What words begin confession in the church. Sins at confession in your own words: briefly, a list of possible sins and their description
Confession is not a conversation about one's shortcomings, doubts, it is not a simple awareness of the confessor about oneself.
Confession is a sacrament, not just a pious custom. Confession is an ardent repentance of the heart, a thirst for purification that comes from the feeling of holiness, this is the second Baptism, and, therefore, in repentance we die to sin and rise to holiness. Repentance is the first degree of holiness, and insensitivity is being outside of holiness, outside of God.
Often, instead of confessing one's sins, there is self-praise, denunciation of loved ones and complaints about the difficulties of life.
Some confessors strive to go through confession painlessly for themselves - they say general phrases: "I am sinful in everything" or spread about trifles, silent about what really should burden conscience. The reason for this is both false shame in front of the confessor, and indecision, but especially the faint-hearted fear to seriously begin to understand your life, full of petty weaknesses and sins that have become habitual.
Sin is a violation of the Christian moral law. That is why the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian gives the following definition of sin: "Everyone who commits sin also commits iniquity" (1 John 3:4).
There are sins against God and His Church. This group includes numerous, connected in a continuous network of spiritual states, which include, along with simple and obvious, big number hidden, seemingly innocent, but in fact the most dangerous phenomena for the soul. Summarized, these sins can be reduced to the following:
1) lack of faith,
2) superstition,
3) blasphemy and swearing,
4) non-prayer and disregard for church service,
5) charm,
6) gluttony,
7) love of money,
8) anger, irritability,
9) condemnation of one's neighbor,
10) despondency,
11) lie,
12) idle talk,
13) murder, suicide and abortion,
14) theft (theft),
15) covetousness,
16) fornication thoughts,
17) seductive conversations,
18) fornication,
19) adultery,
20) incest,
21) unnatural sexual relations.
Little faith
This is perhaps the most common sin, and literally every Christian has to struggle with it continuously. Lack of faith often imperceptibly turns into complete lack of faith, and the person suffering from it often continues to attend services and resort to confession. He does not consciously deny the existence of God, however, he doubts His omnipotence, mercy or Providence. By his actions, attachments, and the whole way of his life, he contradicts the faith he professes in words. Such a person never delved into even the simplest dogmatic questions, being afraid of losing those naive ideas about Christianity, often incorrect and primitive, that he had once acquired. Turning Orthodoxy into a national, domestic tradition, a set of outward rituals, gestures, or reducing it to the enjoyment of beautiful choral singing, the flickering of candles, that is, to outward splendor, those of little faith lose the most important thing in the Church—our Lord Jesus Christ. For those of little faith, religiosity is closely connected with aesthetic, passionate, sentimental emotions; she easily gets along with selfishness, vanity, sensuality. People of this type seek praise and good opinion about them confessor. They approach the lectern to complain about others, they are full of themselves and strive in every possible way to demonstrate their "righteousness". The superficiality of their religious enthusiasm is best shown by their easy transition from cloyingly ostentatious "piety" to irritability and anger at one's neighbor.
Such a person does not recognize any sins, does not even bother trying to understand his life and sincerely believes that he does not see anything sinful in it.
In fact, such "righteous" often show callousness to those around them, they are selfish and hypocritical; live only for themselves, considering abstinence from sins sufficient for salvation. It is useful to remind ourselves of the content of chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew (the parables of the ten virgins, the talents, and especially the description of the Last Judgment). In general, religious self-satisfaction and complacency are the main signs of estrangement from God and the Church, and this is most clearly shown in another gospel parable - about the publican and the Pharisee.
Superstition
All sorts of superstitions, belief in omens, divination, divination on cards, various heretical ideas about the sacraments and rituals often penetrate and spread among believers.
Such superstitions are contrary to the teachings of the Orthodox Church and serve to corrupt souls and the fading of faith.
Special attention should be paid to such a fairly common and destructive teaching for the soul as occultism, magic, etc. On the faces of people who have been engaged in the so-called occult sciences for a long time, initiated into the "secret spiritual teaching", a heavy imprint remains - a sign of unconfessed sin, and in their souls there is an opinion painfully distorted by satanic rationalistic pride about Christianity as one of the lowest levels of cognition of the truth. Drowning out childlike faith in paternal love God's hope for the Resurrection and Eternal Life, occultists preach the doctrine of "karma", the transmigration of souls, non-church and, therefore, graceless asceticism. To such unfortunates, if they have found the strength to repent, it should be explained that, in addition to direct harm to mental health, occultism is caused by a curious desire to look beyond closed door. We must humbly acknowledge the existence of the Mystery without trying to penetrate it in a non-ecclesiastical way. We have been given the supreme law of life, we have been shown the path that leads us directly to God — love. And we must follow this path, bearing our cross, not turning onto detours. Occultism is never able to reveal the secrets of being, as their adherents claim.
Blasphemy and blasphemy
These sins often coexist with churchliness and sincere faith. First of all, this includes blasphemous grumbling against God for His supposedly merciless attitude towards man, for sufferings that seem to him excessive and undeserved. Sometimes it even comes to blasphemy against God, church shrines, sacraments. Often this is manifested in telling irreverent or directly offensive stories from the life of clergymen and monks, in mocking, ironic quoting of individual expressions from Holy Scripture or from prayers.
The custom of worship and commemoration in vain of the Name of God or the Most Holy Theotokos is especially widespread. It is very difficult to get rid of the habit of using these sacred names in everyday conversations as interjections, which are used to give the phrase more emotional expressiveness: "God bless him!", "Oh, God!" etc. Even worse is to pronounce the Name of God in jokes, and a completely terrible sin is committed by one who uses sacred words in anger, during a quarrel, that is, along with swearing and insults. The one who threatens the wrath of the Lord with his enemies or even in a "prayer" asks God to punish another person also blasphemes. A great sin is committed by parents who curse their children in their hearts and threaten them with heavenly punishment. Invoking evil spirits (cursing) in anger or in simple conversation is also sinful. The use of any swear words is also blasphemy and a grave sin.
Disregard for church service
This sin most often manifests itself in the absence of the desire to participate in the sacrament of the Eucharist, that is, the long-term deprivation of oneself of the Communion of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the absence of any circumstances that prevent this; in addition, it is a general lack of church discipline, dislike for worship. As an excuse, busyness with official and domestic affairs, the remoteness of the temple from home, the duration of worship, the incomprehensibility of the liturgical Church Slavonic. Some attend the services quite carefully, but at the same time they only attend the liturgy, do not receive communion, and do not even pray during the service. Sometimes one has to deal with such sad facts as ignorance of the basic prayers and the Creed, misunderstanding of the meaning of the sacraments performed, and most importantly, a lack of interest in this.
unprayer
unprayer like special case non-churchism is a common sin. Fervent prayer distinguishes sincere believers from "lukewarm" believers. We must strive not to chastise the rule of prayer, not to defend divine services, we must acquire the gift of prayer from the Lord, love prayer, wait impatiently for the hour of prayer. Gradually entering, under the guidance of a confessor, into the element of prayer, a person learns to love and understand the music of Church Slavonic chants, their incomparable beauty and depth; the colorfulness and mystical figurativeness of the liturgical symbols—all that is called ecclesiastical magnificence.
The gift of prayer is also the ability to control oneself, one's attention, to repeat the words of prayer not only with lips and tongue, but also with all one's heart and all thoughts to participate in prayer work. An excellent tool for this is the "Jesus Prayer", which consists in a uniform, multiple, unhurried repetition of the words: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." There is an extensive ascetic literature about this prayerful exercise, collected mainly in the Philokalia and other patristic works.
The "Jesus Prayer" is especially good because it does not require the creation of a special external environment, it can be read walking down the street, while working, in the kitchen, on the train, etc. In these cases, it especially helps to divert our attention from everything seductive, vain, vulgar, empty and concentrate the mind and heart on the sweetest Name of God. True, one should not start practicing "spiritual work" without the blessing and guidance of an experienced confessor, since such self-competition can lead to a false mystical state of delusion.
spiritual charm
Spiritual delusion differs significantly from all the listed sins against God and the Church. In contrast to them, this sin is rooted not in a lack of faith, religiosity, churchliness, but, on the contrary, in a false sense of an excess of personal spiritual gifts. A person in a state of deception imagines himself to have achieved special fruits of spiritual perfection, which is confirmed by all kinds of "signs" for him: dreams, voices, waking visions. Such a person can be very gifted mystically, but in the absence of church culture and theological education, and most importantly, due to the lack of a good, strict confessor and the presence of an environment inclined to gullibly perceive his stories as revelations, such a person often acquires many supporters, as a result of which most of the sectarian anti-church movements arose.
This usually begins with a story about a mysterious dream, unusually chaotic and with a claim to a mystical revelation or prophecy. In the next stage, in a similar state, according to him, voices are already heard in reality or shining visions appear in which he recognizes an angel or some saint, or even the Mother of God and the Savior Himself. They tell him the most incredible revelations, often completely meaningless. This happens to people, both poorly educated and very well-read in the Holy Scriptures, patristic writings, as well as to those who have given themselves up to "intelligent work" without pastoral guidance.
Gluttony
Gluttony is one of a number of sins against neighbors, family and society. It manifests itself in the habit of immoderate, excessive consumption of food, that is, overeating, or in a predilection for refined taste sensations, delighting oneself with food. Certainly, different people different amounts of food are required to maintain their physical strength - this depends on age, physique, state of health, as well as on the severity of the work that a person performs. There is no sin in the food itself, for it is a gift from God. The sin lies in treating it as a desired goal, in worshiping it, in the voluptuous experience of taste sensations, talking on this topic, in striving to spend as much money as possible on new, even more refined products. Every piece of food eaten beyond satisfying hunger, every sip of moisture after quenching thirst, just for pleasure, is already gluttony. Sitting at the table, the Christian must not allow himself to be carried away by this passion. "The more firewood, the stronger the flame; the more food, the more violent lust" (Abba Leonty). “Gluttony is the mother of fornication,” says one ancient patericon. And St. John of the Ladder directly warns: "Dominate the womb until it has dominion over you."
Obstacles to prayer come from weak, incorrect, insufficient faith, from much concern, vanity, preoccupation with worldly affairs, from sinful, impure, evil feelings and thoughts. These obstacles are helped by fasting.
love of money
The love of money manifests itself in the form of extravagance or its opposite stinginess. Secondary at first glance, this is a sin of extreme importance - in it is the simultaneous rejection of faith in God, love for people and addiction to lower feelings. It breeds malice, petrification, carelessness, envy. Overcoming the love of money is a partial overcoming of these sins as well. From the words of the Savior Himself, we know that it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Christ teaches: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where is the treasure yours, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-2!).
Anger, irritability
"The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God" (James 1:20). Anger, irritability - many penitents tend to justify the manifestation of this passion with physiological reasons, the so-called "nervousness" due to the suffering and hardships that have befallen them, tension modern life, the difficult nature of relatives and friends. Although these reasons are partly present, they cannot serve as an excuse for this, as a rule, deeply rooted habit of taking out one's irritation, anger, and bad mood on loved ones. Irritability, irascibility, rudeness first of all destroy family life, leading to quarrels over trifles, causing reciprocal hatred, a desire for revenge, rancor, harden the hearts of generally kind and loving people. And how perniciously the manifestation of anger acts on young souls, destroying in them the God-given tenderness and love for parents! "Fathers, do not irritate your children, so that they do not lose heart" (Col. 3, 21).
The ascetic writings of the Fathers of the Church contain a lot of advice for dealing with the passion of anger. One of the most effective is "righteous anger", in other words, the conversion of our ability to irritation and anger to the very passion of anger. "It is not only permissible, but indeed salutary, to be angry at one's own sins and shortcomings" (St. Demetrius of Rostov). St. Nilus of Sinai advises to be "meek with people", but swearing with our enemy, since this is the natural use of anger in order to hostilely oppose the ancient serpent" ("Philokalia", vol. II). The same ascetic writer says : "Whoever bears a grudge against demons does not bear a grudge against people."
In relation to neighbors, one should show meekness and patience. "Be wise, and block the lips of those who speak evil of you with silence, and not with anger and abuse" (St. Anthony the Great). “When they slander you, see if you have done something worthy of slander. “When you feel a strong influx of anger in yourself, try to be silent. And so that silence itself will bring you more benefit, turn mentally to God and mentally read some short prayers to yourself at this time, for example, the Jesus Prayer,” advises St. Philaret Moskovskij One must even argue without bitterness and without anger, since irritation is immediately transferred to another, infecting him, but in no case convincing him of the rightness.
Very often, the cause of anger is arrogance, pride, the desire to show one's power over others, to expose his vices, forgetting about one's sins. “Destroy two thoughts in yourself: do not recognize yourself as worthy of something great and do not think that the other person is much lower than you in dignity. In this case, the insults inflicted on us will never irritate us” (St. Basil the Great).
At confession, we must tell if we harbor malice towards our neighbor and have we reconciled with those with whom we quarreled, and if we cannot see someone in person, have we reconciled with him in our hearts? On Athos, confessors not only do not allow monks who have malice towards their neighbor to serve in the church and partake of the Holy Mysteries, but when reading the prayer rule, they must omit the words in the Lord’s prayer: “and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” so as not to be liars before God. By this prohibition, the monk, as it were, for a time, until reconciliation with his brother, is excommunicated from prayerful and Eucharistic communion with the Church.
The one who prays for those who often lead him into the temptation of anger receives significant help. Thanks to such a prayer, a feeling of meekness and love for people who until recently were hated is instilled in the heart. But in the first place there should be a prayer for the granting of meekness and driving away the spirit of anger, revenge, resentment, rancor.
Condemnation of one's neighbor
One of the most common sins is, undoubtedly, the condemnation of one's neighbor. Many do not even realize that they have sinned countless times, and if they do, they believe that this phenomenon is so common and ordinary that it does not even deserve to be mentioned in confession. In fact, this sin is the beginning and root of many other sinful habits.
First of all, this sin is closely connected with the passion of pride. Condemning other people's shortcomings (real or apparent), a person imagines himself better, cleaner, more pious, more honest or smarter than another. The words of Abba Isaiah are addressed to such people: “Whoever has a pure heart, he considers all people pure, but whoever has a heart defiled by passions, he does not consider anyone clean, but thinks that everyone is like him” (“Spiritual Flower Garden”).
Those who judge forget that the Savior Himself commanded: “Judge not, lest you be judged, for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; can't you feel in your eye?" (Matthew 7:1-3). There is no sin committed by one person that no one else could commit. And if you see someone else's impurity, then it means that it has already penetrated you, because innocent babies do not notice the debauchery of adults and thus preserve their chastity. Therefore, the one who condemns, even if he is right, must honestly admit to himself: did he not commit the same sin himself?
Our judgment is never impartial, because most often it is based on a random impression or is made under the influence of personal resentment, irritation, anger, random "mood".
If a Christian heard about the unseemly act of his loved one, then before becoming indignant and condemning him, he must act according to the word of Jesus the son of Sirakhov: "A curbing tongue will live peacefully, and one who hates talkativeness will reduce evil. Never repeat words, and you will have nothing ... Ask your friend, perhaps he did not do it; and if he did, then let him not do it ahead. Ask your friend, perhaps he did not say that; and if he said, let him not repeat it. Ask a friend, for often there is slander. Believe not every word. Some sin with a word, but not from the heart; and who has not sinned with his tongue? Question your neighbor before threatening him, and give place to the law of the Most High" (Sir. 19, 6-8; -19).
The sin of despondency
The sin of despondency most often comes from excessive preoccupation with oneself, one's experiences, failures and, as a result, the fading of love for others, indifference to other people's suffering, inability to enjoy other people's joys, envy. The basis and root of our spiritual life and strength is love for Christ, and it must be cultivated and nurtured in ourselves. To peer into His image, to clarify and deepen it in oneself, to live with the thought of Him, and not of one's petty vain blows and failures, to give one's heart to Him - this is the life of a Christian. And then silence and peace will reign in our hearts, about which St. Isaac Sirin: "Be at peace with yourself, and heaven and earth will make peace with you."
Lie
There is, perhaps, no more common sin than lying. This category of vices should also include the failure to fulfill these promises, gossip and idle talk. This sin has entered the consciousness of modern man so deeply, so deeply rooted in the souls, that people do not even think about the fact that any form of untruth, insincerity, hypocrisy, exaggeration, boasting is a manifestation of a serious sin, serving Satan - the father of lies. According to the words of the Apostle John, "no one who is devoted to abomination and falsehood will enter the Heavenly Jerusalem" (Rev. 21:27). Our Lord said of Himself: "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6), and therefore one can come to Him only by walking along the path of truth. Only the truth makes people free.
A lie can manifest itself completely shamelessly, openly, in all its satanic abomination, becoming in such cases the second nature of a person, a permanent mask that has grown to his face. He becomes so accustomed to lying that he cannot express his thoughts otherwise than by dressing them in words that obviously do not correspond to them, thereby not clarifying, but obscuring the truth. A lie imperceptibly creeps into a person’s soul from childhood: often, not wanting to see anyone, we ask relatives to tell the visitor that we are not at home; instead of directly refusing to participate in some business that is unpleasant for us, we pretend to be sick, busy with another business. Such "everyday" lies, seemingly innocent exaggerations, jokes based on deceit, gradually corrupt a person, allowing him subsequently to make deals with his conscience for his own benefit.
Just as nothing can come from the devil but evil and destruction for the soul, so nothing can follow from a lie - his offspring - except a corrupting, satanic, anti-Christian spirit of evil. There is no "saving lie" or "justified", these phrases themselves are blasphemous, for only the Truth, our Lord Jesus Christ, saves, justifies us.
The sin of idle talk
No less than a lie, the sin of idle talk, that is, the empty, unspiritual use of the Divine gift of speech, is widespread. This also includes gossip, retelling rumors.
Often people spend time in empty, useless conversations, the content of which is immediately forgotten, instead of talking about faith with those who suffer without it, seek God, visit the sick, help the lonely, pray, comfort the offended, talk to children or grandchildren to instruct them with a word, a personal example on the spiritual path.
In the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian says: "... Do not give me the spirit of idleness, despondency, arrogance and idle talk." During Great Lent and fasting, one must be especially focused on the spiritual, give up spectacles (cinema, theater, television), be careful in words, truthful. It is appropriate once again to recall the words of the Lord: "For every idle word that people say, they will give an answer on the day of judgment: for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Mt. 12, 36-37).
We must carefully, chastely deal with the priceless gifts of the word and reason, for they make us related to the Divine Logos Himself, the Incarnate Word, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Murder, suicide and abortion
The most terrible sin at all times was considered the violation of the sixth commandment - murder - depriving another of the greatest gift of the Lord - life. The same terrible sins are suicide and murder in the womb - abortion.
Very close to committing murder are those who, in anger at their neighbor, allow assault, inflicting beatings, wounds, and mutilations on them. Parents are guilty of this sin, cruelly treating their children, beating them for the smallest offense, or even without any reason. Guilty of this sin are those who, by gossip, slander, slander, aroused bitterness in a person against someone else, and even more so - incited him to physically deal with him. Mothers-in-law often sin with this in relation to their daughters-in-law, neighbors who build slander on a woman temporarily separated from her husband, deliberately causing scenes of jealousy that end in beatings.
Timely failure to provide assistance to the sick, dying - in general, indifference to other people's suffering should also be considered as passive murder. Especially terrible is this attitude towards elderly sick parents on the part of children.
This also includes the failure to provide assistance to a person in trouble: homeless, hungry, drowning in front of your eyes, beaten or robbed, injured by fire or flood.
But we kill our neighbor not only with our hands or weapons, but also with cruel words, abuse, mockery, mockery of someone else's grief. Everyone has experienced for himself how an evil, cruel, caustic word hurts and kills the soul.
No lesser sin is committed by those who deprive young souls of honor and innocence, corrupting them physically or morally, pushing them onto the path of debauchery and sin. Inviting a young man or a girl to a drunken gathering, inciting to avenge insults, seducing with depraved spectacles or stories, discouraging fasting, pimping, providing one’s home for drunkenness and depraved gatherings - all this is complicity in the moral murder of one’s neighbor.
Killing animals without the need for food, torturing them is also a violation of the sixth commandment.
Indulging in excessive sadness, driving ourselves to despair, we sin against the same commandment. Suicide is the greatest sin, for life is the gift of God, and only He has the power to deprive us of it. Refusal of treatment, deliberate failure to comply with the doctor's prescriptions, deliberate harm to one's health by excessive drinking of wine, smoking of tobacco is also a slow suicide. Some people kill themselves with excessive work for the sake of enrichment - this is also a sin.
The Holy Church, her holy fathers and teachers, condemning abortion and considering it a sin, proceed from the fact that people do not thoughtlessly neglect the sacred gift of life. This is the meaning of all church prohibitions on the issue of abortion. At the same time, the Church recalls the words of the Apostle Paul that "a woman ... will be saved through childbearing, if she continues in faith and love and holiness with chastity" (1 Tim. 2:14:15).
A woman who is outside the Church is warned against this act medical workers, explaining the danger and moral impurity of this operation. For a woman who recognizes her involvement in the Orthodox Church (and, apparently, any baptized woman who comes to church for confession should be considered such), artificial termination of pregnancy is unacceptable.
Theft (theft)
Some consider only outright theft and robbery with violence when large sums of money or other material values and therefore, without hesitation, deny their guilt in the sin of theft. However, theft is any illegal appropriation of another's property, both one's own and public. Theft (theft) should be considered non-return money debts or things given for a while.
The sin of covetousness
No less reprehensible is parasitism, begging without extreme necessity, if it is possible to earn a living yourself. If a person, taking advantage of the misfortune of another, takes from him more than he should, then he commits the sin of covetousness. The concept of extortion also includes the resale of food and industrial products at inflated prices (speculation). Traveling without a ticket on public transport is also an act that should be considered a violation of the eighth commandment.
Sins against the seventh commandment
Sins against the seventh commandment, by their very nature, are especially widespread, tenacious, and therefore the most dangerous. They are associated with one of the strongest human instincts - sexual. Sensuality has penetrated deeply into the fallen nature of man and can manifest itself in the most varied and sophisticated forms. Patristic asceticism teaches us to struggle with every sin from its very slightest appearance, not only with already obvious manifestations of carnal sin, but with lustful thoughts, dreams, fantasies, for "everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28). Here is an approximate scheme of the development of this sin in us.
Fornication thoughts
Fornication thoughts that develop from memories of things previously seen, heard, or even experienced in a dream. In solitude, often at night, they overwhelm a person especially strongly. Here the best medicine is ascetic exercises: fasting in food, inadmissibility of lying in bed after waking up, regular reading of the morning and evening prayer rules.
seductive talk
Seductive conversations in society, obscene stories, anecdotes told with a desire to please others and be in the center of their attention. Many young people, in order not to show their "backwardness" and not to be ridiculed by their comrades, fall into this sin. This should also include the singing of immoral songs, the writing of obscene words, as well as their use in conversation. All this leads to vicious self-gratification, which is all the more dangerous because, firstly, it is associated with an increased work of the imagination, and secondly, it pursues the unfortunate man so relentlessly that he gradually becomes a slave to this sin, which destroys him. physical health and paralyzes the will to overcome vice.
Fornication
Fornication is the copulation of a single man and unmarried woman(or violation of chastity by boys and girls before marriage).
Adultery
Adultery is a violation marital fidelity one of the spouses.
Incest
Incest is a carnal relationship between close relatives.
Unnatural sexual relations
Unnatural sexual relations: sodomy, lesbianism, bestiality.
The heinousness of these sins need hardly be elaborated. Their inadmissibility is obvious to every Christian: they lead to spiritual death even before the physical death of a person.
All men and women who bring repentance, if they are in a relationship, do not consecrated Church, should be strongly recommended to consecrate their union with the sacrament of Marriage, at whatever age they may be. In addition, in marriage, one should observe chastity, not indulge in excess in carnal pleasures, refrain from cohabitation during fasts, on the eve of Sundays and holidays.
Don't be afraid, even if you fall every day
Our repentance will not be complete if we, repenting, do not affirm ourselves inwardly in the determination not to return to confessed sin. But they ask how this is possible, how can I promise myself and my confessor that I will not repeat my sin? Wouldn't it be closer to the truth just the opposite - the certainty that sin is repeated? After all, everyone knows from his own experience that after a while you inevitably return to the same sins; looking at yourself from year to year, you do not notice any improvement.
It would be terrible if that were the case. But fortunately, this is not so. There is no case that, in the presence of sincere repentance and a good desire to improve, accepted with faith Holy Communion did not produce good changes in the soul. The fact is that, first of all, we are not our own judges. A person cannot correctly judge himself, whether he has become worse or better, since both he himself and what he judges are changing values. Increased severity towards oneself, increased spiritual vision can give the illusion that sins have multiplied and intensified. In fact, they remained the same, maybe even weakened, but before we did not notice them that way. In addition, God, by His special Providence, often closes our eyes to our successes in order to protect us from the worst sin - vanity and pride. It often happens that sin still remains, but frequent confessions and communion of the Holy Mysteries have shaken and weakened its roots. Yes, the struggle with sin itself, suffering for one's sins - isn't this an acquisition?! “Do not be afraid, even if you fall every day and deviate from the ways of God, stand courageously, and the angel guarding you will honor your patience,” said St. John of the Ladder.
And even if there is no this feeling of relief, rebirth, one must have the strength to return again to confession, to completely free one's soul from impurity, to wash it from blackness and filth with tears. Whoever strives for this will always achieve what he seeks.
On the attitude towards priests and confession
According to the rules of the Orthodox Church, its members must resort to confession from the age of seven. In other words, already from the age of seven, the Church considers a person capable of answering before God for his actions, fighting evil in himself and receiving grace-filled forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance. Children and adolescents raised by their parents in the Christian faith Orthodox tradition after seven years they come to confession, the service of which is no different from the usual.
How often should you go to confession? It is necessary to confess as often as possible, at least in each of the four fasts. We who are unskilled in repentance need to learn to repent again and again. It is necessary to strive to ensure that the intervals between confessions are filled with spiritual struggle, efforts, nourished by the fruits of the last fasting and excited by the expectation of the approaching new confession.
Although it is desirable to have your own confessor, it is not at all required condition for true repentance. It makes no difference to a man who really suffers from his sin to whom he confesses it; just to repent of it as soon as possible and receive absolution. Repentance must be completely free, not in any way forced by the confessing person.
But those spiritual bonds that are formed between the confessor and the confessor, although they are not formal in any way, cannot be put in anything. Genuine church life requires the constancy and strength of such ties - the "pastor" with his own, for only on such a basis is spiritual life possible.
Communicating with a priest at confession is a leisurely enumeration of one's sins and listening to prayers. Priests and pastors cannot be treated only as executors of demands.
Unfortunately, the consumer attitude towards the Church remains one of the most widespread vices of our church life.
"Consumerism" is many-sided, it grows not only out of laziness and indifference to the Church, but sometimes out of "jealousy not according to reason", hence the abuse of pastoral attention, a kind of confessional performances played before the priest, hence the "pilgrimage" from monastery to monastery , from confessor to confessor, accompanied by all sorts of near-church gossip, replacing, in fact, spiritual life.
The most dangerous and very widespread type of church "consumerism" is an irresponsible attitude towards the Holy Mysteries of Christ. The universally accepted common confession gradually accustoms the laity to take communion without confession at all, not to mention the preparation prescribed by the charter.
Anyone approaching confession should know that confession is not an indulgence, in which a feeling of embarrassment, shame, and even repentance serves as a kind of payment made for sin and allows you to live on as if nothing had happened. Confession is a deeply personal act, and along with the preparation for confession, it is also a process in which a person reveals himself not only to God, but also to himself. Confession, without exaggeration, can be called the process of the birth of a personality, a sometimes painful process, because a person has to cut something off from himself, to uproot something from himself, but also a saving process and in the end always joyful.
There is one more point to which attention should be paid - respect for confession.
Often, due to the crowd in the temple, people stand almost close to the priest and the confessor, so that they can even hear them. No crowd can serve as an excuse here, and no one should come so close to the priest and the confessor.
The secret of confession must be protected from everything, including from pressure.
Holy Fathers on repentance
One should not understand repentance and confession in the same way; repentance means one thing, and confession another; there can be repentance without confession, but there can be no confession without repentance; one can and should always repent or repent before God of one's sins at any time, but one can confess only before a confessor and at one's own time; repentance, or repentance for sins, brings a person closer to the Kingdom of Heaven and brings the Holy Spirit closer to a person, but confession without repentance and repentance does not benefit a person at all, and not only does not benefit, but a feigned and not true confession destroys a person, making him great a criminal, because confession is and must be an act of repentance.
Saint Innocent
The beginning of a good path is to confess your sins to the priest with all your heart.
Venerable Simeon the New Theologian
We will not blame our birth or anyone else for the sins we have committed, but only ourselves.
Venerable Anthony the Great
I ask you, most beloved brethren, let us confess each of our sins, while the sinner is still in this life, when his confession can be accepted, when the satisfaction and forgiveness performed by the priests is pleasing before the Lord.
Saint Cyprian of Carthage
Those who say: “Let us sin in youth and repent in old age” will be deceived and will be ridiculed by demons. As willful sinners, they will not be rewarded with repentance.
Venerable Ephraim the Syrian
Whether to commemorate the sins confessed and with the help God's grace abandoned? Again, there is nothing to remember them in the spirit in confession, when they are already allowed ... But it is good to remember them in your prayer.
After the permission from them at confession by the spiritual father, sins are immediately forgiven. But their trace remains in the souls, and it torments. After labors and exploits in resisting sin, these traces are blotted out. When the traces are erased, then the languor will end.
Saint Theophan the Recluse
Pay attention to these words: the root of repentance is a good intention to confess sins, the leaves are the very confession of sins to God before the face of the spiritual father and the promise of correction, and the fruits of repentance are virtuous life and works of repentance. By these fruits, true repentance is known.
Saint Gregory the Dialogist
Prevent the outcome of your soul with repentance and conversion, so that all the medicine of repentance does not remain useless for you when death comes, for repentance has power only on earth, in hell it is powerless.
In order to receive forgiveness from God, it is not enough to pray for two or three days; it is necessary to make a change in all life and, leaving vice, constantly abide in virtue.
A man's virtue is nothing compared to his sins. Confession of sins The best way propitiation and thanksgiving to God.
I call repentance not only aversion from previous bad deeds, but even more - the intention to do good deeds.
Saint John Chrysostom
So, brethren, seeing many examples of those who have sinned and repented and saved, hasten to repent before the Lord yourself, so that you may receive forgiveness for your sins and be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
A mortal sin is such a sin in which if you do not repent and death finds you in it, then you go to hell, but if you repent of it, then it is immediately forgiven you. It is called mortal because the soul dies from it and can come to life only by repentance.
Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina
Successful repentance requires: vision of one's sin, awareness of it, repentance for it, confession of it.
There is no end to repentance until death, for both the small and the great.
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
Whoever repents of sins will rejoice in the Kingdom of God.
Saint Nile myrrh-streaming
By repentance, the sins committed are destroyed and are no longer commemorated anywhere: neither at the ordeals, nor at the Judgment.
Elder George the Recluse
Until you express your sins in confession, nothing in the world will help you. And, God have mercy, - death will come? ..
Reverend Anatoly of Optina
If you feel the weight of the struggle and see that you cannot cope with evil alone, run to your spiritual father and ask him to partake of the Holy Mysteries for you. It is a great and all-powerful weapon in the fight against strong temptations.
Yes, brothers and sisters, all your sins must be confessed, revealed sincerely before the priest, in order to receive through him from Christ the Savior our forgiveness. And whoever hides his sins at confession or covers up and tries to excuse himself, there will be no forgiveness, because the Lord said to the apostles and their successors: in whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven them; and in whom you hold, they hold on (John 20: 23). How can a priest forgive or not forgive sins, forgive or not, if sins are not revealed to him? Let us remember, brethren, that it is God Himself who commands the priest to confess his sins.
Saint John of Kronstadt
What are the benefits of confession?
absolution, deliverance from eternal punishment reconciliation with God, boldness in prayer.
The return of sanctifying grace.
Restoration of peace of conscience and peace of mind.
Weakening of evil inclinations and passions and keeping from new sins, purification of conscience, discernment by the mind of the smallest sins.
Receiving guidance from a spiritual father.
The main means to avoid sins:
You must avoid all occasions for sin, all places, persons, things that can be tempting for you and inspire sinful desires.
One must always remember death, the passage through ordeals, the Last Judgment and the Hereafter.
As often as possible imagine the presence of God everywhere, meditate on the blessings of God, especially on the life of our Lord on earth, His suffering and death, and in general on the main truths of the Orthodox Church. Christian faith.
Heartfelt and fervent prayer and frequent invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ help to keep from sin.
It is necessary to pay attention to yourself, that is, to be awake, to watch yourself, your feelings, desires and actions.
As often as possible, one should resort to the Sacrament of Penance and confess before the spiritual father, ask him for advice, and obey them, and worthily partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
Do not miss the chance and opportunity to be present at church services and read spiritual books at home.
To meet and converse with pious and reasonable people and avoid conversations with immoral people.
Constantly have some useful occupation, carry a position, do some work, so as not to be idle.
Reminder for those approaching Holy Communion
Those who come to partake of the Holy Mysteries must do the following:
Refrain from food and drink (in the evening).
Fulfill the prayer rule.
On the eve, pray at the all-night vigil.
Fasting (abstaining from food of animal origin).
Living in marriage, abstain from the marital bed before and after communion.
Ask for forgiveness for those who have offended.
PREPARATION FOR CONFESSION
Orthodox Christians of all times purify the soul from sin by passing through a special Sacrament established by Christ Himself -
Mystery of Repentance.
For the purification of the soul in the Sacrament of Penance, it is necessary:
Awareness of one's sins and contrition of the heart. Finding the root cause of your sins. A sincere confession to a priest.
Penitent confession helps to proceed to Holy Communion - to worthily receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Union with Christ brings unspeakable peace to the soul, love and reconciliation with all.
Thus, from time immemorial, the Church has formed the spiritual structure of pious generations, peacefulness, patience, and health.
The priest has been given power from God to “bind and loose” our sins. “I forgive and forgive your sins...,” the priest says to those who come to confession and repent of sins. Anyone who is able to wash away their sins in the Sacrament of Penance and cleanse their conscience receives great relief. What the earthly court has forgiven, the heavenly court forgives. How to hurry to cleanse the soul from sin, because no one knows what is prepared for him tomorrow and how much of the earthly path is left. Can we be cleansed by repentance? Can we recognize our sinfulness? Hurry, Christian. Remember: "Nothing unclean enters the Kingdom of Heaven." Numerous testimonies of resuscitated patients who returned "from the next world" in our time indicate that we all have to answer for every little thing.
The doors of repentance are open to everyone, but will we have time to go through them? It is most difficult for a proud person to realize his impurity. Such people do not see their sin and are in constant self-deception and exaltation of the mind. They are pleased with themselves and rarely look into the depths of their conscience. But conscience is hard to deceive. It is the voice of God Himself convicting us.
Every living thing has free will. How will we manage it? Will our deeds 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 works pleasing to God? Nobody 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 on his back?
Remember, Christian: the thief who hung next to Christ on the cross repented with humility and entered Paradise following the Lord. The Lord forgave and accepted him. Judas Iscariot was a disciple of Christ, but he betrayed the Teacher and, without repentance, 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 to resist sin and not repeat it.
In the sacrament of holy repentance, we are given the opportunity to put off 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 heaviness, their aversion to 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,” - so many often begin confession. But our holy fathers and teachers, who left us prayers of repentance, considered themselves the first of sinners, with sincere conviction appealed to Christ: "No one has sinned on earth from the beginning, as I have sinned, accursed and prodigal!" The brighter the light of Christ illuminates the heart, the more clearly all the shortcomings, ulcers and wounds of the soul are recognized. And vice versa: people immersed in the darkness of sin do not see anything in their hearts, and if they see, they are not horrified, since they have nothing to compare with, for Christ is closed to them by a veil of sins. Therefore, in order to overcome our spiritual laziness and insensitivity, the holy Church laid down preparatory days for the Sacrament of Penance - fasting.
The fasting period 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, in general, lead a temperate, repentant life, dissolved by deeds of love and Christian goodness. During the period of fasting, one should attend church services as often as possible, more usually attend to prayer at home, 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 between the main sins from their derivatives, the 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, getting entangled 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 irrigated with life-giving waters of tears? What if the infirmity of the spiritual and the “impossibility of the flesh” are so great that we are not capable of sincere repentance? But this cannot be a reason to put off confession in anticipation of a feeling of repentance. The Lord accepts confession - sincere and conscientious - even if it is not accompanied by a strong sense of repentance. Only this sin - petrified insensitivity - must be confessed courageously and frankly, without hypocrisy. God can touch the heart even during confession itself - soften it, refine spiritual vision, awaken a feeling of repentance.
The condition that we must certainly comply with in order for our repentance to be accepted by the Lord is the forgiveness of the sins of our neighbors and reconciliation with everyone.
Repentance cannot be perfect without verbal confession of sins. Sins can only be forgiven in the Church Sacrament of Penance 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. It is necessary to name sins exactly, without obscuring the ugliness of sin with general expressions. It is very difficult, when confessing, to avoid the temptation of self-justification, to give up attempts to explain to the confessor "extenuating circumstances", from references to third parties who allegedly led us into sin. All these are signs of self-love, lack of deep repentance, continuing stagnation in sin. Confession is not a conversation about one's shortcomings, doubts, it is not a simple awareness of 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 resurrected to righteousness and holiness.
Having repented, we must be strengthened inwardly in the determination not to return to confessed sin. The sign of perfect repentance is a feeling of lightness, purity, inexplicable joy, when sin seems just as difficult and impossible as this joy was just far away.
An example of a general confession
Here is one of the options for listing sins at a general confession. They are named in the following order: sins against God, sins against neighbor, sins against oneself. This list is not presented for copying, for subsequent confession before a priest, but to remind a penitent 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, 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 on God's mercy and sincerely wish to correct my life.
I sinned with lack of faith, doubting what the faith of Christ teaches us. He sinned with indifference to faith, unwillingness to comprehend it and be convinced of it. He sinned with blasphemy - a frivolous ridicule of the truths of the faith, the words of prayer and the gospel, the rites of the church, as well as the pastors of the Church and pious people, calling zeal for prayer, fasting and almsgiving hypocrisy.
He sinned even more: with contemptuous and impudent judgments about faith, about the laws and regulations of the church, for example, about fasting and divine services, 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 should not go to God alone, but with brothers and sisters in faith, in the union of love, in the Church and with the Church: only where there is love, there is God; to whom the Church is not the Mother, to him God is not the Father.
I have sinned by renouncing the faith or hiding the 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 renounce him before My Father in Heaven; 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, deceit, cunning, deceit.
He sinned in happiness with ingratitude to God, the giver of happiness, and in misfortune - with despondency, cowardice, grumbling at God, anger at Him, blasphemous and impudent thoughts about God's Providence, despair, the desire for death for himself and his loved ones.
I have sinned with love for earthly goods, more so than for the Creator, whom I must love most of all - with all my soul, with all my heart, with all my thoughts.
He 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 after death and at His Last Judgment; That is why I sinned unrestrainedly and boldly, as if for me there would be neither death, nor Judgment, nor righteous punishment from God.
He sinned with superstitions, unreasonable trust in dreams, signs, divination (for example, on maps).
I sinned in prayer through laziness, skipped the morning and evening prayers, before and after eating, at the beginning and end of any work.
I sinned in prayer by haste, absent-mindedness, coldness and heartlessness, hypocrisy, I tried to seem to people more pious than I really am.
He sinned with a non-peaceful mood when praying: he prayed in a state of irritation, anger, malevolence, condemnation, grumbling, disobedience to the Providence of God. Sinned by negligent and wrong doing 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 done in the church during the service, by not performing or reluctantly performing church rites (bows, kissing the cross, the Gospel, icons).
He sinned with irreverent, obscene behavior in the temple - worldly and loud conversations, laughter, arguments, quarrels, scolding, pushing and oppressing other pilgrims.
He 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 the fact that he promised to do good to someone with an oath.
He sinned with careless handling of the shrine - with the cross, the Gospel, icons, holy water, prosphora.
He sinned by not observing holidays, fasts and fasting days, by not observing spiritual fasting, that is, he did not try to free himself from his shortcomings, bad and idle habits with God's help, did not try to correct his character, did not force himself to diligently fulfill the commandments of God.
Innumerable are my sins, both against my neighbors and in regard to my duties towards myself. Instead of love for my neighbor, selfishness with all its destructive fruits prevails in my life.
I have sinned with pride, conceit, considering myself better than others, vanity - love for praise and honor, arrogance, lust for power, arrogance, disrespect, rude treatment of people, ingratitude to those who do me good.
I sinned with condemnation, ridicule of the sins, shortcomings and mistakes of my neighbors, slander, gossip, they brought discord among my neighbors.
He sinned with slander - he spoke unfairly about people bad and harmful and dangerous for them.
He sinned with impatience, irritability, anger, obstinacy, stubbornness, quarrelsomeness, impudence, disobedience.
He sinned with resentment, malice, hatred, rancor, revenge.
He sinned with envy, malevolence, malevolence; he sinned with abuse, foul language, quarrels, cursing both others (perhaps even his children), and himself.
I sinned by disrespecting elders, especially parents, by unwillingness to take care of my parents, to put their old age to rest; sinned by condemning and ridiculing them, by treating them rudely and insolently. He sinned with a rare commemoration in prayer of them and of his other relatives - the living and the dead.
I sinned with mercilessness, ruthlessness towards poor, sick, grieving people, merciless cruelty in words and deeds, was not afraid to humiliate, insult, upset my neighbors, sometimes, perhaps, drove a person to despair.
He sinned with stinginess, evading help to those in need, greed, love for profit, was not afraid to use other people's misfortunes and social disasters for his own benefit.
He sinned with addiction, attachment to things, sinned with regret for good deeds done, sinned with ruthless treatment of animals (starved them, beat them).
He sinned by appropriating someone else's property - theft, concealing what was found, buying and selling stolen goods. He sinned by non-fulfillment or careless performance of work - his household and official affairs.
I have sinned with lies, pretense, duplicity, insincerity in dealing with people, flattery, human pleasing.
He sinned by eavesdropping, peeping, reading other people's letters, divulging trusted secrets, cunning, all dishonesty.
I have sinned with laziness, love for idle pastime, idle talk, daydreaming.
He sinned by negligence in relation to his own and other people's property. He sinned with intemperance in food and drink, overeating, secret eating, drunkenness, smoking. He sinned with capriciousness in clothes, excessive concern for his appearance, a desire to please, especially people of the opposite sex.
He sinned with immodesty, impurity, voluptuousness in thoughts, feelings and desires, in words and conversations, in reading, in glances, in addressing persons of the opposite sex, as well as intemperance in marital relations, violation of marital fidelity, fornication falls, marital cohabitation without church blessing , the unnatural satisfaction of lust.
Those who aborted themselves or others, or persuaded someone to this great sin - to infanticide, have sinned grievously.
I sinned by tempting other people to sin with my words and deeds, 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; he did not accustom children to prayer, obedience, truthfulness, diligence, thrift, helpfulness, did not follow the purity of their behavior.
He sinned by negligence about his salvation, about pleasing God, insensitivity to his sins and his unrequited guilt before God.
He sinned through laziness in the fight against sin, constant delay in true repentance and correction.
I sinned by careless preparation for confession and communion, forgetting my sins, inability and unwillingness to remember them in order to feel my sinfulness and condemn myself before God.
He sinned in that he very rarely approached confession and communion.
I sinned by not fulfilling the penances imposed on me.
He sinned by justifying himself in sins: instead of condemnation - even at confession - by minimizing his sins.
I sinned by accusing and condemning my neighbors in confession, pointing out the sins of others instead of my own.
He sinned if he deliberately concealed his sins during confession because of fear or shame.
I sinned if I proceeded to confession and communion without reconciling with those whom I offended or who offended me.
Forgive, Lord, my countless sins, cleanse, renew and strengthen my soul and body, so that I can steadily follow the path of salvation.
And you, honest father, pray for me to the Lord, the Most Pure Lady of the Mother of God and the holy saints of God, that the Lord will have mercy on me through their prayers, forgive me from my sins and make me worthy 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 for preparing for confession.
This is especially true for the person who has the custom before confession to make a list of committed sins. 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 for a "report" before the priest, or even better, before the Omniscient God, but only to remind ourselves of what we must say, what we must repent of. And the deeper and sincere repentance, the stronger the degree of healing of the wounds of our soul.
He sinned in deed, in word, in thought, willingly and not willingly, in knowledge and ignorance, in reason and foolishness.
I sinned with idle talk, idle talk, verbosity; words and speeches of abusive, annoying, filthy, blasphemous, frivolous, unreasonable, ridiculous, vain; arrogance, arrogance. Looking, listening, reading empty and soul-harmful. Conversations and laughter in the temple.
He sinned with lies, false words and speeches, failure to fulfill promises given to God and people, incomplete confessions, false opinions, wrong advice.
He sinned by condemning his neighbors, sacred persons; os-meyaniem, slander, censure.
He sinned with gluttony, eating at the wrong time, not according to the Church Charter; non-observance of fasts and fasting days, did not always pray before and after eating food; satiety, overeating, secret eating, greed.
He sinned with laziness, idleness, bodily rest beyond what was due, and many sleeps. Rare going to the Church for Divine services, especially Divine Liturgy. Leaving the prayer rule and other soul-saving readings. During church and cell prayer - relaxation, lethargy, inattention; lateness to the beginning of Divine services, premature departure from the church without a good reason. Carelessness, despondency and neglect of your soul. Work on Sundays and public holidays. Non-commemoration of parents, relatives, living and deceased.
He sinned with petty tatba in everyday life and at work, non-return of money debts or things given for a while.
He sinned with the love of money, stinginess, acquisitiveness, wastefulness without need.
He sinned with covetousness, covetousness, lawful profit.
He sinned with various kinds of untruth, deceit, and evasion of payment for various services.
He sinned with envy, enmity, hatred, hostility, non-reconciliation, malevolence, malevolence; abuse of neighbor's trust.
He sinned with pride, vanity, conceit, magnificence, pleasing people, hypocrisy, duplicity, lack of soul, self-love, love of glory, arrogance, humiliation of one's neighbor. Disobedience and failure to show proper honor to parents, spiritual father; self-justification, honor-love.
He sinned with anger, rage, irascibility, irritability, quarrelsomeness, reproaches of his neighbor, rudeness, insolence, bitterness, slander, vexation, cruelty.
He sinned with malice, remembrance of malice, vindictiveness, excessive exactingness and severity towards neighbors, household members and relatives. Striking neighbors in anger, un-moderate punishment of children.
He sinned with superstitions of various kinds. Gambling, singing obscene songs.
He sinned with prodigal thoughts, unchaste behavior, impure dreams, obscene conversations, intemperance according to the flesh on fasting and holidays.
He sinned with lack of faith, careless performance of prayers, the sign of the cross, prostrations; frivolous mention of shrines. Unworthy preparation for the Sacraments of the Church: Repentance, Communion and others. Pronounce the Name of God in vain. He did not wear a pectoral cross.
He sinned with insufficient trust in the Providence of God in various circumstances, grumbling at God, ingratitude to God, the absence of the fear of God in the soul, disobedience to the will of God, petrified insensitivity.
Was a temptation to neighbors in various circumstances.
About all these uttered ones, and for the sake of ineffable forgetfulness - I repent.
Every believer knows that confession is one of the most important and iconic rites of the Christian Church. The ability to first realize all one's sins, sincerely repent of them, and fully reveal oneself before God through confession is a very important step in spiritual development and self-improvement for every believer.
But, unfortunately, not every deeply religious person even baptized in the church regularly goes to confession. In most cases, this is hindered by a sense 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 on this step.
Often people first come to confession before baptism, or then, for years, they decide to legalize 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. Both future spouses must repent before the wedding.
In order to remove the burden from your soul, start talking with God and sincerely repent of everything you have done, you need to learn how to go through confession in the church, because this rite must be performed according to certain rules. You can learn about how the sacrament and confession take place from the temple workers, as well as in church shops usually located nearby.
What should she be?
Confession is a special Sacrament, during which a believer, through a priest, sincerely tells God about all 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 was cleansed, which made it easy and light for him, it is necessary to take the conversation with the clergyman very seriously.
It is important to understand that the rite of remission of sins is not a monotonous enumeration of them aloud, for the Lord God already knows everything about them. He expects a completely different thing from a believer! He expects from him sincere sincere repentance and a great desire to purify himself, in order to no longer commit such a thing. Only with such feelings and desires you need to go to church.
« How is confession going?”- this question worries everyone who wants to confess for the first time.
The sacrament occurs according to certain rules:
- Throw away your fear and shame to admit to a priest that you are an imperfect and sinful person;
- The main components of the ceremony are sincere feelings, bitter repentance and faith in the forgiveness of the Almighty, who will certainly hear you;
- You need to repent of your sins regularly and often. It is fundamentally wrong to believe that it is enough to come to church once, tell the priest about everything at once, and never come back here again;
- It is necessary to take the ceremony seriously. If your soul is disturbed by the fact that bad thoughts come to your head or you have committed a minor domestic offense, then you can repent of these deeds 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 rite, it is imperative to confess to all misconduct, otherwise you will commit another sin - try to hide your actions and thoughts from God, deceive Him. Since the passage of confession and communion is a very responsible matter, one must carefully and meaningfully prepare for it.
Training
Proper preparation for it plays a big role in how successfully the rite of absolution will pass. It is necessary to tune in to communication with the Almighty, to a sincere and frank conversation with the clergyman. Prepare internally and externally, think through every single moment.
Before you go to confession, stay at home alone, in a calm environment. Concentrate and try to be imbued with 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 make a very important act in your life. The prayers of John Chrysostom will help to tune in the right way and prepare.
Remember all your sins and transgressions, start with mortals, then remember whether you sinned with anger, pride or avarice, restore the pictures of sins in your memory. Ministers recommend tuning in to repentance for a long time and carefully, you need to pray a lot, remember sins in solitude, it is advisable to fast.
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 at the very first frank conversation with a priest.
Going to confession, special attention should be paid to your appearance. Women need to wear a skirt below the knees and a jacket with covered shoulders and arms, their heads must be covered with a scarf.
It is better to refuse to apply cosmetics on this day, it is generally forbidden to paint lips, because you will need to apply to the cross. Men also should not be naked, even if it is hot in the street in shorts and a T-shirt, you should not go to church.
How is it going?
People who want to go to confession for the first time are worried about how everything will turn out. IN Orthodox churches and churches, both general confessions are held, which everyone can attend, as well as individual conversations with parishioners.
On the general confessions the priest forgives the sins of all believers who come to the temple, while he lists those sins and sins that are committed by people most often. This is done in order to remind people of sins that they may have forgotten.
Entering the church, you need to go to the lectern, the place where the queue of those wishing to confess is lined up. While waiting for your turn, you need to pray and remember your sins. When your turn comes, you need to go to the priest, who will ask your name, what you want to talk about and what 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 everything you tell about will be known only to you and the priest.
During confession, the clergyman covers the head of a person with a part of his clothing, which resembles an apron. This is an obligatory part of the ceremony, at this moment the priest will read a prayer. After that, he will give his instructions and, possibly, appoint penance, that is, punishment.
A sincerely repentant person, his sins are forgiven forever. After the end of the ceremony, it is necessary to cross yourself and kiss the cross and the Gospel. Then you need to ask the priest for blessings. Confession in churches takes place, as a rule, on certain days, which you need to know in advance.
It is important for every believer to know the following points.
How to prepare for the first confession? This question worries many beginning Orthodox Christians. You will find out the answer to this question if you read the article!
With the following below simple tips you can take the first steps.
How to confess and receive communion for the first time?
Confession in the church
The only exception may be the most concise "reminder" of major sins, which are often not recognized as such.
An example of such a note:
but. Sins against the Lord God:
- disbelief in God, recognition of any significance for other "spiritual forces", religious doctrines, in addition to the Christian faith; participation in other religious practices or rituals, even “for company”, as a joke, etc.;
- nominal faith, not expressed in any way in life, that is, practical atheism (you can recognize the existence of God with your mind, but live like a non-believer);
- the creation of "idols", that is, putting in the first place among the values of life something other than God. Anything that a person really "serves" can become an idol: money, power, career, health, knowledge, hobbies - all this can be good when it takes the appropriate place in the personal "hierarchy of values", but, becoming the first , turns into an idol;
- an appeal to various kinds of fortune-tellers, soothsayers, sorcerers, psychics, etc. - an attempt to "subdue" spiritual forces in a magical way, without repentance and personal effort to change life in accordance with the commandments.
b. Sins against neighbor:
- neglect of people, resulting from pride and selfishness, inattention to the needs of the neighbor (the neighbor is not necessarily a relative or acquaintance, it is every person who is next to us at the moment);
– condemnation and discussion of the shortcomings of others (“From your words you will be justified and from your words you will be condemned,” says the Lord);
- fornication sins of various kinds, especially adultery (violation of marital fidelity) and unnatural sexual intercourse, which is incompatible with being in the Church. Prodigal cohabitation also includes the so-called common today. "civil marriage", that is, cohabitation without registration of marriage. However, it should be remembered that a registered but unmarried marriage cannot be regarded as fornication and is not an obstacle to being in the Church;
- abortion - deprivation of life human being Basically murder. You should repent even if the abortion was made for medical reasons. It is also a serious sin to persuade a woman to have an abortion (by her husband, for example). Repentance for this sin implies that the penitent will never consciously repeat it again.
- appropriation of someone else's property, refusal to pay the labor of other people (ticketless travel), withholding the wages of subordinates or hired workers;
- lies of various kinds, especially - slandering one's neighbor, spreading rumors (as a rule, we cannot be sure of the veracity of rumors), incontinence of the word.
This indicative list the most common sins, but we emphasize once again that such “lists” should not be carried away. It is best to use the ten commandments of God in further preparation for confession and listen to your own conscience.
- Talk only about sins, and your own.
It is necessary to speak at confession about your sins, not trying to minimize them or show them as excusable. It would seem that this is obvious, but how often priests, when taking confession, hear life stories about all relatives, neighbors and acquaintances instead of confessing sins. When in confession a person talks about the offenses caused to him, he evaluates and condemns his neighbors, in fact, justifying himself. Often in such stories, personal transgressions are presented in such a way that it would seem impossible to avoid them at all. But sin is always the fruit of personal choice. It is extremely rare that we find ourselves in such collisions when we are forced to choose between two kinds of sin.
- Do not invent a special language.
Speaking about your sins, you should not worry about how they would be called “correctly” or “according to the church”. It is necessary to call a spade a spade, in the usual language. You are confessing to God, who knows even more about your sins than you do, and by naming the sin as it is, you certainly will not surprise God.
Do not surprise you and the priest. Sometimes penitents are ashamed to tell the priest this or that sin, or there is a fear that the priest, having heard the sin, will condemn you. In fact, a priest has to listen to a lot of confessions over the years of service, and it is not easy to surprise him. And besides, the sins are not all original: they have not changed much over the millennia. Being a witness of sincere repentance for serious sins, the priest will never condemn, but will rejoice in the conversion of a person from sin to the path of righteousness.
- Talk about the big things, not the little things.
It is not necessary to start confession with such sins as breaking the fast, not attending church, working on holidays, watching TV, wearing/not wearing certain types of clothing, etc. Firstly, these are definitely not your most serious sins. Secondly, this may not be a sin at all: if a person has not come to God for many years, then why repent of non-observance of fasts, if the “vector” of life itself was directed in the wrong direction? Thirdly, who needs endless digging into everyday minutiae? The Lord expects from us love and giving of heart, and we to him: “I ate a fish on fasting day” and “embroidered it on a holiday.”
The main attention should be paid to the relationship with God and neighbors. Moreover, according to the Gospel, neighbors are understood not only as people who are pleasing to us, but all who we met on life path. And above all, our family members. Christian life for family people begins in the family and is tested by it. Here is the best field for cultivating Christian qualities in oneself: love, patience, forgiveness, acceptance.
- Start changing your life even before confession.
Repentance in Greek sounds like "metanoia", literally - "change of mind". It is not enough to admit that in life you have committed such and such misdeeds. God is not a prosecutor, and confession is not a confession. Repentance should be a change of life: the penitent intends not to return to sins and tries with all his might to keep himself from them. Such repentance begins some time before confession, and coming to the temple to see a priest already “captures” the change taking place in life. This is extremely important. If a person intends to continue sinning after confession, then maybe it is worth postponing confession?
It should be noted that when we talk about changing one's life and renunciation of sin, we mean first of all the so-called "mortal" sins, according to the words of the Apostle John, that is, incompatible with being in the Church. With such sins Christian church from ancient times considered renunciation of faith, murder and adultery. Sins of this kind can also include the extreme degree of other human passions: anger at one's neighbor, theft, cruelty, and so on, which can be stopped once and for all by an effort of the will, combined with God's help. As for petty sins, the so-called “everyday” ones, they will be repeated in many ways even after confession. One must be ready for this and accept it humbly as an inoculation against spiritual exaltation: there are no perfect people among people, only God is sinless.
- To be at peace with everyone.
“Forgive and you will be forgiven,” says the Lord. “With what judgment you judge, you will be judged.” And even more strongly: “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” . If we ask God for forgiveness, then we ourselves must first forgive the offenders. Of course, there are situations when asking for forgiveness directly from a person is physically impossible, or this will lead to an aggravation of an already difficult relationship. Then it is important, at least, to forgive on your part and not have anything in your heart against your neighbor.
A few practical recommendations. Before you come to confession, it would be nice to find out when confession is usually held in the temple. In many churches they serve not only on Sundays and holidays, but also on Saturdays, and in large churches and monasteries - on weekdays. The greatest influx of confessors occurs during Great Lent. Of course, the Lenten period is mainly a time of repentance, but for those who come for the first time or after a very long break, it is better to choose a time when the priest is not very busy. It may turn out that they confess in the temple on Friday evening or Saturday morning - these days there will probably be fewer people than during Sunday service. It is good if you have the opportunity to personally contact the priest and ask him to appoint a convenient time for confession.
There are special prayers expressing a repentant "mood". It is good to read them the day before confession. penitential canon The Lord Jesus Christ is printed in almost any prayer book, except for the shortest ones. If you are not used to praying in Church Slavonic, you can use the translation into Russian.
During confession, the priest can assign you a penance: abstaining from communion for a while, reading special prayers, bowing down to the ground, or deeds of mercy. This is not a punishment, but a means to get rid of sin and receive full forgiveness. Penance can be appointed when the priest does not meet the proper attitude towards serious sins on the part of the penitent, or, conversely, when he sees that a person has a need to do something practically to "get rid" of sin. Penance cannot be indefinite: it is appointed for a certain time, and then must be terminated.
As a rule, after confession, believers receive communion. Although confession and communion are two different sacraments, it is better to combine the preparation for confession with the preparation for communion. What this preparation is, we will tell in a separate article.
If these little tips have helped you prepare for confession, thank God. Do not forget that this sacrament must be regular. Don't put off your next confession for years. Confession at least once a month helps us to always be “in good shape”, to treat our daily life attentively and responsibly, in which, in fact, our Christian faith should be expressed.
Have you read the article?
Simple Rules for Confession
Confession, especially if it is associated with fasting, almsgiving, fervent prayer, returns a person to the state in which Adam was before the fall.
Confession can be done in any setting, but it is generally accepted to confess in a church — during a divine service or at a time specially appointed by the priest. The confessor must be baptized, a member Orthodox Church acknowledging all the fundamentals Orthodox dogma and repentant of their sins.
Preparing for Confession church charter does not require any special fasting, nor a special prayer rule - faith and repentance are needed. However, it is recommended to read penitential prayers, fasting is also possible.
The penitent must confess his sins. It is necessary to show a general awareness of one's sinfulness, especially highlighting the passions and weaknesses most characteristic of him (for example: lack of faith, love of money, anger, etc.); and also to name those specific sins that he sees behind him, and especially those that are most burdensome to his conscience.
EIGHT MAIN PASSIONS
(think about whether these sins weigh you down)
one . Entrapment: Overeating, drunkenness, non-keeping and permission of fasts, secret eating, delicacy, generally violation of abstinence. Wrong and excessive love of the flesh, its life and peace, from which self-love is made, from which non-keeping of fidelity to God, the Church, goodness and people.
2. Fornication: Prodigal kindling, prodigal sensations and positions of the soul and heart. Acceptance of impure thoughts, conversation with them, delight in them, permission to them, slowness in them. Prodigal dreams and captivity. Non-keeping of the senses, especially the sense of touch, which is impudence, destroying all virtues. Cursing and reading voluptuous books. Fornication sins are natural: fornication and adultery. Fornication sins are unnatural.
3. Love of money: Loving money, generally loving property, movable and immovable. Desire to get rich. Reflection on the means to enrichment. Dream of wealth. Fear of old age, unexpected poverty, sickness, exile. Avarice. Greed. Unbelief in God, distrust of His Providence. Addictions or painful, excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain cares. Loving gifts. Appropriation of someone else's. Likhva. Hardness of heart to the poor brethren and to all those in need. Theft. Robbery.
4. Anger: Hot temper, acceptance of angry thoughts: dreaming of anger and vengeance, indignation of the heart with rage, clouding the mind with it; obscene shouting, argument, swearing, cruel and caustic words, stress, pushing, murder. Remembrance, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and resentment of one's neighbor.
5. Sadness: Grieving, longing, cutting off hope in God, doubt in the promises of God, ungratefulness to God for everything that happens, cowardice, impatience, non-self-reproach, sorrow for one’s neighbor, grumbling, renunciation of the cross, an attempt to get off it.
6. Despondency: Sloth for everyone good deed especially for prayer. Leaving the Church and cell rule. Leaving unceasing prayer and soulful reading. Inattention and haste in prayer. Neglect. Irreverence. Idleness. Excessive comfort with sleep, lying down and all kinds of languor. Transition from place to place. Frequent exits from the cell, walks and visits to friends. Idle talk. Jokes. Blasphemers. Leaving bows and other bodily feats. Forgetting your sins. Forgetfulness of the commandments of Christ. Negligence. Captivity. Deprivation of the fear of God. Bitterness. Insensibility. Despair.
7. Vanity: The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly and vain honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and private things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of the body. Disposition to the perishing sciences and arts of this age, the search to succeed in them in order to acquire temporary, earthly glory. Shame to confess your sins. Hiding them before people and the spiritual father. Craftiness. Self-justification. Contradiction. Compiling your mind. Hypocrisy. Lie. Flattery. Humanity. Envy. Humiliation of the neighbor. Change of temper. Indulgence. Unscrupulousness. The temper and life are demonic.
8. Pride: Neighbor contempt. Preferring yourself to everyone. Insolence. Omra-chenie, corpulence of the mind and heart. Nailing them to the earth. Hula. Disbelief. False mind. Disobedience to the Law of God and the Church. Follow your carnal will. Reading books heretical, depraved and vain. Disobedience to authorities. A biting mockery. Abandoning Christ-like humility and silence. Loss of simplicity. Loss of love for God and neighbor. False philosophy. Heresy. Irreligion. Ignorance. Death of the soul.St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)
Brief list of sins.
- It is necessary to repent of sins committed by deed, word, and thought.
- Remember sins since the previous confession or, if you have never confessed, since the time of baptism.
- If you were baptized in infancy, try to remember from the age of six.
- "per minute" and there is no need to remember and tell in details. Suffice it to say that such and such a sin, one way or another, happened in life. In deed, in word, in thought.
- In confession, do not make excuses, but only repent.
- When confessing, try to speak to the point, without being distracted by extraneous topics.
- Don't hide sins. This makes confession invalid and redoubles the burden of sin on the soul.
- Do not try to "quickly get off" by saying: "Sinful in everything!". It is necessary to figure out exactly what, in order to identify your spiritual illnesses - the causes of life problems, and consciously begin to heal them.
- Fasting, in the sense of eating, is not obligatory before confession.
- If you have already confessed some sin and have not committed it again, you do not need to repeat it.
- It is a sin to continue to torment yourself about what you have already repented of in confession. This is an expression of disbelief.
- Unbelief, lack of faith, doubts about the existence of God, about the truth of the Orthodox faith.
- Not keeping the law of God.
- Resentment against God.
- An insult to God, the Most Holy Theotokos, saints, the holy Church. The mention of the Name of God is in vain, without reverence.
- Condemnation of the clergy.
- Caring only for earthly life.
- Non-observance of the prayer rule, fasting and other church regulations.
- Non-attendance or rare visit to the temple.
- Unbaptized children. Raising children outside the Orthodox faith.
- Failure to keep promises made to God.
- Work on Sundays and major church holidays.
- Failure to provide prayer assistance to neighbors. Alive and dead.
- Non-communion or rare communion to the sacraments of repentance, communion, unction.
- Lack of Christian love.
- Lack of good deeds. Failure to provide all possible assistance to the Church.
- Committing criminal offences.
- Homicide, abortion. Attempted murder or suicide.
- Pride. Condemnation. Resentment, not a desire to reconcile, forgive. rancor.
- Envy . Malice, hatred.
- Lies, deceit.
- Backbiting, gossip. Swearing, swearing. Causing harm, damage. Insult, insult.
- Failure to fulfill parental obligations. Failure to owe parents
- Any dishonesty.
- Lack of mercy, failure to help those in need.
Greed, covetousness, money-grubbing, bribery.
- Extravagance.
- Erroneous judgments about life, the spread of their delusions.
- Seduction to any sin. Initiation, in any form, to delusions and false teachings:
different philosophical systems; schisms, heresies and sects in Christianity;
other beliefs - Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and their offshoots;
about. sects - Satanism, Dianetics (Scientology), Marmons, Jehovah's Witnesses, yoga, meditation, etc., "health" systems, false trends in psychology and
- Superstition. Belief in omens, interpretation of dreams, observance of pagan rites and holidays.
- Entering into direct communication with evil spirits. Divination, witchcraft, conspiracies, love spells, magic.
- Any games and actions with cards.
- Drinking, drug addiction, smoking.
- Fornication. (Sexual satisfaction is illegal, that is, outside of marriage or in a perverted form.)
- Failure to save marriage. Divorce.
- Despondency, sadness. Gluttony. Laziness. Self-justification.
- Unwillingness to work for one's own salvation.
At the end of the confession, one can say this: I have sinned (a) in deed, in word, in thoughts, with all the feelings of the soul and body. Do not list all my sins, according to their multitude. But in all my sins, both expressed and forgotten, I repent.
God! Be merciful to me a sinner (sinner)
