Confiteor / mea culpa

I Confess: Confiteor

Level 1

An opening line and its three-word heart, learned whole.

How It Works

LatinEnglish
Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, et vobis, fratres,I confess to almighty God, and to you, brothers,
quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo, opere et omissione:that I have sinned greatly in thought, word, deed and omission:
mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.
Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem,Therefore I ask blessed Mary ever Virgin,

People strike their chest at mea culpa. Culpa sounds like KOOL-pah in both pronunciations. Peccavi is pek-KAH-vee in Church Latin and pek-KAH-wee in classical Latin.

Confiteor is kon-FEE-teh-or in Church Latin. The word maxima means greatest and agrees with culpa.

Only these first lines are given here. Level 4 explains the deponent verb, and Level 5 explains the quia clause.

Examples (5)

  1. Confiteor Deo omnipotenti.

    I confess to almighty God.

    Confiteor is a deponent verb: I confess. Deo omnipotenti is dative: to almighty God.

  2. Et vobis, fratres.

    And to you, brothers.

    Vobis is dative plural: to you. Fratres is the form for calling several people.

  3. Mea culpa.

    Through my fault.

    Literally my fault. Mea is feminine and agrees with culpa.

  4. Mea maxima culpa.

    Through my most grievous fault.

    Maxima means greatest and agrees with culpa.

  5. Quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo, opere et omissione.

    Because I have sinned greatly in thought, word, deed and omission.

    Peccavi is I have sinned. The four nouns are ablative: in thought, in word, in deed, in omission.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Confiteor / mea culpaLevel 1I Confess: Confiteor

Learn This First

The Confiteor is prayed in Church Latin, so the Church sounds come first.

Words in This Pattern

confiteormeusculpamea culpa