Before confession
Prepare for confession with a guided examination of conscience
Read slowly, and only as far as you need. Mark what you want to bring to confession — the marks stay on your screen and are never saved. This is not a test, and there is no score at the end.
Haven PremiumHow the guide is built
Haven’s examination of conscience follows the shape most Catholic guides use: 61 short questions in three parts, opening with a prayer to the Holy Spirit and closing with an Act of Contrition.
The Ten Commandments
10 sections, 42 questions
- Have you given God a real place in your day, or only what was left over?
- Were you present at Mass in body but deliberately absent in attention?
- Have you passed on someone's faults to people who had no need to hear them?
The precepts of the Church
5 sections, 7 questions
- How long has it been? Have you put off confession out of fear, shame or simple delay?
- Have you supported your parish and the poor according to what you actually have?
Your state in life
4 sections, 12 questions
- Who in your house has had the worst of you lately, and why them?
- Have you treated yourself with a harshness you would never show anyone else?
The questions are written for adults. They try to be concrete and honest without being harsh.
What happens to what you mark
Tap any question to add it to a short “What I’ll bring” list you can glance at in the queue. That list lives only on the screen:
- It is never saved on your phone or sent to our servers.
- It is not recorded in analytics.
- When you close the guide, it is gone.
The closing screen says it plainly: you do not have to remember it perfectly. Say what you know, and let the priest help you with the rest.
What the app does not do
- It does not give absolution — only a priest can, in the sacrament.
- It does not score you or decide whether a sin is mortal or venial.
- It is not spiritual direction or counselling.
If you have been away for years, or are going for the first time, our step-by-step guide to confession explains what to say and what the priest will say back.
Examination of conscience or evening examen?
An examination of conscience is a fuller review to prepare for confession. The evening examen is a short daily prayer about the whole day — thanksgiving as much as sorrow. Praying the examen every night makes the examination before confession much less daunting, because the days are already familiar.
Questions people ask
- What is an examination of conscience?
- A prayerful review of your life before the sacrament of confession, usually following the Ten Commandments and the precepts of the Church, so that you can name your sins honestly to the priest.
- Does Haven save the things I mark?
- No. Marks gather into a short “What I’ll bring” list on the screen, and that is all. Nothing you mark is saved, sent to our servers, or recorded in analytics. When you close the guide, it is gone.
- Can the app tell me whether a sin is mortal or venial?
- No, and it does not try. There is no score and no automatic judgement. Questions about the gravity of a sin belong in the confessional, with the priest.
- Does the app replace confession or a priest?
- No. Haven only helps you prepare. Absolution is given in the sacrament of reconciliation by a priest; an app cannot absolve and does not pretend to.
- Is the examination of conscience free?
- The full examination of conscience is part of Haven Premium. The evening examen — a shorter daily prayer — is free.
- Does it work offline?
- Yes. The guide is part of the app, so you can use it in the church car park without a signal.
Prepare for your next confession
The full examination of conscience is part of Haven Premium. The Gospel of the day and the evening examen are free.