UNIVERSAL PRAYER
CONFESSION OF SINS AND ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS
Introduction
The Holy Father:
Brothers and Sisters,
let us turn with trust to God our Father,
who is
merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger, great in love and fidelity,
and
ask him to accept the repentance of his people
who humbly confess their
sins,
and to grant them mercy.
All pray for a moment in silence.
I. CONFESSION OF SINS IN GENERAL
A representative of the Roman Curia
Let us pray that our confession and repentance
will be inspired by the Holy
Spirit,
that our sorrow will be conscious and deep,
and that, humbly viewing
the sins of the past
in an authentic "purification of memory",
we
will be committed to the path of true conversion.
Silent prayer.
The Holy Father:
Lord God,
your pilgrim Church,
which you ever sanctify in the blood of
your Son,
counts among her children in every age
members whose holiness
shines brightly forth
and members whose disobedience to you
contradicts
the faith we profess and the Holy Gospel.
You, who remain ever faithful,
even
when we are unfaithful,
forgive our sins
and grant that we may bear true
witness to you
before all men and women.
We ask this through Christ our
Lord.
R. Amen.
Cantor:
Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie eleison.
The assembly repeats:
Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie eleison.
A lamp is lit before the Crucifix.
II. CONFESSION OF SINS COMMITTED IN THE SERVICE
OF TRUTH
A representative of the Roman Curia:
Let us pray that each one of us,
looking to the
Lord Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
will recognize that even men of the
Church,
in the name of faith and morals,
have sometimes used methods not
in keeping with the Gospel
in the solemn duty of defending the truth.
Silent prayer.
The Holy Father:
Lord, God of all men and women,
in certain periods
of history
Christians have at times given in to intolerance
and have not
been faithful to the great commandment of love,
sullying in this way the
face of the Church, your Spouse.
Have mercy on your sinful children
and
accept our resolve
to seek and promote truth in the gentleness of charity,
in
the firm knowledge that truth
can prevail only in virtue of truth itself.
We
ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
R. Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie
eleison.
A lamp is lit before the Crucifix.
III. CONFESSION OF SINS WHICH HAVE HARMED THE
UNITY OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
A representative of the Roman Curia:
Let us pray that our recognition of the sins
which
have rent the unity of the Body of Christ
and wounded fraternal charity
will
facilitate the way to reconciliation
and communion among all Christians.
Silent prayer.
The Holy Father:
Merciful Father,
on the night before his Passion
your
Son prayed for the unity of those who believe in him:
in disobedience to his
will, however,
believers have opposed one another, becoming divided,
and
have mutually condemned one another and fought against one another.
We
urgently implore your forgiveness
and we beseech the gift of a repentant
heart,
so that all Christians, reconciled with you and with one another
will
be able, in one body and in one spirit,
to experience anew the joy of full
communion.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
R. Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie
eleison.
A lamp is lit before the Crucifix.
IV. CONFESSION OF SINS AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF
ISRAEL
A representative of the Roman Curia:
Let us pray that, in recalling the sufferings
endured
by the people of Israel throughout history,
Christians will acknowledge the
sins
committed by not a few of their number
against the people of the
Covenant and the blessings,
and in this way will purify their hearts.
Silent prayer.
The Holy Father:
God of our fathers,
you chose Abraham and his
descendants
to bring your Name to the Nations:
we are deeply saddened by
the behaviour of those
who in the course of history
have caused these
children of yours to suffer,
and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit
ourselves
to genuine brotherhood
with the people of the Covenant.
We
ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen
R. Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie
eleison.
A lamp is lit before the Crucifix.
V. CONFESSION OF SINS COMMITTED IN ACTIONS
AGAINST LOVE, PEACE, THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLES, AND RESPECT FOR CULTURES AND
RELIGIONS
A representative of the Roman Curia:
Let us pray that contemplating Jesus,
our Lord and
our Peace,
Christians will be able to repent of the words and attitudes
caused
by pride, by hatred,
by the desire to dominate others,
by enmity towards
members of other religions
and towards the weakest groups in society,
such
as immigrants and itinerantes
Silent prayer.
The Holy Father:
Lord of the world, Father of all,
through your Son
you asked us to love our enemies,
to do good to those who hate us
and
to pray for those who persecute us.
Yet Christians have often denied the
Gospel;
yielding to a mentalíty of power,
they have violated the rights
of ethnic groups and peoples,
and shown contempt for their cultures and
religious traditions:
be patient and merciful towards us, and grant us your
forgiveness!
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
R. Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie,
eleison.
A lamp is lit before the Crucifix.
VI. CONFESSION OF SINS AGAINST THE DIGNITY OF
WOMEN AND THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE
A Representative of the Roman Curia:
Let us pray for all those who have suffered offences
against
their human dignity and whose rights have been trampled;
let us pray for
women, who are all too often humiliated and emarginated,
and let us
acknowledge the forms of acquiescence in these sins
of which Christians too
have been guilty.
Silent prayer.
The Holy Father:
Lord God, our Father,
you created the human being,
man and woman,
in your image and likeness
and you willed the diversity
of peoples
within the unity of the human family.
At times, however, the
equality of your sons
and daughters has not been acknowledged,
and
Christians have been guilty of attitudes
of rejection and exclusion,
consenting
to acts of discrimination
on the basis of racial and ethnic differences.
Forgive
us and grant us the grace to heal the wounds
still present in your community
on account of sin,
so that we will all feel ourselves to be your sons and
daughters.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
R. Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie,
eleison.
A lamp is lit before the Crucifix.
VII. CONFESSION OF SINS IN RELATION TO THE
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE PERSON
A Representative of the Roman Curia:
Let us pray for all the men and women of the world,
especially
for minors who are victims of abuse,
for the poor, the alienated, the
disadvantaged;
let us pray for those who are most defenceless,
the
unborn killed in their mother's womb
or even exploited for experimental
purposes
by those who abuse
the promise of biotechnology
and distort
the aims of science.
Silent prayer.
The Holy Father:
God, our Father,
you always bear the cry of the
poor.
How many times have Christians themselves not recognized you
in
the hungry, the thirsty and the naked,
in the persecuted, the imprisoned,
and
in those incapable of defending themselves,
especially in the first stages
of life.
For all those who bave committed acts of injustice
by trusting
in wealth and power
and showing contempt for the "little ones"
who
are so dear to you, we ask your fogiveness:
have mercy on us and accept our
repentance.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
R. Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie, eleison; Kyrie,
eleison.
A lamp is lit before the Crucifix.
Concluding Prayer
The Holy Father:
Most merciful Father,
your Son, Jesus Christ, the
judge of the living and the dead,
in the humility of his first coming
redeemed
humanity from sin
and in his glorious return he will demand an account of
every sin.
Grant that our forebears, our brothers and sisters,
and we,
your servants, who by the grace of the Holy Spirit
turn back to you in
whole-hearted repentance,
may experience your mercy and receive
the
forgiveness of our sins.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
As a sign of penance and veneration the Holy Father
embraces and kisses the Crucifix.
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