Confessiones.
A Plea for Divine Mercy
The penitent acknowledges their profound sinfulness and appeals to God's mercy rather than His judgment.
O Lord, I have sinned greatly in many ways, and I have acted wickedly, grieving your Holy Spirit. I have provoked the depths of your mercy through my thoughts, words, and actions, both day and night, openly and in secret. O, if you were to set my sins before me; O, if you were to demand an account of the sins I've committed knowingly that cannot be forgiven, what would I do? Where can I flee? But O Lord, don't accuse me in your wrath, nor chastise me in your anger. Have mercy on me, not only because I am weak, but because I am your creation. I beseech you, do not bring me into judgment with your servant; for if you keep track of iniquities, O Lord, O Lord, who can stand in judgment? Not I, certainly, if anyone else.
The Ocean of Sin and the Abundance of Grace
The speaker confesses the depth of their corruption and places their trust in the restorative power of God's grace.
For I am a vast ocean of sin, and I am not worthy to look up to heaven because of the multitude of my sins, which are countless; they are reproaches, injustices, and so on. And besides, there are a thousand other shameful passions from which I have not ceased. For which of them have I not been corrupted by sin? Which of them have I not been bound by evil? I have become useless to you, my God, and to others. Who will raise me up after such a fall? In you, Lord, I trust, for you are my God: be my Savior according to the depths of your compassion, and have mercy on me according to your great mercy; do not repay me according to my deeds, but turn to me, and I to you. Forgive everything I have sinned against you: save me for the sake of your mercy, and where sin has abounded, let your grace abound even more; and I will praise and glorify you all the days of my life.
The God of Repentant Sinners
A concluding doxology affirming God as the Savior of those who repent.
For you are the God of those who repent and the Savior of sinners. To you be glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Read the original Latin
O Domine, in multis deliqui, & improbe egi, & tristitia affeci spiritum tuum sanctum. Exacerbavi viscera clementiae tuae, cogitatione, sermone, opere, noctu & interdiu, palam & in occulto, consult…& in consulto. O si constituas peccata mea in conspectu meo; O si rationem a me exigas peccatorum in se non ignoscibilium, quae scienter commisi, quid faciam? quo fugiam? Sed O Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me, nec in ira tua corripias me. Miserere mei, non solum quia infirmus sum, sed quia figmentum sum tuum. Obsecro t…, ne intres in judicium cum servo tuo: si enim iniquitates observaveris Domine, Domine, quis in judicio consistet? Non ego certe, si quis alius.
Ego enim sum peccati pelagus, & non sum dignus in coelum suspicere prae multitudine peccatorum meorum, quorum non est numerus; probra, injuriae, &c. et mille praeterea nefandae passiones sunt, a quibus non destiti. Quibus enim non corruptus sum peccatis? Quibus non sum constrictus malis? Inutilis factus sum tibi Deo meo, & hominibus. Quis me in talia prolapsum suscitabit? In te, Domine, confido, qui es Deus meus: esto mihi Salvator secundum viscera compassionis tuae, & miserere mei secundum magnam misericordia tuam, & ne retribuas mihi secundum opera mea, sed converte te ad me, me ad te. Remitte omnia quae in te peccavi: serva me propter misericordiam tuam, & ubi abundavit peccatum, superabundet grat…tua; & laudabo & glorificabo te per omnes dies vitae meae.
Tu enim es Deus poenitentium, & Salvator peccantium. Tibi gloria per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
A Summarie of Devotions companion
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