...of contrition

The lieutenant yanked his horse's head round towards them. He said, 'We know he's in this district. Perhaps you don't know what happened to a man in Concepcion. One of the women began to weep. He said, 'Come up - one after the other - and let me have your names. No, not the women, the men.'
They filed sullenly up and he questioned them, 'What's your name? What do you do? Married? Which is your wife? Have you heard of this priest?' Only one man now stood between the priest and horse's head. He recited an act of contrition silently with only half a mind - '... my sins, because they have crucified my loving Saviour... but above all because they have offended...' He was alone in front of the lieutenant - 'I hereby resolve never more to offend Thee...' It was a formal act, because a man had to be prepared: it was like making your will and might be as valueless.

[The Power and the Glory, Greene, G.]