The first confession of an adult woman. What words should I begin my confession to the priest with? Behavior at the sacrament of repentance

We are publishing a complete list of sins to prepare for confession in the Orthodox Church.

The list may not be complete. Read only to churchgoers!

1. She violated the rules of conduct for those praying in the holy temple.
2. I had dissatisfaction with my life and with people.
3. She performed prayers without zeal and bowed low to icons, prayed lying down, sitting (unnecessarily, out of laziness).
4. She sought glory and praise in virtues and works.
5. I was not always content with what I had: I wanted to have beautiful, varied clothes, furniture, and delicious food.
6. I was annoyed and offended when my wishes were denied.
7. I did not abstain with my husband during pregnancy, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, during fasting, and was in uncleanness by consent with my husband.
8. I sinned with disgust.
9. After committing a sin, she did not repent immediately, but kept it to herself for a long time.
10. She sinned with idle talk and indirectness. I remembered the words others had said against me and sang shameless worldly songs.
11. She grumbled about the bad road, the length and tediousness of the service.
12. I used to save money for a rainy day, as well as for funerals.
13. She was angry with her loved ones and scolded her children. She did not tolerate comments or fair reproaches from people, she immediately fought back.
14. She sinned with vanity, asking for praise, saying “you can’t praise yourself, no one will praise you.”
15. The deceased was remembered with alcohol; on a fast day the funeral table was modest.
16. Didn’t have a firm determination to give up sin.
17. I doubted the honesty of my neighbors.
18. I missed opportunities to do good.
19. She suffered from pride, did not condemn herself, and was not always the first to ask for forgiveness.
20. Allowed food spoilage.
21. She did not always keep the shrine reverently (artos, water, prosphora spoiled).
22. I sinned with the goal of “repenting.”
23. She objected, justifying herself, was irritated by the lack of understanding, stupidity and ignorance of others, made reprimands and comments, contradicted, divulged sins and weaknesses.
24. Attributed sins and weaknesses to others.
25. She succumbed to rage: she scolded her loved ones, insulted her husband and children.
26. Led others into anger, irritability, and indignation.
27. I sinned by judging my neighbor and tarnishing his good name.
28. Sometimes she became discouraged and carried her cross with a murmur.
29. Interfered in other people's conversations, interrupted the speaker's speech.
30. She sinned with grumpiness, compared herself with others, complained and became embittered at those who offended her.
31. Thanked people, did not look towards God with gratitude.
32. I fell asleep with sinful thoughts and dreams.
33. I noticed bad words and actions of people.
34. Drank and ate food that was harmful to health.
35. She was troubled in spirit by slander and considered herself better than others.
36. She sinned by indulgence and indulgence in sins, self-indulgence, self-indulgence, disrespect for old age, untimely eating, intransigence, inattention to requests.
37. I missed the opportunity to sow the word of God and bring benefit.
38. She sinned with gluttony, guttural rage: she loved to eat excessively, savor tasty morsels, and amused herself with drunkenness.
39. She was distracted from prayer, distracted others, gave off bad air in church, went out when necessary without telling about it in confession, and hastily prepared for confession.
40. She sinned with laziness, idleness, exploited other people’s labor, speculated in things, sold icons, did not go to church on Sundays and holidays, was lazy to pray.
41. She became bitter towards the poor, did not accept strangers, did not give to the poor, did not clothe the naked.
42. I trusted in man more than in God.
43. I was drunk at a party.
44. I did not send gifts to those who offended me.
45. I was upset at a loss.
46. ​​I fell asleep during the day unnecessarily.
47. I was burdened by sorrows.
48. I didn’t protect myself from colds and didn’t get treatment from doctors.
49. She deceived me with her word.
50. Exploited the work of others.
51. She was depressed in sorrows.
52. She was a hypocrite, a people-pleaser.
53. She wished evil, was cowardly.
54. She was resourceful for evil.
55. Was rude and not condescending to others.
56. I didn’t force myself to do good deeds or pray.
57. She angrily reproached the authorities at rallies.
58. I shortened prayers, skipped them, rearranged words.
59. I envied others and wanted honor for myself.
60. I sinned with pride, vanity, self-love.
61. I watched dances, dances, various games and shows.
62. She sinned by idle ranting, secret eating, petrification, insensibility, neglect, disobedience, intemperance, stinginess, condemnation, love of money, reproach.
63. Spent the holidays in drinking and earthly amusements.
64. She sinned by sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, inaccurate observance of fasts, unworthy communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord.
65. She got drunk and laughed at someone else’s sin.
66. She sinned through lack of faith, infidelity, betrayal, deceit, lawlessness, groaning over sin, doubt, freethinking.
67. She was fickle in good deeds and did not care about reading the Holy Gospel.
68. I came up with excuses for my sins.
69. She sinned by disobedience, arbitrariness, unfriendliness, malice, disobedience, insolence, contempt, ingratitude, severity, sneaking, oppression.
70. She did not always fulfill her official duties conscientiously; she was careless and hasty in her work.
71. She believed in signs and various superstitions.
72. Was an instigator of evil.
73. I went to weddings without a church wedding.
74. I sinned through spiritual insensibility: relying on myself, on magic, on fortune telling.
75. Did not keep these vows.
76. Concealed sins during confession.
77. I tried to find out other people’s secrets, read other people’s letters, eavesdropped on telephone conversations.
78. In great grief she wished for death.
79. Wore immodest clothes.
80. Talked during the meal.
81. She drank and ate the water “charged” by Chumak.
82. Worked through strength.
83. I forgot about my Guardian Angel.
84. I sinned by being lazy in praying for my neighbors; I did not always pray when asked to do so.
85. I was ashamed to cross myself among unbelievers, and took off the cross when going to the bathhouse and to see a doctor.
86. She did not keep the vows given at Holy Baptism and did not maintain the purity of her soul.
87. She noticed the sins and weaknesses of others, divulged and reinterpreted them for the worse. She swore, swore on her head, on her life. She called people “devil”, “Satan”, “demon”.
88. She called the dumb cattle after the names of holy saints: Vaska, Mashka.
89. I didn’t always pray before eating food; sometimes I had breakfast in the morning before the Divine service.
90. Having previously been an unbeliever, she seduced her neighbors into unbelief.
91. She set a bad example with her life.
92. I was lazy to work, shifting my labor onto the shoulders of others.
93. I did not always handle the word of God with care: I drank tea and read the Holy Gospel (which is lack of reverence).
94. Took Epiphany water after eating (unnecessarily).
95. I picked lilacs at the cemetery and brought them home.
96. I didn’t always keep the sacrament days, I forgot to read the prayers of thanks. I ate a lot these days and slept a lot.
97. I sinned by being idle, coming to church late and leaving it early, and rarely going to church.
98. Neglected menial work when absolutely necessary.
99. She sinned by indifference, remained silent when someone blasphemed.
100. She did not strictly observe fasting days, during fasts she was satiated with fasting food, she tempted others with the indulgence of something tasty and inaccurate according to the rules: a hot loaf, vegetable oil, seasoning.
101. I was carried away by bliss, relaxation, carelessness, trying on clothes and jewelry.
102. She reproached the priests and servants and spoke about their shortcomings.
103. Gave advice on abortion.
104. I disturbed someone else’s sleep through carelessness and impudence.
105. I read love letters, copied, memorized passionate poems, listened to music, songs, watched shameless movies.
106. She sinned with immodest glances, looked at other people’s nudity, wore immodest clothes.
107. I was tempted in a dream and passionately remembered it.
108. She suspected in vain (she slandered in her heart).
109. She retold empty, superstitious tales and fables, praised herself, and did not always tolerate the revealing truth and offenders.
110. Showed curiosity about other people's letters and papers.
111. Idly inquired about the weaknesses of my neighbor.
112. I have not freed myself from the passion to tell or ask about news.
113. I read prayers and akathists rewritten with errors.
114. I considered myself better and more worthy than others.
115. I don’t always light lamps and candles in front of icons.
116. I violated the secret of my own and others’ confession.
117. Participated in bad deeds, persuaded people to do bad things.
118. She was stubborn against goodness and did not listen to good advice. She showed off her beautiful clothes.
119. I wanted everything to be my way, I looked for the culprits of my sorrows.
120. After completing the prayer, I had evil thoughts.
121. She spent money on music, cinema, the circus, sinful books and other amusements, and lent money for a deliberately bad cause.
122. In thoughts inspired by the enemy, she plotted against the Holy Faith and the Holy Church.
123. She disturbed the peace of mind of the sick, looked at them as sinners, and not as a test of their faith and virtue.
124. Yielded to untruth.
125. I ate and went to bed without praying.
126. I ate before mass on Sundays and holidays.
127. She spoiled the water when she bathed in the river from which she drank.
128. She talked about her exploits, labors, and boasted about her virtues.
129. I enjoyed using scented soap, cream, powder, and painted my eyebrows, nails and eyelashes.
130. I sinned with the hope that “God will forgive.”
131. I relied on my own strengths and abilities, and not on the help and mercy of God.
132. She worked on holidays and weekends, and from working on these days she did not give money to the poor.
133. I visited a healer, went to a fortune teller, was treated with “biocurrents”, sat in psychic sessions.
134. She sowed enmity and discord between people, she herself offended others.
135. She sold vodka and moonshine, speculated, made moonshine (was present at the same time) and took part.
136. She suffered from gluttony, even getting up to eat and drink at night.
137. Drew a cross on the ground.
138. I read atheistic books, magazines, “treatises on love”, looked at pornographic paintings, maps, half-nude images.
139. Distorted the Holy Scripture (mistakes when reading, singing).
140. She exalted herself with pride, sought primacy and supremacy.
141. In anger she mentioned evil spirits and called on a demon.
142. I danced and played on holidays and Sundays.
143. She entered the temple in uncleanness, ate prosphora, antidor.
144. In anger, I scolded and cursed those who offended me: so that there is no bottom, no tire, etc.
145. Spent money on entertainment (rides, carousels, all kinds of shows).
146. She was offended by her spiritual father and grumbled at him.
147. She disdained kissing icons and caring for sick and old people.
148. She teased the deaf and dumb, the weak-minded, and minors, angered animals, and paid evil for evil.
149. Tempted people, wore see-through clothes, miniskirts.
150. She swore and was baptized, saying: “I will fail in this place,” etc.
151. She retold ugly stories (sinful in essence) from the lives of her parents and neighbors.
152. Had a spirit of jealousy towards a friend, sister, brother, friend.
153. She sinned by being grumpy, self-willed, and complaining that there was no health, strength, or strength in the body.
154. I envied rich people, their beauty, their intelligence, education, wealth, and goodwill.
155. She did not keep her prayers and good deeds secret, and did not keep church secrets.
156. She justified her sins with illness, infirmity, and bodily weakness.
157. She condemned other people's sins and shortcomings, compared people, gave them characteristics, judged them.
158. She revealed the sins of others, mocked them, ridiculed people.
159. Deliberately deceived, told lies.
160. I hastily read holy books when my mind and heart did not assimilate what I read.
161. I gave up prayer because I was tired, making the excuse of weakness.
162. I rarely cried because I was living unrighteously; I forgot about humility, self-reproach, salvation and the Last Judgment.
163. In my life I have not surrendered myself to the will of God.
164. She ruined her spiritual home, mocked people, discussed the fall of others.
165. She herself was an instrument of the devil.
166. She did not always cut off her will in front of the elder.
167. I spent a lot of time on empty letters, and not on spiritual ones.
168. Didn’t have a feeling of fear of God.
169. She was angry, shook her fist, and swore.
170. I read more than I prayed.
171. I succumbed to persuasion, to the temptation to sin.
172. She commanded imperiously.
173. She slandered others, forced others to swear.
174. She turned her face away from those asking.
175. She disturbed the peace of mind of her neighbor and had a sinful mood of spirit.
176. Did good without thinking about God.
177. She was vain about her place, rank, position.
178. On the bus I did not give up my seat to the elderly or passengers with children.
179. When buying, she bargained and fell into argument.
180. I did not always accept the words of the elders and confessors with faith.
181. She looked with curiosity and asked about worldly things.
182. The flesh did not live in the shower, bath, bathhouse.
183. Traveled aimlessly, out of boredom.
184. When the visitors left, she did not try to free herself from sinfulness by prayer, but remained in it.
185. She allowed herself privileges in prayer, pleasure in worldly pleasures.
186. She pleased others to please the flesh and the enemy, and not for the benefit of the spirit and salvation.
187. I sinned with unspiritual attachment to friends.
188. I was proud of myself when doing a good deed. She didn’t humiliate herself or reproach herself.
189. She did not always feel sorry for sinful people, but scolded and reproached them.
190. She was dissatisfied with her life, scolded her and said: “When death takes me.”
191. There were times when she called me annoyingly and knocked loudly to get them to open.
192. While reading, I did not think deeply about the Holy Scriptures.
193. I did not always have cordiality towards visitors and the memory of God.
194. I did things out of passion and worked needlessly.
195. Often fueled by empty dreams.
196. She sinned with malice, did not remain silent in anger, did not move away from the one who aroused anger.
197. When I was sick, I often used food not for satisfaction, but for pleasure and enjoyment.
198. She coldly received mentally helpful visitors.
199. I grieved for the one who offended me. And they grieved at me when I offended.
200. During prayer I did not always have repentant feelings or humble thoughts.
201. Insulted her husband, who avoided intimacy on the wrong day.
202. In anger, she encroached on the life of her neighbor.
203. I have sinned and am sinning by fornication: I was with my husband not to conceive children, but out of lust. In the absence of her husband, she desecrated herself with masturbation.
204. At work I experienced persecution for the truth and grieved about it.
205. Laughed at the mistakes of others and made comments out loud.
206. She wore women's whims: beautiful umbrellas, fluffy clothes, other people's hair (wigs, hairpieces, braids).
207. She was afraid of suffering and endured it reluctantly.
208. She often opened her mouth to show off her gold teeth, wore glasses with gold frames, and an abundance of rings and gold jewelry.
209. I asked advice from people who do not have spiritual intelligence.
210. Before reading the word of God, she did not always call on the grace of the Holy Spirit, she only cared about reading as much as possible.
211. She passed on the gift of God to the womb, voluptuousness, idleness and sleep. She didn’t work, having talent.
212. I was lazy to write and rewrite spiritual instructions.
213. I dyed my hair and looked younger, visited beauty salons.
214. When giving alms, she did not combine it with the correction of her heart.
215. She did not shy away from flatterers and did not stop them.
216. She had an addiction to clothes: she cared about how not to get dirty, not dusty, not to get wet.
217. She did not always wish salvation for her enemies and did not care about it.
218. At prayer I was “a slave of necessity and duty.”
219. After fasting, I ate light meals, eating until my stomach became heavy and often without time.
220. I rarely prayed the night prayer. She sniffed tobacco and indulged in smoking.
221. Didn’t avoid spiritual temptations. Had some bad dates. I lost heart.
222. On the road I forgot about prayer.
223. Intervened with instructions.
224. She did not sympathize with the sick and mourning.
225. She didn’t always lend money.
226. I feared sorcerers more than God.
227. I felt sorry for myself for the benefit of others.
228. She soiled and spoiled sacred books.
229. I talked before morning and after evening prayer.
230. She brought glasses to guests against their will, treated them beyond measure.
231. I did the works of God without love and zeal.
232. Often I did not see my sins, I rarely condemned myself.
233. I played with my face, looking in the mirror, making grimaces.
234. She spoke about God without humility and caution.
235. I was burdened by the service, waiting for the end, hurrying quickly to the exit in order to calm down and take care of everyday affairs.
236. I rarely did self-tests; in the evening I did not read the prayer “I confess to you...”
237. I rarely thought about what I heard in the temple and read in the Scriptures.
238. I did not look for traits of kindness in an evil person and did not talk about his good deeds.
239. I often did not see my sins and rarely condemned myself.
240. Took contraceptives. She demanded protection from her husband and interruption of the act.
241. Praying for health and peace, I often went through names without the participation and love of my heart.
242. She spoke out everything when it would have been better to remain silent.
243. In the conversation I used artistic techniques. She spoke in an unnatural voice.
244. She was offended by inattention and neglect of herself, and was inattentive to others.
245. Did not abstain from excesses and pleasures.
246. She wore other people’s clothes without permission and damaged other people’s things. In the room I blew my nose on the floor.
247. She sought benefit and benefit for herself, and not for her neighbor.
248. Forced a person to sin: to lie, steal, spy.
249. Convey and retell.
250. I found pleasure in sinful dates.
251. Visited places of wickedness, debauchery and godlessness.
252. She offered her ear to hear the bad.
253. Attributed success to herself, and not to God’s help.
254. While studying spiritual life, I did not put it into practice.
255. She worried people in vain and did not calm the angry and saddened.
256. I often washed clothes, wasting time unnecessarily.
257. Sometimes she ran into danger: she crossed the road in front of vehicles, crossed a river on thin ice, etc.
258. She rose above others, showing her superiority and wisdom of mind. She allowed herself to humiliate another, mocking the shortcomings of soul and body.
259. I put off the works of God, mercy and prayer for later.
260. I didn’t mourn myself when I did a bad deed. I listened with pleasure to slanderous speeches, blasphemed the life and treatment of others.
261. Did not use excess income for spiritual benefits.
262. I did not save from the days of fasting to give to the sick, the needy and children.
263. She worked reluctantly, with grumbling and annoyance because of the low pay.
264. Was the cause of sin in family discord.
265. She endured sorrows without gratitude and self-reproach.
266. I didn’t always retire to be alone with God.
267. She lay and luxuriated in bed for a long time, and did not immediately get up to pray.
268. Lost self-control when defending the offended, kept hostility and evil in her heart.
269. Didn’t stop the speaker from gossiping. She herself often passed it on to others and with an addition from herself.
270. Before morning prayer and during the prayer rule, I did household chores.
271. She autocratically presented her thoughts as the true rule of life.
272. Ate stolen food.
273. I did not confess the Lord with my mind, heart, word, or deed. She had an alliance with the wicked.
274. At meals I was too lazy to treat and serve my neighbor.
275. She was sad about the deceased, about the fact that she herself was sick.
276. I was glad that the holiday had come and I didn’t have to work.
277. I drank wine on holidays. She loved going to dinner parties. I got fed up there.
278. I listened to the teachers when they said things that were harmful to the soul, against God.
279. Used perfume, burned Indian incense.
280. She was engaged in lesbianism and touched someone else’s body with voluptuousness. With lust and voluptuousness I watched the matings of animals.
281. She cared beyond measure about the nutrition of the body. Accepted gifts or alms at a time when there was no need to accept it.
282. I didn’t try to stay away from a person who likes to chat.
283. Didn’t get baptized, didn’t say a prayer when the church bell rang.
284. Being under the guidance of her spiritual father, she did everything according to her own will.
285. She was naked when swimming, sunbathing, doing physical education, and when she was sick she was shown to a male doctor.
286. She did not always remember and count her violations of the Law of God with repentance.
287. While reading prayers and canons, I was too lazy to bow.
288. Having heard that the person was sick, she did not rush to help.
289. In thought and word she exalted herself in the good she had done.
290. I believed the rumors. She did not punish herself for her sins.
291. During church services, I read my household rule or wrote a memorial.
292. I did not abstain from my favorite foods (albeit lean ones).
293. She punished and lectured children unfairly.
294. I did not have daily memory of God’s Judgment, death, or the Kingdom of God.
295. During times of sadness, I did not occupy my mind and heart with the prayer of Christ.
296. I did not force myself to pray, to read the Word of God, or to cry about my sins.
297. She rarely commemorated the dead and did not pray for the dead.
298. She approached the Chalice with unconfessed sin.
299. In the morning I did gymnastics, and did not devote my first thoughts to God.
300. When praying, I was too lazy to cross myself, sorted out my bad thoughts, and didn’t think about what awaited me beyond the grave.
301. I hurried through prayer, shortened it out of laziness and read it without due attention.
302. I told my neighbors and acquaintances about my grievances. I visited places where bad examples were set.
303. She admonished a person without meekness and love. She became irritated when correcting her neighbor.
304. I didn’t always light the lamp on holidays and Sundays.
305. On Sundays I didn’t go to church, but to pick mushrooms and berries...
306. Had more savings than necessary.
307. I spared my strength and health in order to serve my neighbor.
308. She reproached her neighbor for what happened.
309. Walking on the way to the temple, I did not always read prayers.
310. Assented when condemning a person.
311. She was jealous of her husband, remembered her rival with anger, wished for her death, and used a witch doctor’s incantation to harass her.
312. I have been demanding and disrespectful towards people. She gained the upper hand in conversations with her neighbors. On the way to the temple, she overtook those older than me, and did not wait for those who lagged behind me.
313. She turned her abilities to earthly goods.
314. Had jealousy towards my spiritual father.
315. I always tried to be right.
316. I asked unnecessary questions.
317. Cried about the temporary.
318. Interpreted dreams and took them seriously.
319. She boasted about her sin, the evil she had done.
320. After communion I did not guard against sin.
321. I kept atheist books and playing cards in the house.
322. She gave advice without knowing whether they were pleasing to God; she was careless in the affairs of God.
323. She accepted prosphora and holy water without reverence (she spilled holy water, spilled crumbs of prosphora).
324. I went to bed and got up without prayer.
325. She spoiled her children, not paying attention to their bad deeds.
326. During Lent, she practiced guttural diarrhea and loved to drink strong tea, coffee, and other drinks.
327. I took tickets and groceries from the back door, and rode on a bus without a ticket.
328. She put prayer and the temple above serving her neighbor.
329. Endured sorrows with despondency and murmuring.
330. I was irritated when tired and sick.
331. Had free relations with persons of the other sex.
332. When thinking about worldly affairs, she gave up prayer.
333. I was forced to eat and drink the sick and children.
334. She treated vicious people with contempt and did not strive to convert them.
335. She knew and gave money for an evil deed.
336. She entered the house without an invitation, spied through a crack, through a window, through a keyhole, and listened at the door.
337. Confided secrets to strangers.
338. I ate food without need and hunger.
339. I read prayers with errors, got confused, missed them, put the emphasis incorrectly.
340. She lived lustfully with her husband. She allowed perversion and carnal pleasures.
341. She lent money and asked for debts back.
342. I tried to find out more about divine objects than was revealed by God.
343. She sinned with body movement, gait, gesture.
344. She set herself up as an example, boasted, boasted.
345. She spoke passionately about earthly things and delighted in the memory of sin.
346. I went to the temple and back with empty conversations.
347. I insured my life and property, I wanted to make money from the insurance.
348. She was greedy for pleasure, unchaste.
349. She conveyed her conversations with the elder and her temptations to others.
350. She was a donor not out of love for her neighbor, but for the sake of drinking, free days, for money.
351. Boldly and willfully plunged herself into sorrows and temptations.
352. I was bored and dreamed of travel and entertainment.
353. Made wrong decisions in anger.
354. I was distracted by thoughts while praying.
355. Traveled south for carnal pleasures.
356. I used the time of prayer for everyday matters.
357. She distorted words, distorted the thoughts of others, and expressed her displeasure out loud.
358. I was ashamed to admit to my neighbors that I am a believer and visit the temple of God.
359. She slandered, demanded justice in higher authorities, wrote complaints.
360. She denounced those who do not visit the temple and do not repent.
361. I bought lottery tickets with the hope of getting rich.
362. She gave alms and rudely slandered the beggar.
363. I listened to the advice of egoists who themselves were slaves of the womb and their carnal passions.
364. I was engaged in self-aggrandizement, proudly expecting a greeting from my neighbor.
365. I was burdened by fasting and looked forward to its end.
366. She could not bear the stench of people without disgust.
367. In anger she denounced people, forgetting that we are all sinners.
368. She went to bed, did not remember the affairs of the day and did not shed tears about her sins.
369. She did not keep the Charter of the Church and the traditions of the holy fathers.
370. She paid for help in the household with vodka and tempted people with drunkenness.
371. During fasting, I made tricks in food.
372. I was distracted from prayer when bitten by a mosquito, fly or other insect.
373. At the sight of human ingratitude, I refrained from doing good deeds.
374. She shunned dirty work: cleaning the toilet, picking up trash.
375. During the period of breastfeeding, she did not abstain from married life.
376. In the temple she stood with her back to the altar and the holy icons.
377. She prepared sophisticated dishes and tempted her with guttural rage.
378. I read entertaining books with pleasure, and not the Scriptures of the Holy Fathers.
379. I watched TV, spent all day at the “box”, and not in prayers in front of icons.
380. Listened to passionate worldly music.
381. She sought consolation in friendship, yearned for carnal pleasures, loved to kiss men and women on the mouth.
382. Engaged in extortion and deception, judged and discussed people.
383. While fasting, I felt disgusted by monotonous, lean food.
384. She spoke the Word of God to unworthy people (not “throwing pearls before swine”).
385. She neglected the holy icons and did not wipe them from dust in a timely manner.
386. I was too lazy to write congratulations on church holidays.
387. Spent time in worldly games and entertainment: checkers, backgammon, lotto, cards, chess, rolling pins, ruffles, Rubik's cube and others.
388. She charmed illnesses, gave advice to go to sorcerers, gave addresses of sorcerers.
389. She believed omens and slander: she spat over her left shoulder, a black cat ran by, a spoon, fork, etc. fell.
390. She answered the angry man sharply to his anger.
391. Tried to prove the justification and justice of her anger.
392. She was annoying, interrupted people’s sleep, and distracted them from their meals.
393. Relaxed with small talk with young people of the opposite sex.
394. Was engaged in idle talk, curiosity, stuck around fires and was present at accidents.
395. She considered it unnecessary to undergo treatment for illnesses and visit a doctor.
396. I tried to calm myself down by hastily fulfilling the rule.
397. I overworked myself with work.
398. I ate a lot during the meat-eating week.
399. Gave incorrect advice to neighbors.
400. She told shameful jokes.
401. To please the authorities, she covered the holy icons.
402. I neglected a person in his old age and his poverty of mind.
403. She stretched out her hands to her naked body, looked and touched the secret ouds with her hands.
404. She punished children with anger, in a fit of passion, with abuse and cursing.
405. Taught children to spy, eavesdrop, pimp.
406. She spoiled her children and did not pay attention to their bad deeds.
407. I had a satanic fear for my body, I was afraid of wrinkles and gray hair.
408. Burdened others with requests.
409. Drew conclusions about the sinfulness of people based on their misfortunes.
410. Wrote offensive and anonymous letters, spoke rudely, disturbed people on the phone, making jokes under an assumed name.
411. Sat on the bed without the owner’s permission.
412. During prayer I imagined the Lord.
413. Satanic laughter attacked while reading and listening to the Divine.
414. I asked advice from people ignorant in this matter, I believed in crafty people.
415. I strived for championship, competition, won interviews, participated in competitions.
416. Treated the Gospel as a fortune-telling book.
417. I picked berries, flowers, branches in other people's gardens without permission.
418. During fasting, she did not have a good disposition towards people and allowed violations of fasting.
419. I did not always realize and regret the sin.
420. I listened to worldly records, sinned by watching videos and porn movies, and relaxed in other worldly pleasures.
421. I read a prayer, having enmity against my neighbor.
422. She prayed in a hat, with her head uncovered.
423. I believed in omens.
424. She indiscriminately used papers on which the name of God was written.
425. She was proud of her literacy and erudition, imagined, singled out people with higher education.
426. She appropriated the money she found.
427. In church I put bags and things on the windows.
428. I rode for pleasure in a car, motor boat, or bicycle.
429. I repeated other people’s bad words, listened to people swearing.
430. I read newspapers, books, and worldly magazines with enthusiasm.
431. She abhorred the poor, the wretched, the sick, who smelled bad.
432. She was proud that she had not committed shameful sins, capital murder, abortion, etc.
433. I ate and got drunk before the onset of the fasts.
434. I purchased unnecessary things without having to.
435. After a prodigal sleep, I did not always read prayers against defilement.
436. She celebrated the New Year, wore masks and obscene clothes, got drunk, cursed, overeated and sinned.
437. Caused damage to her neighbor, spoiled and broke other people's things.
438. She believed in nameless “prophets”, in “holy letters”, “the dream of the Virgin Mary”, she herself copied them and passed them on to others.
439. I listened to sermons in church with a spirit of criticism and condemnation.
440. She used her earnings for sinful lusts and amusements.
441. Spread bad rumors about priests and monks.
442. She jostled around in the church, hurrying to kiss the icon, the Gospel, the cross.
443. She was proud, in her lack and poverty she was indignant and grumbled at the Lord.
444. I urinated in public and even joked about it.
445. She did not always repay what she borrowed on time.
446. She minimized her sins in confession.
447. Gloated at the misfortune of her neighbor.
448. She taught others in an instructive, commanding tone.
449. She shared their vices with people and confirmed them in these vices.
450. Quarreled with people for a place in the church, at the icons, near the eve table.
451. Inadvertently caused pain to animals.
452. I left a glass of vodka at the grave of relatives.
453. I did not sufficiently prepare myself for the sacrament of confession.
454. The sanctity of Sundays and holidays was violated by games, visits to shows, etc.
455. When the crops were being grassed, she swore at the cattle with dirty words.
456. I had dates in cemeteries; as a child we ran and played hide and seek there.
457. Allowed sexual intercourse before marriage.
458. She got drunk on purpose in order to decide to sin; she took medicine along with wine to get more drunk.
459. She begged for alcohol, pawned things and documents for this.
460. To attract attention to herself, to make her worry, she tried to commit suicide.
461. As a child, I didn’t listen to teachers, prepared my lessons poorly, was lazy, and disrupted classes.
462. I visited cafes and restaurants located in churches.
463. She sang in a restaurant, on the stage, and danced in a variety show.
464. In crowded transport, I felt pleasure from touching and did not try to avoid it.
465. She was offended by her parents for punishment, remembered these grievances for a long time and told others about them.
466. She reassured herself with the fact that everyday worries prevented her from engaging in matters of faith, salvation and piety, and justified herself with the fact that in her youth no one taught the Christian faith.
467. Wasted time on useless chores, fuss, and conversations.
468. Was engaged in the interpretation of dreams.
469. She objected with passion, fought, and scolded.
470. She sinned with thefts, as a child she stole eggs, gave them to a store, etc.
471. She was vain, proud, did not respect her parents, and did not obey the authorities.
472. She engaged in heresy, had a wrong opinion about the subject of faith, doubt and even apostasy from the Orthodox faith.
473. Had the sin of Sodom (coitus with animals, with the wicked, entered into an incestuous relationship).

It must be hot because... as much as 473 degrees Celsius. Be afraid to sin. It's even hotter in hell!

Only in the Sacrament of Repentance, when a person with a contrite heart names his sins to the priest and a prayer of permission is read over the repentant, then only then does God forgive sins!

Anyone who hides a sin from a priest in the Sacrament of Repentance will sin even more before God!

Source of information, copied from the site: http://hramsatka.orthodoxy.ru/bib/bib00003.htm

CHURCH PRODUCT!!!HOME DELIVERY!!!PAYMENT TO THE COURIER!!!

HELP THE TEMPLE!!!

BOOKS

Stay up to date with upcoming events and news!

Join the group - Dobrinsky Temple

Confession (repentance) is one of the seven Christian Sacraments, in which the penitent, confessing his sins to the priest, with visible forgiveness of sins (reading a prayer of absolution), is invisibly absolved from them. By the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This sacrament was established by the Savior, who said to His disciples: “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (untie) on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, verse 18). And in another place: “Receive the Holy Spirit: whose sins you forgive, their sins are forgiven; on whomever you leave it, it will remain on him” (Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 22-23). The apostles transferred the power to “bind and loose” to their successors - the bishops, who in turn, when performing the Sacrament of ordination (priesthood), transfer this power to the priests.

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

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

The Apostle John says: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1st Epistle of John, chapter 1, verse 7). At the same time, you hear from many: “I don’t kill, I don’t steal, I don’t

I commit adultery, so what should I repent of?” But if we carefully study God’s commandments, we will discover that we sin against many of them. Conventionally, all sins committed by a person can be divided into three groups: sins against God, sins against neighbors and sins against oneself.

Ingratitude to God.

Disbelief. Doubt in faith. Justifying one's disbelief through an atheistic upbringing.

Apostasy, cowardly silence when the faith of Christ is blasphemed, not wearing a cross, visiting various sects.

Taking the name of God in vain (when the name of God is mentioned not in prayer or in pious conversation about Him).

Oath in the name of the Lord.

Fortune telling, treatment with whispering grandmothers, turning to psychics, reading books on black, white and other magic, reading and distributing occult literature and various false teachings.

Thoughts about suicide.

Playing cards and other gambling games.

Failure to comply with morning and evening prayer rules.

Failure to visit the temple of God on Sundays and holidays.

Failure to observe fasts on Wednesday and Friday, violation of other fasts established by the Church.

Careless (non-daily) reading of the Holy Scriptures and soul-helping literature.

Breaking vows made to God.

Despair in difficult situations and disbelief in God's Providence, fear of old age, poverty, illness.

Absent-mindedness during prayer, thoughts about everyday things during worship.

Condemnation of the Church and its ministers.

Addiction to various earthly things and pleasures.

Continuation of a sinful life in the sole hope of God’s mercy, that is, excessive trust in God.

It’s a waste of time watching TV shows and reading entertaining books to the detriment of time for prayer, reading the Gospel and spiritual literature.

Concealing sins during confession and unworthy communion of the Holy Mysteries.

Arrogance, self-reliance, i.e. excessive hope in one’s own strength and in someone else’s help, without trusting that everything is in God’s hands.

Raising children outside the Christian faith.

Hot temper, anger, irritability.

Arrogance.

Perjury.

Mockery.

Stinginess.

Non-repayment of debts.

Failure to pay money earned for work.

Failure to provide assistance to those in need.

Disrespect for parents, irritation with their old age.

Disrespect for elders.

Lack of diligence in your work.

Condemnation.

Appropriation of someone else's property is theft.

Quarrels with neighbors and neighbors.

Killing your child in the womb (abortion), inducing others to commit murder (abortion).

Murder with words is bringing a person through slander or condemnation to a painful state and even to death.

Drinking alcohol at funerals for the dead instead of intense prayer for them.

Verbosity, gossip, idle talk. ,

Reasonless laughter.

Foul language.

Self-love.

Doing good deeds for show.

Vanity.

The desire to get rich.

Love of money.

Envy.

Drunkenness, drug use.

Gluttony.

Fornication - inciting lustful thoughts, unclean desires, lustful touching, watching erotic films and reading such books.

Fornication is the physical intimacy of persons not related by marriage.

Adultery is a violation of marital fidelity.

Unnatural fornication - physical intimacy between persons of the same sex, masturbation.

Incest is physical intimacy with close relatives or nepotism.

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

Anyone who wants to repent before God for their sins must prepare for the Sacrament of Confession. You need to prepare for confession in advance: it is advisable to read literature on the Sacraments of Confession and Communion, remember all your sins, you can write them down on

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

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

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

Children under seven years of age (in the Church they are called babies) begin the Sacrament of Communion without prior confession, but it is necessary from early childhood to develop in children a sense of reverence for this great

Sacrament. Frequent communion without proper preparation can develop in children an undesirable sense of the ordinariness of what is happening. It is advisable to prepare infants 2-3 days in advance for the upcoming Communion: read the Gospel, lives of saints, and other soul-helping books with them, reduce, or better yet completely eliminate, television viewing (but this must be done very tactfully, without developing negative associations in the child with preparation for Communion ), follow their prayer in the morning and before bed, talk with the child about the past days and lead him to a feeling of shame for his own misdeeds. The main thing to remember is that there is nothing more effective for a child than the personal example of parents.

Starting from the age of seven, children (adolescents) begin the Sacrament of Communion, like adults, only after first performing the Sacrament of Confession. In many ways, the sins listed in the previous sections are also inherent in children, but still, children's confession has its own characteristics. To motivate children to sincere repentance, you can pray for them to read the following list of possible sins:

Did you lie in bed in the morning and therefore skip the morning prayer rule?

Did you not sit down at the table without praying and did you not go to bed without praying?

Do you know by heart the most important Orthodox prayers: “Our Father”, “Jesus Prayer”, “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary”, a prayer to your Heavenly patron, whose name you bear?

Did you go to church every Sunday?

Have you been carried away by various amusements on church holidays instead of visiting the temple of God?

Did you behave properly at church services, did you not run around the church, did you not have empty conversations with your peers, thereby leading them into temptation?

Did you pronounce the name of God unnecessarily?

Are you performing the sign of the cross correctly, are you not in a hurry, are you not distorting the sign of the cross?

Were you distracted by extraneous thoughts while praying?

Do you read the Gospel and other spiritual books?

Do you wear a pectoral cross and are you not embarrassed by it?

Aren't you using a cross as a decoration, which is sinful?

Do you wear various amulets, for example, zodiac signs?

Didn’t you tell fortunes, didn’t you tell fortunes?

Didn’t you hide your sins before the priest in confession out of false shame, and then receive communion unworthily?

Were you not proud of yourself and others of your successes and abilities?

Have you ever argued with someone just to gain the upper hand in the argument?

Did you deceive your parents for fear of being punished?

During Lent, did you eat something like ice cream without your parents’ permission?

Did you listen to your parents, didn’t you argue with them, didn’t you demand an expensive purchase from them?

Have you ever beaten anyone? Did he incite others to do this?

Did you offend the younger ones?

Did you torture animals?

Did you gossip about anyone, did you snitch on anyone?

Have you ever laughed at people with any physical disabilities?

Have you tried smoking, drinking, sniffing glue or using drugs?

Didn't you use foul language?

Didn't you play cards?

Have you ever engaged in handjobs?

Did you appropriate someone else's property for yourself?

Have you ever had the habit of taking without asking what does not belong to you?

Weren't you too lazy to help your parents around the house?

Was he pretending to be sick to evade his responsibilities?

Were you jealous of others?

The above list is only a general outline of possible sins. Each child may have his own, individual experiences associated with specific cases. The task of parents is to prepare the child for repentant feelings before the Sacrament of Confession. You can advise him to remember his misdeeds committed after the last confession, write his sins on a piece of paper, but you should not do this for him. The main thing: the child must understand that the Sacrament of Confession is a Sacrament that cleanses the soul from sins, subject to sincere, sincere repentance and the desire not to repeat them again.

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

Confession usually takes place in a church with a crowd of people, so you need to respect the secret of confession, not crowd next to the priest receiving confession, and not embarrass the person confessing, revealing his sins to the priest. Confession must be complete. You cannot confess some sins first and leave others for next time. Those sins that the penitent confessed in pre-

previous confessions and those that were already released to him are not mentioned again. If possible, you should confess to the same confessor. You should not, having a permanent confessor, look for another to confess your sins, which a feeling of false shame prevents your familiar confessor from revealing. Those who do this by their actions try to deceive God Himself: in confession, we confess our sins not to our confessor, but together with him to the Savior Himself.

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

Many devotees of piety warn that a grave sin, which the confessor kept silent about during general confession, remains unrepentant, and therefore not forgiven.

After confessing sins and reading the prayer of absolution by the priest, the penitent kisses the Cross and the Gospel lying on the lectern and, if he was preparing for communion, takes a blessing from the confessor for communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

In some cases, the priest may impose penance on the penitent - spiritual exercises intended to deepen repentance and eradicate sinful habits. Penance must be treated as the will of God, expressed through the priest, requiring mandatory fulfillment for the healing of the soul of the penitent. If it is impossible for various reasons to perform penance, you should contact the priest who imposed it to resolve the difficulties that have arisen.

Those who wish not only to confess, but also to receive communion, must prepare worthily and in accordance with the requirements of the Church for the Sacrament of Communion. This preparation is called fasting.

The days of fasting usually last a week, in extreme cases - three days. Fasting is prescribed on these days. Meal food is excluded from the diet - meat, dairy products, eggs, and on days of strict fasting - fish. Spouses refrain from physical intimacy. The family refuses entertainment and watching television. If circumstances permit, you should attend church services on these days. The morning and evening prayer rules are followed more diligently, with the addition of the reading of the Penitential Canon.

Regardless of when the Sacrament of Confession is celebrated in the church - in the evening or in the morning, it is necessary to attend the evening service on the eve of communion. In the evening, before reading prayers for bedtime, three canons are read: Repentance to our Lord Jesus Christ, Mother of God, Guardian Angel. You can read each canon separately, or use prayer books where these three canons are combined. Then the canon for Holy Communion is read before the prayers for Holy Communion, which are read in the morning. For those who find it difficult to perform such a prayer rule in

one day, take a blessing from the priest to read three canons in advance during the days of fasting.

It is quite difficult for children to follow all the prayer rules for preparing for communion. Parents, together with their confessor, need to choose the optimal number of prayers that the child can handle, then gradually increase the number of necessary prayers needed to prepare for communion, up to the full prayer rule for Holy Communion.

For some, it is very difficult to read the necessary canons and prayers. For this reason, others do not confess or receive communion for years. Many people confuse preparation for confession (which does not require such a large volume of prayers read) and preparation for communion. Such people can be recommended to begin the Sacraments of Confession and Communion in stages. First, you need to properly prepare for confession and, when confessing your sins, ask your confessor for advice. We need to pray to the Lord to help us overcome difficulties and give us strength to adequately prepare for the Sacrament of Communion.

Since it is customary to begin the Sacrament of Communion on an empty stomach, from twelve o'clock at night they no longer eat or drink (smokers do not smoke). The exception is infants (children under seven years of age). But children from a certain age (starting from 5-6 years, and if possible earlier) must be accustomed to the existing rule.

In the morning, they also don’t eat or drink anything and, of course, don’t smoke, you can only brush your teeth. After reading the morning prayers, prayers for Holy Communion are read. If reading prayers for Holy Communion in the morning is difficult, then you need to take a blessing from the priest to read them the evening before. If confession is performed in the church in the morning, you must arrive on time, before confession begins. If confession was made the night before, then the person confessing comes to the beginning of the service and prays with everyone.

Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ is a Sacrament established by the Savior Himself during the Last Supper: “Jesus took bread and, blessing it, broke it and, giving it to the disciples, said: Take, eat: this is My Body. And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verses 26-28).

During the Divine Liturgy, the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is performed - bread and wine are mysteriously transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ and the communicants, receiving Them during Communion, mysteriously, incomprehensible to the human mind, are united with Christ Himself, since He is all contained in every Particle of the Sacrament .

Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ is necessary to enter eternal life. The Savior Himself speaks about this: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day...” (Gospel of John, chapter 6, verses 53 - 54).

The Sacrament of Communion is incomprehensibly great, and therefore requires preliminary cleansing by the Sacrament of Repentance; the only exception is infants under seven years of age, who receive communion without the preparation required for the laity. Women need to wipe off lipstick from their lips. Women should not receive communion during the period of monthly cleansing. Women after childbirth are allowed to take communion only after the cleansing prayer of the fortieth day is read over them.

When the priest comes out with the Holy Gifts, the communicants make one prostration (if it is a weekday) or a bow (if it is a Sunday or holiday) and carefully listen to the words of the prayers read by the priest, repeating them to themselves. After reading the prayers

private traders, folding their hands on their chests crosswise (right over left), decorously, without crowding, in deep humility approach the Holy Chalice. A pious custom has developed to let children go to the Chalice first, then men come up, and then women. You should not be baptized at the Chalice, so as not to accidentally touch it. Having said his name out loud, the communicant, with his lips open, accepts the Holy Gifts - the Body and Blood of Christ. After communion, the deacon or sexton wipes the communicant’s mouth with a special cloth, after which he kisses the edge of the Holy Chalice and goes to a special table, where he takes the drink (warmth) and eats a piece of prosphora. This is done so that not a single particle of the Body of Christ remains in the mouth. Without accepting the warmth, you cannot venerate either the icons, the Cross, or the Gospel.

After receiving the warmth, the communicants do not leave the church and pray with everyone until the end of the service. After the emptiness (the final words of the service), the communicants approach the Cross and listen carefully to the prayers of thanksgiving after Holy Communion. After listening to the prayers, the communicants ceremoniously disperse, trying to preserve the purity of their souls, cleansed of sins, for as long as possible, without wasting time on empty talk and deeds that are not good for the soul. On the day after communion of the Holy Mysteries, bows to the ground are not made, and when the priest gives a blessing, they are not applied to the hand. You can only venerate icons, the Cross and the Gospel. The rest of the day must be spent piously: avoid verbosity (it is better to remain silent in general), watch TV, exclude marital intimacy, it is advisable for smokers to abstain from smoking. It is advisable to read prayers of thanksgiving at home after Holy Communion. It is a prejudice that you cannot shake hands on the day of communion. Under no circumstances should you receive communion several times in one day.

In cases of illness and infirmity, you can receive communion at home. For this purpose, a priest is invited to the house. Depending

Based on his condition, the sick person is adequately prepared for confession and communion. In any case, he can receive communion only on an empty stomach (with the exception of dying people). Children under seven years of age do not receive communion at home, since they, unlike adults, can only receive communion with the Blood of Christ, and the reserve Gifts with which the priest administers communion at home contain only particles of the Body of Christ, saturated with His Blood. For the same reason, infants do not receive communion at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, celebrated on weekdays during Great Lent.

Each Christian either himself determines the time when he needs to confess and receive communion, or does this with the blessing of his spiritual father. There is a pious custom of receiving communion at least five times a year - on each of the four multi-day fasts and on the day of your Angel (the day of remembrance of the saint whose name you bear).

How often it is necessary to receive communion is given by the pious advice of the Monk Nicodemus the Holy Mountain: “True communicants are always, following Communion, in a tactile state of grace. The heart then tastes the Lord spiritually.

But just as we are constrained in body and surrounded by external affairs and relationships in which we must take part for a long time, the spiritual taste of the Lord, due to the splitting of our attention and feelings, is weakened day by day, obscured and hidden...

Therefore, zealots, sensing its impoverishment, hasten to restore it in strength, and when they restore it, they feel that they are tasting the Lord again.”

Published by the Orthodox parish in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov, Novosibirsk.

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

He is given the opportunity to change through a revision of his own views and recognition of the sins he has committed and proper repentance for them. Having been cleansed of sins and taken the path of correction, a person will not be able to fall again.

The need to confess arises in someone who:

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

Children up to the age of seven, and parishioners who were baptized on this day, can receive communion for the first time without confession.

Note! You are allowed to go to confession when you reach seven years of age.

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

There is no need to rush, we remember everything, write down the list of sins on a piece of paper. The priest is a witness to the Sacrament; one should not be embarrassed or ashamed of him, just like the all-forgiving God himself.

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

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

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

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

Confession takes place in the following order:

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

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

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

It is stupid to hide anything from a priest; he is an assistant to the all-seeing God.

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

What is considered a sin?

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

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

An example of confession in church: what sins should I say?

Let's look at how to confess correctly, what to say to the priest, an example of confession.

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

Orthodoxy welcomes the example of confession:

1. When approaching the priest, do not think about earthly affairs, try to listen to your soul;
2. turning to the Lord, I must say that I have sinned before You;
3. list the sins, saying: “I sinned... (by adultery or lying or something else)”;
4. we tell sins without details, but not very briefly;
5. Having finished listing our sins, we repent and ask for salvation and alms from the Lord.

Related Posts

Discussion: 3 comments

And if there are still few sins, but it’s as if my conscience is not very clear, and I promised my MC that I would definitely join the church. His first demand is to go to confession and repent of all the serious things. Which, fortunately, I don’t have a lot of. And this is a real problem for me now. What if you confess on the Internet? Who thinks about this topic? Well, as I understand it, you post your website and there the priest prays for you and absolves you of sin. Not?

Answer

1. Forgive me, in my opinion there is no need to go to church at the request of the MCH. What is this for? This is done for GOD, for the purification of the soul, and not because someone “demands” it. As far as I understand, you do not have this need. You cannot deceive God - neither through the Internet, nor in church.

   Answer

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

Answer

Isn't it time for us all to learn how to confess correctly? – the employees of the “Orthodox Life” portal decisively and without hesitation asked the confessor of the Kyiv theological schools, KDA teacher Archimandrite Markell (Pavuk).

Photo: Boris Gurevich fotokto.ru

– A large number of people do not know what to repent of. Many go to confession and remain silent, waiting for leading questions from the priests. Why does this happen and what does an Orthodox Christian need to repent of?

– Usually people don’t know what to repent of for several reasons:

1. They lead a distracted life (busy with thousands of things), and they have no time to take care of themselves, look into their souls and see what is wrong there. Nowadays there are 90% of such people, if not more.

2. Many suffer from high self-esteem, that is, they are proud, and therefore are more inclined to notice and condemn other people’s sins and shortcomings than their own.

3. Neither their parents, nor teachers, nor priests taught them what and how to repent.

But an Orthodox Christian should repent, first of all, of what his conscience denounces him of. It is best to build a confession according to the Ten Commandments of God. That is, during Confession, we must first talk about what we have sinned against God (these could be sins of unbelief, lack of faith, superstition, deity, oaths), then repent of sins against our neighbors (disrespect, inattention to parents, disobedience to them, deception, cunning, condemnation, anger against neighbors, hostility, arrogance, pride, vanity, stinginess, theft, seducing others into sin, fornication, etc.). I advise you to read the book “To Help the Penitent,” compiled by St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). The work of Elder John Krestyankin presents a sample of confession according to the Ten Commandments of God. Based on these works, you can compose your own informal confession.

– How detailed should you talk about your sins during confession?

– It all depends on the degree of your repentance for your sins. If a person has determined in his heart not to return to this or that sin again, then he tries to uproot it and therefore describes everything to the smallest detail. And if a person repents formally, then he gets something like: “I sinned in deed, in word, in thought.” The exception to this rule is the sins of fornication. In this case, there is no need to describe the details. If the priest feels that a person is indifferent even to such sins, then he can ask additional questions in order to shame such a person at least a little and encourage him to true repentance.

– If you don’t feel at ease after confession, what does that mean?

– This may indicate that there was no genuine repentance, confession was made without heartfelt contrition, but only a formal listing of sins with an unwillingness to change one’s life and not sin again. True, sometimes the Lord does not immediately give a feeling of lightness, so that a person does not become proud and immediately fall into the same sins again. Ease also does not immediately come if a person confesses old, deeply rooted sins. For ease to come, you need to shed a lot of tears of repentance.

– If you went to confession at Vespers, and after the service you managed to sin, do you need to go to confession again in the morning?

– If these are prodigal sins, anger or drunkenness, then you definitely need to repent of them again and even ask the priest for penance, so as not to commit previous sins so quickly. If sins of another kind have been committed (condemnation, laziness, verbosity), then during the evening or morning prayer rule one should sincerely ask forgiveness from the Lord for the sins committed, and confess them at the next confession.

– If during confession you forgot to mention some sin, and then after a while you remembered it, do you need to go to the priest again and talk about it?

– If there is such an opportunity and the priest is not very busy, then he will even rejoice for your diligence, but if there is no such opportunity, then you need to write down this sin so as not to forget it again, and repent of it during the next confession.

– How to learn to see your sins?

– A person begins to see his sins when he stops judging other people. In addition, seeing one’s weakness, as St. Simeon the New Theologian writes, teaches one to carefully fulfill God’s commandments. As long as a person does one thing and neglects the other, he will not be able to feel what a wound his sins inflict on his soul.

– What to do with the feeling of shame during confession, with the desire to obscure and hide your sin? Will this hidden sin be forgiven by God?

– Shame in confession is a natural feeling, which indicates that a person’s conscience is alive. It's worse when there is no shame. But the main thing is that shame does not reduce our confession to formality, when we confess one thing and hide another. It is unlikely that the Lord will be pleased with such a confession. And every priest always feels when a person is hiding something and formalizing his confession. For him, this child ceases to be dear, one for whom he is always eagerly ready to pray. And, conversely, regardless of the severity of the sin, the deeper the repentance, the more the priest rejoices for the repentant. Not only the priest, but also the Angels in heaven rejoice for a sincerely repentant person.

– Is it necessary to confess a sin that you are absolutely sure to commit in the near future? How to hate sin?

– The Holy Fathers teach that the greatest sin is unrepentant sin. Even if we do not feel the strength to fight sin, we still need to resort to the Sacrament of Repentance. With God's help, if not immediately, then gradually we will be able to overcome the sin that has taken root in us. But don't overestimate yourself too much. If we lead a correct spiritual life, we will never be able to feel completely sinless. The fact is that we are all compliant, that is, we very easily fall into all kinds of sins, no matter how many times we repent of them. Each of our confessions is a kind of shower (bath) for the soul. If we constantly take care of the purity of our body, then all the more we need to take care of the purity of our soul, which is much more expensive than the body. So, no matter how many times we sin, we must immediately run to confession. And if a person does not repent of repeated sins, then they will entail other, more serious offenses. For example, someone is used to lying about little things all the time. If he does not repent of this, then in the end he may not only deceive, but also betray other people. Remember what happened to Judas. He first quietly stole money from the donation box, and then betrayed Christ Himself.

A person can hate sin only by fully experiencing the sweetness of God’s grace. While a person’s sense of grace is weak, it is difficult for him not to fall into a sin for which he has recently repented. The sweetness of sin in such a person turns out to be stronger than the sweetness of grace. That is why the holy fathers and especially St. Seraphim of Sarov so insist that the main goal of Christian life should be the acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

– If a priest tears up a note with sins without looking at it, are these sins considered forgiven?

– If the priest is perspicacious and knows how to read what is written in the note without looking into it, then, thank God, all sins are forgiven. If the priest does this because of his haste, indifference and inattention, then it is better to go to confession to another or, if this is not possible, confess your sins out loud, without writing them down.

– Is there a general confession in the Orthodox Church? How to feel about this practice?

– General confession, during which special prayers from the Trebnik are read, is usually held before individual confession. Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt practiced general confession without individual confession, but he did this forcedly because of the multitude of people who came to him for consolation. Purely physically, due to human weakness, he did not have enough strength to listen to everyone. In Soviet times, such confessions were also sometimes practiced, when there was one church for an entire city or region. Nowadays, when the number of churches and clergy has increased significantly, there is no need to make do with one general confession without individual ones. We are ready to listen to everyone, as long as there is sincere repentance.

Interviewed by Natalya Goroshkova