Sins at confession in your own words: briefly, a list of possible sins and their description. The sacrament of confession: how and when to confess

There is no such sin that would exceed the mercy of God. Even Judas would be forgiven if he asked for forgiveness. The example of St. Mary of Egypt, who was a harlot for 17 years, and then became a model of repentance and a great saint of God, gives us hope for the forgiveness of our sins.

I'm about to go to my first confession. How to prepare?

Confession requires awareness of one's sins, sincere repentance for them, a desire to correct oneself with God's help. You can write down some sins on a piece of paper as a cheat sheet so that you don’t get confused the first time (then do whatever you want with this piece of paper: you can throw it away, burn it, give it to the priest, save it until the next confession and compare what you have improved, and in than not). With a long list of sins, it is better to come to the service in the middle of the week, and not on Sunday. In general, it is better to start with the patient himself, which disturbs the soul, gradually moving on to minor sins.

Came to confession for the first time. The priest did not allow me to take communion - as "homework" he advised me to read the Gospel.

When a person does not know, for example, the rules of the road, then he does not know that he is violating them. If a person does not know the Gospel, that is, the Law of God, then it is difficult for him to repent of sins, for he does not really understand what sin is. Therefore, it is useful to read the Gospel.

Is it possible to ask in confession for the forgiveness of the sins of parents and relatives?

When we go to the doctor, we can’t get treated for someone, we can’t eat for someone in the dining room, so at confession we ask for forgiveness for our sins and help in correcting them. And we pray for our loved ones ourselves and submit notes to the church.

At confession, I regularly repent that I live in fornication, but I continue to live like this - I'm afraid that my loved one will not understand me.

An Orthodox Christian should be concerned to be understood by God. And according to His word, "fornicators will not inherit the kingdom of God." In addition, confession is not just a statement of sins, but also a desire to improve. In your case, this situation turns out: you come to the doctor (for confession in the church), state that you are "sick" with sin, but you are not being treated. Moreover, such a confession is also hypocritical. Of course, we repeat most of our confessed sins, but at least we must have the intention to correct ourselves, and you do not. Tip: register the relationship as soon as possible at least in the registry office.

I am not yet ready to repent of one sin, because I will commit it again. Don't go to confession at all? But other sins torment!

No matter how much we love our sins, at least at the level of reason, we must understand that if we do not repent and do not correct ourselves, eternal punishment awaits us. Such a thought should contribute to the desire to correct in all sins, because who can give himself a guarantee that he will live at least until the next day? And the Lord said to us: "In whatever I find, in that I will judge." Unfortunately, the vast majority of people immediately repeat most of their sins after confession, but this is no reason not to repent of them. If a person sincerely worries about this, if he wants to improve, even if he does not succeed in everything and not immediately, then, according to the word of the Holy Fathers, the Lord will accept even this desire as an act.

Can I go to public confession?

The so-called general confession is rather a profanation of confession, for there is no confession as such. It's like this: a bunch of people came to the doctor, and he took out a piece of paper with a list of diseases and said: "Well, patients, now get well, be healthy!" Something is doubtful to benefit from such an appointment with a doctor. This is allowed as an exception during a large influx of confessors during Great Lent, but at the same time the priest must emphasize that this is an exception: come to presanctified services on Wednesdays and Fridays, on Saturday, go to churches somewhere on the outskirts of the city, where there are fewer people , but do not approach confession formally. Do not rejoice that you did not have to say anything, shifting the responsibility to the priest. In general, the one who knocks is opened, and he who seeks finds.

All sins are forgiven at confession. But what to do if the sins of 10, 20 years ago are remembered? Do they need to be confessed?

If sins are remembered and recognized, then, of course, they must be confessed. It won't get any worse.

Serious sins, even though they have already been confessed, are very tormenting. Do I need to talk about them in confession again?

Sincerely repentant and no longer repeated sin is forgiven once and for all. But such terrible sins as abortion, occultism, murder, even after confession, gnaw at a person. Therefore, in them you can once again ask God for forgiveness, while it is not necessary to say them in confession, but simply remember your crimes and try to make amends with good deeds opposite to them.

Why do the laity have to confess before communion, but the priests do not? Is it possible to receive communion without confession?

And what do you think, if you take a doctor and a patient without a medical education, which of them is better versed in diets, prescriptions for drugs, etc.? In some cases, the doctor can help himself, and the common man is forced to seek help. People go to church to treat their souls, and there are sins that do not allow a person to take communion. A layman may not understand and be unaware of this, and if he goes without confession, communion may serve him not for salvation, but for condemnation. So you need control in the form of a priest. And the clergy are more competent in such things and can control when they go to confession, and when they can only ask for forgiveness from God.

Is there evidence in the Bible that we should confess through a priest?

The Lord, sending the apostles to preach, said: "To whom you forgive on earth, that will be forgiven in heaven." What is it, if not the right to accept repentance and on behalf of God to forgive a person's sins? And He also said: "Receive the Holy Spirit, by Him forgive on earth, it will be forgiven in heaven." There were also prototypes of repentance in the Old Testament, for example, a rite with a scapegoat, offering sacrifices in the temple, for these were cleansing sacrifices for sins. This apostolic authority for the forgiveness of sins, by virtue of succession, is received by all legal priests, which is confirmed by the words of Christ: "Behold Azm (I) am with you all the days until the end of the age."

It is not always possible to go to confession of sins in the temple. Can I confess in front of the icon of the house?

Evening prayers end with daily confession of sins. But, nevertheless, from time to time a person must repent of them and at confession.

I was preparing for the first confession, I read the book of John (Krestyankin) "The Experience of Building a Confession". But when he approached the lectern, he could not say anything - tears flowed. Father has forgiven me of my sins. Is confession valid?

In confession, the main thing is not what we say, but what is in our hearts. For the Lord says so: "Son, give me your heart." And King David taught: "A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit. A contrite and humble heart God will not despise."

My grandmother is dying, she does not understand anything, she does not speak. Being of sound mind, she refused confession and communion. Is it possible to confess now?

The Church accepts the conscious choice of a person, without violating his will. If a person, being of sound mind, wanted to begin the sacraments of the Church, but for some reason did not do this, then in case of clouding of mind, remembering his desire and consent, you can still make such a compromise as communion and unction (so we give communion to infants or the insane). But if a person, being in sound consciousness, did not want to accept the sacraments of the Church, refused to confess his sins, then even in the event of loss of consciousness, the Church does not force the choice of this person. Alas, it is his choice. Such cases are considered by the confessor, directly communicating with the patient and his relatives, after which the final decision is made. In general, of course, it is best to find out your relationship with God in a conscious and adequate state.

I had a fall - the sin of fornication, although I gave my word, repented and was sure that this would not happen to me again. What to do?

Mary of Egypt was the greatest harlot. But every Great Lent the Church remembers her as a model of repentance. Conclusion: no matter how hard we fall, sincere repentance blots out sin and opens the gates of heaven. Let the very word fornication be disgusting to you, so that with God's help this will never happen again.

It is a shame to tell the priest at confession about his sins.

You should be ashamed when you sin. And shame in confession is false shame. We must think not about how the priest will look at us, but about how God will look at us. In addition, any prudent priest will never condemn you, but will only rejoice, as a doctor rejoices at a recovering patient. If you can't bring yourself to name the sins, write them down on a piece of paper and give them to the priest. Or repent without details, in general terms. The main thing is to have a repentant feeling, contrition, a desire to improve.

If my sins are very shameful, can I tell the priest about them without details? Or will it be like hiding sin?

In order to treat bodily diseases, it is important for the doctor to know all the details of these diseases. You may not describe the details of your sins, but still it is better to call a spade a spade and not be limited to general phrases.

Is it necessary to go to confession if it turns out to be formal?

Sincerity is key in our relationship with God. We must understand that formalism and hypocrisy in dealing with God will not go away. But if your conscience agrees that many of your words in confession sound cold, formal, this indicates that, nevertheless, the sin you confess worries you and you want to get rid of it. Therefore, name sins at confession, say at the same time that, recognizing them, you see some sins, but you still cannot hate them. And therefore, ask God for forgiveness so that this vision grows into hatred of sin and a desire to get rid of it. The Holy Fathers teach that even if the same sins are repeated again, nevertheless, they must be confessed, in this way we, as it were, loosen the stump, which is then easier to tear out.

Is it true that at confession one should not repent of sins committed before baptism?

If you wash dirty clothes, then wash them again only when they get dirty again. If a person with faith accepts the sacrament of baptism, then, indeed, he receives forgiveness for all the sins committed up to this moment. It makes no sense to repent of them. It's just that there are such terrible sins as murder, abortion, in which the soul again and again wants to ask for forgiveness from God. That is, the case when God has already forgiven, but a person cannot forgive himself. In such cases, it is allowed to once again speak about terrible sins at confession.

I'm afraid I misnamed the sin in confession. What to do?

The main thing is not how to name your sin, but to have a repentant feeling and a desire to correct.

My spiritual father confesses me at home, so I am better aware of my sins, I am not in a hurry, I can ask him a question. Is it possible to do so?

Can. Many people before the revolution, not being able to visit Optina Hermitage often, wrote to the elders, confessed in letters. In your case, it is important that you do not just talk, but that the priest at the end read the permissive prayer.

Is it possible to confess without preparation?

When a person has appendicitis, or he does not sleep at night due to toothache, he does not need any tests, examinations, ultrasound to identify the disease. He rushes to the doctor for help. So it is with confession. If our hearts hurt that, for example, we stole something, went to sorcerers, had an abortion, fell into fornication, drunkenness, that is, when we specifically know what we are sinning, then no books are needed we go to confession and confess our sins. But a person who is not familiar with the Gospel, does not know the laws of God and, even breaking them, does not realize that he is sinning, naturally, he must prepare. Study the laws of God, find out what he sins in, and thus having prepared, go to confession to the priest.

In what cases can a priest impose penance? How to take it off?

Penance is excommunication from communion for some sin for some time. It may consist of fasting, fervent prayer, and so on. Upon completion of the imposed penance, it is removed by the same priest who imposed it.

Going to the first confession, I found a list of sins on the Internet. There were: listening to music, going to the movies, going to concerts, riding the rides... Is that true?

Firstly, it is impossible to recognize and remember all sins, we have so many of them. Therefore, at confession, we must repent of especially serious sins that worry us and from which we really want to get rid of. Secondly, with regard to attractions, music, cinema, then, as they say, there are nuances. For music and films are different and not always harmless. For example, films filled with debauchery, violence, horror. Many songs of rock music glorify the devil, are literally dedicated to him. Well, I'm sure there are absolutely harmless attractions, not counting, of course, hobbies for computer games and consoles. For gambling addiction (gambling addiction) has terrible consequences for both the soul and the body, which cannot be said about ordinary carousels and swings.

There is an opinion that it is undesirable to confess "according to the list", but you need to remember everything.

If a person, preparing for confession, simply rewrites a manual for penitents, and then reads out this list at confession, then this is an ineffective confession. And if a person is worried, afraid of excitement to forget about some of his sins, and at home in front of a candle and an icon with tears, he writes down on paper the repentant feelings of his heart, then such preparation can only be welcomed.

Can a priest's wife go to confession with her husband?

To do this, you need to be literally a holy person, because purely humanly it is difficult to be completely sincere, revealing all the nakedness of your soul to your husband. Even if mother does this, she can harm the father himself. After all, he, too, is a weak man. Therefore, I would recommend not confessing to your husband unless absolutely necessary.

My relative, who went to church and participated in its sacraments, died suddenly. There was a leaf with sins. Is it possible to read it to the priest so that he can say the permissive prayer in absentia?

If a person was preparing for confession, but died on the way to the temple, the Lord accepted his intentions and forgave his sins. So no correspondence confession is required.

I go to confession regularly. I won’t say that I don’t see my sins, but the sins are the same. Do you say the same thing in confession?

But do we brush our teeth every day? And we wash ourselves, and my hands, despite the fact that they get dirty again. So it is with the soul. This is what the Gospel calls for: how many times you fall, so many times you get up. So there is only one conclusion: soiled clothes - we clean clothes, polluted the soul with sins - we cleanse the soul with repentance.

What are the consequences for the soul of the remembrance of confessed sins?

If you once again remember with a shudder, for example, an abortion, this is useful. And if with relish to remember, for example, the sins of fornication, then it is sinful.

Is online confession allowed?

Your doctor can tell you over the phone which medicines to take for which symptoms. But, for example, it is impossible to perform an operation over the phone. Similarly, through the Internet, you can ask a priest something and get advice, but you still have to go to the sacraments yourself. But if someone ended up on a desert island, but somehow contacted a priest by e-mail, he can repent of his sins by asking the priest to read a permissive prayer. That is, a similar format of confession can be allowed when there is no other opportunity for repentance.

At what age should boys confess, and at what age should girls?

There is an indication in the rules, without dividing into boys and girls, that a person starts confession from about 10 years old or as he realizes the meaning of confession. And here in Russia (probably very smart children) it is customary to start confessing children from the age of 7.

Came to confession for the first time in 20 years. He repented of an affair with a married woman, he did not remember more sins. The priest said that in my case it was necessary to come with a huge list of sins and that the Christian in me had died...

In fact, confession does not need a long list of sins written on paper. In confession, a person says what he cannot forget, what his soul hurts about, and no paper is needed for this. For what is the point of sitting at home, copying on paper almost one in one another manual for the penitents, if at the same time the person did not feel the depth of his fall and there is no desire in him to correct himself? In your case, the Christian in you didn't die, he just slept for 20 years in a deep sleep. Once you came to the temple, he began to wake up. The task of the confessor in this case is to help you resurrect the Christian in you. So in form you seem to have been rightly beaten, but in fact they could really finally kill the remnants of Christianity in your soul. I would like to wish you, through the instructions of the Holy Fathers, listening to the voice of conscience and good priests, to come to the Church and live in it all your life with the hope of the Kingdom of Heaven.

I want to confess and take communion, but I keep putting it off because of fear of the Lord. How to overcome fear?

The fear of sudden death should overcome the fear of confession, because no one knows at what moment the Lord will call his soul for an answer. But it’s scary to appear before God with all your negative baggage, it’s wiser to leave it here (through confession).

Does a priest have the right to violate the sacrament of confession?

The secret of confession is not subject to disclosure to anyone under any justification. There were cases when a priest, keeping the secret of confession, even went to prison.

I don’t go to confession, because I’m afraid for the priest, who takes all the sins upon himself and then gets sick.

John the Baptist, pointing to Christ, said: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world." No priest is able to take upon himself the sins of the people who are confessed to him; only Christ can do this. Throw away all your fears and false shame and hurry to confession.

After confession and communion, I felt relieved. Minor feuds disappeared in the family, well-being improved. But the most important thing: I noticed that my prayers to God were answered, requests for the health of my family were fulfilled.

Your words testify that when you sincerely turn to God with a request for the forgiveness of sins, the Lord, who said "ask, and it will be given to you," fulfills the promise. And since our sins are very often the cause of our illnesses, troubles, failures, when these sins are forgiven, the cause of all troubles disappears. That is, when the causes disappear, the consequences also disappear: a person’s health is restored, successes appear in work, family relationships are improved, etc.

Confession is a sacrament when a believer confesses their sins to a priest. The representative of the church is empowered to forgive sins in the name of the Lord and Jesus Christ.

According to biblical legends, Christ endowed the apostles with such an opportunity, which was later transferred to the clergy. During repentance, a person not only talks about his sins, but also gives a word not to commit them again.

What is confession?

Confession is not only purification, but also a test for the soul. It helps to remove the burden and purify before the face of the Lord, reconcile with it and overcome inner doubts. It is necessary to go to confession once a month, but if you want to do it more often, you should follow the calls of the soul and repent at any time you want.

For especially grave sins, a representative of the church may prescribe a special punishment, which is called penance. It can be a long prayer, fasting or abstinence, which are ways to cleanse. When a person violates the laws of God, this negatively affects his mental and physical condition. Repentance helps to gain strength and fight the temptations that push people to sin. The believer gets the opportunity to talk about his misdeeds and remove the burden from the soul. Before confession, it is necessary to make a list of sins, with which you can correctly describe the sin and prepare the right speech for repentance.

How to start a confession before the priest with what words?

The seven deadly sins, which are the main vices, look like this:

• gluttony (gluttony, excessive food abuse)
• fornication (dissolute life, infidelity)
• anger (temper, vindictiveness, irritability)
• love of money (greed, desire for material values)
• despondency (laziness, depression, despair)
• vanity (selfishness, narcissism)
• envy

It is believed that when committing these sins, the human soul can die. By committing them, a person moves further and further away from God, but all of them can be released during sincere repentance. It is believed that it was mother nature who laid them in every person, and only the strongest in spirit can resist temptations and fight evil. But it is worth remembering that every person can commit a sin, experiencing a difficult period in life. People are not immune from misfortunes and difficulties that can drive everyone to despair. You need to learn how to deal with passions and emotions, and then no sin can overcome you and break your life.

Preparation for confession

Repentance must be prepared in advance. First you need to find a temple in which the ordinances are held and choose a suitable day. Most often they are held on holidays and weekends. At this time, there are always a lot of people in the temple, and not everyone will be able to open when strangers are nearby. In this case, you need to contact the priest and ask him to make an appointment for another day, when you can be alone. Before repentance, it is recommended to read the Penitential Canon, which will allow you to tune in and put your thoughts in order.

You need to know that there are three groups of sins that you can write down and take with you to confession.

1. Vices directed against God:

These include blasphemy and insult to the Lord, blasphemy, interest in the occult sciences, superstition, suicidal thoughts, gambling, and so on.

1. Vices against the soul:

Sloth, deceit, use of obscene words, impatience, disbelief, self-delusion, despair.

1. Vices against neighbors:

Disrespect for parents, slander, condemnation, rancor, hatred, theft, and so on.

How to confess correctly what to say to the priest at the beginning?

Before approaching the representative of the church, put bad thoughts out of your head and prepare to open your soul. You can start confession in the same way as it is correct to confess what to say to the priest, an example: “Lord, I have sinned against you,” and after that you can list your sins. There is no need to tell the priest about the sin in great detail, it is enough just to say "Committed adultery" or confess to another vice.

But to the enumeration of sins, you can add "I sinned with envy, I constantly envy my neighbor ..." and so on. After listening to you, the priest will be able to give valuable advice and help you do the right thing in a given situation. Such clarifications will help to identify your greatest weaknesses and fight them. The confession ends with the words “I repent, Lord! Save and have mercy on me a sinner!

Many confessors are very ashamed to talk about anything, this is an absolutely normal feeling. But at the moment of repentance, you need to overcome yourself and understand that it is not the priest who condemns you, but God, and that it is to God that you tell about your sins. The priest is just a conductor between you and the Lord, do not forget about it.

List of sins for a woman

Many of the fair sex, having familiarized themselves with it, decide to refuse confession. It looks like this:

• Rarely prayed and came to the temple
• While praying, I thought about pressing issues.
• Had sex before marriage
• Had impure thoughts
• Turned for help to fortune-tellers and magicians
• believed in superstition
• I was afraid of old age
• Abuse of alcohol, drugs, sweets
• Refusing to help other people
• Performed abortions
• Wearing revealing clothes

List of sins for a man

• Blasphemy against the Lord
• Disbelief
• Taunting those who are weaker
• Cruelty, pride, laziness, greed
• Military service evasion
• Insults and use of physical force against others
• Slander
• Inability to resist temptations
• Refusal to help relatives and others
• Theft
• Rudeness, contempt, greed

A man needs to take a more responsible approach to this issue, since he is the head of the family. It is from him that children will take an example to follow.

There is also a list of sins for the child, which can be compiled after he answers a series of specific questions. He must understand how important it is to speak sincerely and honestly, but this already depends on the approach of the parents and their preparation of their child for confession.

The Importance of Confession in the Life of a Believer

Many holy fathers call confession a second baptism. This helps to establish unity with God and cleanse oneself of filth. As the Gospel says, repentance is a necessary condition for the purification of the soul. Throughout the life path, a person should strive to overcome temptations and prevent vice. During this sacrament, a person receives liberation from the shackles of sin, and all his sins are forgiven by the Lord God. For many, repentance is a victory over oneself, because only a true believer can confess what people prefer to keep silent about.

If you have confessed before, then you should not talk about old sins again. They have already been released and there is no point in repenting of them anymore. When you finish confessing, the priest will give his speech, give advice and instructions, and also say a permissive prayer. After that, a person must cross himself twice, bow, venerate the crucifix and the Gospel, then cross himself again and receive a blessing.

How to confess for the first time - an example?

The first confession may seem mysterious and unpredictable. People are frightened by the expectation that they may be condemned by a priest, experience a sense of shame and embarrassment. It is worth remembering that the representatives of the church are people who live according to the laws of the Lord. They do not condemn, do not wish harm to anyone and love their neighbors, trying to help them with wise advice.

They will never express a personal point of view, so you should not be afraid that the words of the priest can somehow offend, offend or shame you. He never shows emotion, speaks in a low voice and very little. Before repentance, you can approach him and ask for advice on how to properly prepare for this sacrament.

There is a lot of literature in church shops that can also help and give a lot of important information. During repentance, you should not complain about others and about your life, you need to talk only about yourself, listing the vices that you succumbed to. If you fast, then this is the best moment for confession, because by limiting yourself, people become more restrained and improve, contributing to the purification of the soul.

Many parishioners end their fast with a confession, which is a logical conclusion to a long abstinence. This sacrament leaves in the human soul the most vivid emotions and impressions that are never forgotten. Relieving the soul from sins and receiving their forgiveness, a person gets a chance to start life anew, resist temptations and live in harmony with the Lord and his laws. The article was found on alabanza.ru

What is the meaning of the Christian life? There can be many answers, but no one will argue that Orthodox Christians see the ultimate goal of earthly existence in eternal stay in paradise.

No one knows at what point a person's stay on earth can end, therefore, one should be ready every second for the transition to another world.

What is confession

The best way to get rid of sin is sincere repentance, when the thought of an unclean life becomes disgusting.

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

The mystery of confession in Orthodoxy gives Christians the opportunity to leave all their sins and brings them closer to the Knowledge of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. Humble prayer, frequent confession are the results of repentance, real contrition of the spirit, which takes place in a constant struggle with passions.

About other Sacraments of the Orthodox Church:

Christ and the sinner

Orthodox, who are constantly in prayer and repentance, bringing their bad deeds and thoughts to the altar of God's blood, are not afraid of death, for they know that their bad deeds are forgiven during confession.

Confession is a Sacrament during which, through a priest, as an intermediary, a person communicates with the Creator, renounces his sinful life in repentance and admitting himself a sinner.

Any, the smallest sin, can become a huge lock on the door of eternity. The repentant heart laid at the altar of God's love, the Creator holds in His hands, forgiving all sins, without the right to remember them, shortening earthly life and depriving them of eternal stay in paradise.

Bad deeds come from hell, a fallen person leads him into the existing world, acting as a guide.

A sincere confession of wrong deeds cannot be violent, only through ardent repentance, hatred for a perfect sin, dying for it and living in holiness, the Almighty opens His arms.

Forgiveness in Christianity

The mystery of confession in Orthodoxy guarantees that everything was said in front of the priest, who dies and does not leave the temple gates. There are no sins big and small, there are unrepentant sins, self-justification, alienating a person from accepting forgiveness. Through sincere repentance, a person comprehends the mystery of salvation.

Important! The holy fathers of the church forbid remembering sins confessed before God in sincere repentance, and forever abandoned by man.

Why do Orthodox confess?

Man consists of spirit, soul and body. Everyone knows that the body will turn to dust, but caring for bodily cleanliness occupies an important place in the life of Christians. The soul, which is to meet the Savior at the end of its life, also needs to be cleansed from sins.

Only the confession of sinful deeds, thoughts, words can wash away the dirt from the soul. The accumulation of impurities in the soul causes negative emotions:

• irritation;
• anger;
• apathy.

Often the Orthodox themselves cannot explain their behavior, they do not even suspect that unconfessed sins are the cause of everything.

The spiritual health of a person, a calm conscience directly depends on the frequency of confessing one's vicious inclinations.

Confession, accepted by God, is directly related, or rather, is the result of sincere repentance. A penitent person sincerely desires to live according to the commandments of the Lord, he is constantly critical of his errors and sins.

Confession in the Orthodox Church

According to St. Theophan the Recluse, repentance goes through four stages:

• recognize sin;
• plead guilty to the offense;
• make a decision to permanently break off their relationship with wrong actions or thoughts;
• tearfully pray to the Creator for forgiveness.

Important! Confession must be spoken aloud, for God knows what is written, but demons hear what is said in a voice.

In obedience, going to a frank opening of his heart, which takes place in the presence of a priest, a person first of all steps over his pride. Some believers claim that it is possible to confess directly in the presence of the Creator, but according to the laws of the Orthodox Russian Church, the Sacrament of confession is considered legal if it is perfect through an intercessor, prayer book and witness in one person, through a clergyman.

The main thing in confessing sins is not the rank of mediator, but the state of the heart of the sinner, his heartfelt contrition and complete rejection of the committed offense.

What are the rules of confession

People who wish to perform the Sacrament of Confession approach the priest before the Liturgy or during it, but always before the Sacrament of Communion. To sick people, by prior agreement, the priests go to the house.

According to the Church Charter, when purifying an Orthodox soul, there are no reservations about fasting or prayer rules, the main thing is that a Christian believes and sincerely repents. People who, before coming to the temple, spend time realizing and writing down their sins are doing the right thing, but these records should be left at home.

In front of a priest, as in front of a doctor, they talk about what hurts, torments, and papers are not needed for this.

The deadly sins include:

• pride, hubris, vanity;
• fornication;
• desire for someone else's and envy;
• excessive pleasing of one's flesh;
• unbridled anger;
• a dull spirit that dries the bones.

Advice! It is not necessary for a priest to tell the story of a committed misconduct, the circumstances of its commission, to try to find an excuse for himself. What to say in confession should be considered at home, repenting of every little thing that disturbs the heart.

If this is an offense, before going to the temple, it is necessary to reconcile with the offender and forgive the offending person.

In the presence of a priest, one should name sins, say that I repent and acknowledge it. In confession, we bring repentant sin to the footstool of the great God and ask for forgiveness. Do not confuse a heart-to-heart conversation with a spiritual mentor and the Sacrament of Confession.

When consulting with a counselor, Christians can talk about their problems, ask for advice, and when confessing sins, they should speak clearly, clearly and briefly . God sees a repentant heart, He does not need verbosity.

The Church points to the sin of insensibility during confession, when a person has no fear of the Creator, is of little faith, but came to the temple, for everyone came so that the neighbors could see his “piety”.

Cold, mechanical confession without preparation and sincere repentance is considered invalid, it offends the Creator. You can find several priests, tell each one one bad deed, but not repent of a single one, “putting on” the sin of hypocrisy and deceit.

First confession and preparation for it

Having made the decision to confess, you should:

• clearly understand the importance of this event;
• feel full responsibility before the Almighty;
• repent of the perfect;
• forgive all debtors;
• be filled with faith for forgiveness;
• lay down all sins with deep repentance.

The first stand in petition and repentance will make you mentally “shovel” your life from the point of view of repentance, if the desire for repentance is sincere. At the same time, one should constantly pray, ask God to open the darkest corners of the soul, bring all bad deeds into the light of God.

sacrament of repentance

It is a mortal sin to come to confession, and then take communion, having unforgiveness in your soul. The Bible says that people who come to communion unworthily get sick and die. (1 Corinthians 11:27-30)

Holy Scripture states that God forgives any repentant sin, except for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 12:30-32)

If the committed atrocity is very great, then after confession before communion of the Blood of Jesus, the priest can appoint penance - a punishment in the form of many prostrations, many hours of canon readings, increased fasting and pilgrimage to holy places. It is impossible not to fulfill the penance, it can be canceled by the priest who imposed the punishment.

Important! After confession, they do not always receive communion, and it is impossible to receive Communion without confession.

Prayers before confession and communion: Christ is knocking at the door

Only pride and false shame, which is also related to pride, close the importance of complete trust in the Creator in His mercy and forgiveness. Righteous shame is born conscience, it is given by the Creator, a sincere Christian will always strive to clear his conscience as soon as possible.

What to say to a priest

When going to confession for the first time, one should remember that the meeting ahead is not with a clergyman, but with the Creator Himself.

Cleansing your soul and heart from the sinful heritage, you should confess your guilt in contrition, humility and reverence, while not touching on the sins of other people. They themselves will give an answer to the Creator. It is necessary to confess in firm faith that Jesus came in order to save and wash with His blood from the sinful deeds and thoughts of His children.

Opening your heart to God, you need to repent not only of obvious sins, but of those good deeds that could be done for people, the church, the Savior, but did not.

Carelessness in a trusted cause is an abomination before God.

Jesus, by His earthly death, proved that the path of purification is open to all, promising the thief, who recognized Him as God, the Kingdom of Heaven.

God does not look at the number of bad deeds on the day of confession, He sees a repentant heart.

A sign of forgiveness of sin will be a special peace in the heart, peace. At this time, the angels sing to Heaven, rejoicing in the salvation of another soul.

How to prepare for confession? Archpriest John Pelipenko

Questions about confession

Hwhat is confession?

- Confession is the great Mystery of the reconciliation of God and man, the manifestation of God's love for man. At confession, the believer in the presence of a priest confesses his sins and through him from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself receives the forgiveness of sins.

Why do you need to confess?

Through Confession, the purity of the soul that was lost due to sins returns. This Sacrament restores the state received in Baptism. Sin is filth, and confession is a bath, washing the soul from spiritual filth.

How to prepare for the first Confession?

When preparing for confession, it is necessary to test your conscience, remember the sins committed by deed, word, feelings and thinking for the whole time after Baptism. A person must think all this over and realize what he has sinned against himself, against his neighbors, against God and the Church, and repent. Self-condemnation is the first and most important thing with which one should come to Confession. If necessary, you can write down sins so as not to miss anything during confession.

When preparing for confession, it is useful to read books: “To Help the Penitent” by St. Ignatius Bryanchaninov, “On the Eve of Confession” by Priest Grigory Dyachenko, or “The Experience of Building a Confession” by Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), which will help to realize and see forgotten and unconscious sins. But there is no need to copy sins from books, confession must be completely personal.

What should a person wishing to start Confession know?

Confession must first be approached with all reconciled. At Confession, one should speak only about one's sins, not justify oneself, not condemn others, and ask the Lord for forgiveness for one's sins. You should never fall into despondency from the realization of the gravity of your sins, for there are no sins that are not forgiven, except for those that are not confessed, unrepentant. If for some reason the priest does not have the opportunity to listen in detail, then do not be embarrassed by this. It is important to realize oneself guilty before God, to have contrition and self-reproach in the heart. But if some sin lies on the conscience with a stone, then you need to ask the priest to listen in detail.

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

You can start Confession at any time and preferably as often as possible. Confession before Communion is obligatory.

How to overcome shame in Confession?

The feeling of shame at Confession is natural, it is given by God to keep a person from repeating sin. Understanding that the Church is a doctor's clinic, and not a judgment seat, can help overcome shame. The Lord “does not want the death of the sinner, but that the sinner turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). “Sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit, a contrite and humble heart God will not humiliate” (Ps. 50:19).

At a doctor's appointment, a person is not ashamed to talk about his bodily illnesses, so at Confession one should not be ashamed to reveal his spiritual illnesses to a priest. There is no other way to heal the soul.

Are Repentance and Confession the Same?

Repentance (translated from Greek as “change of mind”) is a change in lifestyle through a change in mind and way of thinking: from awareness of untruth - through repentance - to change. Therefore, true repentance is rebirth, inner restructuring, renewal and rebirth of life. Repentance is not a single act of repentance, but a constant, daily act. Repentance is an expression of readiness for spiritual work, for cooperation with God in the name of gaining Paradise.

Repentance implies, first of all, an internal reassessment of oneself, a kind of critical introspection, the ability to look at oneself from the outside, condemn one's sins, and commit oneself to justice and God's mercy. Repentance is the realization of one's sin, the unrighteousness of one's own life, the recognition that in one's deeds and thoughts a person has deviated from the moral norm that God has put into his nature. Awareness of this is the greatest virtue and at the same time a guarantee of changing life for the better.

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

Confession is the confession of one's sins (orally or sometimes in writing) in front of a witness priest. This is part of the Sacrament of Penance, during which a penitent person, through the reading of a special prayer by the priest and the overshadowing of the sign of the Cross, receives permission (liberation) from sins and forgiveness from God Himself.

At what age should a child confess?

Usually children go to confession from the age of 7. But it is advisable to prepare children for the first confession in advance. Starting from the age of 5-6, lead them to

to the priest for a confidential conversation, so that they acquire the skill of realizing their misdeeds.

When is confession - before or after the service?

Confession takes place at different times in different churches. Somewhere in the morning they do not confess at all, but somewhere, on the contrary, they confess only in the morning. Somewhere just before the service, and somewhere during and after the service, both in the morning and in the evening. You can find out about the time of confession in your temple by asking directly from the staff of your temple.

In our church you can confess daily in the morning and in the evening. But it is better to confess in the evening during the evening service after 18.30. In the morning during the Liturgy, you can confess only as a last resort. During the summer holidays and during Great Lent, confession may be canceled on weekday evenings. Confession always takes place on Saturday during the All-Night Vigil around 18:00.

What is sin, how to destroy it?

Sin is a violation of the commandments of God, a crime against God's law, committed voluntarily or involuntarily. The primary source of sin is the fallen world, man is the conductor of sin. The Holy Fathers distinguish the following stages of involvement in sin: attachment (sinful thought, desire); combination (acceptance of this sinful thought, delaying attention on it); captivity (enslavement to this sinful thought, agreement with it); falling into sin (doing in deed what was suggested by sinful thought).

The struggle with sin begins with the awareness of oneself as a sinner and the desire to resist sin and correct oneself. Sin is destroyed by repentance with the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is taught to believers in the Sacraments of the Church.

What is the difference between sin and passion?

Passion is a bad habit, a habit, an attraction to sinful action, and sin is the very action of passion, its satisfaction in thoughts, words and deeds. One can have passions, but not act on them, not commit a sinful action. To resist one's passions, to struggle with them - this is one of the main tasks in the life of a Christian.

What sins are called mortal?

There is a list of mortal sins, however, it can be argued that any sin that completely enslaves the will of man is mortal.

“The mortal sins for a Christian are the following: heresy, schism, blasphemy, apostasy, sorcery, despair, suicide, fornication, adultery, unnatural adultery, incest, drunkenness, sacrilege, homicide, robbery, theft and any cruel, inhuman offense.

Only one of these sins - suicide - is not subject to healing by repentance, but each of them mortifies the soul and makes it incapable of eternal bliss, until it cleanses itself with satisfactory repentance ...

He who has fallen into mortal sin, let him not fall into despair! Let him resort to the medicine of repentance, to which he is called until the last minute of his life by the Savior, who proclaimed in the Holy Gospel: “He who believes in Me, if he dies, shall live” (John 11:25). But it is disastrous to remain in mortal sin, it is disastrous when the mortal sin turns into a habit! (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov).

Are all people sinners?

- "There is no righteous man on earth who would do good and would not sin" (Eccl. 7:20). Human nature is damaged by the fall of the first people, so people cannot live life without sin. One God without sin. All people sin a lot before God. But some recognize themselves as sinners and repent, while others do not see sins behind them. The Apostle John the Theologian writes: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).

Condemnation, vanity, self-justification, idle talk, hostility, ridicule, obstinacy, laziness, irritability, anger are constant companions of human life. More serious sins lie on the conscience of many: infanticide (abortion), adultery, contact with sorcerers and psychics, envy, theft, enmity, revenge, and much more”;

Why is the sin of Adam and Eve called the original?

Sin is called original because it was committed by the first people (ancestors) - Adam (forefather) and Eve (foremother) - from whom the first human race descended. Original sin was the beginning for all subsequent human sins.

Why should all the numerous descendants of Adam and Eve be held responsible for their fall?

The fall of the first people damaged their spiritual and bodily nature. All people, as descendants of Adam and Eve, have the same damaged nature, easily inclined to sin.

In the patristic understanding, sin is a disease of the soul. And in the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church, such an understanding of sin is expressed in numerous prayers.

With this definition of sin, it is easy to understand why posterity suffers because of the fall of the first parents. Today, everyone knows that a number of serious diseases are inherited. No one is surprised that the children of alcoholics, for example, may have a hereditary predisposition to alcoholism, not to mention a whole bunch of concomitant diseases. And if sin is a disease, it may well be hereditary.

In the Sacrament of Baptism, the human soul is freed from original sin, since our Lord Jesus Christ atoned for Adam's sin by His death on the Cross.

What is required for the forgiveness of sins?

For the forgiveness of sins, the confessor requires reconciliation with all his neighbors, sincere contrition for sins and their full confession, a firm intention to correct himself, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and hope for His mercy.

Does God forgive all sins?

There is no unforgivable sin, except that which is not repented of. The mercy of God is so great that the thief, having repented, was the first to enter the Kingdom of God. No matter how many sins there are and no matter how great they are, God has more mercy, because as He Himself is infinite, so His mercy is infinite.

How do you know if a sin is forgiven?

If the priest read the permissive prayer, then the sin is forgiven. But sins tend to leave behind a kind of scars. Sometimes sin continues to torment us, or pops up in our memories. Sometimes he becomes attractive to us again, and we fall into this sin again. In the latter cases, our repentance proved to be incomplete, since sin was never completely expelled from our lives. Therefore, you need to go to confession again and repent of it.

Is it necessary to confess the same

sin?

If it is committed again, then it is necessary to confess it again. If this sin is no longer repeated, then it is no longer necessary to talk about it.

Is it possible to say not all sins in confession?

Before performing the Sacrament of Penance, the priest reads a prayer with the following content: “Child, Christ stands invisibly, accepting your confession. Do not be ashamed, do not be afraid and do not hide anything from me, but say everything you have sinned without being embarrassed, and you will accept the remission of sins from our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is His icon before us: I am only a witness, and everything that you say to me, I will testify before Him. If you hide anything from me, your sin will be aggravated. Understand that since you have come to the hospital, do not leave it unhealed!”

If someone hides his sins at Confession because of false shame, or because of pride, or out of lack of faith, or simply because of a lack of understanding of the full importance of repentance, then he comes out of Confession not only not cleansed of sins, but even more burdened. them. Earthly life is short-lived and a person can pass into eternity without having time to fully confess.

Confessed sin, as it were, becomes outside the soul, leaves it - just as a splinter taken out of the body becomes outside the body and ceases to harm it.

Is it good to go to confession often?

Through frequent confession, sin loses its power. Frequent Confession turns away from sin, protects from evil, affirms in goodness, maintains vigilance, and keeps from repeating sins. And unconfessed sins become habitual and cease to burden the conscience. But one must treat the sacrament of Penance with reverence, not turn it into a petty habit and confuse it with the daily revelation of thoughts in monasteries.

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

The Sacrament of Penance is performed in the presence of a priest. This is a necessary condition. But the priest is only a witness, and the true occult performer is the Lord God. A priest is a prayer book, an intercessor before the Lord and a witness that the God-established Sacrament of Confession takes place in a lawful manner.

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

For a person who really suffers from the ulcer of sin, it does not matter through whom he confesses this sin that torments him - if only to confess it as soon as possible and get relief. The most important thing in Confession is not the personality of the priest who receives it, but the state of mind of the penitent, his sincere repentance, which leads to the realization of sin, to heartfelt contrition and rejection of the offense committed.

Can a priest tell someone the contents of a Confession?

The Church obliges priests to keep the secret of Confession. For violation of this rule, the clergyman may be defrocked.

Is fasting necessary before confession?

When preparing for Confession according to the Church Charter, fasting and a special prayer rule are not required, faith and awareness of one's sins, a desire to be freed from them are necessary.

Fasting is necessary if after Confession there is an intention to take communion. The measure of fasting before Communion should be discussed with the priest in advance.

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

If you remember a forgotten grave sin, then it would be good to confess again before proceeding to Communion.

If between Confession and Communion they sinned in word or deed, for example, they quarreled with someone, or there was defilement in a dream, then you need to confess. But if you had only thoughts or other less serious sins, then you don’t need to confess in the morning, subject to your inner repentance and intention to reconcile with everyone.

In the morning before Communion, you should not occupy the time of the priest with your Confession. Give the opportunity to confess to those who could not come to Confession the day before - the weak and parents with small children.

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

This sin should be said at Confession in the near future.

There is no need to postpone Communion, but with a repentant feeling and awareness of one's unworthiness, approach the Chalice.

Is it necessary to take communion after confession? Can I confess and leave?

Communion after confession is optional. You can sometimes come to the temple only for confession. But for those who want to take communion, you need to confess, preferably the day before, or even a few days before Communion.

What should sick people do who cannot come to church for Confession and Communion?

Their relatives can come to the temple and ask the priest for Confession and Communion of the sick person at home.

What is penance?

Penance (translated from Greek as “punishment”) is a spiritual medicine, a means of helping in the fight against sin, a way of healing a penitent sinner, which consists in performing the deeds of piety determined by his confessor. It can be bowing, reading prayers, canons or akathists, increased fasting, pilgrimage to a holy place - depending on the strength and capabilities of the penitent. The penance must be carried out strictly, and only the priest who imposed it can cancel it.

Confession. Unfortunately, we really have a lot of things mixed up in our heads, and it seems to us that if a person cannot help but sin, he should confess almost every day.

Frequent confession can be very useful at a certain stage of our life, especially when a person is just taking his first steps in the faith, just starting to cross the threshold of the temple, and an almost unknown space of a new life opens up for him. He does not know how to pray correctly, how to build his relationships with his neighbors, how he can generally navigate this new life of his, so he makes mistakes all the time, all the time, it seems to him (and not only him), he does something wrong. then.

Thus, frequent confession for those people whom we call neophytes is a very important and serious stage in their recognition of the Church, their understanding of all the foundations of spiritual life. Such people enter the life of the Church, including through confession, through a conversation with a priest. Where else can you talk so intimately with a priest, if not at confession? The main thing is that they get here their main first Christian experience of understanding their mistakes, understanding how to build relationships with other people, with themselves. Such a confession is very often a spiritual, confessional conversation more than repentance for sins. One might say - a catechist confession.

But over time, when a person already understands a lot, knows a lot, has gained some experience through trial and error, a very frequent and detailed confession can become an obstacle for him. Not necessarily for everyone: someone feels quite normal with frequent confession. But for someone it can become just a barrier, because a person suddenly learns to think something like this: “If I live all the time, it means that I sin all the time. If I sin all the time, then I must confess all the time. If I don’t confess, how will I go to communion with sins?” Here there is such, I would say, a syndrome of distrust of God, when a person thinks that for confessed sins he was honored to receive the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Of course, this is not true. The contrite spirit with which we come to communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ does not cancel our confession. But confession does not cancel a contrite spirit.

The fact is that a person cannot confess at confession in such a way that he can take all his sins and state them. Impossible. Even if he takes and simply rewrites the book with a list of all kinds of sins and perversions that only exist on Earth. This will not be a confession. It will be nothing but a formal act of distrust of God, which in itself, of course, is not very good.
The most terrible spiritual disease

People sometimes come to confession in the evening, then go to church in the morning, and then - ah! - at the Chalice itself they remember: “I forgot to confess this sin!”, - and almost from the queue for communion they run away to the priest, who continues the confession, in order to say what he forgot to say in confession. This, of course, is a problem.

Or they suddenly begin to babble at the Chalice: “Father, I forgot to say such and such in confession.” What does a person bring to communion? With love or distrust? If a person knows and trusts God, then he knows that God came into this world to save sinners. “From them I am the first”, - these words are spoken by the priest, and each of us says when he comes to confession. It is not the righteous who partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, but sinners, of whom everyone who comes to the Chalice is the first, because he is a sinner. It means that he even goes to communion with sins.

He repents of these sins, laments over them; this contrition is the most important thing that gives a person the opportunity to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Otherwise, if a person confessed before communion and felt confident that now he would worthily receive communion, now he has the right to receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ, then I think that nothing could be worse and more terrible than this.

As soon as a person feels worthy, as soon as a person feels entitled to take communion, the most terrible spiritual illness that can only befall a Christian will set in. Therefore, in many countries, communion and confession are not a mandatory link. Confession is made at the right time and place, Communion is made during the Divine Liturgy.

Therefore, those who confessed, say, a week ago, two weeks ago, and their conscience is peaceful, they have good relations with their neighbors, and their conscience does not convict a person of some kind of sins that would weigh on his soul like a terrible and unpleasant stain. , he can, lamenting, approach the Chalice ... It is clear that each of us is sinful in many ways, each is imperfect. We realize that without God's help, without God's mercy, we will not become different.

To list those sins that God knows about us - why do something that is already so clear? I repent that I am a proud person, but I cannot repent of this every 15 minutes, although every minute I remain the same proud. When I come to confession to repent of the sin of pride, I sincerely repent of this sin, but I understand that, having moved away from confession, I did not become humble, did not exhaust this sin to the end. Therefore, it would be pointless for me to come every 5 minutes and say again: "Sinful, sinful, sinful."

My sin is my work, my sin is my work on this sin. My sin is constant self-reproach, daily attention to what I brought to God for confession. But I can't tell God about it every time, He already knows it. I will say this the next time this sin trips me up again and shows me again all my insignificance and all my separation from God. I once again bear sincere repentance for this sin, but as long as I know that I am infected with this sin, until this sin forced me to turn away from God so much that I felt how strong this distance is, this sin may not be the subject of my constant confession, but must be the subject of my constant struggle.

The same goes for everyday sins. For example, it is very difficult for a person to live a whole day without judging anyone. Or live the whole day without saying a single superfluous, idle word. From the fact that we will constantly name these sins at confession, absolutely nothing will change. If every day in the evening, going to sleep, we check our conscience, not just read this memorized prayer, the last one in the evening rule, where there is mischief, covetousness and any other incomprehensible “property” is imputed to us as a sin, but simply we will really check our conscience and understand that today was again a trip in our life, that today again we did not keep our Christian calling at the height, then we will bring repentance to God, this will be our spiritual work, this will be exactly the doing that from us the Lord is waiting.

But, if we list this sin every time we come to confession, but at the same time do absolutely nothing, then this confession turns out to be very doubtful.
Heavenly accounting does not exist

Every Christian can relate to the frequency of confession based on the realities of his spiritual life. But it is strange to think of God as a prosecutor, to believe that there is some kind of heavenly bookkeeping that takes all our confessed sins as an offset and erases them with an eraser from some kind of ledger when we come to confession. Therefore, we are afraid, what if they forgot something, suddenly they didn’t say, and it won’t be erased with an eraser?

Well, they forgot and forgot. It's OK. We don't even know our sins. Whenever we are spiritually alive, we suddenly see ourselves in a way we have not seen ourselves before. Sometimes a person, having lived for many years in the Church, says to a priest: “Father, it seems to me that I used to be better, I never committed such sins as I do now.”

Does that mean he was better? Of course not. Just then, many years ago, he did not see himself at all, did not know who he was. And over time, the Lord revealed to man his essence, and then not completely, but only to the very extent that a person is capable of this. Because if, at the beginning of our spiritual life, the Lord had shown us all our incapacity for this life, all our weakness, all our inner ugliness, then perhaps we would have despaired of this so much that we would not have wanted to go anywhere further. Therefore, the Lord, by His mercy, even reveals our sins gradually, knowing what sinners we are. But at the same time, it allows us to take communion.
Confession is not training

I don't think that confession is something in which a person trains himself. We have spiritual exercises in which, in a sense, we train ourselves, set ourselves up - this is, for example, fasting. Its regularity is affirmed in the fact that a person during fasting tries to streamline his life. Another spiritual “training” includes a prayer rule, which also really helps a person to streamline his life.

But if the sacrament is considered from this point of view, then this is a disaster. It is impossible to take communion regularly for the sake of the regularity of communion. Regular communion is not exercise, not physical education. This does not mean that since I did not take communion, then I lost something and should take communion in order to accumulate some kind of spiritual potential. It's not like that at all.

A person takes communion because he cannot live without it. He has a thirst to receive communion, he has a desire to be with God, he has a true and sincere desire to open himself to God and become different, uniting with God… And the sacraments of the Church cannot become for us some kind of physical education. They are not given for this, after all, they are not exercises, but life.

The meeting of friends and relatives does not happen because friends must meet regularly, otherwise they will not be friends. Friends meet because they are very attracted to each other. It is unlikely that friendship will be useful if we say that people set themselves the task: "We are friends, therefore, in order for our friendship to grow stronger, we must meet every Sunday." This is absurd.

The same can be said about the sacraments. “If I want to confess correctly and develop a real repentant feeling in myself, I have to confess every week,” sounds absurd. Like this one: “If I want to become a saint and be with God always, I must take communion every Sunday.” Just nonsense.

Moreover, it seems to me that there is some kind of substitution in this, because everything is not in its place. A person confesses because his heart hurts, because his soul suffers from pain, because he has sinned, and he is ashamed, he wants to cleanse his heart. A person takes communion not because the regularity of communion makes him a Christian, but because he strives to be with God, because he cannot but take communion.
Quality and frequency of confession

The quality of confession does not depend on the frequency of confession. Of course, there are people who go to confession once a year, take communion once a year - and do it without understanding why. Because it is supposed to be so, and somehow it would be necessary, the time has come. Therefore, they, of course, do not have some skill for confession, understanding its essence. Therefore, as I have already said, in order to enter the church life, to learn something, of course, at first you need regular confession.

But regularity does not mean once a week. The regularity of confession can be different: 10 times a year, once a month... When a person builds his life spiritually, he feels that he needs to confess.

That's how priests are: they each set for themselves a certain regularity of their confession. I even think that there is not even any regularity here, except that the priest himself feels the moment when he needs to go to confession. There is a certain internal obstacle to communion, there is an internal obstacle to prayer, an understanding comes that life begins to crumble, and you need to go to confession.

In general, a person must live like this in order to feel it. When a person does not have a sense of life, when a person measures everything by a certain external element, by external actions, then, of course, he will be surprised: “How is it possible to take communion without confession? Like this? This is some kind of horror!

about. Alexy Umninsky