General confession is a review of all the sins a person has committed throughout his life. This procedure is difficult, but necessary in some cases. Orthodox priests advise general confession for several categories of Christians:
- those who were baptized as children and never confessed,
- for those who want to be baptized in adulthood,
- those who previously approached the sacrament of confession formally and did not experience repentance
- those who are sick and could die at any moment.
- There is another category of believers who need general confession - these are those who, despite constantly visiting church, feel extraordinary loneliness, their abandonment by God - a feeling that indicates that the soul is languishing under a heavy burden of sins.
During general confession, paradoxes occur - despite the fact that a person is aware of his own depravity and sees his life from beginning to end, including all immoral actions and feelings, he is spiritually cleansed of all this, as if carrying out a general cleaning of the soul and often leaves confession not just with relief, but as if renewed, freed from the heavy burden of the past.
The difference between general confession and ordinary confession
Churched Christians come to Confession and Communion, some once a week, and some once a month. They leave their sins at the cross of Christ, which they no longer remember. Their sins were washed by the Blood of the Savior and taken to the Cross.
Confession in the Orthodox Church
Confessed sin is abandoned, but we are living people. We do not live in paradise, we can be angry, get angry, sin with our minds and eyes, so we should hasten to the grace given by God - repentance and confession of sins.
The more often Christians come to the Sacrament of Communion, the stronger their faith and the stronger God’s protection. By putting God first, believers can live with confidence that everything else in their lives will fall into place.
The concept of “general confession” appeared quite recently. In Orthodoxy, this Sacrament was introduced for people who:
- Haven't been to church for a long time;
- having been baptized in childhood, they never visited the temple;
- never confessed;
- confessed without true repentance;
- are sick and may pass away into another world;
- are preparing to accept Orthodox baptism as adults.
General recognition of one's sins will bring freedom, first of all, to the Christian himself, who has lived all his life in captivity of lusts and impurity. You cannot be free without the Creator. Only when freed from sin does a person acquire wings. Those who consider faith in God to be a limitation of freedom are deeply mistaken. The Almighty loves everyone, but His grace is poured out on those who have abandoned sin.
What is human freedom? Drink, smoke, live in a civil marriage, be angry and hypocritical? This is what Christians call “living in sin.” No one can correct their past, but the Lord gives everyone the opportunity to start the future from scratch, with a clean page called “general confession.”
About sins:
- Eight deadly sins and the fight against them
- Sin of slander
- Sin of Wrath
General house cleaning means clearing every corner of the house of clutter and dirt. At this time, everything that is outdated, broken, or broken is thrown away. In a house where thorough cleaning is constantly done, cleanliness and order are respected, there is no need for general cleaning.
If a person has never cleansed his spiritual temple, he needs to carefully prepare for the great Sacrament, looking into the darkest corners of the soul, starting from childhood. During ordinary confession, Christians do not delve into the description of their experiences when committing an offense; this must be done at home during repentance.
Important! During the general confession, which can last several hours, a person internally experiences everything that happens to him, expressing his experiences and emotions.
Will allow you to get freedom from sins
General confession helps to understand the causes of sins, reveals the deep motives of actions, forces you to forgive those who once hurt or betrayed you and cleanse your soul with repentance.
General confession will make it possible to clearly feel that God does not abandon the repentant sinner; it does not allow self-justification, penetrating deeply into the soul of a person, cleansing it of the debris of passions and sins and granting him real freedom - freedom from sin. A priest from Moscow, Igor Fomin (Kazan Cathedral), in his interviews warns a person against making quick conclusions after a general confession and draws attention to the fact that confession is generally a long process. You must not only realize all your sins, but also get rid of them, and this does not happen right away: First you need to “dig up the field” of the human soul, then plant seeds of goodness on it, and then be able to ensure that these seeds provide inputs, and then and the fruits - in the form of good deeds and prayers.
What does the general confession give to a Christian?
When “turning over the pages” of life, a Christian sees a holistic picture of the years he has lived. In prayer, you should ask the Holy Spirit to highlight those moments when a person stumbled or allowed unforgiveness into his heart, which became the cause of bitterness, cruelty, and resentment towards all humanity.
General confession of one's sins will bring freedom to a Christian
After confession, by the great mercy of God, a person throws off the psychological burden that he has sometimes carried for many years, and at the same time he is freed from voluntary and involuntary sins.
The time for confession must be agreed upon in advance, so that in a calm atmosphere, with unlimited time, the soul can be freed before the Almighty.
Advice! It is very important for confession to choose a priest whom you trust, so that he himself is an example of Christian life.
A wise confessor will not ask indecent questions or delve into “dirty laundry.” He will gently and unobtrusively help the confessor to go through the path of analyzing his life, remembering its good and bad moments.
While remembering a particular offense during a general revision of his soul, a person can explain why he acted in this or that way.
Why can't you hide your sins?
If a person deliberately harbored some kind of sin within himself, then it turns out that he wanted to deceive God, and this is an even greater offense. That is why in the prayer before the Sacrament of Confession there are these words:
Here is His icon before us, but I (the priest) am only a witness, to testify before Him everything that you tell me; If you hide anything from me, you will fall into double sin.
What does it mean? If you have already come to a spiritual hospital, that is, to a church for confession, repent before God of everything that torments you. Then you will get relief. Many believers really feel like a stone is being lifted from their hearts.
This is another confirmation that the Sacrament of Confession has a result: the Lord has forgiven our sins. There is only one thing left: to correct your life not in words, but in deeds, and try not to return to your confessed vice.
How to prepare for general confession
For general confession, which is held once in a lifetime, a person prepares for a long time, writing down all his experiences on paper.
Attention! If you have never prayed, Psalm 50 will come to the rescue. With this psalm you can cry out to the Creator every time you repent of an unrighteous life.
“Have mercy on me, Lord Almighty, according to Your great wisdom and mercy, have mercy on me, a sinner and unworthy, according to the multitude of Your mercies and bounties. Forgive my sins. I repeatedly ask you to cleanse my soul from sins, for I am aware of the iniquities I have committed and sincerely repent of them. Lord, grant your great forgiveness. Fill my heart with purity and renew the spirit within me. Do not turn your face away from me, having heard my bold request. Grant me hope for the salvation of my soul and strengthen me with your sovereign spirit. Teach me to follow the righteous path and deliver me from torment, so that in my prayers I can glorify Your Holy Name forever and ever. For I know that it is not the sacrifice that you desire, which I am humbly ready to give, but that you favor me. Bless me Thy servant, O Lord. Amen".
Example of a general confession
The Church, understanding the weakness of the prayer life of the confessor, prepared an example of general repentance for Christians.
Countless are my voluntary and involuntary, hidden and open, big and small sins that were committed in word, deed, in thoughts, by my own will and compulsion, at different time periods of my life, Merciful God, from birth to this moment. I sinned with an ungrateful attitude towards the Lord and His great blessings:
He was also sinful in that he did not keep the vows given at Baptism. I am sinful because I lied and showed self-will.
Sinful because he did not keep the Commandments, did not listen to the traditions of the Holy Fathers.
He was also sinful in that: he was rude; dared; he was disobedient, stern, fearful; humiliated; was obstinate; shouted uncontrollably; got irritated; raised his hand; quarreled and swore. Sinful in that: he slandered; was careless; was in a hurry; was sarcastic; was hostile, hated; was jealous and instigated.
Sinful because: he was obsessed with revenge; voluptuous; disliked; unclean; dreamed; he was wayward and intemperate, drunk.
He was also a sinner because he was absent-minded, joked, joked, laughed, mocked, had crazy fun, was idle, abandoned prayer, service, fasting and good deeds.
He was also sinful in that: he was stingy; perplexed; was cold and greedy; despised the poor and the poor. I was sinful because I was greedy, idle, snitched, lied, dissembled, was careless and disrespectful.
Sinful because he did not believe, blasphemed, doubted, was frivolous and fickle, indifferent and insensitive, inattentive. Sinful because he grieved immensely, despaired, hatched crafty and evil plans, was excessively sad, fell into despondency and despair. I was also sinful in that I remembered God in vain, was cowardly, hopeless, hypocritical, borrowed, found fault, oppressed, stole, extorted, and appropriated the property of others.
I am sinful because I abused the gift of God, indulged in sins, talked idle talk, wasted money, was cold towards my neighbor and towards God, and incited people to commit evil deeds.
He was sinful because he spent his time vainly, spread his false opinions, uttered curses without thinking, was ambitious, pretended, did indecent things, mocked, laughed, and participated in a card game.
I am sinful because I allowed myself to skip prayer in the mornings and evenings, forgot to cross myself before eating, cursed, and ate after sunset.
He was also guilty of giving wrong advice, being lusty, voluptuous, picky about food, and reading romance novels and films. He was sinful in that he was not caring about the Gospel and the Psalter, and came up with excuses for sins.
Sinful due to increased interest in clothes. Sinful because he was proud, vain, performed his duties dishonestly, and bore false witness.
Sinned by many impurities, with the participation of the enemy, in a state of sleepy reverie. He committed sins through fornication by nature and through nature.
He was also guilty of missing services, being late, and visiting churches of other religions. I was sinful because I did not follow the prayer rules.
He was sinful because he gave alms with evil thoughts and did not visit the sick. Sinful due to the fact that he did not perform actions according to the command of the Lord: burying the dead, feeding the hungry, quenching the thirst of the thirsty. I am sinful because I did not properly honor Sundays and holidays and did not pray.
He was also sinful in that he forgot the Saints and spent holidays drunkenly, slandered and condemned, he was unfaithful. I was sinful in that I came to the temple of God without humbling my heart, was not reverent during divine services, exalted myself, was angry, flattered and was two-faced. Sinful because I was impatient, cowardly and malicious. Sinful because he used foul language, wanted excess food, gave in to his whims, and begrudged alms to the poor.
He is also sinful in condemnation, contempt and hostility, greed and impurity. I also sinned in that I prayed coldly and absent-mindedly, I was not diligent, I was just lazy and idle. Sinful with chatter and gossip, games and idle pursuits. He often committed sins voluntarily, willingly, and seduced others.
I consider myself guilty before the face of God more than all other people, therefore I humbly pray to you, honest father, on the Day of Judgment be my witness.
I truly regret these falls and have the will in the future, as much as possible, hoping for God’s mercy and help, to guard myself from all defilement of the flesh and spirit. Forgive me, Our Father, pray for me, a sinful and unworthy servant.
When remembering some sins, you should call everything by its proper name. Abortion is murder, and weighing yourself on a scale is theft.
The Lord took care of His children in advance and gave them a guide, the Law.
Revolution in consciousness
Sometimes the general confession is called the confession that has particularly influenced one’s life. For example, a man went to a monastery for a week, in silence, prayer and work he reevaluated his actions, and became ripe for repentance.
Usually in monasteries on weekdays, when there are few people, there is time to confess for a long time and carefully. In addition, the hieromonks will not only patiently listen to your confession, but will also give a lot of valuable advice.
But this is also not a general confession. Why? Yes, because for a believer, in a sense, every repentance is general. The Lord accepts him, so you need to open your heart to God. But we should not return again to those sins from which we have long been cleansed.
When we clean the house, we try to put everything in order so that every corner sparkles with cleanliness. But we don’t remember how much dirt we raked out of this room last year. We are simply happy with the resulting cleanliness. The same is true in repentance.
Important Features and Meaning
The Orthodox faith teaches: it will never be possible to become free within and gain spiritual wings without the Creator. This can be done by freeing yourself from thoughts and actions that are displeasing to God and sincerely repenting of them.
General confession is a great sacrament. Religion claims that during the air ordeals that await the soul after leaving the corruptible body and moving to another world, the smallest details of the sins committed during life will appear before it. Among them will be all misdeeds or crimes - both forgotten and committed unintentionally, out of ignorance of the laws of Christianity. A full confession helps a person to cleanse even the most hidden corners of the soul and avoid a painful fate after completing his earthly journey.
In Orthodoxy, general confession is considered a special rite that can lead to real miracles. There are cases when after it people were healed from protracted illnesses that were not amenable to traditional treatment.
An example of a confessional text for a woman and a man
When mentioning existing sins, it is necessary to call them by their proper names, without using euphemisms (neutral, mitigating expressions). Below you can find an example of a confessional text that can be used by representatives of both sexes:
“Lord, my sins are countless. I have sinned at different periods of my life in thoughts, words, and deeds. During my entire stay on Earth, I sinned by not fulfilling the vows I made at baptism, untruth, rudeness, insolence, pride, obstinacy, irritability, slander, negligence, jealousy, anger. In addition, he sinned with vindictiveness, rancor, voluptuousness, stinginess, greed, contempt for the poor and needy, greed, malice, cowardice, hypocrisy, indifference to the sick and infirm, and the use of physical force against one’s neighbors and animals. I sinned against God through weakness of faith, disrespect for church rules, shrines and holidays, non-observance of fasts, rare reading of prayers, mentioning the name of the Lord in inappropriate situations, despondency, laziness, gluttony, passion for horoscopes, trips to sorcerers and fortune-tellers, lack of love and mercy towards others, inability and unwillingness to resist devilish temptations.
I committed all these sins voluntarily and introduced others to them. I consider myself guilty (guilty) before the face of the Lord, therefore I hopefully pray for forgiveness and humbly trust in God’s mercy. Do not be angry and forgive me, your sinful servant (servant), Our Father.”
The given example of a general confession is brief and generalized. Such a list of sins can be supplemented by more detailed life events.
Full confession also helps to understand the causes of sins. In a conversation with a priest, it will be possible to identify the underlying motives for negative actions. After a cleansing ritual, a person will be able to understand his true purpose in life, quickly learn to forgive his offenders and follow all the canons of Christianity.
