10 Tips for Making a Good Confession

Making a good confession demands prior preparation. The better the prior preparation, the more abundant the graces and the more overflowing the river of peace in your soul.
Following are ten short helps to make the best confession in your life.
1. Improving Your Reception
As Catholics two of the most important actions we can accomplish are to go to Confession and to receive Holy Communion.   In these Sacraments we have a direct contact with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   This being the case, we should make a concerted effort to improve our encounters with Jesus in these Sacraments.
In other words we should never take these Sacraments for granted. Also be keenly aware of the concept of dispositive grace. The abundance of graces are received in direct proportion to the disposition of the recipient. On the walls in the sacristies of the Missionaries of Charity is written:  “Say this Mass as if it were your first Mass, last Mass and only Mass.”  We can apply the same principle:  “Confess as if it were your first, last and only time.”
2. Pray Beforehand
All is grace! A source of abundant grace is the Communion of saints.  Why not pray to the holy Confessors to help you to make a good confession? The following are a few:  The Cure of Ars (Saint John Marie Vianney), St. John Bosco, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, Saint Leopold Mandic, Saint Padre Pio, Saint Francis Regis, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Saint Anthony Claret, and Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Pray to them to help you to confess well—that each concession you make is better than your prior confession.
3. Prepare even the night before
Have a good examination of conscience booklet and then find a quiet and contemplative place to examine your conscience. Utilize the crucifix and Divine Mercy image to elicit sorrow and trust.  You can try to write down the sins so that you