Why sin is dangerous for a person
Sin is not a legal crime. Sin, first of all, causes mental trauma to the person himself; it is a disease, a wound that appears on the soul. It takes a certain amount of time to heal sin.
How to properly ask God for forgiveness? So that repentance is not fruitless, you should not just name your sins, but sacrifice to God the virtues that are opposite to the sins that you previously committed. Naming your sins is not yet repentance .
How to ask God for forgiveness for sins
Fruit worthy of repentance is needed:
- change of life;
- change of mind;
- turn your life into the opposite of the sins that existed before.
Sin cannot arise spontaneously. Christ in the Sermon on the Mount reveals the spiritual roots of sins. For Jews, sin is murder, adultery, and Christ shows a certain genesis of the origin of this or that sin. He says that an adulterer is not only the one who has committed adultery, but anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart; a murderer in the cherished understanding is not the one who killed, but also the one who is in vain angry with his brother - is already a murderer.
About sins:
- About covetousness
- Sin of love of money
- Why playing cards is a sin
The Church defines that there are eight deadly sins. But at the same time, we understand that mortal sins do not arise out of nowhere. Therefore, if we say that there are major and minor sins, then by this very statement we are in some form legalizing part of our problems, and this is wrong. Therefore, there are no small sins.
Important! Any sin, if it is a neglected problem, will lead to something serious, to what is called a mortal sin.
That is, Christ reveals internal motivations, reveals the very law of sin that can really be present in every person.
The story of Forgiveness Sunday
The origins of this holiday originate from the life of the first righteous people of Egypt, who secluded themselves with prayers in the desert for 40 days to prepare for Easter (like the Lord), to overcome temptations and strengthen the soul.
In the waterless wasteland, great dangers awaited the ascetics: wild animals and poisonous insects, physical weakness due to lack of water. Therefore, they asked each other for forgiveness, as if they were preparing for death, forgiving all sins. Gradually this tradition became established in the rituals of the Church.
Among the Russian people, Forgiveness Sunday has always been revered: in families, the elders asked for forgiveness from the younger ones, the rich and noble - from their servants and peasants. In the villages, peasants went to visit neighbors and relatives, visited the sick and remembered lonely relatives with the desire to help them as much as possible.
The Tsar was the first to set an example of Christian humility: he asked for forgiveness from the monastery brethren and bishops, from the soldiers in the army, carried out an amnesty for those convicted and distributed alms everywhere. On this day, military operations were even suspended.
How to Confess Sins
There are ten sins, everything else is a variation of these sins. Therefore, when preparing for confession, prepare with an emphasis on the brevity of the Ten Commandments, but at the same time you must be prepared that the priest may ask the question: how many times have you fallen? Who did you fall with? Was there any feeling of remorse from the one you fell with? It is up to the priest whether he wants to clarify something or not.
Sacrament of Repentance
Sometimes it is very difficult for a person to tell about some of his sins. This especially happens when you are friends with a priest, and you are afraid that when you name your sins, this will change the priest’s good attitude towards you, he will look at you negatively. But in reality this is false shame.
A priest, when he feels that a person is behaving insincerely during confession, he may be offended by such distrust. And when the clergyman sees that you call sin by its name, he feels your trust in him and will treat it with understanding. Adapt to the priest, his questions, his reaction.
Attention! Confession is not made before a priest. Prayers are read: “Behold, Christ stands invisibly, accepting your confession.” The priest is only a witness to confession and the priest forgives sins not by the power of his piety, not by the power of his dignity, but by the power given to him by Jesus Christ.
Therefore, confession is made before Christ, and the priest is a witness. And at the Last Judgment, it is the priest who will testify to the sincerity of your confession.
There is penance - this is not a punishment for sin, but a period during which a person heals his sin with repentance. To then proceed to the cup of the Eucharist.
Sometimes, for serious mortal sins, the priest recommends abstaining from communion for a while. Strengthen repentance with prayer, fasting, reading the Holy Scriptures, patristic literature, or other positive actions. In order to heal your soul through repentance, and then proceed to the Chalice of Christ. The natural state is a feeling of sorrow from a sin committed. It is natural to feel pain and heaviness. But while experiencing sorrow, the soul learns to humble itself and is reborn.
The purpose of confession is to get you to blame yourself! What happens in confession when a person begins to blame himself? God begins to justify him. The task of the penitent is to blame himself. After all, in everyday life we are engaged in constantly justifying ourselves.
But there is no need to bring into church elements of your ordinary life, when we disguise ourselves, try to justify ourselves, and refuse some accusations against us. Through false modesty, you become your own enemy.
Next is the Rite of Forgiveness.
The rector bows before the images of Jesus Christ and the Most Pure Virgin Mary, kisses the cross and venerates the icons. Stichera and prokeimenons are heard glorifying the Heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit, Christ and the Mother of God, calling for the spiritual feat of Lent and preparation for participation in the eternal Easter joy.
After this, the rector delivers the text of the sermon, at the end of which he humbly asks for forgiveness from the parishioners. The clergy present follow him by venerating the images and the cross. They ask each other for forgiveness. The laity also kiss the cross.
God and the repentant man
There are three different words that appear in the Holy Scriptures that speak of God's attitude towards a repentant person.
Christ and the Sinner
This is, first of all, the word - forgiveness. What does it mean to forgive a person? He will not be reminded of what he has done.
But there is another word - a person is pardoned. He not only committed a crime, but also deserved punishment, but he is pardoned.
And the third word in Holy Scripture is fundamental in characterizing how God relates to our act of repentance. This word is justification, that is, it means that you were never guilty.
God in Jesus Christ has completely freed man from the power of sin. In the sense that a person no longer responds, if he has repented of sin, an act of repentance has occurred, then this is exactly what is called justification, that is, complete, total forgiveness. This is because after Christ has performed our act of redemption, God the Father looks at us through the wounds of His Son and sees us as justified.
What Christ did has such significance.
How to ask God for forgiveness
In the modern world, the pace of life is so frantic that sometimes people forget about spirituality and deviate from the commandments of their religion. However, later realizing the harmfulness of the unrighteous actions committed, a person experiences a sincere desire to atone for his mistakes and cleanse his soul before God.
Find out what awaits you today - Horoscope for today for all zodiac signs
The power of forgiveness and mercy of our heavenly patron is the greatest grace that we can find if we sincerely wish to cleanse ourselves of wrong views, which ultimately lead to wrong actions. God can help anyone make their vision unclouded by temptations and unbiased towards the people around us. Do not forget to ask not only for atonement for your own sins, but also for forgiveness of the grievances that are stored in your heart and subconscious and poison your entire nature.
Seek forgiveness - know how to forgive
Since we need forgiveness, we must learn to forgive. Otherwise, how to read the Lord’s Prayer, where there are the words: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
More about prayers of repentance:
- Prayer of repentance for sins
- Canon of repentance to the Lord
- The Great Penitential Canon of Andrei of Crete
If, asking God for forgiveness, we ourselves do not forgive, then we cannot read the “Our Father” prayer. Then we will say to God: “Do not forgive us, just as we do not forgive” - this will be the meaning in our words, even if we pronounce the words of this prayer correctly.
Remembering that the measure of how we treat others is the measure of how God can treat us. We must approach these words responsibly: this means that when we forgive our neighbor, we ensure Divine forgiveness for ourselves.
Therefore, the one who needs forgiveness, the one who is forgiven, he must forgive and must forget that he has forgiven and be ready to repeat the act of forgiveness towards the person who seeks reconciliation with him.
Why is Sunday called Forgiven?
The Church honors Forgiveness Sunday on the eve of Great Lent, during Maslenitsa week. This day concludes the last week in which it is allowed to eat milk, cottage cheese and eggs in preparation for the upcoming forty-day fast. Reconciliation with the offended is the first step to subsequent work on oneself, to cleansing the soul and preparing for deep repentance before Easter. With a relieved, reconciled soul, the believer enters into fasting and strives for self-improvement, for God, in order to confess and deservedly partake of the Holy Sacraments, and to acquire the gospel virtues in spiritual achievement.
Sacraments of the Church - help in healing sins
All sacraments existing in the church have healing properties. Baptism is the removal of original sin. If people did not sin, then there would be no second sacrament - the sacrament of repentance.
What sins are removed in the sacrament of repentance and confession? A sin is removed as a misdemeanor when a person confesses it to a priest. Then he goes to communion and is given communion for the remission of sins and eternal life.
Communion in an Orthodox church
The question arises: “And for the remission of what sins, if a person confessed and the sin was removed?” The fact is that sin is removed as an offense in the Sacrament of Confession, but the Sacrament of Communion reduces the very tendency to sin, what the Apostle Paul calls the law of sin, which lives in every person. That is, any sinful act is born from those inclinations that each of us has. They may coincide, they may not coincide, but it is in communion that the inclination itself, the cause of sin, decreases.
Next, the Sacrament of Unction is the healing of the soul and bodily infirmities. Wedding is a sacrament, indulgence in a person’s carnal infirmities and ensuring a normal family life.
Important: a person who considers himself a sinner must fearlessly go to church, because all the main sacraments of the church are connected with human weaknesses, sins, and bad inclinations. And if a person says that he does not go to church because he is a sinner, then he does not understand what church is.
All the sacraments are intended to help a weak person, so he has a place in the temple. And when a person says that he has no sins, he is deceiving himself.
Worship in the temple
The service on Forgiveness Sunday begins with a recollection of the events of Adam's expulsion from Eden (Paradise) due to the Fall. The priests serve the Liturgy in golden vestments, read the Gospel of Matthew and an excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount, which talks about forgiveness of offenses to others as an important condition for the Lord to forgive one’s own sins, a condition for acquiring heavenly treasures. An analogy is drawn between the sinfulness of humanity and the state of the soul of fallen Adam. Adam's lines of contrition about his own sins sound piercingly.
After the Liturgy, Vespers begins, before which there is reading for 9 hours. The service opens with the singing of the prokemne “Blessed is our God” and at the same time the clergy exit with censing. Then the prokemenes sound: “Quiet Light”, “Do not turn Your face away from Your servant...”. The prayer “Grant, O Lord” is said.
Evening prayers are performed in a minor key. The rector loudly reads the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian with a threefold bow. Then he says “Lord, Most Merciful,” and those present kneel.
Strong prayers for the atonement of any sins
In various prayer books you can easily find the necessary texts about healing sins and acquiring forgiveness. Here we present a few of them:
- God Almighty, you know what is healing for me, help me; and do not allow me to sin before You and be lost in my vices, for I am a sinner and weak; do not betray me to my enemies, for I am drawn to You; deliver me, O Most High, for You are my strength and my hope, and to You be glory and thanksgiving forever.
- Lord, You see my weakness, give me correction and make me worthy to love you with all my soul and thoughts, and give me Your grace, give me patience to perform services, offer my unworthy prayer and thank You for everything.
What power does a plea for forgiveness have?
Prayer is a truly miraculous tool that can help any Orthodox Christian. You should not expect too rapid results, since obtaining real forgiveness and atonement for evil deeds is always a long and laborious process that requires diligence and determination from the person praying.
Reading the sacred text once will not give visible results, because in such a short period of time the soul does not have time to tune in to a deep feeling of gratitude and spirituality. You can strengthen your requests by regularly visiting temples and other holy places. Reading prayers in sanctuaries is most favorable, since the atmosphere of a church or monastery will very quickly attune your thoughts to good, blessed energy.
If a person listens to himself sensitively, he will immediately feel that the grace of the Lord’s forgiveness has descended on him. The healed soul immediately responds with a feeling of deep peace and gratitude. These sensations are the greatest gift that you can give yourself, striving for it and putting in some effort and effort.
People note that with the feeling of forgiveness comes an immediate feeling of purity and comfort. Thoughts become calmer, and a person begins to realize his great power, which in the future will help him avoid temptations and sinful temptations. If you preserve this wonderful inner feeling, then in the future you will have the strength to help others and show mercy to all those who would not have caused this feeling in you before. The main thing is then to keep yourself within limits and not allow negative emotions to take over your mind.
