Contrition is, says the Catechism, the first of the acts of the penitent: before confession, before penance, “in his heart, contrition”[1]. The Council of Trent defines it in a single stroke: “sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolve not to sin again”[2]. It is the gateway to all forgiveness — and it is doubtless, of the whole vocabulary of the spiritual life, one of the words most misunderstood today.
For the word has slipped. In a culture that hardly knows any language but that of guilt and feeling, “to be contrite” evokes a jumble of gnawing remorse, the feeling of shame, the tears one supposedly ought to shed, the contempt one bears oneself, the rumination over one's faults. People imagine an emotion — the more intense, the more “genuine” it would be. And they hesitate between two excesses: believing themselves contrite because they feel bad, or despairing of ever being so because they feel nothing.
“The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit; a broken and crushed heart, O God, you will not reject.” — Psalm 50:19[3]
Yet contrition, in the Catholic tradition, is neither a feeling nor an emotional performance: it is an act of the will, a sorrow of the soul turned toward God offended and toward His mercy, inseparable from a resolve — that of sinning no more. This article reviews the most frequent misunderstandings about contrition, grouped according to whether they concern its nature, its motives and degrees, or the firm purpose of amendment and confession. For each, it states the error in its common formulation, shows why it is appealing, why it is false, and then recalls what the Church truly teaches.
This is neither a florilegium nor a practical guide: for the saints' own voice on the contrite heart, see What the Saints Say About Contrition; for the detailed nature of contrition, its components, its spiritual pitfalls, and its concrete means of growth, see How to Grow in Contrition. Here, as in the twin articles of the series — Common Misconceptions About Penance and Common Misconceptions About Regular Confession — we clear the ground: we first learn to recognize counterfeit coins in order to receive the true gold all the better.
Why Is Contrition So Misunderstood?
A word of the Church turned into a word of psychology
The first misunderstanding is one of vocabulary. Contrition is a precise theological term; but the modern ear hears it through the filter of psychology. “Guilt,” “remorse,” “bad conscience,” “shame”: all words denoting affective states, pleasant or painful, which one undergoes. People spontaneously place contrition in that family, as one “feeling of fault” among others — something one feels, measures, and which one ought, moreover, often to “get over” in order to be at peace with oneself.
But contrition is not an affective state one undergoes: it is a free act one performs. The Catechism places it among the “acts of the penitent”[4], not among his emotions. The Council of Trent insists on this expressly: contrition is not “wrung out and forced” but “free and voluntary”[5]. Confusing the virtue with the passion that sometimes accompanies it is the mother error from which nearly all the following ones derive.
A sorrow imagined as spectacular
Second misunderstanding, more intimate: people imagine contrition in the guise of a strong emotion. The word “sorrow” evokes tears, sobbing, a tight heart; and they suppose that genuine contrition must be accompanied by a sensible upheaval proportionate to the gravity of the sin. Hence two symmetrical dead ends: the one who weeps abundantly believes himself contrite though he may have changed nothing in his will; the one who feels nothing believes himself incapable of contrition and grieves over it.
The Church, for her part, places contrition in the will, not in sensibility. Saint Thomas distinguishes in contrition a “twofold sorrow”: one, “which is essentially contrition, affects the will” and “is nothing other than displeasure at past sin”; the other, “in sensibility,” is only its reverberation, and “it is not necessary that this sensible sorrow […] be the greatest of sorrows”[6]. One can therefore be fully contrite without a tear, and melt into tears without being so: everything is decided in the will.
Errors About the Nature of Contrition
“Contrition means feeling guilty, experiencing remorse”
This is the most widespread error: to be contrite would mean experiencing that inner weight, that unease, that remorse which follows the fault. Contrition is then confused with the feeling of guilt, and people conclude that whoever “feels guilty” is contrite, while whoever feels no trouble is not. The error is appealing because it is immediate: guilt is felt; one need only register it.
But remorse and contrition are two different things, sometimes even opposites. Remorse is a passion, a painful turning back of conscience upon the evil committed; it can exist without any conversion — Judas felt remorse, says the Gospel, and went and hanged himself[7]. Contrition, on the other hand, is an act of the will with three features that mere remorse lacks: “detestation for the sin committed,” the “resolution not to sin again,” and trust in God's mercy[8]. The Council of Trent specifies: this movement “prepares for the forgiveness of sins if it is joined with trust in the divine mercy and with the desire to do everything else required”[9]. A remorse that despairs is not contrition: it is its contrary. Contrition looks at the past to turn away from it and to the future to change it; it “touches the past and the future” and “is nourished by hope in the divine mercy”[10]. The distinction between contrition and sterile remorse is developed in How to Grow in Contrition.
“Without tears or strong emotion, there is no true contrition”
An affective variant of the previous one: to be real, contrition would have to be accompanied by tears, a constricted heart, a sensible upheaval. People admire the “tears of Saint Peter,” they cite the gift of tears of the saints, and deduce that a dry contrition, without emotion, would be suspect or worthless. The error is appealing because it rests on genuine biblical models: Peter “went out and wept bitterly”[11], and the Psalm bathes his couch in tears[12].
But the Scripture that shows tears does not command them. What it demands is the heart: “Rend your hearts and not your garments”[13]. Saint Thomas established this with precision: the essential sorrow of contrition belongs to the will, and the sorrow of sensibility — tears — is only its occasional overflow, “which is not necessarily the greatest of sorrows”[14]. Saint Catherine of Siena says the same thing in one luminous phrase: it is not the suffering experienced that satisfies for the fault — “an infinite suffering is powerless” — but desire: “infinite desire is required”[15].
“But it is with the desire of the soul that one expiates, it is by true contrition, it is by regret for sin that one satisfies for the fault and the punishment. An infinite suffering is powerless; infinite desire is required.” — The Eternal Father to Saint Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue[16]
Contrition is therefore measured by esteem — by what the will values as most grave — and not by the intensity of feeling. Desiring the gift of tears is good; confusing it with contrition is an error. On this well-ordered desire for tears, see How to Grow in Contrition.
“To be contrite means being ashamed of the consequences of one's fault”
An error of motive, very common and often unnoticed: people take for contrition the regret born of the unpleasant consequences of sin — fear of being found out, social shame, remorse at having harmed oneself, disgust at having damaged one's reputation or health. They truly suffer; but they suffer from what sin cost them, not from having offended God. The error is appealing because this suffering is sincere and, from the outside, resembles repentance.
But Saint Paul cut through the distinction in a single stroke: there is a sorrow “according to God” and a sorrow “according to the world,” and they do not lead to the same place.
“Godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly sorrow produces death.” — Saint Paul, Second Letter to the Corinthians 7:10[17]
The Catechism draws the rule from this: repentance “must be inspired by motives that spring from faith”[18]. A purely natural sorrow — fear of consequences, wounded self-love — may accompany contrition, but it is not its mainspring. The penitent of the Psalm does not say “I have ruined my life” but “against you, you alone, have I sinned”[19] he looks at the offense done to God before the harm suffered. It is this theological gaze that transforms worldly regret into contrition.
“Contrition means endlessly rehashing one's sins and despising oneself”
An error opposite to laxity, lying in wait for scrupulous souls: to be truly contrite would mean constantly returning to one's faults, accusing oneself harshly, humbling oneself to the point of self-disgust, maintaining inner turmoil as proof of seriousness. People confuse the depth of contrition with harshness toward oneself. The error is appealing because it wears the appearances of humility and rigor: whoever treats himself harshly seems to take sin seriously.
But this tense repentance is not Christian contrition; it is even a dangerous counterfeit of it. Saint Francis de Sales denounced it with finesse: repentance that grows irritated with oneself is measured not by the gravity of the fault but by our own moods, and it aggravates the evil instead of healing it.
True repentance, Saint Francis de Sales teaches, is a peaceful and firm displeasure: just as a judge punishes better by reason than by passion, the soul corrects itself better by a calm and constant repentance than by a bitter and hasty repentance, which is measured by our inclinations rather than by the gravity of our faults[20].
True contrition is born of wounded love, not of humiliated pride; it “is nourished by hope in the divine mercy”[21] and brings the soul back toward God, instead of locking it in the rumination of its miseries. “Let us therefore not trouble ourselves over our imperfections”[22], wrote the holy Bishop of Geneva again: lasting turmoil after a fault is a trap, not a virtue. The discernment between this despairing false contrition and peaceful contrition is treated as one of the “two pitfalls” in How to Grow in Contrition.
Errors About the Motives and Degrees of Contrition
“Attrition — fear of hell — is worthless, it is unworthy”
An error of contempt, inherited from a certain modern sensibility: repenting out of fear of damnation would be a base, self-interested, even hypocritical motive; only pure love would count. People therefore reject attrition — “imperfect” contrition born of fear of punishment or of the ugliness of sin — as cut-price repentance, unworthy of an adult Christian. The error is appealing because it seems demanding and noble: repenting only out of love.
But this is precisely the position the Council of Trent condemned. Far from being contemptible, attrition is “also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit”[23]. Trent goes so far as to anathematize those who call it hypocritical:
“Imperfect contrition, which is called attrition […] not only does it not make man a hypocrite and a greater sinner, but […] it is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit […] who comes to his aid, so that he may prepare for himself the way to justice.” — Council of Trent, Session XIV, ch. 4[24]
The Council recalls the example of the Ninevites, “usefully struck by this fear,” who “did complete penance at the terrifying preaching of Jonah and obtained mercy from the Lord”[25]. Fear of God is not the opposite of love: it is often its beginning. Attrition alone does not suffice to forgive grave sin, but it “disposes one to obtain” grace in the sacrament[26] — which is no small thing: it is the Holy Spirit already at work.
“Only perfect contrition counts; imperfect contrition is false contrition”
A subtler variant: people admit the existence of attrition, but hold it to be a “second-rate” contrition, barely valid, almost shameful — as if the sacrament of Penance truly operated only with perfect contrition. They come to doubt their confessions made “only” out of fear or duty. The error is appealing because it prizes the ideal; but it discourages and distorts the practice of the sacraments.
Yet the Church teaches exactly the opposite: attrition, joined to absolution, suffices for the remission of grave sins in the sacrament. Imperfect contrition “disposes one to obtain” forgiveness in Penance[27]; it is even the distinctive greatness of the sacrament that, through absolution, it can “bring to completion” under the action of grace a repentance still imperfect[28]. The Council of Trent names the two motives of attrition — “the ugliness of sin” and “fear of hell and of punishments” — and declares them good provided they exclude the will to sin and are united to the hope of forgiveness[29]. Far from despising attrition, the Church receives it as the ordinary threshold of confession. That is why the Council's canon 5 anathematizes anyone who claims that this contrition “is not a true and useful sorrow” and “makes man a hypocrite and a greater sinner”[30].
“Perfect contrition is reserved for the saints; it is impossible for me”
An error of discouragement: perfect contrition — born of the love of God loved above all things — would be an inaccessible summit, reserved for mystics, beyond the reach of the ordinary Christian. People give up asking for it in advance, convinced they are not capable of it. The error is appealing because it disguises itself as humility; in reality, it sets limits to God's generosity.
But perfect contrition is not a heroic feat: it is a grace offered, which one may ask for and receive at any moment. The Catechism defines it simply: “When it arises from the love of God loved above all else, contrition is called ‘perfect’”[31]. What is required is not a sensible love, or one perfect in every way, but a love which, at that moment, places God above sin. Saint Catherine of Siena teaches that contrition is measured by desire: “an infinite suffering is powerless; infinite desire is required”[32] — a desire, not an affective exploit. This contrition of charity has moreover a precious scope: it “also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins, if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible”[33]. Far from being reserved for an elite, it is the act that every faithful soul can perform — and which can, in case of necessity, reconcile the soul with God while awaiting the sacrament.
Errors About the Firm Purpose of Amendment and Confession
“The firm purpose of amendment requires the certainty of never falling again”
A logical error that paralyzes many delicate consciences: since contrition includes “the resolution not to sin again”[34], people conclude it would require certainty of never falling again. And since no one can guarantee the future, they doubt the sincerity of their contrition, even the validity of their confession. The error is appealing because it pushes a genuine requirement to the extreme.
But the “firm purpose” is not an infallible prediction of the future: it is a present and sincere will to break with sin and to avoid its occasions. The Council of Trent speaks of the “resolve not to sin again” and of the “resolve and the beginning of a new life”[35] — an orientation of the will, not a certainty about what follows. Conversion “touches the past and the future”[36] without abolishing human weakness: one can firmly will today what one may perhaps fail to keep tomorrow, without that present resolve being thereby a lie. What would ruin contrition is not the fear of falling again, but the settled will to go on sinning. The holy King David, raised up so many times, and Peter raised up after his denial[37] show that the true resolve is not the assurance of never stumbling, but the ever-renewed decision to turn back to God.
“If I have perfect contrition, I do not need to confess”
An error that wrongly claims support from a genuine truth. It is true that perfect contrition can reconcile the soul with God before the reception of the sacrament; people wrongly conclude from this that the Christian who has repented out of love would be dispensed from going to confession. The error is appealing because it leans on an authentic teaching of the Church — while forgetting its decisive condition.
For perfect contrition never dispenses from confession: it includes it. The Council of Trent is formal: even when this contrition reconciles before the sacrament, the merit must not be attributed to it alone:
“Nevertheless, this reconciliation must not be attributed to this contrition alone without the desire for the sacrament, a desire which is included in it.” — Council of Trent, Session XIV, ch. 4[38]
The Catechism repeats the condition word for word: contrition of charity obtains forgiveness of mortal sins “if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible”[39]. In other words, a perfect contrition that deliberately refused confession would no longer be perfect: it would be self-contradictory, for to love God above all things is also to will what He instituted for forgiveness. Perfect contrition does not abolish the sacrament; it anticipates its grace while awaiting submission to it. On the obligation and meaning of confession, see Common Misconceptions About Regular Confession and How to Make a Good Confession.
“Once absolved, contrition no longer matters”
A final error, more diffuse: contrition would be a “required passage” before absolution, but once sin is remitted it would be of no further use — a tollbooth one passes through and forgets. Contrition is reduced to an entrance formality of the confessional. The error is appealing for its convenience: it turns the Christian life into a series of one-time clearances, with no transformation of the heart.
But contrition is not a formality: it holds “the first place among the acts of the penitent”[40], it is the very soul of the whole process, and it extends far beyond the confessional. First, because it aims at a “new life” and the “hatred of the old life”[41] its fruit is not a moment but a lasting reorientation. Second, because the Church recommends frequent acts of contrition, and perfect contrition can, outside the sacrament, restore to God here and now the soul that cannot immediately reach a priest. The contrite heart is not a door one closes behind oneself: it is the permanent attitude of the forgiven sinner, who “is nourished by hope in the divine mercy”[42]. The habitual practice of acts of contrition is developed in How to Grow in Contrition.
Error and Truth at a Glance
The table below sums up the misunderstandings covered: on the left, the error in its common formulation; in the middle, what makes it false; on the right, what the Church truly teaches, with its source. It reads line by line, like a quick antidote to received ideas.
| The common error | Why it is false | What the Church teaches |
|---|---|---|
| Contrition means feeling guilty, experiencing remorse | Confuses an act of the will with a passion that can lead to despair (Judas) | “Sorrow of the soul and detestation for sin […] together with the resolution not to sin again” (CCC § 1451)[43] |
| Without tears or emotion, no true contrition | Confuses the sorrow of the will with its sensible reverberation | The essential sorrow lies in the will; tears are not required (Thomas, Suppl. q. 3 a. 1)[44] |
| To be contrite means being ashamed of the consequences | Confuses sorrow “according to the world” with sorrow “according to God” | Repentance must spring from “motives that arise from faith” (CCC § 1492; 2 Cor 7:10)[45] |
| Contrition means rehashing one's faults and despising oneself | Bitter repentance is measured by our moods, not by the fault | A peaceful and firm displeasure (Francis de Sales, Devout Life III, IX)[46] |
| Attrition (fear of hell) is worthless | Despises a motive prompted by the Holy Spirit | “Also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit” (CCC § 1453; Trent DS 1678)[47] |
| Only perfect contrition is valid | Forgets that attrition + absolution suffices for forgiveness | Attrition “disposes one to obtain” grace in the sacrament (CCC § 1453)[48] |
| Perfect contrition is reserved for the saints | Confuses a grace offered with an affective exploit | “When it arises from the love of God loved above all else” (CCC § 1452)[49] |
| The firm purpose of amendment requires certainty of never falling again | Confuses a present will with a prediction of the future | “Resolve not to sin […] and the beginning of a new life” (Trent DS 1676)[50] |
| Perfect contrition dispenses from confession | Forgets that the desire for the sacrament is included in this contrition | Forgiveness “if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse […] to confession” (CCC § 1452; Trent DS 1677)[51] |
| Once absolved, contrition is of no further use | Reduces to a formality the very soul of conversion | “The first place among the acts of the penitent” (Trent DS 1676)[52] |
Contrition, Attrition, Remorse, Repentance: Not to Be Confused
Many errors stem from blurry vocabulary, where one word is taken for another. A few classic distinctions suffice to dispel the haze. Contrition is the act of the penitent: the voluntary sorrow for sin joined to the resolve to sin no more. Repentance is its common synonym; the Catechism notes that “repentance (also called contrition) must be inspired by motives that spring from faith”[53]. Attrition is not another virtue: it is the name of imperfect contrition, born of fear or of the ugliness of sin, as opposed to “perfect” contrition born of charity[54].
Remorse, on the other hand, is not contrition: it is a passion, the painful turning back of conscience upon the evil committed, which can exist without any return to God — and which, left to itself, leads to despair rather than salvation. Likewise, psychological guilt is a feeling, not an act: one can undergo it without contrition, or be fully contrite without feeling it. Confusing contrition with remorse or guilt is exactly the error of nature already encountered. These words are therefore not synonyms: contrition and repentance name the salutary act of the will; attrition designates its imperfect degree; remorse and guilt are only passions, useful if they lead to contrition, dangerous if they take its place.
Restoring Contrition to Its True Greatness
Once the counterfeits are set aside, contrition appears in its light. Far from being a morbid burden or a formality, it is the first movement of the return to God — the moment when the sinner, like the prodigal son, “comes to himself” and resolves:
“I will rise and go to my father, and I will say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.” — Jesus, Gospel according to Saint Luke 15:18[55]
Everything else — confession, penance, reparation — flows from that instant when the will turns away from evil and back toward love.
That is why contrition is not sadness but hope: it “is nourished by hope in the divine mercy”[56]. The tax collector gives its model, who “beat his breast” without daring to raise his eyes and went down to his house a just man, unlike the self-assured Pharisee:
“O God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” — The tax collector, Gospel according to Saint Luke 18:13[57]
God does not ask for a heart that crushes itself, but for a heart that breaks open: “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit; a broken and crushed heart, O God, you will not reject”[58]. The Latin word contritio says precisely this: a heart ground to pieces, not to be destroyed, but to become malleable again in God's hands — “make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit”[59].
Such is the true greatness of contrition, the exact opposite of the caricatures that disfigured it: not an emotion to produce, nor a guilt to maintain, nor a self-contempt to cultivate, but a free and trusting act of the will — the sorrow of having offended Love, joined to the resolve to return and the hope of being received. “Rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”[60]. This torn yet trusting heart is one God never despises.
Further Reading
- What the Saints Say About Contrition — the florilegium: the voice of the Fathers, doctors, and mystics on the contrite heart and the gift of tears.
- How to Grow in Contrition — the practical guide: nature, components, two pitfalls, concrete means, fruits, and contrition according to Saint Catherine of Siena.
- Common Misconceptions About Penance — the twin article of the same series: the misunderstandings about penance and satisfaction.
- Common Misconceptions About Regular Confession — the misunderstandings about sacramental confession, in which contrition reaches its fulfillment.
- How to Make a Good Confession — the concrete path of the sacrament of reconciliation, from the examination of conscience to absolution.
Notes and References
Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1450: “‘Penance requires the sinner to endure all things willingly: in his heart, contrition; in his mouth, confession; in his actions, complete humility or fruitful satisfaction’” (quoting the Roman Catechism 2, 5, 21; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1673). Contrition is thus named first among the acts of the penitent.
1 4Council of Trent, Session XIV (25 November 1551), Doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance, chapter 4 “On Contrition” (Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1676): “Contrition, which holds the first place among the acts of the penitent spoken of above, is sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, with the resolve not to sin again. […] In one who has fallen after baptism, it further prepares for the remission of sins if it is joined with trust in the divine mercy and with the desire to do everything else required for the reception of this sacrament. […] This contrition includes not only the abandonment of sin, the resolve and the beginning of a new life, but also the hatred of the old life” (cf. Ezek 18:31).
2 9 35 40 41 50 52Psalm 50 (51):19, official liturgical translation (AELF): “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit; a broken and crushed heart, O God, you will not reject.” The Miserere, the psalm of contrition par excellence, attributed to King David after his sin.
3 58Council of Trent, Session XIV, ch. 4 (DS 1678): “Imperfect contrition, which is called attrition, because it is commonly conceived either from the consideration of the ugliness of sin or from fear of hell and of punishments, if it excludes the will to sin and is joined with the hope of forgiveness, the holy Council declares that not only does it not make man a hypocrite and a greater sinner, but that it is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit […] who comes to his aid, so that he may prepare for himself the way to justice. […] It was most usefully struck by this fear that the Ninevites did complete penance at the terrifying preaching of Jonah and obtained mercy from the Lord” (cf. Jonah 3). The same chapter concludes: “But false is the doctrine which teaches that contrition is extorted and forced, and not free and voluntary.”
5 24 25 29 47Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Supplement, q. 3, a. 1 (“Is contrition the greatest sorrow that can exist in nature?”): Thomas distinguishes in contrition a “twofold sorrow.” One, “which is essentially contrition, affects the will and is nothing other than displeasure at past sin. This sorrow, in contrition, surpasses all other sorrows” — in the sense that the will esteems sin as the greatest of evils, because it separates from God, the last end. The other, “in sensibility” (tears, emotion), only follows the first; and “it is not necessary that this sensible sorrow, in whatever way it is produced, be the greatest of sorrows.” Contrition is therefore measured by the estimation of the will, not by the intensity of feeling.
6 14 44Gospel according to Saint Matthew 27:3–5, official liturgical translation (AELF): “Then, seeing that Jesus was condemned, Judas, who had betrayed him, was seized with remorse; […] Throwing the pieces of silver into the Temple, he withdrew and went and hanged himself.” Remorse without trust in mercy leads to despair, not to contrition.
7Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1451: “Among the penitent's acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is ‘sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again’” (Council of Trent: DS 1676).
8 34 43Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1490: “The movement of return to God, called conversion and repentance, entails sorrow for and aversion to the sins committed, and the firm purpose of sinning no more in the future. Conversion touches the past and the future; it is nourished by hope in the divine mercy.”
10 21 36 42 56Gospel according to Saint Luke 22:62, official liturgical translation (AELF): “And he went out and wept bitterly” (cf. Mt 26:75). The tears of Saint Peter after his denial — an example of contrition raised up by love, not by despair (unlike Judas).
11 37Psalm 6:7, official liturgical translation (AELF): “I am wearied with groaning; every night I weep upon my bed: my couch is drenched with my tears.”
12Joel 2:12–13, official liturgical translation (AELF): “And now — oracle of the Lord — return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning! Rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, renouncing punishment.”
13 60Saint Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), The Dialogue (words of the Eternal Father to Catherine), ch. II in the Hurtaud translation (Lethielleux, Paris, 1913, vol. I, pp. 9–10; text verified on Wikisource): “But it is with the desire of the soul that one expiates, it is by true contrition, it is by regret for sin that one satisfies for the fault and the punishment. An infinite suffering is powerless; infinite desire is required.” (The division into chapters and paragraphs varies according to the editions of the Dialogue.)
15 16 32Second Letter to the Corinthians 7:10, official liturgical translation (AELF): “For godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly sorrow produces death.” Paul's distinction between supernatural sorrow (contrition) and purely natural regret.
17Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1492: “Repentance (also called contrition) must be inspired by motives that spring from faith. If repentance arises from love of charity towards God, it is called ‘perfect’; if it is founded on other motives, it is called ‘imperfect.’”
18 45 53Psalm 50 (51):6, official liturgical translation (AELF): “Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done.” Contrition looks first at the offense done to God, before the harm suffered.
19Saint Francis de Sales (1567–1622), Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, ch. IX (“On gentleness toward oneself”): “One must therefore feel displeasure at one's faults in a way that is peaceful, settled, and firm […] ; thus we chastise ourselves far better by calm and constant repentances than by bitter, hasty, and angry repentances.” (Rendered in modernized French, without quotation marks, in the body of the article.)
20 46Saint Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, ch. V (“That we must begin by the purgation of the soul”): “Let us therefore not trouble ourselves over our imperfections.” The holy Bishop of Geneva teaches that the purgation of the soul lasts a lifetime and that lasting turmoil after a fault is a trap; and elsewhere (Part III, ch. IX): “Raise up your heart then when it falls, quite gently.”
22Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1453: “The contrition called ‘imperfect’ (or ‘attrition’) is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration of sin's ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner (contrition of fear). […] By itself, however, imperfect contrition cannot obtain the forgiveness of grave sins, but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance” (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1678; 1705).
23 26 27 28 48 54Council of Trent, Session XIV, Canons on the Sacrament of Penance, canon 5 (DS 1705): “If anyone says that the contrition prepared by examination, recollection, and detestation of sins […] with the firm resolve of a better life, that this contrition is not a true and useful sorrow and does not prepare for grace, but makes man a hypocrite and a greater sinner; that, finally, it is a forced and not a free and voluntary sorrow: let him be anathema.”
30Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1452: “When it arises from the love of God loved above all else, contrition is called ‘perfect’ (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins, if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible” (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1677).
31 33 39 49Council of Trent, Session XIV, ch. 4 (DS 1677): “The holy Council further teaches that, even though it sometimes happens that this contrition is made perfect by charity and reconciles man with God before this sacrament is actually received, nevertheless this reconciliation must not be attributed to this contrition alone without the desire for the sacrament, a desire which is included in it.”
38 51Gospel according to Saint Luke 15:18, official liturgical translation (AELF): “I will rise and go to my father, and I will say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.” The parable of the prodigal son: contrition as a trusting return to the Father.
55Gospel according to Saint Luke 18:13, official liturgical translation (AELF): “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying: ‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” Jesus adds (Lk 18:14): “I tell you: when this man went down to his house, it was he who had become a just man, rather than the other.”
57Ezekiel 18:31, official liturgical translation (AELF): “Cast away all the crimes you have committed, make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?” Verse quoted by the Council of Trent (DS 1676) to describe the “hatred of the old life” included in contrition.
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