What to Say in Confession: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Whether it has been two weeks or twenty years, this walks you through the whole sacrament — the examination, the exact words to say, and what the priest will do. If you forget everything else, remember this: you can simply tell the priest it has been a long time and ask him to help you. He will.

Private by design: nothing you tap or check on this page is saved, sent, or logged anywhere. It clears when you leave.

Step 1 — Examine your conscience

Pick the examination that fits you, and go through it honestly. Tap items you want to remember to confess — the running count is just for you.

An examination of conscience is a prayerful review of one's life in the light of God's word and the teaching of the Catholic Church, undertaken to identify the sins to be confessed in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconci

First Commandment: I am the Lord your God. You shall not have other gods before me.

Second Commandment: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Have I used the name of God, Jesus, Mary, or the saints disrespectfully, as an exclamation, or in anger?
Have I blasphemed God or sacred things?
Have I sworn falsely, taken oaths lightly, or broken vows?
Have I been silent when others used God's name irreverently?
Have I broken religious vows or promises (baptismal, confirmation, marriage, religious life)?
Have I treated sacred objects, persons, places irreverently?

Third Commandment: Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

Have I missed Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day of Obligation through my own fault?
Have I arrived deliberately late or left early without serious reason?
Have I been inattentive, distracted, or irreverent during Mass?
Have I performed unnecessary servile work on Sunday?
Have I made Sunday a true day of rest, worship, family, and works of mercy?
Have I dressed appropriately for Mass?

Fourth Commandment: Honour your father and your mother.

Have I disobeyed, disrespected, or spoken harshly to my parents?
Have I neglected aged or sick parents, or failed to provide for them when able?
Have I, as a parent, neglected the religious formation of my children?
Have I, as a parent, failed to discipline my children or spoiled them?
Have I been a good example to my children in faith and morals?
Have I been disobedient or disrespectful to legitimate civil authorities (when their laws do not conflict with God's law)?
Have I been disobedient or disrespectful to the Pope, bishops, priests, or religious?
Have I, as an employer, treated employees with justice and respect?
Have I, as an employee, given honest work for honest wages?

Fifth Commandment: You shall not kill.

Sixth and Ninth Commandments: You shall not commit adultery. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife.

Seventh and Tenth Commandments: You shall not steal. You shall not covet your neighbour's goods.

Eighth Commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

The Precepts of the Church

Have I attended Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation?
Have I confessed my serious sins at least once a year?
Have I received Holy Communion at least once during the Easter season?
Have I observed the Church's days of fasting (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday) and abstinence (Fridays of Lent, and elsewhere as bound)?
Have I contributed to the material support of the Church?

Full examination page → Questions shown verbatim.

This examination is written for Catholic teenagers preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It covers the situations and choices that are especially common in the teen years — friendships, screens, family, school,

1. God first

Do I pray every day, even just for a few minutes?
Have I taken God's name in vain, used Jesus' or Mary's name as a curse word?
Have I been embarrassed of my Catholic faith in front of friends?
Have I made fun of religion, the Church, or priests?
Have I been involved in horoscopes, tarot, ouija boards, or anything occult?
Have I missed Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day through my own fault?
Have I been disrespectful or distracted during Mass — phone, talking, mocking?
Have I received Holy Communion when I knew I should have gone to confession first?

2. Family

Have I been disrespectful to my parents — eye-rolling, talking back, slamming doors, ignoring them?
Have I lied to my parents, snuck out, or done things I knew they had forbidden?
Have I been mean to a sibling — verbally, physically, on purpose?
Have I refused to help around the house when asked?
Have I taken family for granted, or used the family home as a hotel?
Have I been a bad example to younger siblings?

3. Friends and others

Have I bullied someone, in person or online?
Have I spread rumours or gossip?
Have I joined in mocking, excluding, or laughing at someone who didn't deserve it?
Have I held a grudge or refused to forgive someone?
Have I lied to or about a friend?
Have I made racist, sexist, or cruel jokes?
Have I been a fake friend — using someone for what they could give me?
Have I stood by silently while someone was being mistreated?

4. Screens, internet, and what I look at

Have I viewed pornography?
Have I sent or shared nude or sexual images of myself or others (sexting)?
Have I looked at things online that I knew were wrong — sexual content, violence for entertainment, content that makes me hate myself or others?
Have I masturbated?
Have I let my mind dwell on impure thoughts or fantasies?
Have I spent way too much time on screens — phone, games, social media — to the neglect of prayer, family, school, or sleep?
Have I cheated, lied, or hurt someone through what I posted or sent online?

5. Dating and dignity

Have I crossed physical boundaries with a boyfriend or girlfriend that I knew were wrong?
Have I had sex outside of marriage?
Have I used another person — body or emotions — for my own pleasure or ego?
Have I dressed deliberately to provoke lust in others?
Have I treated my body as a possession rather than as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)?
Have I treated members of the opposite sex (or same sex) as objects rather than as persons made in God's image?

6. Honesty, school, work

Have I cheated on tests, homework, or essays — including by using AI to do my work?
Have I plagiarised?
Have I stolen anything — even small things?
Have I lied to teachers, coaches, employers?
Have I damaged property and not made amends?
Have I been lazy, refusing to do my best at school or work?
Have I treated teachers, coaches, or employers with disrespect?

7. Self and substances

Have I used drugs, vaped, or drunk alcohol underage?
Have I driven under the influence or while distracted?
Have I harmed myself — cutting, eating disorders, deliberate risk-taking?
Have I despaired or had thoughts of suicide and not told a trusted adult?
Have I treated my body as something disposable, instead of as God's gift to be cared for?
Have I been so wrapped up in my own image that I forgot about others' needs?

Full examination page → Questions shown verbatim.

The sacrament of Matrimony is a vocation — a calling from God in which spouses become the means of each other's sanctification and the principal educators of their children. This examination focuses on the duties and gra

1. Faithful love

Have I been unfaithful to my spouse — physically, emotionally, or in the secret thoughts and fantasies of my heart?
Have I formed an emotional or romantic attachment outside the marriage?
Have I viewed pornography or maintained a secret life online?
Have I been chaste in heart and eye toward others?
Have I treated my spouse as the most important person in my life, after God?

2. Communication and the daily life of love

Have I spoken to my spouse with respect, patience, and gentleness?
Have I listened to my spouse when they needed to be heard?
Have I let resentments, sarcasm, or contempt enter my words?
Have I withheld affection, conversation, or sexual intimacy out of anger?
Have I refused to apologise when I was wrong, or to forgive when forgiveness was asked?
Have I taken my spouse for granted?
Have I prayed for my spouse — and with my spouse?

3. Openness to life

Have I used artificial contraception, or been sterilised for contraceptive purposes?
Have I procured or assisted in an abortion?
Have I refused to consider another child for selfish reasons rather than serious ones?
Have I, when there were serious reasons to space births, used Natural Family Planning in a way that remained open to God's will?
Have I welcomed each child God has entrusted to us?
Have I, if we have struggled with infertility, sought morally licit treatments and trusted in God's plan?

4. Parenting and the domestic church

Have I taught my children to pray and brought them faithfully to Sunday Mass?
Have I given my children good religious instruction at home?
Have I been a good example to them in patience, honesty, kindness, and faith?
Have I been a bad example to them in anger, vulgarity, gossip, or contempt of others?
Have I spent meaningful time with my children, not just provided for them materially?
Have I disciplined my children with patience and firmness, neither harshly nor permissively?
Have I respected my children's growing freedom and their own vocations?
Have I, if my children have strayed from the faith, continued to love them and pray for them rather than abandon them?

5. Household, finances, and work

Have I shared the burdens of housework, parenting, and family management fairly?
Have I been honest with my spouse about money?
Have I been greedy, materialistic, or in debt through irresponsible spending?
Have I overworked to the neglect of my family?
Have I shared in the works of mercy as a family?
Have I helped my spouse and children to grow in their relationship with God?

Full examination page → Questions shown verbatim.

The single life is itself a vocation — a season (and for some, a lifelong call) in which one's whole life is offered to God and lived in service. This examination addresses the questions that are particular to single Cat

1. Prayer and the practice of the faith

Have I built a daily rhythm of prayer?
Have I attended Sunday Mass faithfully, even when travelling, busy, or living far from family?
Have I gone to confession regularly?
Have I made spiritual reading and serious study of the faith part of my life?
Have I sought a spiritual director or a wise confessor?

2. Vocation

Have I prayed about my vocation, or have I avoided the question?
Have I been open to whatever God is calling me to, or have I closed off certain possibilities (priesthood, religious life) without serious consideration?
Have I, if pursuing marriage, dated with seriousness — looking for a spouse, not just companionship or pleasure?
Have I, if discerning religious life, taken concrete steps (retreats, visits, conversation with a vocations director)?
Have I let fear, comfort, or self-will keep me from following where God is calling?

3. Chastity

Have I had sexual relations outside of marriage?
Have I cohabited with a romantic partner?
Have I viewed pornography?
Have I masturbated, or deliberately consented to impure thoughts and fantasies?
Have I led another person into sin by my conduct, dress, or words?
Have I, if dating, treated my boyfriend or girlfriend as a person to love rather than a body to enjoy?
Have I respected the dignity of every person I have known intimately?
Have I refused the help of friendship, accountability, the sacraments, or a counsellor when struggling with chastity?

4. Friendship, family, community

Have I been a faithful and reliable friend?
Have I been present to my parents, especially as they age?
Have I been generous with my time toward siblings, nieces, nephews, godchildren?
Have I served my parish or wider community?
Have I let loneliness make me bitter, cynical, or self-pitying?
Have I let busyness or career replace deep relationships?

5. Work, money, time

Have I worked honestly and well, as for the Lord (Colossians 3:23)?
Have I made an idol of career, success, or ambition?
Have I been greedy, materialistic, indulgent?
Have I been generous with the poor, the Church, and those in need?
Have I wasted time on entertainment, screens, or trivialities to the neglect of prayer and growth?
Have I used the freedom of single life as God intended — for service, for prayer, for growth — or have I used it merely for myself?

Full examination page → Questions shown verbatim.

The Ten Commandments, given by God to Moses at Sinai (Exodus 20:1-17) and confirmed by Jesus as the path of eternal life (Matthew 19:17-19), are the most ancient and universal framework for Catholic moral self-examinatio

1. I am the Lord your God: you shall have no strange gods before me.

Have I given God daily prayer, weekly Mass, and the first place in my heart?
Have I doubted or denied the faith, dabbled in the occult, or made any creature an idol?

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Have I used God's, Jesus', or Mary's name irreverently, or sworn falsely?
Have I broken vows or treated sacred things with disrespect?

3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

Have I missed Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day of Obligation through my own fault?
Have I made the Lord's Day a true day of worship, rest, and family?

4. Honour your father and your mother.

Have I honoured my parents (or, as a parent, my children) in word and deed?
Have I been a citizen of integrity and a faithful member of the Church?

5. You shall not kill.

Have I procured, assisted in, or supported abortion, euthanasia, or any unjust killing?
Have I held hatred, refused forgiveness, harmed others physically or verbally, or harmed my own life by reckless behaviour?

6. You shall not commit adultery.

Have I been unfaithful in body or in heart to my spouse or to the call to chastity in my state of life?
Have I committed sins against chastity — by act, image, thought, or speech?

7. You shall not steal.

Have I taken, kept, or damaged what belongs to another, or cheated in business, school, or taxes?
Have I made restitution where I owe it?

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

Have I lied, gossiped, slandered, or judged others rashly?
Have I made amends for damage I have done to anyone's good name?

9. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife.

Have I consented to impure thoughts, fantasies, or desires?
Have I deliberately put myself in occasions of sin against chastity?

10. You shall not covet your neighbour's goods.

Have I been envious of what others have — wealth, status, looks, success?
Have I been greedy, attached to possessions, or unwilling to share?

Full examination page → Questions shown verbatim.

This is an examination of conscience for the Sacrament of Penance for the very first time — usually for a child in second grade preparing for First Reconciliation, but also useful for adults who are being received into t

How to begin

Did I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength?
Did I love my neighbour as myself?
Have there been times when I chose myself instead of God or others?

Loving God

Did I pray every day?
Did I miss Mass on Sunday because I didn't want to go?
Did I behave at Mass with reverence?
Did I use God's name, or Jesus's name, in a careless or angry way?
Did I treat sacred things — the church, the Bible, the Eucharist — with respect?

Loving family

Did I obey my parents?
Was I respectful when speaking to my parents and grandparents?
Did I help when asked, without complaining?
Did I fight with my brothers or sisters?
Did I hurt anyone in my family by my words or actions?

Loving others

Did I hurt someone with my hands, or with my words?
Did I bully or make fun of anyone?
Did I refuse to share or help when I should have?
Did I refuse to forgive someone who said sorry?

Telling the truth

Did I tell a lie?
Did I cheat in school?
Did I blame someone else for something I did?

Honesty about things

Did I take something that didn't belong to me?
Did I break something on purpose?
Did I keep something I knew belonged to somebody else?

What I look at and say

Did I look at things on a screen or in a book that I knew I shouldn't?
Did I say bad words?
Did I tell jokes or stories that made fun of other people?

Full examination page → Questions shown verbatim.

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) are the heart of the Sermon on the Mount and what the Catechism calls 'the very heart of Jesus' preaching' (CCC 1716). They ‘take up and fulfill God's promises from Abraham on, by di

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Have I depended on God, or have I trusted in my own resources, abilities, and possessions?
Have I lived with detachment from material things, or have I been attached to them?
Have I shared generously with the poor?
Have I been free of pride in my talents and successes, recognising them as gifts?

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Have I genuinely grieved over my sins, or merely felt embarrassed when caught?
Have I been moved by the suffering of others?
Have I sought God's consolation in my own losses and grief, or have I despaired?
Have I accompanied those in sorrow, or kept my distance?

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Have I controlled my anger, or have I let it master me?
Have I been gentle in word and deed?
Have I treated those who opposed me with patience rather than retaliation?
Have I refused to take revenge?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Have I genuinely desired to grow in holiness, or have I been content with mediocrity?
Have I cultivated prayer, the sacraments, spiritual reading, and works of mercy as the food of the soul?
Have I sought God's will above my own?
Have I worked for justice in the world around me?

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Have I forgiven those who have wronged me — or do I hold grudges?
Have I performed the corporal works of mercy: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, bury the dead?
Have I performed the spiritual works of mercy: instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish sinners, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offences, comfort the afflicted, pray for the living and the dead?
Have I shown mercy to those who do not deserve it — as God has shown mercy to me?

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Have I been single-minded in seeking God?
Have I kept my eyes, my imagination, and my heart from impurity?
Have my motives been pure, or have I served God for the praise of others?
Have I cultivated modesty in dress, speech, and conduct?

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

Have I been a peacemaker in my family, friendships, workplace?
Have I stirred up division, gossip, or factionalism?
Have I sought to reconcile estranged people?
Have I prayed and worked for peace in the world?

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Have I been willing to suffer rejection, mockery, or loss for the sake of the truth and of Christ?
Have I been silent when I should have spoken up for the faith, for the unborn, for the poor, for the persecuted?
Have I prayed for those who are persecuted for the faith today?
Have I, when small humiliations have come my way, accepted them in union with Christ on the Cross?

Full examination page → Questions shown verbatim.

Step 2 — In the confessional

Go at a scheduled confession time (Saturday afternoon is most common). Most parishes let you choose between kneeling behind the screen or sitting face-to-face; where the confessional offers only one arrangement, either is a valid way to confess. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, then say:

“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been [weeks / months / years] since my last confession. These are my sins:”

Step 3 — Confess your sins

Say each sin simply and honestly, with roughly how often — “I lied to my spouse three times,” “I missed Sunday Mass twice.” No speeches, no excessive detail. When you're done, say:

“For these and all my sins, I am truly sorry.”

Step 4 — Listen and receive your penance

The priest may offer brief counsel, then gives you a penance — usually a short prayer or act of charity. If you didn't catch it, just ask him to repeat it.

Step 5 — Pray the Act of Contrition

The priest will invite you to express your sorrow. The most common version (it's fine to read it):

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee,
and I detest all my sins because of thy just punishments,
but most of all because they offend thee, my God,
who art all good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace,
to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.

About this prayer →

The priest then prays the prayer of absolution — your sins are forgiven. Answer “Amen,” receive his dismissal (“Go in peace”), and complete your penance soon after.

Ready? Find confession times near you

Real schedules from parishes near you — most offer confession this week.

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Common questions

What do you say in confession?

Begin with: "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been [weeks, months or years] since my last confession. These are my sins." State each sin simply, with rough frequency, and end with: "For these and all my sins, I am truly sorry." The priest takes it from there.

What if I've been away from confession for years?

Tell the priest exactly that — "Father, it has been twenty years, and I need help." Priests hear this often and will gladly walk you through every step. Coming back after a long time is a joy for the Church, not an embarrassment.

Is anything I check on this page saved?

No. The checkboxes on this page are only on your screen — nothing is stored, sent, or logged, and everything clears the moment you leave the page.

Full guide to confession → All examinations of conscience → Confession times near you →

What to Say in Confession: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Step 1 — Examine your conscience

Step 2 — In the confessional

Step 3 — Confess your sins

Step 4 — Listen and receive your penance

Step 5 — Pray the Act of Contrition

Ready? Find confession times near you

Common questions

What do you say in confession?

What if I've been away from confession for years?

Is anything I check on this page saved?

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