Examination of conscience for adults

An examination of conscience is a look back over your life since your last Confession, in the light of God’s commandments. You make it before Confession, calmly and with trust: it isn’t meant to make you anxious, but to help you bring God everything that needs his forgiveness.

Looking for St. Ignatius’s examen for every night? That’s a different prayer: the evening examen.

Before you start

Ask for light
Be still for a moment and ask the Holy Spirit to help you see your sins honestly, without fear and without excuses.
Look back to your last Confession
Go through the questions thinking of the time since your last good Confession. If it helps, jot down what you find and tear up the note afterwards.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1454
Notice what is grave
A sin is mortal when its matter is grave and it is committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent. Every mortal sin you remember is confessed, saying what it was and about how many times. Venial sins are good to confess too.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1857, 1456, 1458
Be sorry
Tell God you are sorry from the heart, and resolve, with his grace, not to sin again. Without sorrow there is no Confession.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1451

The questions

Read them slowly. Not every one will be for you: stop at the ones that touch you.

1. I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange gods before me.

Have I gone a long time without praying, or prayed only out of habit?
Have I deliberately doubted the faith, or denied it in front of others?
Have I consulted horoscopes, fortune-tellers, tarot or witchcraft, or put my trust in charms?
Have I put money, work, my phone or a person above God?
Have I received Communion while in grave sin?

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

Have I used the name of God, Our Lady or the saints without respect, or to curse?
Have I sworn falsely, or sworn without need?
Have I broken a promise or a vow made to God?
Have I spoken with contempt of God, the Church or holy things?

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

Have I missed Mass on a Sunday or a holy day of obligation without a serious reason?
Have I come late to Mass through carelessness, or let myself be distracted there on purpose?
Have I worked or shopped without need on Sunday, taking the day of rest away from God and my family?

4. Honor your father and your mother.

Have I disrespected my parents, or neglected them in old age or sickness?
If I have children: have I taught them the faith, corrected them patiently and given them a good example?
Have I neglected my husband or wife, or my family, for work, my phone or other things?
Have I kept my duties to my employer, to those who work for me and to just laws?

5. You shall not kill.

Have I hurt anyone, in deed or in word, or wished them harm?
Have I held on to resentment or hatred, or refused to forgive?
Have I had an abortion, or advised or helped anyone to have one?
Have I abused alcohol, drugs or food, or put my life or others’ in danger, for example while driving?
Have I led others into sin by my bad example?

6. You shall not commit adultery.

Have I had sexual relations outside marriage?
Have I been unfaithful to my husband or wife?
Have I committed impure acts, alone or with another person?
Have I looked at pornography?
In marriage: have I used contraception?

7. You shall not steal.

Have I stolen anything, or kept what isn’t mine? Have I given it back?
Have I cheated at work, on my taxes or in business?
Have I damaged other people’s things, or failed to pay my debts when I could?
Have I paid an unfair wage, or done badly the work I am paid to do well?
Have I wasted money, or been stingy with people in need?

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

Have I lied?
Have I spoken badly of others, or told their faults without need?
Have I slandered anyone or damaged their good name? Have I made it right?
Have I passed on gossip or rumors, in person or on social media?
Have I judged others harshly without reason?

9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

Have I deliberately entertained impure thoughts or desires?
Have I sought out films, shows, music or conversations that feed those desires?
Have I been immodest in how I dress, speak or act?

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

Have I envied what others have, or been glad at their misfortune?
Have I wanted what belongs to others so much that I was ready to do something unjust to get it?
Have I been so attached to money or things that I forgot God and other people?

The five precepts of the Church

Have I let more than a year go by without going to Confession?
Have I failed to receive Communion in the Easter season?
Have I failed to fast or abstain from meat on the days the Church asks, when I was able to?
Have I failed to help the Church in its needs?

How to go to Confession, step by step

Make the Sign of the Cross and say, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.”
Say how long it has been since your last Confession.
Confess your sins simply: the grave ones first, with how many times, then the others. If you don’t know how to say something, ask the priest to help you.
Listen to the priest’s advice and the penance he gives you.
When he asks, pray the Act of Contrition.
The priest gives you absolution in God’s name. Answer, “Amen.”
Thank God, and do your penance as soon as you can.

Act of Contrition

You can pray it like this, or in your own words if the priest allows.

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; 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 confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

To go over the teaching behind these questions, Rosal explains it for families: the Ten Commandments in order, the five precepts of the Church and the seven deadly sins and their virtues.

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