Definition of virtue
The common Slavic word “repent” has several meanings: to punish oneself, to admit guilt, to regret what one has done. In Greek, this word has the following meaning: change of thoughts, repentance, rebirth, complete change of being. This word itself in Greek - metanoia (read as metanoia) consists of two Greek words. The first is meta, which in this word means transition from one state to another. The second is noia, which is formed from the word nooz - (mind, reason, thought, way of thinking) + the suffix - ia, which has the meaning of quality. Accordingly, the resulting word means a transition to a qualitatively different way of thinking.
According to the teaching of the holy fathers, the virtue of repentance is the cornerstone in the matter of salvation.
Be a Christian. Repentance and Confession (Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh)
About repentance
Let us now turn to a double topic, let’s talk about repentance and confession. Confession, of course, contains repentance, but in order to understand what the essence of repentance is, we must talk about it separately. Repentance lies in the fact that a person who has previously turned away from God or lived by himself suddenly or gradually understands that his life cannot be complete in the form in which he experiences it. Repentance is about turning your face to God. This is the moment - only initial, but decisive, when we suddenly change course and instead of standing with our back or side towards God, towards the truth, towards our calling, we make the first movement - we turned to God. We have not yet repented, in the sense that we have not changed, but in order for this to happen, we must experience something: it is impossible to turn away from ourselves and turn to God simply because we feel like it.
It happens that a person lives calmly, nothing special happens to him, he seems to be “grazing” on the field of life, nibbling grass, not thinking about the bottomless sky above him, or about any danger; he has a good life. And suddenly something happens that draws his attention to the fact that not everything is so simple; suddenly he discovers that something is “not right.” How? It varies greatly. It happens that a person commits one or another seemingly insignificant act - and suddenly sees its consequences. I remember one boy: he was waving a dagger and hit his sister in the eye. She remained blind in one eye for the rest of her life; and her brother never forgot the moment when he suddenly understood what it meant to thoughtlessly, irresponsibly play with such an object as a dagger. This does not mean, of course, that he was afraid to touch a dagger or a pocketknife; but he knew: the most insignificant actions can have a final, tragic meaning.
It happens that the thought that leads us to repentance overtakes us not so tragically, but we suddenly hear what people think about us. We always have a good idea of ourselves, and when we are criticized, we tend to think that the person who doesn't see us as beautiful as we see ourselves is wrong. And suddenly we hear other people's opinions about us. We considered ourselves heroes, but everyone thinks we are cowards. We considered ourselves impeccably truthful, but people think that we are deceitful, etc. If we pay attention to this, we already ask ourselves the question: what am I?.. And at the moment when we ask ourselves this question, the next one arises: what is my calling in life?.. I’m not talking about a craft calling, a - what kind of person can I become? Am I really satisfied with what I am? Can’t I somehow outgrow myself, become better?..
Sometimes it happens that it is not the voice of the people, not the voice of one or another of our acquaintances, that draws our attention to ourselves, but reading, for example, the Gospel. I read the Gospel and suddenly I see what a person can be; I see the image of Christ in all its beauty, or, in any case, to the extent of beauty that I am able to perceive, and I begin to compare myself. It’s when I begin to turn not to myself, but either to the image of Christ, or to what people think about me—that’s when my judgment begins. And the moment judgment begins, repentance begins. This is not yet the fullness of repentance, because pronouncing a quality judgment on oneself does not mean being wounded in the soul by what I have done or what I am. Sometimes with our heads we realize that we are bad or should be different in one respect or another, but with our feelings we cannot survive this. I'll give you an example. In the 1920s, there was a congress of the Russian Student Christian Movement in France. There was a wonderful priest there, Father Alexander Elchaninov, whose writings some of you have probably read, because they were published not only abroad, but now also in Russia. An officer came to him for confession and said: “You know, I can tell you all the lies of my life, but I only recognize them in my head; my heart remains completely intact, I don't care. In my head I understand that this is all evil, but in my soul I do not respond with either pain or shame.” And Father Alexander did an amazing thing; he said: “Don’t confess to me, it will be completely in vain. Tomorrow, before I serve the Liturgy, you will come forward and, when everyone has gathered, repeat what you just told me and make a confession in front of all those gathered.” The officer agreed to this because he felt that he was a dead man, that there was no life in him, that he only had a memory and a head, but a dead heart and the life in him had gone out. And he came out with a feeling of horror: now I’ll start talking, and the whole congress will turn away from me. Everyone will look at me in horror with the thought: we thought that he was a decent person, but he is not only a scoundrel, but also dead before God... He stood up, overcame his fear and horror and began to speak. And something completely unexpected happened to him: at the moment when he said why he stood in front of the royal doors, the entire congress turned to him with compassionate love, he felt that everyone had opened up to him, everyone had opened the arms of their hearts, everyone was thinking with horror about how painful it was for him, how ashamed he was... And he burst into tears and made his confession in tears; and a new life began for him.
Here we touch on a very important point, namely repentance. Repentance does not consist in coldly seeing sin in oneself and bringing it to God in confession; repentance consists in having something hit us in the soul so much that tears flow from our eyes and from our heart. Saint Barsanuphius the Great says that tears of true repentance can cleanse us so much that it becomes unnecessary to go to confession, because what God has forgiven man has nothing to allow. There is another place by the disciple of St. Simeon the New Theologian, St. Nikita Stiphatus, where it is said that tears of true repentance can even restore a person’s lost bodily virginity... Repentance should be just like this.
But we cannot repent like this all the time; we cannot do it. What do we do? Here's what you need to do. You've probably read about how ancient cities or monuments are excavated. An archaeologist arrives and starts scraping the ground. At first he sees only ordinary soil, but gradually he begins to discern some outlines of what lay underground a long time ago. This is already the first vision. When we most rudimentarily see in ourselves something unworthy of either ourselves, or the love and respect with which we are surrounded, or the love that God shows us, this is already the beginning of our insight, and we can go to confession and say: “I know now that under the soil, perhaps very deep, lies a world of sin, but I have learned something about it already on the surface, I want to bring it to God and say: I saw it. You helped me see this, Lord, and I renounce this evil. I don’t yet know how to repent, but I know how to know that this is incompatible neither with my friendship with You, nor with the attitude in which I am surrounded by my loved ones, nor with what I want to be...” There is a medieval prayer of permission that ends with the words: “And may the Lord forgive you all the sins of which you have truly repented.” What is forgiven is not just what you said, but what you shuddered in your soul, what filled you with horror. The rest is your new task. You must go further and further, deeper and deeper into yourself, into these excavations, and continue to find what is unworthy of either you, or God, or what people think about you. In this way, confession becomes part of a gradually deepening repentance; new depths are gradually revealed to you.
But you will say: “Does life really consist in going into these depths, seeing only evil in yourself, only evil, going into darkness? You can’t live with this!” No, you can’t live with this, but light disperses darkness. If we see something dark in ourselves, it is only because light has penetrated into a new depth of our life. This is the example I give to children, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt adults to hear a child’s example. When the children say: “I look at all the evil that is in me, and I don’t know how to eradicate it, pull it out of myself,” I answer: “And tell me: when you enter a dark room, is it really so that it stops be dark, you wave a white towel in the hope that the darkness will disperse, dissipate?” - "No, of course not!" - "And what are you doing?" - “I open the shutters, open the curtains, open the window.” - "That's it! You shed light where there was darkness. It’s the same here. If you want to truly repent, truly confess and change, you don’t need to focus only on what’s bad in you, you need to let the light into yourself. And to do this, you need to pay attention to the fact that you already have light, and in the name of this light, fight all the darkness that is in you.” - “Yes, but how to do it? Is it really possible to think about yourself: I’m so good in this or that respect?” - "No. Read the Gospel and mark in it those places that strike you in the soul, from which your heart trembles, your mind brightens, which will gather your will to desire a new life. And know that in this word, in this image, in this commandment, in this example of Christ, you have found a spark of Divine light in yourself. In this regard, the defiled, darkened icon that you are has been brightened. You are already at least a little like Christ, the image of God is already beginning to appear a little in you. And if so, then remember that if you sin against this, you will desecrate the shrine that already exists in you, already lives, already acts, is already growing. You will darken the image of God in yourself, extinguish the light or surround it with darkness. Don't do this! And if you are faithful to those sparks of light that already exist in you, then gradually the darkness around you will dissipate. Firstly, because where there is light, darkness has already been dispelled, and secondly, when you have discovered in yourself some area of light, purity, truth, when you suddenly look at yourself and think: in this regard, I am truly actually a real person, not just the scum that I imagined - then you can begin to fight what is advancing on you, like enemies attacking a city or an army, so that the light darkens in you. For example, you have learned to respect cleanliness. And suddenly the dirt of thoughts, bodily desires, feelings, sensuality rises in you. At this moment you can say to yourself: I discovered in myself a spark of chastity, a spark of purity, a desire to love someone without desecrating this person even with a thought, let alone a touch; no, I can’t allow these thoughts in myself, I won’t. I will fight against them; and for this I will turn to Christ and shout to Him: Lord, cleanse! Lord, save me! God help me! - and the Lord will help. But He will not help you until you struggle yourself.”
There is a story in the life of Saint Anthony the Great about how he desperately struggled with temptation, struggled so much that finally, exhausted, he fell to the ground and lay without strength. And suddenly Christ appeared before him. Not even having the strength to get up, Anthony says: “Lord, where were you when I was struggling so desperately?” And Christ answered him: “I stood invisibly next to you, ready to enter into battle, if only you would surrender. But you didn’t give up and you won.”
And so I think that each of us can learn to repent like this and come to confession each time with a new victory and with a new vision of the battlefield that is opening up wider and wider before us. And we can receive forgiveness of our sins from Christ, forgiveness of what we have already begun to overcome in ourselves; and, moreover, to receive grace and new strength to overcome what we have not yet overcome.
About Confession
Speaking about repentance, I only touched on confession, but the question of confession is so important that I want to dwell on it in more detail and in depth. Confession is twofold. There is a personal, private confession, when a person approaches a priest and opens his soul to God in his presence. And there is a general confession, when people come together in a large or small group, and the priest pronounces confession for everyone, including himself. I want to dwell first on the private confession and draw your attention to this. A person confesses to God. The teaching that the priest pronounces before the confession of an individual says: “Behold, child, Christ stands invisibly, receiving your confession; I am only a witness.” This must be remembered: we are not confessing to a priest and he is not our judge. I would say more: even Christ at this moment is not our Judge, but is our compassionate Savior. This is very, very important because when we come to confession, we are in the presence of a witness. But what kind of witness is this, what is his role?
There are different types of witnesses. For example: there was an accident on the road. Some man stood by the road and saw what happened; they ask him what happened. He doesn’t care at all who is right and who is wrong, he simply says: I saw such and such... There is another type of witness - in court: one testifies against the defendant, the other in his favor. This is a completely different position, and the priest partially corresponds to this, because he stands before Christ and says: “Lord, he came to You in repentance - accept him!” If I feel sorry for him, then, of course, you feel sorry for him much more than I do. I can’t save him, I can share something with him, help him with something, but You can transform him.”
And there is a third kind of witness. When a marriage takes place, the closest person is invited. He is the one who in the Gospel is called “the friend of the groom” (in our practice one could also say “the friend of the bride”). This is the person closest to the bride and groom who can share with them in the fullest way the joy of a transformative meeting, a connecting miracle. And so the priest takes this position: he is a friend of the Bridegroom, a friend of Christ, he brings the repentant to the Bridegroom-Christ. He is the one who is so deeply connected by love with the penitent that he is ready to share his tragedy with him and lead him to salvation. And when I say “share his tragedy,” I’m talking about something very, very serious. I remember one ascetic who was once asked: “How is it that every person who comes to you and talks about his life, even without a feeling of repentance or regret, suddenly becomes overwhelmed with horror at how sinful he is, and begins to repent and confess? , cry - and change? And this ascetic gave a wonderful answer. He said: “When a person comes to me with his sin, I perceive this sin as mine. This person and I are one; those sins that he committed by action, I certainly committed by thought or desire, or inclination. Therefore, I experience his confession as my own, I (as he said) go step by step into the depths of his darkness, and when I have reached the very depths, I connect his soul with my soul and repent with all the strength of my soul for the sins that he professes and which I recognize as mine. And then he is overwhelmed by my repentance and cannot help but repent, and comes out freed; and I repented of my sins in a new way, because I am united with him in compassion and love.”
This is the ultimate example of how a priest can approach the repentance of another person, how he can be the friend of the groom, how he can be the one who leads the penitent to salvation. But for this, the priest must learn compassion, must learn to feel and recognize himself as one with the penitent.
And when pronouncing the words of the prayer of permission, the priest either precedes them with instructions or not. And this also requires honesty and attention. Sometimes it happens that a priest is listening to a confession, and suddenly it is clearly revealed to him, as if from God, from the Holy Spirit, what he should say to the penitent. It may seem to him that this is not relevant, but he must obey this voice of God and say these words, say what God has put on his soul, heart and mind. And if he does this, even when it does not seem to relate to the confession that the penitent brought, he says what the penitent needs.
Sometimes the priest does not have the feeling that these words are from God. (You know, in the letters of the Apostle Paul there are places where he writes: “This I say to you in the name of God, the name of Christ...”, or “This I tell you from myself...”). But this does not mean that then the priest’s words are “gag”; this is what he learned from personal experience, and he shares this experience - the experience of sinfulness, the experience of repentance and what other people, purer, more worthy than himself, taught him.
And sometimes even this is not the case. Then you can say: “This is what I read from the holy fathers, I read in the Holy Scriptures. I can offer this to you, take it into account, think about it, and maybe through these words of Divine Scripture God will tell you what I cannot say.”
And sometimes an honest priest must say: “I was with you with all my heart during your confession, but I can’t tell you anything about it. I will pray for you, but I can’t give you advice.” And we have an example of this. The life of St. Ambrose of Optina describes two cases of how people came to him, opened their souls, their need, and he kept them for three days without an answer. And when finally he was urgently asked for an answer, he said: “What can I answer? For three days now I have been praying to the Mother of God to enlighten me and give me an answer. She is silent; how can I speak without Her grace?”
This is what I wanted to say about private, personal confession. A person must come and pour out his soul. Do not repeat other people’s words while looking at a book, but ask yourself a question: if I now stood in the face of Christ the Savior and all the people who know me, what would be a subject of shame for me? that I’m not ready to open up to everyone, because it would be too scary to be seen as how I see myself?.. This is what I need to confess. Ask yourself a question: if my wife, my children, my closest friend, my co-workers knew this or that about me, would I be ashamed or not? If you are ashamed, confess. If this or that is embarrassing to reveal to God (Who already knows it, but from Whom I try to hide it) or would be scary, reveal it to God. Because the moment you open it, everything that is put into light becomes light. And then you can confess and pronounce your own confession, and not a stereotyped, alien, empty, meaningless confession.
And if we are talking about children, we must remember that children cannot be forced to confess a confession that is not their own confession. You can’t tell them: “Remember that you angered me because you did something wrong in this, so repent of it.” We must give the child the freedom to stand before God as a friend, and share his whole life and soul with Him, even his pain about his parents, even how hard he sometimes experiences them.
And now I want to say briefly about general confession. General confession can be pronounced in different ways. It is usually pronounced like this: people gather, the priest gives some kind of introductory sermon and then reads from a book as many of the sins as possible that he expects from those present. This list may be formal. How many times have I heard: “I didn’t read the morning and evening prayers”, “I didn’t read the canons”, “I didn’t keep fasts”, I didn’t do this, I didn’t do that... It’s all formal. Yes, this is not formal in the sense that these are the real sins of some people, maybe even the priest himself, but these are not necessarily the real sins of these people; real sins are different.
I will tell you how I conduct general confession myself. We have general confession four times a year. Before confession, I conduct two conversations that are aimed at understanding what confession is, what sin is, what God’s truth is, what life in Christ is. Each conversation lasts forty-five minutes, all those gathered sit and listen, then there is a half-hour silence, during which everyone must think through what they heard, look at their soul and think about their sinfulness. And then there is a general confession. We gather in the middle of the church, I put on the stole, the Gospel is in front of us, and I usually read the Canon of Repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ. And under the influence of the canon, I pronounce my own confession out loud - not about formalities, but about what my conscience reproaches me for and what the canon I read reveals to me. Each confession is different, because each time the words of this canon convict me in a different way, in a different way, and I repent before all people, I call things in my own language, in my own name. Not so that they would then go around reproaching me specifically for this or that sin, but so that each sin would be revealed to people as my own. And if, while making a confession, I do not feel that I truly repent, I also say this as a confession: “Forgive me, Lord! So, I said these words, but they didn’t reach my soul”... This confession usually lasts thirty to forty minutes, depending on what I can confess to people. And at the same time people confess - silently, and sometimes saying out loud: “Yes, Lord! Forgive me, and it’s my fault!” But this is my personal confession. And unfortunately, I am so sinful and so similar to everyone who is present at this action that my words reveal to people their own sinfulness.
After this we pray. We read part of the penitential canon, read prayers before Holy Communion (not all, but selected ones, which relate to what I spoke about or how I confessed). Then everyone kneels and I say a prayer of permission to everyone. If someone considers it necessary to come up later and speak separately about this or that sin, he can freely do so. But I know from experience that such general confession teaches people to make private confession. Many people told me at first: “I don’t know what to come to confession with. I know that I have sinned against many of Christ’s commandments, I have done a lot of bad things, but I cannot, as it were, put it together into a repentant confession.” And after such a general confession, people come and say: “Now I know, I have learned how to confess my own soul, relying on the prayers of the Church, relying on the canon of repentance, relying on how you yourself confessed your soul and how people around me confessed the same the confession itself was perceived and brought as if it were one’s own.” I think this is a very important point: for general confession to be a lesson on how to confess personally, and not “in general.” Sometimes people come and read out a long list of sins - which I know from the list, because I have the same books that they have. And I stop them, I say: “You are not confessing your sins, you are confessing sins that can be found in the nomocanon, in prayer books. I need your confession, or rather, Christ needs your personal repentance, and not a general stereotyped repentance. You cannot feel that you are condemned by God to eternal torment because you did not read the evening prayers or did not read the canons, or did not fast properly.”
Moreover, sometimes it happens that a person tries, for example, to fast, and then breaks down and feels that he has desecrated his entire fast, that nothing remains of his feat. But in fact, God looks at it with completely different eyes. I can explain this to you with one example from my own life. When I was a doctor, I took care of a poor Russian family. I didn’t take money from them because they didn’t have any money. But somehow at the end of Lent, during which I fasted, so to speak, “brutally,” that is, without violating any statutory rules, they invited me to dinner, and it turned out that for some time they Due to the lack of money, they collected pennies to buy a small chicken and treat me. I looked at this chicken and saw in it the end of my Lenten feat. Of course, I ate a piece of chicken - I couldn’t insult them by refusing; but then I went to my spiritual father and said: “You know, Father Afanasy, such a tragedy happened to me! Throughout Lent, I could say I fasted perfectly, and now, on Holy Week, I ate a piece of chicken.” Father Afanasy looked at me and said: “You know, if God looked at you and saw that you have no sins, and that a piece of chicken could defile you, He would protect you from this; but He looked and saw so much sinfulness in you that no chicken could defile you.” I think many of us can remember this example for being honest, truthful people, and not just sticking to the rules. Yes, I ate a piece of this chicken, but the question was that I ate it in order not to upset people. I ate it not as some kind of filth, but as a gift of human love. There is a place in the writings of Father Alexander Schmemann where he says: everything in the world is nothing other than God’s love; and even the food that we eat is Divine love that has become edible...
Scripture on Virtue
John the Baptist is the first to announce repentance in the New Testament: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2).
The Savior Himself echoes him with the same words after he goes out to preach: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17).
When the Lord sends his disciples to preach, they also talk about repentance: “They went out and preached repentance” (Mark 6:12).
After Pentecost, the holy Apostle Peter preaches repentance: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
The Apostle Paul also preaches repentance: “Proclaiming to the Jews and Greeks repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).
Thus, looking through the New Testament, we see how repentance runs like a red thread, the main core, through the entire text of the New Testament.
Venerable Silouan of Athos
Glory to the Lord that He gave us repentance, and through repentance we will all be saved, without exception. Only those who do not want to repent will not be saved, and in this I see their despair, and I cry a lot, feeling sorry for them. They did not know by the Holy Spirit how great God’s mercy is. And if every soul knew the Lord, knew how much He loves us, then no one would not only despair, but would never even complain.
***
Every soul that has lost peace must repent, and the Lord will forgive sins and then there will be joy in the soul and peace, and there is no need for other witnesses, but the Spirit Himself testifies that sins are forgiven. This is the sign of the forgiveness of sins: if you hated sin, then the Lord forgave you your sins.
***
If all people repented and kept the commandments of God, then there would be heaven on earth, for “the Kingdom of God is within us.” The Kingdom of God is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the same in heaven and on earth.
*** To the repentant the Lord gives paradise and the eternal Kingdom with Himself. Due to the multitude of His mercy, He will not remember our sins, just as He did not remember them to the thief on the cross. ***
The Lord loved His people so much that He sanctified them with the Holy Spirit and made them like Himself. The Lord is merciful, and the Holy Spirit gives us the strength to be merciful. Brothers, let us humble ourselves and through repentance acquire for ourselves a merciful heart, and then we will see the glory of the Lord, which is known by the soul and mind by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
***
He who truly repents readily endures all sorrows: hunger and nakedness, cold and heat, illness and poverty, humiliation and exile, untruth and slander, for the soul strives for the Lord and he does not care about earthly things, but prays to God with a pure mind. And whoever is attached to property and money can never have a pure mind in God, because in the depths of his soul there is always a worry about what to do with it; and if he does not repent purely and does not grieve that he has offended God, then he will die in passion, not knowing the Lord.
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
Brethren! To believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, you need repentance; in order to remain in this saving faith, repentance is needed; to succeed in it, you need repentance; To inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, you need repentance.
***
Two properties, two abilities are implanted by the merciful God in human nature, with the help of which it, after its fall and alienation from God, can arise from the fall and restore communion with God. These two properties: the property of repentance and the property of faith. God turns to these two properties to save people. He invites their free will to use these two properties for salvation. A person died by free will, and it is his free will that allows him to be saved. Repent and believe.
***
For repentance, God grants forgiveness of sins and access to Himself, and reveals Himself to faith, and grants that knowledge of God of which man is capable, which he cannot acquire by his own means. Faith provides the mind with knowledge that exceeds reason: the mind, through judgment and research, accepts only those knowledge that are subject to its comprehension; faith assimilates to the mind knowledge that is inaccessible to its comprehension! Such is all revealed knowledge about God and the mysteries of Christianity. - Repentance introduces into the heart feelings of grace, alien to fallen nature, teaches the mind and heart true worship, teaches God to offer to God the only sacrifice acceptable to Him from fallen human nature: contrition and humility of the spirit. The human spirit, having come to this state, enters into communication with the Spirit of God, which is the renewal and salvation of man.
***
Demons become sad when they see a repentant soul; It is very painful for them that the Lord gave sinners repentance, and rewards those who repent with His forgiveness and mercy with all his heart.
Saint John Chrysostom
This is why I often talk about repentance, so that neither the sinner despairs nor the righteous think highly of himself. Are you righteous? Do not fall. Are you a sinner? Don't despair.
***
If you sin every day, repent every day. Just as in dilapidated houses, when they rot, we remove the rotten parts and replace them with new ones and never leave such worries, so you, if you have become dilapidated from sin, renew yourself with repentance.
***
Don't rely on your own repentance. Can your repentance really cleanse such filth? If there were only repentance, you should really be afraid; but since God’s mercy is combined with repentance, then hope, because it surpasses your malice.
***
One who has repented of his sins, even if he has not shown repentance fully corresponding to the sins, will nevertheless receive reward for such repentance.
***
So, I exhort those who have not yet been taken possession of by vice not to succumb to it, because it is easier to guard against falling into vice than to free oneself from it after falling into it, and to those who are already captivated and crushed, I proclaim full hope of salvation, if only they will want to hasten to repentance.
***
Even many of those who renounced Christ out of fear of torment again entered into the struggle and left adorned with the crown of martyrdom. But if each of them had given in to despair after the first blow, they would not have received subsequent benefits.
Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt
To repent means to feel in your heart the lie, madness, and guilt of your sins; it means to realize that you have offended your Creator, Lord, Father and Benefactor, who is infinitely holy and infinitely abhors sin; with all your soul you want to correct and atone for them.
***
If the Lord, out of His infinite love and mercy for fallen humanity, had not given him repentance and remission of sins for the sake of the sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son on the cross, then all people would have descended into hell, to a place of eternal torment.
***
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
No matter how many sins someone has and no matter how great they are, God has even more mercy, because just as He Himself is infinite, so His mercy is infinite.
***
Spiritual life begins with repentance. Repentance should not stop throughout life: for who is without sin?
***
The power of repentance is known in the abhorrence of sins. If the soul hates its sins so much that it agrees to endure any sorrow and torment rather than agree to enjoy any sin, then this is pure repentance.
***
Repentance should not be hopeless sorrow. It must be animated and enlivened by deep faith in the Redeemer and firm hope in His mercy. The necessary condition for repentance is faith and hope.
***
Repentance consists not only in abandoning bad deeds, but also in replacing them with good deeds.
It is impossible to be at peace with God without continuous repentance. As for great sins, you must immediately confess them to your spiritual father and accept permission, for you cannot calm the spirit with daily repentance alone.
***
Some despair, thinking that the Lord will not forgive their sin. Such thoughts are from the enemy.
Holy Fathers on repentance
The singer of repentance is John Climacus: “Repentance is the renewal of baptism. Repentance is a covenant with God to correct life. Repentance is the purchase of humility. Repentance is the constant rejection of bodily consolation. Repentance is the thought of self-condemnation and self-care, free from external concerns. Repentance is the daughter of hope and the rejection of despair. Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord through doing good deeds that are contrary to previous sins. Repentance is the cleansing of conscience. Repentance is voluntary patience of all sorrowful things. The penitent is the inventor of punishments for himself. Repentance is a strong oppression of the belly, a wounding of the soul in deep feeling” (Lev. 5:1).
One of the modern ascetics, Saint and Confessor Vasily Kineshemsky, writes the following about repentance: “We know that repentance in the deep sense of the word is not simple contrition for sins or disgust for one’s sinful past, even less does it mean formal confession: the meaning of the word is much deeper. This is a decisive transfer of life onto new tracks, a complete rearrangement of all values in the soul and heart, where, under normal conditions, worldly concerns and goals of temporary, mainly material life come first, and everything high and holy, everything connected with faith in God and serving Him, is relegated to the background. A person does not completely abandon these high ideals, but remembers them and serves them furtively, fearfully, in rare moments of spiritual enlightenment. Repentance presupposes a radical reshuffle: in the foreground is always, everywhere, in everything - God, behind, after everything - the world and its demands, unless they can be completely thrown out of the heart. In other words, repentance requires the creation of a new, unified center in man, and this center, where all the threads of life converge, must be God. When a person is able to unite all his thoughts, feelings and decisions with this single center, then from this will be created that integrity, monolithicity of the soul, which gives enormous spiritual strength. In addition, a person with such a dispensation seeks to fulfill only the will of God and in the end can achieve complete submission or merging of his weak human will with the omnipotent will of the Creator, and then his power grows to the divine power of miracles, for then it is not he who acts, but in him God is at work."
Orthodox Life
Thoughts of Athonite saints and elders for those who are preparing for confession.
“A soul that has abandoned repentance, or is intemperate, or loves to condemn people, cannot get rid of demonic wiles and free itself from bad thoughts. (Reverend Silouan of Athos).
*** “Glory to the Lord that He gave us repentance, we are all saved by repentance; Only those who do not want to repent will not be saved; and I cry a lot, feeling sorry for them. Every soul that has lost peace must repent - and the Lord will forgive, and then there will be joy and peace in the soul.” (Reverend Silouan of Athos).
*** “The saints were people like the rest of us. Many of them came from great sins, but through repentance they reached the Kingdom of Heaven. And everyone who comes there comes through repentance, which the Merciful Lord gave us through His suffering.” (Reverend Silouan of Athos).
*** “My soul knows the mercy of God towards sinful man, and I write the truth before the face of God, that all of us sinners will be saved and not a single soul will perish if we repent, for the Lord is so good by nature that it is impossible to describe in any words.” . (Reverend Silouan of Athos).
A person purifies himself through confession and repentance
“The Lord grants the inheritance of the Kingdom to those who have imprinted their virtues with love; either they flocked to it with their impeccable life, or through repentance they found refuge in it; I call the first of them “sons”, as the guardians of the mysterious rebirth from God; the second ones, I call “mercenaries,” as, thanks to many tears of repentance and humility, who again received grace, as if some kind of payment (for their work).” (St. Gregory Palamas).
*** “Faith is beneficial if someone lives according to conscience and purifies himself through confession and repentance, and puts into practice the covenants he made with God at divine Baptism; if he disobeys his conscience and rejects the covenants, the faith of such a person becomes unbelief.” (St. Gregory Palamas).
*** “Repentance is the beginning and the middle and the end of the Christian lifestyle.” (St. Gregory Palamas).
You need to cleanse yourself of garbage through confession
“During confession, both the penitent and the confessor are responsible. Spiritual freedom is very helpful in guiding the soul. That is, the confessor, guiding the souls of people, must be guided by what the holy fathers say, and not by what someone else prescribes. He must act with reasoning, in accordance with the fall of man and his repentance." (Reverend Paisiy Svyatogorets).
*** “To feel inner peace, you need to cleanse yourself of garbage. This must be done through confession. By opening his heart to his confessor and confessing his sins to him, a person humbles himself. Thus, the heavenly door opens to him, the Grace of God generously overshadows him and he becomes free.” (Reverend Paisiy Svyatogorets).
*** “Today’s people have withdrawn from their confessors, and they have been strangled by thoughts and various passions. They go to confession to psychiatrists. They take pills to forget about the problems that bother them. Hardly a little time has passed - and the problem arises again, and again the same thing. The same actions are done. Whereas, if everyone put himself in order internally, he would sleep like a lamb and not swallow pills.” (Reverend Paisiy Svyatogorets).
*** “Repentance and confession are what is needed today. My constant advice to people: repent and confess, so that the devil is deprived of his rights, and you stop being subjected to external demonic influences. For people to understand and repent, they need a shake-up. For example, a person confesses that he has committed adultery. The confessor reads a prayer of permission over him, imposes penance on him and stops there. But the confessor must help him understand that evil did not lie only in adultery. The penitent must realize that by doing this, he became a criminal and destroyed two families.” (Reverend Paisiy Svyatogorets).
After repentance, partake of the Holy Mysteries
“Even if all the confessors, patriarchs, bishops and the whole world have forgiven you, you will still not be forgiven unless you actually repent.” (Equal to the Apostles Cosmas of Aetolia).
*** “And what are we, Christians, like: righteous or sinful? If they are righteous, then they are blessed and happy. If we are sinners, it is time to repent, stop doing evil and start doing good, for hell awaits us. When should we repent? Not tomorrow and not the day after tomorrow, but now, because we don’t know what awaits us tomorrow.” (Equal to the Apostles Cosmas of Aetolia).
*** “Cleanse your soul with tears of repentance before you begin the Holy Mysteries, just as you wash your clothes of dirt before putting them on. If you do this, then you are truly higher than the Angels, and I am not worthy even to kiss your feet.” (Equal to the Apostles Cosmas of Aetolia).
*** “After sincere Repentance, frequently partake of the Holy Mysteries, since death creeps up unnoticed, like a thief, and we do not know what will happen to us until tomorrow - it can come suddenly. What will become of us then? An unrepentant person is like an unbaptized person and cannot be saved. And if someone died after confession, even if he did not have time to receive communion, he has hope of salvation. But if he doesn’t confess, no matter how many times he takes communion, it does him no good.” (Equal to the Apostles Cosmas of Aetolia).
If you sin again, repent again
“And for one moment, do not leave sin in your heart without confessing to the Lord and not purifying yourself before Him with heartfelt repentance. If you fall again, do the same again; and even if you have to sin many times, cleanse yourself before the Lord the same number of times.” (Reverend Nicodemus the Holy Mountain).
*** “It is necessary that there should not be a single sin on the soul that has not been cleansed by repentance; and if during the work of prayer you do something that troubles your conscience, hasten to be cleansed by repentance, so that you can boldly look to the Lord.” (Reverend Nicodemus the Holy Mountain).
Don't delay confession
“If you have committed a sin, immediately go to the priest, for the Holy Book says: “No matter how many times you fall, get up!” That is, no matter how many times you happen to sin, do not delay confession.” (Elder Dionysius Ignat).
*** “So that no one ever dares to go to receive communion without confessing. Many of the prayers that the priest reads have the grace of the Holy Spirit from God, for this is how the Good Heavenly Father arranged it so that all the little things that you had would be forgiven. You say what other sins you have had, everything you remember, and so you proceed to the Divine Mysteries. For the Holy Mysteries are a burning fire, they burn away all sins, all iniquities and all evil thoughts, but if you are careless, there is a danger that they will burn you too. (Elder Dionysius Ignat).
Penance is needed to cleanse inner filth.
The holy feelings of contrition and heartache over sins do not come for nothing: you have to work hard, look for this treasure, often retire to your little room and there, before the face of the crucified Savior and His Most Pure Mother, remembering your sins, force yourself to repentance and contrition of heart. (Elder Arseny of Athos).
*** We must always think about ourselves, until the very departure of the soul from the body, that we are great sinners before God and are saved only by repentance, the mercy of God and His merits on the cross for us, otherwise, like the Pharisee, we will lose everything. This is the most dangerous of all the devil's networks. As soon as a person begins to improve in life, the tempter inspires him that he has already become a saint, and points him to others who are living sinfully. This evil illness is called conceit in spiritual life. (Elder Arseny of Athos).
Foundation "Orthodox Heritage of Ukraine on Holy Mount Athos"
***If you do not want to endure penance from your spiritual father, which is inevitable in every possible way for the cleansing of internal defilement, then you will suffer from demons after the death of your soul. (Elder Arseny of Athos).
Repentance as a virtue
Thus, we see that in repentance the most important thing is the vector, the direction of life. If for a carnal person the vector of life is his “I”, then for a repentant person the vector of life is directed towards the Lord.
Archimandrite Platon (Igumnov), discussing repentance, writes: “The meaning of a person’s moral self-determination lies in freely overcoming sin and turning to virtue. Since usually a person is constantly in the grip of passions, any episodic repentance for committed sins is not yet completely adequate to the concept of repentance. A person must strive to throw off sin that is hateful and alien to his nature and continuously turn the strength of his mind to God, so that his repentance becomes a new self-determination in freedom and is crowned with the triumph of grace in his personal life.”
It follows that repentance is not only a vector of life, but also a constant process that must be carried out in a person incessantly, just as passions incessantly act in him.
Holy Fathers on Confession. Confessor and attitude towards him
What is repentance and what is confession
Repentance and confession should not be understood in the same way; repentance means one thing, and confession means another; repentance can happen without confession, but confession cannot happen without repentance; you can and should always repent or repent before God of your sins at all times, but you can confess only before your confessor and in your own time; repentance, or repentance for sins, brings a person closer to the Kingdom of Heaven and brings the Holy Spirit closer to a person, and confession without repentance and repentance does not bring a person any benefit, and not only does not bring benefit, but a feigned and untrue confession destroys a person, making him great a criminal, because confession is and should be an act of repentance (St. Innocent).
During the days of Great Lent, everything is open: heaven for mercy, the sinner for confession, and the tongue for prayer.
The penitent is truly exposed to the reproach of the insane: this serves for him as a sign of pleasing God (Reverend Mark the Ascetic).
What can we say about those who avoid confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ? Truly, these are unhappy people. The believer lives as long as he remains in Christ through communion.
To prove that no sin can prevent a person from entering the Kingdom of God, the Lord brought there the repentant thief first.
Addressing the people in the church, Saint Demetrius of Rostov once said: “Forgive me, brothers and sisters, if I call every sinner who does not think about his sins possessed.”
True misfortune consists only in unrepentance for sins by which the soul deviates from God.
What is petrified insensibility? This is when you don’t see or feel your sins.
False confession is a cold confession of one’s common sins in word, deed, or thought. These are forced answers to the questions of the priest, and not the repentance of the sinful tax collector who beat his chest, cried and sighed.
The confessor must explain to the penitents that before confession and communion they must pray for the all-night vigil.
The basis of our salvation is repentance.
Confession forces a person to look back at himself... and Holy Communion gives grace in the fight against sin and for strengthening in goodness.
Demons become sad when they see a repentant soul; It is very painful for them that the Lord has given sinners repentance and deigns His forgiveness and mercy to those who repent with all his heart.
Why did the Lord not want to deal with the “righteous”? Because those who consider themselves righteous, who have no need for repentance, are in fact self-deceived, proud, sin the sin most hateful to God and are mentally incurable due to a complete lack of consciousness of their sinfulness.
Days of fasting should be devoted to works of mercy: feeding the poor and sorrowful and learning from the Word of God.
In the event of a serious fall, the Church encourages every Christian not to delay repentance, but to accelerate it.
What are the rewards for confession, listen to what the Lord says: speak out your iniquities first, so that you may be justified
(Isa. 43:26).
Don't be ashamed to confess your sins. God commands confession not to punish, but to forgive. “I am,
” says God, “
for my sake, blot out your iniquities and your sins, and I will not remember them
(Isa. 43:25).
I ask you, beloved brethren, let us confess each of our sins while the sinner is still in this life, when his confession can be accepted, when the satisfaction and absolution performed by the priests is acceptable before the Lord (St. Cyprian of Carthage).
Repentance opens heaven to a person, leads him into paradise, and defeats the devil (St. John Chrysostom).
A sigh from the depths of the heart about sins is the beginning of saving repentance.
One must hate sin; through this you can escape from its snares, even if someone was already entangled in them.
Repentance is war against sin.
For those who repent, removal from sins alone is not enough for salvation, but they also need fruits worthy of repentance.
Those who do not flow to the saving Sacrament of Repentance, about such we hear the terrible saying of God: unless you repent, you will all perish.
(Luke 13:3).
As soon as the sinner pronounced condemnation on herself, she averted God's judgment.
Why is frequent repentance necessary? In order to scourge sin, to sting, to depress, to kill it. Through frequent repentance, sin loses its power, its charm, its charm.
The saints were people just like the rest of us. Many of them came from great sins, but through repentance they reached the Kingdom of Heaven. And everyone who comes there comes through repentance, which the Merciful Lord gave us through His sufferings
(Reverend Silouan of Athos).
And so, leaving behind the times of ignorance, God now commands people everywhere to repent
(Acts 17:30).
The Need for Repentance
There is no limit to human perfection at which repentance would be unnecessary. Beginners through repentance acquire the beginnings of piety, those who succeed through repentance strengthen it, and those who are perfect through repentance are confirmed in it.
Abba Sisoes, being a saint and on his deathbed, asked for time to repent: They told about Abba Sisoes. When he was sick, the elders sat with him and he talked to some of them. The elders asked him: “What do you see, Abba?” “I see,” he answered, “that they are coming after me, and I ask them to give me some time to repent.” One of the elders says to him: “Even if they give you some time, can you now bring saving repentance?” “I cannot do this,” answered the elder, “but at least I will cry for my soul, and that is enough for me.”
Confession
... <About> your daily confession you write that... you feel a great change in yourself and feel great benefit by writing about yourself every day, and your heart is light and good, you ask me to explain your bewilderment, why is this happening to you? This is where the Sacrament of revelation, or confession, works, which you write, explaining about yourself, as if in spirit. And you yourself “from experience” see that the terrible longing for writing that tormented you leaves you - and this always happens from revelation (Venerable Hilarion).
For your repentance, may the Lord forgive you, and we forgive and allow the unworthy, but this is just some consolation for you, however, you must certainly tell your confessor, although not in so much detail, but secretly, for there the rite is performed and the confessor’s word is read prayer of permission (Venerable Leo).
...That you deign to question our badness with true revelation about previous endeavors, although they were confessed to confessors, but the burden of burdens is not lightened by conscience, but burdens and confuses, that is, they are not satisfied as they should, and it is clear that those who are not so skilled the confessors to whom you confessed, and therefore the holy spirit-bearing fathers set the new beginning for those who came and wished to accept the monastic angelic image, so that from their youth they would generally confess all their sins, and thereby cleanse their conscience and soul, and again lay a new foundation, that is, cleanse and lighten from a heavy burden... So I, a great sinner, advise your love to ask and pray to the Most Merciful Lord and God, so that by His Providence he would send you such a spirit-bearing father, to whom you could confess all your sins from youth to this age and who could instill in you and to explain the importance of them, then although we are now unable to satisfy their penance, although we will satisfy them with due repentance and tears, for them we will appease the Most Merciful Lord, so that he may lighten us from the burden of the burden and give us courage and strength to fight against the universal enemy - the devil , and when the Lord, by your faith and zeal, deigns you to be such a spirit-bearer and you do the above, then you will see within your soul peace and joy of the heart, and tenderness, watering and comforting you with invaluable consolation (Rev. A lion).
When approaching the Sacrament of Confession, one must present oneself with fear, humility and hope. With fear as God, angry with a sinner. In humility - through the consciousness of one’s sinfulness. With hope - for we approach the Child-loving Father, who sent His Son for our redemption, Who took our sins, nailed them on the cross and washed them with His most pure blood... In case of embarrassment and forgetting of your sins, you can, going to the Sacrament, write them down for memory and with oblivion, with the permission of the confessor, look at the note and explain to him. Similar examples are found in the lives and teachings of the holy fathers (St. Macarius).
...I do not have the right to give permission “from sins” in writing, in absentia, or in another diocese; there are church rules for this. What does it matter to you that your confessor, not understanding spiritual life, scolds you; you come with repentance to the Lord himself, and it must be humble, then in such a dispensation you must accept reproach: apparently, the Lord allows it. Where can we find confessors to our liking? But whatever they are, they are entrusted with the keys of knitting and solving and other sacraments of being ministers (Venerable Macarius).
During confession, you need to explain all your sins, except perhaps when you forget, and not speak superficially, for an unconfessed sin is not resolved unless it is explained through forgetting. After confession, you need to guard yourself from sinful actions. But if you happen to be offended by someone or to be jealous of someone: in this, having reconciled with the offender, be calm, and for being angry - to be angry and reproach yourself, so as not to disturb the elder, and if an opportunity arises to see him, then, according to the sin and a sense of conscience, you can tell him this briefly; You can write your sins in accordance with our confession, for during the time after confession we sin a lot and forget; The main thing is that in confession we must have a contrite and humble heart, which God will not despise, and every day we must test ourselves and reproach ourselves, and for what we have done we must repent before God, which we read in the third prayer for the sleep of those who are to come (St. Macarius).
It is useful to confess everything with self-reproach, but with indignation at others, what is the use of full explanations? (Venerable Ambrose).
You are deceiving yourself, you have not committed many sins: murder, fornication, theft of church things, incendiary, poisoning and many similar ones associated with them; yes, it’s easy to say: “everyone is a sinner,” or, as you write: “there is not a single sin that you have not committed,” but to say every sin, by sight, brings shame and is the guilt of forgiveness of sins: for, according to the word St. Gregory, the shame here is part of future torment (St. Macarius).
Having explained your conscience to your confessor, either this way or according to a note, you no longer need to be embarrassed that you didn’t say everything - it’s from the enemy; but you need to calm down, looking at your intention not to hide anything and at God’s mercy, and reject embarrassment. Also about bows: when you fulfill the prescribed number, you should not think that you did not fulfill it - and this is from the enemy, and both extremes are from him, i.e., confusion, and opinion or complacency; we need a middle ground with humility and trust in God’s mercy (St. Macarius).
To your question: should I confess again the sin that I have already confessed before? — I answer: if you haven’t done it yet, then you don’t need to tell your confessor about it, but you need to feel your sinfulness; the memory of our sins leads us to humility. After confession, preparing to communicate the Holy Mysteries, are you embarrassed that you haven’t confessed all your sins? Reject this evil enemy thought with faith and humility, and calm yourself with hope in God’s mercy. And the fact that it seems that you are still sinning a lot and therefore are approaching the Holy Mysteries unworthily is because you think that you are approaching sinless, and the enemy has the power to cause confusion, and when you approach with a sense of your sinfulness and hope for the ineffable mercy of God, - for He took upon Himself the sins of the whole world - then you will calm down. Do you think that once you confessed, you became sinless? But embarrassment bothers you because you do not rely on God’s mercy, without which nothing of ours will save us (St. Macarius).
To be afraid of shame during confession is also a result of pride; having exposed themselves before God with a witness, they receive peace and forgiveness (St. Macarius).
To your question about confession, I will say in detail: the holy fathers do not advise explaining the sins of sensuality in detail, so as not to defile the feelings with the memory of the details, but to simply say the image of sin, and other sins that bring shame to self-love should be explained in more detail, with self-accusation (Venerable Macarius) .
In absentia, I cannot absolve sins at confession: there are church rules for this, even in person in someone else’s diocese one should not accept confession. You, having written to me about your infirmities, may have received relief in your conscience by God’s mercy, but I do not have the power to resolve it in absentia (Venerable Macarius).
...When the spiritual father, according to the authority given to him by God, said to you: “I forgive and absolve you from all your sins,” these words must be accepted in such a way that Jesus Christ Himself uttered them with his tongue, and at that very moment this permission is confirmed in heaven by God the Father and the Holy Spirit. See how merciful God is to repentant sinners!.. With this spiritual father’s word, not only those sins that are verbally confessed are resolved, but also those unconfessed due to oblivion or ignorance; only those sins that the spiritual father cannot resolve are those that the sinner deliberately conceals out of shame and fear, which sins God Himself does not forgive. Your sins are all forgiven and resolved, and even if death happened to you in due time, then with full faith and hope in God’s mercy for the salvation of your soul, you must be peaceful in your spirit, before the sins of your youth - your ignorance - will not be remembered before God , of which I assure you by His holy name. Your doubt about the resolution of your sins is the action of an opposing spirit, and a very dangerous one, which you should not believe at all. Even though you and I with our sins have surpassed all sinners from the ages, even at that time we should not despair of God’s mercy, for for this sake He sent His only begotten Son from heaven into the world, that He might save sinners: for you and I, great sinners , according to His great mercy He will save and make us heirs of His Kingdom (Venerable Anthony).
...Confession is a spiritual judgment. The confessor is a judge, and the one who confesses his sins is a criminal. And, as a repentant criminal, it is appropriate for him to have not only spiritual contrition for the evil he has committed, but also to physically express his guilt, for the soul and body of a person are inseparable (Venerable Nikon).
I consider it necessary to remind you that I have always paid special attention to a thorough confession. There is an instruction from the holy fathers and from Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov that sinful habits and passions cannot be healed without confession. Any healing will be incomplete and insufficient without confession, and with the help of confession they are conveniently eradicated. Therefore, I ask you to always pay special attention to confession, always carefully prepare for it and sincerely confess all your sins. And I always tried to confess each of you slowly and carefully and asked in detail so that nothing would be left on your conscience. And if someone, due to foolishness, has not confessed everything openly and purely, then let him confess so that his conscience may be undefiled. There is nothing to be afraid of the confessor, and one should not be ashamed of him. The confessor knows everything, knows all sins, since he has not one soul, but hundreds confess, and you will not surprise him with any sin, no matter how great and serious it may be. On the contrary, every confessed grave sin arouses in me a special concern for the soul, and I have never changed and cannot change in my attitude towards the soul, no matter what sins it has confessed; on the contrary, I am more worried about it, worried about it, I care about her healing and salvation. Therefore, try not to hide anything, try to confess purely (Venerable Nikon).
The need for a detailed confession is proven not only by a person’s internal experiences, but also by the very rite of confession set forth in the Church Breviary. What prompted me to make such a note is that some, ashamed of their confessor, for various reasons, are looking for a way not to say everything in detail at confession, speaking in general terms or in such a way that the confessor cannot clearly understand what has been done, or even completely concealing it, thinking to calm their conscience various reasonings with oneself in one’s soul. Here the enemy of our salvation knows how to recall in a perverted form the words of the holy fathers and even Holy Scripture, in order to prevent a person from making a saving and necessary confession of sins to a confessor in the form in which they were made. But if a person’s conscience is not lost, it does not give him peace until everything is said in detail at confession. You just shouldn’t say unnecessary details that do not explain the essence of the matter, but only paint them picturesquely. The fathers do not advise allowing yourself such painting of pictures of sin, which is not alien to the pleasure of remembering sin, especially in fornication, so that the heart, which still loves sin, does not delay and delight in sin (Venerable Nikon).
Many are looking, as if necessary, for a confessor of a high life and, not finding one, become despondent, and therefore rarely, as if reluctantly, come to confession. This is a big mistake. We must believe in the Sacrament of Confession itself, in its power, and not in the performer of the sacrament. It is only necessary that the confessor be Orthodox and legal. There is no need to argue that the personal qualities of a confessor mean a lot, but one must believe and know that the Lord, who acts in every sacrament by His grace, acts according to His omnipotence regardless of these qualities (Venerable Nikon).
It is very expensive to have a reverent confessor with whom we could consult and clarify certain issues of spiritual life and simply have a conversation in order to warm a cold heart with spiritual conversation and receive spiritual reinforcement in the sorrows that surround us - but if we cannot immediately find such a person, it is very It is unreasonable not to resort to confession at all. This is similar to someone who does not have a good broom to clean his house and does not clean it at all. There is no good broom, take what you have. As long as the house is clean, or, without good firewood, the house will not heat at all and will freeze. Others want to make every confession a spiritual conversation. Maybe this is good, and even sometimes necessary, but it is not always possible due to time and other reasons. Essentially these are two different things. One day two young men were in confession with the same confessor, with whom they had repeated conversations before confession. In conversations, of course, they expressed different opinions, perhaps disagreeing with each other, and in general, as in any conversation, there could be unnecessary words and deviations somewhat away from the spiritual subject. After confession, these young men in conversation touched upon how that confessor confessed them. One said: “When I allowed myself to say something during confession, as if asking for clarification or disagreeing with the confessor’s remarks, he cut me off sternly and imperiously, saying: “Since you came to confession, then repent in humility, This is not the time to speculate." This made an impression on me. It was said with authority." It should be noted that there was plenty of time and it was impossible to suspect the confessor of not finding anything to say - apparently this was his view of confession (Rev. Nikon).
Whoever, in the simplicity of his heart, confesses his sins with contrition and a humble feeling, with a desire to correct himself, will receive forgiveness of sins and peace of conscience through the power of God’s grace acting in the sacrament (Venerable Nikon).
<From the memoirs of a spiritual daughter>: in response to my confession - “I am a sinner in everything,” the “elder” asked: “Did you steal horses?” I answered: “No.” “Well, you see, not in everything,” said the elder, smiling. In response to my words that I don’t know how to confess at all, the priest remarked: “You come out of confession like a saint” (Rev. Ambrose).
If you are carried away by weakness, do not be cowardly or embarrassed, but try to correct it by self-reproach and confession first to God, who knows the heart, and, in time, to your spiritual father. May the infatuations that happen teach you to avoid and be cautious and to protect yourself through the fear of God. Surrender to the will of God and wait patiently for the decision of your fate (Venerable Ambrose).
The Omnipotence of Repentance
Saint Ignatius writes: “The power of repentance is based on the power of God: the Physician is Almighty, and the medicine given by Him is omnipotent.”
It is enough for us to remember the equal-angel Mary of Egypt, a former harlot. One can recall the holy men Moses, David, Flavian, who were robbers, and then ascended to the heights of a virtuous life.
Evidence of the forgiveness of the deacon who had sinned was the fact that only after his prayer it began to rain: A brother asked one elder: “If a person happens to fall into temptation through the action of the devil, is there any benefit for those who are tempted through him?” To this the elder told him the following. There was one eminent deacon in the Egyptian monastery. A certain official citizen, persecuted by the archon, came to Cenobia with his entire household. The deacon, through the action of the devil, fell with his wife and brought shame upon everyone. He went to one old man he loved and told him about what had happened. The elder had one dark, hidden place inside his cell. The deacon began to beg him, saying: “Bury me here alive and do not reveal this to anyone.” He entered the darkness and brought true repentance. A year later there was a drought. While performing the common prayer, it was revealed to one of the saints: “If the deacon hidden by such and such an elder does not come out and pray, then there will be no rain.” Those who heard were amazed and took the deacon out of the place where he was. He prayed and it started to rain. And those who were previously tempted received much greater benefit from his repentance and glorified God.
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Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Orthodox Church on repentance..
“...did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?..” (Acts 19:2)
icon "The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles" Abba Isaiah was asked: “What does repentance consist of?” He answered: “The Holy Spirit teaches us to move away from sin and not fall into it again. This is what repentance consists of.” /Wed. “The Comforter, the Holy Spirit... will teach you all things...” (John 14:26). “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth...” (John 16:13). “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). “As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said...” (Acts 13:2). This is the kind of living connection the apostles had with God. It is no coincidence that they said: “For it pleased the Holy Spirit and us...” (Acts 15:28) - and not vice versa. St. Anthony the Great taught: “... regarding those who have entered into repentance with all their hearts... first of all, the Spirit calls them and makes it easy... and makes repentance sweet for them, showing them how they should repent... Then the Spirit-guide begins to open the eyes of his soul, so that she too could show repentance, and thereby she would be cleansed. The mind begins... to learn from the Spirit how to cleanse both body and soul through repentance. And the mind taught by the Spirit becomes our guide in the works of soul and body, showing how to purify them... Those who became worthy of God were taught by His Holy Spirit...” A repentant person is like the prodigal son from the Gospel parable (Luke 15). The Holy Fathers said: “Repentance begins with repentance and conversion (“I came to my senses”), which develop into determination (“I will get up, I will go”) and ends with a return to the Father (“I got up and went”), confession of sins (“I have sinned” ), forgiveness from God (“bring me your best robe”), adoption (“this son is mine”) and spiritual resurrection (“he was dead and is alive, he was lost and is found”).” “Repentance is: 1. To realize sin. 2. Mourn over sin. 3. Regret what you have done. 4. Begging: “Forgive me, don’t remember.” 5. Hate, despise sin. 6. Oath: “I won’t do it again.” 7. Prayer: “Help.”
Elder Sampson (Sievers) wrote: “...Repentance. What is this? To recognize sin, to mourn sin, to confess sin, to hate sin, to curse sin, to fear sin, to avoid it, and not to repeat it again. And for this, beg for help and protection... And then the sin is forgiven and then it will not be remembered again... If a person does not have the intention to leave or does not want to leave, cannot leave (sin) - then do not receive communion! You can confess, but you don’t need to receive communion until sin is abandoned: this is what Chrysostom demands. But we don’t observe this, that’s why we are sick, and possessed, and unhappy, that’s all. You and I have different sins. Let's say we do not abandon them, but only recognize them that we are to blame. We repent of them, but we don’t want to get behind them, we don’t want to leave them forever. Hate them, curse them, right?” “Repentance is a religious concept. You need to repent to someone. This does not mean simply changing your lifestyle or your inner feeling or your experience, as is meant in, say, Eastern religions and cultures. These religions say that a person must gain his own experience, must know himself, self-actualize, so that the light of his consciousness awakens. But for such a change, God is not needed. And Christian repentance is certainly before someone... This is an expression of full consciousness of what repentance is. Here you see the church's perception, ancient Christian and truly biblical, that man is never alone in the world. He stands first of all before God, but also before people. Therefore, in the Bible, a person’s sin before God always has a relationship with his neighbor, which means: it has a social, public dimension and consequences... Hence, a holistic understanding of repentance as correct standing both before God and before people. Repentance cannot be measured only on social or psychological scales, but there is always a divinely revealed, biblical, Christian concept... The only thing is that human nature is fallen, and therefore is now in an abnormal state for itself. But repentance is the lever with which a person can correct his nature and return it to a normal state. That is why the Savior said: “Methanoite” - that is, “change your mind.” The fact is that our thought has moved away from God, away from ourselves and others. And this is the sick, pathological state of a person, which in Slavic is called the word “passion”, and in Greek the word “pathos” (pathology). It is simply a disease, a perversion, but not yet destruction, just as a disease is not the destruction of the body, but simply damage. The sinful state of a person is a corruption of his nature, but a person can recover, accept correction, and therefore repentance comes like health to a sore spot, to the sick nature of a person. And since the Savior said that we must repent, even if we do not feel the need for repentance, then we must believe Him that we really need to repent. And in fact, the more the great saints approached God, the more they felt the need for repentance, because they sensed the depth of man’s fall. Man ... seeks living communication with God... Man is a being created from non-existence into being and invited to communicate. Repentance is impossible without meeting God. Therefore, God comes to meet man halfway. If repentance were simply repentance, an arrangement of one’s powers differently, it would be a restructuring, but not a change in essence. “Sick,” as St. says. Cyril of Alexandria, “cannot heal himself, but he needs a healer - God.”
What is the disease? In the corruption of love. There shouldn't be one-sided love. Love must be at least two-sided. And for the completeness of love, in fact, three are needed. God, neighbor and I... Repentance is not just self-pity or depression, or an inferiority complex, but always the consciousness and feeling that communication has been lost, and immediately the search and even the beginning of restoring this communication... Both God and man in repentance enter into activity of love. Love seeks communication. Repentance is regret for lost love... Repentance immediately arouses a person to both love for God and love for one’s neighbor. Theophan the Recluse in “The Path to Salvation” says (but this is the experience of all the Fathers) that when a person awakens to repentance, he immediately feels that he loves his neighbor. He is no longer proud, does not consider himself big. He wishes everyone salvation. This is already a sign of genuine Christian life. This means that repentance opens for us in an abnormal, sinful state the path to a normal state, a turn to God and correction before God. It reveals the complete truth about the human condition. And repentance immediately turns into confession. Confession is the revelation of a true person... With true repentance, everything is open, and sin is clearly visible... Confession as a continuation of repentance is the true self-disclosure of a person. Yes, we are sinners, that is why we reveal our wounds, illnesses, sins. A person sees himself in a desperate, hopeless situation. But what is truly true is that he looks not only at himself, but, as St. said. Anthony the Great: “Put your sin before yourself and look at God beyond sins.” Look to God through your sins! But then sin will not withstand the competition of meeting with God...” (Bishop Afanasy (Evtich)). Repentance is an endless path! After confession, when the soul is cleansed, you should be especially careful. Many people say they feel “relieved” at this moment. However, confession is not a drug. It is after we have repented that we need to be more deeply aware of our sinfulness, constantly think about it, but at the same time clearly feel the boundless love of God, who accepts us, despite all our negligence. Our fight against sin must become more uncompromising. We should correct our mistakes, not return to the same sins, and diligently fulfill God’s commandments. Of course, this struggle is not easy. She is painful and sad. Unfortunately, we are all inclined to persist and avoid healing our passions. We want results immediately, so that everything happens instantly. We are people of “buttons”, computers, and we long for everything to change at once. We go to the confessor and believe that he has some kind of magic wand with the help of which we will be miraculously changed. But we must not forget: the sinful, pathological state that has developed over decades cannot change in an instant. The priest is a doctor of souls, not a magician or a charlatan. Healing of the soul cannot happen in a few minutes, as a result of some magical or fraudulent action, it occurs by the grace of God, thanks to repentance, single combat with sin and perseverance. If we have confessed several times, this does not mean that we have experienced the fullness of repentance. Repentance is an endless path, it is a state that is uninterrupted and never ends. There can be no final point in repentance, because this would mean complete likeness to God, which is impossible for a person. One wonderful story tells how they experienced repentance. “They said about Abba Sisoes that when he began to die and the fathers sat around him, his face shone like the sun. And he said to them: “Here Abba Anthony has come.” And a little later: “Behold, the face of the prophets has come.” And again his face lit up even more, and it was as if he was talking to someone. And the elders asked him: “Who are you talking to, father?” He replied: “The angels have come to take me, and I ask that they allow me to repent a little more.” The elders tell him: “You have no need to repent, father.” The elder said to them: “I assure you, I do not see that I have begun to repent.” And everyone knew that he was perfect. And again his face suddenly became like the sun. And everyone was horrified. He tells them: “Look, the Lord has come and says: “Bring to Me the vessel of the desert.” And he immediately betrayed his spirit. And he became like lightning. And the whole cell was filled with fragrance.” Along the path of life, there is always the possibility that we will fall into sin again. But there is no need to be discouraged. The hospital of repentance is always open. “It is human nature to fall into sin. To remain in sin is not characteristic of man, but of Satan,” say the Fathers of the Church. Here's another story. “One brother asked Sisoy: “What should I do, Abba, when I have fallen?” The elder says: “Rise again.” His brother told him: “I rose and fell again.” The elder continues: “Arise again and again.” Then the brother asks: “Until when?” The elder replies: “Until death finds you either in goodness or in failure. Whatever a person finds himself in, he leaves with that.” God is always waiting for us, He does not reject anyone. “One warrior asked Abba Mios whether God accepts repentance. The same one, having calmed him down with many words, asked: “Tell me, beloved, if your cloak breaks, do you throw it away?” He replies: “No, but I’ll sew it up and use it again.” Then the elder says to him: “If you are so sorry for clothes, then how can God not spare His creation?” Archimandrite Nektarios (Antonopoulos) * * * “...repentance in the deep sense of the word is not simple contrition for sins or disgust for one’s sinful past, even less does it mean a formal confession: the meaning of the word is much deeper. This is a decisive transfer of life onto new tracks, a complete rearrangement of all values in the soul and heart, where, under normal conditions, worldly concerns and goals of temporary, mainly material life come first, and everything high and holy, everything connected with faith in God and serving Him, is relegated to the background... Repentance presupposes a radical rearrangement: in the foreground is always, everywhere, in everything - God; behind, after all, the world and its demands, unless they can be completely thrown out of the heart. In other words, repentance requires the creation of a new, unified center in man, and this center, where all the threads of life converge, must be God” (St. Basil, Bishop of Kineshma). * * * “It is very helpful for someone who is in a state of constant and true repentance to think deeply about OUR PURPOSE. Who were we from the beginning of our creation, when wickedness and similar passions had not yet captivated the soul, where have we fallen and where should we strive by the grace of Christ? If such reflections accompany us and are inseparably present with us, we will never succumb to the anger and challenge that the unreasonable principle and the law of depravity throw at us.” (Elder Joseph of Vatopedi “Athos Conversations”, p. 116) * * * “Each confession should be a review of one’s entire spiritual life. However, in the popular understanding, “general” is the first confession in one’s entire life, and it includes both what a person remembers and what the Lord revealed to him in prayer preparing for confession. But this does not mean that a person was immediately freed from all his sins throughout his life. Confession is a very long journey: you have to dig up a field, plant seeds there and make sure they sprout and bear fruit. Entering this field, the plowman suddenly realizes that the field is covered with stones. They are big - neither a horse nor a tractor will pass, and a person begins to carry them out. It’s the same with sins: big sins are immediately visible. A person coming to confession for the first time sees only some significant events in his life - an abortion, divorce, serious quarrels with parents or children, or something else obvious and terrible... He takes these stones out of the field, returns, grabs the plow, to start plowing, he looks, and there are smaller stones. He leaves the plow again, but there are more stones, which are smaller. The “general confession” usually lasts for several years. Man keeps returning to his past. He doesn’t return on his own - God returns him, the Lord gives him the opportunity to see what he has done, what he did, but did not recognize as a sin. And this, in fact, is good for a person!.. Repentance is a state of a person when he realizes his sinfulness, regrets it and begins to hate the sin he commits and actively fight against it, establishing himself in goodness. Hatred of sin and the fight against it attracts God's mercy. It is this combination of God’s mercy with man’s hatred of sin and the fight against it that brings about repentance, that is, man’s deliverance from sin. After all, sin is always something that prevents you from loving God and your neighbor. This is always surmountable and often has already become the norm of life and is not perceived by us as an obstacle. Therefore, you can defeat it only through your own super-efforts and with the help of God!.. ...you must remember that any event in a person’s spiritual life is never one-sided. The Lord Himself helps us to fulfill any of our good undertakings. With any confession, a person’s attitude towards sin still changes. We need to confess this sin, even if we: do not have real hatred for it and the determination to fight it. In the end, we will still come to real repentance. The Lord, seeing our desire to confess this sin, will definitely give us genuine repentance, with all the depth of awareness and rejection of sin... Emotions are the result of a person’s psychological state. And trying to evoke a feeling of repentance in yourself by emotionally “twisting” your psyche can even be dangerous. You can drive yourself into hysteria and nervous breakdown. Such exercises have nothing to do with real repentance. The degree of repentance is determined by something completely different: how do you behave after realizing your sinfulness? Have you changed anything in your life or not? Tears of repentance are a great gift from God, which only a few great ascetics of piety have been awarded. Trying to cause them artificially is impudence and foolishness. For us, repentant crying consists of realizing our sins and contrition for them, that we cannot get rid of these sins on our own. But this contrition is not an end in itself. The goal is an internal rebirth that the Lord gives you, seeing a sincere desire to live differently. If we begin to lament our sins and do not move on, then this leads to despair. A very telling example here is Judas. After all, he repented! Moreover, after repentance, he took certain steps: he threw away the pieces of silver, sincerely refused them - they began to burn his hands. But he didn't go any further. He could not see, feel the mercy of God, he could not believe that the Lord would forgive him. It is almost impossible to see your sin without the Lord. Only the Lord can help a person look at himself from the outside. Man himself is not capable of this; this is the grace of God. The very impulse that moves us to repentance is already the touch of the Lord on our soul. Then we lament our sin. And then God, seeing our desire to cleanse ourselves, delivers us from sin. This is how repentance happens. That is, everything begins with the mercy of God, and everything ends with the mercy of God. It is only important to take advantage of this mercy, not to pass by it. The mass of people live sinful lives and do not feel their sinfulness. And if a person felt that it was no longer possible to live like this, that he needs to repent, this is already the mercy of God, this means that the Lord visited him. And the desire for repentance itself is very important to consider not just as a human movement of the soul, but as the co-creation of man with God, where the Lord shows man his sins, and man strives to get rid from them. In Greek, repentance literally means “a change of mind”... A change of mind is an awareness of the disgust of your current state and the desire to be reborn, a desire to change for the better. Moreover, when repentance is real, then this desire is actually irresistible, decisive... Often a person repents, but cannot stop sinning. But the Lord looks not at words, but at the heart! And if we come to confession, and our heart at that time shouts: “Not now, Lord!” - then, of course, the Lord will not deliver us from this sin by force. He will allow us to fall into this sin again, and again, and again... The Lord will give us the opportunity to see sin in all its ugliness, to consider ourselves in this sin and to hate it. Only then does true repentance become possible.”
(Priest Igor Fomin, cleric of the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow. “Parish Bulletin”, No. 13(46), 2006).
