Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and the Temple of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Marfino

Repentance is a feeling that is familiar to every person to varying degrees. The Greek word μετάνοια (metanoia - “repentance”) means “change of mind,” “change of thoughts.” In Christianity, repentance means a person’s awareness of his sins before God. In a person’s life, repentance manifests itself in very different forms. These include the words “I beg your pardon,” “I’m sorry,” and certain gestures. All this serves to express a person’s regret about a mistake made or about the harm caused to people around him. Repentance is necessary for a person to clear his conscience, to reconcile with people who, voluntarily or unwittingly, were offended.

What is confession

After the Sacrament of Baptism , in which a person is forgiven all the sins of his previous life, many temptations await the soul. The exalted state of purity soon gives way to burden due to the sins committed. The fact is that after baptism, where the catechumen renounces Satan, all his works, spits on him. The devil, as an extremely proud creature, cannot forgive such an insult to a person and begins to take revenge on him. Thus, a real war begins between the devil and man, if, of course, he has the intention of serving God.

After the Fall of man, the Lord sent His Only Begotten Son so that He would atone for human sins by crucifying himself on the cross. After this, we can boldly repent to God and receive forgiveness of our sins from Him, because He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

The Gospel says more than once how the Lord forgave some people’s sins:

• the harlot who washed His feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair;
• the paralytic, who was carried by four men through the roof into the upper room where Christ sat;
• a woman caught in adultery;
• Matthew the Publican;
• Zacchaeus, chief of publicans, etc.

The Acts of the Apostles tells in detail how the Lord called the toughest Pharisee, and he, having repented, became a great apostle (St. Paul). Christ himself said more than once in the Gospel: “ Forgive, and you will be forgiven .” The idea of ​​forgiveness permeates the entire New Testament. If in the Old it was said: “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” in the New, Grace covers all the sins of a repentant person.

Following the word of Christ, we forgive each other bad deeds, and the Lord then forgives us. This is one of the conditions for repentance. If we do not forgive a person, then God will not forgive our sins. That is, when going to the Sacrament of Confession, we must forgive everyone for bad actions against us, be it an action, an evil word, or even a condemning look or thought. Then only we can hope that our repentance will be accepted by God.

Why is confession needed?

Some say why you need to repent to a priest, because you can repent to God. A priest is a person specially appointed by God who has the Grace to forgive people’s sins. The Gospel says: “Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven.” This was the prototype of the Sacrament of Confession. Priests have the right from God to bind and solve people's sins.

The priest, as a witness of a person’s repentance, a mediator between God and man, a notary who puts a stamp: “forgiven.” You can, of course, and need to repent at home before God, but confession is needed for final forgiveness and to gain confidence that God has forgiven the sins mentioned in confession.

It is worth noting that at the Sacrament only those sins that a person told the priest at the Sacrament and for which he sincerely repented are forgiven. If he was ashamed to say any sin, even if he repented of it, then he will not be forgiven by God. Therefore, you cannot hide your sins out of shame. The priest will not scold or condemn, but will only be happy with sincere repentance. In addition, there is the secret of confession, according to which the priest has no right to disclose sins after confession. If he even just hints to someone about the sin he heard, he will be banned.

The feeling of shame is the basis and meaning of confession , thanks to this a person pays off his sin in this life, and at the Last Judgment he will no longer be ashamed of his atrocities. Previously, repentance was popular, when a person spoke in front of a crowd of people about his sins. There was also penance, when a person stood at the entrance to the temple and told everyone in detail what he had sinned.

Now times have changed, few people are capable of nationwide repentance. And the priest gives penances less and less to repentant sinners, due to the weakening of human nature. Therefore, at least before a priest in secret confession, there is no need to hide your sins out of false shame. If you have managed to commit a sin, you must have the courage to tell about it in confession.

After confession, one must be sure that the Lord has forgiven the named sins, if, of course, the repentance is true. There is no need to remember later if sins were absolved in confession. If the sin continues to aggravate, you can name it again at the Sacrament . If the sin was repeated again after confession, then it must be repented of again. And so on until sin is completely eradicated. The Lord will give strength to overcome passions to a person if he sincerely repents.

What is penance

Translated from Greek, “penance” means “punishment.” In ancient times, it was used as spiritual healing in cases where a person does not feel satisfied after confession, when his conscience continues to torment him.

Penances varied in strength and duration. Bows to the ground and from the waist were considered the easiest. The priest could order, for example, twelve bows daily with prayer for minor, involuntary sins.

Heretics and murderers faced more serious punishments of up to twenty-five years. At this time they were excommunicated from the Church Sacraments; some did not even have the right to enter the temple. Some were sent to live and reform in a monastery.

Currently, penance is almost never prescribed. According to the canons, the priest who appointed penance must perform it himself together with the penitents. According to another version, the best penance is to do good deeds.

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.

How does confession happen?

Usually the Sacrament is performed in a church, but if a person is seriously ill, or is in an area where there are no churches, but wants to confess, the priest goes to his home and accepts his confession.

In a temple, priests usually confess during an all-night vigil or liturgy . If the priest serves alone in the church, the service is interrupted. The priest brings the cross and the gospel to the lectern and reads the prescribed prayers.

In the rite there is an appeal to the repentant, which contains the following words: “Do not be afraid, lest you hide anything from me, understand that you came to the doctor’s office (hospital), lest you leave unhealed (lest you leave unhealed).” This is very important, the Church warns that one cannot hide sins, otherwise there will be no benefit.

After reading the prayer, during which the penitents say their names out loud, everyone comes up in turn to the lectern and begins to quietly repent. The rest of the people stand a little further away and wait. In no case should you eavesdrop on other people’s sins out of curiosity, much less talk about them, condemning the person.

After all the sins are named, the priest covers the penitent with an epitrachelion and reads a prayer of absolution, making the sign of the cross . At this moment, the sins of the penitent are forgiven. He must kiss the cross and the Gospel as a sign of the promise that he will not return to previous sins, because repentance is correction. We must try not to repeat the sins mentioned in confession.

How often should you confess?

Ideally, you should confess as soon as you feel the weight of sin on your soul. But it is clear that this is practically impossible. Ancient Christians were required to confess and take communion every Sunday. Of course, we must begin this Sacrament as often as possible, because none of us is immune from illness or sudden death. And this just happens to be punishment for sins committed. Usually the Sacrament of Confession is combined with Communion. But you can also confess separately from the Eucharist, i.e. not going to communion after confession.

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.

Preparing for Confession

Before confession it is not necessary to fast, as is required before communion. But we must prepare for this Sacrament mentally. You need to sit down and remember all your sins, it’s better to write them down on paper, because your memory can fail you. You can read this list of sins during confession, or you can give it to the priest, he will read it himself and tear the paper as a sign that the sin has been forgiven.

Some people say that they do not know what to repent of and what sins to name. You can take books with reminders of sins as a benefit. For example, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov “To help the penitent . But you shouldn’t read and write off sins from newly published books that cause nothing but bitter laughter, the “sins” listed there are so ridiculous.

Confession is a serious Sacrament, at which Christ Himself and the guardian angel of man are invisibly present. Therefore, we must treat it with full responsibility; we should not call small mistakes that seem like sins. But only those that really burden the soul and are an obstacle to union with Christ.

Metropolitan Hilarion on the Sacrament of Repentance and Confession

The Holy Fathers preached repentance

In order to better find spiritual vices in oneself and correct them, it is necessary to turn to the Holy Scriptures more often. It is reading spiritual literature that allows you to see your bad thoughts and evaluate yourself from the heights of Divine truth. Saints John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and Cyril of Alexandria (376-444), St. Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Abba Dorotheos (505-565 or 620), John Climacus (525-595 (605) or 579-649) and many, many other holy fathers left us many soul-saving teachings for our edification.

The Holy Fathers advise to always keep the memory of your death and the future judgment of God, to have the fear of God in your soul, to try to attend church, to create a prayer rule at home, to constantly have prayer in your soul, to always feel the presence of the Lord, to be attentive to yourself and your actions, devote time to reading soul-helping books, have a spiritual father and regularly come to confession, avoid the company of immoral people, constantly work, do not allow yourself excessive rest, learn the love of God.