Spiritual renewal is an important task of life for every Christian. As a rule, this is achieved through confession and Communion. With the help of confession, you can cleanse your soul and prepare to accept the Mysteries of Holy Scripture. During Communion, every believer is reunited with the Lord Jesus Christ. This means that he acquires all the benefits associated with Divine life and is filled with forces that will help him do good. Both Confession and Communion require special prayer preparation.
What prayers to read before confession and communion
Confession in its essence is repentance for committed voluntary or involuntary sins. The purpose of this ritual is to obtain remission of one's sins in order to gain eternal life after death in the Kingdom of God. The Holy Fathers consider confession to be the second baptism. This is due to the fact that during the baptismal ritual the child is cleansed of original sin, and in the process of confession, a believer is given the opportunity to be cleansed of the sins he has committed along the path of life.
In order for confession to be accepted and have a positive result, you must be aware of your sins and have a sincere desire to sincerely repent of them and not repeat your sins in the future. There must be a sincere faith in the mercy of God in the soul. You also need to believe that even the most serious sins will be forgiven by the Great Heavenly Lover of Mankind - Jesus Christ.
When a person prepares for confession or communion, he must strictly follow the morning and evening rules. The obligatory prayers included in it must be read in full. Preparation for Communion includes confession itself and fasting. Generally, the church requires that preparation be carried out over a period of 3-7 days.
Moreover, every day, in addition to morning and evening prayers, it is required to read one canon, among which must be:
- Canon of repentance to our Lord Jesus Christ;
- Canon of prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos;
- Canon to the Guardian Angel.
During the period of preparation for confession and communion, attention should be paid to spiritual abstinence. You cannot attend any entertainment or social events during this period. It is important to spend as much time alone as possible. It should be devoted to reading the Holy Letter and thinking about your life. Before confession and Communion, it is necessary to strictly control one’s own actions and thoughts. For cleansing to be successful, you need to avoid quarrels and conflicts with people from your inner circle. And if you are in a quarrel with someone, then you need to make peace with this person as quickly as possible. At the same time, it is very important to remember that this should be done out of sincere motives, and not for show.
Immediately before the communion ritual, “Proceeding to Holy Communion” is read. It is also necessary to attend a church service on this day.
What is repentance
Many do not understand why go to confession at all - the Lord sees everything, why can’t it be done at home? But Orthodox Christians do this every day, reading the words of repentance that are on the list of daily prayers. The appearance in the temple is intended to demonstrate not so much sinfulness as the person’s determination to abandon his bad deeds. After all, to speak about them in front of a witness requires courage, repentance, and a certain detachment from your former self. These are all signs of spiritual work.
Prayers read before confession very well help to recognize among habitual actions those that are sinful. People are so used to them that they often don’t even notice them. Sins are divided into two main types:
- Against God. Didn't attend church, was late for services, didn't listen attentively. I missed home prayers and broke fasts. He hid his membership in the Church, was embarrassed to wear a cross or apply the sign of the cross to himself.
- Against your neighbor. I envied my friend. Discussed someone behind his back. He condemned the actions of other people in his heart. Succumbed to sinful passions. Pride, rudeness - everything falls into this category. Careless attitude towards work.
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Repentance should not be limited to just a declaration of one’s sinfulness. First of all, this is the right thing to do. Did you offend your wife? Come and apologize. Debt a neighbor? Bring money. Are you eating too much? Restrain yourself, impose a fast on yourself.
At the same time, it is better not to promise the Lord anything, but simply ask for His gracious help. After all, a person is very weakened by sins; he can take on too heavy obligations, fail to fulfill them, and then become despondent. It is better to fall and rise than to refuse confession altogether.
Orthodox prayers before communion and confession
Confession and Communion are among the sacraments of the Orthodox Church. In preparation for these rituals, special prayers should be offered that will help cleanse the soul from sins.
Repentant prayers before confession in church
Sincere prayers of repentance before communion and confession are considered especially important. It is these prayer texts, spoken with deep sincerity, that indicate that a person repents of his sins and is ready to ask the Lord for their forgiveness and cleansing of the soul.
Prayer one - text in Russian
A prayer of repentance in a temple may sound like this:
“Heavenly Master, our Savior Jesus Christ, I ask You to accept the repentant prayer of Your sinful servant (proper name). With your mercies, heal my mental ulcers and heal my soul. Grant me, O Lord, All-Merciful, tears of tenderness. Let me touch Your Life-Giving Body and enjoy Your Honest Blood. Help me, a repentant one, get rid of spiritual grief, raise my mind to myself, do not let me sink in my sins and approach the disastrous abyss. Hear, Lord, my repentance, grant me tears of consolation and tenderness from Your mercy. My mind is darkened by worldly passions, so I cannot turn to You in illness, I cannot warm myself with my own tears. I want to deserve Your love, so grant me repentance and your grace, about which give a sign. Forgive me my sins and cleanse my soul, so that I can hope for eternal life after death in the Kingdom of God. Raise me in the Mysteries of God and let me live according to Your commandments. Amen".
Second prayer
Another strong prayer of repentance that can be said in church sounds like this:
“Have mercy on me, Lord, according to Your great mercy, and according to the enormous amount of Your mercies, I ask you to cleanse my soul from my iniquity. I repent of my sins and realize my guilt. I offer my prayer to You alone and ask for justification for myself. Only You, Lord, have the great power to forgive the sins of those who have loved the truth and have expressed a desire to know Your wisdom. Sprinkle me with your goodness and cleanse my soul so that it becomes purer than white snow. Grant me the joy of life and grace, may my bones rejoice and be filled with strength. Turn my face away from everything sinful that I may not commit. servant of God (proper name) of sins. Fill my heart with true love, renew my soul. Do not reject me, Lord, do not take away my hope in Your mercy. Give me the joy of salvation, strengthen me with your Sovereign Spirit. Teach me how to push away lawlessness from myself. Have mercy on me, Lord, and save me. Amen".
Prayer before communion to receive bread and wine (prosphora and holy water)
The prayer before communion to receive the bread and wine is very important. This contributes to the sanctification of the body and spirit of a believer. At this moment, a desire to do good arises and thoughts are illuminated towards sincere service to the Lord. Prayer protects a person from evil spirits and nothing bad can ever come close to him.
“Prosphora” means “offering” in Greek. This specially baked bread consists of two parts. They symbolize the earthly and heavenly world. Each part is baked separately. This is done in the temple and the Jesus Prayer is read during the baking process. Two separately baked parts are joined together. The upper part of the holy bread symbolizes the heavenly world; a seal is placed on it with the image of a four-pointed cross, on which there is the inscription XC or IC, which means Jesus Christ.
Every person who has submitted a note “On health” or “On repose” can order prosphora. After the end of the liturgy, small pieces of the antidora prosphora are taken out in the church. They need to be taken on palms folded in a cross, with the right hand placed on the left. You must kiss the hand of the church minister who brings the gift. Antidor should be eaten in church, washed down with holy water.
Having brought the prosphora home, it should be placed on a clean tablecloth next to the icons, and holy water should be placed next to it.
Before eating the prosphora, the following prayer is read:
“Lord Almighty, let Your holy gift be for the remission of my sins: prosphora and holy water. May he help me enlighten my mind and strengthen my mental and physical strength. May the prosphora and holy water be for the health of my body and soul, for deliverance from my passions and infirmities, according to Your boundless mercy, through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and all Your saints. Amen".
Prosphora should be eaten over a clean white plate or over a sheet of paper. At the same time, it is very important that not a single crumb of heavenly bread falls on the floor. The prosphora only needs to be broken; it is strictly forbidden to cut it with a knife. It should also not be offered to unbaptized people.
Prosphora and holy water can be eaten in small pieces every day in the morning on an empty stomach. In this case, each time you need to pronounce the words of the above prayer.
Evening prayer before communion and confession at home
Prayer before communion and confession is a mandatory ritual for a person who strives to be cleansed of sins.
The prayer appeal in this case consists of three canons:
- Repentant to our Lord;
- Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary;
- Canon to the Guardian Angel.
It is better to take all the listed prayers from the prayer book and say them in the version closest to the original source. This must be done with full concentration on your own thoughts. You can't be distracted by anything. These prayers are needed so that the Lord hears you and forgives all your sins after Communion. In addition, such prayers before the cleansing ritual allow a person to receive peace of mind.
In addition to the prayers listed, clergy recommend reading additionally the prayer of St. Basil the Great before Communion.
It sounds like this:
“Heavenly Lord, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, You are the creator of everything around and the source of all life. You, the Son of the beginningless Father, who, out of your great mercy, took on flesh, was crucified and buried for us, sinners, ungrateful and insensitive. You have renewed our sinful nature with Your Holy Blood! You yourself are the immortal King without beginning, hear me, Your sinful servant, and accept my sincere repentance. Hear with your ear what I will say: I have sinned, O Most High, before heaven and before You. After my sin, I am not worthy to raise my eyes to the height of Your heavenly glory; I realize that I have greatly angered You by breaking Your commandments and disobeying Your commands.
But I sincerely believe that You, Lord, Lover of mankind, kind, patient and merciful, will not leave me to perish in my committed sins after my conversion. For You said through the mouth of Your prophet that You do not want the sinner to die, but want him to turn to You and remain alive. You do not want the death of the people you created. You want everyone to be saved and are ready to forgive all the sins of those who sincerely repented of them and came to the knowledge of the truth of God. Therefore, I, unhappy and sinful, hope for my salvation, and offer my prayer of repentance. Accept me, Lord, as a thief, and as a harlot, and as a tax collector, and forgive me my sin. For You, who take the sins of people upon yourself, heal any human infirmities, call honest workers to yourself and calm the suffering. Teach me. Lord, righteous life, cleanse my body and soul from all uncleanness. Let me do my deeds with reverence for You, let me unite with Your Holy Body and Blood. Let Communion not become a condemnation for me, a sinner and unworthy, but be a forgiveness for me. Grant me, Lord, the opportunity to partake of Your holy things until the end of my days, so that I can receive Your guidance before the Last Judgment and await Your Great mercy. Amen".
Test of conscience
What it is? A kind of general spiritual cleaning. You should carefully ask yourself which commandments were broken and why. Does this behavior happen often? Why can’t you leave it - little effort is made, or the sin simply turns out to be stronger? In the latter case, you need to strengthen your prayers and read the Holy Scriptures more often. His words have healing power. Ask your confessor for advice on how to overcome this or that passion.
Many spiritual books describe in detail the process of identifying sins. Unfortunately, society today has degraded so much that much that was unthinkable 200 years ago is the norm today. Therefore, a Christian is not always able to immediately distinguish bad from good. For example, a married man was flirting with his girlfriend. It would seem that there was nothing terrible here - nothing happened. And the Lord teaches that even sinful thoughts are already a violation of the commandment.
- There is holiness from God and what is considered the norm in society. The standards of the Orthodox should be higher than generally accepted.
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What to do if there is no feeling of humility in your heart? There is only one answer - pray, read psalms of repentance, ask God to open your spiritual eyes. Go to church more often, participate in the life of the community, in works of mercy (even if you don’t want to). Donate things to charity, and instead of watching TV, do something useful with your child. Gradually the heart will begin to thaw and God will allow you to see your sins.
Canon from the Follow-up to Holy Communion
The reading of the Follow-up to Holy Communion is performed before the Divine Liturgy. However, the practice of dividing the Follow-up into parts has become more widespread. So, the day before Communion, you can read the “ordinary cap”: the beginning, the psalms, the canon itself, before the prayer “It is worthy to eat.” Then on the day of Communion everything else is read. The canon and prayers help to “tune” the Christian soul to the Great Sacrament of Communion.
“We must, with God’s help, purify ourselves as much as possible in order to become like the holy prophet Moses the Seer of God. After all, the Liturgy is our individual ascent to Sinai, at the core of which we will see the Lord. And can we skip at least a step in this ascent without good reason?” (Priest Andrei Chizhenko).
