Confession

During Lent, set aside enough time to prepare for your confession calmly and prayerfully. Begin by asking God to enlighten you. The following prayer may prove helpful. Begin with the sign of the cross. 

Father, you are rich in mercy, and you know my heart. You know how much I want to love and serve you by following your will. You also know how weak I am and how difficult it is for live in humility and purity and faith. As I approach your loving sacrament of reconciliation, established through the wisdom and sacrifice of your Son and celebrated in the Church, please send the Holy Spirit to enlighten my mind, so that I can know my sins and faults, and to enliven my heart, so that, sincerely sorry for offending you and wounding the Church, I can confess my sins and receive your forgiveness and strength. 

Take time to examine these areas of your life:

My relationship with God 
My relationship with others 
My regards with my own self-discipline

Learn the Act of contrition:

 Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, my Creator and Redeemer, I love you above all things. I am sorry with all my heart for the wrong I have done and the good I have failed to do. By sinning, I have offended you, my greatest good, worthy of being loved above all else. To make up for my sins, I offer my life, my work, and all I do. I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Through the merits of your passion and death, take pity on me and grant me the grace never to offend you again. Amen. 

Reflecting beforehand on the words of absolution spoken by the priest can be an excellent aid to living the sacrament well: God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.