Origin
The origin of the expression is from a prayer of confession of sinfulness used in the Mass of the Roman Catholic Church known as Confiteor (Latin for "I confess"), of which the first evidence dates from shortly before 1100. The phrase "mea culpa" appears in the prayer from the 16th century. The Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite text of the prayer is (with the new approved 2010 ICEL English translation, recently put into use) :
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The text in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (pre-1970) is (with unofficial English translation):
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Those saying the prayer beat their breast at the italicized words. The pre-1970 Roman Missal specified that that should be done three times. Anglican Missals have the same prayer, such as the Church of England.
Read more about this topic: Mea Culpa
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