The Act of Contrition — O My God, I Am Heartily Sorry

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 sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.

Amen.

About This Prayer

An "act of contrition" is simply a prayer of honest sorrow for sin, and Christians have been praying them since the Psalms. This traditional English text, memorized by generations, is prayed far beyond any one church setting — at bedsides, at the end of a hard day, in the quiet after a failure. Its wisdom is in its order: it names what went wrong, it tells the truth about why it matters ("most of all because they offend Thee"), and it does not stop at feeling sorry — it resolves, with God's help, to turn around. A few old words worth knowing: heartily means "from the heart," and the near occasions of sin are the situations you already know will pull you down.

In Plain Words

In your own words, this prayer says: God, I'm truly sorry — not just because of consequences, but because I've hurt You, and You are good and deserve my love. With Your help, I want to stop, and to stay away from the things that lead me back there.

A Verse to Hold On To

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." — Psalm 51:17 (KJV)