Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) - To help the penitent. Ignatius Bryanchaninov to help the repentant Ignatius Bryanchaninov about the sin of smoking
Eight major passions with their divisions and industries
1. Gluttony
Binge eating, drunkenness, non-keeping and allowing fasting, secret eating, delicacy, and generally violation of abstinence. Incorrect and excessive love of the flesh, its belly and rest, which constitutes self-love, which leads to failure to remain faithful to God, the Church, virtue and people.
2. Fornication
Prodigal lust, prodigal sensations and attitudes of the soul and heart. Acceptance of unclean thoughts, conversation with them, delight in them, permission for them, slowness in them. Prodigal dreams and captivities. Failure to preserve the senses, especially the sense of touch, is the insolence that destroys all virtues. Foul language and reading voluptuous books. Natural prodigal sins: fornication and adultery. Prodigal sins are unnatural.
3. Love of money
The love of money, in general the love of property, movable and immovable. The desire to get rich. Reflection on means of enrichment. Dreaming of wealth. Fears of old age, unexpected poverty, illness, exile. Stinginess. Selfishness. Disbelief in God, lack of trust in his providence. Addictions or painful excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain concerns. Loving gifts. Appropriation of someone else's. Likhva. Cruelty towards the poor brethren and all those in need. Theft. Robbery.
4. Anger
Hot temper, acceptance of angry thoughts: dreams of anger and revenge, indignation of the heart with rage, darkening of the mind with it: obscene shouting, argument, swearing, cruel and caustic words, stress, pushing, murder. Malice, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and insult to one’s neighbor.
5. Sadness
Sadness, melancholy, cutting off hope in God, doubt in God’s promises, ingratitude to God for everything that happens, cowardice, impatience, lack of self-reproach, grief towards one’s neighbor, grumbling, renunciation of the cross, attempt to descend from it.
6.Despondency
Laziness towards any good deed, especially prayer. Abandonment of church and cell rules. Abandoning unceasing prayer and soul-helping reading. Inattention and haste in prayer. Neglect. Irreverence. Idleness. Excessive calming by sleeping, lying down and all kinds of restlessness. Moving from place to place. Frequent exits from cells, walks and visits with friends. Celebration. Jokes. Blasphemers. Abandonment of bows and other physical feats. Forgetting your sins. Forgetting the commandments of Christ. Negligence. Captivity. Deprivation of the fear of God. Bitterness. Insensibility. Despair.
7. Vanity
The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly and vain honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and cell things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of your body. A disposition towards the dying sciences and arts of this age, a desire to succeed in them in order to acquire temporary, earthly glory. Shame to confess your sins. Hiding them before people and the spiritual father. Craftiness. Self-justification. Disclaimer. Making up your mind. Hypocrisy. Lie. Flattery. People-pleasing. Envy. Humiliation of one's neighbor. Changeability of character. Indulgence. Unconscionability. The character and life are demonic.
8. Pride
Contempt for one's neighbor. Preferring yourself to everyone. Insolence. Darkness, dullness of the mind and heart. Nailing them to the earthly. Hula. Disbelief. False mind. Disobedience to the Law of God and the Church. Following your carnal will. Reading books that are heretical, depraved and vain. Disobedience to authorities. Caustic ridicule. Abandonment of Christ-like humility and silence. Loss of simplicity. Loss of love for God and neighbor. False philosophy. Heresy. Godlessness. Ignorance. Death of the soul.
Such are the ailments, such are the ulcers that constitute the great ulcer of the old Adam, which was formed from his fall. The holy prophet Isaiah speaks about this great plague: “from the feet even to the head there is no integrity in it: neither a scab, nor an ulcer, nor a burning wound, do not apply a plaster, below the oil, below the bandage”(Is. 1 :6 ) . This means, according to the explanation of the Fathers, that the ulcer - sin - is not private, and not on just one member, but on the entire being: it has embraced the body, embraced the soul, taken possession of all the properties, all the powers of a person. God called this great plague death when, forbidding Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he said: "In the onzhe moreover If you take a day from it, you will die.” (Life 2 :17 ) . Immediately after eating the forbidden fruit, the forefathers felt eternal death; a carnal feeling appeared in their gaze; they saw that they were naked. The knowledge of the nakedness of the body reflected the nakedness of the soul, which had lost the beauty of innocence on which the Holy Spirit rested. There is a carnal sensation in the eyes, and in the soul there is shame, in which is the accumulation of all sinful and shameful sensations: pride, impurity, sadness, despondency, and despair. The Great Plague is spiritual death; the decay that occurred after the loss of the Divine likeness is incorrigible! The Apostle calls the great plague the law of sin, the body of death (Rome. 7 :23–24 ) , because the mortified mind and heart have completely turned to the earth, slavishly serve the corruptible desires of the flesh, they have become darkened, burdened, and become flesh themselves. This flesh is no longer capable of communicating with God! (Life 6 :3 ) . This flesh is not capable of inheriting eternal, heavenly bliss! (1 Cor. 15 :50 ) . The great plague spread over the entire human race and became the unfortunate property of every person.
Considering my great ulcer, looking at my mortification, I am filled with bitter sadness! I'm perplexed, what should I do? Will I follow the example of the old Adam, who, seeing his nakedness, hastens to hide from God? Will I, like him, justify myself by placing the blame on the guilt of sin? It is in vain to hide from the All-Seeing One! It is in vain to make excuses before the One who always wins, “never to judge” Him (Ps. 50 :6 ) .
Instead of fig leaves, I will clothe myself with tears of repentance; Instead of justification, I will bring sincere consciousness. Clothed in repentance and tears, will I appear before the face of my God? Is it in heaven? I have been expelled from there, and the cherub standing at the entrance will not let me in! By the very burden of my flesh I am nailed to the ground, my prison!
Sinful descendant of Adam, take heart! A light has shone in your prison: God has descended into the low country of your exile to lead you to your lost highland fatherland. You wanted to know good and evil: He leaves you this knowledge. You wanted to become like God, and from this you became like the devil in your soul, like cattle and beasts in your body; God, uniting you with Himself, makes you God by grace. He forgives your sins. This is not enough! He will remove the root of evil from your soul, the very infection of sin, hell, cast into your soul by the devil, and will give you medicine for the entire path of your earthly life for healing from sin, no matter how many times you become infected with it, due to your weakness. This healing is the confession of sins. Do you want to put off the old Adam, you, who through holy baptism have already been clothed in the New Adam, but through your own iniquities managed to revive old age and death in yourself, to choke life, to make it half-dead? Do you want, enslaved to sin, drawn to it by the violence of habit, to regain your freedom and righteousness? Immerse yourself in humility! Conquer vain shame, which teaches you to hypocritically and craftily pretend to be righteous and thereby preserve and strengthen spiritual death within yourself. Cast out sin, enter into hostility with sin by sincere confession of sin. This healing must precede all others; without it, healing through prayer, tears, fasting and all other means will be insufficient, unsatisfactory, fragile. Go, proud one, to your spiritual father, at his feet find the mercy of the Heavenly Father! One, one sincere and frequent confession can free one from sinful habits, make repentance fruitful, and correction lasting and true.
In a brief moment of tenderness, in which the eyes of the mind are opened for self-knowledge, which comes so rarely, I wrote this as an accusation to myself, as an admonition, reminder, instruction. And you, who with faith and love for Christ read these lines and, perhaps, find in them something useful for yourself, bring a heartfelt sigh and prayer for the soul that has suffered much from the waves of sin, that has often seen drowning and destruction before itself, that has found rest in one refuge: in confession of one’s sins.
On the virtues opposite to the eight main sinful passions
1. Abstinence
Avoidance of excessive consumption of food and nutrition, especially excessive consumption of wine. Keeping strict fasts established by the Church, curbing the flesh with moderate and constantly equal consumption of food, from which all passions in general begin to weaken, and especially self-love, which consists in the wordless love of the flesh, its life and peace.
2. Chastity
Avoidance of all kinds of fornication. Avoidance of voluptuous conversations and reading, from the pronunciation of voluptuous, nasty and ambiguous words. Storing the senses, especially sight and hearing, and even more so the sense of touch. Modesty. Rejection of the thoughts and dreams of prodigals. Silence. Silence. Ministry to the sick and disabled. Memories of death and hell. The beginning of chastity is a mind that does not waver from lustful thoughts and dreams; the perfection of chastity is purity that sees God.
3. Non-covetousness
Satisfying yourself with one thing necessary. Hatred of luxury and bliss. Mercy for the poor. Loving the poverty of the Gospel. Trust in God's providence. Following Christ's commandments. Calmness and freedom of spirit and carelessness. Softness of heart.
4. Meekness
Avoidance of angry thoughts and indignation of the heart with rage. Patience. Following Christ, who calls His disciple to the cross. Peace of the heart. Silence of the mind. Christian firmness and courage. Not feeling insulted. Kindness.
5. Blessed cry
A feeling of decline, common to all people, and of one’s own spiritual poverty. Lamentation about them. Cry of the mind. Painful contrition of the heart. The lightness of conscience, grace-filled consolation and joy that vegetates from them. Hope in God's mercy. Thanks be to God in sorrows, their humble enduring from the sight of their many sins. Willingness to endure. Cleansing the mind. Relief from passions. Mortification of the world. The desire for prayer, solitude, obedience, humility, confession of one’s sins.
6. Sobriety
Zeal for every good deed. Non-slothful correction of church and cell rules. Attention when praying. Careful observation of all your deeds, words, thoughts and feelings. Extreme self-distrust. Continuous stay in prayer and the Word of God. Awe. Constant vigilance over oneself. Keeping yourself from a lot of sleep and effeminacy, idle talk, jokes and sharp words. Love of night vigils, bows and other feats that bring cheerfulness to the soul. Rare, if possible, departure from cells. Remembrance of eternal blessings, desire and expectation of them.
7. Humility
Fear of God. Feeling it during prayer. Fear that arises during especially pure prayer, when the presence and greatness of God is felt especially strongly, so as not to disappear and turn into nothing. Deep knowledge of one's insignificance. A change in view of neighbors, and they, without any coercion, seem to the humbled person to be superior to him in all respects. The manifestation of simplicity from living faith. Hatred of human praise. Constant blaming and beating yourself up. Rightness and directness. Impartiality. Deadness to everything. Tenderness. Knowledge of the mystery hidden in the Cross of Christ. The desire to crucify oneself to the world and passions, the desire for this crucifixion. Rejection and oblivion of flattering customs and words, modest due to compulsion or intent, or the skill of pretending. Perception of the riot of the gospel. Rejection of earthly wisdom as obscene before God (OK. 16 :15 ) . Leaving word justification. Silence before those who offend, studied in the Gospel. Putting aside all your own speculations and accepting the mind of the Gospel. The casting down of every thought placed upon the mind of Christ. Humility or spiritual reasoning. Conscious obedience to the Church in everything.
Changing during prayer the fear of God into the love of God. Loyalty to the Lord, proven by the constant rejection of every sinful thought and feeling. The indescribable, sweet attraction of the whole person with love for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the worshiped Holy Trinity. Seeing the image of God and Christ in others; resulting from this spiritual vision, the preference for oneself over all neighbors, their reverent veneration for the Lord. Love for neighbors is brotherly, pure, equal to everyone, joyful, impartial, flaming equally towards friends and enemies. Admiration for prayer and love of the mind, heart and whole body. Indescribable pleasure of the body with spiritual joy. Spiritual intoxication. Relaxation of bodily members with spiritual consolation. Inactivity of the bodily senses during prayer. Resolution from the muteness of the heart's tongue. Stopping prayer from spiritual sweetness. Silence of the mind. Enlightening the mind and heart. Prayer power that overcomes sin. Peace of Christ. Retreat of all passions. The absorption of all understandings into the superior mind of Christ. Theology. Knowledge of incorporeal beings. The weakness of sinful thoughts that cannot be imagined in the mind.
Sweetness and abundant consolation in times of sorrow. Vision of human structures. The depth of humility and the most humiliating opinion of oneself... The end is endless!
Add-ons from various sources
The shortest confession
Sins against the Lord God
Belief in dreams, fortune telling, meetings and other signs. Doubts about faith. Laziness towards prayer and absent-mindedness during it. Not going to Church, long absence from confession and Holy Communion. Hypocrisy in Divine Worship. Blasphemy or just murmuring against God in the soul and in words. The intention to raise your hands. In vain. An unfulfilled promise to God. Blasphemy of the sacred. Anger with mention of evil spirits (trait). Eating or drinking on Sundays and holidays before the end of the Liturgy. Violation of fasts or inaccurate observance of them is a work issue on holidays.
Sins against one's neighbor
Lack of diligence in one's position or one's work in the dormitory. Disrespect for superiors or elders. Failure to fulfill a promise to a person. Non-payment of debts. Taking by force or secret appropriation of someone else's property. Stinginess in alms. Personal insult to one's neighbor. Gossip. Slander. Cursing others. Unnecessary suspicions. Failure to protect an innocent person or a just cause with loss for them. Murder. Disrespect for parents. Failure to look after children with Christian care. Anger is hostility in family or home life.
Sins against yourself
Idle or bad thoughts in the soul. Desires evil for one's neighbor. Falsity of words, speech. Irritability. Obstinacy or pride. Envy. Hard-heartedness. Sensitivity to upsets or insults. Vengeance. Love of money. Passion for pleasure. Foul language. The songs are seductive. Drunkenness and heavy eating. Fornication. Adultery. Unnatural fornication. Not fixing your life.
Of all these sins against the Ten Commandments of God, some, reaching the highest stage of development in a person, passing into vicious states and hardening his heart with unrepentance, are recognized as especially serious and contrary to God.
Mortal sins , that is, making a person guilty of eternal death or destruction:
About knowing God: No matter how much we study, it is still impossible to know the Lord if we do not live according to His commandments, for the Lord is known not by science, but by the Holy Spirit. Many philosophers and scientists have come to believe that God exists, but they have not known God. And we, monks, study the law of the Lord day and night, but not everyone has come to know God, even though they believe. It is one thing to believe that God exists, and another thing to know God (Elder Silouan).
About prayer: If our prayers are not immediately heard, it means that the Lord does not want what we want to happen to us, but what He wants. In this case, He desires and prepares for us something greater and better than what we ask of Him in prayer. Therefore, every prayer must be ended with contrition: Thy will be done.
About the importance of reading: The Word of God is food for soul and body. It is the duty of a Christian every day - I will not go to bed unless I read:
Thy Mystical Supper this day, O Son of God, accept me as a partaker; I will not tell your enemies the secret, nor give you a kiss like Judas, but like a thief I will confess to you: remember me, O Lord, in your kingdom.
May the communion of Your Holy Mysteries be not for judgment or condemnation for me, Lord, but for the healing of soul and body. Amen.
St. Isaac of Syria. Word 44
Ignatius (Brianchaninov), St. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov) (1807-1867) is a famous Russian ascetic and spiritual writer of the 19th century. His works, published during the life of the Saint, attract attention with their deep knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and the works of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church, creatively revised and meaningful in relation to the spiritual needs of our time. Written, moreover, with extraordinary literary skill, the works of the Saint represent a valuable guide for everyone who wants to walk the narrow and thorny path of experimental knowledge of God.
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Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov).
To help the penitent: from the writings of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)
About virtues
1. Abstinence
Abstinence from excessive consumption of food and drink, especially from excessive consumption of wine. Keeping fasts established by the Church. Curbing the flesh by moderate consumption of monotonous food, from which all passions in general begin to weaken, and especially selfishness, which consists of pleasing the flesh.
2. Chastity
Avoidance of all kinds of fornication. Avoidance of voluptuous conversations, reading depraved books and looking at shameful images, and uttering voluptuous, nasty and ambiguous words. Storing the senses, especially sight and hearing, and even more so the sense of touch. Modesty. Rejection of the thoughts and dreams of prodigals. Silence. Silence. Ministry to the sick and disabled. Memories of death and hell. The beginning of chastity is a mind that does not waver from lustful thoughts and dreams; the perfection of chastity is purity that sees God.
3. Non-covetousness
Limiting yourself to the essentials in life. Hatred of luxury and bliss. Mercy for the poor. Loving the poverty of the Gospel. Trust in the Providence of God, that everything necessary for life will be provided by God. Calmness, freedom of spirit and carelessness.
4. Meekness
Avoidance of angry thoughts and indignation of the heart with rage. Patience. Following Christ, calling His disciple to the Cross. Peace of the heart. Silence of the mind. Christian firmness and courage. Not feeling insulted. Kindness.
5. Blessed cry
A feeling of decline, common to all people, and of one’s own spiritual poverty. Lamentation about them. Cry of the mind. Painful contrition of the heart. The lightness of conscience, grace-filled consolation and joy that vegetates from them. Hope in God's mercy. Thanking God in sorrows, humbly enduring them from the sight of the multitude of one’s sins. Willingness to endure. Cleansing the mind. Relief from passions. Mortification of the world. The desire for prayer, solitude, obedience, humility, confession of one’s sins.
6. Sobriety
Zeal for every good deed. Non-slothful correction of church and home rules. Attention when praying. Careful observation of all your deeds, words, thoughts and feelings. Distrust of one's own mind. Submitting your opinions to the judgment of your spiritual father. Constantly remain in prayer and meditation on the Holy Scriptures. Awe. Keeping yourself from a lot of sleep and effeminacy, idle talk, jokes and sharp words. Love of night vigils, bows and other feats that bring cheerfulness to the soul. Remembrance of eternal blessings, desire and expectation of them.
7. Humility
Fear of God. Feeling it during prayer. Extreme humility, seeing oneself as unworthy, guilty of righteous condemnation for sins. Losing all hope in everything and everyone except God. Deep knowledge of yourself. A change in the view of one’s neighbors, and they, without any coercion, seem to the humbled person to be superior to him in all respects.
The manifestation of wise simplicity from living faith. Hatred of human praise. Constant blaming and beating yourself up. Truthfulness and directness. Impartiality. Deadness to everything that moves away from God. Tenderness. Knowledge of the saving Mystery hidden in the Cross of Christ. The desire to crucify oneself to the world and passions, the desire for this crucifixion. Rejection and oblivion of false customs and words, deceit and hypocrisy. Perception of evangelical humility. Rejection of earthly wisdom as obscene before God. Contempt for everything that is high in people, that's an abomination to God(see: Luke 16, 15). Leaving word justification. Silence before those who offend. Putting aside all your own speculations and accepting the mind of the Gospel.
The overthrow of every ungodly thought. Humility, or spiritual reasoning. Conscious and complete obedience to the Holy Orthodox Church in everything.
8. Love
Achieving the love of God during prayer, accompanied by the fear of God. Loyalty to the Lord, proven by the constant rejection of every sinful thought and feeling. The indescribable, sweet attraction of the whole person with love for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the worshiped Holy Trinity. Seeing the image of God and Christ in others; resulting from this spiritual vision, the preference for oneself over all neighbors, their reverent veneration for the Lord. Love for neighbors is brotherly, pure, equal to everyone, impartial, joyful, flaming equally towards friends and enemies.
Admiration for prayer and love of the mind, heart and whole body. Unspeakable spiritual joy. Spiritual intoxication. Deep peace of heart, soul and body. Inactivity of the bodily senses during prayer. Resolution from the muteness of the heart's tongue. Stopping prayer from spiritual sweetness. Silence of the mind. Enlightening the mind and heart. Prayer power that overcomes sin. Peace of Christ. Retreat of all passions. The absorption of all understandings into the all-surpassing mind of Christ. Theology. Cognition in everything of the all-perfect Providence of the Divine. Sweetness and abundant consolation in times of sorrow. Vision of human structures. The depth of humility and the most humiliating opinion of oneself...
The end is endless!
Eight major passions with their divisions and industries 1
Borrowed from patristic writings.
1. Fullness of the belly
Binge eating, drunkenness, non-keeping and unauthorized breaking of fasts, secret eating, delicacy, and generally violation of abstinence. Incorrect and excessive love of the flesh, its contentment and peace, which constitutes self-love, which leads to failure to maintain fidelity to God, the Church, virtue and people.
2. Fornication
Prodigal kindling, prodigal sensations and desires of the body, soul and heart. Acceptance of unclean thoughts, conversation with them, delight in them, permission for them, slowness in them. Prodigal dreams and captivities. Desecration by suit. Failure to preserve the senses, especially the sense of touch, is the insolence that destroys all virtues. Foul language and reading voluptuous books. Natural prodigal sins: fornication and adultery. Fornication sins are unnatural: malakia (fornication), sodomy (man with man), lesbianism (woman with woman), bestiality and the like.
3. Love of money
The love of money, in general the love of property, movable and immovable. The desire to get rich. Thinking about the means to get rich. Dreaming of wealth. Fear of old age, unexpected poverty, illness, exile. Stinginess. Selfishness. Disbelief in God, lack of trust in His Providence. Addictions or painful excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain concerns. Desire to receive gifts. Appropriation of someone else's. Likhva. Cruelty towards the poor brethren and all those in need. Theft. Robbery.
4. Anger
Hot temper, adoption of angry thoughts; dreaming in thoughts of anger and revenge, indignation of the heart with rage, darkening of the mind by it; obscene shouting, arguing, swearing, cruel and cutting words, hitting, pushing, killing. Malice, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and insult to one’s neighbor.
5. Sadness
Sadness, melancholy, cutting off hope in God, doubt in God’s promises, ingratitude to God for everything that happens, cowardice, impatience, lack of self-reproach, sorrow for one’s neighbor, grumbling, renunciation of the labors of the difficult Christian life, an attempt to leave this field. Avoidance of the burden of the cross - the struggle with passions and sin.
6. Dejection
Laziness towards any good deed, especially prayer. Abandonment of church and prayer rules. Loss of memory of God. Abandoning unceasing prayer and soul-helping reading. Inattention and haste in prayer. Neglect. Irreverence. Idleness. Excessive calming of the flesh by sleep, lying down and all kinds of restlessness. Seeking an easy salvation. Moving from place to place in order to avoid hardships and hardships. Frequent walks and visits with friends. Celebration. Blasphemous statements. Abandonment of bows and other physical feats. Forgetting your sins. Forgetting the commandments of Christ. Negligence. Captivity. Deprivation of the fear of God. Bitterness. Insensibility. Despair.
7. Vanity
The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly and vain honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and luxurious things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of your body. Engaging in the sciences and arts of this age for the sake of temporary, earthly glory. It is a false shame to confess your sins to your confessor. Craftiness. Self-justification. Disclaimer. Following your mind. Hypocrisy. Lie. Flattery. People-pleasing. Envy. Humiliation of one's neighbor. Changeability of character. Indulgence of passions, dishonesty. Similarity in morals and life to demons.
8. Pride
Contempt for one's neighbor. Preferring yourself to everyone. Insolence. Darkness, dullness of the mind and heart. Nailing them to the earthly. Hula. Disbelief. False mind. Disobedience to the Law of God and the Church. Following your carnal will. Reading heretical and vain books. Disobedience to authorities. Caustic ridicule. Abandonment of Christ-like humility and silence. Loss of simplicity. Loss of love for God and neighbor. False philosophy. Heresy. Godlessness. Death of the soul.
Such are the ailments, such are the ulcers that constitute the great ulcer, the decay of the old Adam, which was formed from his fall. The holy prophet Isaiah speaks about this great plague: From the feet even to the head there is no integrity in it: neither a scab, nor an ulcer, nor a scorching wound: there is no plaster to apply, lower than oil, lower than duty(Isa. 1:6). This means, according to the explanation of the holy fathers, that the ulcer 2
St. Avva DorotheI. Lesson 1.
– sin is not specific, not on just one member, but on the whole being: it embraced the body and soul, took possession of all the properties, all the powers of a person. God called this great plague death when, forbidding Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he said: ...If you take away a day from it, you will die(Genesis 2:17). Immediately after eating the fruit of the forbidden, the forefathers felt eternal death: a carnal sensation appeared in their eyes - they saw that they were naked. The knowledge of the nakedness of the body reflected the nakedness of the soul, which had lost the beauty of innocence on which the Holy Spirit rested. There is a carnal sensation in the eyes, and in the soul there is shame, in which is the accumulation of all sinful and shameful sensations: pride, impurity, sadness, despondency, and despair! The Great Plague is spiritual death; the decay that occurred after the loss of the Divine likeness is incorrigible! The Apostle calls the great plague the law of sin, the body of death(Rom. 7:23, 24), because the mortified mind and heart have completely turned to the earth, slavishly serve the corruptible desires of the flesh, they have become darkened, burdened, and themselves become flesh. This flesh is no longer capable of communicating with God! (See: Gen. 6, 3). This flesh is incapable of inheriting eternal, Heavenly bliss! (See: 1 Cor. 15:50). The great plague spread over the entire human race and became the unfortunate property of every person.
Considering my great ulcer, looking at my mortification, I am filled with bitter sadness! I'm perplexed, what should I do? Will I follow the example of the old Adam, who, seeing his nakedness, hastened to hide from God? Will I, like him, justify myself by placing the blame on those who seduced me? It is in vain to hide from the All-Seeing One! It is in vain to make excuses before Him, Who always wins, never judges Him(Ps. 50:6).
Instead of fig leaves, I will clothe myself with tears of repentance; Instead of justification, I will bring sincere consciousness. Clothed in repentance and tears, I will appear before the face of my God. But where will I find my God? Is it in heaven? I am expelled from there - and the Cherub standing at the entrance will not let me in! By the very burden of my flesh I am nailed to the ground, my prison!
Sinful descendant of Adam, take heart! A light has shone in your prison: God has descended into the low country of your exile to lead you to your lost Highland Fatherland. You wanted to know good and evil: He leaves you this knowledge. You wanted to do like God, and from this he became like the devil in his soul, and in his body like cattle and beasts. God, uniting you with Himself, makes you a god by grace. He forgives your sins. This is not enough! He removes the root of evil from your soul, the very infection of sin, the poison cast into your soul by the devil, and gives you medicine for the entire path of your earthly life for healing from sin, no matter how many times you become infected with it, due to your weakness. This healing is the confession of sins. Do you want to put off the old Adam, you, who by Holy Baptism has already been clothed in the New Adam, but through your own iniquities managed to revive the oldness in yourself to death, drown out life, make it half-dead? Do you want, enslaved to sin, drawn to it by the violence of habit, to regain your freedom and righteousness? Immerse yourself in humility! Conquer vain shame, which teaches you to hypocritically and craftily pretend to be righteous and thereby keep spiritual death within yourself. Cast out sin, enter into hostility with sin by sincere confession of sin. This healing must precede all others; without it, healing through prayer, tears, fasting and all other means will be insufficient, unsatisfactory, fragile. Go, proud one, to your spiritual father - at his feet find the mercy of the Heavenly Father! Only confession, sincere and frequent, can free one from sinful habits, make repentance fruitful, and correction lasting and true.
In a brief moment of tenderness, in which the eyes of the mind are opened for self-knowledge, which comes so rarely, I wrote this as an accusation to myself, as an admonition, reminder, instruction. And you, who read these lines with faith and love about Christ and, perhaps, will find in them something useful for yourself, bring a heartfelt sigh and prayer for the soul that has suffered much from the waves of sin, which has often seen drowning and destruction before itself, who found rest in one refuge: in the confession of her sins.
Add-ons from various sources
The shortest confession
Sins against the Lord God
Belief in dreams, fortune telling, meetings and other signs. Doubts about faith. Laziness towards prayer and absent-mindedness during it. Due to laziness, not going to church, to confession and Holy Communion. Hypocrisy in Divine Worship. Blasphemy or murmuring against God in the soul and in words. The intention to raise your hands. Taking the name of God in vain. Failure to keep promises to God. Blasphemy of the sacred. Anger with mention of evil spirits. Violation of fasts and fasting days (Wednesdays and Fridays). Work on major church holidays.
Sins against one's neighbor
Lack of zeal for one's position or one's business. Disrespect for superiors or elders in position and age. Disrespect for parents. Neglect of Christian parenting. Failure to fulfill a promise to a person. Non-payment of debts. Taking by force or secret appropriation of someone else's property. Stinginess in alms. Causing offense to one's neighbor. Unnecessary suspicions. Gossip. Slander. Temptation to sin. Curse of neighbors. Failure to protect an innocent person or a just cause to the detriment of them. Hostility and discord in family life. Anger. Murder.
Sins against yourself
Staying in idle or bad thoughts. Wishing evil to one's neighbor. Deceit. Irritability. Obstinacy. Self-love. Envy. Hatred. Hard-heartedness. Memory malice. Vengefulness. Love of money. Passion for pleasure. Foul language. Drunkenness and heavy eating. Fornication. Unnatural sins. Not fixing your life.
Of all these sins against the Ten Commandments of God, some, reaching the highest degree of development in a person, passing into vicious states and hardening his heart with unrepentance, are recognized as especially contrary to God, mortals.
Mortal sins, that is, those that make a person guilty of eternal death, or destruction
1. Pride, despising everyone, demanding servility from others, satanic pride to the point of self-deification.
2. An insatiable soul, or Judas’ greed for money, combined for the most part with unrighteous acquisitions, not allowing a person even a minute to think about spiritual things. Theft.
3. Fornication, or the dissolute life of the prodigal son, who squandered all his father’s estate on such a life.
4. Envy, leading to every possible crime against one’s neighbor.
5. Gluttony or carnal knowledge, not knowing any fasting, combined with a passionate attachment to various amusements, following the example of the Gospel rich man, who had fun all the days.
6. Uncompromising anger and deciding to commit terrible crimes, following the example of Herod, who in his anger beat the Bethlehem babies. Murder.
7. Laziness, or complete carelessness about the soul, carelessness about repentance until the last days of life, such as in the days of Noah.
Sins of Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
Excessive reliance on God's long-suffering or continuation of a gravely sinful life in self-justification. Hypocritical and crafty rejection of repentance.
Despair or a feeling opposite to hope in God in relation to God’s mercy, which denies the Father’s goodness in God and leads to suicide.
Stubborn disbelief in God and the truths of faith, not convinced by any evidence of truth, even the miracles of God, rejecting the obvious truth.
Sins crying out to Heaven for vengeance
Intentional homicide (in particular abortion), and especially the vile sins of parricide, fratricide and regicide.
Sins of Sodom
Unfair oppression of a poor, defenseless person, a defenseless widow and the insults of young orphans.
Withholding from a wretched worker the wages he deserves.
Taking away from a person in his extreme situation the last piece of bread or the last mite, which he obtained with sweat and blood, as well as the violent or secret appropriation from orphans, military personnel and prisoners in prison of alms, food and clothing that were determined by him, and generally oppressing them .
Sadness and resentment for parents, leading to daring beatings.
Confession
I confess that I am a great sinner (name) To the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ and to you, honorable father, all my sins and all my evil deeds, which I have done all the days of my life, which I have thought even to this day.
Sinned: He did not keep the vows of Holy Baptism, but he lied about everything and created indecent things for himself before the Face of God.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: before the Lord with little faith and slowness in thoughts, from the enemy everything against the faith and the Holy Church; ingratitude for all His great and unceasing benefits, calling on the name of God without need - in vain 3
In vain- in vain, without reason, benefit.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: lack of love for the Lord below fear, failure to fulfill His holy will and holy commandments, careless depiction of the sign of the cross, irreverent behavior, disrespect for holy icons; did not wear a cross, was ashamed to be baptized and confess the Lord.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: he did not preserve love for his neighbor, did not feed the hungry and thirsty, did not clothe the naked, did not visit the sick and prisoners in prison; I did not study the law of God and the traditions of the holy fathers out of laziness and negligence.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: church and home rules by non-compliance, going to church without diligence, with laziness and negligence; leaving morning, evening and other prayers; during a church service - he sinned by idle talk, laughter, dozing, inattention to reading and singing, absent-mindedness, leaving the temple during the service and not going to the temple of God due to laziness and negligence.
Forgive me, honest father.
I sinned daring to go to the temple of God in uncleanness and touch all holy things.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: disrespect for the feasts of God; violation of holy fasts and failure to observe fast days - Wednesday and Friday; intemperance in food and drink, polyeating, secret eating, early eating, drunkenness, eating the blood of animals, parasitism 4
Tunedar, illegal; food eating. There is bread for free.
; one’s will and mind through fulfillment, self-righteousness, self-indulgence and self-justification; disrespect for parents, failure to raise children in the Orthodox faith, cursing their children and neighbors.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: disbelief, superstition, doubt, despair, despondency, blasphemy, perjury, dancing, smoking, playing cards, fortune telling, turning to sorcerers and sorcerers for help (psychics, hypnotists, healers, etc.), remembering the living for their repose, reading witchcraft books and conspiracies.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: pride, conceit, arrogance, vanity, ambition, envy, exaltation, suspicion, irritability.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: condemnation of all people - living and dead, slander and anger, malicious malice, hatred, evil for evil retribution, slander, reproach, deceit, laziness, deception, hypocrisy, gossip, gossip, disputes, stubbornness, unwillingness to give in and serve one's neighbor; sinned with gloating, malice, malice, insult, ridicule, reproach and man-pleasing.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: impatience with illnesses and sorrows, attachment to the comforts of this life, captivity of the mind and hardening of the heart, not forcing oneself to do any good deed.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: inattention to the promptings of one’s conscience, laziness in reading the Word of God and negligence in acquiring the Jesus Prayer, covetousness, love of money, unrighteous acquisition, theft, theft, stinginess, attachment to various kinds of things and people.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: condemnation and disobedience of spiritual fathers, grumbling and resentment against them and failure to confess one’s sins to them through oblivion, negligence and false shame.
Forgive me, honest father.
Sinned: unmercifulness, contempt and condemnation of the poor; going to the temple of God without the fear of God, absent-minded prayer, praying, having hostility towards his neighbor, with a cold heart, without attention, without zeal and reverence; deviated into heresy and sectarian teaching.
Here is an introductory fragment of the book.
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Sins to confess to a priest.
Compiled by: Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov).
Sins against God, neighbors and one's own soul
Sins Usually they name not only sinful deeds, i.e. actions, deeds, words, thoughts, feelings that are contrary to the commandments of God, the Christian moral law, but often the causes of sinful deeds are the passions and sinful habits of the human soul, as contrary to God’s plan for man, perverting the perfection of human nature, created in the likeness of God.
Our daily prayers at home remind us of our sins: the evening prayer to the Holy Spirit, the daily confession of sins at the end of the evening prayers, as well as the fourth prayer for holy communion: “For at your terrible and impartial judgment seat is coming...” (placed, however, not in all prayer books), and others.
In most manuals for those preparing for the sacrament of confession, sins are distributed according to the ten commandments of the Law of God and the commandments of the Gospel. An example of a confession built on this principle is contained, for example, in the book “The Experience of Constructing a Confession” by Archimandrite John Krestyankin (ed. Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, 1992). This manual is especially valuable because it represents the living word of the shepherd to our Christian contemporaries. In it you can find sins characteristic of our time.
It should be noted that the Gospel understanding of the commandments of the Law of God, given through the prophet Moses to the ancient people of Israel, is much broader and deeper than the Old Testament. Violation of a commandment is considered a sin not only in deed, but also in thought and desire. However, the last, tenth commandment, as if preparing the Old Testament people for a perfect understanding of the Law, says: “You shall not covet.”
In the appendix to this book we place a fairly complete and detailed listing of sins in the “General Confession”.
Sins against God
The entire multitude of human sins can be conditionally divided into sins against God, against neighbors and against one’s own soul. Here we will point out only a few sins, because not only describing, but simply listing all their multitude is not part of the scope of this book, and it is impossible.
Modern people, for the most part, have forgotten about God, forgotten or did not even know the way to the temple of God, and at best have only heard about prayer. But if we are believers, then weren’t they hiding their faith for the sake of false shame and fear of people? If so, then didn’t the Lord say about us: “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels” (Mark 8:38)?
One of the most serious sins is deliberate swearing at God and faith, blasphemy and murmuring against God. For the last sin, the possessed and a significant number of the insane were subjected to their illness.
Blasphemy. We commit this sin when we mockingly speak about the various beliefs of the Church and its sacred customs, about which we understand nothing; also when we do not stand up for the faith, hearing obviously false and unscrupulous reproaches against it.
False oath; constant and irreverent worship. The latter reveals a person’s lack of fear of God and disdain for the greatness of God.
We sin against God by we don't fulfill our vows to reform or pious vows to undertake some feat or perform a work of charity. For this, the Lord often sends to the sinful soul a feeling of severe despondency or seemingly causeless anger, melancholy or fear - so that, remembering the unfulfilled vow, it would repent and correct its sin.
The fact that do not attend church services. Christians must attend the services of the Holy Church, at least on Sundays and holidays, and if we do not do this, then we sin before God. It is unwise to comfort yourself with the thought that most people do not attend church at all. According to the rules of St. The apostles who were absent from church for three weeks in a row were completely separated from church fellowship.
The fact that We don’t pray every day at home.. Not to mention the fact that this is our duty, we must fulfill this duty as a Christian, a son of the Church, if we do not want to be just a playground of passions: or debauchery, or drunkenness, or covetousness, or despondency - for only with a constant struggle against ourselves and Through the grace given to those who pray, a person can correct his life. And if he does not pray and does not resort to the Church, then his sinful vices will remain with him, no matter how beautiful words he speaks about salvation and cleansing from passions.
We greatly sin before God when We are interested in various mystical and occult teachings, we show interest in heterodox and pagan sects, which especially at the present time have increased unusually. We also err in sympathizing with the belief in the transmigration of souls, which came from the ancient pagan Hindus, theosophy, and astrology.
Also superstition. Not to mention the many superstitions we inherited from our pagan ancestors, we are often carried away by the absurd superstitions of modern educated society: more and more new fictions and fantastic theories, accepted only at the request of fashion.
Sin before God is neglect of one's soul. Forgetting God, together with Him we forget our soul and do not heed it. It is impossible to listen to your soul otherwise than by opening it before God, praying to Him, reverently before Him.
Sins against neighbors
By forgetting God and neglecting our souls, we often cause spiritual harm to our neighbors.
A particularly serious sin is gross insult to parents, constant insults inflicted on them.
The Lord said to Moses: “Whoever curses his father or his mother must be put to death” (Ex. 21:17). And the Savior confirms this death sentence to those who slander parents, precisely as a commandment of God (Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10). The insolence of students towards teachers is similar to this sin.
Insults inflicted on neighbors. By insult we must understand not only that which makes a person angry, but even more that which harms him, and most of all harm to his soul.
We offend our neighbors when we advise them something bad or vicious; when we ridicule their good qualities: chastity or modesty, obedience to parents, conscientiousness in service or in teaching. By doing this, we make ourselves even worse sinners before God than thieves and robbers. But even more criminal are those who seduce the innocent into sin, using efforts, sometimes lengthy, to do so.
When we sow doubts about faith in the hearts of our neighbors, ridicule their piety, discourage them from prayer and church, and sow discord between brothers, spouses, co-workers or comrades. All who act in this way are helpers and servants of the devil, who receives strong power over them, for they themselves have given themselves into obedience to his will.
The same slander on neighbors in conversations with people and in the press, as well as condemnation without confidence that neighbors are really guilty.
Sin against one's neighbor - hatred, gloating instead of compassion. This sin is similar to murder (1 John 3:15).
Grudge, even if it is not expressed in vindictiveness. It counts our prayers as nothing, according to the word of the Lord (Mark 11:24-26), and shows that our heart is filled with all self-love and self-justification.
Sin against neighbors is also disobedience- in the family, at school or at work. Sin in the universe began with disobedience; disobedience is followed by many new evils: laziness, deception, insolence against parents or superiors, seeking sensual pleasures, theft, rejection of the fear of God, robbery and murder, rejection of faith itself.
Evil feelings of disobedience, and especially rancor and gloating, grow in the soul that loves condemn. Together with the habit of unnecessarily condemning people, we develop a delight in the shortcomings of our neighbors, and then a reluctance to recognize something good in them, and from here we are close to both gloating and rancor.
Sins against one's own soul
We also turn out to be unworthy masters of our own soul, which God gave us to make it capable of serving Him and our neighbors. A soul that has submitted to God is always dissatisfied with myself And reproaches himself, except for direct violations of God’s commandments, for their careless fulfillment.
Sin laziness. We try to go to the church where the service ends earlier, we shorten our prayers, we are lazy to visit the sick or prisons, according to the commandment of God, we do not care about charity, mercy and serving our neighbors - in a word, we are lazy to “work for the Lord” (Acts 20:19) selflessly , selflessly. We love to indulge in idle talk when it’s time to work, we love to visit houses where there is nothing useful or pleasing to the soul, just to kill time instead of using it usefully.
Idle talk creates a habit lie, do not care about the truth, but say what is pleasing to the ear. And this is not an unimportant matter: all bad deeds in the world are seasoned with lies and slander. No wonder Satan is called the father of lies.
The habit of lying is born flattery. In human society, this instrument of all kinds of earthly acquisitions has become common.
The opposite sin of flattery is habit of swearing, which is so common now, especially among young people. Abusive words coarse the soul and offend interlocutors. The Lord is especially angry with those who call their neighbors by the names of evil spirits. A Christian who values his salvation will not say such words.
The sin of impatience. It is the cause of a good half of our quarrels and upsets in the family, at work, in society, which occur because we did not try to restrain for a few minutes the feelings of irritation at someone’s carelessness or malfunction, or at the insult caused to us. The feat of patience is also necessary for observing fasts, for violation of which a Christian is excommunicated by councils for two years from holy communion; observing them is the best way to curb passions, acquire virtues and acquire a disposition towards prayer and spiritual reading.
According to patristic teaching, every sin deprives a person of the grace of God, makes him alien to God, and - as a consequence of this alienation - deprives him of spiritual life. You can only be healed from sinful death by bringing a sincere repentance.
Repentance is not just repentance for individual sinful acts, but rejection his former sinful life, built on the principles of pride and self-indulgence, and the choice of life “according to God,” according to the will of God, in doing the commandments of God. True Christian life begins with repentance and everything must be imbued with a repentant mood. No cures for sinful illnesses are ineffective and useless if they are not dissolved by repentance. Every person seeking salvation has only one need to find this difficult and painful path.
“The path of repentance... is sanctified by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, shining from the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the fathers... - writes St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. - On the path of repentance you will not find contentment with yourself. Looking within yourself, you will not find anything that flatters your self-conceit. "Your weeping and your tears will console you, your consolation will be lightness and freedom of conscience. This is the lot and destiny set apart by God for those whom He has chosen to spiritually, truly serve Himself" (from the letter).
But there are sinful illnesses of the soul associated with false views of piety and life in general, which hinder repentance and thereby place a person, essentially, outside the Church, outside the society of those who are being saved. This is the essence of the following.
Unbelief and lack of faith. Unbelief is a conscious persistent rejection of the truths of faith. It is necessary to distinguish real unbelief and doubt from imaginary and apparent, which often comes from suspiciousness. The sin of unbelief or lack of faith is also doubt in the sacraments of the church.
Self-delusion and charm. This is an imaginary closeness to God and, in general, to anything Divine and supernatural. Christians who are zealous for external exploits are sometimes subject to self-delusion. Surpassing their acquaintances in the feats of fasting and prayer, they already imagine themselves as spectators of Divine visions or, at least, blessed dreams; in all cases of their lives they see special, deliberate instructions from God or the Guardian Angel, and then they imagine themselves as special chosen ones of God and often try to predict the future. The Holy Fathers do not arm themselves against anything as ardently as against this particular illness - spiritual delusion. This disastrous disease has especially spread in our time, starting from the end of the last century: the Johannites, Churikovites and similar followers of the newly-minted “prophets” and “Christs”.
Long-term concealment of sin. Such a disastrous state of the human soul is associated with the fear of consciousness in sin and is most often the result of sins that are either very shameful and dirty (unnatural, according to the seventh commandment, such as incest, bestiality, child molestation) or criminal: murder, infanticide, theft, robbery, attempted poisoning, malicious slander out of jealousy or envy, instilling hatred towards loved ones, inciting neighbors against the Church and faith, and the like. Due to false shame or fear, a person who has committed a sin sometimes suffers all his life, considering himself lost to salvation. And he can really destroy his soul if, for example, sudden death deprives him of the opportunity to repent. This sinful illness entails another, no less, evil - lying in confession.
Despair. Often this feeling oppresses a person after irreparable sins, for example: infanticide or destruction of a fetus, causing irreparable harm to someone, misfortune; sometimes because of one’s own sorrows - the death of children, considered God’s punishment for previous sins, complicated circumstances, etc. Despair always has in itself the hidden poison of pride or self-love, as if the beginning of some kind of murmur and reproach to God's providence, an embittered feeling against God or people.
Carelessness and petrified insensibility. This is the opposite of despair. It manifests itself, for example, in the fact that people commit serious sins - such as fornication, hurting their wife and parents, deception, completely removing their lives from the temple of God - and admit it, but with a light heart, they do not realize the destruction of these sins and They don’t think about starting a fight with them.
Self-justification and blaming others. The spirit of self-justification is one of the main enemies of our salvation. Whether we are saved or far from salvation is determined not by the number of our sins, but by the ability to recognize ourselves as guilty and sinful, the degree of contrition for our sins. Also, by the insults inflicted on us by our neighbors, by the injustice towards us, we are by no means justified before God, but are responsible for our own guilt and passions that we have sinned with.
The opposite of self-justification, the willingness to blame oneself and not others for everything is a great virtue that not only elevates a person in the eyes of God, but also attracts the hearts of people to him.
Passions, their sinful deeds and some treatments against them
Repentance consists not only in confessing sinful deeds, but most of all in the desire and desire to free ourselves from the sinful states that captivate us, i.e. passions. It is important to see and confess your sins in deed, word, and thought. But to heal the soul from sinful illnesses, limiting yourself to repentance for individual sinful acts is far from sufficient. Fighting only against sins that are revealed in actions is as unsuccessful as cutting off weeds that appear in the garden, instead of uprooting them and throwing them away.
The doctrine of healing the soul is usually located by the ancient fathers in relation to the main passions, the name and number of which are the same for most teachers of asceticism. Among the holy fathers they are arranged in a certain order, which is not at all random, since there is an internal connection between the passions. “Evil passions and wickedness are not only introduced one through the other, but are also similar to one another,” teaches St. Gregory Palamas. The main passions are the following: gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sadness, despondency, vanity and pride. This scheme does not exhaust all the passions existing in the fallen world. But every passionate movement of the human soul can be reduced to the main vices listed. St. John Cassian even presents a kind of “family tree table” of all the other “most famous” vices (see: Interviews of Egyptian Ascetics. Interview 5. §16).
In this book we place a description of the eight main passions and the virtues opposite to them in their manifestations (deeds), compiled by Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) on the basis of patristic teaching.
The ascetic fathers also give advice regarding the healing of passions - both general and for each passion separately. The first general cure for any passion is to recognize its sinfulness and destructiveness, recognize yourself as suffering from this passion, spiritually sick and in need of healing. The second medicine should be " righteous anger"to passion itself. That is why the Creator put in us the ability to be angry, in order to direct this feeling towards our sins, passions and the devil, and not at all towards our neighbors, nor towards enemies, nor towards those who hate us... By these means passion sometimes weakened, but not completely killed. The fight against passion cannot be easy and short-lived. And the main means in this fight is prayer to the Lord for help in our battle and for healing. Then you need to fight the very manifestations of passion, refrain from its manifestations: sinful thoughts, words, actions and deeds. While fighting against passion, against a sinful disposition, one must certainly take care of the instillation in the soul virtues, the opposite of this passion.
The variety of all possible sinful states and manifestations of the human soul is infinite, so below we will dwell only on the main and most common ones, and speaking about healing them, we by no means have the goal of exhausting all means, but will point out only the main ones, for the variety of human characters, positions and moods. In each specific case, we need to follow the advice of a confessor who knows both our external circumstances and the internal structure of the soul.
Anger
The angry passion in us is revealed by our frequent quarrels with our family and those with whom we constantly come into contact in everyday life. We are usually angry at non-compliance with our orders, at any insufficiently polite word or attitude toward us.
For the most part, anger is not an independent passion in the human heart - it expresses dissatisfaction with another passion or even random desires. Often anger exposes other passions living in a person. Among the vain and money-lovers, anger is expressed in envy, among the dissolute - in jealousy, among those devoted to gluttony - in pickiness, etc.
The passion of anger, which possesses a person for a long time, if he does not bring tearful repentance about it, often turns into hatred- the most disgusting sin in the eyes of God, for he who hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15).
The opposite virtue of anger is freedom from anger and related to it meekness. A great gain is freedom from anger: you will gain many friends with this gift - both in heaven and on earth... The most effective, although bitter at the first dose, medicine against anger and irritability is to ask for forgiveness after a quarrel. It can be bitter, but it is bitter only for the proud. And if it seems so unbearable, then this exposes another serious illness in a person - pride.
Pride and vanity
The sin of pride among modern people, for the most part, is their permanent state and is not considered a sin at all, but is called “self-esteem,” “honor,” etc. Of course, not only our contemporaries suffer from pride: only saints are free from it, and the descendants of Adam who did not crucify their passions bear this burden and must fight until they are freed from its burden.
Pride has two types - vanity and inner, or spiritual, pride. The first passion is chasing human praise and celebrity. The second is a more subtle and more dangerous feeling: it is filled with confidence in its own merits, so that it does not want to seek human praise.
Vainglorious thoughts often appear in reverent and humble-hearted people, even in the midst of their godly deeds. In these cases, you need to continue to do useful work, and for the thoughts of vanity that burst into the soul, reproach yourself and act against them. Not only the Lord, but also intelligent observers of life always see who works for business and who out of vanity. We must always check our conscience to see if the impulse of vanity was involved in our affairs, and then repent of this sin, but not give up.
Spiritual pride manifests itself in exalting oneself over others. When fighting this passion, you need to remind yourself of your many sins and passions at every manifestation of it. It is especially important to force yourself to ask for forgiveness and endure punishment without complaint.
Prodigal passion
It can be difficult even for ascetics who have selflessly surrendered to God to get rid of this passion. Sensual temptations continue to chase them even into the monastery and the desert. Marriage also does not completely free you from this passion...
Sins arising from fornication are called sins against chastity. These sins are prohibited by the seventh commandment of the Law of God, therefore they are often also called “sins against the seventh commandment.” These are: adultery (adultery), fornication (cohabitation outside of marriage), incest (carnal relations between close relatives), unnatural sins, secret carnal sins. The degree of their severity can be judged by the fact that in the missals there are not so many questions and penances for any sin as for the sin of unchastity.
The sins of unchastity, which destroy the souls of those who indulge in them, are punished by God with terrible illnesses and entail many other troubles: the ruin of families, suicide, infanticide, the destruction of the fetus, which, according to the rules of the Ecumenical Councils, is charged equally with infanticide. The latter crime has now become fashionable, and most do not understand the gravity of this sin, but this in no way diminishes the guilt of its perpetrators.
To get rid of these sins, the pastors of the Church strongly advise, first of all, to definitely resort to confession. Many are ashamed to confess these sins, but until a Christian (or Christian woman) confesses his fall, he will return to it again and again and gradually fall into complete despair, or, conversely, shamelessness and godlessness.
To cleanse the soul, clogged with nasty sensual passion, one should move away from everything that leads to sin, from allies in sin, from society where it is common and considered “normal.” Next, you must fill your life with useful work, physical or mental, surround yourself with acquaintances or friendships with good people; the most important thing is to become closer to our Heavenly Father and resort to Him in prayer.
Drunkenness
The vice of drunkenness, like unchastity, comes from unbelief, being its direct consequence. This is one of the most disastrous spiritual diseases for our Orthodox people. Drunkenness is the sister of debauchery and all crimes in general.
The holy fathers associate this sinful passion with gluttony, but it also has other roots. Usually, those who indulge in drunkenness are either filled with lustful passion, which they cannot indulge in when sober, or, even more often, they are obsessed with unsatisfied ambition or embitterment at their failed life, or they are tormented by malice and envy. These passions aggravate the painful state of the soul, and a person often falls into the shameful captivity of binges, unable to resist them, even if he has already hated his vice and asks God and people to teach him to get rid of it.
Healing from this passion sometimes seems hopeless. But nothing is impossible with God. To heal this passion, the feat of a long and difficult journey and humiliated prayer before his Heavenly Father is necessary, leaving Whom through self-will and disobedience, a person fell into grave troubles, like the prodigal son in the Gospel parable. From youth, you need to keep yourself away from wine and lead a sober, abstinent life.
Dejection
This is the loss of that spiritual cheerfulness about God, which is nourished by the hope of His merciful providence for us. For people who care about their salvation, this passion takes away the love of prayer, a melancholy mood penetrates the soul, becoming permanent over time, and a feeling of loneliness, abandonment by relatives, by all people in general, and even by God comes. Among the laity, this mental illness is sometimes expressed in anger, irritability, and often in binge drinking.
Dejection is often a consequence of a forgotten fall or a hidden, unnoticeable passion: envy, prodigal passion, ambition, love of money, desire for revenge on the offender. Dejection can also be caused by overwork or oppressive worries. Often despondency comes from the excessive and arbitrary exploits of those who are especially zealous for the exploits of Christians.
A Christian who has become impoverished in prayer and given over to despondency must, first of all, try to find the cause of the passion that oppresses him, the sinful desire that was its cause, and enter into a struggle with it. And even before he is struck by this sinful desire, the spirit of prayer, even a purely ardent one, will return to him for the sheer determination to overcome the evil within himself.
There is despondency as a result of surging external troubles and sorrows that are beyond our control - from disbelief in God’s providence, disobedience to it, ungodly anger, grumbling. We must fear such a state and ask God for forgiveness and help, and then the spirit of despondency will leave us, and in sorrow the consolation of God will certainly come and be accepted by the soul, surpassing all earthly consolations.
Envy
This is one of the most terrible evils that plague the human race. “Through the envy of the devil, death entered the world” (Wisdom 2:24). Envy is usually combined with an even more disgusting feeling - schadenfreude- and is connected with some other passion: vanity, or greed, or ambition. It is directed against another person - one’s rival - in aspirations corresponding to these passions.
To overcome envy, one must resist not only envy itself, but, first of all, those selfish fundamental passions of one’s soul from which it is born. If you suppress your ambition, you will not envy a comrade or colleague who has succeeded more than you; if you are not a lover of money, you will not envy your neighbor who has become rich, etc.
The source of all human passions in general is in selfishness. Envy most closely stems from the selfish desire for wealth and fame. But all this is very sinful: one should wish for oneself only salvation in heaven, and on earth - patience and a clear conscience.
The passion of envy allowed into the soul, even if it has itself become the subject of holy anger and struggle against it, still often awakens in the form annoying, unfriendly feeling and even influences a person’s thought, forcing him to interpret in an unkind way all the actions and words of his ill-wisher or that neighbor whom he envies. Such untruth, dishonesty of thought is a shameful phenomenon, and every Christian must stop himself from any desire or inner urge to speak biasedly about his neighbor out of envy or malice, and not out of truth. This will also be the struggle against the passion of envy, which is fueled by malicious antics against an opponent. Without receiving such food, passion itself gradually fades away.
Love of money
The disturbances of anger, selfishness (pride) and fornication, even if they often distract a person from God, then burst into a person’s soul like blind impulses, like attacking enemies against his will; love of money and stinginess have the property of a calm mood of the soul and direction of the will. Moreover, lovers of money transgress against the True God in that have other gods. Meanwhile, enrichment, as the guiding goal of all life, turns out to be the lot of many people who love the Church and live abstinently and soberly.
The passion of love of money leads to many sins. A person addicted to wealth certainly rejects those in need, does not help relatives, does not support the Church, plunges his fellow traders into need, and is heartless and cruel. The love of money entails deception, covetousness, unmercifulness towards neighbors and a whole host of sins against the second, eighth and tenth commandments of the Law of God. The sin of theft and robbery is especially grave in relation to church property.
The cure for this passion is abstinence from the sinful acts it produces, rejection of the false fear of ruin, poverty, unsecured old age, etc. Thus, a merchant or owner, if it is impossible to maintain his well-being without deceit or causing harm to a rival, let him condemn himself to loss and even ruin, but not deviate from the requirement of honesty... In addition, this passion is cured by alms and charity.
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About virtues
1. Abstinence
Abstinence from excessive consumption of food and drink, especially from excessive consumption of wine. Keeping fasts established by the Church. Curbing the flesh by moderate consumption of monotonous food, from which all passions in general begin to weaken, and especially selfishness, which consists of pleasing the flesh.
2. Chastity
Avoidance of all kinds of fornication. Avoidance of voluptuous conversations, reading depraved books and looking at shameful images, and uttering voluptuous, nasty and ambiguous words. Storing the senses, especially sight and hearing, and even more so the sense of touch. Modesty. Rejection of the thoughts and dreams of prodigals. Silence. Silence. Ministry to the sick and disabled. Memories of death and hell. The beginning of chastity is a mind that does not waver from lustful thoughts and dreams; the perfection of chastity is purity that sees God.
3. Non-covetousness
Limiting yourself to the essentials in life. Hatred of luxury and bliss. Mercy for the poor. Loving the poverty of the Gospel. Trust in the Providence of God, that everything necessary for life will be provided by God. Calmness, freedom of spirit and carelessness.
4. Meekness
Avoidance of angry thoughts and indignation of the heart with rage. Patience. Following Christ, calling His disciple to the Cross. Peace of the heart. Silence of the mind. Christian firmness and courage. Not feeling insulted. Kindness.
5. Blessed cry
A feeling of decline, common to all people, and of one’s own spiritual poverty. Lamentation about them. Cry of the mind. Painful contrition of the heart. The lightness of conscience, grace-filled consolation and joy that vegetates from them. Hope in God's mercy. Thanking God in sorrows, humbly enduring them from the sight of the multitude of one’s sins. Willingness to endure. Cleansing the mind. Relief from passions. Mortification of the world. The desire for prayer, solitude, obedience, humility, confession of one’s sins.
6. Sobriety
Zeal for every good deed. Non-slothful correction of church and home rules. Attention when praying. Careful observation of all your deeds, words, thoughts and feelings. Distrust of one's own mind. Submitting your opinions to the judgment of your spiritual father. Constantly remain in prayer and meditation on the Holy Scriptures. Awe. Keeping yourself from a lot of sleep and effeminacy, idle talk, jokes and sharp words. Love of night vigils, bows and other feats that bring cheerfulness to the soul. Remembrance of eternal blessings, desire and expectation of them.
7. Humility
Fear of God. Feeling it during prayer. Extreme humility, seeing oneself as unworthy, guilty of righteous condemnation for sins. Losing all hope in everything and everyone except God. Deep knowledge of yourself. A change in the view of one’s neighbors, and they, without any coercion, seem to the humbled person to be superior to him in all respects. The manifestation of wise simplicity from living faith. Hatred of human praise. Constant blaming and beating yourself up. Truthfulness and directness. Impartiality. Deadness to everything that moves away from God. Tenderness. Knowledge of the saving Mystery hidden in the Cross of Christ. The desire to crucify oneself to the world and passions, the desire for this crucifixion. Rejection and oblivion of false customs and words, deceit and hypocrisy. Perception of evangelical humility. Rejection of earthly wisdom as obscene before God. Contempt for everything that is high in people, that's an abomination to God(see: Luke 16, 15). Leaving word justification. Silence before those who offend. Putting aside all your own speculations and accepting the mind of the Gospel.
The overthrow of every ungodly thought. Humility, or spiritual reasoning. Conscious and complete obedience to the Holy Orthodox Church in everything.
8. Love
Achieving the love of God during prayer, accompanied by the fear of God. Loyalty to the Lord, proven by the constant rejection of every sinful thought and feeling. The indescribable, sweet attraction of the whole person with love for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the worshiped Holy Trinity. Seeing the image of God and Christ in others; resulting from this spiritual vision, the preference for oneself over all neighbors, their reverent veneration for the Lord. Love for neighbors is brotherly, pure, equal to everyone, impartial, joyful, flaming equally towards friends and enemies.
Admiration for prayer and love of the mind, heart and whole body. Unspeakable spiritual joy. Spiritual intoxication. Deep peace of heart, soul and body. Inactivity of the bodily senses during prayer. Resolution from the muteness of the heart's tongue. Stopping prayer from spiritual sweetness. Silence of the mind. Enlightening the mind and heart. Prayer power that overcomes sin. Peace of Christ. Retreat of all passions. The absorption of all understandings into the all-surpassing mind of Christ. Theology. Cognition in everything of the all-perfect Providence of the Divine. Sweetness and abundant consolation in times of sorrow. Vision of human structures. The depth of humility and the most humiliating opinion of oneself...
The end is endless!
Eight major passions with their divisions and industries
1. Fullness of the belly
Binge eating, drunkenness, non-keeping and unauthorized breaking of fasts, secret eating, delicacy, and generally violation of abstinence. Incorrect and excessive love of the flesh, its contentment and peace, which constitutes self-love, which leads to failure to maintain fidelity to God, the Church, virtue and people.
2. Fornication
Prodigal kindling, prodigal sensations and desires of the body, soul and heart. Acceptance of unclean thoughts, conversation with them, delight in them, permission for them, slowness in them. Prodigal dreams and captivities. Desecration by suit. Failure to preserve the senses, especially the sense of touch, is the insolence that destroys all virtues. Foul language and reading voluptuous books. Natural prodigal sins: fornication and adultery. Fornication sins are unnatural: malakia (fornication), sodomy (man with man), lesbianism (woman with woman), bestiality and the like.
3. Love of money
The love of money, in general the love of property, movable and immovable. The desire to get rich. Thinking about the means to get rich. Dreaming of wealth. Fear of old age, unexpected poverty, illness, exile. Stinginess. Selfishness. Disbelief in God, lack of trust in His Providence. Addictions or painful excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain concerns. Desire to receive gifts. Appropriation of someone else's. Likhva. Cruelty towards the poor brethren and all those in need. Theft. Robbery.
4. Anger
Hot temper, adoption of angry thoughts; dreaming in thoughts of anger and revenge, indignation of the heart with rage, darkening of the mind by it; obscene shouting, arguing, swearing, cruel and cutting words, hitting, pushing, killing. Malice, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and insult to one’s neighbor.
5. Sadness
Sadness, melancholy, cutting off hope in God, doubt in God’s promises, ingratitude to God for everything that happens, cowardice, impatience, lack of self-reproach, sorrow for one’s neighbor, grumbling, renunciation of the labors of the difficult Christian life, an attempt to leave this field. Avoidance of the burden of the cross - the struggle with passions and sin.
6. Dejection
Laziness towards any good deed, especially prayer. Abandonment of church and prayer rules. Loss of memory of God. Abandoning unceasing prayer and soul-helping reading. Inattention and haste in prayer. Neglect. Irreverence. Idleness. Excessive calming of the flesh by sleep, lying down and all kinds of restlessness. Seeking an easy salvation. Moving from place to place in order to avoid hardships and hardships. Frequent walks and visits with friends. Celebration. Blasphemous statements. Abandonment of bows and other physical feats. Forgetting your sins. Forgetting the commandments of Christ. Negligence. Captivity. Deprivation of the fear of God. Bitterness. Insensibility. Despair.
7. Vanity
The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly and vain honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and luxurious things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of your body. Engaging in the sciences and arts of this age for the sake of temporary, earthly glory. It is a false shame to confess your sins to your confessor. Craftiness. Self-justification. Disclaimer. Following your mind. Hypocrisy. Lie. Flattery. People-pleasing. Envy. Humiliation of one's neighbor. Changeability of character. Indulgence of passions, dishonesty. Similarity in morals and life to demons.
8. Pride
Contempt for one's neighbor. Preferring yourself to everyone. Insolence. Darkness, dullness of the mind and heart. Nailing them to the earthly. Hula. Disbelief. False mind. Disobedience to the Law of God and the Church. Following your carnal will. Reading heretical and vain books. Disobedience to authorities. Caustic ridicule. Abandonment of Christ-like humility and silence. Loss of simplicity. Loss of love for God and neighbor. False philosophy. Heresy. Godlessness. Death of the soul.
Such are the ailments, such are the ulcers that constitute the great ulcer, the decay of the old Adam, which was formed from his fall. The holy prophet Isaiah speaks about this great plague: From the feet even to the head there is no integrity in it: neither a scab, nor an ulcer, nor a scorching wound: there is no plaster to apply, lower than oil, lower than duty(Isa. 1:6). This means, according to the explanation of the holy fathers, that the ulcer - sin - is not private, not on just one member, but on the entire being: it has embraced the body and soul, taken possession of all the properties, all the powers of a person. God called this great plague death when, forbidding Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he said: ...If you take away a day from it, you will die(Genesis 2:17). Immediately after eating the fruit of the forbidden, the forefathers felt eternal death: a carnal sensation appeared in their eyes - they saw that they were naked. The knowledge of the nakedness of the body reflected the nakedness of the soul, which had lost the beauty of innocence on which the Holy Spirit rested. There is a carnal sensation in the eyes, and in the soul there is shame, in which is the accumulation of all sinful and shameful sensations: pride, impurity, sadness, despondency, and despair! The Great Plague is spiritual death; the decay that occurred after the loss of the Divine likeness is incorrigible! The Apostle calls the great plague the law of sin, the body of death(Rom. 7:23, 24), because the mortified mind and heart have completely turned to the earth, slavishly serve the corruptible desires of the flesh, they have become darkened, burdened, and themselves become flesh. This flesh is no longer capable of communicating with God! (See: Gen. 6, 3). This flesh is incapable of inheriting eternal, Heavenly bliss! (See: 1 Cor. 15:50). The great plague spread over the entire human race and became the unfortunate property of every person.
Considering my great ulcer, looking at my mortification, I am filled with bitter sadness! I'm perplexed, what should I do? Will I follow the example of the old Adam, who, seeing his nakedness, hastened to hide from God? Will I, like him, justify myself by placing the blame on those who seduced me? It is in vain to hide from the All-Seeing One! It is in vain to make excuses before Him, Who always wins, never judges Him(Ps. 50:6).
Instead of fig leaves, I will clothe myself with tears of repentance; Instead of justification, I will bring sincere consciousness. Clothed in repentance and tears, I will appear before the face of my God. But where will I find my God? Is it in heaven? I am expelled from there - and the Cherub standing at the entrance will not let me in! By the very burden of my flesh I am nailed to the ground, my prison!
Sinful descendant of Adam, take heart! A light has shone in your prison: God has descended into the low country of your exile to lead you to your lost Highland Fatherland. You wanted to know good and evil: He leaves you this knowledge. You wanted to do like God, and from this he became like the devil in his soul, and in his body like cattle and beasts. God, uniting you with Himself, makes you a god by grace. He forgives your sins. This is not enough! He removes the root of evil from your soul, the very infection of sin, the poison cast into your soul by the devil, and gives you medicine for the entire path of your earthly life for healing from sin, no matter how many times you become infected with it, due to your weakness. This healing is the confession of sins. Do you want to put off the old Adam, you, who by Holy Baptism has already been clothed in the New Adam, but through your own iniquities managed to revive the oldness in yourself to death, drown out life, make it half-dead? Do you want, enslaved to sin, drawn to it by the violence of habit, to regain your freedom and righteousness? Immerse yourself in humility! Conquer vain shame, which teaches you to hypocritically and craftily pretend to be righteous and thereby keep spiritual death within yourself. Cast out sin, enter into hostility with sin by sincere confession of sin. This healing must precede all others; without it, healing through prayer, tears, fasting and all other means will be insufficient, unsatisfactory, fragile. Go, proud one, to your spiritual father - at his feet find the mercy of the Heavenly Father! Only confession, sincere and frequent, can free one from sinful habits, make repentance fruitful, and correction lasting and true.
In a brief moment of tenderness, in which the eyes of the mind are opened for self-knowledge, which comes so rarely, I wrote this as an accusation to myself, as an admonition, reminder, instruction. And you, who read these lines with faith and love about Christ and, perhaps, will find in them something useful for yourself, bring a heartfelt sigh and prayer for the soul that has suffered much from the waves of sin, which has often seen drowning and destruction before itself, who found rest in one refuge: in the confession of her sins.
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The shortest confession
Sins against the Lord God
Belief in dreams, fortune telling, meetings and other signs. Doubts about faith. Laziness towards prayer and absent-mindedness during it. Due to laziness, not going to church, to confession and Holy Communion. Hypocrisy in Divine Worship. Blasphemy or murmuring against God in the soul and in words. The intention to raise your hands. Taking the name of God in vain. Failure to keep promises to God. Blasphemy of the sacred. Anger with mention of evil spirits. Violation of fasts and fasting days (Wednesdays and Fridays). Work on major church holidays.
- A person who comes to confession for the first time often does not know what to tell the priest. Especially if there are no serious mortal sins on his conscience and his behavior corresponds to the norms of modern society. How can you prepare for your first confession?When a person comes to confession for the first time, he, as a rule, has little idea of what sin is, what passions are, what possesses it? He says: “I didn’t kill anyone, I didn’t rob, I live like everyone else.” And when you explain to a person that you can kill with just a word, that idleness and idle talk are also serious sins, he is sincerely surprised.
But despite this, he feels that something is wrong in his life, and his heart requires correction and cleansing. And sometimes a person coming to confession acutely feels pain for the sin he committed, longing for the Kingdom of Heaven. This cannot but please the priest. However, such a person cannot accurately explain what is sinful in his life. And therefore the priest has to explain the very basics.
You need to start preparing for confession with prayer. When a person turns to God and asks Him: “Lord, help me see what I am guilty of before You,” he will be heard. The Lord will give a person such a state of heart, “a contrite spirit,” in which he will be able to see his sins, his passions.
To repent, a person needs certain guidelines. First of all, this is Holy Scripture, namely, the New Testament, in which we are given the commandments of Christ, His image, which we must imitate. A person, discovering Gospel images for himself, compares the state of his soul with them and can clearly see the sin and untruth of his life. To better understand the Gospel, which is sometimes really difficult for modern people to perceive, you need to use interpretations of the Holy Scriptures, which are available to everyone today.
Many people consider the commandments of Christianity to be impossible to fulfill in principle or perceive them as a set of external prohibitions. But it's not right. The commandments can help a person see his spiritual illness and diagnose himself. As the Apostle Paul writes: For when we lived according to the flesh, then the passions of sin, revealed by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit in death... What shall we say? Is it really sin from the law? No way. But I knew sin no other way than through the law. For I would not understand wishes if the law did not say: do not wish(Rom. 7, 5,7).
It is this discrepancy, these obvious illnesses of one’s soul that one needs to talk about at the first confession.
- How do you feel about various collections to help penitents? How to choose the right literature?
Indeed, today a lot of literature is published on confession. These books talk about what passion is, sin, what sins exist, how passions manifest themselves and how to fight them. When a person is preparing for his first confession, he may well use these books to better understand the essence and types of sin. As a rule, for a modern person, the real discovery is that there are actually much more sins than is commonly thought.
Among the various collections, we can recommend the famous book by Archimandrite John Krestyankin, “The Experience of Constructing a Confession.” In it, Father John, using the example of the Ten Commandments of the Law of God and the Nine Beatitudes, reveals what sin is, what sins exist, what virtues can be opposed to them. You can also read the book of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov “To help the repentant”, in which the eight main passions and eight opposing virtues are examined in detail.
For young people just starting church life, I would recommend the wonderful book by Archimandrite Lazar (Abashidze) “Sin and Repentance of the Last Times.” It was first published more than ten years ago and has been reprinted many times since then. The author examines passions and their manifestations in detail.
Why can this book be recommended to a young person? It examines in great detail how rock music, oriental cults, and modern magic influence the soul. Indeed, for many people, the beginning of church life is often associated with the renunciation of many habits, which, at first glance, may not seem sinful. It is understandable when you have to give up excessive drinking, fights, and prodigal falls. But what's wrong with rock music or philosophical teaching? Father Lazar answers this question in detail.
Good articles that can help a person prepare for confession can be found in the collection “I Confess Sin, Father.” Various pre-revolutionary publications are now being republished, which contain an analysis of the general confession and also list the main sins and passions.
However, it should be noted that if a person gets used to making a confession only according to these reference books, he may go down the wrong path, his spiritual life will not be entirely correct. He will see in confession an opportunity not to repent, but rather to report to God. Unfortunately, many people go to this extreme.
Can these collections even help people who constantly confess? Or is it better to try to prepare for confession on your own?
At the first stage of churching, such books certainly help a person. Further, a person, improving in church life, growing spiritually, must himself learn to distinguish sin from virtue, to be attentive and sober to his inner life.
And the most important book that helps prepare for confession at any stage of church life is the Gospel. Therefore, Gospel reading is often included in the daily prayer rule, so that, according to St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, the mind and heart are saturated with the Gospel. You can also prepare for confession by reading the books of the holy fathers: St. Abba Dorotheos, Cassian the Roman, St. Theophan the Recluse and many others. For people interested in literature, we can recommend “Confession” by the blessed. Augustine. Books help us see the true state of our soul. For example, in the “Ladder” of St. John the Climacus, a most detailed analysis of the passions is given, the most subtle sinful movements of the human soul are analyzed. All passions, as in an exhibition, are revealed to the reader of this wonderful book. Do not think that it is addressed only to monks. Any layman, after reading the book, will be able to benefit from it for the soul.
But, unfortunately, many people, having become accustomed at the first stage of their church life to using collections with a simple listing of sins, begin to take a formal approach to confession. Copying sins from a book, a person does not see passions in himself and cannot evaluate his actions. His confession boils down to an endless list of sins, killing the real feeling of repentance.
Confession must be alive. The person should be hurt for what he did. At the same time, there is no need to talk about what the conscience does not really convict of, just in case, in order to avoid condemnation at the Last Judgment. You need to educate yourself, listen to the voice of conscience. Only with such an attitude will a person grow spiritually and experience the benefits of constant confession.
In addition, the priest always sees what is behind the words of the confessor. And when a modern person turns to the priest with words copied from a collection of the 19th century: “I confess to you, honest father, all my sins in deed, word, thought, I repent of all of them...” - it sounds more than strange. And if a newcomer in this case can be easily understood, then a permanent parishioner is more difficult.
Unfortunately, many perceive God only as a punishing judge or government prosecutor. Hence the desire to use collections to help penitents, like a set of legal laws, so as not to miss any error. But God, first of all, is a Merciful Father, looking for a reason to justify, and not condemn a person. We must feel dependent on Him, have a personal, heartfelt feeling for Him.
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Repentance, like any other virtue, develops if a person lives an attentive life, prays, and constantly watches his heart. A person, growing in virtue, must also improve in confession. In the evening rule there is a prayer “Confession of daily sins,” which lists the sins that a person could, in principle, commit during the day. This is a hint, when reading which we must mentally remember what we sinned during the day and bring repentance.
It should be remembered that confession is made, first of all, before God. And when we have done something sinful, we must sincerely ask Him for forgiveness, and then say about it at the next confession.
It is very important that a person in his growth, in his spiritual movement, turns to good confessors. These good confessors are the saints of our Church. If a person reads the patristic books, he will see an image of true repentance, an image of real Christian life. And he will strive to imitate them to the best of his ability. And even if his life is not free from falls and mistakes, the image of the saints will set a certain spiritual bar for him. Such a striving for the ideal will certainly contribute to spiritual growth. But we must not forget about confession with modern priests, and try to confess with one priest.
When a person goes to church for many years, there is a chance that he will get used to confession. You need to be prepared for such a temptation and accept it as a temporary difficulty. And at this time, much depends on the mood, jealousy, spiritual search of a person, his desire to follow Christ. In general, the most important thing in spiritual life is sincerity in turning to God.
If a person, preparing for Communion, confessed during the evening service, and after the service fell into sin, in what case should he confess again in the morning?
Nowadays, it is a common practice to make confession either during the Liturgy or during the evening service. In my opinion, it is better to confess in the evening. Liturgy is a fairly short service that requires special attention. A priest cannot pay much attention to all those confessing in an hour and a half. In the evening, a longer service is held, during which you can slowly confess.
It should be remembered that preparation for Communion presupposes an attentive, collected attitude towards life. And if someone preparing for the Sacrament falls into some grave sin, of course, he needs to confess again and at the same time think about his attitude towards Communion. But if some minor mistake occurs or a sinful thought comes to mind, it is not necessary to go to confession again immediately after that. You need to have trust in God and humility before Him. Yes, and you need to feel sorry for the priest - there are many confessors, but he is alone.
There is no need to perceive confession as an action performed by a person on a person, which frees him from sin. It is not confession, but God frees a person from sin, seeing his sincere repentance. Many saints could not confess at all. For example, Rev. Mary of Egypt did not see people at all for many years and therefore could not begin the Sacrament of Confession. But the Lord, seeing the ascetic’s sincere repentance, healed her of her passions. We also need to rely less on ourselves, on our righteousness, and trust more in God. And the Lord will not put our hope to shame.
Interviewed by Marina Shmeleva