Create in me the penitent spirit, Ahura Mazda

Not to sin is better than to expiate sin, I avow, Ahura Mazda. But if I have sinned through weakness of the flesh or ignorance or thoughtlessness or otherwise, I seek thy indulgence towards my human frailty. Teach me to atone for my sin, for atonement stunts the growth of sin and withers it like a tree.

If I have sinned against thy will, I repent. If I have sinned knowingly or unknowingly, I repent. If I have merely contemplated sin or if I have actually committed it, I repent. If I have sinned in thought or word or deed, I repent. If I have sinned pertaining to this world or the next, I repent. If I have left undone, what I should have done or done what I should not have done, of all such sins of omission and commission, I repent. I prostrate myself before thee in penitential prayer.

I plead guilty. I stand condemned before thee. I grieve over my sin. I mourn it. I have erred and I have fallen. I confess. I have given thee cause for offence. My sin has incurred thy condemnation. My sin weighs heavy on my heart. I cry my eyes out and my eyes rain tears. Loud confession with lips and bathing my face with a torrent of tears is of no avail, if my heart is not affected. But my penitence is not of mere words and tears. It comes from the deepest depths of contrite heart. Deep is the anguish I go through. I cannot exclude the painful memories of my sin from my thoughts. I lay sleepless at night. My penitent heart eats itself away. A wave of remorse and penitence surges through my heart. I pray for the remission of my sin. Hear in thy mercy the cry of my penitent heart, O Merciful Lord.

This page was last updated on Friday, February 11, 2005.