Act of Contrition to the Sacred Heart

O most Sacred and adorable Heart of Jesus, behold me humbly prostrate before Thee with a heart contrite and penetrated with lively sorrow for having loved Thee so little and for having offered Thee so many insults by my wandering from Thee, by my ingratitude, my perfidy and my other acts of infidelity, by which I have rendered myself unworthy of Thy mercies and of all the graces and favors of Thy pure love.

The shame and regret which I feel leave me no other words to express myself except to say: I have sinned against Thee. Have pity on me who am unworthy of all mercy. Do not condemn me, however, O Divine Heart, full of charity. I implore Thee to manifest the excess of Thy goodness by showing favor to this poor criminal who appears before Thee annihilated in the abyss of her nothingness and misery. Alas! O Sacred Heart, I have sinned against Thee, do not abandon me to the rigor of Thy justice which would infallibly punish any want of love towards Thee by the eternal privation of Thy love. Oh! rather let all torments, pains and miseries come and overwhelm me, than that I should be deprived for a moment of loving Thee! And since it is Thou, O Divine Heart of Jesus, the Source of love, who hast received the insults of all my infidelities and of my want of love, do Thou take care to be avenged upon me. If Thou wishest to condemn me to burn eternally, I consent, provided it be in the devouring fire of Thy pure love. O compassionate Heart, save me by the excess of Thy mercy. Do not allow me to perish in the deluge of my iniquities. O Heart of love, I cry to Thee from the abyss of my misery; save me by Thy ardent charity. Save me, I implore Thee, by all that is in Thee most capable of moving Thee to do me this great mercy. Have pity, then, on this poor criminal who expects her salvation from Thee.

Oh! save me, O merciful Heart, at whatever price it may cost. Save me and do not deprive me of loving Thee eternally. Rather let all the moments of life that remain to me be filled with bitterness, sorrow and affliction.

Am I not sufficiently punished for having loved so late a Heart so full of love! But because I love Thee, I have such regret for having so ungratefully offended Thee, my Sovereign Good, that rather than having committed so many sins, I would wish from the moment I commenced to sin to have endured as a preservative all the pains of Hell, although I hope that in Thy love Thou wilt exempt me from them. This is what I pray Thee, while crying to Thee with all my heart for mercy. Pardon, then, in Thy mercy, this afflicted heart which has put all its confidence and all its hope in Thee.

O Heart of Jesus, my Savior, exercise over me this office which has cost Thee so dear and do not lose the fruit of so many sufferings and of so painful a death, but honor it by saving me in order that my heart may adore, praise and glorify Thee eternally. Be then, O Sacred Heart, our refuge and our hope, now and at the hour of our death!

Take my cause in hand, justify me and turn away the rigors which my sins have merited. Thou art my true friend, do Thou answer and satisfy for me. Draw me from the abyss into which my sins have precipitated me. Hearken to the groans of my afflicted heart which hopes for everything from Thy goodness. But if Thy justice condemns it as unworthy of pardon, it will appeal to the tribunal of Thy love, being ready to suffer all its rigors rather than be for a single moment deprived of loving Thee. Cut, burn, amputate; provided only I love Thee, it is sufficient for me. Spare neither my body nor my life, whenever there is question of Thy glory. I belong to Thee, O Divine and Adorable Heart, work out, then, my salvation, I implore Thee. In punishing my sins, do not abandon me to myself, allowing me to relapse into the same sins. Ah! rather a thousand deaths than offend Thee whom I love a hundred times more than my life!

What glory will the loss of a wretched grain of dust give Thee? And Thou shalt have great glory in saving such a miserable sinner. Save me, then, O pure Love, for I wish to love Thee eternally whatever price it may cost me. Yes, I wish to love Thee whatever it may cost me, I wish to love Thee with my whole heart. Amen.