The present time is a time of great temptation. The spirit of the modern world is trying to seduce us, corrupt us, and entice us all into carnal sins. It is also very difficult to resist this. And every time it becomes more and more difficult.
“The ordeals of fornication are terrible and vile... few souls go through them unhindered, since the world lies in evil...”
- the ordeal of blessed Theodora. The ordeal of fornication.
One of the most terrible sins is fornication. Fornication is one of the seven deadly sins in the Orthodox Church. Photo: suharewa.ru
From childhood, children become accustomed to seeing only all kinds of lustful temptations around them. Children absorb them very quickly, and they also begin to register on a subconscious level. When they grow up, then without any resistance, they voluntarily fall into these sinful networks.
Sin is a thought, a desire that contradicts God's commandments
Sin is a thought, desire, decision, attraction that contradicts the Divine moral law, as well as God's commandments. Sin is also the cause of the perversion of human nature due to man’s falling away from God, his fall into an unnatural state.
Why do people sin? The Monk Ambrose of Optina answered this question:
“...Or because they don’t know what to do and what to avoid; or, if they know, they forget, then they become lazy and despondent.”
Venerable Ambrose of Optina.
Photo: icons.pstgu.ru Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh spoke about who a sinner is:
“Who is a sinner? The one who broke the law of God in the first place. A sinner is one who lives in such a way that he becomes alien to God, who is ashamed in the face of God, who disgraces God in front of other people. This is a person divided in himself, separated from his neighbor, removed from God. The sinner has lost touch with God, with his conscience, with his own life, with the life of his neighbor. Each of us can say that he is like that. It is not that we discover that we have committed one particularly heinous sin and repent of it. It's about our lifestyle."
Anthony of Sourozh
Metropolitan
Orthodoxy identifies 7 deadly sins
What is included in carnal sins? There are 7 deadly sins:
- pride;
- envy;
- anger;
- despondency;
- greed;
- gluttony;
- voluptuousness.
7 virtues and 7 sins
These are the forbidden sins of man. Sins of the flesh are very dangerous indeed. The severity of precisely such sins is terrible because they poison not only the body, but also the soul. The soul suffers doubly.
After a person repents, it takes a very long time for healing.
It is worth saying that carnal sins scorch the soul with the fire of Gehenna. There is plenty of evidence of an afterlife.
Valentina Romanova, after visiting the next world, said after the accident:
“...I find myself at the edge of the abyss. They tell me: “Look!” The thought flashes: will they really reset it? I cover my face with my palms (so it seemed to me) because of the smell. I almost got sick of it. Now I know: this is what a dead body smells like. I can not see anything. And they again: “Look!” I looked and recoiled in horror. Millions of people! Like tadpoles in a barrel. Sobs, screams, moans. At the deepest bottom there are people of all colors. They... defecate in front of each other. Unbearable stench! I ask: “How did they get here? How to save them? We need some kind of rope. Why are they so indifferent to them? And they answered me: “Here are human vices.” How is this, vices? “Perverts, fornicators, adulterers, child molesters, homosexuals, bestialists...” I didn’t even know such words. They tell me: “The touch of these people brings suffering. They got what they deserved..."
Valentina Romanova
A person overwhelmed by any carnal passion cannot resist them
A person overwhelmed by any carnal passion cannot resist them. One sin can send a person to hell.
Blessed Theodora said that it is impossible to get around prodigal obstacles without obstacles:
“...at the ordeal of fornication... all fornication, every lustful thought and dream, as well as passionate touches and lustful touches are tortured. The prince of this ordeal sits on his throne, dressed in foul and stinking clothes, sprinkled with bloody foam, and many demons stand before him.”
Blessed Theodora
After the ordeal of fornication comes:
“...the ordeal of adultery, in which the sins of those living in marriage and not observing marital fidelity, but desecrating their bed, are tortured, as well as all kinds of abductions of virgins for the purpose of corrupting them and all kinds of fornication. Here those who dedicated themselves to God and made a vow to keep their lives in purity and virginity, but then did not keep this vow, are tortured.” And then - “the ordeal of Sodomy sins, in which the unnatural sins of men and women, sodomy and bestiality are tortured.” , incest and other secret sins that are embarrassing to even remember. The prince of this ordeal has a very nasty and ugly appearance and is all covered with stinking pus; his servants are like him in everything: their stench is very unbearable, their appearance is vile and terrible, their rage and cruelty is excessive.”
After this, any person will think about his life. Since our world is too evil, it does its best to prevent a person from knowing what awaits him for his sins.
Unnatural sins are fornication in the broader sense of the word.
There are also unnatural sins. What it is? What does it include? Unnatural sins are also called forbidden sins - this is fornication in the broader sense of the word.
What are prodigal sins? Prodigal sins - this refers to those who had carnal relations before marriage, allowed children to be conceived before marriage, cheated, destroyed a married marriage, sinned with masturbation, and so on.
Prodigal sins include those who lived in a carnal relationship before entering into an official marriage. Photo: os1.i.ua
But as was said earlier, your sins, no matter what they are, must be confessed before God. Confession is a repentant listing of one’s sins. All Christians must begin the sacrament of repentance before each communion.
Orthodox Life
Isn't it time for us all to learn how to confess correctly? – the employees of the “Orthodox Life” portal decisively and without hesitation asked the confessor of the Kyiv theological schools, KDA teacher Archimandrite Markell (Pavuk).
Photo: Boris Gurevich fotokto.ru
– A large number of people do not know what to repent of. Many go to confession and remain silent, waiting for leading questions from the priests. Why does this happen and what does an Orthodox Christian need to repent of?
– Usually people don’t know what to repent of for several reasons:
1. They lead a distracted life (busy with thousands of things), and they have no time to take care of themselves, look into their souls and see what is wrong there. Nowadays there are 90% of such people, if not more.
2. Many suffer from high self-esteem, that is, they are proud, and therefore are more inclined to notice and condemn other people’s sins and shortcomings than their own.
3. Neither their parents, nor teachers, nor priests taught them what and how to repent.
But an Orthodox Christian should repent, first of all, of what his conscience denounces him of. It is best to build a confession according to the Ten Commandments of God. That is, during Confession, we must first talk about what we have sinned against God (these could be sins of unbelief, lack of faith, superstition, deity, oaths), then repent of sins against our neighbors (disrespect, inattention to parents, disobedience to them, deception, cunning, condemnation, anger against neighbors, hostility, arrogance, pride, vanity, stinginess, theft, seducing others into sin, fornication, etc.). I advise you to read the book “To Help the Penitent,” compiled by St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). The work of Elder John Krestyankin presents a sample of confession according to the Ten Commandments of God. Based on these works, you can compose your own informal confession.
– How detailed should you talk about your sins during confession?
– It all depends on the degree of your repentance for your sins. If a person has determined in his heart not to return to this or that sin again, then he tries to uproot it and therefore describes everything to the smallest detail. And if a person repents formally, then he gets something like: “I sinned in deed, in word, in thought.” The exception to this rule is the sins of fornication. In this case, there is no need to describe the details. If the priest feels that a person is indifferent even to such sins, then he can ask additional questions in order to shame such a person at least a little and encourage him to true repentance.
– If you don’t feel at ease after confession, what does that mean?
– This may indicate that there was no genuine repentance, confession was made without heartfelt contrition, but only a formal listing of sins with an unwillingness to change one’s life and not sin again. True, sometimes the Lord does not immediately give a feeling of lightness, so that a person does not become proud and immediately fall into the same sins again. Ease also does not immediately come if a person confesses old, deeply rooted sins. For ease to come, you need to shed a lot of tears of repentance.
– If you went to confession at Vespers, and after the service you managed to sin, do you need to go to confession again in the morning?
– If these are prodigal sins, anger or drunkenness, then you definitely need to repent of them again and even ask the priest for penance, so as not to commit previous sins so quickly. If sins of another kind have been committed (condemnation, laziness, verbosity), then during the evening or morning prayer rule one should sincerely ask forgiveness from the Lord for the sins committed, and confess them at the next confession.
– If during confession you forgot to mention some sin, and then after a while you remembered it, do you need to go to the priest again and talk about it?
– If there is such an opportunity and the priest is not very busy, then he will even rejoice for your diligence, but if there is no such opportunity, then you need to write down this sin so as not to forget it again, and repent of it during the next confession.
– How to learn to see your sins?
– A person begins to see his sins when he stops judging other people. In addition, seeing one’s weakness, as St. Simeon the New Theologian writes, teaches one to carefully fulfill God’s commandments. As long as a person does one thing and neglects the other, he will not be able to feel what a wound his sins inflict on his soul.
– What to do with the feeling of shame during confession, with the desire to obscure and hide your sin? Will this hidden sin be forgiven by God?
– Shame in confession is a natural feeling, which indicates that a person’s conscience is alive. It's worse when there is no shame. But the main thing is that shame does not reduce our confession to formality, when we confess one thing and hide another. It is unlikely that the Lord will be pleased with such a confession. And every priest always feels when a person is hiding something and formalizing his confession. For him, this child ceases to be dear, one for whom he is always eagerly ready to pray. And, conversely, regardless of the severity of the sin, the deeper the repentance, the more the priest rejoices for the repentant. Not only the priest, but also the Angels in heaven rejoice for a sincerely repentant person.
– Is it necessary to confess a sin that you are absolutely sure to commit in the near future? How to hate sin?
– The Holy Fathers teach that the greatest sin is unrepentant sin. Even if we do not feel the strength to fight sin, we still need to resort to the Sacrament of Repentance. With God's help, if not immediately, then gradually we will be able to overcome the sin that has taken root in us. But don't overestimate yourself too much. If we lead a correct spiritual life, we will never be able to feel completely sinless. The fact is that we are all compliant, that is, we very easily fall into all kinds of sins, no matter how many times we repent of them. Each of our confessions is a kind of shower (bath) for the soul. If we constantly take care of the purity of our body, then all the more we need to take care of the purity of our soul, which is much more expensive than the body. So, no matter how many times we sin, we must immediately run to confession. And if a person does not repent of repeated sins, then they will entail other, more serious offenses. For example, someone is used to lying about little things all the time. If he does not repent of this, then in the end he may not only deceive, but also betray other people. Remember what happened to Judas. He first quietly stole money from the donation box, and then betrayed Christ Himself.
A person can hate sin only by fully experiencing the sweetness of God’s grace. While a person’s sense of grace is weak, it is difficult for him not to fall into a sin for which he has recently repented. The sweetness of sin in such a person turns out to be stronger than the sweetness of grace. That is why the holy fathers and especially St. Seraphim of Sarov so insist that the main goal of Christian life should be the acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit.
– If a priest tears up a note with sins without looking at it, are these sins considered forgiven?
– If the priest is perspicacious and knows how to read what is written in the note without looking into it, then, thank God, all sins are forgiven. If the priest does this because of his haste, indifference and inattention, then it is better to go to confession to another or, if this is not possible, confess your sins out loud, without writing them down.
– Is there a general confession in the Orthodox Church? How to feel about this practice?
– General confession, during which special prayers from the Trebnik are read, is usually held before individual confession. Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt practiced general confession without individual confession, but he did this forcedly because of the multitude of people who came to him for consolation. Purely physically, due to human weakness, he did not have enough strength to listen to everyone. In Soviet times, such confessions were also sometimes practiced, when there was one church for an entire city or region. Nowadays, when the number of churches and clergy has increased significantly, there is no need to make do with one general confession without individual ones. We are ready to listen to everyone, as long as there is sincere repentance.
Interviewed by Natalya Goroshkova
Many holy fathers said how to correctly confess your carnal sins
Many holy fathers write about how to properly prepare for confession, as well as how to confess.
Preparing for confession means making a test of your conscience, and also in a repentant manner you need to reconsider your entire life, as far as possible. You need to remember everything you have sinned against God and your neighbor. Before confession, you must pray that God will open a person’s eyes to all his sins. We need to cast aside shame and fear and bring tearful repentance.
For example, Saint Theophan the Recluse wrote that shame and fear in confession are saving for a person’s soul, and he also advises:
“...For confession to proceed and be performed more satisfactorily, try to write down everything that lies on your conscience, and when you approach your spiritual father, ask him to retell everything to him from the record. After this, if he wants to ask you anything else, he will ask, or you yourself invite him to do it. By acting this way, you will always move away from the lectern, like someone who has thrown off all the astringent clothing.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
But it is important to understand that to confession you must not just bring a list of your sins, but rather bring a tearful feeling of repentance and a contrite heart.
Saint Basil the Great reasoned a little differently:
“...It is not he who confesses his sin who said: I have sinned, and then remains in sin; but the one who, in the words of the psalm, “found his sin and hated it.” What benefit will a doctor's care bring to a sick person when the person suffering from illness clings tightly to something that is destructive to life? So there is no benefit from forgiving someone who commits injustice, and from apologizing for debauchery to someone who continues to live dissolutely.”
Saint Basil the Great
Therefore, it is important to pray during confession and acknowledge your sins. Also, before confession, ask everyone for forgiveness.
Preventing sin in teenagers
Teenage children have a period when they begin to explore their bodies. They are interested in what they have and where. Therefore, due to ignorance and desire to know themselves, they can engage in self-satisfaction.
Also, sometimes, due to poor personal hygiene, uncomfortable, tight, tight clothing, and unpleasant sensations in the genital area, boys and girls resort to masturbation.
Many cannot openly tell their parents about this; it is important to be attentive to your child and notice any changes in behavior.
You need to make it clear to the child that there is no need to be afraid of you and that you will fight together against prodigal sin. Also explain to the teenager the destructiveness of this act and its sinfulness, the consequences for the soul.
Find out, without questioning and without violence, the reason why your teenager resorted to masturbation. Think about how you can get out of the situation. I think a solution can be found if everything is discussed with Love and mutual understanding.
Spend more time with your child, just talking and being interested in his life. Invite him to go out with friends, if they were not the impetus for the sin. If these were peers, then think about how to change the environment and society, always consulting and asking your child for their opinion.
If this is due to clothing and hygiene, be sure to change your wardrobe to a more relaxed style and change your personal hygiene products. Explain how to take care of yourself.
It is very useful to spend time in nature, breathe fresh air. You can also reconsider the teenager’s workload; perhaps it would be useful to remove the load, but in some places it needs to be increased.
Don’t forget about the child himself, his opinion, adolescence, the desire to be an adult and solve his problems himself. It is necessary, with Love and Hope in God, to jointly solve the problem that has arisen.
You need to talk about lustful thoughts in confession so that it is clear what the essence is about.
How to confess forbidden sins, that is, carnal ones? The Holy Fathers say that there is no need to confess your lewd thoughts in detail during confession. But we need to talk about sin in such a way that it is clear what its essence is.
Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky said that many are ashamed to confess prodigal sins, but as long as Christians do not confess them, he will return to them again and again. After which he may fall into complete despair, and then shamelessness and godlessness.
Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky. Photo: ic.pics.livejournal.com
The Monk Macarius of Optina spoke about the importance of such confession; he also teaches how to properly confess for such sins:
“...Concerning the fact that you find it difficult to tell your confessor about certain subjects, I will tell you: do not explain in detail the mental battles of passionate carnal thoughts, but simply say: “I am overcome by carnal thoughts”; That's enough. God sees your heart, which grieves over this. If shame does not allow you to even say this, then resort to humility and remember that this small shame before one person frees you from future eternal shame.”
Venerable Macarius of Optina
You need to approach such a confession very seriously. It is important to understand and realize why you need this. Priest Pavel Gumerov always said that, as in baptism, a person is given a gift - forgiveness of sins.
Priest Pavel Gumerov believes that forgiveness of sins is a great gift that the Lord gives us. Photo: pravme.ru
That is why it is very important for everyone to appreciate this gift. It is unknown how much time we have for repentance, but for now it may be necessary to use this time correctly.
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God's permission
What tempts you is that, perhaps, due to the machinations of the enemy, Mother Abbess does not force the lamp to light in front of the relics. The Apostle Paul was taller than the Mother Superior, and even he writes about himself: “we wanted to come to you once and twice, but Satan prevented us” (1 Thess. 2:18). Therefore, do not be surprised at anything, but consider it God’s permission. And don’t be offended by anything, but rather follow the advice of the holy Climacus, who writes this: if you want to have anger and resentment, then have them not against people, but against the demons who tempt people. Also, give up inappropriate jealousy, why this or that is not done in order, as you think, but better... pay attention to yourself, and doing this will be enough for you, according to what has been said: everyone will be glorified or ashamed by his own deeds (Venerable Ambrose).
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