Confession. Sacrament of Repentance

The Lord Jesus Christ began His public ministry with the call: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Consequently, repentance is the beginning, foundation and core of all Christian life.

What do you need to repent of and what is “sin”? According to the teachings of the Church, sin is, first of all, a “genetic” disease of the spirit, transmitted to every person since the fall of Adam and Eve (Life 3). Disease manifests itself in each of us in the form of bad deeds, words and thoughts. Christ took upon Himself the sins of all humanity, each of us, and nailed them to the Cross (Epistle to the Colossians, ch. 2, Art. 14 ). God's forgiveness is given to each of us once and for all, but in order for it to really change our lives, our personal repentance is necessary.

What is repentance

The word "repentance" in Hebrew (the original language of the Bible) means "turning to God"; in Greek - “a change of mind, way of thinking”; the Russian equivalent, which has the same root as the word “cursed,” apparently emphasizes the feelings that the repentant experiences: bitterness from the awareness of his sinfulness, “cursedness.” Indeed, all three of these aspects are part of the repentance process. Repentance is an appeal to God, accompanied by a reassessment of one’s past in the light of the Word of God - the commandments and everything that the Lord reveals to us through the Holy Scriptures, Tradition and the experience of the Church. To repent means to realize that your life, thoughts, words and actions are contrary to the Gospel and stand as a wall between you and God.

In the early Christian Church, repentance was understood as part of the preparation for Baptism: a person left his former, sinful life (1 Cor 6:9-11), renounced it (see renunciation of Satan in the rite of the sacrament of Baptism) and died to sin in the baptismal font (Rom 6:3-4 ). In the case of grave sins committed by a Christian: murder, adultery and renunciation of the faith, repeated public repentance was allowed before the entire church community, and this was calledconfession. Such a confession could only be made once in a lifetime.

Confession in ancient times

However, there was another practice of confession, essentially similar to the modern one - the Apostle James speaks about it in his letter: “Confess your offenses to each other and pray for each other so that you can be healed” (Epistle of James, ch. 5, art. 16 ). We all bear the consequences of our sins, mistakes, misconceptions and simply mental trauma received in life. Lord -wants And Maybeheal it all! But He arranged it in such a way that the healing of sinful and life wounds, like any other action of the Holy Spirit, comes to us not only through personal communication with Him. This happens in a very special way through the mutual communication of Christians with each other (Wed Acts of the Holy Apostles, ch. 2, Art. 42 ) and prayer for each other. That is why in ancient times they confessed publicly: with my sin I inflict a wound not only on myself, but also on the entire “body of the Church”, with which I am connected “by all kinds of mutually binding ties” (Epistle to the Ephesians, ch. 4, art. 16 ). Through sin I lostunity And communicationwith God and people - in the same way, healing from sin comes through the restoration of this double fellowship. For the same reason, in the prayers that the priest reads before confession, the Church is compared to a hospital - a “medical clinic”, in full accordance with the words of the Lord Jesus: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9:12). We are all sick and sinners, but not all of us realize it.

Confession today

Nowadays, confession is performed in the presence of a priest, whose role is twofold. On the one hand, the priest is for us a representative of the church community, which has been spiritually, and sometimes very clearly and tangibly, wounded by our sin. On the other hand, during confession, the shepherd prays with the penitent and announces to him forgiveness from the Lord: forgiveness is alreadybestowedus finally and forever on the Cross, butacceptedus in an act of personal repentance through the sacrament of confession.

So, for confession we come to Christ and to our brothers and sisters in the person of the priest. You should not be afraid or embarrassed to open your spiritual wounds before God in the presence of a shepherd. Firstly, you won’t surprise the priest - everything we can tell him, he has most likely already heard many times from other people: sin is monotonous. And secondly, a normal, adequate clergyman, at least somewhat faithful to his duty, will never condemn the penitent: on the contrary, he will sympathize and have compassion for us, knowing that he himself is “laden with infirmity” (Hebrews 5:2). Many people testify that after a deep and sincere confession they feel lightness and joy - the result of the healing action of the Holy Spirit. However, in assessing the “quality” of confession, you should not focus on feelings and sensations: the Lord may or may not give them for reasons known to Him alone.

In the Russian Orthodox Church, according to the most widespread practice, the sacrament of confession necessarily precedes communion (as happened in ancient times) and in this case serves as preparation for it. This is especially important at the beginning of the Christian journey: we cannot approach the Chalice of the Eucharist with grave unrepentant or simply unconscious sins behind us. There are special manuals for preparing for confession: the work of Archimandrite has become a classic. Ioanna (Krestyankina)“The experience of constructing a confession” , reflections on the confession of Metropolitan. Anthony of Sourozh . However, the Holy Scripture itself is indispensable here - the Bible. Having tested yourself by at least 10 basic commandments of the Old Testament (Book of Exodus, chapter 20 ), we will probably find some food for thought; if you try to apply to yourself, for example, the Savior’s “Sermon on the Mount” (Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5-7 ), then you already see an immense field for repentance, internal work on yourself and prayer. In this case, the question “what should I repent of?” will never arise, as well as the feeling of spiritual and mental well-being that gave rise to this question. In addition, you can always consult with the priest himself about how and what to confess, whether this or that action or life situation is a sin and why.

Like Communion, confession should be regular. In order for it to become such and cause corresponding changes in life and soul, it is necessary to be in line church life: Participate in worship services, pray daily, and read the Bible. Otherwise, there will be no understanding to whom and for what you came to confession.

There is a temptation that awaits people who have already taken the path of regular confession: when it seems that everything is useless - no matter how much you confess, you cannot overcome any sin or passion.The feeling of shame and embarrassment can be intensified by an externally imposed stereotype, according to which believers are people who “get away with anything”: if they sin, they repent, the priest will forgive them, and they can sin again. On this occasion, a wonderful shepherd, Fr. Alexander Elchaninov (1881-1934) wrote: “There is no case where, in the presence of a good desire to improve, successive confessions and St. Communion would not produce beneficial changes in the soul. But the point is that - first of all - we are not our own judges; a person cannot correctly judge himself whether he has become worse or better<…>Increased severity towards oneself, increased spiritual sight, heightened fear of sin can give the illusion that sins have multiplied and intensified: they remained the same, maybe even weakened, but we didn’t notice them that way before<…>It often happens that sin remains, but frequent confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries have shaken and weakened its roots».

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Billy Graham

“I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.” Onion. 15, 7

We see that Jesus Christ demands conversion. We have also seen that the three stages of conversion are repentance, faith and regeneration. One can argue about their ordinal significance, but one can agree that they all occur approximately simultaneously. Whether there is a conscious report of this or not, at the critical moment of conversion all these basic experiences are simultaneously present.

If repentance can be expressed in one word, then I would choose the word renunciation. “Renunciation of what?” - you ask. The answer may also lie in one word: “from sin.” The Bible teaches, as we have seen, that sin is the breaking of the law.” Sin is the absence of all authority and the denial of all obligation to God. Sin is the principle of evil that entered the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation and fell. Since this fall in paradise, the poison of evil has corrupted all people, so that everyone has sinned, and there is not a single person without sin. Sin has disrupted our relationship with God and, as a result, has disrupted our relationships with each other, and even the person himself with himself.

It is obvious that we cannot achieve peace with God, or peace with each other, or even peace within ourselves, with ourselves, until something is done against the disgusting things that God hates. We are told that we must not only renounce the principle of sin, but we must also renounce sins—in the plural. We must renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil. There can be no excuses, no bargaining, no compromise or hesitation. Christ demands absolute renunciation.

But here again the principle of love is involved, for if you love Jesus Christ completely and absolutely, you will not desire what He rejects or hates. You will automatically renounce all the sins of your life if you completely surrender to Him in faith. Therefore, repentance and faith go hand in hand. You cannot have genuine repentance without saving faith, and you cannot have saving faith without genuine repentance.

The word repentance or repentance, unfortunately, is no longer spoken from church pulpits these days. This expression has become very unpopular. But the first sermon preached by Jesus Christ read: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Thus declared God the Father through His Son. Jesus Christ came to us with a heart filled with love and compassion, but He immediately spoke about guilt and sin. He called on people to admit their guilt and turn away from their godlessness. He said that repentance must occur before He can shower His love, mercy and forgiveness on people. Jesus Christ refused to cover up depravity. He insisted on passing judgment on himself, on a complete turn away from sin. He insisted on a completely new attitude before He would give the revelation of God's love.

One day people came to Jesus Christ and told Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices when the Roman legions conquered the uprising in Judea. They also told Him about the Tower of Siloam, which had killed many people. But Jesus Christ objected: “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinners than all the Galileans, that they suffered so much? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way” (Luke 13:2-3). In other words, Jesus Christ said that regardless of whether people die from violence, an accident, or die a natural death, their fate remains the same unless they turn to God in repentance. Until this happens, faith is completely impossible. This does not limit God's mercy, but repentance opens the way for God's grace.

We know that salvation is based solely on God's grace. We have already seen that sacrifices, rites or good works have never been able to save a single soul. The Bible says that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. The Bible teaches that “the just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). Salvation, forgiveness, and justification are based solely on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In order, however, for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross to become valid for each individual person, he must repent of his sins and accept Christ by faith.

The prophet Jonah preached repentance in Nineveh and Nineveh repented.

The prophet Ezekiel preached repentance when he said: “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD; repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that wickedness will not be a stumbling block for you” (Ezek. 18:30).

John the Baptist's Great Commission was to preach repentance when he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2).

Repentance is mentioned seventy times in the New Testament. Jesus Christ said: “Unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way” (Luke 13:3). In the sermon Peter preached on Trinity Day, he said: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38). Ap. Paul preached the same thing: “Declaring to both Jews and Greeks repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). The Bible says that God teaches repentance: “God now commands people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). This is a command. This is a categorical order. God says: “Repent or perish!” Have you repented? Are you completely sure of this?

What did Christ mean by the word repentance? Why is it constantly repeated in the Bible? If you look in a modern dictionary, you will find that repentance means “a feeling of regret about something, or reproaching oneself for something.” But in the original, the Greek and Hebrew words that Christ spoke mean much more. They mean much more than just regret for a sin committed. Bible word"repentance" means "change", "turn around". It is a word of power and action. This word means a complete revolution in man. When the Bible calls us to repent of sin, it means that we must turn away from sin, that we must make a complete turn and go in the opposite direction from sin and everything it concerns.

Jesus Christ spoke the parable of the prodigal son to emphasize what He meant by the word “repentance.” When the prodigal son repented, he did not sit still, regretting all his sins. He did not remain passive, inactive. He did not continue to remain where he was, surrounded by pigs. He got up and walked! He directed his steps in a different direction. He found his father and repented to him and then received his reward.

Too many Christians today have lost sight of what the Bible means when it talks about repentance. They think that repentance means little more than shaking your head over your sins and saying, “Oh, what a pity I did that!” - and then continue to live in exactly the same way as before.

Repentance means “a change, a turning away from something, and moving along a new path.” Regret does not mean repentance. Judas reproached himself and felt sorry, but he did not repent. Internal renewal alone is also not enough. There is no torture that you can inflict on your body, there is no sentence that you can pass on in your mind that will please Almighty God. Our sins were atoned for by Jesus Christ on the cross. On it He bore the punishment for our sins, and there is no such suffering that we could undergo in order for it to lead us to repentance.

When I talk about repentance, I don't mean the wailing bench of old. Many people were taught that in order to repent, they must mourn their sins for a certain time, as if put on mourning, in order to prepare themselves for salvation. One man told me that the night he found Christ, he went to a spiritual meeting. Kneeling in front of the altar, he felt that one sister came up to him, touched his shoulder and said: “Fight, brother! If you want to find God, you must continue to struggle in prayer!” A few minutes later, a church minister approached him and said: “Brother, free yourself!” Then another sister came and said: “That night when I was converted, bright light hit me in the face and threw me down." The man later admitted to me that he tried to both fight and free himself at the same time, in search of this heavenly light, but nothing helped him.

An intelligent Christian leader once confessed to me that at the time of his conversion the pastor expected the first feeling of excitement to appear in him. And such a demand almost prevented him from coming to God.

Falsely applied excitement in some meetings is a stumbling block to many sincere seeking souls. But the kind of repentance I’m talking about is genuine biblical repentance, which embraces the mind, feelings, and will.

First of all, there must be a consciousness of sin. The Bible says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). When the prophet Isaiah realized his sins, he said: “And I said: Woe is me! I'm dead! for I am a man of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5). When Job was convinced that he was a sinner, he said: “Therefore I renounce and repent” (Job 42:6). When Peter realized his sins, he said: “I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8). When Paul acknowledged his sins, he called himself the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).

The Holy Spirit leads to this conviction. Indeed, repentance cannot occur until the Holy Spirit illuminates the heart and mind. The Holy Spirit can come through a mother's prayer, a pastor's sermon, a Christian radio program, the sight of a church bell tower, or the death of a loved one - all can lead us to this necessary conviction. However, at some of our meetings I saw people who trembled from the consciousness of their sins and still did not repent. You can be convinced of your sins, you can realize that you are a sinner, and even shed tears over your sins, and still not repent.

Secondly, repentance includes feelings, just as they are associated with other experiences. Ap. Paul says that “Godly sorrow produces repentance unfailingly leading to salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10). Many people have a negative attitude towards all feelings, and some critics are suspicious of any treatment that has been shown with an outpouring of feelings. There are dangers in false sensitivity if this sensitivity is caused only for the sake of external effect, but this does not exclude genuine feelings and their real depth.

Dr. W. I. Sengster, a famous British Methodist, says in his book: “Let me advise: the man who screams with delight at the sight of a football match, but becomes angry when he sees a sinner weeping at the foot of the cross, muttering about the dangers of sensitivity, hardly worthy of reasonable respect.”

A preacher once reproached the blessed servant of God, John Wesley, for being too emotional in his preaching.

Thirdly, repentance includes the will of a person.

Only by subduing our will will we understand the depth of repentance. There must be a determination to leave sin, a determination to change your attitude towards yourself, towards sin and towards God, to change your feelings, your way of thinking, the whole meaning of your life.

Only the Spirit of God can give us the determination necessary for real repentance. This means more than the story of the little girl who prayed: “Lord, make me good, but not really good, but just good enough so that they don’t beat me!”

We have hundreds of people in America whose names are written in church books. They go to church when it is convenient for them. They donate money to the church and support its activities. They shake the pastor's hand after the service and praise the sermon he preached. They can speak Christian language, and many of them are able to speak whole passages from Holy Scripture, but they never actually experienced true repentance. They occupy a very uncertain position in relation to the Christian faith. They turn to God and pray to Him if they are in trouble, but the rest of the time they do not think about God. The Bible teaches that when a person comes to Jesus Christ, a change occurs in him that affects everything he does.

There is not one verse in Scripture that says you can be a Christian and live the life you want. When Christ enters a person's heart, He demands that He be Lord and Teacher in him. It requires full commitment. He wants to have power over your mind too. He demands that your body submit to Him, and only to Him alone. He requires your talents and abilities. He wants all your work to be done for the glory of His name.

Too many Christians today would rather give up going to church than buying a new refrigerator. If they are given a choice between paying for a new car or donating to build a new Sunday school, it is not difficult to guess which they will choose. Thousands of so-called Christians consider money and the things that constitute their high standard of living to be superior to the teachings of Christ. We have time for movies, for football or other competitions, but we have no time for God. We may be saving for a new house or a TV, but we feel we can no longer afford to pay the church membership fee. This is already idolatry.

There must be a change! We point our fingers at the pagans and at the idolaters of hoary antiquity, but the only difference between them and us is that our idols are made of aluminum and steel, and equipped with thermostats and cooling devices.

Jesus Christ claims dominion over such things. He requires that you surrender everything about your social, family, and business life to Him. He must take first place in everything you think and say, for if you truly repent, you will turn to God with all the questions of life.

We have been given a warning by Christ that He will not allow us into His Kingdom of Heaven until we are ready to renounce everything, until we are ready to turn away from all sins in our lives. Don't try to do it halfway. Don't say, “I will give up some sins and continue to sin others. I will give part of my life to Christ, and the rest I will live according to my desires.” Jesus Christ demands complete surrender, and when this is accomplished, He rewards a hundredfold. But don't expect to be given half the reward for your half return! God does not perform His miracles by half! He demands complete change, complete surrender to Him. If you have decided that you renounce sin, turn away from it and commit everything to Christ, then you have taken the next step towards peace with God.

Dr. Billy Graham, Peace with God

1. What is repentance? The Greek word μετάνοια (metanoia - “repentance”) means “change of mind”, “change of thoughts”.

Repentance, therefore, is not only consciousness of one's sinfulness or simple recognition of oneself as unworthy; not even only contrition and regret about the failures and weaknesses suffered, and not only repentance (although all these moments should be included in repentance) - but it is also the will to improve, desire and firm intention, determination to fight bad inclinations, sin and passions.

This state of soul is combined with a request for God’s help to fight sin. With such heartfelt, sincere repentance, grace-filled healing enters the soul revealed to God, preventing the soul from again plunging into the filth of sin.

St. Nicholas of Serbia:

The Lord said: “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:14). True repentance is not just regret for sins committed, but a complete turning of one’s soul from darkness to light, from earth to heaven, from oneself to God. (One hundred words about the love of truth)

St. John Chrysostom explains what true repentance should consist of:

“Repentance has great power; it can, if he wants, free a person who is deeply immersed in sins from the burden of sins... even if he has reached the very depths of evil. This can be seen from many places (of Scripture)... only we must begin to repent .

What is the medicine of repentance? and how is it used? Firstly, (it consists of) awareness of one's sins and confession of them. “But I revealed my sin to You,” says (the prophet), “and I did not hide my iniquity”; and again: “I said: “I confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You took away from me the guilt of my sin” (Ps. 31:5); and again: “Remember Me; let us go to court; speak, that you may be justified” (Isa. 43:26); and again: “The righteous accuse himself of his first words” (Prov. 18:17). Secondly, (repentance consists of) out of great humility; it is like a golden chain, which, if you take it as the beginning, follows the whole. So, exactly, if you confess your sins as you should confess, then the soul will humble itself, because conscience, tormenting it, makes it humble. Something else must also be combined with humility, so that it will be such as blessed David prayed for when he said: “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Ps. 50:12); and again: “You will not despise a broken and humble heart, O God” (Ps. 50:19). Broken Heart is not indignant, does not insult, but is always ready to endure suffering, and does not rebel itself. This is the contrition of the heart, when it, although it itself is insulted, although it suffers evil, remains calm and is not aroused to vengeance. After humility we need intense prayers and copious tears day and night. “Every night I wash,” says (the prophet), “I wash my bed, I wet my bed with my tears” (Ps. 6:7); and again: “I eat ashes like bread, and I dissolve my drink with tears” (Ps. 101:10). And after such intense prayers you need great mercy. It especially makes the medicine of repentance strong.”

St. Theophan the Recluse explains Why do we need repentance?

“What especially makes the sacrament of repentance necessary is, on the one hand, the property of sin, and on the other, the property of our conscience. When we sin, we think that not only outside of us, but also in ourselves there are no traces of sin. Between Thus, he leaves deep traces both in us and outside of us - on everything that surrounds us, and especially in heaven, in the definitions of Divine justice. At the hour of sin, it is decided there what the sinner has become: in the book of life he is included in the list of condemned - and became bound in heaven. Divine grace will not descend into him until he is blotted out from the list of the condemned in heaven, until he receives permission there. But God was pleased with heavenly permission - to make heavenly blotting out from the list of condemned people dependent on the permission of those bound by sins to earth. So, accept the Sacrament of repentance in order to receive comprehensive permission and open the entrance to the spirit of grace. ... Go and confess - and you will receive an announcement of forgiveness from God ...

Let not those who find shame and fear confuse you- they are associated with this sacrament for your benefit. Having burned out in them, you will become stronger morally. You have already burned more than once in the fire of repentance - burn again. Then you burned alone before God and conscience, and now burn with a witness appointed by God, as evidence of the sincerity of that solitary burning, and perhaps to make up for its incompleteness. There will be a trial and there will be shame and desperate fear. Shame and fear in confession atone for the shame and fear of that time. If you don't want those, go over these. Moreover, it always happens that as the anxiety that the person confessing goes through, the consolations of confession also become abundant in him. This is where the Savior truly reveals Himself as the Comforter of the weary and burdened! He who has sincerely repented and confessed through experience knows this truth with his heart, and does not accept it by faith alone.

The story about blessed Theodora, who went through ordeal, says that her evil accusers did not find the sins she confessed written down in their charters. The angels then explained to her that confession blots out sin from all places where it is indicated. Neither in the book of conscience, nor in the book of the animal, nor among these evil destroyers is he already listed as that person - confession has erased these records. Without concealment, throw away everything that weighs you down. The limit to which you must bring the revelation of your sins is so that your spiritual father has an accurate understanding of you, so that he represents you as you are, and, when resolving, he is resolving you, and not someone else, so that when he says: “ Forgive and absolve the repentant for the same sins he committed,” there was nothing left in you that did not fit these words.”

St. Theophan the Recluse writes about how we must repent as soon as we see a sinful thought in ourselves:

"... It is not enough to say, one must feel sorry, contrite and with fear, as in a court of law, confess a sinful thought to the Lord. So in any case. In this there is constant repentance, which is the main task of those who pay attention to themselves. When evil thoughts attack, one must turn one’s eye away from them mind and, turning to the Lord, in His name, drive them away. But when the thought stirs the heart, and this evil one is more or less pleased with it, then one must scold oneself and beg the Lord for mercy, and beat oneself until the opposite feeling is born in the heart ; for example, instead of condemnation, exaltation of another, or at least a heartfelt feeling of respect for him."

Venerable Mark the Ascetic This is how he teaches us to cultivate a feeling of repentance in ourselves:

“Let every involuntary sorrow teach you to remember God, and you will not lack incentives to repentance.”

He who truly repents can receive remission of all his sins because There is no sin that would exceed the mercy of God.

Repentance should be in us not only when we prepare for confession or come to our confessor, but the holy fathers teach that we must repent of sin without delay - as soon as we realize our sin.

Rev. Macarius of Optina:

“Repentance, I say, not only when you come to your confessor for confession, but always have a pledge of it in your heart, remembering your sins, which you briefly remembered; feeling who you offended with them, you will more easily recover<избежишь>from repeating them."

Elder Joseph of Vatopedi:

“The essence of repentance and subsequent healing, which a person so longs for, is in taking upon himself many labors, spiritual and physical.
Confession is the first element of repentance. We see its meaning in the parable of the prodigal son: “I will get up and go to my father and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you. And I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:18).
With the word “I will rise,” he shows his correction of his previous fall, a break with the lawless choice he made earlier and the sin he committed. By confessing “I have sinned,” he asks for forgiveness. The next element of real repentance is humility, which overthrows the unreasonable principle in which the selfishness and arrogance of the lost find refuge. “And I am no longer worthy to be called your son!” Voluntary recognition that there is no longer this connection with the father is necessary proof of awareness of one’s wrongdoing and an effective return of a person to his natural state.
Without confession, repentance is impossible, just as confession is impossible without repentance. These are, of course, two inseparable means to salvation.”

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets:

“True repentance is to realize your sins, experience pain for them, ask God for forgiveness and then confess. In this way, divine consolation will come to a person. That's why I always recommend repentance and confession to people. I never recommend confession alone.”

Priest Pavel Gumerov writes about repentance:

"Repentance is undoubtedly the basis of spiritual life. This is evidenced by Gospel. Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John began his sermon with the words: “ Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand"(Matthew 3:2). With exactly the same call he enters public service. Our Lord Jesus Christ(see: Matthew 4:17). Without repentance, it is impossible to draw closer to God and overcome your sinful inclinations. The Lord gave us great gift- confession in which we are absolved from our sins, for the priest is endowed by God with the power to “bind and solve” human sins.”

“In confession, the repentant is given not only forgiveness of sins, but also God’s grace and help to fight sin. Therefore, we begin the correction of our lives with confession.”

“You can often hear the following statement: “Like you, believers, everything is easy: I sinned, then repented - and God forgave everything.” In the Pafnutievo Borovsky Monastery there was a museum in Soviet times, and after visitors had examined the monastery and the museum, the guide played a record with with the song “Once upon a time there were twelve robbers” performed by F.I. Chaliapin. Fedor Ivanovich in his velvety bass voice wrote:

“He abandoned his comrades,
I gave up making raids,
Kudeyar himself went to the monastery,
Serve God and people."

After listening to the recording, the guide said something like this: “This is what the Church teaches: sin, steal, commit robbery - you can still repent later.” This is an unexpected interpretation of a famous song. Is it so? Indeed, there are people who perceive the sacrament of confession in exactly this way. Like some kind of spiritual washing room, shower room. You can live in the dirt and not be afraid: everything will be washed off in the shower later anyway. “The dirt is not greasy: I rubbed it and it came off.” I think such a “confession” will not bring any benefit. A person will approach the sacrament not for salvation, but for judgment and condemnation. AND Having formally “confessed,” he will not receive permission from God for his sins. Not so simple. Sin and passion cause great harm to the soul, and even after repentance, a person bears the consequences of his sin. This is how a patient who has had smallpox ends up with scars on his body. It is not enough to simply confess sin; you need to make an effort to overcome the inclination to sin in your soul. So the doctor removes the cancerous tumor and prescribes a course of chemotherapy to defeat the disease and prevent relapse. Of course, it’s not easy to give up passion right away. But the repentant should not be a hypocrite: “I will repent, and I will continue to sin.” A person must make every effort to take the path of correction and no longer return to sin. Ask God for help to fight passions: “Help me, Lord, for I am weak.” A Christian must burn the bridges behind him that lead back to a sinful life. Repentance in Greek is metanoia, which translates as “change.”

Why do we repent if the Lord already knows all our sins? Yes, he knows, but he expects us to acknowledge them. Let me give you an example. The child climbed into the cupboard and ate all the candies. The father understands perfectly well who did this, but waits for his son to come and ask for forgiveness. And, of course, at this moment he also expects the son to promise to try to never do this again.

Confession, of course, should be private and not general. I mean the practice when the priest reads the list of sins, and then simply covers the confessor with the stole. Thank God, there are very few churches left where they do this. “General confession” became an almost universal phenomenon in Soviet times, when there were very few functioning churches left both on Sundays and holidays, as well as fasting, they were filled with people praying. It was simply unrealistic to confess to everyone then. Conducting confession after the evening service was also almost never allowed. One old priest, who served in the church for more than 50 years, told me that during Great Lent the priests had to walk through the rows of confessors just to have time to cover everyone with an epitrachelion. Of course, such a “confession” is an abnormal phenomenon, and it does not bring any benefit or cleansing to the soul.

Of course, sometimes it’s very difficult, it’s a shame to open your sinful wounds, but this is how we get rid of our sinful habits - by overcoming shame, tearing them out like a weed from our soul. Without confession, without cleansing from sins and passions, it is impossible to fight them. First we need to see them, pull them out, and then do everything to prevent them from growing again in our soul.

Not seeing your sins is a sign of spiritual illness. Why did the ascetics see their sins as countless as the sand of the sea? It’s simple: they approached the source of light - God and began to notice such secret places of their souls that we simply do not notice. They observed their soul in its true state. A fairly well-known example: let’s say the room is dirty and not cleaned, but it’s night and everything is hidden in twilight. It seems that everything is more or less normal. But then dawn broke through the window, the first ray of sun penetrated the room and illuminated half of it. And we begin to notice the disorder. Further - more, and when the sun already illuminates the entire room, dirt and scattered things are visible everywhere. The closer you are to God, the more visible your sins are.

One noble citizen of the small town of Gaza came to Abba Dorotheus, and Abba asked him: “Eminent gentleman, tell me who you consider yourself to be in your city?” He replied: “I consider myself great and the first in the city.” Then the monk asked him again: “If you go to Caesarea, who will you consider yourself to be there?” The man replied: “For the last of the nobles there.” - “If you go to Antioch, who will you consider yourself to be there?” - “There I will consider myself one of the common people.” - “If you go to Constantinople and approach the king, who will you consider yourself to be?” And the man replied: “Almost like a beggar.” Then the abba said to him: “This is how the saints are: the closer they come to God, the more they see themselves as sinners.”

2. Repentance has a beginning, but has no end, it lasts a lifetime

Rev. Anthony the Great:

When the Lord forgives us our sins, we should not forgive ourselves; but - always remember them through renewed repentance for them.

Rev. Peter Damascene:

Then the mind begins to see its sins - like the sand of the sea, and this is the beginning of the enlightenment of the soul and a sign of its health. And simply: the soul becomes contrite and the heart humble, and considers itself truly lower than everyone...

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets speaks:

"For a man who strives repentance is an endless handicraft. When someone dies, they mourn him, bury him in the ground, and then forget... But we will cry about our sins constantly - until we die. However, let us perform this work with reasoning and hope in Christ, Who endured the Crucifixion in order to resurrect us spiritually.”

The history of the Church knows many examples of repentance, among them the prudent thief, who was the first to enter heaven through repentance and confession on the cross, the Apostle Peter, who all his life shed repentant tears at the night rooster’s crow about his renunciation of Christ, Reverend Mary Egyptian, whom repentance transformed from a harlot into a great saint.

If we fall back into the sin we repented of, we must not despair, but correct ourselves and resort to God with repentance:

Rev. John of Karpafa:

Try your best not to fall. If you fall, quickly get up and stand again in good deeds. Even if the first thing happened to you many times - due to the retreat of grace - the second thing will happen to you many times, that is, rebellion. So until the end of your life.

The ancient patericon says:

The brother said to Abba Siso: “Abba! What should I do? I have fallen." The elder answered: “Get up.” The brother said: “I stood up and fell again.” The elder answered: “Rise again.” Brother: " How long shall I rise and fall? Elder: “Until your death.”

The elder said:“If you fall into sin and turn from it, beginning to cry and repent, be sure not to stop crying and groaning to the Lord until your death. Otherwise you will fall into the same hole again. After all, for the soul, grief for God is a bridle: it keeps it from falling.”

Venerable Nicodemus the Holy Mountain writes that the thought of remembrance of sins committed should be not not tormenting, but sobering and filled with thanksgiving to God:

“Do not forget, but always remember the sins you have committed. This is what God commands you through Isaiah: “I am the one who blots out your iniquities. For my sake, even your sins will not be remembered. You remember, and let us be judged.” Do this, that is, remember “your sins are not in order to torment your thoughts,” the divine Chrysostom tells you, “but in order to teach your soul not to go wild in passions and not to fall into the same thing again, so that you can recognize with the help of memory the great grace you received from God, who has forgiven you have so many sins. Just as Paul always remembered that he persecuted the Church in order to show the greatness of God’s grace, according to the same Chrysostom. In order to crush your heart and bring your soul into tenderness, according to Chrysostom, who says: “Remember your sins individually : this is no small torment for the soul; if someone has come to tenderness, then he knows that this torments the soul most of all; if someone has a memory of sins, then he knows the pain that comes from here."

Abba Paphnutius He even advises not to torment souls with tormenting memories of mortal sins, since remembering them when the soul has already received healing from God from them can cause spiritual wounds to a person:

« We must not forget venial sins, but only not remember mortal ones.
However, only mortal sins need to be forgotten in this way; disposition towards them and repentance for them ceases with a virtuous life. As for minor sins, into which even a righteous man falls seven times a day (Proverbs 24:16), repentance for them should never cease; for we do them every day, willingly or unwillingly, sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes out of oblivion, in thought and in word, sometimes out of deception, sometimes out of inevitable infatuation or out of weakness of the flesh. David speaks about such sins, begging the Lord to cleanse and forgive: who will consider his own sins? Cleanse me from my secrets (Ps. 18:13), and the Apostle Paul: I do not do what I want, but what I hate, I do. Poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7, 15, 24). We are exposed to them with such ease that, despite all caution, we cannot completely avoid them. Christ’s beloved disciple says this about them: if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8). Therefore, it will not be of much benefit to someone who wants to achieve the highest perfection to complete repentance, that is, to refrain from unauthorized deeds, if he does not tirelessly practice those virtues that serve as proof of satisfaction for sins. For it is not enough to abstain from vile vices that are contrary to God if there is not pure, perfect and godly zeal for virtue.”

3. Repentance can be expressed in different ways.

Repentance can be expressed in different ways, but at the same time be equal before God, as the Ancient Patericon says:

“Two brothers, being overcome by fornication, went and took women with them. Afterwards they began to say to each other: what good is it for us that we, having left the angelic rank, fell into this uncleanness, and then we will have to go into the fire and torment? Let's go again into the desert. Having arrived in it, they asked the fathers to order repentance for them, confessing to them what they had done. The elders imprisoned them for a year, and both were given bread and water equally. The brothers were identical in appearance. When the time for repentance was fulfilled , they came out of prison - and the fathers saw one of them sad and completely pale, and the other with a cheerful and bright face - and marveled at this, for the brothers ate food equally. Therefore, they asked the sad brother: what thoughts were you busy with? cell? - I thought, he answered, about the evil that I had done, and about the torment into which I must go, - and out of fear, “my bone cleave to my flesh” (Ps. 101: 6). They also asked another "What were you thinking about in your cell? He answered: I thanked God for the fact that He plucked me from the uncleanness of this world and from future torment, and returned me to this angelic life - and remembering God, I rejoiced. The elders said: the repentance of both is equal before God."

4. Anyone who deliberately commits a sin, delaying correction and repentance, sins against the Holy Spirit and can die without repentance

Priest Konstantin Ostrovsky writes that one cannot “put off repentance, say: Will I repent again? Instead, say at the same time that you sinned: Lord, have mercy on me, fallen.

This general rule for all Christians. As soon as you have sinned, you must immediately repent. Under no circumstances should one despair and one should not frivolously put off repentance. Fatherland contains a wonderful, although at first glance strange, story. A certain monk went to the river to get water and there fell into fornication. When he was returning back, demons approached him and began to inspire him: “You have sinned, you have ruined your soul.” And he answered them: “I have not sinned.” He came to his cell and indulged in his usual prayer work. What's instructive here? The man fell into the gravest, mortal sin, but since he did not allow himself to despair, but immediately repented and returned to his previous soul-saving activities, he was forgiven.

A lot of people, usually non-church people, think that for now I’ll live to my heart’s content, have fun, and then somehow repent. It is the enemy who instills such thoughts, does not allow you to remember death, that it can come at any moment, even now, when you are reading these lines. But repentance is impossible beyond the grave. What's next? The Last Judgment and most likely, mindful of our unrepentant sins, eternal torment.

…Thoughts of postponing repentance until later force God to punish a person, in order to somehow awaken him from his everyday sleep, to remind him of eternity. And sometimes the worst thing happens - death without repentance. So we must always repent as soon as we come to our senses.”

Rev. Nikon Optinsky:

Try to have mental and physical purity, try after confession not to sin consciously, not to sin arbitrarily in the hope of repentance, since, According to the teaching of the Holy Orthodox Church, if anyone sins in the hope of repentance, he is guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

People who are sick at heart come to us, confessors, to repent of their sins, but they do not want to part with them, especially they do not want to part with any of their favorite sins. This reluctance to leave sin, this secret love for sin is what makes a person unable to achieve sincere repentance, and therefore does not result in healing of the soul. What a person was before confession, remained so during confession, and continues to remain so after confession. It shouldn't be like this.

Archpriest Valentin Mordasov:

Whoever sins in the hope of repentance is guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. To deliberately sin with reckless hope in the grace of God and think: “Nothing, I’ll repent” is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It is one thing to sin fearlessly, consciously and not repent, but it is another thing when a person does not want to sin, cries, repents, asks for forgiveness, but, due to human weakness, sins. It is human nature to sin, to fall, and one should not become discouraged and become overly sad if one has to sin; but demons tend to lead a person away from repentance, so it is necessary to repent.

Rev. Joseph Optinsky:

Repentance is then true when after it you try harder and harder to live as you should, and without this it is of little effect if you repent only to talk about your sins and live as before.

We must run with all our might and avoid sin, for If we ourselves, through our own negligence, fall into sins, we will only deserve greater condemnation. And in those things that happen involuntarily or due to our weakness, let us be cleansed by repentance.

Saint Basil the Great:

Come, sinner, ask for mercy from God, who forgives sins. Do not put off repentance, for you do not know when the angel of death will overtake you and take your life.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov):

Let us not put off our healing from day to day, lest death creep up unexpectedly and suddenly take us away., so that we do not find ourselves incapable of entering the villages of never-ending peace and holiday, so that we are not cast, like obscene tares, into the fire of hell, forever burning and never burning. The healing of old ailments is not accomplished as quickly and not as conveniently as ignorance imagines. It is not without reason that God’s mercy grants us time to repent.; It was not without reason that all the saints begged God to grant them time to repent. It takes time to erase sinful impressions; it takes time to be imprinted with the impressions of the Holy Spirit; it takes time to cleanse oneself of filth; it takes time to put on the garments of virtues, to be adorned with the God-loving qualities with which all celestial beings are adorned.

Rev. Barsanuphius of Optina talks about the terrible death of a sinner who delayed repentance until the hour of death:

This is what happened to you in St. Petersburg. There lived a very rich merchant on Sergievskaya Street. His whole life was a continuous wedding, and for 17 years he did not partake of the Holy Mysteries. Suddenly, he felt death approaching and became afraid. Immediately, he sent his servant to the priest to tell him to come and give communion to the sick man. When the priest came and rang the bell, the owner himself opened the door for him. Father knew about his crazy life, became angry and said why he was mocking the Holy Gifts so much, and wanted to leave. Then the merchant, with tears in his eyes, began to beg the priest to come to him, a sinner, and confess him, because he felt death approaching. Father finally gave in to his request, and with great contrition in his heart, he told him his whole life. The priest gave him permission for his sins and wanted to accustom him, but then something extraordinary happened: suddenly the merchant’s mouth tightened, and the merchant could not open it, no matter how hard he tried. Then he grabbed a chisel and a hammer and began to knock out his teeth, but his mouth closed completely. Little by little his strength weakened and he died. So the Lord gave him the opportunity to be cleansed of his sins, perhaps through his mother’s prayers, but did not unite with him.

Archpriest Evgeniy Popichenko:

There is such a comparison: human sins are like a grain of sand in the ocean of Divine love. But according to the thoughts of many saints, it is better to sin and repent than not to sin and not repent. This, of course, does not mean that there is a sanction for sin: “Sin as much as you like, as long as you later repent.” Many people just think that their time for repentance has not yet come, they still want to live, and only then the time will come when they can begin church life. This is a very dangerous delusion, because such a time will not come: if now a person does not respond to the call of God, then with each new sin his heart will become deader and deader. And accordingly, he will lose the ability to heartbreak.

Priest Pavel Gumerov:

The Holy Fathers call confession the second baptism - baptism of tears. As in baptism, we are given the gift of forgiveness of sins, and we need to appreciate this gift. There is no need to postpone confession until later. You need to confess more often and in detail. It is unknown how much time the Lord gave us to repent. Each confession must be perceived as the last, for no one knows on what day and hour God will call us to Himself.

5. There is no repentance after death

The Holy Fathers, following the Word of God, unanimously teach that the time given to us for repentance and correction of our soul is this, our temporary life. After death, a person will face God’s judgment and reward for what he has done in this life.

It is appointed for men to die once, and then the judgment.
(Heb. 9:27)

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap:
He who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
(Gal. 6, 7-8)

Behold, now is the favorable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.
(2 Cor. 6, 1-2)

Produce fruit worthy of repentance.
(Matt. 3:8)

If you do not repent, you will all perish as well.
(Luke 13:3).

Due to your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of righteous judgment from God, who will reward everyone according to their deeds.
(Rom. 2:5-8)

St. rights John of Kronstadt:

A terrible truth. Unrepentant sinners after death lose all opportunity to change for the better and, therefore, invariably remain devoted to eternal torment(sin cannot but torment). How to prove this? This is clearly proven by the present state of some sinners and the property of sin itself - to hold a person in captivity and block all outcomes for him. Who does not know how difficult it is without the special grace of God to turn a sinner from his beloved path of sin to the path of virtue! How deeply sin takes root in the heart of the sinner and throughout his entire being, how it gives the sinner its vision, which sees things completely differently than how they are in its essence, appearing to him in some kind of charming form. Therefore, we see that sinners very often do not think about their conversion and do not consider themselves great sinners, because self-love and pride blind their eyes; if they consider themselves sinners, then they indulge in hellish despair, which spreads deep darkness in their minds and greatly hardens their hearts. If it were not for the grace of God, which sinner would turn to God, since the property of sin is to darken us, to bind us hand and foot. But the time and place for the action of grace is only here: after death, only the prayers of the Church can act on repentant sinners, on those who have acceptance in their souls, the light of good deeds, carried away by them from this life, into which the grace of God can be grafted or the grace-filled prayers of the Church. Unrepentant Sinners Are Certain Sons of Perdition. What does experience tell me when I am captured by sin? Sometimes I just suffer all day long and cannot convert with all my heart, because sin hardens me, making God’s mercy inaccessible to me: I burn in fire and voluntarily remain in it, because sin has bound my strength and I am like someone chained internally. - I cannot turn to God until God, seeing my powerlessness and my humility, and my tears, has mercy on me and sends me His grace! It is not for nothing that a person given over to sins is called bound by the captivity of the Falls [cf. 2 Pet. 2, 4].

St. Basil the Great:

Nobody... let him flatter with vain words(Eph. 5:6), for he will suddenly attack you omnipresence(1 Thess. 5:3), and an upheaval will come like a storm. A formidable Angel will come, forcibly lead and drag away your soul, bound by sins, often turning to what it leaves here, and weeping silently; because the instrument of crying has already closed. Oh, how much will you torment yourself! How you will groan, uselessly repenting of your undertakings, when you see the brightness of the righteous during the solemn distribution of gifts and the despondency of sinners in the deepest darkness! What will you say then in your heartache? Alas for me that I did not throw off the heavy burden of sin, when it was so easy to lay down... Now, for the temporary pleasure of sin, I suffer immortally, for the pleasure of the flesh I am consigned to fire.

St. John Chrysostom:

Only those who have died in the faith can receive pardon from God through prayers and liturgical offerings to the Church, and as for sinners who do not deserve pardon, as well as catechumens, they can only receive some relief through frequent prayers performed in their memory, and most of all through alms .

Venerable Barsanuphius and John:

Make no mistake: whatever you sow here, you will also reap there (Gal. 6, 7). After leaving here, no one can succeed. ...Brother, here is the work, there is the reward, here is the feat, there are the crowns.
...The words: “he will not come from there, until the last coin will be paid”(Matthew 5:26), said the Lord, meaning that their torment will be eternal: for how can a man repay there? If a poor debtor is imprisoned and the governor orders him not to be released until he has paid the entire debt, can one think that he will certainly be freed? Not at all! Don't make mistakes like crazy. Nobody succeeds there; but what anyone has, he has from here: whether it be good, or rotten, or delightful. Finally, give up idle talk and do not follow the demons and their teachings. For they suddenly catch it and suddenly overthrow it. So, humble yourself before God, crying over your sins and weeping over your passions.

“The fall is to angels what death is to men. For after the fall there is no repentance for them, just as it is impossible for people after death,” writes Rev. John of Damascus.

St. Gregory Palamas:

Where did true death begin - the cause and creator of temporary and eternal death for soul and body? Isn't it in the place of life? For this reason - alas! - the man was immediately condemned and expelled from the paradise of God, as having acquired a life associated with death, indecent for the Divine paradise. So, conversely, true life, the cause of immortal true life for soul and body, must have its beginning here, in the place of death. He who does not try here to acquire this life in the soul, let him not deceive himself with the vain hope that he will receive it there; let him not trust in God’s love for mankind. There is a time of retribution and vengeance, and not mercy and philanthropy, a time of revelation of the rage, wrath and justice of God, a time of demonstration of a strong and high hand, moved to torment the disobedient. Woe to him who has fallen into the hands of the Zhivago God! (Heb. 10:31) Woe to the one who recognizes the wrath of the Lord there, who was not taught here by the fear of God the knowledge of the power of His wrath, who was not satisfied with the works of His love for mankind, for which the present time has been given. By giving us a place for repentance, God allowed us to live on earth.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov):

Christians, only Orthodox Christians, and moreover, those who have spent their earthly life piously or who have cleansed themselves of sins through sincere repentance, confession to their spiritual father and self-correction, inherit eternal bliss along with the bright Angels. On the contrary, the wicked, i.e. non-believers in Christ, wicked, i.e. heretics, and those Orthodox Christians who spent their lives in sins or fell into some mortal sin and did not heal themselves through repentance, will inherit eternal torment along with the fallen angels. The Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Church in their message say: “The souls of people who fell into mortal sins, and did not despair at death, but even before separation from real life repented, but did not have time to bear any fruits of repentance, such as: prayers, tears, kneeling at prayer vigils, heartfelt contrition, consolation of the poor and expression of love for God and neighbors through deeds, which the Catholic Church from the very beginning recognizes as godly and beneficial - the souls of such people descend into hell and suffer punishment for the sins they have committed, without, however, being deprived of hope relief from them.They receive relief through infinite goodness, through the prayers of priests and charity performed for the dead, and especially through the power of the Bloodless Sacrifice, which in particular the priest brings for each Christian for his relatives, and in general the Catholic Apostolic Church brings for everyone every day.

St. Theophan the Recluse:

“Now or tomorrow death will come, and it will end everything that we have and will seal our fate forever, for after death there is no repentance. Whatever death finds us in, we will appear in judgment.

Do you really have such a hope that God, by sovereign power, will forgive sinners and bring them into paradise? I ask you to judge whether this is beautiful and whether such faces are fit for heaven? - Sin is not something external, but internal and passing through. When someone sins, sin perverts his entire composition, defiles and darkens him. If you forgive a sinner with an external sentence, but inside him leave everything as it was, without cleaning it up, then even after such forgiveness he will remain all filthy and gloomy. Such will be the one whom God would forgive by His sovereign power, without his internal purification. Imagine that such an unclean and gloomy person enters heaven. What will it be? An Ethiopian among the whitewashed. Is it appropriate?

The law of life is such that as soon as someone plants the seed of repentance here, even with his last breath, he will not perish. This seed will grow and bear fruit - eternal salvation. And if someone here does not plant the seed of repentance and moves there with the spirit of unrepentant persistence in sins, then there he will forever remain with the same spirit, and the fruit from him will be reaped forever according to his kind, God’s eternal rejection.”

Rev. Barsanuphius of Optina:

“At present, not only among the laity, but also among the young clergy, the following conviction is beginning to spread: as if eternal torment is incompatible with the infinite mercy of God, therefore, torment is not eternal. Such a misconception stems from a misunderstanding of the matter. Eternal torment and eternal bliss are not that something only coming from outside. But all this, first of all, is within the person himself. “...The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Whatever feelings a person instills in himself during his life, with that he will depart into Eternal Life. A sick body suffers on earth, and the stronger the disease, the greater the torment. Likewise, the soul, infected with various diseases, begins to suffer severely during the transition to Eternal Life. An incurable physical illness ends in death, but how can a mental illness end when there is no death for the soul? Malice, anger, irritability, fornication and other mental illnesses are such vermin that crawl after a person into Eternal Life. Hence, the goal of life is to crush these reptiles here on earth, to completely cleanse your soul and before death to say with our Savior: “... The prince of this world is coming, and he will have nothing in me” (John 14 , thirty). A sinful soul, not purified by repentance, cannot be in the community of saints. Even if they placed her in heaven, she herself would be unbearable to remain there and would strive to leave there.

Indeed, what is it like to be unmerciful among the merciful, prodigal among the chaste, evil among the loving, etc.”

Alexander Kalomiros:

“All these punishments act and have their meaning only in the current perverted order of things; they do not extend beyond the boundaries of this corruptible life. Their goal is to correct what can be corrected, to change our spiritual state for the better, while it is still possible to change something in this changing world. After the General Resurrection there can be no more changes. Eternity and incorruptibility are the state of unchangeable things. Then there will be no more changes, but only development in the state that was chosen by free individuals; eternal and endless development, but not change. There will be no change in the spiritual direction itself, there will be no return."

Sacrament of Repentance (Confession)

In the Orthodox catechism it is given following definition this Sacrament: Repentance there is a Sacrament in which one who confesses his sins, with a visible expression of forgiveness from the priest, is invisibly absolved from sins by Jesus Christ Himself. This Sacrament is called the second Baptism. IN modern Church it, as a rule, precedes the Sacrament of Communion of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, since it prepares the souls of the repentant to participate in this Great Table. Need for Sacrament of Penance is connected with the fact that a person who has become a Christian in the Sacrament of Baptism, which washed away all his sins, continues to sin due to the weakness of human nature. These sins separate man from God and put a serious barrier between them. Can a person overcome this painful gap on his own? No. If it weren't for Repentance, a person would not be able to be saved, would not be able to preserve the unity with Christ acquired in the Sacrament of Baptism. Repentance- this is spiritual work, the effort of a sinned person aimed at restoring a connection with God in order to be a partaker of His Kingdom.
Repentance implies such spiritual activity of a Christian, as a result of which the sin committed becomes hateful to him. A person’s repentant effort is accepted by the Lord as the greatest sacrifice, the most significant of his daily activities. In Holy Scripture Repentance is a necessary condition for salvation: “Unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way” (Luke 13:3). And it is joyfully accepted by the Lord and pleasing to Him: “So there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent” (Luke 15: 7).
In the continuous struggle against sin, which continues throughout a person’s earthly life, there are defeats and sometimes serious falls. But after them, a Christian must get up again and again, repent and, without giving in to despondency, continue on his way, because God’s mercy is endless. The fruit of repentance is reconciliation with God and people and spiritual joy from the revealed participation in the life of God. Forgiveness of sins is given to a person through prayer and the sacrament of a priest, who is given the grace by God in the Sacrament of the Priesthood to forgive sins on earth. A repentant sinner receives justification and sanctification in the Sacrament, and confessed sin is completely erased from a person’s life and ceases to destroy his soul.

Visible side Sacraments of Penance consists in the confession of sins brought to God by the repentant in the presence of a priest, and in the resolution of sins performed by God through the clergy.
It happens like this:
1. The priest reads preliminary prayers from the service Sacraments of Penance, prompting confessors to sincere repentance.
2. The penitent, standing in front of the cross and the Gospel, lying on a lectern, as if before the Lord Himself, verbally confesses all his sins, without hiding anything and without making excuses.
3. The priest, having accepted this confession, covers the penitent’s head with an epitrachelion and reads a prayer of absolution, through which in the name of Jesus Christ he absolves the penitent from all the sins of which he confessed. The invisible effect of God's grace consists in the fact that the repentant, with visible evidence of forgiveness from the priest, is invisibly absolved from sins by Jesus Christ Himself. As a result of this, the confessor is reconciled with God, the Church and his own conscience and is freed from punishment for confessed sins in eternity.

Establishment of the Sacrament of Penance
Confession as the most important part Sacraments of Penance, has been performed since the time of the apostles: “Many of those who believed came, confessing and revealing their deeds (Acts 19; 18)”. The ritual forms of the celebration of the Sacrament in the apostolic age were not developed in detail, but the main components of the liturgical and liturgical structure inherent in modern rites already existed. They were next.
1. Oral confession of sins to a priest.
2. The pastor’s teaching on repentance is in accordance with the internal structure of the recipient of the Sacrament.
3. Intercessory prayers of the shepherd and repentant prayers of the penitent.
4. Resolution from sins. If the sins confessed by the penitent were grave, then serious church punishments could be imposed - temporary deprivation of the right to participate in the Sacrament of the Eucharist; prohibition from attending community meetings. For mortal sins - murder or adultery - those who did not repent of them were publicly expelled from the community. Sinners subjected to such severe punishment could change their situation only if they repented sincerely.
In the ancient Church there were four categories of penitents, differing in the severity of the penances imposed on them:
1. Crying. They had no right to enter the temple and had to remain at the porch in any weather, with tears asking for prayers from those going to the service.
2. Listeners. They had the right to stand in the vestibule and were blessed by the bishop along with those preparing for Baptism. Those who listen to the words “The Announcement, come forth!” are with them! were removed from the temple.
3. Appearing. They had the right to stand at the back of the temple and participate with the faithful in prayers for the penitents. At the end of these prayers, they received the bishop's blessing and left the temple.
4. Worth purchasing. They had the right to stand with the faithful until the end of the Liturgy, but could not partake of the Holy Mysteries. Repentance in the early Christian Church could be performed both publicly and secretly.

Public Confession was a kind of exception to the rule, since it was appointed only in cases where a member of the Christian community committed grave sins, which in themselves were quite rare. Confession of grave carnal sins was made publicly if it was known for certain that the person had committed them. This happened only when the secret Confession and the assigned penance did not lead to the correction of the penitent. The attitude towards such mortal sins as idolatry, murder and adultery in the ancient Church was very strict. The perpetrators were excommunicated from church communion for many years, and sometimes for life, and only near death could be the reason that penance was lifted and Communion was taught to the sinner. Public Repentance practiced in the Church until the end of the 4th century. Its abolition is associated with the name of the Patriarch of Constantinople Nektarios († 398), who abolished the position of presbyter-spiritual priest in charge of public affairs. Repentance. Following this, the degrees gradually disappeared Repentance, and by the end of the 9th century public Confession finally left the life of the Church. This happened due to the impoverishment of piety. Such a powerful tool as public Repentance, it was appropriate when strict morals and zeal for God were universal and even “natural.” But later, many sinners began to avoid public Repentance because of the shame associated with it. Another reason for the disappearance of this form of the Sacrament was that sins revealed publicly could serve as a temptation for Christians who were not sufficiently established in the faith. Thus, secret Confession, also known since the first centuries of Christianity, became the only form Repentance. Basically, the changes described above occurred already in the 5th century.
Currently, with a large gathering of confessors in some churches, the so-called “general” Confession. This innovation, which became possible due to the lack of churches and for other, less significant reasons, is unlawful from the point of view of liturgical theology and church piety. It should be remembered that the general Confession- is by no means a norm, but an assumption due to circumstances. Therefore, even if, with a large crowd of penitents, the priest conducts a general Confession, he must, before reading the prayer of permission, give each confessor the opportunity to express the sins that most burden his soul and conscience. Depriving the parishioner of even such a brief personal Confessions under the pretext of lack of time, the priest violates his pastoral duty and humiliates the dignity of this great Sacrament.

Preparation for Confession
Preparation for Confession is not so much about remembering your sins as fully as possible, but rather about achieving a state of concentration and prayer in which the sins will become obvious to the confessor. The penitent, figuratively speaking, must bring Confession not a list of sins, but a repentant feeling and a contrite heart. Before Confession you need to ask forgiveness from everyone to whom you consider yourself guilty. Start preparing for Confessions(fasting) must be done a week or at least three days before the Sacrament itself. This preparation should consist of a certain abstinence in words, thoughts and actions, in food and entertainment, and in general in the renunciation of everything that interferes with inner concentration. The most important component of such preparation should be concentrated, in-depth prayer, promoting awareness of one’s sins and aversion to them. In rank Repentance to remind those who came to Confessions their sins, the priest reads a list of the most significant sins and passionate movements inherent in man. The confessor must listen carefully to him and once again note to himself what his conscience has accused him of. Approaching the priest after this “general” Confession, the penitent must confess the sins that he has committed.
Sins previously confessed and absolved by the priest are repeated on Confessions should not be because after Repentance they become “as if they were not.” But if since the previous Confessions they were repeated, then it is necessary to repent again. It is also necessary to confess those sins that were forgotten earlier, if they are suddenly remembered now. When repenting, one should not name accomplices or those who voluntarily or unwittingly provoked the sin. In any case, a person himself is responsible for his iniquities, committed by him out of weakness or negligence. Attempts to shift the blame onto others only lead to the confessor aggravating his sin by self-justification and condemnation of his neighbor. Under no circumstances should one indulge in long stories about the circumstances that led to the confessor being “forced” to commit a sin. We must learn to confess in such a way that Repentance do not replace your sins with everyday conversations, in which the main place is occupied by praising yourself and your noble deeds, condemning loved ones and complaining about the difficulties of life. Self-justification is associated with downplaying sins, especially with reference to their ubiquity, as if “everyone lives like this.” But it is obvious that the mass nature of sin does not in any way justify the sinner.
Some confessors, in order not to forget the sins they have committed due to excitement or lack of collection, come to Confession with a written list of them. This custom is good if the confessor sincerely repents of his sins, and does not formally list the iniquities recorded but not mourned. A note with sins immediately after Confessions needs to be destroyed.
Under no circumstances should you try to do Confession comfortable and go through it without straining your spiritual powers, saying general phrases such as “sinful in everything” or obscuring the ugliness of sin with general expressions, for example, “sinned against the 7th commandment.” You cannot be distracted by trifles and remain silent about what really weighs on your conscience. Provoking such behavior Confessions False shame in front of a confessor is destructive for spiritual life. Having become accustomed to lying before God Himself, you can lose hope of salvation. A cowardly fear of seriously beginning to understand the “quagmire” of one’s life can sever any connection with Christ. This arrangement of the confessor also becomes the reason for his exaggeration of his sins, which is by no means harmless, since it leads to a distorted view of himself and his relationship with God and his neighbors. We must carefully reconsider our entire life and free it from sins that have become habitual. Scripture directly names the consequences of covering up sins and self-justification: “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor wicked people, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6; 9, 10).”
One should not think that killing an unborn fetus (abortion) is also a “minor sin.” According to the rules of the ancient Church, those who did this were punished in the same way as the murderers of a person.
You cannot hide out of false shame or shyness Confessions some shameful sins, otherwise this concealment will make the remission of other sins incomplete. Consequently, the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ after such Confessions will be in "trial and condemnation." The very common division of sins into “heavy” and “light” is very arbitrary. Such habitual “light” sins as everyday lies, dirty, blasphemous and lustful thoughts, anger, verbosity, constant jokes, rudeness and inattention to people, if repeated many times, paralyze the soul. It's easier to give up grave sin and repent of it sincerely, rather than realizing the harmfulness of “petty” sins that lead to the enslavement of a person. A well-known patristic parable demonstrates that removing a pile of small stones is much more difficult than moving a large stone of equal weight. When confessing, you should not expect “leading” questions from the priest; you must remember that the initiative is in Confessions must belong to the penitent. It is he who must make a spiritual effort on himself, freeing himself in the Sacrament from all his iniquities. Recommended when preparing for Confessions, remember what other people, acquaintances and even strangers, and especially close and family members usually accuse the confessor of, since very often their claims are fair. If it seems that this is not so, then here too it is simply necessary to accept their attacks without bitterness.

After a person’s churching reaches a certain “point,” he has problems of a different order associated with Confession. That habit of the Sacrament, which arises as a result of repeated appeal to it, gives rise, for example, to formalization Confessions when they confess because “it’s necessary.” While dryly listing true and imaginary sins, such a confessor does not have the main thing - a repentant attitude. This happens if there seems to be nothing to confess (that is, a person simply does not see his sins), but it is necessary (after all, “it is necessary to take communion”, “holiday”, “haven’t confessed for a long time”, etc.). This attitude reveals a person’s inattention to the inner life of the soul, lack of understanding of his sins (even if only mental ones) and passionate movements. Formalization Confessions leads to the fact that a person resorts to the Sacrament “in court and in condemnation.”
A very common problem is substitution Confessions their real, serious sins, imaginary or unimportant sins. A person often does not understand that his formal fulfillment of “the duties of a Christian (reading the rule, not fasting on a fast day, going to church) are not a goal, but a means to achieving what Christ himself defined in the words: “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Therefore, if a Christian does not eat animal products during fasting, but “bites and devours” his relatives, then this is a serious reason to doubt his correct understanding of the essence of Orthodoxy.
Getting used to Confessions, as with any shrine, leads to dire consequences. A person ceases to be afraid of offending God with his sin, because “there is always Confession and you can repent.” Such manipulations with the Sacrament always end very badly. God does not punish a person for such a mood of the soul, he simply turns away from him for the time being, since no one (not even the Lord) experiences joy from communicating with a double-minded person who is not honest either with God or with his conscience. A person who has become a Christian needs to understand that the struggle with his sins will continue throughout his life. Therefore, one must humbly, turning for help to the One who can ease this struggle and make him a winner, and persistently continue this grace-filled path.

Conditions under which a confessor receives absolution Repentance- this is not just a verbal confession of sins to a priest. This is the spiritual work of the penitent, aimed at receiving Divine forgiveness, destroying sin and its consequences.
This is possible provided that the confessor
1) laments his sins;
2) is determined to improve his life;
3) has undoubted hope in the mercy of Christ. Contrition for sins.

At a certain moment in his spiritual development, a person begins to feel the severity of sin, its unnaturalness and harmfulness to the soul. The reaction to this is grief of the heart and contrition for one’s sins. But this contrition of the penitent should stem not so much from fear of punishment for sins, but from love for God, whom he offended with his ingratitude. The intention to improve your life. A firm determination to correct one's life is a necessary condition for receiving the forgiveness of sins. Repentance only in words, without an inner desire to correct one’s life, leads to even greater condemnation. Saint Basil the Great discusses this as follows: “It is not he who confesses his sin who said: I have sinned, and then remains in sin; but the one who, in the words of the psalm, “found his sin and hated it.” What benefit will a doctor's care bring to a sick person when the person suffering from illness clings tightly to something that is destructive to life? So there is no benefit from forgiving someone who commits injustice, and from apologizing for debauchery to someone who continues to live dissolutely.”.

Faith in Christ and hope in His mercy
An example of undoubted faith and hope for God's endless mercy is the forgiveness of Peter after his three-fold denial of Christ. From the Sacred History of the New Testament it is known, for example, that for sincere faith and hope the Lord had mercy on Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who washed the Savior’s feet with tears, anointed them with myrrh and wiped them with her hair (See: Luke 7; 36-50). The publican Zacchaeus was also pardoned, having distributed half of his property to the poor and returning to those whom he had offended four times more than what had been taken away (See: Luke 19; 1-10). The greatest saint of the Orthodox Church, the Venerable Mary of Egypt, having been a harlot for many years, through deep repentance changed her life so much that she could walk on water, saw the past and future as the present, and was awarded communion with angels in the desert. Perfect sign Repentance is expressed in a feeling of lightness, purity and inexplicable joy, when the confessed sin seems simply impossible.

Penance
Penance (Greek epithymion - punishment under the law) - voluntary performance by the penitent - as a moral and corrective measure - of certain works of piety (prolonged prayer, alms, intensive fasting, pilgrimage, etc.). Penance is prescribed by the confessor and does not have the meaning of punishment or punitive measure, without implying the deprivation of any rights of a member of the Church. Being only “spiritual medicine”, it is prescribed for the purpose of eradicating the habits of sin. This is a lesson, an exercise that accustoms one to spiritual achievement and gives rise to a desire for it. Feats of prayer and good deeds, assigned as penance, must be in essence directly opposite to the sin for which they are assigned: for example, works of mercy are assigned to someone who is subject to the passion of love of money; an intemperate person is assigned a fast beyond what is prescribed for everyone; absent-minded and carried away by worldly pleasures - more frequent going to church, reading the Holy Scriptures, intensive home prayer, and the like.
Possible types penance:
1) bows during worship or reading a home prayer rule;
2) Jesus Prayer;
3) getting up for the midnight office;
4) spiritual reading(Akathists, Lives of Saints, etc.);
5) strict fasting; 6) abstinence from marital communication;
7) alms, etc.
Penance must be treated as the will of God expressed through the priest, accepting it for mandatory fulfillment. Penance should be limited to a precise time frame (usually 40 days) and, if possible, performed according to a strict schedule. If the penitent, for one reason or another, cannot fulfill the penance, then he must seek a blessing on what to do in this case from the priest who imposed it. If the sin was committed against a neighbor, then necessary condition, which must be observed before performing penance, is reconciliation with those whom the penitent offended. A special prayer of permission, called the prayer of permission from prohibition, must be read over the person who has fulfilled the penance given to him, by the priest who imposed it.

Children's Confession
According to the rules of the Orthodox Church, children should begin to confess at the age of seven, since by this time they are already able to answer before God for their actions and fight their sins. Depending on the degree of development of the child, he can be brought to Confessions both a little earlier and a little later than the specified period, after consulting with the priest on this topic.
The rite of Confession for children and adolescents is no different from the usual, but the priest, naturally, takes into account the age of those coming to the Sacrament and makes certain adjustments when communicating with such confessors. Communion of children and adolescents, like adults, should be done on an empty stomach. But if, for health reasons, the child needs to eat in the morning, Communion, with the blessing of the priest, can be given to him. Parents should just not deliberately and unreasonably violate the rule about Communion on an empty stomach, since such actions can offend the holiness of this great Sacrament and it will be “in court and condemnation” (primarily for parents who condone lawlessness). Teenagers are not allowed to come to Confessions very late. Such a violation is unacceptable and can lead to a refusal to give communion to a latecomer if this sin is repeated several times. Confession children and adolescents should produce the same results as with Repentance adult: the repentant must no longer commit confessed sins, or at least try with all his might not to do so. In addition, the child should try to do good deeds, voluntarily helping parents and loved ones, caring for younger brothers and sisters. Parents must form a conscious attitude of the child towards Confessions, excluding, if possible, a chastising, consumerist attitude towards her and towards her Heavenly Father.
The principle expressed by the simple formula: “You to me, I to you” is categorically unacceptable for a child’s relationship with God. A child should not be encouraged to “please” God in order to receive some benefits from Him. We must awaken in a child’s soul its best feelings: sincere love for the One who is worthy of such love; devotion to Him; natural aversion to all uncleanness. Children are characterized by vicious tendencies that need to be eradicated. These include such sins as mockery and ridicule (especially in the company of peers) of the weak and crippled; petty lies into which an ingrained habit of empty fantasies can develop; cruelty to animals; appropriation of other people's things, antics, laziness, rudeness and foul language. All this should be the subject of close attention of parents who are called to the daily painstaking work of raising a little Christian.

Confession and Communion seriously ill patient at home
At that moment when life Orthodox Christian is approaching sunset and he is lying on his deathbed, it is very important that his relatives, despite the difficult circumstances that often accompany this, are able to invite a priest to him to guide him into Eternal Life. If the dying man can bring the last Repentance and the Lord will give him the opportunity to receive communion, then this mercy of God will greatly influence his posthumous fate. Relatives need to keep this in mind not only when the patient is a church person, but also if the dying person has been a person of little faith all his life. The last illness greatly changes a person, and the Lord can touch his heart already on his deathbed. Sometimes in this way Christ calls even criminals and blasphemers! Therefore, at the slightest opportunity for this, relatives need to help the sick person take this step towards the calling Christ and repent of his sins. Usually the priest is called to the house in advance, turning to the “candle box”, where they must write down the coordinates of the patient, immediately setting, if possible, the time for the future visit. The patient must be psychologically prepared for the priest’s arrival, set up to prepare for Confessions as far as it will allow him physical state. When the priest comes, the patient needs, if he has the strength to do so, to ask him for a blessing. The patient’s relatives can be at his bedside and take part in prayers until the start of the Confessions when they naturally have to leave. But after reading the prayer of permission, they can re-enter and pray for the communicant. Chin Confessions patients at home differs from the usual and is placed in the 14th chapter of the Breviary entitled “The Rite, when it soon happens that the sick person will be given communion.” If the patient knows the prayers for Communion by heart and is able to repeat them, then let him do this after the priest, who reads them in separate phrases. To receive the Holy Mysteries, the patient must be placed on the bed so that he does not choke, preferably reclining. After Participles the patient, if possible, reads himself thanksgiving prayers. Then the priest pronounces the dismissal and gives the Cross to be kissed by the communicant and all those present. If the patient’s relatives have a desire and if the condition of the communicant allows it, then they can invite the priest to the table and once again clarify in a conversation with him how to behave at the bedside of a seriously ill person, what is preferable to discuss with him, how to support him in this situation.

Passion as the root and cause of sin
Passion is defined as a strong, persistent, all-encompassing emotion that dominates a person’s other impulses and leads to concentration on the object of passion. Thanks to these properties, passion becomes the source and cause of sin in the human soul. Orthodox asceticism has accumulated centuries of experience in observing and combating passions, which has made it possible to reduce them into clear patterns. The primary source of these classifications is the scheme of St. John Cassian the Roman, followed by Evagrius, Nilus of Sinai, Ephraim the Syrian, John Climacus, Maximus the Confessor and Gregory Palamas.
According to the above-mentioned ascetic teachers, there are eight sinful passions inherent in the human soul:
1. Pride.
2. Vanity.
3. Gluttony.
4. Fornication.
5. Love of money.
6. Anger.
7. Sadness.
8. Dejection.

Stages of gradual formation of passion:
1. Prediction or attack (glory: hit - collide with something) - sinful impressions or ideas that arise in the mind against the will of a person. Addictions are not considered a sin and are not charged against a person if the person does not respond to them with sympathy.
2. A thought becomes a thought that first meets interest in a person’s soul, and then compassion for oneself. This is the first stage of passion development. A thought is born in a person when his attention becomes favorable to the pretext. At this stage, the thought evokes a feeling of anticipation of future pleasure. The Holy Fathers call this a combination or conversation with a thought.
3. Inclination towards a thought occurs when a thought completely takes possession of a person’s consciousness and his attention is focused only on it. If a person, through an effort of will, cannot free himself from a sinful thought, replacing it with something good and pleasing to God, then the next stage begins when the will itself is carried away by the sinful thought and strives for its implementation. This means that the sin in intention has already been committed and all that remains is to practically satisfy the sinful desire.
4. The fourth stage of the development of passion is called captivity, when passionate attraction begins to dominate the will, constantly dragging the soul towards the realization of sin. A mature and deep-rooted passion is an idol, which a person subject to it, often without knowing it, serves and worships. The path to liberation from the tyranny of passion is sincere repentance and determination to correct your life. A sign of passions formed in a person’s soul is the repetition of the same sins at almost every Confession. If this happens, it means that in the soul of a person who has become close to his passion, a process of imitation of the struggle with it is taking place.

Abba Dorotheos distinguishes three states in a person in relation to his struggle with passion:
1. When he acts according to passion (bringing it to fulfillment).
2. When a person resists it (not acting out of passion, but not cutting it off, having it in himself).
3. When he eradicates it (by struggling and doing the opposite of passion). Freeing himself from passions, a person must acquire virtues that are opposite to them, otherwise the passions that had left the person will definitely return.

Sins
Sin is a violation of the Christian moral law - its content is reflected in the Epistle of the Apostle John: “Whoever commits sin also commits iniquity”(1 John 3; 4).
The most serious sins, which, if unrepentant, lead to the death of a person, are called mortal. There are seven of them:
1. Pride.
2. Gluttony.
3. Fornication.
4. Anger.
5. Love of money.
6. Sadness.
7. Dejection.
Sin is the realization of passion in thoughts, words and deeds. Therefore, it must be considered in a dialectical connection with the passion that has formed or is being formed in the human soul. Everything said in the chapter devoted to passions is directly related to human sins, as if revealing the fact of the presence of passion in the soul of the sinning person.

Sins are divided into three categories, depending on whom they are committed against.
1. Sins against God.
2. Sins against one's neighbor.
3. Sins against oneself.
Below is an approximate, not far full list these sins. It should be noted that the recently widespread tendency to see the goal Repentance in the most detailed verbal enumeration of sins, it contradicts the spirit of the Sacrament and profanes it. Therefore, it is not worth engaging in scolding, expressed in the weekly “confession” of countless sins and transgressions.

“A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; You will not despise a broken and humble heart, O God” (Ps. 50:19)- says the inspired prophet David about the meaning of Repentance.

Paying attention to the movements of your soul and noting your wrongdoing before the Lord in specific circumstances of life, you must always remember that to acquire in the Sacrament of Repentance you need a “contrite heart”, and not a “much-verbal” tongue.

Sins against God
Pride: breaking God's commandments; unbelief, lack of faith and superstition; lack of hope in God's mercy; excessive reliance on God's mercy; hypocritical veneration of God, formal worship of him; blasphemy; lack of love and fear of God; ingratitude to God for all His blessings, as well as for sorrows and illnesses; blasphemy and murmuring against the Lord; failure to fulfill promises made to Him; calling on the Name of God in vain (unnecessarily); pronouncing oaths invoking His name; falling into delusion. Disrespect for icons, relics, saints, Holy Scripture and any other shrine; reading heretical books, keeping them in the house; irreverent attitude towards the Cross, the sign of the cross, the pectoral cross; fear of confessing Orthodox faith; failure to comply with prayer rules: morning and evening prayers; omission of reading the Psalter, Holy Scripture, and other Divine books; absences without good reason from Sunday and holiday services; neglect of church services; prayer without zeal and diligence, absent-minded and formal. Conversations, laughter, walking around the temple during church services; inattention to reading and singing; being late for services and leaving church early; going to the temple and touching its shrines in physical uncleanness. Lack of zeal in repentance, rare Confession and deliberate concealment of sins; Communion without heartfelt contrition and without proper preparation, without reconciliation with neighbors, at enmity with them. Disobedience to one's spiritual father; condemnation of clergy and monastics; grumbling and resentment towards them; disrespect for the feasts of God; bustle on major church holidays; violation of fasts and constant fasting days - Wednesdays and Fridays - throughout the year. Watching heretical TV shows; listening to non-Orthodox preachers, heretics and sectarians; passion for Eastern religions and creeds; turning to psychics, astrologers, fortune tellers, fortune tellers, “grandmothers”, sorcerers; practicing “black and white” magic, witchcraft, fortune telling, spiritualism; superstitions: belief in dreams and omens; wearing “amulets” and talismans. Suicidal thoughts and attempts to commit suicide.

Sins against one's neighbor
Lack of love for your neighbors and your enemies; unforgiveness of their sins; hatred and malice; responding evil to evil; disrespect towards parents; disrespect for elders and superiors; killing babies in the womb (abortion), advising your friends to have abortions; attempt on someone else's life and health; causing bodily harm; robbery; extortion; appropriation of someone else's property (including non-repayment of debts). Refusal to help the weak, oppressed, and in trouble; laziness towards work and household responsibilities; disrespect for other people's work; unmercifulness; stinginess; inattention to the sick and to those in difficult life circumstances; omission of prayers for neighbors and enemies; cruelty to animals and flora, consumer attitude towards them; contradiction and intransigence to neighbors; disputes; a deliberate lie for the “eloquent word”; condemnation; slander, gossip and gossip; disclosure of other people's sins; eavesdropping on other people's conversations. Infliction of insults and insults; enmity with neighbors and scandals; cursing others, including one’s own children; insolence and arrogance in relations with neighbors; bad upbringing of children, lack of effort to plant the saving truths of the Christian faith in their hearts; hypocrisy, using others for personal gain; anger; suspicion of neighbors of unseemly acts; deception and perjury. Seductive behavior at home and in public; the desire to seduce and please others; jealousy and envy; foul language, retelling of indecent stories, obscene jokes; intentional and unintentional (as an example to follow) corruption of others by one’s actions; the desire to gain self-interest from friendship or other close relationships; treason; magical actions with the aim of harming a neighbor and his family.

Sins against yourself
Dejection and despair arising from the development of vanity and pride; arrogance, pride, self-confidence, arrogance; doing good deeds for show; thoughts of suicide; carnal excesses: gluttony, sweet eating, gluttony; abuse of bodily peace and comfort: excessive sleeping, laziness, lethargy, relaxation; addiction to a certain way of life, reluctance to change it for the sake of helping one’s neighbor. Drunkenness, drawing non-drinkers, including minors and the sick, into this vicious passion; smoking, drug addiction, as a type of suicide; playing cards and others gambling; lies, envy; love for the earthly and material more than for the heavenly and spiritual. Idleness, wastefulness, attachment to things; wasting your time; using God-given talents not for good; addiction to comfort, acquisitiveness: collecting food, clothing, shoes, furniture, jewelry, etc. “for a rainy day”; passion for luxury; over-concern, vanity. Desire for earthly honors and glory; “decorating” oneself with cosmetics, tattoos, piercings, etc. for the purpose of seducing. Sensual, lustful thoughts; commitment to seductive sights and conversations; incontinence of mental and physical feelings, pleasure and procrastination in unclean thoughts; voluptuousness; immodest views of people of the opposite sex; recollection with delight of one’s former carnal sins; addiction to prolonged viewing of television programs; watching pornographic films, reading pornographic books and magazines; pimping and prostitution; singing obscene songs; obscene dancing; defilement in a dream; fornication (outside of marriage) and adultery (adultery); free behavior with persons of the opposite sex; masturbation; immodest view of wives and young men; incontinence in married life (during fasting, on Saturdays and Sundays, church holidays).

Confession
Coming to Confessions, must know that the priest receiving it is not a simple interlocutor for the confessor, but is a witness to the mysterious conversation of the penitent with God.
The Sacrament occurs as follows: the penitent, approaching the lectern, bows to the ground before the cross and the Gospel lying on the lectern. If there are many confessors, this bow is done in advance. During the interview, the priest and confessor stand at the lectern; or the priest is sitting, and the penitent is kneeling. Those waiting their turn should not come close to the place where Confession is being performed, so that the sins being confessed are not heard by them, and the secret is not broken. For the same purposes, the interview should be conducted in a low voice.
If the confessor is a novice, then Confession can be structured as reflected in the Breviary: the confessor asks the penitent questions according to the list. In practice, however, the enumeration of sins is done in the first, general part. Confessions. The priest then pronounces the “Testament,” in which he urges the confessor not to repeat the sins he has confessed. However, the text of the “Testament” in the form in which it is printed in the Trebnik is rarely read; for the most part, the priest simply gives his instructions to the confessor. After Confession finished, the priest reads the prayer “Lord God, the salvation of Thy servants...”, which precedes the secret prayer Sacraments of Penance. After this, the confessor kneels, and the priest, covering his head with the stole, reads a prayer of permission, containing the secret formula: “Our Lord and God Jesus Christ, by the grace and generosity of His love for mankind, forgive you, child (name), all your sins, and I, an unworthy priest, by His power given to me, forgive and absolve you from all your sins, in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen". Then the priest makes the sign of the cross over the head of the confessor. After this, the confessor rises from his knees and kisses the Holy Cross and the Gospel.

If the confessor considers it impossible to forgive confessed sins due to their severity or other reasons, then the prayer of absolution is not read and the confessor is not allowed to receive Communion. In this case, penance may be assigned for a certain period. Then the final prayers are read “It’s worthy to eat...”, "Glory, and now..." and the priest administers the dismissal.

Ends Confession instructions from the confessor to the penitent and assigning him to read the canon against his sins, if the priest finds this necessary.

The material uses chapters from the book (abbreviated) “Handbook Orthodox man. Sacraments of the Orthodox Church" (Danilovsky Evangelist, Moscow, 2007

K. Lebedev. Confession of a Penitent

Confession (repentance) is one of the seven Christian Sacraments, in which the penitent, confessing his sins to the priest, with visible forgiveness of sins (reading a prayer of absolution), is invisibly absolved from them by Jesus Christ Himself.

This sacrament was established by the Savior, who said to His disciples: “ Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (untie) on earth will be loosed in heaven" And elsewhere: " Receive the Holy Spirit: whose sins you forgive, their sins will be forgiven; whoever you leave it on will stay on it" The apostles transferred the power to “bind and loose” to their successors - the bishops, who in turn, when performing the Sacrament of ordination (priesthood), transfer this power to the priests.

The Holy Fathers call repentance the second baptism: if at baptism a person is cleansed of power original sin given to him at birth from our ancestors Adam and Eve, then repentance washes him from the filth of his own sins, committed by him after the Sacrament of Baptism.

...Repentance has three properties, or parts: purification of thoughts, patience with the sorrows that come with it, and prayer, i.e. calling on God's help against the evil tricks of the enemy. These three things cannot be accomplished without the other. If one part is interrupted somewhere, then the other two parts there are not solid.
Venerable Ambrose of Optina

In order for the Sacrament of Repentance to be accomplished, the following are necessary on the part of the penitent: awareness of his sinfulness, sincere heartfelt repentance for his sins, the desire to leave the sin and not repeat it, faith in Jesus Christ and hope in, faith that the Sacrament of Confession has the power to cleanse and, through the prayer of the priest, wash away the sincerely confessed sins.

Repentance must be sincere and completely free, and in no way forced by time and custom or by the person confessing. Otherwise it will not be repentance. Repent, it is said, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near (Matthew 3:2), it has come near, that is, it has come on its own, you don’t need to look for it for a long time, it is looking for you, your free disposition, that is, repent yourself with heartfelt contrition.

The Apostle John says: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” At the same time, we hear from many: “I don’t kill, I don’t steal, I don’t commit adultery, so what should I repent of?” But if we carefully study God’s commandments, we will discover that we sin against many of them. Conventionally, all sins committed by a person can be divided into three groups: sins against God, sins against neighbors and sins against oneself.

About the beginning of Christian life through repentance or about repentance and the sinner’s conversion to God

The grace-filled Christian life begins at Baptism. But few retain this grace; most Christians lose it. We see that some are more or less corrupt, with bad beginnings, which are allowed to develop in them and take root. In others, perhaps, good beginnings have been made, but in early years young men, either by their own attraction or by temptation from others, forget them, begin to get used to the bad and get used to it. All such people no longer have a truly Christian life within them; they need to start it again. Our holy faith offers for this the Sacrament of Penance. “And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). If you have sinned, acknowledge your sin and repent. God will forgive sin and again give you “a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezek. 36:26). There is no other way: either do not sin, or repent. Even judging by the large number of sinners after baptism, it must be said that repentance has become for us the only source of truly Christian life.
In the Sacrament of Repentance, for some only the gift of grace-filled life, already received and acting in them, is purified; For others, this life is just beginning or is being given anew. We will look at it from this latter side.
For the second, it happens sudden change for the better, a change in will, renunciation of sin and turning to God, or kindling the fire of caring only about pleasing God with the renunciation of oneself and everything else. What is most characteristic is a painful fracture of the will. A person has become accustomed to bad things; now one must, as it were, tear oneself apart. He insulted God; now he must burn in the fire of a fair trial. The penitent experiences the illnesses of those giving birth and in the feelings of the heart in some way touches the torments of hell. The Lord commanded the weeping Jeremiah to “destroy... build and plant” (Jer. 1:10). And the mournful spirit of repentance was sent by the Lord to earth so that, passing through those who receive it “until the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow” (Heb. 4:12), it would destroy the old man and lay the foundations for the creation of a new one. In the repentant, now fear, now light hope, now suffering, now easy consolation, now almost the horrors of despair, now a breath of joy of mercy, are replaced by one another and lead or keep him in a state of perishing or losing his life, but in hope of a new one.
This is painful, but saving, and so inevitable that anyone who has not felt such a painful turning point has not yet begun to live through repentance. And there is no hope that a person could and began to purify himself in everything without going through this crucible. Decisive and living opposition to sin comes only from hatred of it; hatred of him - from a feeling of evil from him; the feeling of evil from him is experienced in all its strength at this painful turning point in repentance. Only here a person feels with all his heart what a great evil sin is, and therefore later he will run from it as from hellfire. Without this same painful test, although someone else will begin to purify himself, he will purify himself only slightly, more externally than internally, more in deeds than in thoughts, and therefore his heart will still remain unclean, like unsmelted ore.
Such a change is produced in the human heart by Divine grace. Only she can inspire a person to raise his hand to sacrifice himself to God. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). “God Himself gives a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezek. 36:26). The man feels sorry for himself. Having merged with the flesh and sin, he became one with them. Only an external, higher force can separate it and arm it against itself.
Thus, grace produces change in the sinner, but not without free will. In Baptism, grace is given to us at the moment this Sacrament is performed on us, and free will comes later and accepts this. With Repentance, free desire must participate in the change itself.
Change for the better, turning to God, as if it should be instant or momentary, as it happens. But first it goes through several turns, meaning the combination of freedom with grace, where grace takes possession of freedom and freedom submits to grace - turns necessary for everyone. Some go through them quickly, while for others it lasts for years. Who can trace everything that happens here, especially when the ways of the beneficial influence on us are very diverse and the states of people on whom it begins to act are countless? But despite all the diversity, there is one general order of change here, which no one can avoid. Every repentant lives in sin - and everyone is transformed by grace. Therefore, based on the concept of the state of the sinner in general and the relationship of freedom to grace, it is now possible to show this order and define it by rules.
1. THE CONDITION OF THE SINNER
The sinner who needs to be renewed in repentance is usually depicted by the word of God as immersed in a deep sleep. The distinctive feature of such people is not always obvious depravity, but actually the absence of this inspired, selfless concern for pleasing God with a decisive aversion to everything sinful. For them, piety is not the main goal of their cares and labors; They, caring about many other things, are completely indifferent to their salvation, do not feel the danger they are in, do not strive for virtue and lead a life cold towards faith, although sometimes neat and outwardly impeccable.
Having turned away from God, a person stops at himself and puts himself main goal throughout his life and activities. This is at least because after God there is nothing higher for him than himself, especially because, having previously received all the fullness from God, and now being left without Him, he is in a hurry to fill himself with something. The emptiness that has formed in him due to his falling away from God constantly kindles in him an unsatisfied thirst - vague, but incessant. Man has become a bottomless abyss; he strives hard to fill this abyss, but does not see or feel the filling. Therefore, all his life he is in sweat, labor and enormous troubles: he is busy with various things with which he hopes to quench the thirst that consumes him. These matters absorb all his attention, all his time and all his activities. They are the first good in which he lives with his heart. From this it is clear why man, considering himself an exclusive goal, is never in himself, but everything is outside himself, in things created or invented by vanity. He has fallen away from God, Who is the fullness of everything, and is himself empty; all that remains is, as it were, to spill over into infinitely varied things and live in them. Therefore, a characteristic feature of a sinful life is, while being careless about salvation, worrying about many things.
The types and differences of this concern depend on the properties of the voids formed in the soul. The emptiness of the mind, which has forgotten about the One, Who is everything, gives rise to a concern for multi-knowledge, exploration, testing, curiosity. The emptiness of the will, deprived of possession of the One, Who is everything, produces the desire for much or everything, so that everything is in our will, in our hands - this is possession. The emptiness of the heart, deprived of the enjoyment of the One Who is everything, creates a thirst for many and varied pleasures or a search for countless things with which we hope to satisfy our senses, internal and external. Thus, the sinner is always concerned about knowledge, possession, pleasure, enjoys, masters, learns. This is a cycle in which he has been spinning all his life. Curiosity beckons, the heart hopes to receive pleasure and captivates the will. That this is so, anyone can check for themselves by observing the movements of their soul for at least one day.
It is in this cycle that the sinner would live if he were left alone: ​​such is our nature when we slavishly serve sin. But this cycle increases a thousand times and becomes more complicated because the sinner is not alone. There is a whole world of people who do nothing but find out, enjoy, extract, who have put in order all the techniques necessary for this, subordinated them to laws, and made them necessary for everyone under their power. They, uniting, inevitably coming into contact, rub each other and in this friction only raise curiosity, possession and pleasure to tenths, hundredths and thousandths of degrees, seeing in them all happiness, bliss and life. This is a vain world; its activities, customs, rules, connections, language, entertainment, concepts - everything, from small to great, is imbued with the spirit of these three types of care and leads to the joyless spiritual death of those who love this world. Vibrantly connected with this whole world, every sinner is entangled in its thousand-braided network, wrapped in it deeply, deeply, so that he himself is not visible. A heavy burden lies on the sinner - a lover of the world and on every part of it, so that he cannot move anything in a non-worldly way, because then he needs to lift what feels like a thousand-pound weight. That’s why no one takes on such an impossible task, and no one thinks of taking it on, but everyone lives, moving along the rut in which they find themselves.
To an even greater misfortune, this world has its own prince, inimitable in his cunning, malice and experience in deception. Through the flesh and materiality with which the soul was united after the Fall, he has free access to it and, approaching, incites in it curiosity, lust for power, and sensual self-satisfaction in various ways. With his various seductions, he constantly keeps you in these states, teaches you how to satisfy them, and then either helps you fulfill these plans, or interferes, pointing to other, stronger ones, all with one goal - to prolong and deepen your stay in them. This is the change of worldly failures and successes not blessed by God. This prince has a whole horde of servants, spirits of evil subordinate to him. At every moment they quickly rush around the entire inhabited world to sow one thing there, another in another, to deepen those entangled in the network of sin, to renew ropes that have weakened and broken, especially to ensure that no one decides to untie them and go free. In this last case, they hastily gather around the self-willed man, first one at a time, then in detachments and legions, and finally in a whole horde - and this in different forms and methods, in order to block all exits, repair the threads and nets and, in another comparison, push them into the abyss of the one who began to climb out of it along the cliff.
This invisible kingdom of spirits has special places - throne places, where plans are made, orders are received, reports are received with approval or condemnation. These are the depths of Satan, as St. John the Theologian. On earth, among the people under their control, these places are unions of villains, debauchees, especially unbelievers and blasphemers, who in deed, word and writing spread sinful darkness everywhere and obscure the light of God. Here they express their will and power with the help of worldly customs, saturated with sinful elements, always stupefying and distracting from God.
This is how the power of sin works! Every sinner is completely in it, but is held primarily by one thing. And this alone, perhaps, is sometimes quite tolerant and even approving. Satan has one concern, so that what a person is completely occupied with, where his consciousness, attention, heart is, is not God alone and exclusively, but something outside of Him, so that, clinging to this with his mind, will and heart, he has this instead He only cared about God, he found out about that, enjoyed it and possessed it. Here not only bodily and spiritual passions, but decent things - learning, art, concern for everyday things - can serve as shackles with which Satan keeps blinded sinners in his power, not allowing them to come to their senses.
If you look at a sinner in his inner mood and state, it turns out that he sometimes knows a lot, but is blind in relation to the works of God and the work of his salvation; that although he is always in troubles and worries, he does not think or do anything for his salvation; that although he always experiences anxiety or pleasure, he is completely insensitive to everything spiritual. In this regard, all his powers are affected by sin, and blindness, indifference and insensibility act in the sinner. He does not see his condition, and therefore does not feel the danger of his situation, he does not feel his danger, and therefore does not care to get rid of it. It doesn’t even occur to him that he needs to change and save himself. He is in complete, unshakable confidence that he is in his correct state, that he has nothing to desire, that everything should remain as it is. And therefore, he considers any reminder of another kind of life unnecessary for himself, does not listen, cannot even understand what it is for - he shuns it and avoids it.
2. THE WORK OF GOD'S GRACE
We said that a sinner is the same as a person immersed in deep sleep. Just as someone who is fast asleep, no matter how close the danger approaches, will not wake up on his own and will not get up unless someone else comes and wakes him up, so someone immersed in a sinful sleep will not come to his senses and will not get up unless Divine grace comes to his aid. . According to the infinite mercy of God, she is ready for everyone, she goes around everyone and calls so that everyone can hear: Arise, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will illuminate you (Eph. 5:14).
This comparison of sinners with those sleeping helps to comprehensively consider their appeal to God. Namely: the sleeper awakens, gets up, and gets ready to go to work. And the sinner, turning and repenting, awakens from his sinful sleep, comes to the determination to change (stands up) and finally receives the strength to new life in the Sacraments of Repentance and Communion (ready for action).
(Bishop Theophan the Recluse)

Sins against God

Ingratitude to God.
- Disbelief. Doubt in faith. Justifying one's disbelief through an atheistic upbringing.
- Apostasy, cowardly silence when they blaspheme the faith of Christ, not wearing a cross, visiting various sects.
- Taking the name of God in vain (when the name of God is mentioned not in prayer or in pious conversation about Him).
- Oath in the name of the Lord.
- Fortune telling, treatment with grandmothers - whispering, turning to psychics, reading books on black magic, reading and spreading various false teachings.
- Thoughts about suicide.
- Violation of vows given to God.
- Despair in difficult situations and disbelief in God’s Providence, fear of old age, poverty, illness.
- Condemnation of the Church and its ministers.
- Continuation of a sinful life in the sole hope of God’s mercy, that is, excessive trust in God.

Sins against neighbors

Hot temper, anger, irritability. Indecent shouting, arguing. Abusive, cruel and caustic words.
- Arrogance.
- Perjury.
- Revenge.
- Mockery.
- Stinginess.
- Non-repayment of debts.
- Failure to pay money earned for work.
- Failure to provide assistance to those in need.
- Disrespect for parents, irritation with their old age.
- Disrespect for elders.
- Lack of diligence in your work.
- Condemnation.
- Appropriation of someone else's property is theft.
- Quarrels with neighbors and neighbors.
- Killing your child in the womb (abortion), inducing others to commit murder (abortion).
- Murder with words is bringing a person through slander or condemnation to a painful state and even to death.
- Drinking alcohol at funerals for the dead instead of intense prayer for them.

Sins against yourself

Verbosity, gossip, idle talk.
- Unreasonable laughter.
- Foul language.
- Self-love.
- Doing good deeds for show.
- Vanity.
- The desire to get rich (love of money) - love for money, for property. Thinking about the means to get rich. Dreaming of wealth. Stinginess, greed. Addictions or painful excessive love for various objects that deprive the soul of freedom. Hobbies of vain cares. Love for gifts.
- Envy.
- Lie.
- Drug use, smoking.
- Gluttony (gluttony) - gluttony, drunkenness, secret eating, delicacy, generally a violation of abstinence.
- Fornication - inciting lustful thoughts, unclean desires, lustful touching, watching erotic films and reading such books.
- Fornication is a purely carnal attraction without any spiritual intimacy.
- - this is intimacy between people who do not experience love feelings to each other.
- Unnatural fornication - physical intimacy between persons of the same sex, masturbation.
- Incest - physical intimacy with relatives or nepotism.

Although the above sins are conditionally divided into three parts, ultimately they are all sins both against God (since they violate His commandments and thereby offend Him) and against their neighbors (since they do not allow true Christian relationships and love to be revealed ), and against themselves (because they interfere with the salvific dispensation of the soul).

How to prepare for confession?

The penitent asks God for grace-filled help: the ability to see his sins, the courage to openly confess them, the determination to forgive the sins of his neighbors against himself. Prayerfully he begins to examine his conscience. Examples of prayers imbued with a deep feeling of repentance were left to us by the great ascetics of the Church.

Anyone who wants to repent before God for their sins must prepare for the Sacrament of Confession. You need to prepare for confession in advance: it is advisable to read literature on the Sacraments of Confession and Communion, remember all your sins, you can write them down on a separate piece of paper to look at it before confession. Sometimes a piece of paper with the listed sins is given to the confessor to read, but the sins that especially burden the soul must be told out loud. There is no need to tell the confessor long stories; it is enough to state the sin itself. For example, if you are at enmity with relatives or neighbors, you do not need to tell what caused this enmity - you need to repent of the very sin of judging your relatives or neighbors. What is important to God and the confessor is not the list of sins, but the repentant feeling of the person being confessed, not detailed stories, but a contrite heart. We must remember that confession is not only an awareness of one’s own shortcomings, but, above all, a thirst to be cleansed of them. In no case is it acceptable to justify yourself - this is no longer repentance! Elder Silouan of Athos explains what real repentance is: “This is a sign of the forgiveness of sins: if you hated sin, then the Lord forgave you your sins.”

It is good to develop the habit of analyzing the past day every evening and bringing daily repentance before God, writing down serious sins for future confession with your confessor. It is necessary to reconcile with your neighbors and ask for forgiveness from everyone who was offended. When preparing for confession, it is advisable to strengthen your evening prayer rule by reading the Canon of Repentance, which is found in the Orthodox prayer book.

To confess, you need to find out when the Sacrament of Confession takes place in the church. In those churches where services are performed every day, the Sacrament of Confession is also celebrated every day. In those churches where there are no daily services, you must first familiarize yourself with the service schedule.

After every sin, repentance is needed. Often you need to repent and reconsider your soul. He who does not repent and does not care about repentance greatly neglects his heart field and allows all kinds of sinful tares to grow stronger in it, becomes stuck in sins, and makes repentance and correction difficult for himself.
Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt

Great Wednesday

Maundy Wednesday is usually the day of confession for believers on the eve of Maundy Thursday. The fact is that on Passion Thursday, Orthodox Christians try to take communion - but not all parishioners can have time to confess on this day itself, so there is a big confession in churches the day before. The clergy note that for parishioners Wednesday evening is a unique opportunity to confess in more detail than on ordinary days, and urge them to take advantage of it.
Cm.

Those who wish to worthily make holy confession and then proceed to Holy Communion are taught by the rules of the Orthodox Church to observe the following:
- During the week that you have chosen to prepare for confession, it is advisable to appear every day God's temple at the beginning of each service and pray with contrition before God with warm tears. Only in the case of special obstacles or a valid reason and illness can the preparation for confession be reduced by two to three days.
- At the time that you have chosen for fasting, it is necessary to intensify strict fasting, intensify prayer and, if possible, works of mercy (charity, alms, visiting the sick, prisoners, etc.). A true Christian (if he is not seriously ill), according to the Charter, should not allow himself to eat even fish food at this time, should not eat meat or dairy food, as well as wine and oil, when there is no permission from the Church.
However, whoever fasts as a meat-eater is not subject to strict fasting, unless at his own request.
- During fasting through Lent, especially during Great Lent, you need to eat only plant food, and moreover, the simplest, not refined, in small quantities, and even then after the end of the hours from Vespers (or mass), according to the Rule, only once a day in the evening.
- It is best to bring confession not only on the eve of communion, as others do during Great Lent, on Fridays, when there is no opportunity to confess your sins for a long time and in detail, in the presence of many other people who want to bring holy repentance on the same day, but two days before , even three before Holy Communion.
- It is enough to abstain from food and drink only on the eve of communion, from six o’clock in the evening. And even then, the weak or small, infirm can drink and have something to eat (like bread and water, or tea with a roll) after six o’clock in the evening, but not later than midnight.
- When going to confession, especially to Holy Communion, you definitely need to reconcile (if not in person, then in absentia) with those with whom you had quarrels or troubles, and definitely ask everyone for forgiveness.
- In order to more accurately and in detail remember and count your grave sins, which you have not yet repented of, or which you repeated again after repentance, you need to think about them in order in advance; for example, according to the ten commandments of the Law of God. You can write them down on paper for memory, of course, secretly from everyone, and read this handwriting to your spiritual father, who, along with the forgiveness of sins, will destroy this sinful manuscript of yours.
- Those who repent bring with them an unlit (as if extinguished) candle, as a sign that they, like the careless virgins once, had the lamp of faith left without oil, i.e. no good deeds. However, faithful people can come without a candle, as well as without any contribution for confession, which, like a Sacrament, must be performed free of charge.
- Coming to confession, without rushing and without pushing others, first of all you should cross yourself correctly, then, having bowed to the ground in front of the lectern on which the cross and the Gospel lie, stand decorously, with humility, and listen carefully to everything that the confessor says and asks ...

Usually confession is performed in churches in the morning before the Divine Liturgy. You can also confess in the evening: during or after the all-night vigil. You should come to church at the beginning of confession in order to participate in general prayer, when the priest prays for all the penitents. At the end of these prayers, he pronounces the following parting word: Behold, child, Christ stands invisibly, accepting your confession….
In other words, this instruction sounds like this: “My child! Christ stands invisibly before you, accepting your confession. Do not be ashamed and do not be afraid, without hiding anything from me, but tell everything you have sinned without being embarrassed, in order to accept remission (of sins) from our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is His image before us: I am only a witness, to testify before Him everything that you tell me. If you hide anything from me, you will have a double sin. You came to the hospital - don’t leave here unhealed.”

How does confession happen?

Confession is performed in churches or in the evening after evening service, or in the morning before the start of the liturgy. Under no circumstances should you be late for the start of confession, since the Sacrament begins with the reading of the rite, in which everyone who wishes to confess must prayerfully participate. When reading the rite, the priest turns to the penitents so that they say their names - everyone answers in an undertone. Those who are late for the start of confession are not allowed to the Sacrament; the priest, if there is such an opportunity, at the end of confession reads the rite for them again and accepts confession, or schedules it for another day. Women cannot begin the Sacrament of Repentance during the period of monthly cleansing.

Confession usually takes place in a church with a crowd of people, so you need to respect the secret of confession, not crowd next to the priest receiving confession, and not embarrass the person confessing, revealing his sins to the priest. Confession must be complete. You cannot confess some sins first and leave others for next time. Those sins that the penitent confessed in previous confessions and which have already been forgiven are not mentioned again. If possible, you should confess to the same confessor. You should not, having a permanent confessor, look for another to confess your sins, which a feeling of false shame prevents your familiar confessor from revealing.
Those who do this by their actions try to deceive God Himself: in confession, we confess our sins not to our confessor, but together with him to the Savior Himself.

In large churches, due to the large number of penitents and the inability of the priest to accept confession from everyone, it is usually practiced " general confession", when the priest lists out loud the most common sins and the confessors standing in front of him repent of them, after which everyone in turn comes up for a prayer of absolution. Those who have never been to confession or have not gone to confession for several years should avoid general confession. These people definitely need to go through private confession- why you need to choose either a weekday, when there are not many people confessing in the church, or find a parish where only private confession is performed. If this is not possible, you need to go to the priest during a general confession for a prayer of permission, among the last, so as not to detain anyone, and, having explained the situation, open up to him about your sins. Those who have grave sins should do the same.

Repentance is necessary not only in order to believe in Christ: it is necessary to remain in faith, to succeed in Christ; it is necessary for living faith in Christ.
Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

Whatever sin you have committed, there is no need to repent of it. Just say, “God has spared me this.” From the outside spiritual father, which is sometimes expected by a hundred confessors, it is enough to ask you: “Besides the ordinary sins that are common to all of us humans, do you have any special sins, for example, drunkenness, fornication, theft, etc.?” If you honestly say, “No,” then that’s enough for him to make you happy and give you permission. And then do not grieve that he did not confess you in detail.
But it is much better if, through reflection on your sins during the days of fasting, through mourning them and contrition of heart, through reading spiritually edifying articles and books about confession and self-examination, preparing for the Holy Sacrament of Repentance, you gain the skill yourself, without detailed questions from your confessor, confess your sins, which are especially serious. Remember that the confessor cannot know what is hidden in the depths of your soul, so you yourself hasten to reveal it to your spiritual father and expose all the sinful ulcers of your soul.

After you have confessed one or another particularly serious sin, your confessor, as the shepherd of the Church, assigned to the work of his ministry by Christ Himself, will give you instructions and indicate medical remedies for sins: listen to his words with attention and try to do everything he says.
After confession, your confessor will give you general instructions with conviction to give up your previous sins and not to commit new ones, and to try in every possible way, calling on God’s help, to live holy, as befits a true Christian. Have a firm intention to follow his soul-saving advice, which is in complete agreement with the will of God.
Then you must kneel down, bow your head, put your hands to your chest as a sign of humility and pray diligently to the Lord for forgiveness of sins and help to start a new, better life. The confessor reads a prayer over you: “Lord God, the salvation of Your servants...”.
After prayer, without getting up, read the following petition yourself or repeat after your confessor: “Forgive me, Holy Father, and bless those who have sinned in soul and body, in word, deed and thought, and with all my feelings of soul and body.”
After which the confessor reads a prayer of permission, placing an epitrachelion on the head of the penitent: “Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, by the grace and generosity of His love for mankind, forgive you, child, all your sins.” At the end of the prayer of permission, the confessor marks the penitent with the right hand of the cross.
After confessing sins and reading the prayer of absolution by the priest, the penitent kisses the Cross and the Gospel lying on the lectern and, if he was preparing for communion, takes a blessing from the confessor for communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

In some cases, the priest may impose penance on the penitent - spiritual exercises prescribed to deepen repentance and eradicate sinful habits. Penance must be treated as the will of God, expressed through the priest, requiring mandatory fulfillment for the healing of the soul of the penitent. If it is impossible for various reasons to perform penance, you should contact the priest who imposed it to resolve the difficulties that have arisen.
After confession, it is good to venerate the holy icons of the Savior, the Mother of God and the saints of God.
To repent means to feel in your heart the lie, madness, and guilt of your sins; it means to realize that you have offended with them your Creator, Lord, Father and Benefactor, who is infinitely holy and infinitely abhors sin; it means to desire with all your soul their correction and atonement.
Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt

St. John of Kronstadt
Thoughts of a Christian on repentance and Holy Communion

Confession

Repentance must be sincere and completely free, and in no way forced by time and custom or by the person confessing. Otherwise it will not be repentance. Repent, it is said, for the Kingdom of Heaven is drawing near (Matthew 4:17), that is, it has come on its own, you don’t need to look for it for long, it is looking for you, your free disposition, that is: repent yourself with heartfelt contrition. I am baptized (it is said about those who were baptized by John), confessing their sins, (Matthew 3:6) that is; they themselves confessed their sins. And since our prayer is primarily repentance and a petition for the forgiveness of sins, it must always be sincere and completely free, and not involuntary, forced by custom and habit. Prayer should be the same when it is thanksgiving and doxology. Gratitude presupposes in the soul of the recipient the fullness of a free, living feeling, freely flowing through the lips: out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). Doxology presupposes the delight of surprise in a person contemplating the deeds of the infinite goodness, wisdom, and omnipotence of God in the moral and material world, and therefore also naturally should be a completely free and reasonable matter. In general, prayer should be a free and completely conscious outpouring of a person’s soul before God. I pour out my thoughts before the Lord (Prayer of Anna, Mat. of Samuel).
Repentance is helped by consciousness, memory, imagination, feeling, will. Just as we sin with all the strength of our soul, so repentance must be all-soul. Repentance only in words, without the intention of correction and without a feeling of contrition, is called hypocritical. The consciousness of sins is obscured; it must be clarified; the feeling is drowned out, it must be awakened; the will grows dull, weakened to correct itself, it must be forced: the kingdom of heaven is taken by force (Matthew 11:12). Confession must be heartfelt, deep, complete.
The carnal man considers Christian freedom involuntary, for example: going to Divine services, fasting, fasting, confession, communion, all the sacraments, but does not know that all this is a requirement of his nature, a necessity for his spirit.
Whoever gets used to giving an account of his life in confession here will not be afraid to give an answer at the Last Judgment of Christ. Yes, for this purpose a meek court of repentance was established here, so that we, purified and corrected through local repentance, could give a shameless answer at the terrible judgment of Christ. This is the first impulse to sincere repentance and, moreover, certainly annually. The longer we do not repent, the worse it is for ourselves, the more confusing the bonds of sin become, the more difficult it is, therefore, to give an account. The second impulse is peace: the calmer your soul will be the more sincere you confess. Sins are secret snakes that gnaw at a person’s heart and his entire being; they give him no rest, constantly sucking his heart; sins are thorny thorns that constantly gore the soul; sins are spiritual darkness. Those who repent must bear the fruits of repentance.
What does fasting and repentance lead to? What is the labor for? Leads to cleansing of sins, peace of mind, union with God, sonship, and boldness before the Lord. There is something to fast about and confess with all your heart. The reward will be invaluable for conscientious work. How many of us have a feeling of filial love for God? How many of us boldly, without condemnation, dare to call on the heavenly God the Father and say: Our Father!... Isn’t it the other way around, in our hearts such a filial voice is not heard at all, muffled by the vanity of this world or attachment to its objects and pleasures? Is not the Heavenly Father far from our hearts? Shouldn’t we, who have moved away from Him to a land far away, imagine Him as God’s avenger? “Yes, for our sins we are all worthy of His righteous wrath and punishment, and it’s amazing how He is so patient with us, how He does not cut us down like the barren fig trees?” Let us hasten to appease Him with repentance and tears. Let us enter into ourselves, examine our unclean heart with all severity and see what a multitude of impurities block the access of divine grace to it, we realize that we are spiritually dead.
You will endure the difficulty and useless sting of the operation, but you will be healthy (they talk about confession). This means that in confession you must reveal all your shameful deeds to your confessor without concealment, even though it is painful, shameful, shamefully humiliating. Otherwise, the wound remains unhealed and will ache and ache, and undermine mental health; it will remain a leaven for other spiritual infirmities or sinful habits and passions. A priest is a spiritual doctor; show him the wounds, without shame, sincerely, with filial trust: after all, the confessor is your spiritual father, who must love you more than your relatives, father and mother, for Christ’s love is higher than carnal, natural love - he must give an answer to God for you. Why has our life become so unclean, full of passions and sinful habits? Because so many people hide their spiritual wounds or ulcers, that’s why they hurt and get irritated, and no healing can be applied to them.
Even if you fall, rise up and be saved. You are a sinner, you constantly fall, learn to rise; take care to gain this wisdom. This wisdom consists of this: learn by heart the psalm Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, inspired by the Holy Spirit to the king and prophet David, and read it with sincere faith and hope, with a contrite and humble heart; after your sincere repentance, expressed in the words of King David, forgiveness of sins will immediately shine from the Lord for you, and you will feel peace in your spiritual strength. The main thing in life is to be jealous of mutual love and not to judge anyone. Everyone will give an answer to God for themselves, but look within yourself. Beware of malice.
For he who knew no sin (it is said about Christ) commit sin for us, that we may be the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21). After this, will you be ashamed to admit to any sin or accept the accusation of a sin you did not commit? If the Son of God Himself was guilty of sin according to us, although He was sinless, then you must also accept the accusation of all sins with meekness and love, for you are truly sinful of all sins. But if you are not a sinner, accept the accusation with humility.
For the sake of our faith alone, the mountains of the heart are moved, that is, the heights and heaviness of sin. When Christians lift the burden of sins in repentance, they sometimes say: “Thank God, the weight has been lifted from our shoulders!” (Table of contents)

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