Hello Catholic Homeschool Conference Attendees! Welcome to Mercyformarthas.com. I am SO GLAD you’re here! If you scroll down, you’ll get to your goodie bag freebie: A Confession Prayer Book for Children.

I just want you to know this blog is full of free homeschool resources that I’ve made for my kids (and yours!) over my many years of homeschooling. There are literature guides made by my dear friend Sue Clement, lesson plans, book lists, favorite curriculum lists, resources for teaching history, and so much more.

I started this blog several years ago because I believe the education and formation of our children is paramount to their future happiness and salvation. What we do now as parents really matters. I also believe that homeschooling plays a vital role in fostering vocations and building a culture of life and love. Kuddos to you for taking this generous, sacrifical path!!! God cannot be outdone in generosity, and He will bless you abundantly for the sacrifices you are making for your children.

While you’re here, I just want to point out a few posts I think will interest you:

For the New Homeschooling Mom:

Screwtape Letter for a Homeschool Mom

Roll-Over Lesson Plans: How to Use Them in Your Homeschool and Why They’re So Effective

Educating the Whole Child

Raising Virtuous Children

Beginning a New Homeschool Year: The Two Best Things You Can Do for Your Homeschool

Do You Love Homeschooling, or Do You Homeschool Because You Have To?

For the Tired Homeschooling Mom:

What St. Ignatius Would Say to a Homeschooling Mom Who Wants to Quit

Is Homeschooling a Cross?

When Homeschooling is Hard

Loving the Difficult Child

For the Nerdy Homeschooling Mom (a.k.a. Mom in curriculum shopping mode):

Check out the tab on Lesson Plans from the home page. I have free lesson plans for math, history, science, and writing.

Also visit the tab on Our Favorite Books, which lists all our favorite curricula from Preschool to 8th grade.

Looking for wholesome summer reading for your kids? My daughter Carolyn has written several novels – mostly historical fiction. One friend recently texted me and said her daughter read one of Carolyn’s books SIX times… she enjoyed it that much! You can find her book list and several other lists of worthy novels in our Booklists tab.

Just in time for this conference, Carolyn published a beautiful biography of St. Dominic Savio, a teenage boy who had an extraordinary love for Our Lord. And yet, he was so ordinary in every other way. He had to learn to master his temper; he struggled and prayed for holy purity; he loved his comrades, and they loved him. We have always found St. Dominic Savio to be very inspiring, and we hope this biography will inspire many young people to strive for sanctity.

For the Extra-Special Mom:

God has blessed our family with an incredible little boy with an extra special chromosome. So I’ve been reading up on how best to educate children with Down Syndrome, and I’ve been making lots of resources for him. Junior is only four, so homeschooling him is a new adventure. If you have any littles with Down Syndrome or learning delays, check out these posts:

Speech Therapy Resources for Toddlers with Down Syndrome

Homeschool Activities for Preschoolers With or Without Down Syndrome

Springtime Printables for Preschoolers With or Without Down Syndrome

Teaching Preschoolers with Down Syndrome to Read with See and Learn

In the coming months, I’ll be posting several of the printables and reading materials I’ve been making for Junior, so stay tuned!

Finally, I invite you to Follow this Blog to get the latest resources, inspiration, and advice. I don’t require your email in exchange for my homeschool resources. My work is mostly freely given and shared. But I do appreciate (nice) comments, and I try to answers questions when I can.

And now for the Free Confession Book for Children:

Download it here: Confession Prayer Book.

A few years ago, I made this little booklet to help my daugher prepare for her first confession. I thought it would be beneficial if she had all the prayers she needed and an examination of conscience all in one little booklet — with beautiful art work, of course.

Here are some sample pages:

For the first step, I encourage my kids to begin with a prayer to the Holy Spirit:

I included a short and a long Examination of Conscience. Your child can choose which one he/she prefers.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance” (CCC 1456).  However, “Among the penitant’s acts contrition occupies the first place” (CCC 1451).  Feeling sorrow for one’s sins is one of the most important aspects of a holy confession.

To help my daughter focus on contrition, I put little check boxes in the Examination of Conscience. She can put a light check next to the sins she needs to confess and not worry about having to keep a mental list. (After confession, she can erase them.)

Once she has examined her conscience, she can focus on  feeling sorrow for her sins.

Contemplating Our Lord on the cross should help our children resolve not to sin again. Encourage them to have recourse their Gaurdian Angels, who are powerful allies. They are just waiting for us to ask for their help.

Once your child is properly prepared, he/she can enter the confessional. Personally, I think it’s better to go to confession kneeling behind the screen. Kneeling is a posture of humility and contrition. The screen allows the penitent to focus on confessing to Jesus and not to the priest. But that’s just my humble opinion. In many churches, penitants are free to choose whether to confess face-to-face or behind the screen.

Don’t you love this beautiful picture of The Divine Mercy? Our Lord to St. Faustina that the two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the water that makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls … These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when my agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. (Diary 299). 

Remind your children to do their penance as soon as possible. Help them understand that Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused. Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must make “satisfaction for” or “expiate” his sins. This satisfaction is also called “penance”. (CCC 1459)

Finally, encourage your children to thank Our Lord for his forgiveness and mercy.

The little booklet ends with some basic prayers the priest might ask your children to pray as a penance.  When you assemble the booklet, not all the prayers will fit with a regular staple. Choose the ones you think your child will find most useful and leave out the rest.

To make the book, download and print the booklet. Except for the front and back cover, cut each page into four smaller pages. Put them in order and place them between the front and back cover. Staple together, and voila! You have a little confession booklet for your kids.

And that’s our little Confession Prayer Book.

If you would rather buy one, you can order it at Amazon here:

Hope you and your kids like it!