Fish Eaters: The Whys and Hows of Traditional Catholicism


``Where the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of Antioch, 1st c. A.D


Litany of Confession






This 8th century Irish litany is for private use only. Note: tibi soli peccavi means "I have sinned against you alone." This litany is to be followed by the Creed and the Pater Noster (Our Father). I include both below.

This litany can be downloaded in pdf format: Litany of Confession (pdf) 





Litany of Confession

O Father, O Son, O Holy Spirit, forgive me my sins.

O only-begotten Son of the heavenly Father, forgive.

O one God, O true God, O Chief God, O God of one substance, O God only mighty in three persons, truly pitiful, forgive.

O God the rewarder, forgiving, loving, pre-eminent, immense, vast, mysterious, forgive.

O God above all gods, O King above all kings, O man above all men, forgive.

O world above all worlds, O Power above all powers, O Love above all loves, O Cause above all causes, O Fortress above all fortresses, O Angel above all angels, forgive.

O Archdeacon of heaven and earth, forgive.

O High-priest of all creation, O Archbishop of the seven heavens, forgive.

O first Priest, O chief Priest, O true Priest, O true Physician, O true Prophet, O true Friend, forgive.

O only Sustainer of the threefold mansion, O only Life of all created things, O only Light of the seven heavens, forgive.

O Subject of the Scripture's meditation, O Object of the chief prophet's search, O Marrow of true wisdom, O Father of true life, O Voice of the congregation, forgive.

O Abel, first Martyr,
O Noah of the sacred ark,
O faithful Abraham,
O meek and gentle Moses,
O Aaron, first priest,
O noble David,
O mystic Solomon,
O cornerstone of the Old Testament,
O compacting of the New Testament,
O pitiful Heart,
O honoured Foster-Father,
O piercing of the heavy ground,
O blazing lamp,
O Jesu of Nazareth,
O Son of the sister,
O righteous brother, forgive.

Come to help me, for the multitude of my inveterate sins have made dense my too guilty heart. They have bent me, perverted me, have blinded me, have twisted me and withered me. They have clung to me, have pained me, have moved me, have filled me. They have humbled me, exhausted me, they have subdued me, possessed me, cast me down. They have befooled me, drowned me, deceived me, and troubled me. They have torn me, and chased me. They have bound me, have ravaged me, have crucified me, rebuked me, sold me, searched me, mocked me. They have maddened me, bewitched me, betrayed me, delayed me, killed me. Forgive.

O starry Sun, O guidling Light, O House of the planets, O fiery wondrous Comet, O fruitful, billowy, fiery Sea, forgive.

O fiery Glow, O fiery Flame of doom, Forgive.

O holy Narrator, holy Scholar, O full of holy grace, of holy strength, O overflowing, loving, silent one, O liberal thunderous bestower, O rock-like warrior of a hundred hosts, O fair crowned one, victorious, skilled in battle, forgive.

Many and vast are my sins in their mass, through my heart and round about it like a net or breast-plate. O King, they cannot be numbered. Despoil me of them, O God. Break, smite, and war against them. Ravage, bend, and wither them. Take away, repel, destroy them. Arise, scatter, defeat them. See, repress, waste them. Destroy, summon, starve them. Prostrate, burn, mangle them. Kill, slay, and ruin them. Torture, divide, and purify them. Tear, expel, and raze them. Remove, scatter and cleave them. Subdue, exhaust, and lay them low.

Heavy then and bitter is the subdual and the piercing, the bond and the fetter, the confusion and the maddening, the disturbance and the raging which the multitude of my sins brings upon me.

By every disease Thou didst help,
By every arm Thou didst comfort,
By Thy conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
By Thy birth in Bethlehem of Judea,
By Thy pierced hands,
By Thy royal Star, forgive.

By the womb in which Thou wert,
By the paps which Thou didst suck, forgive.

By the breast which nurtured Thee,
By every lip which kissed Thee,
By every hand which touched Thee,
By every foot which carried Thee,
By every ear which heard Thee,
By every eye which saw Thee,
By every heart which believed Thee, forgive.

By Thy seven gifts,
By Thy seven orders,
By Thy seven heavens,
By Thy coming to earth in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
By Thy seven times with their saints, forgive.

By Thy patients, by Thy lowliness,
By Thy humility, by Thy loftiness,
By Thy gentleness, by Thy dignity,
By Thy devotion, by Thy peacefulness,
By Thy uniqueness, by Thy nobleness,
By Thy holiness, forgive.

By the arrest of Thee and the seizing,
By the smiting and the mocking,
By Thine acts, forgive.

By the conspiracy, the crucifying, and the mangling, forgive.

By Thy soul which harried Hell, which filled heaven, forgive.

By every soul Though broughtest thence,
By Thy Resurrection from the dead, forgive.

By Thine Ascension into heaven, forgive.

By the Holy Ghost which came from heaven upon the apostles, forgive.

By every heart, by every body,
By every flesh, by every lip, by every eye,
By every creature whereon the Holy Spirit came, from the beginning of the world to the end,
By Thy coming again in the day of doom, Grant that I may be righteous and perfect, without great dread on my of Hell or doom, without soreness or bitterness of Thy part toward me, O Lord. For my sins are blazing through me and around me, at me and toward me, above and below me.

Alas, alas, alas, forgive me, O God.
Every sin which I did, and took pleasure in doing,
Every sin which I did under compulsion, or not under compulsion, forgive.
Every sin which I sought after, or did not seek after, forgive.
Every evil that I did to any one, or that any one did to me, forgive.
Every evil wherein any one took part, or did not take part with me, forgive.
Every thing which I sought for, or did not seek for, found, or did not find, forgive me.
Every one to whom I did good unjustly, or evil justly, forgive.
Every good which I did, and marred, every evil which I did and did not make good, forgive.
Every provocation which I gave to God or man, forgive me.

Every sitting down, every standing up, every movement, every stillness, every sleep, every sleeplessness, every forgetfulness, every remembrance, every carelessness, every carefulness, every longing, every desire, every lust, every thought, every love, every hate, which is, which was, which shall be mine, to my life's end, forgive me.

Every will, every displeasure which I have harboured against God or man, forgive me.

Every ill that I did, every good that I omitted, every sin within sin, every ill within good, every good within ill that I did, forgive me for them. Amen.

From ears, from hands, from lips, from eyes, from heart, from sense, from limbs, from joints, from bowels, from intention, from desire, from secrecy, from concealment, from openness, from knowledge, from ignorance, from longing, from absence of longing, from inducement, from absence of inducement, from high, from low, from union, from disunion, from little to great, from something to nothing, from youth to old age, from baptism to death, forgive me, O God, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in spite of my sins.

O true God, tibi soli peccavi: forgive, forgive, forgive. Amen.


Credo

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made: consubstantial with the Father; by Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation, came down from Heaven: [kneel] and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. [stand] He was crucified also for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And on the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. And He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of the Father. And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead: of Whose kindgom there shall be no end.

And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life: Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified: Who spoke through the Prophets.

And in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.



Pater noster

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.



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