions? Or not taken care that your children or servants should hear it? How often?

Have you spent those days in idleness, or in sin? Or been the occasion of others spending them so? How often? Have you done any servile work without necessity upon those days; or set others on doing so? How often?

Have you broken the days of abstinence commanded by the church? Or eaten more than one meal on fasting days? Or been accessory to others doing so? How often? Have you neglected to confess your sins once a year; or to receive the B. Sacrament at Easter?

Have you made a sacrilegious confession or communion; by concealing some mortal sin in confession, or what you doubted might be mortal; or for want of a hearty sorrow for your sins, and a firm purpose of amendment; or by being grossly negligent in the examination of your conscience? How often? Have you received any other sacrament, for example, confirmation, or matrimony, in mortal sin? Have you neglected to perform the penance enjoin’d in confession? Or said it with wilful distractions? How often?

Have you presumed to receive the B. Sacrament after having broken your fast?

Have you, after falling into mortal sin, neglected for a long time to return to God by repentance?? And for how long a time?

4. Have you been wanting in your duty to your parents, by not loving them, or not shewing them due respect; or by disobeying them? And was it in any matter of moment? Or have you been disobedient to any other lawful superiors? How often?

Have you desired your parents’ death? Or cursed them? Or given them injurious language? Or lifted up your hand against them? Or threaten’d them? Or provoked them to swear, or otherwise to offend God? Or caused them any considerable trouble or uneasiness? How often?

Have you stolen from your parents, or otherwise wronged them? or squander’d away their substance? How much, and how often??

Have you neglected to succour your parents in their necessities, corporal or spiritual?

If God has blessed you with children, have you been negligent in procuring that they should be speedily baptized? Or that they should be timely instructed in their prayers and the Christian doctrine? Or have you been wanting in giving them early impressions of the fear and love of God? Or in taking care of their discharging their duty with regard to the sacraments?

Have you neglected to correct them; or been excessive in your corrections??

Have you neglected to remove from them the occasions of sin, such as wicked companions, bad books, romances, Sc.

Have you flatter’d them in their passions, or indulged them in their evil inclinations? Have you given them bad example? How often, and in what kind??

5. Have you desired any one’s death thro’ hatred or malice? or for your temporal interest? How often? Have you reveng’d yourself of any one by word or action; or desir’d revenge, or taken pleasure in the thoughts of it? How often?

Have you provoked, challenged, or struck others or been guilty of quarrelling or fighting with them? How often? And what mischief have you done them?

Have you borne malice to others, or refused to be reconciled to them? For how long a time? And what sort of evil had you in your heart against them?

Have you procured, or thought to procure a miscarriage; or given any counsel, aid or assistance thereunto? How often?

Have you done any thing to shorten your own, or any other’s life, or to hasten death? Or rashly expos’d yourself or others to danger? How often?

Have you desir’d your own death thro’ passion or impatience? Or entertain’d any thoughts of making yourself away; or attempted or design’d any such thing? How often?

Have you neglected to give alms according to your condition and ability? Or to reclaim sinners when it lay in your power? How often?

Have you been guilty of any spiritual murder, by drawing others into mortal sin? Or have you been accessory to the sins of others, by counsel or command, or any other way? How often?

Have you given scandal, or occasion of sin to others, by lewd or irreligious discourse, by drunkenness or swearing; by immodesty of dress or behaviour, &c.? Where note, that the circumstance of scandal is generally found in all sins that are known to others, by reason of the force of ill example, which encourages others to sin, Have you committed any thing that you judged or doubted to be a mortal sin, tho’ perhaps it was not so? How often? Or have you exposed yourself to the evident danger of mortal sin? How often? And of what sin?

6. Have you been guilty of any action contrary to purity? How often? Or have you design’d or attempted any such sin; or sought to induce others to it? How often? Have you look’d at immodest objects with pleasure or danger? Read immodest books or songs, to yourself or others? Kept indecent pictures? Willingly given ear to, or taken pleasure in hearing loose discourse, &c. 2 Or sought to see or hear any thing that was immodest? How often?

Have you exposed yourself to wanton company? Or play’d at any indecent play? Or frequented masquerades, balls, comedies, &c. with danger of your chastity? How often? Have you been guilty of any immodest discourses, wanton stories, jests, or songs, or words of double meaning? How often?

P And before how many? And were the persons, before whom you spoke or sung, married or single? For all this you are obliged to confess, by reason of the evil thoughts these things are apt to create.

7. Have you been guilty of stealing, or cheating, or any way wronging your neighbour in buying or selling, or any other bargains or contracts? Or have you been accessory to another’s committing any such injustice?

How often? And to what value?

Have you unjustly retain’d what belong’d to another? How long? And to what prejudice?

Have you contracted debts without design of paying them? Or without any prospect of being able to pay them? Or have you delay’d or refused to pay your just debts when you were able? Or have you by prodigal expences render’d yourself unable, and so wrong’d your creditors? Or your own family? How often?

Have you been guilty of usury in the loan of money? How often?, Have you put off false money? How much? How often? Have you caus’d any damage to your neighbour in his house, cattle, or other goods?

How often?

Have you profess’d any art, or undertaken any business without sufficient skill or knowledge? And what prejudice has your neighbour suffer’d from it?

Have you bought or receiv’d stolen goods? Or taken of those that could not give, &c.? How often?

Have you neglected your work or business to which you were hired, or by contract obliged? How often? And to what prejudice? Or have you broken your promises in matters of consequence?

N. B. That in all sins of injustice whereby one has done any wrong to one’s neighbour, either in his person, or in his goods, or in his character, honour, or good name, one is strictly obliged to make him full satisfaction and restitution, if it lie in one’s power: otherwise the sin will not be forgiven.

Have you then neglected or delay’d without just cause to make satisfaction and restitution, when it was in your power? How long?

8. Have you been guilty of lies? And whether in any matter of consequence? Or to the prejudice of any one? How often? Have you been guilty of hypocrisy, or dissimulation? How often?

Have you entertain’d a bad opinion of your neighbour without grounds; or judg’d rashly of his actions or intentions? How often?

Have you been guilty of the sin of detraction, which consists in taking away or lessening your neighbour’s reputation; either by saying of him what is false or uncertain; or by publishing what is secret? How often have you done so? Before how many?? You are obliged to make restitution.

Have you willingly given ear to detraction? Have you taken pleasure in it? Or any way encouraged it? Or not hinder’d it when you might? How often?

Have you prejudiced your neighbour’s honour by reproaches and affronts? Or robb’d him of the peace of his mind by scoffs and derision? How often?

Have you by carrying stories backwards and forwards, or any other way, caus’d misunderstanding or quarrels betwixt neighbours? How often? And to what prejudice?

Here also judges, lawyers, solicitors, &c, ought to examine themselves what injustices they may have been guilty of in judging or managing causes, &c. as well as accusers, witnesses, &c.

9. Have you willingly taken pleasure in unchaste thoughts or imaginations? Or entertained unchaste desires? How often?

Have you taken pleasure in the irregular motions of the flesh? Or not endeavour’d to resist them? How often??

Have you entertain’d with pleasure the thoughts of saying or doing any thing, which it would be a sin to say or do? How often Have you had the desire or design of commit-ting any sin? Of what sin? How often?

10. Have you desired your neighbour’s loss or misfortune; or any publick calamity, that you might be the gainer by it? How often? Have you desired your neighbour’s goods, not caring whether you had them right or wrong? Or been in a disposition of stealing, or otherwise wronging him if it lay in your power? How often?

II. As to the capital sins; have you been guilty of pride or complacency in yourself, or contempt of others? Or of vain-glory, by doing your good actions for the procuring esteem? Or of avarice, in affecting too much the things of this world? How often?

Have you been guilty of eating or drinking to excess; so far as considerably to prejudice or endanger either your health or reason? How often? And with what scandal?

Have you made others drunk? Or sought to make them so? Or gloried in having made them so? How often?

Have you gloried in any other sin whatso- 230 Prayer for Contrition ever? How often? And before what company? And what sin? w Have you envied or repined at your neighbour’s good? Or rejoiced at his harm? How — often? The rest of the capital sins have been examined above.

Here also masters and servants, husbands and wives, lawyers and physicians, ecclesias-ticks and magistrates, &c., ought to examine into the sins which are peculiar to their states, and how far they may have neglected the duties of their respective callings.

A Prayer

Taken out of Mr. Gother’s Works, for obtaining Contrition HAVE now here before me, O Lord, a sad prospect of the manifold offences, by which I have displeased thy divine majesty, and which I am assured will appear in judgment against me, if I repent not, and my soul be not disposed by a hearty sorrow to receive thy pardon. But this sorrow, O Lord, this repentance must be thy free gift, and if it comes not from the hand of thy mercy, all my endeavours will be in vain, and I shall be for ever miserable. Have mercy therefore on me, O father of mercies, and pour forth into my heart thy grace, whereby I may sincerely repent of all my sins; give me a true contrition, that I may bewail my past misery and ingratitude, and grieve from my heart for having offended thee so good a God: permit me not to be deluded with a false sorrow, as, I fear, I have been too often, through my own weakness and neglect; but let it be now thy gift descending from thee the father of lights, that so my repentance may be accompanied with amendment and a change of life, and I may be fully acquitted from the guilt of all my sins, and once more receiv'd into the number of thy servants. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.