How to repent in confession. Complete list of sins in confession

Hieromonk Cyprian (Safronov), a resident of the Danilov Monastery, answers questions.

– Father, many people are now complaining that they cannot properly confess, they are not succeeding.

– Yes, the vast majority of people do not know how to confess. Some go to church for ten years, but have not learned how to confess correctly. Why? The problem is not even that they cannot understand how to confess correctly, the problem is that they are not really interested in this, they do not read literature, although now many books and inexpensive brochures are being published, they still do not know how to behave correctly in church, how an Orthodox person should behave in general. There is a code of conduct for an Orthodox person! Sometimes they even forget that they are Orthodox people. And as a result, they cannot correctly approach the sacrament of Confession. Hence the problems arise. Such a person comes to confession as a normal procedure preceding communion. But this is the sacrament, the great sacrament of the Church, only through the sacrament of Confession can a person correct himself, correct his life, learn to live correctly. No other way. The grace of God is given directly only through the sacraments. Each sacrament of the Church gives its grace: the sacrament of the Wedding gives grace to married life, the sacrament of ordination to the priestly career, and the sacrament of Confession is given to a person so that he is spiritually and physically healthy, so that he sooner or later learns to live correctly, that is, not sin. And if a person himself cannot stop sinning, cannot correct himself, then the Lord allows the disease so that he, at least through it, stops sinning. Illnesses are the grace of God, they are given to us due to our weakness and foolishness, the Lord humbles us with illnesses, and when we are healthy, we begin to treat the sins that we love to repeat when we are healthy, more than cool, we humble ourselves.

“Many, when they come to confession, hope that the priest himself will ask them about everything…

– A priest at confession should not necessarily ask the confessor for anything... A person must learn to confess his sins on his own, prepare a confession in advance by analyzing his behavior, identify the sin, come and tell the priest: I am a sinner. Often the confessor begins to tell how, say, he had a strong argument with someone, what he said to him, and what he answered, and how he reacted to it; Who is to blame - you can't figure it out. Then you have to ask the confessor what is your sin, yours personally, and remind him that he came to confess, and not complain about another.

– And if a person cannot correctly assess the situation himself and tells it to the priest so that the priest can help?

- A person should know that in any situation he must first of all blame himself. Why? Because, offended, he did not make concessions, did not stop the incident, although he could. The Orthodox must look for his guilt in any situation, because in any situation in life, part of the blame always lies with us. If there is no guilt at all on us, then we should feel calm, our conscience should be calm.

“But a man was accused in vain, but he did not do what he is blamed for ...

Then it's not his problem.

"It's so embarrassing for him...

– But this is already a big sin, and you need to go to confession right away. The problem here is that you are offended, which means that there is some truth in what you were slandered about. If you have some kind of anxiety, if you start complaining, this is an indicator that there is also your fault. Our resentment tells us that something is wrong with us. This trouble first accumulates inside, little by little, and does not immediately come out, but then, having overwhelmed us, it is definitely revealed. And a person, if he does not confess properly, begins to look for his own ways to get out of resentment: he makes plans for personal revenge, goes to a psychologist, a sorcerer, or even thinks about how to hire a killer ...

It happens that a person, say, stepped on another's sore callus and did not notice. The owner of a sick callus begins to shout at him, they say, look where you are going, otherwise he will give it to the top of his head - it's a shame that his sick callus was not noticed. A person, knowing that there is no guilt on him, is at a loss - for what he received, but nevertheless he is not offended. What is the result? The victim, not only did he step on a sore spot, but he also sinned and now must repent at confession. That is, it turns out that the injured party has sinned more. And from the one who came, there is no demand from him, he got on the top of his head for nothing, he has nothing to repent of. The victim, if he suffered, would become a martyr, and his love for the person would come from the fact that he forgave him.

– Often people, due to illness or some other good reason, miss Sunday services in the temple, and it may be difficult to blame them for this…

- Previously, an Orthodox person dreamed of dying in a church, and after Communion, he considered death all the more happiness, therefore, in spite of any illness, he went to service in the church, fasted, took communion. He did not think about whether he was sick or healthy, whether he could go to the temple or not. I have to go to the temple - I went to the temple, I have to go to work - I went to work. Why? Because he believed in God, tried to live in His will. And in our time, a person has been treated for 40 years and cannot be cured, and for all 40 years he has been preoccupied with this only, buys and reads a lot of “healthy” literature, consults with many specialists, drinks a huge amount of medicines, but there is no sense. And he also cannot die in a divine way, although, perhaps, he wants to - the time has come. Sins are not allowed. How did they die before? The man worked and worked in the field, felt that he was tired, sat down to rest, sighed, crossed himself and gave his soul to God. And now they are tormented, but sins are not allowed ... They don’t confess, as they should, they don’t take communion for six months, but when some misfortune happens to them, they immediately run to church for confession. They come, confess, and disappear again for half a year... So they turn around because of their weakness - now one misfortune, then another, then a third, and it turns out - they are not turned to God, and they do not belong to the world.

- What to do?

- Confess in time, take communion, do not break fasts - strictly fulfill your duties. And severity should be determined by the priest, as he determines each person separately.

How to write a note with sins and what to say to the priest? Confession is the most important religious Sacrament, which is present not only in Orthodoxy, Christianity, but also in other religions, such as Islam, Judaism. It is a key moment in the spiritual life of a believer in these spiritual traditions.

The story in the presence of a witness - a clergyman - about the sins committed before God cleanses them from them, God forgives sins through the priest, and redemption of sins occurs. After repentance, the burden is removed from the soul, life becomes easier. Usually confession occurs before, but it is possible separately.

Sacrament of Repentance (Confession) The Orthodox Catechism gives the following definition of this Sacrament: Repentance there is a Sacrament in which the 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 the modern Church, as a rule, it precedes the Sacrament of Communion of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, since it prepares the souls of the penitents for participation in this Great Meal. Need for Sacrament of Repentance 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 their own? No. If it wasn't repentance, a person could not be saved, could not maintain the unity with Christ acquired in the Sacrament of Baptism. Repentance is a spiritual work, the effort of a sinning person, aimed at re-establishing a connection with God, in order to be a partaker of His Kingdom.

Repentance implies such a spiritual activity of a Christian, as a result of which the committed sin becomes hateful to him. The repentant effort of a person is accepted by the Lord as the greatest sacrifice, the most significant of his daily deeds.

Preparing for confession note

In Holy Scripture Repentance is a necessary condition for salvation: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). And it is gladly received by the Lord and pleasing to Him: “So in heaven there will be more joy over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous who have no need of repentance” (Luke 15; 7).

In the continuous struggle with sin, which continues throughout a person's earthly life, there are defeats and sometimes heavy falls. But after them, a Christian must rise again and again, repent, and, without succumbing to despondency, continue on his path, because God's mercy is infinite.

The fruit of repentance is reconciliation with God and people and spiritual joy from the participation in the life of God revealed to man. Forgiveness of sins is given to a person through the prayer and rites of a priest, who is given grace from God in the Sacrament of the Priesthood to forgive sins on earth.

The repentant sinner receives justification and sanctification in the Sacrament, and the confessed sin is completely blotted out of a person’s life and ceases to destroy his soul. The visible side Sacraments of Repentance consists in the confession of sins offered by the penitent to God in the presence of a priest, and in the resolution of sins performed by God through the priest.

It happens like this:
1. The priest reads the preliminary prayers from the rites Sacraments of Repentance, prompting confessors to sincere repentance.

2. The penitent, standing before the cross and the Gospel, lying on the lectern, as before the Lord Himself, verbally confesses all his sins, hiding nothing and making no excuses.
3. The priest, having accepted this confession, covers the head of the penitent with an epitrachelion and reads a prayer of forgiveness, through which, in the name of Jesus Christ, he forgives the penitent from all those sins in which he confessed.

The invisible effect of the grace of God is that the penitent, with the 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.

confession and first communion

Establishment of the Sacrament of Repentance

Confession as the main part Sacraments of Repentance, 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 before a priest.
2. The shepherd's teaching about repentance in accordance with the inner dispensation of the recipient of the Sacrament.
3. The intercessory prayers of the shepherd and the prayers of repentance of the penitent.

4. Permission from sins. If the sins confessed to the penitent were serious, then serious church punishments could be imposed - a temporary deprivation of the right to participate in the Sacrament of the Eucharist; prohibition to attend 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 position only on condition of sincere repentance. In the ancient Church there were four categories of penitents, differing in the degree of severity of the penances imposed on them:

1. Crying. They did not have the right to enter the temple and had to remain at the porch in any weather, with tears to ask for prayers from those going to worship.
2. Listeners. They had the right to stand in the porch and were blessed by the bishop along with those preparing for Baptism. Those who listen with them at the words “Announcement, come out!” removed from the temple.

3. Appropriate. They had the right to stand at the back of the temple and participate with the faithful in prayers for the penitent. At the end of these prayers, they received the blessing of the bishop and left the church.

4. Cupped. They had the right to stand with the faithful until the end of the Liturgy, but they could not partake of the Holy Mysteries. Repentance in the early Christian Church could be done both publicly and secretly. Public Confession was a kind of exception to the rule, since it was appointed only in those cases when a member of the Christian community committed serious sins, which in themselves were quite rare.

Sins speaking in confession

sins speaking in confession

Confession of serious carnal sins was done publicly if it was known for sure that the person had committed them. This happened only when the secret Confession and the appointed 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 guilty were excluded from church communion for many years, and sometimes for life, and only near death could cause the penance to be removed and the sinner to receive Communion.

public Repentance practiced in the Church until the end of the 4th century. Its abolition is associated with the name of Patriarch Nektarios of Constantinople († 398), who abolished the position of priest-confessor who dealt with the affairs of public repentance.

This was followed by gradual disappearance of repentance, and by the end of the 9th century public Confession finally left the life of the Church. This happened because of the impoverishment of piety. Such a powerful tool as public Repentance, 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 the sins revealed publicly could serve as a temptation for Christians who were not sufficiently established in the faith. Thus the secret Confession, also known from the first centuries of Christianity, became the only form repentance. Basically, the above changes occurred already in the 5th century.

At present, with a large gathering of confessors in some churches, the so-called "common" Confession. This innovation, which became possible due to the lack of churches and for other, less significant reasons, is illegal from the point of view of liturgical theology and church piety. It should be remembered that the general Confession- by no means a norm, but an assumption due to circumstances.

Therefore, even if, with a large gathering of penitents, the priest holds a common Confession, he must, before reading the permissive prayer, give each confessor the opportunity to express the sins that burden his soul and conscience the most. Depriving a 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.

What to say in confession to a priest

Preparation for Confession
Preparation for Confession consists not so much in remembering one's sins as fully as possible, but in achieving a state of concentration and prayer, in which the sins will become obvious to the confessor. The penitent, figuratively speaking, must bring to Confession not a list of sins, but a repentant feeling and a contrite heart.

Front confession you need to ask for forgiveness from everyone to whom you consider yourself guilty. Start preparing for confessions(to fast) must be a week or at least three days before the Sacrament itself. This preparation should consist of a certain abstinence in words, thoughts and deeds, in food and entertainment, and in general in the rejection of everything that interferes with inner concentration.

The most important component of such preparation should be concentrated, in-depth prayer, which contributes to the 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 accuses him of. Approaching the priest after this "general" Confession, the penitent must confess the sins that he has committed.
Sins confessed and forgiven by the priest earlier, repeat on confessions should not be, because after repentance they become "as if they weren't."

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 involuntarily provoked sin. In any case, a person himself is responsible for his iniquities committed by him out of weakness or negligence.

Sins in Orthodoxy confession

Attempts to shift the blame onto others only lead to the fact that the confessor aggravates his sin by self-justification and condemnation of his neighbor. In no case should one indulge in long stories about the circumstances that led to the fact that the confessor was "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. The downplaying of sins is associated with self-justification, especially with reference to their ubiquity, they say, "they still live like that." But it is obvious that the mass character of sin in no way justifies the sinner.

Some confessors, in order not to forget from excitement or lack of collection of committed sins, come to Confession with their written list. This custom is good if the confessor sincerely repents of his sins, and does not formally list the recorded, but not lamented iniquities. A note with sins immediately after confessions need to be destroyed.

Under no circumstances should you try to Confession comfortable and go through it without exerting one's spiritual powers, saying general phrases such as "sinful in everything" or obscuring the ugliness of sin with general expressions, such as "sinful against the 7th commandment." It is impossible, being distracted by trifles, to remain silent about what really weighs on the conscience.

provoking such behavior confessions false shame in front of a confessor is destructive to spiritual life. Accustomed to prevaricate before God Himself, one can lose hope for salvation. A cowardly fear to seriously begin to understand the "quagmire" of one's life is capable of cutting off all connection with Christ.

Such a disposition of the confessor also becomes the reason for his downplaying of his sins, which is by no means harmless, since it leads to a distorted view of himself and of his relationship with God and his neighbors. We must carefully reconsider our whole life and free it from habitual sins.

How to Prepare for Confession

Scripture directly names the consequences of hushing up sins and self-justification: “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor malakia, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor predators - they will inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6; 9, 10).

Do 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. It is impossible out of false shame or shyness to hide on confessions some shameful sins, otherwise this concealment will make the remission of other sins incomplete.

Therefore, Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ after such confessions will be in judgment and condemnation. A very common division of sins into "serious" and "light" is very conditional. 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 is easier to give up a serious sin and sincerely repent of it than to realize the perniciousness of "petty" sins leading to the enslavement of a person. A well-known patristic parable testifies that it is much more difficult to remove a pile of small stones than to move a large stone equal in weight to them. When confessing, one should not wait for "leading" questions from the priest, one must remember that the initiative in confessions should belong to the penitent.

It is he who must make a spiritual effort on himself, freeing himself from all his iniquities in the Sacrament. Recommended in preparation for confessions, recall what other people, acquaintances and even strangers, usually accuse the confessor of, and especially those close and at home, since very often their claims are justified.

If it seems that this is not the case, then here it is simply necessary to accept their attacks without embitterment. confession.

That habit of the Sacrament, which arises as a result of repeated appeal to it, gives rise, for example, to the formalization confessions when they confess because "it is necessary". Dryly listing true and imaginary sins, such a confessor does not have the main thing - a repentant attitude.

Confession and communion rules

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”, “I haven’t confessed for a long time”, etc.). Such an attitude reveals a person's inattention to the inner life of the soul, a 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 "for judgment and condemnation."

A very common problem is to replace confessions their real, serious sins with imaginary or unimportant sins. A person often does not understand that the formal fulfillment by him of “the duties of a Christian (to subtract the rule, not to be offended on a fast day, to go to the temple) is not a goal, but a means to achieve what Christ himself defined by 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 to offend 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, because no one (not even the Lord) experiences joy from communicating with a two-hearted 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 with him all his life. Therefore, it is necessary with humility, turning for help to the One who can facilitate this struggle and make it a winner, and stubbornly continue this blessed path.

Conditions under which a confessor receives absolution Repentance- this is not just a verbal confession of sins before the priest. This is the spiritual work of the penitent, aimed at obtaining Divine forgiveness, which destroys sin and its consequences.

List of sins for confession for women and men

This is possible provided that the confessor
1) laments over his sins;
2) is determined to improve his life;
3) has an undoubted hope in the mercy of Christ. Contrition for sins.

At a certain point in his spiritual development, a person begins to feel the weight of sin, its unnaturalness and perniciousness for 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.

Intention to fix your life. A firm intention to improve your life is a necessary condition for receiving the remission of sins. Repentance only in words, without an inner desire to correct one's life, leads to even greater condemnation.

Saint Basil the Great talks about this as follows: “It is not he who confesses his sin who says: I have sinned, and then remains in sin; but he who, in the words of the psalm, "found his sin and hated it." Of what use is the care of the physician to the sick, when the sufferer clings fast to that which is life-destroying?

So there is no benefit in forgiveness of iniquity to the one who still does iniquity, and from an apology for debauchery - to the one who continues to live dissolutely ”.

Faith in Christ and Hope in His Mercy

An example of undoubted faith and hope for the infinite mercy of God is the forgiveness of Peter after his threefold denial of Christ. From the Holy 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).

What sins to speak in confession

The publican Zacchaeus was also pardoned, distributing half of his estate to the poor and returning to those whom he offended four times more than what was taken away (See: Lk. 19; 1-10). The greatest saint of the Orthodox Church, the Monk Mary of Egypt, having been a harlot for many years, by deep repentance changed her life so much that she could walk on water, saw the past and the future as the present, and was awarded fellowship with angels in the wilderness.

Sign of perfect repentance expressed in a feeling of lightness, purity and inexplicable joy, when the confessed sin seems simply impossible.

penance

Penance (Greek epitimion - punishment according to the law) - voluntary performance by the penitent - as a moral and corrective measure - of certain deeds of piety (long prayer, almsgiving, increased fasting, pilgrimage, etc.).

The penance is appointed by the confessor and does not mean punishment or punitive measure, without implying the deprivation of any rights of a member of the Church. Being only "spiritual medicine", it is appointed with the aim of eradicating the habits of sin. This is a lesson, an exercise that accustoms to spiritual achievement and gives rise to the desire for it.

The deeds of prayer and good deeds appointed as penance should be in essence directly opposite to the sin for which they are appointed: for example, works of mercy are assigned to those subject to the passion of the love of money; a person who is intemperate is assigned a post in excess of what is due for all; absent-minded and carried away by worldly pleasures - more frequent going to church, reading the Holy Scriptures, increased prayer at home, and the like.

Preparation for confession list of sins

Possible types of penance:
1) bows during worship or reading a home prayer rule;
2) the Jesus Prayer;
3) getting up for the midnight office;
4) spiritual reading (Akathists, Lives of Saints, etc.);
5) extreme fasting; 6) abstinence from marital intercourse;
7) alms, etc.

Penance must be treated as the will of God, expressed through the priest, accepting it for obligatory execution. The penance should be limited to precise time frames (usually 40 days) and performed, if possible, according to a fixed schedule.

If the penitent, for one reason or another, cannot fulfill the penance, then he must apply for a blessing, what to do in this case, to the priest who imposed it. If a sin was committed against a neighbor, then the necessary condition that must be met before performing penance is reconciliation with the one whom the penitent offended.

Over the person who performed the penance given to him, the priest who imposed it, a special permissive prayer must be read, called the prayer over what is permitted from the prohibition.

How to Prepare for Communion and Confession

Children's Confession

According to the rules of the Orthodox Church, children should begin confession from the age of seven, since by this time they are already becoming able to answer before God for their actions and fight their sins. Depending on the degree of development of the child, it can lead to confessions both a little earlier and a little later than the specified period, after consulting on this topic with the priest.

The service of Confession for children and adolescents is no different from the usual, but the priest, of course, takes into account the age of those who come to the Sacrament and makes certain adjustments when communicating with such confessors. Communion of children and adolescents, as well as adults, should be done on an empty stomach.

But if, for health reasons, the child needs to take food in the morning, Communion, with the blessing of the priest, can be given to him. Parents should just not consciously and unreasonably violate the rule of Communion on an empty stomach, since such actions can offend the sanctity of this great Sacrament and it will be “judgment and condemnation” (primarily to parents who condone lawlessness).

Teenagers are not allowed to visit confessions very late. Such a violation is unacceptable and may lead to a refusal to give communion to a latecomer in the event of repeated repetition of this sin.

Confession children and adolescents should bear the same fruit as with Repentance an adult: the penitent should 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.

Orthodoxy confession and communion

Parents should form a conscious attitude of the child to confessions, excluding, if possible, dogmatic, consumerist attitude towards her and towards his Heavenly Father. Categorically unacceptable for the relationship of a child with God is the principle expressed by a simple formula: "You - to me, I - to you." A child should not be called to "please" God in order to receive some benefits from Him.

It is necessary to awaken in the 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 have vicious tendencies that need to be eradicated.

These include such sins as mockery and ridicule (especially in the company of peers) over the weak and crippled; petty lies, into which an ingrained habit of empty fantasies can develop; cruelty towards 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 educating a little Christian.

Confessionand communion seriously ill at home

At a time when the life of an Orthodox Christian is approaching sunset and he is on his deathbed, it is very important that relatives, despite the difficult circumstances that often accompany this, could invite a priest to him to guide him to Eternal Life.

If the dying man can bring the last Repentance and the Lord will give him the opportunity to take communion, then this grace of God will greatly affect his posthumous fate. Relatives should keep this in mind not only when the sick person is a church person, but also if the dying person has been an unbeliever 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 detractors! Therefore, at the slightest opportunity for this, relatives need to help the sick person take this step towards the calling Christ and repent of their sins.

Usually, the priest is called to the house in advance, asking "for a candle box", where they should write down the patient's coordinates, appointing, if possible, immediately the time of the future visit. The patient must be psychologically prepared for the arrival of the priest, set up to prepare for confessions as far as his physical condition will allow.

Complete list of sins for confession

When the priest comes, the patient needs, if he has the strength to do so, to ask him for a blessing. Relatives of the patient can be at his bedside and take part in prayers until the beginning of confessions when, of course, they would have to leave.

But after reading the permissive prayer, they can re-enter and pray for the communicant. Chin confessions sick people at home differs from the usual one and is placed in the 14th chapter of the Treasury under the title "Chinese, when it happens soon to the sick man to give communion."

If the patient knows by heart the prayers for Communion and is able to repeat them, then let him do it after the priest, who reads them in separate phrases. To receive the Holy Mysteries, the patient must be arranged on the bed so that he does not choke, better reclining. After Communions the patient, if he can, reads thanksgiving prayers himself. Then the priest pronounces a dismissal and gives the Cross for kissing to the communicant and all those present.

If the relatives of the patient have a desire and if the state of the communicant allows it, then they can invite the priest to the table and once again understand in a conversation with him how to behave at the bedside of a seriously ill person, which 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 a focus on the object of passion. Thanks to its properties, passion becomes the source and cause of sin in the human soul.

Orthodox asceticism has accumulated centuries-old experience of observing and fighting passions, which has made it possible to reduce them into clear schemes. The primary source of these classifications is the scheme of St. John Cassian the Roman, followed by Evagrius, Nile of Sinai, Ephraim the Syrian, John of the Ladder, Maximus the Confessor and Gregory Palamas.

According to the above teachers of asceticism, 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. Despondency.

Stages of gradual formation of passion:

1. Appeal or attack (glory. to strike - to collide with something) - sinful impressions or ideas that arise in the mind against the will of a person. Attachments are not considered a sin and are not imputed to a person if the person does not respond to them with sympathy.

2. An adjective becomes a thought, having met in the soul of a person first interest, and then sympathy for oneself. This is the first stage in the development of passion. A thought is born in a person when his attention becomes favorable to the application. At this stage, the thought causes a feeling of anticipation of future pleasure. The holy fathers call this combination or conversation with thought.

what sins to list in confession

3. Inclination to a thought (intention) occurs when a thought completely takes possession of a person's consciousness and his attention is focused only on it. If a person cannot free himself from a sinful thought by an effort of will, replacing it with a good and charitable one, then the next stage sets in, 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 it remains only to practically satisfy the sinful desire.

4. The fourth stage in the development of passion is called captivity, when the passionate desire begins to dominate the will, constantly drawing the soul to the realization of sin. Ripe and rooted passion is an idol that 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 improve your life. A sign of the passions formed in the soul of a person 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 related to his passion, a process of imitation of the struggle with it takes place. Abba Dorotheos distinguishes three states in a person in relation to his struggle with passion:

1. When he acts out of passion (bringing it to fruition).
2. When a person resists it (not acting out of passion, but not cutting it off, having it in himself).
3. When he uproots it (by striving and doing the opposite of passion). Freeing himself from passions, a person must acquire virtues that are opposite to them, otherwise the passions that have left a 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 they are not repentant, 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. Despondency.

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 soul of a person. Everything said in the chapter on passions is directly related to human sins, as if revealing the fact of the presence of passion in the soul of a sinning person. Sins are divided into three categories, depending on who they are committed against.

How is the confession video

How is confession on video

1. Sins against God.
2. Sins against neighbor.
3. Sins against oneself.

Below is an approximate, far from complete list of these sins. It should be noted that the recent 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 dogmatism, which is expressed in the weekly “confession” of countless sins and transgressions. “Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a contrite and humble heart You will not despise, O God” (Ps. 50; 19), - says the inspired prophet David about the meaning of Repentance.

Being attentive to the movements of one’s soul and noting one’s wrongness before the Lord in the specific circumstances of life, one must always remember that in the Sacrament of Penance one needs to acquire a “contrite heart”, and not a “multi-verbal” language.

Sins against God

Pride: breaking the commandments of God; unbelief, lack of faith and superstition; lack of hope in God's mercy; excessive hope in the mercy of God; hypocritical veneration of God, formal worship to 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 grumbling against the Lord; failure to fulfill the vows given to Him; calling the Name of God in vain (unnecessarily); pronouncing oaths with the invocation of His name; falling into delusion.

Irreverence for icons, relics, saints, Holy Scripture and any other shrine; reading heretical books, keeping them in the house; irreverent attitude to the Cross, the sign of the cross, the pectoral cross; fear of confessing the Orthodox faith; non-fulfillment of the prayer rule: morning and evening prayers; omitting the reading of the Psalter, Holy Scripture, and other Divine books; omissions without a valid reason for Sunday and holiday services; neglect of church service; prayer without zeal and diligence, absent-minded and formal.

Conversations, laughter, walking around the temple during a church service; inattention to reading and singing; being late for the service and leaving the temple prematurely; going to the temple and touching its shrines in physical impurity.

What to say before confession video

Lack of diligence in repentance, rare Confession and conscious concealment of sins; Communion without contrition of heart and without proper preparation, not having reconciled with neighbors, being at enmity with them. Disobedience to one's spiritual father; condemnation of clergy and monastics; grumbling and resentment against them; disrespect for the feasts of God; vanity during the days of great church holidays; violation of fasts and permanent 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 beliefs; appeal to psychics, astrologers, fortune-tellers, soothsayers, "grandmothers", sorcerers; classes in "black and white" magic, witchcraft, divination, spiritualism; superstitions: belief in dreams and omens; wearing "amulets" and talismans. Thoughts of suicide and suicide attempts.

Sins against neighbor

Lack of love for neighbors and for one's enemies; unforgiveness of their sins; hatred and malice; the answer is evil for evil; disrespect to parents; disrespect for elders and superiors; killing babies in the womb (abortions), advice to have abortions to your friends; attempt on someone else's life and health; infliction of bodily harm; robbery; extortion; appropriation of someone else's property (including non-repayment of debts).

Refusal to help the weak, oppressed, in trouble; laziness to work and household duties; disrespect for the work of others; unmercifulness; avarice; inattention to the sick and to those in cramped life circumstances; lowering prayers for neighbors and enemies; cruelty to the animal and plant world, consumer attitude towards them; contradiction and intransigence of neighbors; disputes; a deliberate lie for the "red word"; condemnation; slander, gossip and gossip; disclosure of other people's sins; eavesdropping on other people's conversations.

What to Do Before Confession and Communion

Infliction of insults and insults; enmity with neighbors and scandals; the curse of others, including their own children; impudence and arrogance in relation to neighbors; bad upbringing of children, lack of effort to plant in their hearts the saving truths of the Christian faith; hypocrisy, the use of neighbors for personal selfish purposes; anger; suspicion of neighbors in unseemly deeds; deceit 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 anecdotes; intentional and unintentional (as an example to follow) the corruption of others by their actions; desire to extract self-interest from friendship or other close relationships; treason; magical actions with the aim of harming one's neighbor and his family.

Sins against oneself

Despondency and despair arising from the development of vanity and pride; arrogance, pride, arrogance, arrogance; doing good deeds for show; thoughts of suicide; carnal excesses: polyphagy, sweet eating, gluttony; abuse of bodily peace and comfort: sleeping a lot, laziness, lethargy, relaxation; addiction to a certain way of life, unwillingness to change it for the sake of helping others.

Drunkenness, drawing non-drinkers into this vicious passion, including minors and the sick; smoking, drug addiction, as a kind of suicide; playing cards and other games of chance; lie, envy; love for the earthly and material more than for the heavenly and spiritual.

Idleness, wastefulness, attachment to things; wasting your time; the use of God-given talents is not for good; predilection for comfort, acquisitiveness: collecting "for a rainy day" of food, clothes, shoes, furniture, jewelry, etc .; addiction to luxury; carelessness, vanity.

Striving for earthly honors and glory; "decoration" of oneself with cosmetics, tattoos, piercings, etc. with the intent to seduce. Sensual, lustful thoughts; commitment to seductive spectacles, conversations; intemperance of spiritual and bodily feelings, pleasure and slowness in impure thoughts.

Sacrament of confession and communion video

voluptuousness; immodest view of the opposite sex; remembrance with pleasure of their former carnal sins; addiction to prolonged viewing of television programs; watching pornographic films, reading pornographic books and magazines; pimping and prostitution; singing obscene songs.

Dirty dancing; desecration in a dream; fornication (out of wedlock) and adultery (adultery); free behavior with persons of the opposite sex; masturbation; an immodest view of wives and young men; intemperance in married life (during fasting, on Saturdays and Sundays, church holidays).

Confession

Coming to confessions, must know that the priest who receives it is not a mere interlocutor for the confessor, but is a witness to the penitent's mysterious conversation with God.
The Sacrament occurs as follows: the penitent, approaching the lectern, makes a prostration before the cross lying on the lectern and the Gospel. If there are many confessors, this bow is done in advance. During the interview, the priest and the confessor stand at the lectern; or the priest sits, and the penitent kneels.

Those awaiting their turn should not come close to the place where Confession is made, so that the confessed sins would not be heard by them, and the mystery would not be violated. For the same purpose, the interview should be conducted in an undertone.
If the confessor is a novice, then Confession can be built as it is reflected in the Ribbon: the confessor asks the penitent questions according to the list.

Confession with video explanations

In practice, however, the enumeration of sins is made in the first, general, part confessions. Then the priest pronounces the "Testament", in which he calls on the confessor not to repeat the sins he confessed. However, the text of the "Testament" in the form in which it is printed in the Ribbon 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 sacramental prayer Sacraments of Repentance.

After that, the confessor kneels, and the priest, covering his head with an epitrachelion, reads a permissive prayer containing a sacramental formula: “The Lord and our God Jesus Christ, by the grace and bounty of His philanthropy, may forgive you, child (name), all your sins, and I, unworthy priest, by His authority given to me, I forgive and forgive you from all your sins, in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen".

Then the priest overshadows the head of the confessor with the sign of the cross. After that, 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 gravity or other reasons, then the permissive prayer is not read and the confessor is not allowed to Communion. At the same time, penance can be appointed for a certain period. Then the final prayers are read “Worthy to eat…”, "Glory, and now ..." and the priest makes a dismissal.

Ends Confession the instructions of the confessor to the penitent and the appointment of him to read the canon against his sins, if the priest finds the need for this.

The material uses chapters from the book (abbreviated) “Handbook of an Orthodox person. Sacraments of the Orthodox Church” (Danilovsky Blagovestnik, Moscow, 2007

We hope you enjoyed the article about confession and communion: how to make a note with sins and what to say to the priest and a video on this topic. Stay with us on the portal of communication and self-improvement and read other useful and interesting materials on this topic!

The desire to confess appears not only in people who bow before the law of God. Even the sinner is not lost to the Lord.

He is given the opportunity to change through the revision of his own views and the recognition of the sins committed, the correct repentance of them. Having cleansed himself of sins and embarked on the path of correction, a person will not be able to fall again.

The need to confess arises in someone who:

committed the gravest sin;
terminally ill;
wants to change the sinful past;
decided to get married;
preparing for communion.

Babies up to the age of seven, and parishioners who were baptized that day, can receive Communion for the first time without confession.

Note! It is allowed to come to confession at the age of seven.

It often happens that a person of mature age needs to confess for the first time. In this case, you need to remember your sins committed from the age of seven.

No need to rush, remember everything, write down the list of sins on a piece of paper. The priest is a witness to the Sacrament, he should not be embarrassed and ashamed, as well as the all-forgiving God himself.

God, in the person of the holy fathers, forgives even grave sins. But in order to receive God's forgiveness, you need to seriously work on yourself.

To atone for sins, a penitent person performs the penance imposed on him by a priest. And only after its fulfillment, the repentant parishioner is forgiven with the help of the "permissive prayer" of the clergyman.

Important! When preparing yourself for confession, forgive those who offended you and ask for forgiveness from the one you offended.

You can go to confession, if only you are able to drive obscene thoughts away from yourself. No entertainment and frivolous literature, it is better to remember the Holy Scriptures.

Confession proceeds in the following order:

wait your turn for confession;
turn to those present with the words: “Forgive me, a sinner,” having heard in response that God will forgive, and we forgive, and only then approach the priest;
in front of a high setup - an lectern, bow your head, cross yourself and bow, begin to confess correctly;
after listing the sins, listen to the clergyman;
then, crossing ourselves and bowing twice, we kiss the Cross and the holy book of the Gospel.

Think in advance how to confess correctly, what to say to the priest. An example, the definition of sins, can be taken from the Biblical Commandments. We begin each phrase with the words that she sinned and in what exactly.

We speak without details, we formulate only the sin itself, unless the priest himself asks about the details. If you need God's forgiveness, you must sincerely repent of your actions.

It is foolish to hide anything from the priest, he is the helper of the all-seeing God.

The goal of a spiritual healer is to help you repent of your sins. And if you have tears, the priest has achieved his goal.

What is considered a sin?

The well-known biblical commandments will help you determine which sins to name the priest during confession:

Types of sins	Sinful actions	Essence of sin
Attitude towards God	Doesn't wear a cross. Confidence that God is in the soul and there is no need to go to the temple. Celebration of pagan traditions, including Halloween. Attending sectarian meetings, bowing to wrong spirituality. Appeal to psychics, fortune tellers, horoscopes and signs. Pays little attention to the reading of Holy Scripture, does not teach prayer, neglects the observance of the Fasts and attendance at church services.	Unbelief, apostasy. Feeling of pride. A mockery of the Orthodox faith. Disbelief in the unity of God. Communication with evil spirits. Violation of the commandment to spend a day off.
Relationship with loved ones	Parent disrespect. Arrogance and interference in the personal and intimate life of adult children. Deprivation of life of living beings and a person, mocking and violent actions. Extortion, illegal activities.	Violation of the commandment to honor parents. Violation of the commandment to respect loved ones. Violation of the commandment "Thou shalt not kill." The sin associated with the corruption of adolescents and children. Violation of the biblical commandments associated with theft, envy and lies.
Attitude towards yourself	Cohabitation without marriage, sexual perversions, interest in erotic films. The use of obscene words and vulgar anecdotes in speech. Abuse of smoking, alcohol, drugs. Passion for gluttony and gluttony. Desire to flatter, talk, brag about good deeds, admire oneself.	Carnal sin - adultery, fornication. The sin of foul language. Disregard for what the Lord has given - to health. The sin of arrogance.

Important! The primary sins, on the basis of which others appear, include arrogance, pride and arrogance in communication.

An example of confession in the church: what sins to say?

Consider how to confess correctly, what to say to the priest, an example of confession.

A confession written on paper can be used if the parishioner is very shy. Even the priests allow this, but you don’t need to give the sample to the priest, we list it in our own words.

In Orthodoxy, an example of confession is welcomed:

approaching the priest, do not think about earthly affairs, try to listen to your soul;
turning to the Lord, it must be said that I have sinned before You;
list the sins, saying: “I have sinned ... (by adultery or lying or something else)”;
sins are told without details, but not very briefly;
having finished the enumeration of sins, we repent and ask for salvation and alms from the Lord.

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Discussion: 3 comments

And if there are still few sins, but it’s not very clean on my conscience, and I promised my MCH that I would definitely go to church. His first requirement is to go to confession and repent of all grave things. Luckily, I don't have many. And now I have a real problem. What if you confess online? Who thinks about this topic? Well, as I understand it, you post your site and there the priest prays for you and forgives sin. Not?

Answer

Excuse me, in my opinion it is not necessary to go to the temple at the request of the MCH. What is it for? This is done for GOD, for the purification of the soul, and not because someone "demands". As far as I understand, you do not have this need. God cannot be deceived - neither through the Internet, nor in the temple.

Answer

Reply to Christina. Christina, no, you can't confess over the Internet. I understand you are afraid of the priest, but think about it, the priest is only a witness to your repentance (after your death he will intercede for you before God and say that you repented if it was, in turn, the demons will talk about what you did not repent of ) do not complicate the future either for the father or for yourself. You don't need to hide sins, you don't need to hide them otherwise in this way you will increase them in number for yourself. We must honestly tell the whole truth about our evil deeds, not justifying ourselves, but condemning ourselves for them. Repentance is the correction of thoughts and life. After confession, you kiss the cross and the Gospel as a promise to God to fight the sins that you have confessed. Look for God! Guardian Angel!

Answer

About the Sacrament of REPENTANCE (CONFESSION)

14.1. What is Confession?

– Confession is a Sacrament in which the believer confesses sins to God in the presence of a priest and through him receives forgiveness of sins from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Confession is not a forcible “picking out” of sins from conscience, not an interrogation, and even more so, not a “guilty” verdict on the sinner. Confession is not a conversation about one's shortcomings, doubts, not informing the confessor about oneself, and least of all a "pious custom."

Confession is an ardent repentance of the heart, a thirst for purification, dying for sin and revival for holiness. Confession is the great sacrament of reconciliation between God and man, the manifestation of God's love for man.

14.2. Why do you need to confess?

“Why do you need to wash off the body dirt?” However, a person takes care of the body, which lives temporarily, but even more, he should take care of the soul, which will live forever. The dirt of the soul is the sins that can be cleansed only at Confession.

The accumulated sins and transgressions that have not been removed from the conscience (not only major ones, but many minor ones as well) burden it so that a person begins to feel inner unrest or emptiness. He can suddenly fall into irritation, into some kind of nervous breakdown, and not have internal hardness. A person often does not understand the reason for everything that happens, but it lies in the fact that unconfessed sins lie on his conscience.

Through Confession, the purity that was lost due to sins returns. Confession is God's great mercy to the weak and fall-prone humanity. This is a means available to all, which leads to the salvation of the soul, constantly falling into transgressions. Sincere confession brings a Christian not only the forgiveness of sins, but also the fullness of spiritual health: it restores peace of conscience and peace of the soul, weakens vicious inclinations and passions, and keeps from new sins.

This Sacrament restores the state received in Baptism.

14.3. Are Repentance and Confession the Same?

- Repentance is a sincere desire to change life according to the commandments of God, it is the most strict and captious self-criticism and self-assessment of all one's errors, vices, passions - not only obvious, but also secret. Repentance is a deep contrition of the heart about one's sinfulness and turning to God in search of purity.

Saint Theophan the Recluse defines repentance in four ways: 1) awareness of one's sin before God; 2) reproaching oneself for this sin with a full confession of one's guilt, without shifting responsibility to demons, other people, or circumstances; 3) determination to leave sin, to hate it, not to return to it, not to give it a place in oneself; 4) a prayer to God for the forgiveness of sin, until the peace of the spirit.

Confession is the confession of one's sins (orally or sometimes in writing) in front of a witness priest at a special Church Sacrament, during which God Himself forgives sins to a penitent person through a priest.

14.4. Is it necessary to repent before a priest? Does it matter which one?

– Coming to Confession, they do not repent before a priest. Being himself a sinful man, the priest is only a witness, an intermediary in the Sacrament, and the Lord God is the true occult performer. A priest is a prayer book, an intercessor before the Lord and a witness that the God-established Sacrament of Confession takes place in a lawful manner.

This is the moral aspect of Confession. It is easy to list your sins alone with yourself before the All-Knowing and Invisible God. But opening them in the presence of an outsider - a priest - requires considerable effort to overcome shame, pride, the recognition of one's sinfulness, and this leads to an incomparably deeper and more serious result.

For a person who is really suffering from the ulcer of sin, it does not matter through whom he confesses this sin that torments him - if only to confess it as soon as possible and get relief. And unworthy priests do not interfere with receiving the grace of God in the Sacraments. Therefore, the most important thing in Confession is not the priest who accepts it, but the state of the soul of the penitent, his sincere repentance, leading to the realization of sin, to heartfelt contrition and rejection of the offense committed.

14.5. Are all people sinners?

– "There is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin"(Eccl. 7:20). Everyone sins a lot before God. Are not condemnation, vanity, idle talk, hostility, ridicule, obstinacy, laziness, irritability, anger, constant companions of human life? More serious crimes are also on the conscience of many: infanticide (abortion), adultery, turning to sorcerers and psychics, envy, theft, enmity, revenge and much more, making people sinners who are obliged to atone for their sins by repentance and good deeds.

The Apostle John the Evangelist writes: “If we say that we have no sin,– we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He, being faithful and just, will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1 John 1:8, 9).

14.6. What is sin, how to destroy it?

Sin is the conscious and voluntary violation of the commandments of God. It has the ability to grow from small to great. Sin leads to degeneration, shortening of earthly life, and can deprive one of eternal life. The primary source of sin is the fallen world, man is the conductor of sin. The phases of involvement in sin are as follows: attachment (sinful thought, desire); combination (acceptance of this sinful thought, attention delay on it); captivity (enslavement to this sinful thought, agreement with it); falling into sin (doing in deed what was suggested by sinful thought).

The struggle with sin begins with the awareness of oneself as a sinner and the desire for correction. It is necessary to sincerely confess in everything that is recognized as sinful, in which the conscience convicts and begin to atone for sins with good deeds, build your life according to God's commandments, in obedience to God, the Church, and spiritual mentor.

14.7. What happens if you don't confess all your life?

– It is impossible to put off repentance and wait until there is no bright spot left on spiritual clothes: this leads to dullness of conscience and spiritual death.

If Confession is neglected, sin will oppress the soul and at the same time (after leaving it by the Holy Spirit) the doors can open in it for the penetration of dark power and the development of all kinds of passions and passions. A period of enmity, quarrels and even hatred towards others may come, which will poison the life of both the sinner and his loved ones. Bad obsessive thoughts and feelings may appear: some have an overwhelming fear of death, others have a desire for suicide. Various unhealthy physical and mental manifestations may arise - for example, seizures of an epileptic nature or ugly mental manifestations, which are characterized as obsession and possession.

14.8. What is the worst sin?

The most pernicious and grave sin is unbelief. If a person sins because of his imperfection and repents, then the Lord will forgive him sooner than when he sins with unbelief, for in this case the person rebels against God Himself.

14.9. Why is there insensibility at Confession?

– Insensibility in confession is mostly rooted in the absence of the fear of God and hidden lack of faith.

14.10. Can a confession be invalid?

- Confession is invalid and even offensive to the Lord if they go to this Sacrament without any preparation, without testing their conscience, hide their sins for shame or other reasons, confess without contrition, formally, coldly, mechanically, without having a firm intention to correct themselves in the future. Some manage to have several confessors - in such a way that one says some sins, and the other - others. In this case, of course, all such Confessions are not accepted by the Lord.

14.11. How to prepare for the first Confession?

– To prepare for Confession means to look at your life and your soul with a repentant look, analyze your deeds and thoughts from the point of view of the commandments of God, pray to the Lord for the forgiveness of sins and the granting of true repentance.

Self-condemnation is the first and most important thing with which one should come to Confession. If necessary, you should write down sins (all your bad thoughts, feelings and deeds) for memory so as not to miss anything during the performance of the Sacrament. Confession must be one's own, and not "suitable" sins copied from the book and read to the priest.

Whoever wants to clear his conscience at Confession should:

- have firm faith and hope in God;

- to have contrition that they have angered God;

- forgive all your enemies and offenders all insults;

- without any concealment, declare all sins before the priest;

- to set a firm intention to continue to live according to the commandments of God.

14.12. What should a person wishing to start Confession know?

– If you have a legitimate sacramental performer – an Orthodox priest – you can start Confession at any time and as often as possible. Confession before Communion is generally accepted (in our time, believers, as a rule, take communion 1-2 times a month, it is advisable for beginners to take communion at least 4-5 times a year).

Confession is not a conversation. If you need to consult with the priest, then you should ask him to devote another time for this.

At Confession, one should speak only about one's sins (in no case trying to whitewash oneself and judge others) and ask the Lord for forgiveness for one's sins. One can proceed to Confession only after having previously reconciled with everyone. It is useless to confess without reconciliation, and to receive communion in this way is a mortal sin.

If for some reason the priest does not have the opportunity to listen in detail, then do not be embarrassed by the brevity of the Confession - the Sacrament was performed in its entirety. But if some sin lies on the conscience with a stone, then you need to ask the priest to listen in detail. You should never be embarrassed by the severity of your sins, for there are no unforgivable sins, except those not confessed, unrepentant.

14.13. What is penance?

– Penance is a kind of spiritual medicine aimed at eradicating vice. These can be bows, reading canons or akathists, increased fasting, pilgrimage to a holy place - depending on the strength and capabilities of the penitent. The penance must be carried out strictly, and only the priest who imposed it can cancel it.

14.14. Is it necessary to confess in the morning before Communion, if you confessed the day before?

– If you have sinned again or remembered a forgotten sin, then you need to confess again before proceeding to Communion.

14.15. Is it necessary to take Communion after Confession? Is it possible to confess and leave?

- Communion after Confession is optional. You can sometimes come to the temple only for Confession. For those who want to take communion, confession is mandatory.

14.16. Is it possible to confess not all sins?

- He who hides his sins does not want to part with them. Confessed sin, as it were, becomes outside the soul, leaves it - just as a splinter taken out of the body becomes outside the body and ceases to harm it.

If someone hides his sins at Confession because of false shame, or because of pride, or because of lack of faith, or simply because of a lack of understanding of the full importance of repentance, then he leaves Confession not only not cleansed of sins, but even more burdened by them, and is condemned .

Sin not confessed to a priest is not forgiven. If at least one sin is deliberately concealed, deliberately not expressed, then its severity will increase, and the entire Confession will be invalid. But earthly life is short-lived: today a person is alive, but tomorrow he can pass into eternity and there will be no possibility to repent.

If a person’s conscience is not lost, then it will not give him rest until the Confession tells about all sins. One should not just talk unnecessary details about sins that do not explain the essence of the matter, but only paint them picturesquely.

14.17. Is it necessary to confess the same sin several times?

- If it is committed again or after its confession continues to burden the conscience, then it is necessary to confess it again. If this sin is no longer repeated, then it is no longer necessary to talk about it.

14.18. When does Confession take place - before or after the service?

– The usual time for Confession is before the Liturgy or during it, before Communion. Sometimes they confess at the evening service, sometimes (with a large number of people) they appoint a special time. It is advisable to find out about the time of Confession in advance.

14.19. And what about sick people who cannot come to church for Confession and Communion?

– Their relatives can come to the church and arrange with the priest about Confession and Communion of the sick person at home.

14.20. Should there be fasting before Confession?

– When preparing for Confession, the Church Charter does not require either a special fast or a special prayer rule - only faith and repentance are necessary. A confessing person must be a baptized member of the Orthodox Church, a conscious believer (that is, he considers himself a child of the Orthodox Church, recognizing all the foundations of the Orthodox dogma) and repents of his sins.

Fasting is necessary if after Confession there is an intention to take communion. The measure of fasting must be consulted in advance with the priest.

14.21. CAt what age should a child confess?

- Usually children go to confession from the age of 7. But there are exceptions: depending on the development of the child, the priest has the right to slightly change the age in one direction or another.

14.22. What to do if you do not know how to confess, what to say to the priest?

– A necessary condition for Confession is contrition. Confession must be humble and reverent. We must blame only ourselves and not condemn others, have a firm intention to correct our lives and not return to our former sins.

But one must speak not only of one's own sins, but also of those sins to which one has tempted one's neighbors with one's advice, persuasion, or bad example; about those good deeds that they could have done, but did not; about those good deeds from which they took their neighbors away; about those good deeds that they did "with sin in half."

14.23. Is it good to go to confession often?

Through frequent confession, sin loses its power. Frequent confession turns away from sin, protects from evil, affirms in goodness, maintains vigilance, keeps the commandments of God on the path, while unconfessed sins are easily repeated, become habitual and cease to weigh on the conscience.

Whoever confesses sins often and immediately receives from the Lord not only forgiveness, but also the strength to fight against sins, and in the future, victory over them.

14.24. How to overcome shame in Confession?

– The feeling of shame at Confession is natural, the very feeling of shame is given by God to keep a person from repeating sin. This shame must be overcome, as it comes from pride. People are not embarrassed when they sin, but they are embarrassed when they repent. This happens when they are worried and ashamed to tell the priest weaknesses that are incompatible with their own dignity, position, etc.

The priest knows all the sins, since he has not one soul confessed, but hundreds, and you will not surprise him with any sin, no matter how great and heavy it is. On the contrary, any grave confessed sin arouses in the priest a special concern for this person. A priest always rejoices with Christ when a person repents of his sins, and feels love, affection and great respect for a sincerely repentant Christian, because courage and will are always needed to repent of his sins.

But if it is still very difficult to say in Confession about your sins, then it is better to write them down and give them to the priest than to hide them. The Church is a doctor's clinic, not a judgment seat: here they are not doomed to torment for sins, but are freed from sins. The Lord forgives sincerely confessed sins, He “does not want the death of the sinner, but that the sinner turn from his way and live”(Ezek. 33:11).

14.25. What to do if the priest refused to listen to the Confession?

- You can turn to another priest.

14.26. Can a priest tell someone the contents of a Confession?

– The Church forbids priests to reveal what they were told in Confession condescending to the weak conscience of penitent sinners. There are people who are ashamed to reveal the wounds of their souls to strangers. And there are people who are able to laugh at other people's falls. In view of this, sparing her weak children, the Church obliges priests to keep the secret of Confession. For violation of this rule, the clergyman may be defrocked.

14.27. Does God forgive all sins?

– To prove that no sin can prevent a person from entering the Kingdom of God, the Lord was the first to bring in a repentant thief.

God does not look at the multitude and severity of sins, but at the diligence of the penitent. No matter how many sins there are and no matter how great they are, God has more mercy, because as He Himself is infinite, so His mercy is infinite. There is no unforgivable sin, except that which is not repented of.

14.28. How do you know if a sin is forgiven?

– The sign of permission from sins is that a person has hated sin and always considers himself a debtor to God.

14.29. What is required for the forgiveness of sins?

– To receive the forgiveness of sins, the confessor requires reconciliation with all his neighbors, sincere contrition for sins and their true confession, a firm intention to improve his life, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and hope in His mercy.

14.30. What if, after Confession, right before Communion, a sin is remembered, and there is no longer an opportunity to confess? Should I postpone Communion?

—There is no need to postpone Communion, but this sin must be spoken about at Confession in the near future.

In which he who sincerely confesses his sins, with a visible expression of forgiveness from the priest, is invisibly resolved from sins by God Himself. The priest accepts confession or.

Why is it necessary to confess in the presence of a priest, and not just ask for forgiveness from God?

Sin is filth, and so, confession is a bath that cleanses the soul from this spiritual filth. Sin is a poison for the soul - and so, confession is the treatment of a poisoned soul, its cleansing from the poison of sin. A person will not take a bath in the middle of the street, he will not be cured of poisoning on the go: for this, appropriate institutions are needed. In this case, such a God-established institution is the Holy Church. They will ask: “But why is it necessary to confess precisely in the presence of a priest, in the atmosphere of precisely the church sacrament? Doesn't God see my heart? If I did badly, I sinned, but I see it, I am ashamed of it, I ask God for forgiveness - is this not enough? But, my friend, if, for example, a person fell into a swamp and, having got out on the shore, is ashamed of being covered in mud, is that enough to become clean? Has he already washed himself with a feeling of disgust? To wash away the dirt, you need an external source of clean water, and clean washing water for the soul is the grace of God, the source from which water pours out is the Church of Christ, the process of washing is the Sacrament of Confession.

A similar analogy can be drawn if we look at sin as a disease. Then the Church is a hospital, and confession is a cure for a disease. Moreover, confession itself in this example can be considered as an operation to remove a tumor (sin), and the subsequent communion of the Holy Gifts - the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist - as postoperative therapy for healing and restoration of the body (soul).

How easy it is for us to forgive a penitent, how necessary it is for us ourselves to repent before those whom we have offended!.. But isn’t our repentance before God, the Heavenly Father, all the more necessary? Such a sea of sins, as before Him, we do not have before a single person.

How does the Sacrament of Penance take place, how to prepare for it and how to proceed?

The rite of confession : the beginning is usual, priestly prayers and an appeal to the penitents " Behold, child, Christ stands invisibly, accepting your confession...”, actually a confession. At the end of confession, the priest lays the edge on the head of the penitent and reads a permissive prayer. The penitent kisses the Gospel and the cross lying on the lectern.

It is customary to make confession after the evening or in the morning, immediately before, since the laity are traditionally allowed to receive communion after confession.

Preparation for confession is not outwardly formal. Unlike the other great Sacrament of the Church, confession can be performed always and everywhere (if there is a legitimate sacramental performer - an Orthodox priest). In preparing for confession, the church charter does not require either a special fast or a special prayer rule, but only faith and repentance are needed. That is, a confessing person must be a baptized member of the Orthodox Church, a conscious believer (recognizing all the foundations of the Orthodox dogma and recognizing himself as a child of the Orthodox Church) and repenting of his sins.

Sins must be understood both in a broad sense - as passions inherent in fallen human nature, and in a more specific sense - as actual cases of transgression of God's commandments. The Slavic word “repentance” means not so much “apology” as “change” – the determination not to allow the same sins to be committed in the future. Thus, repentance is a state of uncompromising self-condemnation for one's past sins and the desire to continue to fight stubbornly with passions.

So, to prepare for confession means to take a look at your life with a repentant look, analyze your deeds and thoughts from the point of view of the commandments of God (if necessary, write it down for memory), pray to the Lord for the forgiveness of sins and the granting of true repentance. As a rule, for the period after the last confession. But you can also confess past sins - either previously, due to forgetfulness or false shame, not confessed, or confessed without due repentance, mechanically. At the same time, you need to know that sincerely confessed sins are always and irreversibly forgiven by the Lord (dirt is washed away, the disease is healed, the curse is removed), this immutability is the meaning of the Sacrament. However, this does not mean that sin should be forgotten - no, it remains in memory for humility and protection from future falls; it can disturb the soul for a long time, just as a healed wound can disturb a person - no longer fatal, but still palpable. In this case, it is possible to confess the sin again (for the pacification of the soul), but not necessarily, since it has already been forgiven.

And - go to the temple of God to confess.

Although, as already mentioned, confession can be made in any setting, confession in a church is generally accepted - before or at a time specially appointed by the priest (in special cases, for example, for the confession of a sick person at home, you need to individually agree with the priest).

The usual time for confession is before. They usually confess at the evening service, sometimes they set a special time. It is advisable to find out about the time of confession in advance.

As a rule, the priest confesses in front of the lectern (Analoe is a table for church books or icons with an inclined upper surface). Those who come to confession stand one after another in front of the lectern, where the priest confesses, but at some distance from the lectern, so as not to interfere with someone else's confession; stand quietly, listening to church prayers, lamenting in their hearts about their sins. When their turn comes, they come to confession.

Approaching the lectern, bow your head; at the same time, you can kneel (optional; but on Sundays and great holidays, as well as from Easter to the day of the Holy Trinity, kneeling is canceled). Sometimes the priest covers the head of the penitent with an epitrachelion (Epitrachelion is a detail of the priest's vestments - a vertical strip of fabric on the chest), prays, asks the name of the confessor and what he wants to confess before God. Here the penitent must confess, on the one hand, the general awareness of his sinfulness, specifically naming the passions and weaknesses most characteristic of him (for example: lack of faith, avarice, anger, etc.), and on the other hand, name those specific sins that he is for he sees himself, and especially those that lie like a stone on his conscience, for example: abortion, insulting parents or loved ones, theft, fornication, the habit of cursing and blasphemy, non-observance of the commandments of God and church institutions, etc., etc. n. The “General Confession” section will help you sort out your sins.

The priest, having listened to the confession, as a witness and intercessor before God, asks (if he considers it necessary) questions and says instructions, prays for the forgiveness of the sins of the penitent sinner, and when he sees sincere repentance and the desire for correction, he reads a “permissive” prayer.

The Sacrament of the forgiveness of sins itself is performed not at the moment of reading the “permissive” prayer, but by the entirety of the rites of confession, however, the “permissive” prayer is, as it were, a seal certifying the performance of the Sacrament.

So - confession is made, with sincere repentance, sin is forgiven by God.

The forgiven sinner, crossing himself, kisses the cross, the Gospel and takes the blessing from the priest.

To take a blessing is to ask the priest by his priestly authority to send down the strengthening and sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit on himself and on his deeds. To do this, you need to fold your hands with your palms up (right to left), bow your head and say: “Bless, father.” The priest baptizes a person with the sign of a priestly blessing and places his hand on the folded palms of the one being blessed. One should kiss the priest's hand with one's mouth - not as a human hand, but as an image of the blessing right hand of the Giver of all the blessings of the Lord.

If he was preparing for communion, he asks: “Bless me to take communion?” - and with a positive answer, he goes to prepare for the reception of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

Are all sins forgiven in the Sacrament of Repentance, or only those that have been named?

How often should you go to confession?

Minimum - before each Communion (according to church canons, the faithful receive communion no more than once a day and at least once every 3 weeks), the maximum number of confessions is not established and is left to the discretion of the Christian himself.

At the same time, it should be remembered that repentance is a desire to be reborn, it does not begin with confession and does not end with it, it is the work of a lifetime. Therefore, the Sacrament is called the Sacrament of Repentance, and not the "Sacrament of enumeration of sins." Repentance for sin consists of three stages: Repent of sin as soon as it is committed; remember him at the end of the day and again ask God for forgiveness for him (see the last prayer in Vespers); confess it and receive permission from sins in the Sacrament of Confession.

How to see your sins?

At first, this is not difficult, but with regular Communion, and, accordingly, confession, this becomes more and more difficult. You need to ask God for this, because the vision of your sins is a gift from God. But we must be ready for temptations if the Lord fulfills our prayer. At the same time, it is useful to read the lives of the saints and study.

Can a priest refuse confession?

Apostolic Canons (52nd Canon)" If anyone, a bishop or a presbyter, does not accept the one who turns from sin, let him be deposed from the holy order. For [he] grieves Christ, who said: There is joy in heaven over one repentant sinner ()».

You can refuse confession if, in fact, there is none. If a person does not repent, does not consider himself guilty of his sins, does not want to be reconciled with his neighbors. Also, those who are not baptized and excommunicated from church fellowship cannot receive permission from sins.

Can I confess by phone or in writing?

In Orthodoxy, there is no tradition of confessing sins by phone or via the Internet, especially since this violates the secrecy of confession.
It should also be borne in mind that the sick may invite a priest to their home or hospital.
Those who have left for distant lands cannot justify themselves by this, because falling away from the Holy Sacraments of the Church is their choice, and it is inappropriate to profane the Sacrament for this.

What rights does a priest have in imposing penance on a penitent?