Why are they excommunicated from the Eucharist, types of penance and for what sins are they imposed?

What is it for?

So, what is penance in Orthodoxy? This is not a punishment for a committed offense, but a medicine that heals the ulcer of sin in the soul.

Penance is not a punishment, but a spiritual medicine.

Translated from Greek, “penance” means “punishment according to the law.” This is the voluntary fulfillment by an Orthodox Christian of the corrective actions prescribed to him by the priest: an enhanced prayer rule, alms to those in need, strict and long fasting.

Even after sincere repentance of sins in confession, healing does not come immediately; the Christian only embarks on the path of correction, where his moral rebirth gradually occurs for salvation in eternity.

Attention! The nature of the imposition of penance and the degree of severity are strictly individual for each sinner and are directly related to the make-up of his personality, to the level of the believer’s internal readiness to accept punishment.

Penance is not punishment in the literal sense of the word. This is the Will of the Almighty transmitted through the cleric, the healing of the soul, a lesson prescribed for the benefit of correction from sin. The attitude towards its implementation should be more than serious.

Types of penance

As penance, feats that are directly opposite to the sin committed are usually prescribed.

Penance, Nicolas Poussin

For example:

• a person who is absent-minded and carried away by worldly pleasures is determined to frequently go to church and attend the Liturgy;
• those who are intemperate in food are assigned a stricter fast (similar to that of a monastery);
• lovers of money are charged with works of mercy.

Penance is given to a person for his own good, so that he realizes the depth of his sinful defeat and distance from the Creator.

The time frame for its action is, as a rule, limited to 40 days and during this time it is necessary to strictly fulfill everything assigned.

Common types of penance:

• reading the Jesus Prayer;
• strict fasting;
• in-depth study of spiritual literature (Lives of Saints, Akathists, Psalms, Epistles and other sources);
• bowing to the ground during worship in church or when reading the morning and evening prayer rules at home;
• temporary exclusion of sexual intimacy between spouses;
• ban on Communion (in exceptional cases).

Advice! If for some reason the penitent is unable to fulfill forgiveness, then he should approach the priest who imposed the punishment for advice on what to do in the current circumstances.

Who imposes voluntary execution of punishment

Only the confessor or priest of the church of which the person being punished is a parishioner can impose penance.

At the end of the execution of the prohibition, the priest who imposed it, and no one else, must read a special prayer of permission. In special cases (the death of a cleric or the mortal illness of a penitent), another priest is allowed to resolve what is forbidden.

Important! None of the outside clergy or monks will be able to fully understand the situation of a sinned person without knowing all the features of his life.

Only a confessor or priest can impose penance.

Therefore, it is not recommended, having repented, to ask for a ban while on an Orthodox pilgrimage tour, for example, in a monastic monastery. The imposition of penance is permitted only to the parishioner’s spiritual mentor.

IV. Types of Church Authority

Special punishments are applied to clergy. These punishments are imposed on the guilty either for violating their official duties, or for sins and crimes common among clergy and laity. The two main canonical punishments for clergy - defrocking and prohibition of priestly service - are parallel to the two main punishments for the laity - anathema and minor excommunication. But for their crimes, clergy are not subject, on the same basis as laymen, to either great or minor excommunication, for in this case one and the same crime would be punishable by double punishment. Meanwhile, the 25th Apostolic Canon reads: “A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon convicted of fornication, or perjury, or theft, may be deposed from the sacred rank, but may not be excommunicated from church communion. For the Scripture says: “Thou shalt not avenge one thing twice (Nahum. 1:9).”

Interpreting this rule, Balsamon wrote: “Do not say that the words “thou shalt not avenge twice for one” apply to everyone who is erupted for anything. For those awarded the priesthood at the request of the authorities or for money are both ejected and excommunicated, as the 29th and 30th Apostolic Canons say. But say that these words apply only to those expelled for the crimes specified in this rule and for other similar ones.” These are the rules: “If anyone, a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, receives this dignity with money, let him and the one who appointed him be cast out, and let him be completely cut off from communion, as Simon the Magus was by me with Peter” (canon 29); “If any bishop, having used the worldly leaders, through them receives episcopal power in the Church, let him be deposed and excommunicated, and all those who communicate with him” (canon 30). According to Balsamon’s interpretation of canon 30, this canon equally affects presbyters, deacons, subdeacons and simonian readers.

A careful analysis of the content of the 29th and 30th Apostolic Canons, taking into account the features of crimes punishable according to these canons, convinces us that, in essence, they do not contradict the principle “do not take revenge twice for one”, repeated in the 25th Apostolic Rule. In fact, obtaining rank for money or through the intervention of worldly superiors is an illegal theft of rank; therefore, defrocking alone would not be a punishment, but only a statement, a revelation of the fact that the simoniacal criminal was installed unlawfully. The real punishment consists in applying to him for this crime the punishment that is imposed on a layman, as he, in essence, should remain.

So, the most severe punishment for a clergyman is defrocking (καθειρεσις). According to the holy canons, it is imposed for those crimes for which the laity are excommunicated from the Holy Mysteries. According to the 73rd rule of Basil the Great, those who have deviated into heresy or fallen away from the Christian faith are deposed. In addition, a clergyman is deposed not only for murder, even if involuntary or committed in a state of self-defense (the 66th Apostolic Canon reads: “If anyone from the clergy in a quarrel strikes anyone and kills with a single blow, let him be deposed for his insolence.” ), but also for beating, even the person responsible. This punishment is subject to clergy who violate the 7th commandment (25th Apostolic canon; 3rd, 32nd, 51st, 70th canons of Basil the Great).

Of course, persons who entered into marriage after consecration are also defrocked. The Fathers of the Trullo Council in the 6th canon said: “Since it is said in the Apostolic Canons, that of the celibates promoted to the clergy, only readers and singers can marry (26th Apostolic Canon), then we, observing this, determine: yes from now on, neither a subdeacon, nor a deacon, nor a presbyter has permission, after ordination has been performed on him, to enter into marital cohabitation; If he dares to do this, he will be cast out.”

In the 3rd rule of the Trullo Council, exceptions are made to the application of this law, such, however, that have only historical significance and were valid only in relation to the contemporaries of the Trullo Council. The preamble of the canon states that representatives of the Roman Church offered strict severity towards those who entered into illegal marriages, while those subject to the Throne of Constantinople offered meekness and condescension. And further we read: “We, fatherly and together in a godly manner, have united both into one, let us not abandon either weak meekness or harsh severity, especially in such circumstances when the Fall, out of ignorance, extends to a considerable number of people, according to which we determine that those who were engaged in a second marriage, and even until the fifth and tenth day of the month of Januarius, the past fourth indictment, six thousand ninety-nine, who remained enslaved to sin and did not want to be sobered up from it, were subject to canonical expulsion from their rank. As for those who, although they fell into such a sin of second marriage, however, before this definition of ours, they learned what is useful, and cut off evil from themselves, and rejected unusual and illegal copulation, or whose wives of their second marriage had already died, and who, moreover, matured to conversion, again learning chastity, and soon running away from their previous iniquities, whether presbyters or deacons: about such it was decided that they should abstain from all sacred service and action, remaining under penance for a certain certain time, and let them not enjoy the honor of sitting and standing, being content to preside, and weeping before the Lord, may He forgive them the sin of ignorance. For it would be inappropriate for one who should heal his own ulcers to bless another. Those who were married to one wife, even if the one they married was a widow, like those who, after ordination, joined one marriage, that is, presbyters, deacons and subdeacons, after being removed from the priesthood for a certain short time and due to penance, were restored to their proper them degrees, with the prohibition of elevating them to another higher degree, and, moreover, obviously, after the dissolution of the wrong cohabitation. But we have decreed this for those who, as stated, before the fifth day of the month of Jannuarius of the fourth indictment, were convicted of the above-mentioned faults ... "

Russian legislation of the synodal era also provided for the defrocking of clergy for all those crimes for which the laity were deprived of all the rights of the state or even only some rights with imprisonment in a fortress (Article 22 of the “Code of Punishments”).

Defrocking is determined once and for all. According to the 3rd rule of Basil the Great, holy orders, once removed, cannot be returned. Eruption from the highest degree implies deprivation of all lower degrees, deprivation of the priesthood in general. If someone defrocked, disregarding the verdict of a church court, dared to perform priestly service, then, on the basis of the 28th Apostolic Canon, he would be subject to anathema for such a crime: “Whoever, a bishop, or presbyters, or a deacon, has been righteously deposed for obvious guilt, dares touch the ministry once entrusted to him, such a one will be completely cut off from the Church.”

The Local Council of 1917 - 1918 issued a ruling “On the possibility of reinstating to the priesthood persons deprived of the priesthood by court,” according to which “persons deprived of the priesthood by sentences of spiritual courts, correct in essence and form, cannot be restored to the priesthood. Court sentences on deprivation of holy orders, recognized by the Supreme Church Court as incorrect in essence or in form, are subject to review and can be canceled if they are declared invalid.”432 Thus, only in case of a judicial error or violation of the established legal procedure can the sentence of defrocking be reviewed, but the defrocking cannot be returned by way of pardon.

During the Synodal era in Russia, clergy who were defrocked for canonical, and not criminal, crimes could remain in the ecclesiastical department in lower positions: sextons, sextons, church watchmen. If their names were crossed out from the list of the ecclesiastical department, then those who came from the nobility or from honorary citizens returned to their previous state, the rest were assigned to the burghers or peasants and went into a taxable state. Those expelled from the clergy in connection with defrocking lost orders, as well as ranks and titles received before entering the clergy and during the service of the Church. They were prohibited from entering the capitals for 7 years and from entering the state or public service by election: former deacons for 12, and former priests for 20 years. Until the middle of the 19th century, defrocking was associated with the cutting of the head and beard in the Spiritual Consistory and with the replacement of the spiritual dress with an Armenian.

Widows from among those defrocked could be tonsured as monks, but without the right to re-ordination.

The Catholic Church does not know such a punishment as complete expulsion from the priesthood. Giving the Sacrament of the priesthood the meaning of absolute indelibility, Catholic doctrine and Catholic church law know only the deposition and deprivation of one’s degree by the clergy (depositio and degradatio). But a deposed cleric, according to Catholic views, still remains a cleric.

Disciplinary practice also knows such punishment for clergy as prohibition of religious service. Rule 8 of the First Ecumenical Council prohibited bishops who returned from the Novatian schism from performing hierarchical ceremonies: ordinations, consecration of churches; but they were allowed to perform presbytery services. According to the ancient canons, clergy, deprived of the right to officiate, retained the right to begin the Liturgy together with the clergy before the laity. According to the 1st and 2nd rules of the Council of Ancyra, the 10th rule of St. Peter of Alexandria, clergy who, after renouncing Christ because of torture, then fearlessly confessed the faith of Christ before the tormentors, were deprived of the right to officiate, but retained the seat and honor of the clergy. The ban on religious rites is imposed for relatively minor crimes: against official duties, against decency, for causing any offense by word. The prohibition can be imposed on clergy and laity by the diocesan authority, and on bishops by the highest authority of the Local Church.

In the disciplinary practice of the Russian Orthodox Church, prohibition in clergy has become widespread. According to Russian church laws, prohibition in priestly service could be associated with dismissal from the place and the relegation of priests and deacons to the position of clerics (only for the position, but without defrocking), or it was carried out without dismissal from the place, but with the imposition of penance at the monastery or at one’s place. parish church for a specified period. The duration of this period was either directly indicated, or, more often, not specified, and, therefore, the penance continued until the final correction of the convicted person. According to the “Charter of Spiritual Consistories”, for the wedding of those who had not reached the age of marriage, the guilty clergy and clerics were sent to repentance in the monastery: presbyters - for half of the time that was missing until the married couple came of age, and deacons and clerics - for half the priest’s term.

A ban on religious service is also used not as a punishment, but to eliminate temptation, as a pre-trial measure. According to the 14th canon of the Sardician Council, the 28th and 147th canons of the Carthage Council, priestly service is prohibited to clergy suspected of crimes, even if their guilt has not been proven. On this basis, the “Charter of Spiritual Consistories” contains the following provision: “A clergy person convicted of a crime is prohibited from serving in the priesthood, depending on the circumstances that are placed in the clause and revealed during the investigation. The order regarding this is entrusted to the sole discretion of the diocesan bishop, who is obliged to ensure that those accused of well-known crimes against piety do not begin to serve the altar of the Lord, as soon as there is already sufficient reason to ensure that they are accused fairly.”433

The widespread use in modern times, after 1917, of such a measure as prohibition of clergymen from serving in the priesthood on such charges, which, according to the canons, entail defrocking, should be explained not only and not so much by the leniency of the church authorities, but by the difficulty or often the impossibility of conducting an evidentiary investigation into the case and its trial in the conditions that developed during this period, radically different than in the synodal era. Therefore, such a measure as the ban on religious services often had the character not of a judicial verdict, but of a pre-trial act.

The currently valid “Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church” contains a provision according to which defrocking and lifelong ban from the priesthood are imposed by the diocesan bishop or the Patriarch and the Synod only after consideration of the case by an ecclesiastical court.

In addition to defrocking and prohibition of sacred rites, church discipline also knows other punishments to which clergy are subjected. The canons of the Council of Carthage mention a punishment that was applied exclusively to bishops: deprivation of bishops from fraternal communion with other bishops. A bishop guilty (for example, of not appearing at the Council without a blessed reason, or of accepting a monk from another monastery into his subordinate monastery) was removed from all official relations with other bishops and was deprived of the right to issue letters of representation and recommendation to those he cared for. Christians and even henceforth could no longer appear at the provincial council. Such punishment is not used in modern disciplinary practice of the Church.

In the Russian Church the following punishments are applied, as a rule, for unimportant offenses: penance without prohibiting priestly service (in the Synodal era it was carried out in bishops' houses and monasteries); removal from place - a clergyman removed from office in the synodal era could perform sacred rites from time to time at the invitation of the parish rector; exception for the staff, that is, the same removal from office, but applied only to elderly clerics who have reached the age of 60. Nowadays, both of these measures are called the same thing - dismissal for staff, but when it is applied to a truly elderly clergyman, it no longer has the nature of a punishment, but is forced by the state of health of the person being dismissed. The “Charter of Spiritual Consistories” also provided for punishment of clergy, such as increased supervision on the part of deans, monetary penalties (most often this penalty was applied for faulty maintenance of metric books, confessional lists, search books - that is, church documentation), prostrations in the temple, strict or a simple reprimand and reprimand.

For crimes subject to secular criminal court, in the synodal era, such punishment as deprivation of monasticism was applied to monks. In relation to clergy-monks, defrocking could also be accompanied by deprivation of monasticism.

Roman Catholic church law divides all punishments into censorship (or healing punishments) and vindicative punishments (poenae vindicativae), the purpose of which is considered to be retribution to the criminal for the crime he has committed. The same division is made in relation to punishments imposed on clergy. The nature of censorship is the so-called suspension (suspensio) - a temporary ban on the use of certain rights, pending correction. At the same time, a distinction is made between suspensio generalis, which extends to all the rights of those punished, and suspensio specialis, which affects only some of the three categories of rights of the clergy: that is, either the right of sacred rites, or rights related to jurisdiction - official rights, or property rights associated with receiving income from a church place.

Vindicative punishments include:

degradation, defrocking, when a degraded criminal is deprived of all the rights and privileges of a cleric, but at the same time he still, according to the Catholic doctrine of the absolute indelibility of the priesthood, remains a cleric;

deposition (depositio) - deprivation of office along with the right to henceforth hold any church positions, but with the reserving of some privileges and rights of clergy;

dismissal from office, but without deprivation of the right to occupy a particular position in the future;

moving from one place to another (translatio) - punishment is imposed in the case where there is a direct reason for the transfer.

A little history

Previously, a person who had sinned and sincerely repented sequentially went through four stages of repentance:

• Crying.

These people were forbidden to appear inside the temple. Outside the Church, they had to publicly and with sobs lament the sins they had committed and beg the parishioners entering the church to pray for the salvation of their souls.

• Listeners.

The sinners stood in the church vestibule - a place where a notice board usually hangs, people write notes, and where they leave their outerwear. Although, in fact, this place means an image of the earth, an image of repentance, a place of leaving earthly life.

Those who sinned listened carefully to the text of the Holy Scriptures and liturgical sermons. When the Sacrament of the Eucharist began, they, along with the catechumens, were obliged to leave the House of God.

• Kneeling (crouching).

People were allowed to enter the church hall up to the pulpit. In Orthodox churches, the ambo is a small elevation in front of the altar, from which priests and deacons deliver sermons, read the Gospel, and the cleric comes here before Communion with the Holy Chalice.

After the listeners and catechumens were removed from the Eucharist, they fell on their faces and the serving priest, laying hands on them, read special petitions, after which they left the hall.

• Repentant.

They were allowed to stay in the temple until the end of the Liturgy, but they were not allowed to see the Chalice with the Blood and Flesh of Christ. They were also forbidden to bring sacrificial gifts to the church.

Having gone through all the steps of repentance, repentant sinners were again accepted into the church community.

A repentant person successively went through four stages of repentance

In the early Church, people who sinned were excommunicated from the Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ:

1. schismatics and heretics - until the moment of renunciation of sinful errors;
2. incestuous - for 12 years;
3. fornicators - for 10-15 years;
4. murderers - up to 25 years;
5. homosexuals - up to 15 years;
6. oathbreakers - up to 10 years;
7. sorcerers and sorcerers - up to 20-25 years.

PENANCE

Penance [Greek] ἐπιτίμιον], church punishment (ban) imposed on the laity. A similar punishment for clerics is defrocking. The main goal of E. is not to retaliate against believers for criminal acts or to protect them from such (although this goal is also pursued by the imposition of E.), but to heal painful states of the soul of sinners. In the rules of St. Fathers repentance is considered as “healing” (Vas. Vel. 3; Grig. Nis. 8; Trul. 102). “The essence of church punishments. is that a transgressor of church canons is deprived of all or only some of the rights and benefits that are at the exclusive disposal of the church. Hence the common name for these church punishments: “excommunication” (ἀφορισμός, excommunicatio). It can be either complete, consisting in the complete exclusion of the criminal from among the members of the church (ἀνάθεμα, excommunicatio major), or incomplete, when the guilty person is deprived of only some rights and benefits at the disposal of the church” (Pavlov. P. 296).

Minor excommunication was associated in the ancient Church with public repentance and was imposed exclusively by the bishop. The practice of secret confession and the imposition of E. by a confessor in the priesthood with the secret performance of E. spread in the Church later, not earlier than the middle. I thousand. But already in the IV century. secret E. was imposed on wives guilty of adultery, due to the fact that with public repentance, their lives would be under threat from their deceived husbands. You. Vel. 34 reads: “Wives who have committed adultery and confessed it out of piety, or have been convicted in any way, our fathers forbade them to do so openly, lest we give cause to the death of those convicted: but they commanded them to stand with the faithful, without communion, until the time is fulfilled. repentance."

The procedure for accepting sinners into church communion was established already in the 3rd century, especially early in the diocese of Pontus, and included 4 stages of repentance, which are listed in the 11th (12th) canon of St. Gregory the Wonderworker of Neocaesarea: “Crying occurs outside the gates of the prayer temple, where the sinner, standing, must ask the believers who enter to pray for him. The hearing takes place inside the gate in the vestibule, where the sinner must stand until he prays for the catechumens, and then leave. For the rule says: after listening to the scriptures and teaching, let him become a wife, and let him not be worthy of prayer. The rite of those who prostrate is when the penitent, standing inside the gates of the temple, leaves together with the catechumens. And the rite of those standing in congregation is when the repentant stands in congregation with the faithful, and does not go out with the catechumens. The final thing is the communion of the Holy Mysteries.” The penitents went through all the steps sequentially: 1) the “crying” stood outside the temple and, crying over their sins, asked those who entered to pray for them; 2) “listening” were allowed into the vestibule, but were present at the service only before the start of the sacrament of the Eucharist. After the sermon, they and the catechumens left the church; 3) “crouching” or “kneeling” could be in the main part of the temple (before the pulpit). Before the beginning of the Liturgy of the Faithful, when the catechumens and “listening” had already left the church, those “kneeling” knelt down and the bishop read prayers over them. They were not allowed to attend the Liturgy of the Faithful; 4) “those standing together,” or standing together, could be present until the end of the liturgy, but they were not allowed to take the sacrament and bring sacrificial gifts. When E.'s time ended, the penitents were accepted into church communion and they could partake of the Holy Mysteries.

Modern Church

A layman is subject to strict church punishment for violating church canons.

Most often, penance is prescribed for abortion, witchcraft, fortune telling by cards, adultery, blasphemy, and alcoholism.

Infanticide

The husband and wife together are responsible for the taking of the life of an unborn child, especially if they profess Orthodoxy and realize the gravity of the act committed.

Important! Penance for infanticide, as a rule, is sent by the Heavenly Father Himself.

This sin can be forgiven if a person is consciously and humbly ready to endure the punishment throughout his life. It could be:

• complete infertility of both spouses;
• family problems;
• diseases.

It is important to understand that all the negativity that accompanies his life on earth was sent for the abortions performed.

Advice! It is necessary to constantly repent of sins, ask for forgiveness from the Lord and never do this again.

About childbirth in an Orthodox family:

• Is it necessary to have many children?
• About contraception
• About infertility

Fornication

All adultery is prohibited by the seventh Commandment of the Word of God.

Penance. Boris Klementyev. Confession

Not allowed:

• any violation of marital fidelity;
• homosexuality;
• lesbianism;
• debauchery and other lascivious relationships.

Attention!
As penance, excommunication from Communion is possible for up to 7 years. If a person realizes the severity of the fall and accepts penance, then the result of his correction will be effective. But excommunication from Communion is a more difficult “punishment” than, for example, reading the canons or strict fasting.

Blasphemy

Modern men are more likely to fall into the sin of blasphemy.

Women usually curse, but by their nature it is the same blasphemy. When a “dark streak” occurs in life, ladies are furiously indignant against God’s Providence and His Justice, considering the Creator to be unjust. They often forget and surrender to the will of the devil, and as a result, they spew out satanic curses.

All this is blasphemy, worthy of hellish torment.

Perjury

There are people who take an oath on the Bible or the Crucifix. They believe that they perform this action in the name of the Lord, His Most Pure Mother or a saint.

Perjury

In fact, this sin is directed against God and others.

Important! This mortal sin is a desecration of the greatness of the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

Theft

Appropriation of other people's things into personal property without the knowledge of their owner.

Just thoughts and desire to return what was stolen is not enough.

Important! It is necessary not only to return the item, but also to compensate for the damage that the owner suffered during the absence of the stolen item.

What is penance

This is a measure of influence on the part of the confessor, which is designed to heal the soul of a Christian. For example, a believer has committed a sin for which he is very ashamed and scared. He believes that it is impossible to simply forgive and forget. A person comes to confession, brings repentance, and if he is only told that the Lord has forgiven his sin, he cannot accept it. It is necessary for the confessor to impose some other penance on him, for him to work hard and do something. And then the person will have the feeling that he has fulfilled his due repentance in full. His soul will be freed from sin and calm down.

So, penance is a form of repentance. There are sins that a priest does not have the right to absolve in confession just like that:

• denial of the Lord or blasphemy against him;
• murder;
• debauchery;
• extreme forms of parental humiliation;
• some other sins (see below).

In these cases, additional repentance is required in the form of penance. In the church rules, in particular those of Basil the Great, it is written what punishment to bear for what sins. In ancient times, this was excommunication from communion for many years. For example, if a married man cheated on his legal wife, he did not have the right to cross the church threshold for 20 years. That is, it was possible to pray without entering the temple, but there was no talk of communion. If an unmarried person fell into fornication, excommunication from the Eucharist was imposed for 15 years.

Now such severe punishments are not used by the church, since they will bring more harm than good to modern man. The amount of penance depends on the ability, strength, and capabilities of each individual person. The degree of repentance is also taken into account. The confessor, taking into account the repentance of each of them, can impose different penances on two people who have committed the same sin.

One should be excommunicated from communion for two years, the other for two months.

Increasingly, confessors prescribe an enhanced prayer rule, reading the Gospel, bowing, and increased fasting as penance, if health and life circumstances allow. The confessor must be uncompromisingly strict towards those who deliberately commit sin. A person who is overcome by passion, but then repents, humbles himself, bows his head, and asks for forgiveness, the confessor must, with reasoning, help him get closer to God again. This is what many holy fathers did.

Methods of disposal

The sacrament of repentance, that is, confession, completely delivers a Christian from the sin committed. The person will no longer be guilty of the confessed offense. But in reality, the degree of repentance can be different. If passions are not completely eliminated in the soul, the repentant sinner commits the same unrighteous acts again and again.

Penance, in particular excommunication from communion, helps a person realize the degree of his moral and spiritual decline, overcome attachment to sin, and feel disgust for it. Self-justification, characteristic of fallen human nature, does not allow the repentant sinner to fully realize the depth of his fall. Therefore, practicing good deeds such as fasting, prayer, almsgiving and abstinence helps one realize the degree of sinfulness of one’s deeds and strengthens repentance.

Prayers

Very often, as penance, the confessor prescribes an extended prayer rule or reading the Gospel. For example, it is prescribed to read the canon of repentance, Our Father or other prayers for a certain period. In addition, prayer can also mean other acts of reverence and piety.

Charity

Alms and help provided to neighbors well cleanse a person’s heart from sins and passions. She instills love in the heart, makes sinners repent of their sins towards themselves and their neighbors. Almsgiving can be not only material, but also spiritual.

Long fast

By abstaining from pleasing his flesh, keeping it in strictness and fasting, the repentant sinner cleanses and refines his soul. This helps him see his sins more clearly, realize them, and bring deep repentance.

Fasting includes not only food restrictions, but also other methods of mortification and self-affirmation.

Worship during worship

Prostration is a means of regaining the lost connection with God. He symbolizes the prodigal son, who returned home and fell on his knees before the Heavenly Father, asking for forgiveness and return to his native abode. With such a bow-fall we plunge ourselves into the abyss of repentance, where the merciful God will certainly extend his hand to us to save us from sins.

Abstaining from marital debt

There are days in the church calendar when communication between spouses in their family bed must be limited for spiritual purposes. If a husband and wife violate this instruction, the priest may assign them penance in the form of a temporary renunciation of marital duty.

As a rule, the passion that dominates a person’s soul is cured by the opposite action or virtue.

For what sins can they impose

The ban on communion is imposed quite rarely in our time. The reason for such an extreme measure must be sufficiently compelling. Typically, this occurs when a Christian commits one or more mortal sins. And, especially, if he persists in them, not having the spiritual strength to give up the addiction or does not feel sincere repentance for what he has done.

For abortion

Orthodoxy considers abortion a more serious sin than murder. This is explained by the fact that the baby in the womb is still unbaptized and dies as such. This sin is committed by people who forget that every person comes into this world only by the will of God. And they have no right to decide who lives and who doesn’t. It is believed that God punishes aborted children, and both parents must pray for such a sin in church.

For fornication

Bodily incontinence, love for carnal pleasures sometimes exceeds the limits established by God and human society. Fornication refers not only to promiscuous sexual intercourse among men or women who are not bound by marriage and leading a free lifestyle.

Adultery is being unfaithful to your marriage partner, husband or wife. It is considered a more serious sin than the first type of sexual incontinence. Because there is a wife, a husband, and such problems can be solved much easier, without betrayal. Fornication also includes sins such as sodomy, fornication, and bestiality. All of them contradict the natural nature of man, violate it, and are considered in Orthodoxy to be among the most serious sins.

Blasphemy

Recently, cases of renunciation of the Orthodox faith have become more frequent, one of the reasons for this is the founding of numerous sects. The Christian people, having forgotten the faith of their ancestors, began to seek the truth in eastern, pagan religions, dooming themselves to eternal destruction. In the depths of the Orthodox Church itself, schisms began to occur more and more often, sectarian movements and beliefs began to appear. Such people are strictly forbidden to receive communion until they renounce their delusions.

Denial of God is the most serious sin and atonement for it, as a rule, is very difficult for a person. People who return from sects often remain spiritually disabled. They find it difficult to return to church and normal life. The imposition of penance can help, or it can push such a person away from the Orthodox faith. Therefore, priests in this case act with caution, treating a person gently who has already suffered enough from the deception of demonic forces.

Perjury

It is considered one of the most shameful sins committed by word and considered to be the extreme degree of lying. This may be a violation of a given promise, confirmed by an oath in front of witnesses, or an oath. In early Christianity, according to the rules of Basil the Great, clergy who committed this sin were forbidden to receive communion for 10 years, and laymen for 6 years.

In our time, such a sin may not be punished by excommunication from the Eucharist, but is more often replaced by other types of penance.

Theft

Violent and illegal appropriation of material wealth that rightfully belongs to others is a great sin. God, in his commandments, forbids a person not only to take away his property, but also to simply envy, to desire the same for himself.

Lie

Lying means distorting the truth. Deception can extend not only to others, but also to oneself. You can lie not only with words, but also with actions, thoughts, and life.

Magic

In the Orthodox Church, the main active force is the grace of God. If a person turns to the occult, he interacts with other, dark spiritual forces and commits a sin. Thus, he turns away from God and His help.

Alcoholism or drug addiction

Adverse habits have become a real scourge of modern humanity. An alcoholic or drug addict slowly kills his body and soul. He devotes himself entirely not to God, as we are commanded, but seeks other consolations.

Masturbation

In essence, it is self-satisfaction of one’s carnal passions. It is considered an unnatural action that violates human nature. It is also directed against the will of the Creator, who created man and woman and commanded them to be fruitful.