23 July 2011

Prayers for Confessors

In a short while I will enter the confessional of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace before offering the Holy Mass.
With this in my mind, I thought I would pass along the following Priest's Prayer Before Hearing Confessions that I recently found in the Congregation for the Clergy's recent document, The Priest, Minister of Divine Mercy: An Aid for Confessors and Spiritual Directors:
Grant to me, O Lord, that wisdom which stands beside Your throne, that I may know how to judge Your people with justice, and Your poor ones with equity.  Let me so use the keys of the Kingdom of heaven that I may open to no one upon whom they should shut, nor close them to any for whom they should open.  May my intention be pure, my zeal sincere, my charity patient, my labor fruitful.
Let be gentle without weakness, severe without harshness.  Let me not disdain the poor; nor fawn the rich.  Make me kind that I may attract sinners, prudent in questioning them, adroit in directing them.
Grant, I beseech You, skill to lead them back from sin, zeal in confirming them in good, diligence in elevating them to better things.  Grant me good judgment in answering questions, correctness in counseling.  Give me light when things are obscure, wisdom when they are entangled, victory when they are difficult.  May I myself be not lost.
There is also this following Priest's Prayer After Hearing Confessions:
Lord Jesus Christ, sweet lover and sanctifier of souls, I pray You, through the infusion of the Holy Spirit, to purify my heart from ever dissolute feeling or thought and to replace, through Your infinite compassion and mercy, everything in my ministry which may be a cause of sin, due to my ignorance or neglect.  I commend to Your ammiable wounds all the souls whom You have brought to repentance and sanctified through Your precious blood so that You may guard them from every sin and keep in Your love all who fear You, promote in them each day more virtues, and bring them to everlasting life.  You who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for every and ever.  Amen.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, receive this performance of my ministry with that surpassing love with which You absolved blessed Mary Magdalene and all sinners flying to You.  Whatever in the administration of this Sacrament I may have performed negligently and unworthily, deign to supply and satisfy.  I recommend to Your most Sacred Heart all and each who have now confessed to me, asking You to guard them from relapse.  After the misery of this life lead them with me into the joys of eternal life.  Amen.

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