This last reflection on the infinite goodness of God, if dwelt on with due attention, cannot fail to inflame your heart with an unfeigned love of Him for his own sake, _the purest and best of all motives_. Whilst the heart is thus softened by divine love into compunction for your sins, form an unshaken resolution of never more offending him, of doing your utmost to amend your life, of satisfying for your sins, and of repairing any injury you may have done your neighbour, either in his character or property. If, with these sentiments glowing in your breast, you cast yourself at the feet of your confessor and reveal to him all the sins you can recollect, _with tears_ of compunction, and in a truly penitential spirit, be assured you shall return _with joy_ from the tribunal of confession, and feel realized in yourself the consoling promise of the Holy Spirit, that "_They who sow in tears, shall reap in joy_." Psalm cxxv. At The Confession. Begin by devoutly making the sign of the cross, + saying at the same time, _Bless me, O Father, for I have sinned_. {92} Then repeat the _Confiteor_, or "I confess to the Almighty," &c. till you come to the words, "_through my fault,_" at which strike your breast, glowing with compunction, like the humble publican in the gospel; and so proceed to accuse yourself with candour and sincerity, telling first how long it is since you were last at confession, whether you were then absolved, (a circumstance of the utmost importance, which many are too negligent in attending to,) and whether you performed your penance. Having confessed all the sins you can remember, listen with docility to your confessor, whilst he endeavours to excite you to contrition, and prescribes the various means, either of atoning for the sins you have confessed, or of preventing future relapses. Prayers Before Confession. We are taught by the holy Council of Trent, that those who would obtain the grace of justification, should be thus disposed: they must have faith; they must fear the justice of God; they must hope for mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord; they must begin to love God; they must hate sin; they must sincerely resolve to change their lives, and keep the commandments. To infuse these necessary dispositions into the soul of the penitent, is the intent of the following prayers: