I confess to Almighty God,
to you, who alone knows
my heart and my life,
who alone forgives sins,
who alone can lift the burden from me
and who can put right
what I have messed up;
and to you, brothers and sisters,
against whom I have sinned
and who have sinned against me,
to you, who are sinners like me
and who can intercede with me;
that I often sin and do not do what I should –
I do not do the good that you wanted to give me, God,
but I rejected it,
and I do the evil to which I have been led,
because it seemed so tempting.
It is my fault,
which cannot be glossed over,
my fault,
which I face,
my great fault,
which separates me from you and from myself.
Therefore I ask the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary,
all the angels and saints,
the whole heavenly church,
which prays for us,
and you, brothers and sisters,
to whom I no longer want to pretend,
because you know best,
for which I now ask for forgiveness and patience
and with whom I now stand before God;
that you intercede for me with God,
to grant me insight into his view of my life
and the view of my brothers and sisters,
so that I might throw myself into his arms with everything
I have done and endured,
that he may forgive me for what
I have sinned against him,
against people and against my own soul.
Amen.
(P. Georg von Lengerke SŘMR /*1968/, Confiteor)
