"I confess to Almighty God (so far, so good), to blessed Mary ever virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word an deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech (notice that the Father is now missing?) Blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray to the Lord our God for me." (The 'Confetior', quoted from The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism, Official Revised Edition, Copyright 1962, Page 5.)
I want to point out that in the first half of the prayer, the confessor is confessing to God and to members of the community in heaven. The second half, the part in which you note God is left out of, does not ask for forgiveness. It instead asks the saints "to pray to the Lord our God for me." It is the same as asking a fellow member of your Church to pray for you. The inclusion of God wouldn't make any sense, since God would not pray to God.
Posted on Dec 10, 2008, 6:20 PM from IP address 69.141.195.30