After confession, do they kiss the cross or the gospel first?

What to say in confession to the priest: what words to start with, how to end correctly

Many new parishioners joining Orthodoxy are concerned about issues of correct behavior in the Temple during confession.
Consider:

• How to approach the priest.
• What words should I start my confession with?
• What words should you use to end your repentance speech?
• Can a priest refuse confession to a parishioner, and for what reasons?

This article will introduce the reader to some rules of conduct in church and shed light on the most frequently asked questions about confession and communion.

Confession and Communion - together or apart? Conversation with priest Vadim Leonov

We bring to the attention of our readers a conversation between the candidate of theology Valery Dukhanin and the teacher of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Humanitarian University and Sretensky Theological Seminary, associate professor, priest Vadim Leonov on the topic “Reformation of the liturgical traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church.”
— Father Vadim, let's discuss a very important topic - the meaning of the sacrament of Repentance or Confession in the spiritual life of a modern Orthodox Christian.
Sometimes, even in the church media, opinions begin to be expressed that the modern practice of Confession is flawed, one should confess only when an internal need arises, and one should receive communion more often, preferably at every liturgy, on every visit to church. There are calls not to connect the performance of these Sacraments in any way in church practice. What can you say, Father Vadim, about the meaning of the sacrament of Confession? — I can only say what the Church has testified for centuries: Repentance is one of the seven most important Sacraments that ensure the fullness of a person’s spiritual life and his salvation. Without Repentance, salvation is impossible. This is the foundation of spiritual life. The Holy Fathers call the sacrament of Repentance the second Baptism, for in it the human soul is cleansed and reborn and becomes capable of receiving the grace-filled gifts of other church sacraments, including the Eucharist. Whoever to some extent ignores or neglects this Sacrament, and such tendencies have begun to appear in our time, risks turning his entire spiritual life into a hypocritical farce.

I think that these desires to belittle the importance of Confession for the spiritual life of a Christian arose in the Orthodox environment under the influence of Protestantism on church consciousness. Unfortunately, Protestantism in the West has deformed the consciousness of Catholicism, and has now reached Orthodoxy. Confession is a necessary condition for bringing the soul into a godly state. We read from the holy fathers that all

A person’s spiritual life is based on Repentance. Confession is the main means for deep Repentance. Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov noted in his writings that the importance of Confession in the life of an Orthodox Christian is increasing and will continue to increase, as people use other spiritual means less and less. We do not know how to pray and do not show diligence, do not show zeal for fasting, and easily succumb to sinful temptations. If we also push Confession to the periphery of our spiritual life, then we can be taken with bare hands.

- But here the question immediately arises: I can repent at home during personal prayer, why is Confession necessary in church?

- Let's immediately separate these concepts - personal repentance, which the Lord undoubtedly hears, and church Confession as a sacrament. Yes, the Lord hears and often forgives a person many sins mourned by him in personal prayer. And when we in the Church say: “Lord, have mercy,” the Lord forgives us a lot. And yet, this does not replace the sacrament of Confession, because a person not only needs to receive forgiveness of sins, but also requires grace to heal a sinful wound, and grace-filled power is also needed so that the sin committed is not repeated. These gifts are given in church Confession, in this greatest Sacrament of spiritual rebirth, therefore it is extremely necessary in the life of a Christian. I will say from my own experience: when I was studying at the seminary, I had the opportunity to go to confession every week at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and I remember my inner state then, how deeply and subtly I experienced everything sinful in my personal life and it was easier to resist it. Then another period came in my life when I began to confess less often, maybe once every two or three weeks. And this was already a different state. It was as if all my senses had become coarse and dull. Sin is fixed by consciousness, and there is less internal strength for resistance. To a person who doubts the truth, effectiveness and benefit of Confession, I suggest trying through personal experience what it is, approaching it with the utmost responsibility and seriousness.

- But, Father Vadim, what do they say that in some other Local Orthodox Churches, say in Greece, it happens that believers receive communion regularly, but do not confess so often. Although at the same time it must be admitted that in Greek monasteries much attention is paid to frequent regular Confession. In this regard, I recall the work of the Serbian professor Vladeta Jerotic, who writes that for worthy Communion one must resort to regular Confession, so that Confession necessarily precedes Communion. But what should we do when we are given as an example the practice of other Churches, where they do not necessarily confess before communion. So, maybe we don’t need to confess?

— In the Russian Orthodox Church there is a wonderful tradition of confessing before every Communion, and God grant that it be preserved for a long, long time. Of course, this issue has its own nuances. There can be no formal approach here. But generally speaking, Confession before Communion is a very important and useful spiritual principle. Yes, indeed, in some Local Churches this practice looks a little different than ours. Sometimes they compare the Russian tradition with the Greek one, where people go to Confession when they feel the need for it. It should be noted that the history of the emergence of this tradition in Greece is a separate special and controversial issue. For example, in the 14th century. St. Gregory Palamas in his sermon “On the Holy and Terrible Mysteries of Christ” directly points to the need for Confession before Communion: “If you have a bad conscience, and have not received, thanks to Confession, remission of sins from the one who has received the power to loosen and bind them, and before turning to God, before we correct ourselves according to the rule of piety, we approach [the Holy Mysteries], then, of course, we do this to our own judgment and to eternal torment, pushing away from ourselves God’s very bounties and His patience towards us.” A detailed discussion of the history of the emergence of the separate practices of Confession and Communion in the Greek-speaking environment is beyond the scope of our conversation. We agree that it really exists now. But why is this tradition, in my opinion, not applicable in modern church life in Russia? First of all, because the Greek people did not experience such a period of godlessness as we experienced. Modern Greeks grow up in Orthodox families. For the most part, they know what sin is and what virtue is. Their Orthodoxy is the state religion. They have been raised in Orthodox traditions for several generations, and this tradition has not been interrupted. Therefore, many important principles of spiritual life are rooted in their minds from childhood. Without any special instructions, they understand that if I have sinned today, then I cannot receive communion today, I must go to my confessor for Confession.

In our Fatherland, which experienced a terrible period of persecution of the Church, people sincerely flocked to the temple. This is amazing. But due to their spiritual ignorance, the majority do not understand the gravity of the sins they commit; most often they do not see them at all. A lot of Orthodox literature is being published now - this is wonderful, but how much of it is read by those people who are taking their first steps towards the temple? Modern people read very little, so the educational capabilities of printed materials should not be overestimated. In such a situation, without mandatory

Confession before Communion is indispensable.
Any priest has repeatedly encountered such examples: a person comes to Confession, repents of the recently committed sin of fornication, adultery or abortion, and immediately says: Father, bless me to take communion, I haven’t eaten anything since the morning. The person says this sincerely, he does not intend to partake in condemnation or deliberately neglect the principles of spiritual life, he simply does not know them. Or another, even more common example: a person does not see a single sin in himself or formally names some general phrase without the slightest contrition or self-reproach and strives for the Holy Chalice. If we did not have a tradition of confessing before Communion, then who, when and where would help such people? Let us remember the formidable words of the Apostle Paul about unworthy communion: “Whoever eats this Bread or drinks the Cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord.
Let man test himself, and in this way let him eat from this Bread and drink from this Cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, without considering the Body of the Lord. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying” (1 Cor. 11:27-30). If we think about these apostolic words even for a moment, where will they lead us? To Confession. If we now reject the principle of the relationship between Confession and Communion and give everyone the opportunity to decide the issue of Confession based on personal considerations, then we will be like an unreasonable mother who gave birth to a child, and then took him out into the street, laid him at an intersection and, leaving him, said: hands, you have legs, you have a head, there is a temple, there is a house, there is a garden behind the hill - go work, eat and live in a manner pleasing to God.

Of course, the principle of the relationship between Confession and Communion must be used with reasoning, as it is said in the Gospel: “the Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Saturday.”

. There are periods in church life when the relationship between Confession and Communion may not be so clear. For example, during Holy Week, when long, intense services take place and many parishioners zealously attend them. At this time, in many churches, parishioners are prudently invited to confess during Holy Week and then to receive communion both on Maundy Thursday and on Holy Easter, and they are also invited to receive communion on Bright Week. However, it seems to me that it would be thoughtless and wrong to mechanically transfer this practice to the entire church year.

“Sometimes you just hear such voices that no matter how many times you come to church, to the liturgy, take communion. And to confess - well, maybe twice a year or even less often. And they also say: but when priests serve the liturgy, they rarely confess beforehand?

— The question of the frequency of communion is very important and purely personal. There can be no simple, clichéd answers here. In the church tradition there are some general rules, but they are not a strict template for everyone without exception. This issue must be resolved individually at Confession. Saint John Chrysostom clearly expressed the main condition for the frequency of Communion: “The time alone for approaching the Mysteries and Communion is a clear conscience,” and Confession is the main means for cleansing the conscience. In church life we ​​come across a variety of examples. There are people who prepare, confess and receive communion once a year. This, of course, is not enough, but we must rejoice and pray that from this spark the flame of love for the Lord will kindle. It is clear that for such people there cannot be Communion without thorough Confession. There are those who show zeal in every multi-day fast - also, thank God, strengthen them, Lord, and for them Confession is necessary before Communion. There are those who prepare and receive communion once a month or on every twelfth holiday or at least once every three weeks - it’s great, let their zeal not weaken, but without regular Confession before Communion it is unlikely to survive. Some Christians show special zeal and strive to receive communion even every Sunday. If this is done not as a tribute to liturgical “fashion”, not as some kind of “renovationist duty”, not as a habit, but with the blessing of the confessor “with the fear of God and faith...”, then, undoubtedly, they too will reap their good fruit. If a parishioner is in regular communication with his confessor, slightly other forms of relationship between Confession and Communion are possible, but there is no doubt that Confession should be frequent

.
However, the last example concerns fairly experienced Christians, “whose senses are trained by skill to distinguish between good and evil”
(Heb. 5:14).

Priests are, in theory, people from the category of experienced Christians. In addition, the specifics of priestly service are often such that he does not have the opportunity to confess before every liturgy, for example, if he is alone in the parish. In such situations, priests confess at every other opportunity. The laity often do not see how clergy confess to each other at the altar before Communion, and therefore they think that priests do this very rarely. Let us not forget that priests in the sacrament of Ordination are given grace “... healing the weak and replenishing the impoverished...”, which the laity do not have and by virtue of which the priest has the opportunity to perform the liturgy, and, accordingly, receive communion more often than the laity. For these gifts and opportunities, he bears a responsibility before God incomparably greater than any of the laity - “from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, from him more will be required.”

(Luke 12:48). Therefore, never in the Church has the spiritual life of a layman and a priest been viewed in exactly the same way.

— Thank you, Father Vadim, for your answer. There were deeply informative articles about this in the Holy Fire magazine. But let's consider this situation. Let’s say that when people want to receive communion, they first go to Confession, stand in line, wait until they approach the priest, tell everything, and then accept absolution. In this case, doesn’t Confession serve as an obstacle to a deeper assimilation of the liturgy, when one must stand and delve into the prayers? What do you say? Such opinions are expressed these days.

— The problem you identified is not doctrinal, not canonical, not liturgical, but purely organizational. We just need to streamline parish life in the church, including Confession, and find a place and time for this. His Holiness the Patriarch blessed that there should be clergymen on duty in every church, we need to announce this to people, say that on such and such days we have a priest on duty, come and confess. It is not necessary to make Confession only during the all-night vigil or before the liturgy, and it is extremely undesirable during the liturgy. In addition, priests can instruct penitents so that, when confessing, they express the essence of a sinful act and really repent of what they have done, and not just retell their lives, leaving no time for others to confess. In this case, confession will be meaningful, effective, beneficial and will not take a lot of time.

- But this is how it happens that from this purely organizational problem they sometimes draw conclusions of a different nature, they say: let’s abolish Confession altogether, the main thing is to take communion more often, and Confession is something secondary; let's separate these two Sacraments. Although we know that the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation inextricably follow one another, and in general in the Church the Sacraments are connected with each other. It seems to me that we can’t just break things off here. Sometimes they say this: take communion more often, and then Confession... if necessary. Although in the letters of Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) we read: “It is impossible to receive communion without confession.” What can you say in this regard?

— If you separate Confession and Communion, then, without a doubt, people will confess less. I doubt that this will benefit them, but it will be most convenient for us priests, because Confession is the most difficult Sacrament in the Church for clergy. Why? Imagine that over the course of several hours people express their sins and pain to you, and this is done several days a week. They not only repent, but they need your compassion and advice. Without the grace of God it is impossible to endure this. It's very hard. Therefore, it is clear that in resolving this issue someone is humanly trying to find easier ways. I admit that such thoughts sometimes come to me myself, but at the same time I immediately remember a phrase from Holy Scripture: “Woe to the shepherds who shepherd themselves! Shouldn’t shepherds feed the flock?”

(Ezek. 34:2).

It should be noted that this problem has already been outlined by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy at two Diocesan meetings that took place in Moscow. He drew attention to a strange practice that had arisen in some Moscow parishes. In particular, at the 2005 Diocesan Assembly, he said: “In addition, parishioners are required to receive communion as often as possible, at least once a week. To the timid objections of believers that it is difficult to adequately prepare for the reception of the Holy Mysteries on a weekly basis, such priests claim that they take full responsibility upon themselves. As a result, the reverence and fear of God that is characteristic of Orthodox people before Holy Communion is lost. It becomes something familiar, ordinary and everyday.” At the next Diocesan meeting in 2006, His Holiness the Patriarch again addressed this topic. In one of the notes, he was asked the following question: “At the last Diocesan meeting, you, Your Holiness, warned about the danger of losing reverence for the Holy Mysteries with very frequent communion, for example once a week. The same concern is expressed in the Orthodox Catechism of St. Philaret of Moscow, which recommends that the laity receive communion no more than once a month. The same concerns can be found in the works of St. Theophan the Recluse and the last Glinsky elders. Why is it that in some Moscow churches, despite your warnings, weekly and even more frequent communion of the laity is still practiced, as a result of which the parishioners lose their reverence and fear of the Holy Sacrament?” His Holiness the Patriarch replied: “Apparently, those who allow such a practice are unfamiliar with the Orthodox Catechism of St. Philaret, as well as with the works of St. Theophan the Recluse, and do not show any desire to become acquainted with them.” It seems to me that reformers in this area need to listen to the words of His Holiness the Patriarch.

In conclusion, I will say that the Orthodox Church is the great heir of Christ and the Apostles, and Orthodoxy is an invaluable treasure to which, by the grace of God, we have found ourselves involved. However, the significance of the spiritual experience of Orthodoxy is realized not so much through abstract reasoning and theology, but through personal life experience. If we have questions or doubts regarding this or that church statement or tradition, then we need to enter into it, get used to it, and begin to live in accordance with this teaching. Only then will it be revealed how deep and spiritual the practice of Orthodox life is, and all questions will be resolved by themselves.

Valery Dukhanin talked with priest Vadim Leonov

How to approach the priest for confession

Having decided to confess, treat it with full responsibility:

• Think about your sins.
• Make peace with your loved ones.
• Forgive the insults.
• Ask for forgiveness.

People who come to confession for the first time find it difficult to contact a priest without knowing:

• What words should you use to approach the bishop?
• What to say in confession.
• What questions does the priest, etc. ask?

Many people get confused and are afraid of looking ridiculous.

This issue is explained in detail on the ABC of Faith website, where anyone can learn the basic rules online:

1. When preparing for confession at home, pray to God asking him to reveal the sins you have committed.
2. When going to church, do not rely on memory, but write down your sins on a piece of paper. Many, approaching the lectern where confession takes place, forget what to say from the experience.
3. Approaching the priest, he bows his head and, folding his hands crosswise in front of him, asks for a blessing.
4. Then place two fingers of your right hand on the Holy Crucifix, and your head on the Bible.
5. The priest covers the penitent with a piece of clothing (epistrachelion), asks his name and asks him to name the sins committed by the person.
6. If the applicant finds it difficult to say the necessary words, the confessor asks some leading questions.
7. After the end of the sacrament, a prayer of permission is said over the repentant and the veil is removed from the head.
8. The penitent crosses himself, kisses the Crucifix and the Bible.
9. The priest gives the hand to be kissed and blesses the one who has repented.

Note! In the sacrament of confession, a person is left alone with God, and the priest is only a witness of reconciliation.

What words to start naming your sins and how to finish correctly

Many do not understand sins, not seeing anything reprehensible in what they have done, therefore, to perform the sacrament of reconciliation with God, they name the first words they like from the general reminder to the person going to confession.

This is fundamentally wrong and does not bring any benefit. To meaningfully prepare for the sacrament, recreate your own life in detail in your mind, noticing actions that evoke a feeling of regret and repentance for what you have done.

Such acts must be named during confession, without embellishing or belittling anything.

When starting the sacrament, tell God that you have sinned against him and begin to list the unseemly acts you have committed. During a conversation with God, there is no need to describe in detail what was done; it is enough to briefly state the essence.

After finishing the dialogue, say that you repent of what you did and ask the Lord to forgive your sins.

The priest, being nearby and witnessing the dialogue that took place, will give advice on how to behave correctly in later life in order to get rid of such actions.

Example of a confessional speech

At home, preparing for confession, one must correctly identify sins and prepare for announcement.

People who rarely approach the sacrament experience feelings of shame and embarrassment.

To suppress the confusion in their souls, they invent pompous speech, embellishing what was said and including church expressions.

This is wrong and not helpful; When preparing a confessional speech, remember that this is a conversation with God, leading a person from the inside, and excessive pomposity or self-criticism drowns out true feelings.

When preparing for the sacrament and analyzing your actions, be guided by the examples of sins described in the table:

The sins listed in the table are committed by every person every day; they have entered everyday life and become the norm, destroying and corrupting the soul.

But the fight against vices is a daily feat that requires enormous attention and the desire to improve.

Alone, a person is not able to overcome sins, but with the help of the Creator, he can do a lot.

A more detailed list of sins and a sample of a correctly composed confessional speech is presented in the Orthodox prayer book.

What questions does the priest ask?

To help the repentant, the priest asks leading questions:

• In what ways have you sinned?
• Did you offend anyone?
• Have you forgiven everyone?
• What thoughts torment the soul.

Sometimes the priest conducts a group confession ceremony of three or more people.

This sacrament is performed when:

• A large crowd of people wishing to take part in repentance.
• Preparing for a child's baptism.
• Before the wedding.

In such cases, everyone lines up in front of the priest, who, addressing those present, says that everyone should pronounce their own sins and read a prayer of absolution.

Can a priest refuse to confess and not allow him to take communion?

The priest has the right to refuse confession, but only if the person is unbaptized. In all other situations, such an act is not allowed.

If God has brought a person to church, the minister has no right to refuse the sacrament.

Sometimes, if a person comes to confession at an inopportune time, and the clergyman is very busy with various needs, they agree on the time for the sacrament.

If a sinner has repented of committing mortal sins, the priest has the right to assign penance and not allow him to take communion for a certain period of time.

These forced measures are aimed at healing the soul and should be accepted with gratitude.

Real prayer, done in faith, works miracles, healing souls and bodies. Accustom yourself to daily prayer, talk with God, and he will come to you.

On the problem of confession among young priests

“There is a problem in our Church that very young and not yet experienced priests are given the task of confessing, and at the same time providing spiritual care.”

— A person graduated from seminary at the age of 20, just got married or took monastic vows, received ordination — and begins to minister. How will he provide care when he himself still knows neither spiritual life nor everyday difficulties?

The Greek Churches follow a different practice - they provide a confessor. A certain prayer order is performed over the priest, and only then can the priest accept confession and spiritually care for other people. This sometimes leads to the other extreme: confession becomes rare, which is also bad.

If we had a lot of priests with both spiritual and worldly experience, such problems would not exist. In a good way, I wouldn’t ask a person to confess before he was 40 years old. But we cannot afford this. There are not enough clergy at all - let alone confessors...

— How should a priest teach his spiritual children to repent?

Conversation with the abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery, Archimandrite Ephraim

Elder Joseph said: “The spiritual father plays a special role in our spiritual success. And the fact that we don’t feel safe in the monastery, and we have a lot of thoughts, is often the reason that we don’t have trust in our spiritual father.”

“You can’t teach what you can’t do yourself.” To teach others to repent, the priest himself must learn to repent. Unfortunately, many priests, especially those serving in rural parishes, repent and confess very rarely. This is how it works: confessors in dioceses are busy, priests themselves are busy...

It’s good in a large city parish - several priests serve, they can repent to each other. But this is not always the case either. It happens that they do not really trust each other.

— Is mistrust between brothers bad and needs to be eradicated, or is it still normal?

- That's life. Of course, it would be better if there was trust, but it does not always exist. As a matter of fact, this is why you need a confessor—a priest you trust.

How to approach confession and communion?

Reader question:

Good afternoon I am 17 years old and, unfortunately, I have never taken communion; now I realize that all my sins have accumulated on me and this makes it very difficult. There is no person next to me who would explain to me how everything is going, and on the Internet everything is not very clear to me, I still have questions. Please explain a few points to me: when it’s your turn to confess, you need to go up to the priest, tell him your name, he will cover your head, and you need to repent of your sins before him? And then cross yourself and kiss the cross and the Gospel? And how to ask for blessings after everything, in what words? Next, the service begins, and after the service comes communion. How does it go? I’m very scared to make a mistake, to forget some little thing and not do it, please describe it to me!

Ksenia

Archpriest Andrei Efanov answers:

Hello, Ksenia! God's help in your good intentions! I’ll say right away that if any circumstances arise that will prevent you from coming to church, going to confession, communion, and so on, pray silently to God and go, despite all the circumstances. Because it happens that when a person wants to go to church, something disturbing arises, so you have to bypass it and not give up your intentions. Yes, when it’s your turn, you go up to the priest and tell him about the sins you’ve committed, maybe not in “bookish” words, but in your own words, that’s even better. The priest will ask you your name later, when confession is over. Then you bow your head to the Gospel, the priest places the epitrachelion on your head - part of the vestment in which he makes confession - and reads a prayer of permission. Then you are baptized, kiss the cross and the Gospel. If the priest advises you to do something and you do not understand everything, do not hesitate to ask him again and find out. If in a church confession is performed not only during divine services, but also on days when priests are received, when people can come for a conversation, think, maybe it would be more convenient for you to confess not during or before the service, but on such a day. Ask for a blessing like this: place a handful of your right hand on your left, as if in a boat, like when you scoop up water with your hands, and ask: “Bless.” The priest will cross you. Communion is not after the service, it is the main part of the service, that is why the Divine Liturgy is celebrated. The priest comes out with the Chalice, which contains the Body and Blood of Christ. He reads a prayer, and then the believers line up and approach the Chalice one by one. In front of the Chalice, you say the name given to you in Baptism, open your mouth, the priest takes from the Chalice onto a spoon - a special spoon - the Bread and Wine, which have been transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, and puts it in your mouth, much like when little children are spoon-fed . You have probably seen how Communion takes place. Then you kiss the lower part of the Chalice (see what those who go in front of you will do) and follow everyone to the table on which there is a drink and pieces of special bread - antidor. You eat the antidor and wash it down with a drink, you can do it in the reverse order, first drink it, then the antidor - this is so that there are no particles of Body and Blood left in your mouth. Read prayers of thanksgiving for Holy Communion. If suddenly there is no drink and antidor, it’s okay. And then try to spend the whole day in calmness and peace in order to preserve within you the grace that you received in the Sacrament of Communion.

If you make a mistake about something, don’t worry. Next time, take a closer look and you will walk without fear. And there is no need to be afraid at all. God is Love and all the Sacraments that are performed in the Church are made exclusively for man, so that his soul becomes better and healthier. God bless you! God's help!

An archive of all questions can be found. If you do not find the question you are interested in, you can always ask it on our website.

On the screensaver there is a fragment of the photo www.flickr.com/spda

PREPARATION FOR CONFESSION

Orthodox Christians of all times cleanse their souls from sin by passing through a special Sacrament established by Christ Himself -

Sacrament of Repentance.

To cleanse the soul in the Sacrament of Repentance it is necessary:

Awareness of one's sins and contrition of heart. Identifying the root causes of your sins. A sincere confession to a priest.

Repentant confession helps to begin Holy Communion - to worthily accept the Body and Blood of Christ. Union with Christ brings indescribable peace to the soul, love and reconciliation with everyone.

This is how, from time immemorial, the Church formed the spiritual structure of pious generations, peace, patience, and health.

The priest is given authority from God to “bind and solve” our sins. “I forgive and absolve your sins...” says the priest to those who come to confession and repent of their sins. Great relief is received by everyone who is worthy to wash away their sins in the Sacrament of Repentance and clear their conscience. What the earthly court forgave, the heavenly court also forgives. How one must hurry to cleanse the soul of sin, for no one knows what is in store for him tomorrow and how much earthly journey remains. Will we have time to cleanse ourselves through repentance? Will we have time to realize our sinfulness? Hurry up, Christian. Remember: “Nothing unclean enters the Kingdom of Heaven.” Numerous testimonies of resuscitated patients who returned “from the other world” in our time indicate that we will all have to answer for every little thing.

The doors of repentance are open to everyone, but will we have time to pass through them? The most difficult person to realize his impurity is a proud person. Such people do not see their sin and remain in constant self-delusion and exaltation of the mind. They are satisfied with themselves and rarely look into the depths of their conscience. But conscience is difficult to deceive. This is the voice of God Himself, convicting us.

Every living being is given free will. How will we manage it? Will our actions and intentions bring us closer to God? Our good deeds - did we do them with a pure heart and love? The Lord always sees your heart, Christian. What is there - humility or proud exaltation, patience or irritation?

Are our actions pleasing to God? No one knows. Nobody knows what the final answer will be. No one knows which angel will come for us to lead us to the Supreme Court. Will there be white or black wings behind his back?

Remember, Christian: the thief who hung next to Christ on the cross repented with humility and entered heaven after the Lord. The Lord forgave and accepted him. Judas Iscariot was a disciple of Christ, but he betrayed the Teacher and, without repenting, went to hell out of his pride. God works in mysterious ways.

Believe, Christian, the Lord strengthens everyone who comes to Him with repentance. The Lord helps us to resist sin and not repeat it.

In the sacrament of holy Repentance we are given the opportunity to lay aside the heavy burden of sin, to break the chains of sin, to see the “fallen and broken tabernacle” of our soul renewed and bright. How often should one resort to this saving sacrament? As often as possible, at least in each of the four posts.

Usually people who are inexperienced in spiritual life do not see the multitude of their sins, do not feel their severity, or disgust for them. They say: “I didn’t do anything special,” “I only have minor sins, like everyone else,” “I didn’t steal, I didn’t kill,” - this is how many often begin confession. But our holy fathers and teachers, who left us prayers of repentance, considered themselves the first of sinners, and with sincere conviction they cried out to Christ: “No one has sinned on earth from time immemorial, as I, the accursed and the prodigal, have sinned!” The brighter the light of Christ illuminates the heart, the more clearly all shortcomings, ulcers and spiritual wounds are recognized. And vice versa: people immersed in the darkness of sin do not see anything in their hearts, and if they do, they are not horrified, since they have nothing to compare with, for Christ is closed for them by the veil of sins. Therefore, in order to overcome our spiritual laziness and insensitivity, the Holy Church has established preparatory days for the Sacrament of Repentance - fasting.

The period of fasting can last from three days to a week, unless there is special advice or instructions from the confessor. At this time, one should observe fasting, keep oneself from sinful deeds, thoughts and feelings, and generally lead a life of abstinence, repentance, dissolved in deeds of love and Christian charity. During the period of fasting, you need to attend church services as often as possible, be more attentive to prayer at home than usual, devote time to reading the works of the holy fathers, the lives of saints, self-deepening and self-examination.

Understanding the moral state of your soul, you must try to distinguish basic sins from their derivatives, roots from leaves and fruits. One should also beware of falling into petty suspicion of every movement of the heart, losing the sense of what is important and unimportant, and getting confused in trifles. The penitent must bring to confession not only a list of sins, but, most importantly, a feeling of repentance; not a detailed account of his life, but a broken heart.

Knowing your sins does not mean repenting of them. But what should we do if our heart, dried up from the sinful flame, is not watered by the life-giving waters of tears? What if spiritual weakness and “infirmity of the flesh” are so great that we are not capable of sincere repentance? But this cannot be a reason to postpone confession in anticipation of a feeling of repentance. The Lord accepts confession - sincere and conscientious - even if it is not accompanied by a strong feeling of repentance. You just need to confess this sin - stony insensitivity - courageously and openly, without hypocrisy. God can touch the heart during confession itself - soften it, refine spiritual vision, awaken a feeling of repentance.

The condition that we must certainly meet in order for our repentance to be accepted by the Lord is forgiveness of the sins of our neighbors and reconciliation with everyone.

Repentance cannot be complete without verbal confession of sins. Sins can only be forgiven in the church Sacrament of Repentance, performed by a priest. Confession is a feat, self-compulsion. During confession, you do not need to wait for questions from the priest, but make an effort yourself. Sins must be named accurately, without obscuring the ugliness of sin with general expressions. It is very difficult, when confessing, to avoid the temptation of self-justification, to refuse attempts to explain to the confessor “mitigating circumstances”, and from references to third parties who allegedly led us into sin. All these are signs of pride, lack of deep repentance, and continued stumbling into sin. Confession is not a conversation about one’s shortcomings, doubts, it is not a simple informing the confessor about oneself, although spiritual conversation is also very important and should take place in the life of a Christian, but confession is different, it is a sacrament, and not just a pious custom. Confession is an ardent repentance of the heart, a thirst for purification, this is the second baptism. In repentance we die to sin and are raised to righteousness, holiness.

Having repented, we must strengthen ourselves internally in the determination not to return to the confessed sin. The sign of perfect repentance is a feeling of lightness, purity, inexplicable joy, when sin seems as difficult and impossible as this joy was just distant.

Example of a general confession

Here is one of the options for listing sins in general confession. They are named in the following order: sins against God, sins against one's neighbor, sins against oneself. This list is presented not for copying, for subsequent confession before a priest, but to remind the repentant person of the multiple wounds of the soul that can be healed with sincere repentance before God.

“I confess to the Lord God, glorified in the Holy Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, all my sins from my youth to the present time, committed by me in deed, word, thought and all my feelings, voluntarily or involuntarily.

I consider myself unworthy of forgiveness from God, but I do not give in to despair, I place all my hope in God’s mercy and sincerely wish to correct my life.

I sinned by lack of faith, by doubting what the faith of Christ teaches us. I sinned by indifference to faith, unwillingness to understand it and be convinced of it. He sinned with blasphemy - frivolously ridiculing the truths of the faith, words of prayer and the Gospel, church rituals, as well as the shepherds of the Church and pious people, calling zeal for prayer, fasting and alms hypocrisy.

I sinned even more: with contemptuous and impudent judgments about faith, about the laws and institutions of the church, for example, about fasting and worship, about the veneration of holy icons and relics, about miraculous manifestations of God’s mercy or God’s wrath.

He sinned by deviating from the Church, considering it unnecessary for himself, considering himself capable of a good life, of achieving salvation without the help of the Church. Meanwhile, one must go to God not alone, but with brothers and sisters in faith, in a union of love, in the Church and with the Church: only where there is love, there is God; To whom the Church is not a Mother, God is not a Father.

I sinned by renouncing faith or hiding faith out of fear, out of profit or out of shame in front of people, I did not heed the words of the Lord Jesus Christ: Whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Heavenly Father; Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Matthew 10:33; Mark 8:38).

I sinned by not relying on God, relying more on myself or on other people, and sometimes on untruth, deception, cunning, deceit.

In happiness I sinned with ingratitude to God, the giver of happiness, and in misfortune with despondency, cowardice, murmuring against God, anger at Him, blasphemous and impudent thoughts about God’s Providence, despair, the desire for death for myself and my loved ones.

I sinned by loving earthly goods more than the Creator, whom I should love most of all—with all my soul, with all my heart, with all my mind.

I sinned by forgetting God and not feeling the fear of God; I forgot that God sees and knows everything, not only deeds and words, but also our secret thoughts, feelings and desires, and that God will judge us by death and at His Last Judgment; That’s why I sinned uncontrollably and boldly, as if for me there would be no death, no Judgment, no righteous punishment from God.

I sinned with superstitions, unreasonable trust in dreams, omens, and fortune telling (for example, on cards).

I sinned in prayer by laziness, I skipped morning and evening prayer, before and after eating, at the beginning and end of every task.

I sinned in prayer by haste, absent-mindedness, coldness and callousness, hypocrisy, I tried to seem to people more pious than I really was.

I sinned by having an unpeaceful mood during prayer: I prayed in a state of irritation, anger, ill-will, condemnation, murmuring, and disobedience to God’s Providence. I sinned by carelessly and incorrectly performing the sign of the cross - from haste and inattention or from a bad habit.

He sinned by not attending divine services on holidays and Sundays, by not paying attention to what is read, sung and performed in church during the service, by not performing or reluctantly performing church rituals (bows, kissing the cross, the Gospel, icons).

He sinned by irreverent, indecent behavior in the temple - worldly and loud conversations, laughter, arguments, quarrels, cursing, pushing and oppressing other pilgrims.

I sinned by frivolously mentioning the name of God in conversations - by swearing and swearing without extreme necessity or even in a lie, as well as by not fulfilling what I promised to do good to someone with an oath.

I sinned by carelessly handling sacred objects - the cross, the Gospel, icons, holy water, prosphora.

I sinned by not observing holidays, fasts and fasting days, by not observing spiritual fasting, that is, I did not try to free myself with God’s help from my shortcomings, bad and idle habits, I did not try to correct my character, I did not force myself to diligently fulfill God’s commandments.

My sins are countless, both against my neighbors and in relation to my duties towards myself. Instead of love for others, selfishness with all its destructive fruits prevails in my life.

I sinned with pride, conceit, considering myself better than others, vanity - love for praise and honor, self-praise, lust for power, arrogance, disrespect, rude treatment of people, ingratitude towards those who do me good.

I sinned by condemning, ridiculing the sins, shortcomings and mistakes of my neighbors, slander, gossip, and with them brought discord among my neighbors.

He sinned with slander - he unfairly spoke about people that was bad and harmful and dangerous for them.

I sinned with impatience, irritability, anger, intransigence, stubbornness, grumpiness, insolence, disobedience.

I sinned with resentment, malice, hatred, rancor, and vindictiveness.

I sinned with envy, malice, gloating; He sinned by swearing, foul language, quarrels, cursing both others (maybe even his children) and himself.

I sinned by disrespecting my elders, especially my parents, by not wanting to take care of my parents and see them through their old age; I sinned by condemning and ridiculing them, by rude and impudent treatment of them. I sinned by rarely remembering them and my other loved ones in prayer - living and dead.

I sinned with unmercifulness, ruthlessness towards people who are poor, sick, grieving, merciless cruelty in words and deeds, I was not afraid to humiliate, insult, upset my neighbors, sometimes, perhaps, I drove a person to despair.

He sinned through stinginess, avoidance of helping those in need, greed, love of profit, and was not afraid to take advantage of other people’s misfortunes and social disasters.

He sinned with addiction, attachment to things, he sinned with regret about good deeds done, he sinned with merciless treatment of animals (he starved them, beat them).

He sinned by appropriating someone else's property - theft, concealing what was found, buying and selling stolen property. He sinned by not doing or doing his work carelessly - his household and official affairs.

I sinned with lies, pretense, double-mindedness, insincerity in dealing with people, flattery, and people-pleasing.

I sinned by eavesdropping, spying, reading other people's letters, divulging trusted secrets, cunning, and all kinds of dishonesty.

I sinned by laziness, love of idle spending time, idle talk, daydreaming.

He sinned by neglecting his own and other people’s property. He sinned through intemperance in food and drink, overeating, secret eating, drunkenness, and smoking. He sinned by being whimsical in his clothes, being excessively concerned about his appearance, and wanting to be liked, especially by people of the opposite sex.

He sinned by immodesty, impurity, voluptuousness in thoughts, feelings and desires, in words and conversations, in reading, in looks, in addressing persons of the other sex, as well as intemperance in marital relations, violation of marital fidelity, fornication, marital cohabitation without a church blessing , unnatural satisfaction of lust.

Those who performed abortions on themselves or others, or incited someone to this great sin - infanticide, sinned gravely.

I sinned because by my words and actions I tempted other people to sin, and I myself succumbed to the temptation to sin from other people, instead of fighting it.

He sinned by bad upbringing of children and even spoiling them with his bad example, excessive severity or, conversely, weakness, impunity; did not teach children to pray, obedience, truthfulness, hard work, frugality, helpfulness, and did not monitor the purity of their behavior.

He sinned by being careless about his salvation, about pleasing God, by not feeling his sins and his unrequited guilt before God.

I sinned through laziness in the fight against sin, constant delay of true repentance and correction.

I sinned by carelessly preparing for confession and communion, forgetting my sins, inability and unwillingness to remember them in order to feel my sinfulness and condemn myself before God.

I sinned in that I approached confession and communion very rarely.

I sinned by not fulfilling the penances imposed on me.

He sinned by justifying himself in sins: instead of condemning himself - even in confession - by minimizing his sins.

I sinned in that during confession I accused and condemned my neighbors, pointing out the sins of others instead of my own.

He sinned if during confession he deliberately hid his sins out of fear or shame.

I sinned if I approached confession and communion without making peace with those I had offended or who had offended me.

Forgive, Lord, my countless sins, cleanse, renew and strengthen my soul and body, so that I can steadily walk along the path of salvation.

And you, honest father, pray for me to the Lord, the Most Pure Lady Theotokos and the holy saints of God, that through their prayers the Lord may have mercy on me, absolve me from my sins and grant me the honor to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ without condemnation.

Another example of a general confession, in a more abbreviated version.

This example can be taken as a basis when preparing for confession.

This is especially true for the person who has the custom of making a list of committed sins before confession. Of course, sins committed, but not included in this list of especially common sins, should be mentioned additionally. Let us, however, remember that before confession we make a list of sins not to “report” to the priest, or better yet, to the Omniscient God, but only to remind ourselves of what we must say, what we must repent of. And the deeper and more sincere the repentance, the stronger the degree of healing of the wounds of our soul.

I sinned in deed, in word, in thought, voluntarily and involuntarily, in knowledge and ignorance, in reason and foolishness.

I sinned by idle talk, idle talk, verbosity; words and speeches that are abusive, annoying, nasty, blasphemous, frivolous, unreasonable, ridiculous, vain; unreasonableness, argumentativeness. By watching, listening, reading empty and soul-harming things. Conversations and laughter in the temple.

I sinned with lies, deceitful words and speeches, failure to fulfill promises made to God and people, incomplete confessions, false opinions, and incorrect advice.

I sinned by judging my neighbors, sacred persons; ridicule, slander, reproach.

I sinned by gluttony, by eating at the wrong time, not according to the Church Charter; failure to observe fasts and fasting days, did not always pray before and after eating food; satiety, gluttony, secret eating, greed.

I sinned by laziness, idleness, excessive bodily rest, and too much sleep. Rarely going to Church for services, especially the Divine Liturgy. By abandoning the prayer rule and other soul-saving readings. During church and cell prayer - relaxation, lethargy, inattention; being late for the start of services, leaving church early without a good reason. Carelessness, despondency and neglect of your soul. Work on Sundays and holidays. Non-remembrance of parents, relatives, living and deceased.

I sinned by petty theft in everyday life and at work, by not returning monetary debts or things given for a time.

I sinned through love of money, stinginess, excessive acquisitiveness, unnecessary wastefulness.

I sinned through covetousness, greed, and illegal profit.

He sinned with various kinds of untruths, deceptions, and evasion of payment for various services.

I sinned with envy, enmity, hatred, hostility, non-reconciliation, ill-will, gloating; abuse of a neighbor's trust.

I sinned with pride, vanity, conceit, grandeur, man-pleasing, hypocrisy, double-mindedness, cowardice, pride, love of fame, arrogance, and humiliation of one’s neighbor. Disobedience and failure to show due honor to parents, spiritual father; self-justification, ambition.

I sinned with anger, rage, hot temper, irritability, grumpiness, reproaches of my neighbor, rudeness, insolence, bitterness, slander, annoyance, cruelty.

I sinned through malice, remembrance, vindictiveness, excessive demands and severity towards neighbors, household members and relatives. Striking neighbors in anger, immoderate punishment of children.

I have sinned with superstitions of various kinds. Gambling, singing obscene songs.

I sinned with lustful thoughts, unchaste behavior, unclean dreams, obscene conversations, intemperance in the flesh on fasting and holidays.

I sinned by lack of faith, by carelessly performing prayers, making the sign of the cross, and bowing; frivolous mention of shrines. Unworthy preparation for the Sacraments of the Church: Repentance, Communion and others. Taking God's Name in vain. He did not wear a pectoral cross.

I sinned by insufficient trust in God’s Providence in various circumstances, murmuring against God, ingratitude to God, lack of fear of God in my soul, disobedience to the will of God, and petrified insensibility.

He was a temptation to his neighbors in various circumstances.

For all these things that have been said, and for the sake of unconsciousness that cannot be said, I repent.

The sacrament of confession: how and when should you confess?

Reading time 8 min Author of the publication Natalia GlotovaNG

Every believer knows that confession is one of the most important and significant rites of the Christian church. The ability to first realize all your sins, sincerely repent of them and fully reveal yourself to God through confession is a very important stage in spiritual development and self-improvement for every believer.

But, unfortunately, not everyone, even a deeply religious person baptized in the church, regularly goes to confession. In most cases, this is prevented by a feeling of embarrassment and awkwardness; some are stopped by pride.

All adults and children over 7 years old can come to church and repent; children under this age go to communion.

Nowadays, many adults are not accustomed to repent of their sins, so they cannot decide to take this step and put off the day of repentance for a long time. Moreover, the older a person becomes, the more difficult it is for him to decide to take this step.

Often people come to confess for the first time before baptism or then, years later, they decide to legitimize their marriage before the Lord, i.e. get married Before the wedding, as a rule, an individual confession takes place, after which the priest allows the wedding to take place. Both future spouses must repent before the wedding.

In order to remove the heaviness from your soul, begin to talk with God and sincerely repent of everything you have done, you need to learn how to go through confession in church, because this ritual must be performed according to certain rules. You can find out how communion and confession take place from church workers, as well as in church shops usually located nearby.

What not to do in confession

Confession can be turned against yourself if you treat it superficially with slyness. All sins, even those that will definitely be repeated, for example, smoking, must be called in the past tense, with the intention of getting rid of them. Sooner or later, said passion will lose power over a person. No need:

• Talk about others and complain about life.
• Call sins in general phrases: I am a sinner in everything.
• List minor sins for which repentance is offered in evening prayer at home every day.
• To remain silent about serious sins due to shame, indecision, and unwillingness to seriously understand oneself.
• There is no need to be afraid to call a spade a spade: fornication, adultery, theft, murder, etc.

Frank confession heals not only the soul, but also physical illnesses, eradicates passions, and restores peace and tranquility. Don't be ashamed to reveal your abominations. And harlots become righteous if they do not return to their former ways. If we don’t expose ourselves here, our sins will expose us at the Last Judgment.

Conclusion: How do you understand that a sin has been forgiven? If, when remembering him, the conscience is silent, peace and tranquility remain in the soul, it means that you have been forgiven. Of course, provided that you do not have a stony and insensitive heart, which is in the complete power of the enemy of man and God, that is, the devil.

What should it be like?

Confession is a special Sacrament, during which a believer, through a priest, sincerely tells God about all his sins and asks for forgiveness for them, and also promises not to commit such actions ever again in his life. In order for a person to feel how his soul has been cleansed, making him feel light and light, it is necessary to take the conversation with the clergy very seriously.

It is important to understand that the ritual of remission of sins is not a monotonous listing of them out loud, for the Lord God already knows everything about them. He expects something completely different from a believer! He expects from him sincere, sincere repentance and a great desire to cleanse himself, so as not to do this again in the future. Only with such feelings and desires should you go to church.

“How does confession go?” - this question worries everyone who wants to confess for the first time.

The sacrament occurs according to certain rules:

• Cast aside your fear and shame to admit to the priest that you are an imperfect and sinful person;
• The main components of the ritual are sincere feelings, bitter repentance and faith in the forgiveness of the Almighty, who will certainly hear you;
• It is necessary to repent of your sins regularly and often. The belief that it is enough to come to church once, tell the priest about everything at one time and never return here again is fundamentally wrong;
• The ritual must be carried out seriously. If your soul is disturbed by the fact that bad thoughts come into your head or you have committed a minor everyday offense, then you can repent of these acts at home in prayers in front of the icon;
• There is no need to hide your sins even when they seem very terrible and shameful to you.

During this ritual, it is imperative to confess to all wrongdoings, otherwise you will commit another sin - you will try to hide your actions and thoughts from God, and deceive Him. Since going through confession and communion is a very responsible matter, you need to carefully and meaningfully prepare for it.

Does God forgive everyone?

The Apostle Paul emphasizes that an unrepentant heart heaps wrath on the head of the sinner. (Rom.2:5-6)

The devil will do his best to prevent repentance, showing that sin is not so terrible, there is nothing to be ashamed of and everything will pass by itself.

In repentance, Christians must not only mentally repent of the sin committed, but at the same time forgive the people who contributed to the wicked transgressions.

Repentance in the temple

Hardened sinners rob themselves, putting an end to their forgiveness due to many atrocities. Some of them fall into despair and despondency, which is a lack of trust in the Creator and a new sin.

Fallen people do not even realize how merciful the Father is in Heaven, who is ready to accept into His arms everyone who repents of their sins. The Lord forgives every sin for which a person sincerely repents.

Another segment of people who rarely repent are self-righteous Christians. They have already put crowns of holiness on their heads, forgetting the words of Jesus that everyone on earth is sinners.

In the social sphere there is no such word as “repentance”; a person who has committed a bad act repents and asks for forgiveness. But here there is no presence of the Holy Spirit and no awareness of one’s sin before God. From the point of view of Orthodoxy, repentance and repentance have the same meaning, when a sinner not only realizes his sin, he begins to hate it.

In the event of deception, theft, murder, a fallen Christian steps over pride, shame, cowardice and asks for forgiveness from those who suffered, tries to compensate for the losses, and only then goes to confession and brings his sin before the throne of the Creator.

Jesus knows the fallen nature of this world, but man, created in the image and likeness of the Creator, is called to live in the Kingdom of peace, peace, prosperity in love and health already on earth. The Kingdom of Heaven descends to earth by the will of God, by His grace, for those Orthodox believers who realize the power of repentance and confession.

For an unbaptized person there is no repentance in Orthodoxy, there is no God, the gates of grace do not open . Just as it is difficult for a sick person to recover from a terrible disease without the help of doctors, so it is impossible for an unbeliever to know the mercy and forgiveness of the Almighty without Orthodox baptism.

Those people to whom the grace of understanding Confession and Communion is not open, say that Orthodox Christians live well, repent and sin, and repent again.

Important! During repentance, which in Greek means change, the fear of God comes, and a feeling of one’s uncleanness before God comes. Any one causes self-loathing and a desire to quickly cleanse oneself in the face of the Creator.

Having sincerely repented, people will never return to their previous sin; they constantly control their words, emotions, and actions, conforming them with the commandments of the Lord.

Forgiveness in Christianity

There is no need to delude yourself, sometimes even the most faithful children of the Creator fall morally, mentally, physically, but they always have God’s hand nearby, blessed help that comes through repentance and confession.

Why repent if God knows all man's sins?

The Creator created on earth not robots, but people who have feelings, emotions, spirit, soul and body. The Almighty sees all the sins of man, committed not according to His will, but with the complicity of demons.

Until a person repents, the devil has power over him; the Creator does not touch an unclean, sinful soul.

Only by the will of an Orthodox believer does the Savior grant him salvation and grace in earthly life, but for this a person needs to confess his sins, cleanse himself of them, like weeds, and repent. Sincere repentance is heard by God and the devil, in front of whom all doors are slammed and he is deprived of all rights to the once repentant sinner, and after repentance - to the righteous.

Preparation

Proper preparation for it plays a big role in how successfully the rite of absolution will take place. It is necessary to tune in to communication with the Almighty, to a sincere and frank conversation with the clergy. Prepare internally and externally, think through every single moment.

1. Before going to confession, be alone at home in a calm environment. Concentrate and try to grasp the idea that soon you will have to communicate with God in the church, in his Temple. You should not be distracted by anything around you, because you are preparing to commit a very important act in your life. The prayers of John Chrysostom will help you get in the right frame of mind and prepare.
2. Remember all your sins and transgressions, start with mortal ones, then remember whether you sinned with anger, pride or love of money, restore in your memory the pictures of sins. Ministers recommend that you prepare yourself for repentance long and carefully; you need to pray a lot, remember your sins in solitude, and it is advisable to fast.
3. In order not to forget anything and not to miss any sin, you can write everything down on a piece of paper. It is especially important to use such a cheat sheet during your very first frank conversation with a priest.
4. When going to confession, you need to pay special attention to your appearance. Women must wear a skirt below the knees and a jacket with covered shoulders and arms, and must cover their heads with a scarf.
5. It is better to avoid wearing cosmetics on this day; painting your lips is generally prohibited, because you will need to venerate the cross. Men should also not be naked, even if it’s hot outside, you shouldn’t go to church in shorts and a T-shirt.

How is it going?

People who want to go to confession for the first time are worried about how everything will happen. In Orthodox churches and temples, both general confessions are held, which everyone can attend, as well as individual conversations with parishioners.

At general confessions, the priest absolves the sins of all believers who come to the temple, while he lists those sins and transgressions that people commit most often. This is done in order to remind people of sins that they may have forgotten.

• Upon entering the church, you need to go to the lectern, the place where there is a queue of those wishing to confess. While you are waiting for your turn, you need to pray and remember your sins. When your turn comes, you need to approach the priest, who will ask your name, what you want to talk about and what you want to repent of.
• You need to tell everything as it is, without embarrassment and without hiding anything, you need to answer the questions asked by the priest honestly. It is important to remember that only you and the priest will know everything you tell.
• During confession, the clergyman covers the person's head with part of his clothing, which resembles an apron. This is an obligatory part of the ritual; at this moment the priest will read a prayer. After which he will give his instructions and, perhaps, assign penance, that is, punishment.
• A sincerely repentant person has his sins forgiven forever. After the end of the ceremony, you must cross yourself and kiss the cross and the Gospel. Then you need to ask the priest for his blessing. Confession in churches usually takes place on certain days, which you need to know about in advance.

It is important for every believer to know the following points:

1. the sacrament of confession is always performed free of charge;
2. whether a person confesses or not is his personal decision;
3. It is prohibited to force one to confess.

It is best if you have a permanent confessor who will monitor your spiritual growth and guide you on the true path.

If for some reason you are not yet a baptized person and want to be baptized as an adult, you need to first find out in church how confession should take place before baptism.

What is general confession

Confession in the first centuries of Christianity

In apostolic times, that is, in the first decades after the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, Christians received communion without confession at all, because they lived holy, awaiting the imminent Second Coming of the Savior. And this practice still exists in the Greek, Serbian and Syrian Churches.

However, since the Fall, human nature has been distorted, sin (deviation from moral standards of life) has become an integral part of human existence. Therefore, to cleanse the soul, to restore its purity, the sacrament of Confession was needed.

In the ancient Church there were two forms of confession - public and secret, i.e. private. The Church Slavonic word “confess” means “I openly admit, declare.” Public confession was intended only for those people who had committed the most serious sins, as well as for those who, during the years of persecution of the Church, out of fear of the pagan authorities, renounced Christ. The Christian, who repented of his sin, openly and publicly confessed his sins before the bishop and in the presence of the entire community: Many of those who believed came, confessing and revealing their deeds (Acts 19:18).

Along with public confession, there was also secret, that is, private, individual confession.

“Now repent!”

Public confession was used in his pastoral practice by the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, who, due to the influx of believers to him (sometimes up to 5 thousand people), simply did not have the opportunity to confess them in detail. He came out in front of the people, read prayers following confession, and then said: “Now repent.” And all the people who were in the temple shouted out their sins. Saint John of Kronstadt stood in front of them, looked at them and listened. Looking into this huge crowd, he was able to see a person who outwardly repented, but in fact did not experience a repentant feeling or did not confess everything that he had done. Then the priest told him: “And you repent.” And this man - in sacred awe - began to truly repent.

General confession: pros and cons

Nowadays, general confession is also practiced, in which the priest absolves sins without hearing them from the repentant. This is due to the fact that the priest often does not have the opportunity to accept confession from everyone, especially before major holidays. In such cases, usually the priest, after prayers, reads a detailed list of sins and calls on everyone who came to confession to repent of them. Of course, the sins listed by the priest are not equally common to all people. Perhaps one person is not characterized by lustful passion, but he may be angry, another person is peace-loving, but at the same time may be negligent in his duties, etc.

Some laity really like the practice of general confession: it does not take much time, does not hurt pride and does not cause a natural feeling of embarrassment and shame in front of the confessor because of the committed offense; the penitent does not have to reveal the dirt of his spiritual robes.

But you should know that general confession does not provide an opportunity to deeply analyze your spiritual life and therefore can easily lead to false peace of conscience. To come only to general confession means to completely misunderstand the meaning of the sacrament - the heartfelt contrition of the penitent and the desire for correction. “Satan perverted the natural order: he gave insolence to sin, and shame to repentance.” These words of St. John Chrysostom well reflect the state of our soul. Let us remember that an attempt to hide one’s sin can only be successful before people, but not before God. Therefore, Metropolitan Nikephoros of Kiev (12th century) instructs us: “Let us not be ashamed to reveal our sins, lest they remain unhealed, lest, instead of temporary shame, we find eternal condemnation.” This is how the psalmist David addresses God: Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them; they cried to You and were saved; They trusted in You, and did not remain in shame (Ps. 21: 5, 6).

Who can participate in general confession

Not everyone and not always can participate in general confession and after it go to Communion. Many sins require serious and lengthy repentance. In such cases, the person confessing, realizing the fatality of the sin, must necessarily approach the priest after all other participants in the general confession and tell him the sins that lie on his conscience.

That is why, in order to prepare for the sacrament of Confession, we must do a lot of work - the work of the soul. What is needed here is attention, prudence, sobriety in assessing oneself, and sometimes ruthlessness in exposing our “spiritual sores” to God and conscience in order to heal them. In this case, it is necessary that we participate in a general confession either with our spiritual father or with a priest who knows us well. Otherwise, there is a danger that a sinner will approach Holy Communion who, during a separate confession, would not be allowed to come to him by the priest.

Participation in general confession can be considered acceptable only for those who confess and receive communion quite often.

Who should not participate in general confession

General confession cannot be started in the following cases:

• those who have not been to private confession for a long time - several years or many months;
• to those who have either a mortal sin or a sin that greatly hurts and torments his conscience.

Prepared by novice Tatyana Kladieva

08.03.2021

Structure of confession

The well-known church figure of our time, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), identified two options for constructing a confession:

• according to the ten commandments;
• according to the beatitudes.

In his book on confession, the hierarch gives an example of how one can make confession and repent of one’s sins. The Archimandrite analyzes each of the commandments and describes what duties Christians must have before God according to these commandments. John points out to readers the mistakes in everyday life that lead to forgetting the faith.

He analyzes the Beatitudes and points out what people neglect. Considering the second beatitude (“blessed are those who mourn”), he asks the reader whether he has mourned the desecration of God’s image in himself, his unchristian life, and his outbursts of pride and anger. He shows readers how far they stand from the stages of moral perfection.

This book is recognized as a good guide to explaining what should be considered sin in human life. But it cannot be an instruction on what to say. The repentant must choose the words that will come from his heart and sincerely desire to repent.

The experience of constructing a confession according to the Ten Commandments

In Russian translation it sounds like this: “I am the Lord your God, may you have no other gods besides Me.”

What duties should we have in relation to God according to this commandment?

First duty

. We must have true knowledge of God. Do we have this true knowledge of God? No, we do not have the correct concept of God, of the Orthodox teaching of our faith, of the Church of which we are members, of receiving Holy Baptism.

Lord, forgive us sinners!

And we still make excuses that we have nowhere to learn these correct concepts about God, that no one taught us or is teaching us this, but by this desire to justify ourselves we aggravate our guilt, for this is not true! We lead too inattentive, distracted lives and we ourselves do not want to draw the necessary knowledge from the sources that each of us has.

1. Ask your conscience, do we value every service in church, do we listen to the prayers and chants that the Church prays? Here is a school for you, here is the most necessary, the most true theology, here is the most repentant prayer, the most inspired praises to God. Are we feeding our mind and soul with all this? No, Lord, forgive us!

We don’t like to come to church at the beginning of the service; we squeeze through people during the service, crowd together and talk loudly near the candle box, and move from place to place. We ourselves do not hear what is read and sung, and we disturb others; we do not draw anything from this source of true theology.

Lord, forgive us sinners!

And some still consider themselves too well-read and omniscient, they still listen with irritation and condemnation: “What, they say, he started talking about the same thing again,” completely forgetting that the priest standing on the pulpit is standing, as it were, on a stone rolled away from the door of the Holy Sepulcher, and the word of the gospel from the holy place cannot be without benefit. Even the most wretched word from the pulpit always teaches the truths of Orthodoxy.

Lord, forgive us who reject Your words!

2. We don’t read soul-saving books, making the excuse that they don’t exist now, and again this is an evil excuse! Do we read the Book of all books, the Holy Gospel? Almost all of us have the Gospel, and if we still don’t, it’s due to the greatest negligence. Do we learn from this Book of Life? The Holy Church has established obligatory readings of the Gospel and the Apostolic Epistles every day. Let's say that not everyone can follow and do this, but who is stopping us from reading at least one chapter every day? How many of us who repent today have at least once carefully read the Gospel, the Apostolic Acts and Epistles?

Forgive us, Lord!

Not only do we not read the Gospel at home, but we also don’t listen to it in church! Reverent behavior in church is always obligatory, and during the reading of the Holy Gospel everyone should freeze and listen attentively with their heads bowed. And it’s good for us if we don’t outwardly push ourselves at this moment (and this happens to us - Lord, forgive us). It’s also good if we don’t pass the candles and thereby distract the attention of others (repent to the Lord who is to blame for this - Lord, forgive us). It’s also good if, taking advantage of the “empty” time, we don’t bother to adjust the candles or light the lamp (this also happens to us - Lord, forgive us). It’s good if we don’t distract others with empty talk, and in this we are sinners, Lord!

But if we do not even outwardly violate this moment of worship, how many of us can sincerely say that we listen with utmost attention to the words of the Holy Scripture? Don’t the words glide across the surface of the ear, not reaching not only the heart, but simply the mind, which is wandering at this moment who knows where! Lord, forgive our inattention, our insolence, our frivolity and coldness that we show in listening to the reading that the Church offers us during worship. Having now brought repentance to the Lord, let us decide from this day on (this does not require a great mind or extraordinary feat), as soon as the reading of the Gospel in church begins, to stop all extraneous activities, all movement, bow your head and listen most attentively to the words of the Gospel.

Help us, Lord!

But if a person still squeezes past you, who has not heard the sermon today and does not know how to behave at this moment, do not angrily pull him back. And then, perhaps, having remembered it, after the service, explain with love and goodwill how to behave while reading the Gospel. This will be Christian!

We do not read books with religious and moral content. However, not everyone has them and they are difficult to get. But there are those among us who have them, but they stand on the shelves, and they are either too lazy or too lazy to read them: “I’d better sleep more.” And those who are more educated read the newspaper more readily than serious spiritual reading, while others do not read it themselves and do not give it to others: “What if they don’t give it to you, or you yourself want to read just at this time.” This is how greed overcomes!

Here it is also necessary to remember that there is nothing more unreasonable than appropriating other people’s books of spiritual content! What benefits can reading a stolen book have for the soul? If anyone is sinful and has such books, immediately, at the first opportunity, return them to those to whom they belong!

Lord, forgive us our foolishness and dishonesty!

3. Finally, one can also learn about God in conversations with well-read and pious people. What are we doing? We love to talk, we are tempted to go to our neighbor, friends and acquaintances, but not to talk about God, the soul and salvation. It’s shameful and scary to admit that we Christians often gather to judge our neighbors, indulge in card games, or even organize wine drinking. I went on a visit empty-handed and returned even more ruined.

Lord, forgive us sinners!

And this often happens to us after confession, on the day of communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

Second duty

, prescribed to us by the first commandment of the Law of God: to have true faith in God, hope in Him and love for Him.

1. The most terrible sin against this duty of every person is atheism

, that is, the very state in which a great many of our compatriots, our relatives, friends and acquaintances are now. There is no need to even talk about how sad this is, especially for parents whose children are atheists! But we, who came here for confession, do we have a firm and undoubted faith in everything religious? Do we believe in immortality, that beyond the grave there is eternal life with retribution for earthly deeds? As scary as it is to admit, we don’t have a living faith that would permeate our entire consciousness, that would govern our actions.

Lord, have mercy on us who doubt Your existence, our immortality, and the coming Last Judgment!

2. Perhaps among those who repent now there are those who do not believe in the existence of the heavenly army of Angels and hordes of evil spirits. The latter is especially common among “educated” people. For some reason, it is a shame in our age to believe in the existence of real beings - evil spirits. And this is all that the enemy of our salvation needs! If there is no malicious influence, then why and from what should we protect ourselves with the Life-giving Cross, holy water, and the Jesus Prayer? Maybe someone doesn’t sufficiently reverence the Mother of God, the holy martyrs, the saints of God? Repent to the Lord!

Lord, forgive us sinners!

3. There is another type of terrible sin against the first commandment - apostasy

. God! How close we are to this state! And sometimes, perhaps, they were real apostates and not because of fear of torment, as sometimes happened in the history of Christianity, during the persecution of the Church, but only because of the fear, often imaginary, of losing this or that earthly well-being.

It happens that we, believers, hope to receive some kind of help from the Lord, for example, to get a better apartment, a better job, and we ask everyone to pray, but at this time we ourselves hide the icons in the closet, fearing that they will see our faith in God and refuse us. This is how crazy we are getting.

Have mercy on us, Lord!

Out of cowardice, when we go to see a doctor, we take off the cross, fearing that the doctor won’t treat us or won’t give us sick leave!

Lord, forgive our apostasy and cowardice!

And if at work a conversation suddenly turns up about faith in God, then the unfortunate, cowardly person is ready to disappear into thin air. If only, even from the expression of his face, no one would guess that he was a Christian - and the words of renunciation of Christ were already hanging on the tip of his tongue... Repent to the Lord those who recognize themselves in the painted image of a cowardly Christian!

Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!

It's embarrassing to admit it, even to say it out loud. Not only young people, but also old people, who have already been freed from public duties, who have already earned both rest and pension, are also afraid to openly hang icons in their houses!

Lord, forgive us sinners!

Out of fear of showing our religiosity, we now often commit the sin of spiritual murder of our dying relatives by not inviting a priest with the Holy Gifts to bid farewell to the dying, ashamed of our neighbors. And woe to us if, through our fault, one of our loved ones went into eternity without repentance and communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

God! Forgive us these sins and do not be ashamed of us before Your Angels on the Day of the Last Judgment for our renunciation of You here on earth.

4. We have little true living faith, but we are extremely affected by superstitions. Superstition, superstition, empty, false faith. And what do we not replace true faith in the good Providence of God! We believe in some “happy” and “unhappy” days, in “hard” and “easy” days. We are afraid to start even a good deed on a “hard” day, without thinking at all that we may not live to see another day. We believe all sorts of dreams, interpreting them, guessing from them, being deceived by dreams, we begin to see some other “prophetic” dreams and through this we reach the point of darkness of mind and illness... Repent to the Lord!

Lord, forgive us sinners!

Be afraid to believe dreams, so as not to fall into delusion - a terrible spiritual disease!

And we bring these superstitions to the temple and hold on to them more tightly than to true piety. And with our ridiculous remarks we violate the prayers of those around us. Here they are passing candles - who came up with the idea that they should be passed over the right shoulder, and not vice versa? (I don’t even want to clutter my brain with the memory of this.) You just need to pass the candles in such a way as not to break them, so as not to push the person who raised his hand to make the sign of the cross, and not to shove candles into him at that moment. Or do not pass them on at important moments of the service, but hold them in your hand for a while, and then quietly pass them on without any prejudice.

These superstitions were inherited from our distant pagan ancestors. This is the day of the Holy Trinity. What is going on in our cemeteries, on the graves where there are crosses! This is truly a dark day for our departed! Instead of prayer, instead of candles and incense, real pagan funeral feasts are celebrated at the graves on this day. And our deceased in the next world burn with the fire of grief and pity, like the evangelical rich man who asked the Lord to tell his brothers, still alive, what awaits them after death. If any of you celebrated these funeral feasts and collected a table at the grave, go to the cemetery and ask forgiveness from your deceased relatives for the terrible suffering that you brought to them with your foolishness, and never do this again on the holy day of the holiday, when the Church prays with a special kneeling by praying for the repose of our deceased loved ones, do not make this day the most painful for them.

Now ask the Lord for forgiveness for your foolishness.

Lord, forgive us sinners!

We believe all sorts of signs and say that it is impossible not to believe, because they come true. But the Monk Seraphim answered in this case: “But you don’t believe, and they won’t be fulfilled!”

Lord, forgive us sinners!

5. Many sin against the first commandment of the Law of God, that they deduce some kind of omens from every case. Those who spread all sorts of rumors: about famine, flood, and some go so far as to indicate the exact date of the end of the world are grievously sinning before God. How can you guess something that even the Angels do not know, but only the Heavenly Father knows! We sin no less if we listen to and believe these impudent speeches and predictions.

Lord, forgive us sinners!

6. Wizards, sorcerers, sorcerers and fortune-tellers also sin against the first commandment - all these people who have abandoned faith in the power of God, and believe in the secret powers of creatures, especially evil spirits, and try to act in alliance with them to the detriment of others. If there are such sinners among you, you must repent personally, with the bitterest tears, before the Lord!

For participation in magic, the Church prohibits communication with her for 20 years, on a par with murderers. And those who are rigid and unrepentant are completely thrown out. Do not be consoled that now everyone can cross the church threshold and approach the Holy Chalice. People and a priest can be deceived, but who and how can deceive God! We said at the beginning of confession how you can inwardly excommunicate yourself from the Church, then outwardly, even though you don’t leave the church, grace will recede! Well, the most bitter example of the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ for condemnation is the communion of Judas.

Repent while there is still time, before death has yet befallen you, and you have not finally fallen into the society of evil demons, to whose help and fellowship you have resorted until now. How scary it is! Just think: a Christian who has renounced Satan and all his works during the Sacrament of Baptism turns to communion with them. And he still dares to fearlessly unite with Christ, approaching Holy Communion without irrevocable repentance! Don’t think, everyone else standing here, that there are sinners, but we, thank God, don’t do magic! If any of you told fortunes or turned to sorcerers for help, or were treated, or treated someone with conspiracies, perhaps advised someone to turn to “grandmother” for help, he is sinning no less than the sorcerers themselves, abandoning faith in the power of God and expecting help for themselves from these people.

You say: “Why, prayers are read and the sign of the cross is applied.” But listen to what St. John Chrysostom says: “If the name of the Holy Trinity is spoken to the Sisevs, if the saints are called upon, and if the sign of the cross is instilled, the Sisevs must flee.” The Holy Church excommunicates such people from Holy Communion for five to six years.

Lord, forgive us sinners!

We have such Sacraments of the Church as the Blessing of Anointing (or Unction), established by the Church for the treatment of ailments, we have a great shrine - baptism water, we have artos (Easter bread), and finally, in the Sacrament of Communion we unite with God Himself! And we have little faith in this, but running to the “grandmother” seems to us to be a real and sure remedy.

Lord, we are completely mad and confused in the concepts of where is the light, where is the darkness, where is the truth, where is the lie!

Lord, forgive us sinners!

7. Lord, we are so mad that we make fortunes from the Holy Gospel, the Bible, instead of learning the truths of faith from them. We tell fortunes with cards, and maybe some of you are also interested in spiritualism, spin saucers, call on some spirits (obviously not saints) and ask them about various destinies and events. Repent to the Lord!

Lord, forgive us sinners!

This is all disbelief in the good Providence of God, this impudent curiosity, the lack of hope in God!

8. Many of us sin against the first commandment of the Law of God by loving one of the people more than God. It happens that we even say: “If he or she dies, I have nothing to live for, they say, all my life is in him,” - in this person, and not in the Lord, who gave his life for us!

Lord, forgive us sinners!

And sometimes you can hear the following words: “I love animals more than people.” What madness! It is true that it is said: “Blessed is he who has mercy on cattle,” but giving all your affection to animals is a sin. Whoever is guilty of this, repent to the Lord!

Lord, forgive us sinners!

9. Sins against the first commandment of the Law of God include such sins as man-pleasing and human-reliance.

Why is man-pleasing and flattery so terrible that the words of Holy Scripture say: “The Lord abhors a man of blood and flattery” (Ps. 5:7). Yes, because “with our speeches we deceive those whom we flatter and with our praises we bring curses on the lives of those praised and become the culprits of their eternal condemnation for the error into which we lead gullible people who believe our flattery,” says St. Basil the Great.

Perhaps one of you pleases a person so much that you make him, as it were, your god. Nowadays even a mother grovels before her children, often neglecting her duties towards God to please them. It is necessary to go to church on Sunday, but adult children have arrived from the city, and the mother, to please her drunken son or son-in-law, remains at home, although there would be no damage to family relations if she went to church for two hours.

Of course, if it were one day, one exceptional time, then in the name of love for them it would not be a sin to stay at home, but this is repeated every Sunday, and churches, especially in rural areas, in parishes, are empty, and not because There are atheists living all around us, but because of our inability to live like Christians! Wouldn't the mother deserve more respect if the children knew that their mother would do everything for them, but on Sunday she has the right to go to church for two or three hours?

Lord, forgive us!

The sin of relying on man lies in the fact that we very often rely on ourselves and our strengths, on our prayers, fasts, various deeds, on our often imaginary good deeds, completely forgetting that only with the assistance of God’s grace can we be saved. Or we rely on someone more than on God, and thereby push God into the background from our lives, resorting to his help when everything else has already been tried. We cannot even imagine how serious this sin is and how it angers God!

“Cursed is man,” says the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah, “who trusts in man” (Jer. 17:5). God! Forgive us, we did not even realize that we had brought upon ourselves Your curse! Repent to the Lord!

Lord, forgive us sinners!

Finally, our third responsibility

, prescribed to us by the first commandment of the Law of God: to honor God, to serve Him, for example, through prayer in church and at home, by caring and trying to fulfill His commandments.

God! We are all sinners before You by abandoning household rules, and by neglect and inattention to our lives. Let's look within ourselves!

How many of you, having gotten up in the morning and carefully read your morning prayers, set yourself the goal of pleasing the Lord all day long by fulfilling His commandments? Where is it, Lord! Even if we read prayers, our thoughts are already far away, we are all already immersed in everyday worries. Few people will remember: after all, I am a Christian; Today there may be certain circumstances, how can I, with God’s help, live the day holy, peacefully and sinlessly.

Where are such pious thoughts?! Before we even have time to open our eyes, everything makes us angry, everything irritates us: we are rude to our mother, who got up almost an hour earlier than us to help us go to work, we walk around the apartment like an animal in a cage, we don’t look at our neighbors, we say hello through clenched teeth, we slam doors, yell at children who may be naughty - after all, they were woken up and dragged to the nursery at dawn, or pushed out to school.

Then, if we live in a big city, we find ourselves in transport crowded with people and completely lose our human appearance! At this point we get extremely irritated, push each other, swear, we say such barbs to each other, as if we were our mortal enemies all around. We don’t want to suffer any inconvenience or trouble! This is how, Lord, we begin almost every day.

Lord, forgive us sinners!