EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
It is necessary that we tell in confession, as far as we can remember, all the mortal or grievous sins we may have been guilty of since our last worthy confession, giving the number of times each one has been committed. If we have nothing but venial or light sins to tell, it is always well to include one or other of the more serious sins of the past. The following list will help us to know our sins.
Preliminary Examination
When did you make your last confession? Did you have real sorrow for the sins then told? Did you conceal or forget any mortal sin? Have you performed your penance, and done as your confessor directed? Have you really tried to keep your good resolutions?
Table of Sins against the Commandments
First Commandment: Have you doubted in matters of faith? consulted fortune-tellers? believed in dreams? made use of superstitious practices? gone to places of false worship? belonged to forbidden societies? read anti-Catholic books and papers? neglected your religious instruction? omitted religious duties through human respect? Have you murmured against God, or despaired of His mercy? Or have you rashly presumed on His goodness in committing sin? Have you neglected your daily prayers? been irreverent toward God, sacred persons, places, or things?
Second Commandment: Have you taken the name of God in vain? spoken disrespectfully of the saints or holy things? sworn falsely, rashly,
