Examination of Conscience: A Catholic Guide by the Ten Commandments

An examination of conscience is a prayerful look back over your life to find the sins you need to confess and the habits you need to change. Catholics make one before confession, and a shorter one at the end of the day. The usual way is to go through the Ten Commandments one at a time.

The Baltimore Catechism defines it as “an earnest effort to recall to mind all the sins we have committed since our last worthy confession.” It is the first of five things the catechism asks of a penitent. The others are to be sorry, to resolve “never more to offend God,” to confess to the priest and to accept the penance.

Hoe doe je een gewetensonderzoek?

The Church asks for an examination made “in the light of the Word of God” (Catechism 1454). Scripture puts the same request plainly: “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord” (Lamentations 3:40). Paul asks the same of everyone who comes to Communion: “let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread” (1 Corinthians 11:28).

1. Set aside a few quiet minutes. At home before you leave, or in a pew before you join the line.
2. Ask God for light. Pray in your own words, or with the psalm: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24).
3. Start from your last confession. If you have never confessed, the examination covers your life since baptism.
4. Go through the commandments. Read each question slowly and answer it honestly, without excuses and without panic. Write your sins down if that helps you remember them.
5. For each serious sin, note what it was and about how many times. Canon law asks the penitent to confess “in kind and number all grave sins” known “after diligent examination of conscience” (canon 988).
6. Ask for sorrow and choose one change. The Baltimore Catechism asks for a resolve to avoid sin and its “near occasions,” which it defines as “all the persons, places, and things that may easily lead us into sin.”
7. Go to confession. Confess what you found, listen to the priest, and pray the Akte van Berouw when he asks for it.

The Manual of Prayers prepared by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1888) gives this prayer before the examination:

O Lord God, who enlightenest every man who cometh into this world, enlighten my heart, I pray Thee, with the light of Thy grace, that I may fully know my sins, shortcomings, and negligences, and may confess them with that true sorrow and contrition of heart which I so much need. I desire to make full amends for all my sins, and to avoid them for the future to Thy honor and glory, and to the salvation of my soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Why do Catholics examine their conscience by the Ten Commandments?

The commandments are the Church’s measure of serious sin. The Catechism teaches that “grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments” (1858). Jesus summed them up in two: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” and “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37–39). So an examination runs from duties to God to duties to other people.

The commandments are not the only guide. The U.S. bishops’ guide to confession suggests reviewing “the Ten Commandments or the Beatitudes,” and the Catechism points to the moral teaching of the Gospels and the apostolic letters, “such as the Sermon on the Mount and the apostolic teachings” (1454).

The habit is old. Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556) told those making his Spiritual Exercises to weigh their acts by “the Ten Commandments, the Precepts of the Church and the recommendations of Superiors,” by which he meant appeals of Church authority such as indulgences. The 1888 Manual of Prayers lists sins under each commandment. The U.S. bishops publish a one-page Brief Examination of Conscience Based on the Ten Commandments (2013), which anyone may copy “without adaptation for non-commercial use,” so it can be printed and taken to church.

Questions for each of the Ten Commandments

Each commandment is worded here as the Baltimore Catechism has it. A line from the Catechism of the Catholic Church says what the commandment asks, and the questions draw on the Catechism’s teaching. They are a starting point, not an official list. Not every question touches every life; pass over the ones that do not apply to yours.

First commandment: I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me

The first commandment “summons man to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him above all else” (2134).

• Have I prayed, or let days go by without turning to God?
• Have I deliberately doubted or rejected what God has revealed and the Church teaches?
• Have I despaired of God’s mercy, or presumed on it by sinning because I expected to be forgiven anyway?
• Have I put money, pleasure, power or another person in the place of God?
• Have I consulted horoscopes, fortune-tellers or mediums, or trusted in charms?
• Have I received a sacrament unworthily, such as Holy Communion while aware of mortal sin, or treated holy things and places with contempt?
• Have I been indifferent, ungrateful or lukewarm toward God?

Second commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain

The second commandment “enjoins respect for the Lord’s name” (2161).

• Have I used the name of God or of Jesus carelessly, in anger or as a swear word?
• Have I spoken of God, the Virgin Mary or the saints with contempt? The Catechism calls this blasphemy.
• Have I sworn an oath to something false, or broken a promise made under oath?
• Have I kept the promises and vows I made to God?
• Have I been irreverent at Mass or in church?

Third commandment: Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day

In Catholic teaching, Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, has replaced the sabbath (2190). Catholics “are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor,” and those who deliberately fail to do so “commit a grave sin” (2181). A Mass on the evening before counts (canon 1248).

• Have I missed Mass on a Sunday or a holy day of obligation through my own fault?
• Have I worked, or made others work, on Sunday without need?
• Have I let Sunday fill with business that crowds out worship, rest and family?
• Have I given some of Sunday to my family, or to the sick, the elderly and the lonely?

Fourth commandment: Honor thy father and thy mother

Under this commandment “God has willed that, after him, we should honor our parents and those whom he has vested with authority for our good” (2248).

• Have I obeyed my parents in what they ask for my good and the family’s? Have I been rude or ungrateful to them?
• As a grown child, have I helped my parents in old age, illness or loneliness?
• As a parent, have I taught my children to pray and to know the faith, and shown them a good example?
• As a parent, have I respected my children’s own calling in life?
• As a husband or wife, have I been patient and considerate with my spouse’s faults?
• At work, have I respected my employer and done what I agreed to do? As an employer, have I treated and paid my workers justly?
• As a citizen, have I respected lawful authority and done my part for the common good?

The 1888 Manual of Prayers sorted its own list for this commandment the same way, by a person’s place in life: children, parents, husbands and wives, employers and the employed, officials, teachers and pupils.

Fifth commandment: Thou shalt not kill

“Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred” (2319).

• Have I hurt anyone in body, or wished anyone serious harm?
• Have I held on to anger or hatred, wanted revenge, or refused to forgive?
• Have I had an abortion, or encouraged or helped someone to have one? The Catechism calls formal cooperation in an abortion “a grave offense” (2272). Since 2016 every priest may absolve it, and Pope Francis wrote that “there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart” (Misericordia et misera 12).
• Have I taken part in euthanasia, or helped someone end their own life?
• Have I harmed my health or put others in danger through too much food, alcohol or medicine, through drugs, or through reckless driving?
• Have I led anyone into sin by my example or encouragement? The Catechism calls this scandal.

Sixth commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery

“Every baptized person is called to lead a chaste life, each according to his particular state of life” (2394). The 1888 Manual of Prayers asks that sins against purity be confessed “intelligibly, yet modestly,” and warns that “it is wrong to dwell too much on details.” It advises the penitent to note “the avoidable occasions of our falls” and to aim the resolution at keeping away from them.

• Have I been unfaithful to my husband or wife?
• Have I had sexual relations, or any sexual acts, outside marriage, or lived with someone as though we were married?
• Have I looked at pornography?
• Have I masturbated? The Catechism notes that immaturity, “force of acquired habit” and anxiety can lessen a person’s guilt here (2352).
• Within marriage, have I used contraception or direct sterilization?
• Have I treated another person as an object of pleasure, in word, look or touch?

Seventh commandment: Thou shalt not steal

The seventh commandment “enjoins the practice of justice and charity in the administration of earthly goods and the fruits of men’s labor” (2451).

• Have I stolen, or kept something borrowed or found that I should have returned?
• Have I cheated anyone in business, at work or at a game?
• Have I done poor work for my pay, wasted my employer’s goods, or evaded taxes?
• Have I damaged someone’s property, and have I paid for it?
• Have I kept my contracts and paid my debts?
• Have I gambled away money my family needed?
• Have I shared with the poor as far as I could?

Eighth commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor

“Lying consists in saying what is false with the intention of deceiving the neighbor who has the right to the truth” (2508).

• Have I lied, or exaggerated in order to deceive or to boast?
• Have I told others someone’s faults without a good reason? The Catechism calls this detraction.
• Have I said false things that harmed someone’s good name? The Catechism calls this calumny.
• Have I assumed the worst about someone without enough reason?
• Have I flattered someone in their wrongdoing, or mocked anyone?
• Have I revealed a secret I was trusted to keep?
• Have I repaired the harm my words did?

Ninth commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife

The Catechism’s summary of this commandment begins with the words of Jesus: “whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). The ninth commandment, it says, “warns against lust” (2529).

• Have I deliberately dwelt on impure thoughts or desires?
• Have I guarded what I watch, read and look at?
• Have I dressed and behaved with modesty?
• Have I desired another person’s husband or wife?

Tenth commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods

The tenth commandment “forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their attendant power” (2552).

• Have I envied what others have, or been glad when things went badly for them?
• Have I wanted more and more, never content with enough?
• Have I trusted God to provide what I need?

Questions on the precepts of the Church

The Church adds five precepts, which the Catechism calls “the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort” (2041):

1. “You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.”
2. “You shall confess your sins at least once a year.”
3. “You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy Communion at least during the Easter season.”
4. “You shall keep holy the holy days of obligation.”
5. “You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence.”

The faithful also have “the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities” (2043). Canon law sets the days for the whole Church: abstinence from meat on Fridays, unless a solemnity falls on one, and fasting with abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (canon 1251). The bishops of each country may fill in the details and allow other forms of penance in place of abstinence and fast (canon 1253).

• Have I confessed my serious sins at least once a year, and received Communion in the Easter season?
• Have I kept the days of fasting and abstinence?
• Have I supported my parish as far as my means allow?

How do you tell a mortal sin from a venial sin?

An examination also weighs how serious each sin was, because every mortal sin must be confessed. The Catechism gives three conditions that “must together be met”: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent” (1857). A sin is venial when the matter is less serious, or when the matter is grave but full knowledge or complete consent is missing (1862).

Some things lessen guilt. “Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense,” the Catechism says, though “no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law.” Feelings and passions, outside pressure and illness of the mind “can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense” (1860). Pretending not to know makes it worse: “feigned ignorance and hardness of heart” increase how deliberate a sin is (1859). If you cannot tell how serious something was, confess it as you understand it and ask the priest.

Venial sins need not be confessed, but the Church strongly recommends it, because “the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit” (1458). Anyone aware of a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion before absolution. The one exception is a grave reason with no chance to confess, and then canon law asks for “an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible” (1457; canon 916).

Other ways to examine your conscience

The commandments can be joined by other lists the Church has long used. Each shows a different side of the same life.

• The capital sins. The Catechism names seven: “pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.” They are called capital “because they engender other sins, other vices” (1866). Ask which of them lies under the sins you found.
• Thought, word, deed and omission. The Catechism distinguishes “sins in thought, word, deed, or omission” (1853). Omission is the one people forget: the good you could have done and did not.
• The works of mercy. The corporal works include “feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead”; the spiritual works include instructing, advising, consoling, “forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently” (2447).
• Paul’s description of love. “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Read the passage to verse 7 and ask where your love fell short.
• Other people’s sins. You share in another’s sin when you take part in it, when you order, advise, praise or approve it, when you fail to stop or report it where you have a duty to, and when you protect the wrongdoer (1868).

What is the daily examen?

The daily examen is a short examination made at the end of a day, apart from confession. The 1888 Manual of Prayers builds one into its evening prayers: “Ask of God light to discover the sins committed this day,” then examine your conscience and make an act of contrition. Saint Ignatius of Loyola gave a method for it in his Spiritual Exercises, the general examen, in five points:

1. “to give thanks to God our Lord for the benefits received”;
2. “to ask grace to know our sins and cast them out”;
3. to go over the day since rising, “hour by hour, or period by period,” looking first at thoughts, then at words, then at acts;
4. “to ask pardon of God our Lord for the faults”;
5. “to purpose amendment with His grace.”

He ends it with the Our Father. Ignatius also taught a particular examen: you choose one sin or fault you want to correct, check yourself on it twice a day, the second time after supper, and mark a dot for each fall, so that you can see from one day and one week to the next whether you are improving.

Is there an examination of conscience for children?

Yes. In the Latin Church, children make their first confession before their first Communion: “Children must go to the sacrament of Penance before receiving Holy Communion for the first time” (Catechism 1457). The Eastern Churches give Communion to the newly baptized, “even little children” (1244). A child’s examination follows the same commandments in plain words. A parent or catechist can read the questions aloud and let the child answer silently:

• Did I forget to pray to God?
• Did I say God’s name in a bad way, or when I was angry?
• Did I miss Mass on Sunday when I could have gone?
• Did I obey my parents and teachers? Was I rude to them?
• Did I hit or hurt anyone, or stay angry with someone?
• Did I tell lies, or say mean things about other people?
• Did I take something that was not mine, or break something on purpose?
• Was I jealous of what other people have?
• Did I look at things I know I should not see?
• Did I refuse to help at home, or refuse to share?

A child can ask for help in their own words, such as Holy Spirit, help me remember my sins and be sorry for them. If a child gets stuck, the priest will help; the U.S. bishops’ confession guide says simply, “The priest will help guide you.” Teenagers and adults use the full questions above.

What if you are afraid you forgot a sin?

The Church asks for an honest search. The Council of Trent taught that a penitent who has “examined himself diligently” confesses the mortal sins he remembers, “whilst the other sins, which do not occur to him after diligent thought, are understood to be included as a whole in that same confession.” A serious sin that comes back to you later is still to be mentioned at your next confession, since canon law asks for every grave sin not yet confessed (canon 988).

Some people struggle the other way and see sin everywhere. Ignatius wrote notes on these scruples. In his general examen he counts a bad thought that comes and is resisted at once as a way of earning merit. A conscience pulled toward extreme fineness should “establish itself in the mean, in order to quiet itself in everything.” The Catechism adds that conscience is formed “aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church” (1785). For a scrupulous person, the practical step is to tell the confessor about the struggle and follow his judgment.

What do you do after the examination?

Go to confession: Hoe te biechten walks through what to say from the greeting to the absolution. Scripture gives the reason for confidence: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Then repair what you can. “Many sins wrong our neighbor,” the Catechism says. “One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone slandered, pay compensation for injuries)” (1459). That duty holds “even if its author has been forgiven” (2487), because absolution “takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused” (1459).

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