Act of Contrition

An act of contrition is a Catholic prayer that expresses sorrow for sins. It may be used in a liturgical service or be used privately, especially in connection with an examination of conscience.

Special formulas for acts of contrition are in use in the Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican Churches.

The Catholic Church does not restrict the term "act of contrition" to any one formula. Its Handbook on Indulgences mentions as examples of approved formulas for an act of contrition the Confiteor, the Psalm De Profundis, the Psalm Miserere, the Gradual Psalms and the Penitential Psalms.

Read more about Act Of Contrition:  A Particular Latin Formula and Its English Translations, Other Formulas For Acts of Contrition, Anglican General Confession, Lutheran Formula

Famous quotes containing the words act of, act and/or contrition:

    To die is not to play a part in society; it is the act of a single person. Let us live and laugh among our friends; let us die and sulk among strangers.
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    For I choose that my remembrances of him should be pleasing, affecting, religious. I will love him as a glorified friend, after the free way of friendship, and not pay him a stiff sign of respect, as men do to those whom they fear. A passage read from his discourses, a moving provocation to works like his, any act or meeting which tends to awaken a pure thought, a flow of love, an original design of virtue, I call a worthy, a true commemoration.
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