How do I go to confession? I haven't been in years.

First: the priest will be glad you came. Priests describe long-absent penitents returning as the best part of their ministry. Here is the whole process.

Before you go

• Pray briefly to the Holy Spirit for honesty and courage.
• Examine your conscience using the Ten Commandments (our examination of conscience walks through it).
• Note your mortal sins, in kind and approximate number ("I missed Sunday Mass most weeks for about ten years"). Venial sins can be mentioned in general.
• If you cannot remember everything from years ago, that is fine. Do your best; God knows the rest.

In the confessional

1. Make the Sign of the Cross. Say: "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been [about fifteen years] since my last confession."
2. Say your sins plainly. No excuses, no other people's sins, no long stories. If you are stuck, tell the priest and he will guide you with questions.
3. Finish: "For these and all my sins, I am truly sorry."
4. Listen to the priest's counsel and your penance.
5. Pray the Act of Contrition (there is a card in most confessionals; you can also just say sorry to God in your own words).
6. The priest absolves you: "I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Say "Amen."

Afterward Do your penance soon. Then go to Mass and receive Communion. You are as clean as the day of your Baptism (CCC 1468).

Common worries. You can go face-to-face or behind a screen. The seal of confession is absolute: a priest may never reveal anything, under any circumstances (CCC 1467; Canon 983). And if you forget a sin, it is forgiven anyway; just mention it next time.