How to confess correctly, what to say to the priest is an example. How to correctly name sins in confession. The meaning of confession for an Orthodox person and how to properly name your sins

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. Is key point the spiritual life of the 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. AT modern church it, as a rule, precedes the Sacrament of the 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 frees 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 excommunicated from church communion for long years, and sometimes for life, and only near death could cause the penance to be removed and the Communion to be given to the sinner.

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, made possible by the lack of temples and by other, less significant reasons, - unlawful 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.

Before 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 render the remission of the remaining 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 an equal weight. big Stone. 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 destructive to life?

So there is no use 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 Orthodox Church, Reverend Mary The Egyptian, 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 (prolonged 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 the temple, 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. 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 necessary condition which must be observed before performing penance is reconciliation with those whom the penitent has 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 already become 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 rite 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 just should 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, consumer 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

The moment when life Orthodox Christian approaching sunset and he lies on his deathbed, it is very important that relatives, despite the difficult circumstances that often accompany this, could invite a priest to him to admonish 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, the time of the future visit right away. 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 sick, if he can, he reads thanksgiving prayers. 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 condition 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 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 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 widespread recent times tendency to see the target 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 one needs to acquire in the Sacrament of Penance 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, 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 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 in big days 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; enthusiasm Eastern religions and creeds; 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 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 prescribed for 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!

1. What experience of confession have you had?

Andrey Desnitsky, biblical scholar, translator, Doctor of Philology:

– I had experiences of various confessions, from a purely formal one, which just made me feel bad afterwards, and I thought why it all happened: they covered me, let me through, and that’s it. And what was there - was not ... I'm not at all sure that something was forgiven me, because I did not name anything.

But there were experiences of confession extremely deep and strong. I remember very well when I confessed in Russian to a priest who knew practically no Russian. I could confess to him in English, but I realized that I did not want to speak English with God, it is not my native language, although I speak English fluently. But this is not the language of my conversation with God. Thought that better to God I will say this, I last word was honest and did not look for the correct verb form. It went very well, despite the fact that the priest did not understand much of it, but he was there, he was present in this conversation. This is one experience.

Another experience, with a very good priest, whom I love and am grateful for many things. At first, he always told me some things in confession, sometimes he scolded me, sometimes he advised, and then he stopped. All that's left is to pray. At first, I missed it terribly, let him scold or say something sharp, but I really behaved badly.

Then I realized that he probably thought I was an adult. Not according to the passport, of course. What I don’t need is: “Oh, father, swear, I’m so bad, but you still love me.” At that moment, I no longer needed it, and then I agreed with this, I don’t expect it anymore.

Andrey Desnitsky

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov), resuscitator:

I have had different experiences in my life. In particular, there was the experience of a very rare confession, two periods of life, in my youth. I came to faith in such a rational way, once in my childhood, being unbaptized, I came to churches and looked. And being a well-read child and, I hope, not stupid, I came to the conclusion that there is a God. And I realized that Orthodox Christianity is right, I came to faith without meeting at that stage any special confessor, without being in any circles of secret Christians.

I became church very gradually, and at one time confession was quite a rare occurrence for me. I knew that I needed to confess, I realized my sins, I went, confessed, took communion. Later, I realized that sin is not only that you robbed and killed someone, but much simpler things, ordinary.

And then I became a monk, a monk, became a clergyman and served in a small village in the Luhansk region. There the deacon could not support the parish, I continued to work in Moscow and every week went to serve there. And then I began to get sick often and missed some weeks. And also, when my confessor, then, when he tonsured me, he said: now you confess only to me.

And so I remained without confession, not only a week, but 2-3, more. And I began to understand that it was very hard for me, that I was beginning to choke on these sins. Moreover, I begin to forget them, but I didn’t kill anyone, really, I didn’t kill, didn’t steal, nothing, I didn’t commit any such great sins.

But with this little thing you start to choke, it starts to crush you, crush, crush. I just realized that I can't live without confession.

Then life changed, now, thank God, in the monastery, I have the opportunity to confess as much as I want. This frequency was established - about once a week. I try not to commit any serious sins, but everyday sins accumulate in a week just so much that they are no longer worth enduring.

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov)

2. In what cases does confession not become repentance?

Andrey Desnitsky: What does this practice of mass confession lead to? And something that I myself have gone through many times. 50 communicants, there is a liturgy, the epitrachelion clap-clap, it’s good if the priest said a good prayer of repentance before that. And people at least 90 percent of what is in their hearts heard in this prayer, and something moved inside them. Very often, after all, this is not something that is formal, but habitual.

I remember very well the words of the late father Georgy Chistyakov, he was an absolutely fiery person, without the slightest shadow of guile he said what he thought, and maybe that's why, unfortunately, he did not live very long. He suddenly came out during a penitential sermon and said: here we are coming to Christ, here the invisible Cherubim are coming, and we go in a crowd and say - I am irritable, I am touchy, I am lazy, I am not obligatory, boo-boo-boo. And now we are moving away, we are still the same: in this I am irritable, in this I am lazy, I am not obligatory - we live in this.

At some point, he said that after “the door, the door, let us pay attention to wisdom” there will be no confession at all. If you want, take communion without confession, if you want, wait for the next liturgy, but let's you participate.

I understand that all this is technically solvable, that confession can be held on the eve or before the service, or, for example, in a separate aisle, as is often the case. True, then it turns out that a person stands in line for confession during the liturgy, thinks about his sins, then went, took communion, then left.

But I'm even talking about something else. A thought struck me some time ago. At first I drove her away from me, as a temptation, then I agreed with her.

if I have business relationship with a person and I know that he is Orthodox, then I expect that he will be much less obliging, diligent and honest in business than a non-Orthodox. I was very surprised at first - how, he believes in God. Then I understood. He comes once a week or a month and mutters: "I'm optional, I'm non-executive, I'm lazy", they tell him: "God forgives, go."

I know that only from the Orthodox one can hear such a phrase: “I repented at confession that I hate you, you bastard.” And received an indulgence to hate further.

What do I care whether you repented in confession or not, if you think that you offended me, then apologize to me. If you have something wrong in your relationship with God, then why should I know about it, it's none of my business.

Indeed, I very often saw in myself and those around me, when I tried to take communion with confession the day before, that this confession is very rarely repentant. It is always a sacrament, I don’t deny it, always a certain meeting of a person with God, but repentance is like a change ... Probably, many people have had an experience of confession in their lives, which can be called repentance, which changes life, after which you really look with hatred at that the sin you brought. I have had this experience 2-3 times in my life.

Probably, as in family relationships, it's not always a honeymoon, not always crazy passionate love, sometimes just a smooth, benevolent life. But when it's just a habit, when it's just a ritual that needs to be skipped in order to live on, I think it would be better if it didn't exist.

Because a person deceives himself, and maybe he tries to deceive God when he calls it repentance. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm saying it again, I don't know how to.

I just want to respond here.

If a person says: I repented at confession, but I hate you, then this is not repentance, this is a report on the sins committed, it has nothing to do with repentance.

The man simply reported: I have sinned. Repentance implies, at a minimum, an attempt to correct what has been done. Not just to say: God, I have sinned, but also an attempt to correct.

It’s not even that “I won’t do it again”, this is one side of the coin, but the second - if you offended and offended someone, then go and reconcile with your brother, as it is said, if you stole - return it. If you can't return specific person, then do something different, do some good for others. Then it will be repentance, and not just a report.

It is important when a person has a sincere desire to come to God, when he sincerely wants to conquer sin in himself, let him mumble that he is irritable or that he is a glutton, he has fornication thoughts. Yes, it will most likely break. Here I am a fat man, prone, probably, to gluttony. And every time I repent of gluttony, and I will probably break loose at some point and eat something extra. But this means that I am trying to somehow get rid of it in myself. Maybe next time I will be more careful, realizing that I am sinning. I am trying to get rid of sin, I ask for help in this sacrament, God's help.

I'm talking about gluttony, which, in general, is a sin, but is connected with physiology, and there are sins that are not directly related to physiology. And if a person says: “I am irritable, I swear at my neighbors” and tries to get rid of it in himself, asks God to forgive him this sin, then step by step he will get rid of this sin.

As it is said, the Kingdom of Heaven is taken with labor. You see, maybe for someone that he switched from swearing at his child to just mumbling is already a plus. Because he is holding himself back, trying to somehow fix it.

You see, it's not about going to confession right before the service. Of course, it's crazy when a person stands at the Liturgy and, instead of praying, confesses. Of course, you need to confess the day before. Moreover, it would be great if confession were not directly related to this particular communion at all, but this does not mean that one rarely needs to confess. It is necessary to confess, again, my opinion - as often as possible.

It is very rare for a lay person to have such a relationship with a spiritual father that he can confess his thoughts to him every day. With all this, for a week you definitely accumulated sins not only in your thoughts, as if you offended someone, offended, offended yourself, looked at the woman with lust, it doesn’t matter, overeat, drank, laughed crazy. You still have it - at least you scored in a week.

3. Do I need to go to confession as often as possible?

Andrey Desnitsky: Russians come to a Serbian church, an ordinary church of the canonical Serbian Patriarchate, and want to take communion. They approach the priest, introduce themselves, ask if it is possible to take communion? Answer: Yes, you can. The next question is: “Do you need to confess?” He says, “How do I know if you need to confess. If you need, then come on Friday. Or, if you really need it, you can delay the service now. That is, it does not involve confession before communion.

This is usually very scary for Russians, it scares them, then they get used to it. When this summer I ran into a priest who sees me for the first time, okay, before that I did introduce myself somehow, he already knew me. And then I just came to the temple, someone replaced. I went up to the Cup - no questions, no questions at all. It turns out that this is also possible, and for me it was not that much of a discovery. I know very well that there are churches in Russia, although there are not many of them, where a person confesses as needed.

When he has an idea that he has committed some serious sin, not a glass of kefir in fasting, not a fight with a neighbor, not stepped on his foot in the subway, but really a person has committed something not everyday or he has accumulated, he really comes to the priest. With what regularity? It's pointless to discuss. How often do you go to the doctor? Some once or twice a week, some once a year.

I am far from thinking that I know how to. And in general, the older I get, and I'm 49, the less I understand how to do it. When I was 18, I was baptized, that was 31 years ago, I was almost sure that I knew how to do it.

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): You are absolutely right, no one knows how to. There is a certain custom of this or that church, and there is what is called the practice of necessity, if I may say so. Clumsy phrase, but it's true. Of course, nowhere does any church canon provide for the frequency of confession. There is a typikon of Joachim, which speaks of the need for a seven-day fast, of obligatory confession.

But we must remember that the Joachim Typicon is a rather late edition of the Typikon. In the typikon of Saint Sava, which was taken as a basis in the modern Church, this is not the case.

The fact is that the connection “confession-communion” appeared in the Russian Church not out of great joy.

This was when people began to rarely take communion and came to communion, having accumulated a huge amount of sins. Naturally, there was a need to confess and repent of these sins. We remember that David repented, Lot repented. That is, repentance is a necessity, it is a sacrament established by God.

But the frequency of repentance, of course, is individual for each person. But when we talk about the Serbian Church, about the Greek Church, we must remember that there are slightly different conditions.

For example, in the Greek Church they do not confess before each communion. The Greeks take communion quite often, but confess rarely, but in Greece there is a different system for accepting confession. Not every priest, except in a situation of fear for the sake of a mortal, accepts repentance from an ordinary layman. There is a diocesan confessor. Who travels around the diocese, arrives at every church according to the schedule, where everyone can repent. Many Greeks have their own confessors, to whom they go. Therefore, naturally, there can be no connection here between confession and communion.

Therefore, of course, there is no direct connection, these are different sacraments. But is it worth it to go to communion if you accumulate sins. Is it possible to go to God with unrepentant sins?

4. And if there are no sins for a week?

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): Is there no sin for the week? Not located? I'll find now! You see, if a person does not have sins for a week, then we are dealing with a great saint, only the Mother of God did not have sin with us. I probably won’t find such a saint that a person doesn’t have sins in a week. Or the second option: a person, perhaps, does not realize his sins, then he will not even go to confession.

Andrey Desnitsky: He will go if he wants to take communion and knows what it should be.

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): But if he goes, it means that he knows about his sins, which means that he will say something at confession. He will not come and say: but I have no sins, father, I am sinless.

Andrey Desnitsky: He will say: "Sinful to all."

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): Sinful to everyone? And this is a question for the priest, whether you will let go of a person who is a sinner to everyone. I usually ask this sacramental question: how many planes hijacked. How many planes did you hijack in a week? And it begins to turn out that there are many sins.

Andrey Desnitsky: I'm not arguing with it, it's just last example I will cite from the practice of my confession, a good confession, when I talk about various sins and hear a question from the priest: what do you think, which of them is the most important? I call. No, he says, this is not the absence of love. What I did not name at all and was not going to name. It was one of those confessions that turned me around.

And I thought that I spent a very long time delving into what I did in a week, a month, or a reporting period.

I didn’t think at all what the difference is between my image in the eyes of God and the real me, that sin is just a lack.

There is a shortage in the cash register, there is less money than it should be, and not that the spots on some coins are small, the bill is torn. Although - this is also bad, no one argues with this - this is also a sin.

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): It turns out that the confession was useful?

Andrey Desnitsky: I am by no means saying that confession is useless, that we should abolish it and generally live without it.

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): The fact of the matter is that confession is useful in any case. If you just came with a sincere feeling of repentance, with a feeling of desire to get rid of your sins, even if you listed the usual ones, but you want to get rid of them, this is useful.

If the Lord pointed out to you such a sin as the lack of love, it is even more useful. Even the smallest step towards deification is already good, it is already necessary, and it doesn’t matter how much connection there is to a particular communion.

The important thing is that these are simply two sacraments that run in parallel, they do not depend on each other, but they go like this. And a person who defiantly takes communion every week, but goes to confession once every six months, in my opinion, is not doing the right thing.

Andrey Desnitsky: And in my opinion - this is one of the possible options, each person should decide for himself. Who himself, and who in agreement with the spiritual father. Although the topic of confessorship is a separate, large, I would say, painful topic, because often it is a reenactment and a game, but someone has real spiritual fathers. Once again I say, I do not know how to, I know how it was with me.

At some point in my life, I realized that confession before each communion is not necessary for me, and there are churches that completely allow me to live in such a regime. And man is sinful by definition, even a saint. Man does not cease to sin throughout his human life.

Yes, Father Theodoret is absolutely right about this - it is important for God not to accept our sins, but to accept at least the intention to get rid of them. Because this task is very complex and is only partially solved throughout life.

But it seems very naive to me that sins are something like fines in the traffic police. For a month, I accumulated a couple of fines, I paid them through the State Services portal, that's it, I'm clean. Or I have accumulated 50 sins in a week, I brought them, laid them out, that's it, I'm clean. Oh, no, there is this bag, and we drag it through life, and we are constantly reviewing our lives. It’s just that I’m afraid that a dull enumeration of something not right eaten on Wednesday, said to a neighbor, watched on TV can replace a person’s powerful work on himself.

I still read the Bible a lot, it just so happened. If we look there, what is called sin there, we will see that it is, first of all, a relationship with God and with one's neighbor. In practice, we do not meet there who looked at whom, how, if it did not work out, as with David and Bathsheba. Or someone there ate something wrong at one time or another.

And just now I'm afraid that digging in this bag of absolutely identical, stereotypical sins from week to week in a huge number of cases for a person replaces very serious work on oneself, rethinking what happened.

For example, I have three children, they all grew up. They are from 30 to 18 years old, and now, looking back at what kind of father I was in my youth, and our children started very early, I understand that my idea of the correct Orthodox family that I drove my children.

I was sometimes not crazy, but tough, I drove them into some kind of ideas about how all this should be done, and I achieved something from them.

It seemed to me that if we did not go to the liturgy, it was a sin. And now I think that it was just a sin that I dragged this child to the liturgy when he did not want it at all.

5. Should every sin be examined under a microscope?

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): Is it good to delve into sins? Digging for the sake of rubbing yourself again is probably bad. But to be aware of your sins, to understand that what you have done is still a sin, it is good.

You see, a glass of kefir can be drunk on Wednesday for various reasons. You can drink, because oh, how you wanted to eat, and you had to. This is one thing. And the other is when you deliberately drink it to show that you are higher than the Church, when such pride speaks in you: I am higher, I can do it.

In the first case, it so happened, yes, maybe I couldn’t resist, maybe I didn’t have enough strength, yes, probably a sin, but not a great one. And in the second case, this is the sin of pride, which you must immediately run to confess. And here you must understand why you did it, why you suddenly found it possible for yourself not to observe fasts.

People come to me from time to time and say: “Father, I broke the fast.” I always ask: “Why? Why are you breaking the fast? If some old woman comes up to me: “Father, I have no money except for milk and bread,” well, what will you do with you, dear, you have no money, then you eat your own milk. It is clear that she does not eat tiramisu in a cafe.

And if it goes - “why are posts needed”, then let's talk about why posts are needed. Maybe you really don't understand it, or maybe you're so proud. Then you need to repent not for breaking the fasts, but for going against God.

6. Drinking kefir in fasting is still a sin or not?

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): And what about kefir? Why kefir? Where did this kefir come from?

Andrey Desnitsky: From the store.

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): And why did he end up on your desk on Wednesday? What for?

Andrey Desnitsky: Here we can talk for a very long and interesting time about how people who work and have children eat.

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): I'm working. I continue to work in an ambulance, I am a resuscitator, I do not break the posts. This is not the question. I perfectly understand that if this is a mother with children and she eats up after the child, of course, who will put it in her sin, this is one story.

It's another matter if I say now: I'm just such a wonderful holy father Theodoret, I can't give a damn about all the settings of the Church. Because I work as a resuscitator, I have a hard job, so I will now defiantly sip kefir on Wednesday. It will be a different sin, no one will impute this sin to mom, children will grow up, and she will stop eating after them, and will not sin.

Andrey Desnitsky: Here, father Theodorit, I'm talking about this kefir. It always surprises me when it starts great post and, let's say, in a cafe in the city center, an option appears: a short menu - 300 rubles, and a fast business lunch - 400. Because it's more difficult to cook, because avocado is instead of chicken breast. I'm not sure if this is about the post, it's about something else, I think.

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): You understand, a person can choose for himself, he can eat chicken breast, if it is possible for him. I once ate a chicken breast on a plane during Lent. I almost threw up afterwards, sorry, it’s not good to say such things on camera. I just flew on an airplane, there was a breast, well, I'm traveling, in general, chicken is not a bird, I'll eat it. How bad I felt afterward. Not bad from the chicken, from breaking the fast.

I just felt in my gut that it was impossible to break the fasts. But for someone, maybe it is possible, for someone it is really a question. Again, 300-400 rubles, probably the difference is not so great. It's probably not fatal. If you want to fast, you can make the same avocado sandwich at home, it will be cheaper, and drink tea in a cafe. You can, after all, you can find options if you want to do it.

7. Why do priests insist on compulsory confession before communion?

Andrey Desnitsky: Imagine a typical priest who was most likely born into an atheistic family. Now there are young people who were born in families that were churched in the early 90s. However, in the overwhelming majority of cases, this is a former pioneer, a member of the Komsomol, who accepted the faith, who subtracted his tradition from books, who either took up a typikon, or Shmelev’s “Summer of the Lord,” or something else.

And his traditional character is the traditional character of the reenactor. Sorry for using such a harsh word. Who reconstructs medieval battles, who elves and dwarves, and who is the holy Orthodox Rus' of the 19th century. The degree of certainty is the same. These are our ideas, read from books, purely speculative, how we should be a hobbit, how we should be an English archer Robin Hood or an Orthodox Christian of the 19th century.

And now they take their reconstructions very seriously, they are ready to fight for them. It seems to me that this story is about the obligation of confession, just from the series “Let's reconstruct Russia XIX century, let's introduce strict rules." It looks like a Robin Hood shooting range, where a man stands at the entrance and does not let people in modern clothes, only in English medieval ones.

This is how we have people who are very serious about this fictitious tradition, begin to come up with something of their own. I don't mean anyone personally.

And we Russians also have a national trait that if communism, then we have such communism that would make Marx sob. And if we have Orthodoxy, then such Orthodoxy that Seraphim Rose is resting.

I remember how, the story is also real, a priest comes out with a Cup and someone wants to take communion, from his point of view, unworthy. And the priest shouts: “Eat my flesh, gnaw me, I will not give the Body of my Lord!” It seems like fiery faith, but I have a question: “Dear, who told you that you give them this Body, what depends on you, to give or not to give?”

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): I am a little older than you, by 5 years, and we went to church at about the same time. From the very first day I have been a parishioner of the Jerusalem Compound of the Church of the Resurrection of the Word on the Arbat, Filippovsky, which has never been closed and has been standing since the 17th century. And before that, there was another temple, which was built by Metropolitan Philip, our saint.

There were no Renovationists and old priests served: Father Vasily Serebryannikov, the Moscow elder Father Vladimir Frolov, also an old priest, who was my first spiritual father. And somehow I learned this tradition - that it is necessary to confess. Although there were no reenactors, either historical or non-historical, it was a normal, traditional Moscow church.

Then, when the Jerusalem Compound was restored there, there was an absolutely wonderful rector, Father Theophylact, who is now the Archbishop of Jordan in Bethlehem. He was a Greek, spoke Russian well, and confessed himself. Therefore, I have formed a respectful attitude towards confession, let's say so.

The question is not that the priest is the guardian of the Chalice. The question is to what extent a person is ready to receive communion without confession, to what extent a person understands this “terrible Christ's mysteries”. Why are they scary? Because it is terrible to touch the Living God. Here is God - and you, man, you touch Him, you unite with Him, so how can you go to God without at least trying to cleanse yourself.

Andrey Desnitsky: Sometimes, indeed, the advice of a priest is good and useful, but he does not have an hour from week to week to listen to all the nonsense that you bring to him. To swear and put up with you, to give you some completely external advice, he does not and cannot have this time.

And a person comes and expects that in 20-30 seconds, well, in 5 minutes he will receive some advice. I'm talking about the laity, about everyone who comes to confession. We cling to this form so much because even though the priest loves us, even though he, at least according to his position, shows some kind of sympathy, attention, even though we can tell him. We can't do anything to anyone, but we can do it to him. And this is not what should be in confession, in my opinion.

Of course, it’s good when it exists, but these relationships are extremely, extremely rare, I don’t know, among monks – not among monks. This is not the norm, and you do not need to look for it. If there is a need to find a person who listens to you, does not judge and helps you deal with this, sorry, this is a psychotherapist. It's also very hard to find, by the way.

Winston Churchill, I think it was him, said that Russia is an amazing country in which everything that is not forbidden is obligatory.

It seems to me that it is time for us to move away from this: either this way or nothing at all. There is different people, different needs, different rhythms of life, including spiritual. It seems to me that we just need to accept that there are no single recipes here and cannot be.

9. How to prepare for confession?

Andrey Desnitsky: I agree with those who say that best preparation to confession is the life of a Christian. This life naturally includes and should include fasting, and prayer, and everything else.

But when the sacrament becomes somehow special event, which is prepared through certain procedures, it is very easy to miss this simple thought: if you live like a Christian, then you take communion. If you're not living, then any means to do something and become worthy of the sacrament simply doesn't work.

Hieromonk Theodorit (Senchukov): Here I agree that, of course, the main thing is Christian life. And the Christian life includes, in particular, repentance. And to prepare specially for confession… well, how can one prepare on purpose. Every person has their own ways. It may be helpful for some to write down their sins. For some, it's not useful. It may be useful for someone to read before confession, just before confession, the three canons. Some may not need this, because they have such a strong feeling of repentance that they don't need any canons, they don't need any formalities, they just come and confess.

It is important that a person wants to meet God, so that a person goes to God, but how does he technically do it ... The Church established the sacraments precisely so that a person can be deified, and everyone has his own technique.

When a person wants to open up before God in his misdeeds, he does not always understand how to do it. Of particular difficulty are sins at confession. Not everyone can formulate a list in their own words briefly. Which ones are important and which ones can be skipped? What exactly is considered sin?

Rite of Penance

Confession in the Christian faith is a confession of committed sins before a priest who is a witness of your repentance on behalf of Christ. With special prayers and permissive words, the priest forgives the sins of all who sincerely regret them. According to the rules of the Christian Church:

Everyone who is already 7 years old can pass the ceremony.
The representative of the church cannot force confession. This decision is voluntary.

During the procedure, the layman must list everything that he considers necessary. If he finds it difficult, the Holy Father can push him with leading questions. It is better when every Orthodox has his own spiritual mentor, who knows a person from childhood and can help him grow spiritually, to act not only as a priest, but also as a teacher.

Today, by all laws, confession is undercover business and a priest cannot be convicted if he has refused to disclose the facts known to him from his confession. This is done so that any person can cleanse his soul, since everyone has the right to do so. In order to feel confident with a priest, you need to think everything over well in advance and get ready.

How to prepare for confession in church?

Here are some tips given by spirit guides:

You need to understand and understand what you did wrong. Realize your misdeeds committed before God and people.
Get ready for a simple conversation. Do not think that now I will require you to know some special church language. Everything is like people in the world.
Do not be afraid to confess even the most terrible, in your opinion, sins. God knows everything and you won't surprise him. However, like a priest. During the years of his ministry, he heard everything. In addition, we are all the same for the most part, so you cannot tell him anything particularly new. Don't worry, he won't judge. This is not why the Holy Father came to the service.
Don't talk about small things. Think about serious things. Remember how you treated God and your neighbors. By close people, the church understands everyone you have met and even managed to offend.
Ask for forgiveness from those who are near personally, who are far away - mentally.
Read special prayers the day before.

Confession must become regular for a person who wants to spiritually grow above himself. This will help you take a more responsible attitude towards your life and the people around you.

In this video, all the answers to your questions about this rite will be given:

How to write sins for confession?

It is believed that when listing your misdeeds, it is wrong to use their list. It needs to be pronounced like this. But some people get nervous and can't get their thoughts together, so you can draft a draft for yourself. This will help put your thoughts in order and not forget anything.

Divide the sheet of paper into these columns:

Sins against God.

Here you write:

Blasphemy.
Failure to fulfill your vows.
Thoughts of suicide.
dissatisfaction with fate.

Sins against relatives.

Namely:

Parent disrespect.
Resentment.
Envy, malice, hatred.
Slander.
Condemnation.

Crimes against your soul:

Laziness.
Narcissism.
Foul language.
Self-justification.
Fornication.
Disbelief.
Impatience.

What sins to list at confession?

So, let's try to highlight in more detail the most common and requiring attention in the list:

I allowed myself to be dissatisfied with the life given to me by God and the people around me.
She had the courage to scold her children and be angry with her loved ones.
I doubted honesty.
She condemned others for their sins, weakness.
I ate unhealthy food and drank unhealthy drinks.
I did not forgive those who offended me.
Frustrated due to losses.
Used someone else's work.
She did not protect herself from diseases and did not go to the doctors.
I cheated myself.
She celebrated the holidays with booze and earthly hobbies.
Laugh at someone else's misconduct.
She believed in signs, followed them.
Wishing for death.
She set a bad example in her life.
I was fond of trying on clothes and jewelry.
She slandered people.
I was looking for the culprits of my problems.
Visited fortune-tellers, psychics.
It was the cause of discord between people.
Jealous.
She used food for pleasure, not to satisfy hunger.
I was lazy.
I was afraid of suffering.

We tried to remember and select the most life situations. As you can see, some of the sins are truly feminine. But there are those that only the strong half of humanity does. We also dismantled them and issued a list below.

Repentance for a man

Here is such a blank for men who cannot formulate some of their misdeeds, or maybe they did not notice them at all:

I doubted God, faith, life after death.
He laughed at the unfortunate, miserable.
He was lazy, vain, proud.
Avoided military service.
Didn't perform duties.
Fought, rowdy.
Insulted.
Seduced married women.
He drank, took drugs.
Refused to help those who asked.
Stole.
Humiliated, boasted.
Engaged in mercenary disputes.
Hamil and behaved arrogantly.
I was afraid.
Played games of chance.
Thought about suicide.
He told dirty jokes.
Didn't repay the debt.
Noisy in the temple.

Of course, it is impossible to list all the sins. Everyone also has some that are hard to guess. But now you will understand how to think. It turns out that the elementary things to which we seem to be accustomed are a sin.

So, we tried to help you figure out what sins can be called in confession. The list in their own words was briefly drawn up as a list in this article for convenience.

Video: what to say in confession to a priest

In this video, Archpriest Andrey Tkachev will tell you how to properly prepare for confession, what words to say to the holy father:

Confession is one of the most important church sacraments during which Christians repent for their sins. Confession takes place in the presence of a priest, however, all sins are resolved by God himself.

Confession is of great importance for any Orthodox Christian, since repentance and atonement for sins are the work of his whole life. Without it, the laity are not allowed to the Sacrament of the Eucharist (communion) and cannot partake of the Holy Gifts.

What is confession and why is it needed

The Holy Fathers teach that sin is the main barrier between man and God. And this barrier is so huge that people are not able to overcome it on their own. It is possible to cope with it only with God's help, but for this a person must first acknowledge his sin and repent of it.

Just to get rid of sin and there is the sacrament of confession. When our body is infected with a dangerous virus, we usually go to the hospital for a cure. However, sin is the same deadly virus, only striking not the body, but the soul. And in order to recover from it, a person needs the help of the church.

The sacrament of repentance is often compared to baptism. During the baptism of new converts, a Christian gets rid of original sin inherited from our forefathers - Adam and Eve. Confession, on the other hand, helps to get rid of those sins that were committed after baptism and by the person himself personally.

Typically, for a Christian, repentance consists of three stages:

Repent immediately after sin.
Ask God for forgiveness in the evening, before going to bed.
Go to confession, during which the Lord will finally resolve this sin.

You can also confess if your heart is heavy or your conscience is tormenting. And here the sacrament of repentance plays the role of an ambulance, as it helps to get rid of the suffering caused by sin and restore lost mental health.

It is very important to learn to ask for forgiveness from those whom we have offended. But even more important is repentance before God, since we have much more sins before Him than before any of the people.

Many people ask why it is necessary to go to church and confess in the presence of a priest. Is it not enough that we ask God for forgiveness, that our conscience torments us, and we repent of our deeds?

No, not enough. Usually priests give this explanation: if a person, for example, gets dirty, he will not become clean just because he realized his dirt and was ashamed of it. For purification, he needs some external source of water in which he can bathe. The Holy Church plays the role of such a source for a Christian.

However, it is important to remember that confession is not only repentance and deliverance from sin. It is also a firm determination not to repeat sinful acts anymore and to bring your life into real conformity with Christian teaching.

How is the sacrament

Unlike other sacraments Confession does not require the observance of a large number of rituals. It does not require any long posts, nor any special conditions, nor certain days. The sacrament of repentance can be performed anytime and anywhere: it requires only complete repentance and the presence of a priest. Any member of the Orthodox Church from 7 years of age and older can confess.

In the temple itself, this sacrament can be performed at different hours:

After evening worship.
In the morning, just before the liturgy.
During the liturgy itself, before communion.

If there are too many people in the church, you can arrange with the priest for another time. Confession begins with a priestly prayer and an appeal to the penitent (“Behold a child, Christ…”). Then the priest covers the head of the penitent with an epitrachelion (optional), asks what his name is and what he wants to confess.

During confession, the priest can ask clarifying questions, give instructions or advice. In some cases, he imposes penance, that is, it orders certain actions for the atonement of sin. For example, if a penitent stole something, he may be asked to return the stolen goods or compensate for the damage. However, penance is prescribed quite rarely.

When the confession ends, the priest puts the edge of the stole on the person’s head and says a permissive prayer. After that, the parishioner kisses the Gospel and the cross, which lie on the lectern, and asks the priest for blessings.

It is necessary to confess at least before each communion. And a churched Christian should take communion from once a day to once every three weeks. There is no maximum for the number of confessions.

How to Prepare for the Sacrament of Penance

Preparation for confession comes down to a thorough analysis of all your actions, words and thoughts. However, they must be considered not from the point of view of man, but from the point of view of God's commandments.

Such introspection requires a person to be extremely honest with himself. Truthfully evaluating his works, a Christian must cast aside pride and false shame, since these shortcomings make us keep silent about our sins and even justify them.

Preparing for Repentance Requires the Right Attitude. It is necessary not just to mechanically remember everyday sins, but with all your heart to strive to ensure that they are left behind. It is also desirable to first make peace with those before whom we have sinned, and ask their forgiveness.

In order not to forget about your sins, you can write them down on a piece of paper. No need to create a detailed bureaucratic report - just an approximate "cheat sheet" will suffice. It will help you quickly refresh your memory before confession and not forget anything.

If you are afraid to miss something important, use the special lists of sins for confession. In Orthodoxy, they play the role of a kind of “checklist” and allow us to notice what we, for some reason, did not pay attention to. This is the Pochaev Leaflet, which helps to remember sins at confession, lists for women, men, children and adolescents.

However, at the confession itself, no lists and texts should be used. It is better to speak in your own words and from a pure heart , and reading from a piece of paper can turn the sacrament into an empty formality.

Another way to remember forgotten sins - consider them by type:

Sins against God: unbelief, lack of faith, pride, breaking the commandments, mentioning the Lord in vain, turning to psychics, not attending church, and the like.
Sins against neighbor: theft, slander, gossip, resentment and betrayal.
Sins against oneself: gluttony, drunkenness, fornication, smoking, despondency and other deeds that destroy the body and soul.

Often Christians only remember what happened after the last confession. But to this it is necessary to add those actions that we kept silent about last time because of shame or forgetfulness. Also at confession, you can talk about those sins that we confessed last time without proper repentance.

Some people ask: is it permissible to confess the same sin repeatedly? In principle, this is allowed, since the memory of past sins strengthens a person in humility. However, it is not necessary to do so if repentance was truly sincere.

It is better to find out about the time of the Sacrament of Penance in advance. If there are many people who want to confess on this day, it is better to arrange a separate meeting with the priest.

How to prepare for your very first confession

The very first confession in the life of a Christian is called the general confession. It is necessary to prepare for it especially carefully, since it is it that washes away the most old and ingrained dirt from our souls. It is customary to remember all your sins on it, and not only adults, but also children (starting from the age of six).

Before such a confession, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with Christian literature on this topic. But before buying books or downloading them from the Internet, you should definitely consult with your confessor. The fact is that some books on repentance may be too difficult for a layman, and some are of dubious origin and written by sectarians.

If your church is large and many people gather for Sunday service, general confession can be held in it. In this case, the priest simply lists the main sins, and the parishioners repeat after him. But such a short form of confession is not suitable for the first time, so it is better to visit the temple on a weekday, when there are usually few people in it.

Immediately before the sacrament, you must definitely tell the priest that you are at confession for the first time. In this case, he will prompt you and direct the confession in the “right direction”, and then tell you what to do next.

How to confess properly

The main rule of confession is this: all actions must be as sincere as possible. During the sacrament, formalism must be avoided by all means so as not to turn it into a ritual “for show”. Here, sincerity is more important than following external prescriptions.

Dressing for confession is the same as for regular church attendance. Men should wear long pants and a shirt that covers the elbows. For a woman - a long skirt and clothes that cover the shoulders and décolleté. Going to church, you can not use cosmetics, especially lipstick. A woman must have a headscarf on her head.

Arriving at the temple, you need to stand in line for confession. At the same time, it is necessary to keep a certain distance from the others so as not to disturb anyone and not to hear other people's repentant words.

Having waited for your turn, you need to go to the lectern (the table where the cross and the Gospel lie) and bow your head. You can also kneel, but it is not necessary at all. Remember that kneeling prayer is canceled on Sundays, on great holidays and in the period from Easter to Trinity.

At confession, it is customary to talk not only about individual sinful deeds, but also about pernicious passions inherent in a person. For example, if a penitent is characterized by the love of money, then specific manifestations of greed or stinginess will be sins for him.

If you are unfamiliar with church names sins and passions, then just retell everything in your own words. It is necessary to name only the sin itself, briefly and without unnecessary details. If necessary, the priest himself will clarify everything.

If the Lord sees sincere repentance, he will forgive all sins, even those that we ourselves have forgotten. However, it is impossible to deliberately hide sins, because in this case there will be no forgiveness.

How exactly do you talk about your sins? Here are some recommendations that priests usually give:

Do not approach confession formally. This is not a rite of "enumeration of sins": sincere repentance is more important here.
Avoid "blanks", that is, pre-memorized phrases and expressions. Most best words Those are the ones that come from the heart.
Do not make excuses and do not shift your sins onto others, because in this case the meaning of repentance itself disappears.
Don't just talk about your life. The purpose of confession is not to pour out the soul, but to get rid of the burden of sin.
Crying during confession is normal, but you don’t need to do it on purpose and for show.

And most importantly: it is necessary to remember that in fact all sins are confessed before God. The priest only performs the duty of a witness and intercessor before Him.

During the confession, the priest can sometimes ask or clarify something. In this case, you just need to calmly answer all the questions. And vice versa, if something from the instructions of the priest remains incomprehensible, then ask him to explain.

After the priest has listened to the confession and is convinced of the sincerity of the person, he covers his head with the edge of the stole and reads a permissive prayer. After it, you need to cross yourself and kiss the cross and the Gospel.

Immediately after confession, a blessing is taken from the priest. To do this, fold your hands palms up and right palm put on the left. Then you need to bow your head and say: "Bless, father." The priest will make a blessing sign and place his palm on his folded hands. The priest should put his mouth to the hand as to the image of the blessing right hand of the Lord.

If you plan to take communion, you should also take a blessing for this. You can simply ask: “Batiushka, do you bless me to take communion?” In this case, the priest can clarify the observance of the fasts and prayers required for the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

What to do after confession

The very first thing to do is to thank the Lord for the forgiveness of sins. Unfortunately, some people forget about it. But this is His great gift, thanks to which human soul cleansed of filth.

You also need to make a firm decision to change your life. It is not enough to simply confess a sin before God: one must try never to repeat such a thing again in the future. It is important to remember that for a Christian, repentance and the fight against sin is a life's work that never ends.

With sincere repentance at confession, all sins are forgiven. But this does not mean that you can immediately forget about them. No, the sins committed earlier should always be remembered, for this is necessary for us to humble ourselves and to protect ourselves from possible falls in the future.

If you confess regularly enough, then over time it becomes difficult to remember your sins. But this does not mean that they do not exist: they simply begin to “hide” from us. In this case, you can ask the Lord to give us a vision of our own sins.

Hello! My problem is this. I came to God not so long ago, but I believe, as it seems to me, sincerely. Many sins torment me very much, and I really want to confess, but I am afraid of confession itself - not that it will be scary or embarrassing, but that I will not do something that is supposed to, or I will not say, or I will do something , which is not necessary ... I'm afraid of the process itself, not spiritually, but materially. And nowhere can I find what directly needs to be done - everywhere it’s only about the need to repent, pray, etc., I myself understand this, but what to do directly - no. Help me please! Alexandra.

Archpriest Mikhail Samokhin answers:

How is the confession going?

Hello Alexandra!

The immediate sequence of actions during confession is as follows:
It is necessary to approach the place in the temple where confession is made and stand in line, if there is one. While waiting, it is better to remember your sins in order to more fully present them at confession. At the same time, you should try to avoid extraneous thoughts, conversations. Under no circumstances should you listen to someone else's confession. Approaching the priest, you need to give your name and bow your head before the cross and the Gospel. The list of sins should be addressed not to the priest, but to the Lord. If you are very worried, you can make notes on a piece of paper or ask the priest to ask you leading questions. At the end of the enumeration of sins, you need to ask for forgiveness from the Lord and bow your head for the priest to read the permissive prayer. After reading the prayer, it is customary to kiss the cross, the Gospel, in some churches - to take a blessing from the priest and kiss his hand. If it is not clear from the conversation whether the priest allowed you to take Communion, ask about it. In some temples, it is customary to give a note with a list of sins to the priest so that he tore it up and gave it to you to burn. The best approach to confession is to warn the priest that you are confessing for the first time. Then he will tell you what to do and in what order. And yet remember that what is written in the books is absolutely correct: the main thing in confession is sincere remorse and a firm intention not to repeat confessed sins again.

Sincerely, Archpriest Mikhail Samokhin.