Our venerable and God-bearing father Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022) is one of three saints of the Orthodox church to have been given the title of Theologian (the others are St. John the Apostle and St. Gregory Nazianzen). Born in Galatia and educated at Constantinople, he became abbot of the monastery of St. Mamas.

His feast day is celebrated on March 12, the date of his repose.

1. You have asked our worthlessness to tell you, father and brother,

“if it is proper to confess our sins to monks who do not have holy orders”,

adding this also,

“because we have heard that the power to bind or loose was given only to the priests”.

These then are the words and soulbenefitting inquiries of your Godloving soul and its burning desire and fear. We acknowledged your good disposition since you seek to learn about divine and sacred things, but we wished to be silent because we are not of the loftiness of some who are able to distinguish among such matters and write about them. For the work of “interpreting spiritual things to spiritual people” (lCor.2:13) belongs to those who are free of passions and are holy men, from whom we are very far as regards our life and words and virtues.

2. However, it is written,

“The Lord is near to those who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth” (Ps.144:18).

And because I, the unworthy one, have called upon Him in truth, I shall tell you the following things, not in my worth but in those of the divinely inspired Scripture. So rather than teach, I will simply bring to you the witness of the Scripture, reading the things you have inquired of me. Because, through the grace of God, I must guard myself, as well as those who hear me, from both precipices, that is, from the precipice of burying the talent (Mt.25:18,24), and from the precipice of teaching the divine doctrines unworthily in vainglory, or rather, in darkness.

Therefore, where should we begin our commentary if not from the beginningless cause of all things? For this is best in order to be certain about the things that will be said, because we were neither created by the angels nor taught by men but by the wisdom from above, that is mystically, by the trace of the Holy Spirit. And because we are always being taught, in every hour, and we have invoked that grace, now we shall speak first of the manner of confession and later of its power.

3. Confession is nothing other than the admission of our debts and, therefore, a deep awareness of our falls, that is, a decrial of our poverty and foolishness. The Lord spoke in parables in the Gospels about

“… two debtors: the one owed five-hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay [the creditor], he forgave them both” (Lk. 7:41,42).

So each one of the faithful is a debtor before his Master and God. For whatever each received from Him, the same shall be asked of him at the fearful and dread judgment seat, when we, both the poor and kings, shall all stand before it naked and exposed. Listen now to what it is that we have received from Him. There are many other things, of course, and no man is capable of enumerating them. But for the present time the best and most complete are deliverance from condemnation, sanctification from defilement, advancement from darkness to His ineffable light, the possibility of becoming His children and sons and inheritors through divine baptism and to be clothed with God Himself, and to become His members and to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us, which is a royal seal that the Lord uses for marking His own sheep. But what am I describing as “many” things? It is simply this: that He makes us like Himself and crafts us into His brethren and co-inheritors. To those who are being baptized, all these things are given directly by baptism, which are called by the divine Apostle

“divine riches and inheritance” (Col.1:12; Eph.3:8; 2Cor.4:7).

4.The commandments of the Master were given as guardians of these ineffable graces and gifts and they encirde the believer all about like a wall, creating a safe haven for the treasure hidden in his soul. And they sustain it and make it inaccessible to all enemies and thieves. However, we think that it is we ourselves who labour under the burden of keeping the commandments of a man-loving God; but we are unaware of the fact that it is we, rather, who are guarded by them. For he who keeps the commandments of God does not sustain and guard them but guards himself from visible and invisible enemies, the innumerable entities which the Apostle Paul spoke of:

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spirits of wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12),

in other words, which are found in the air and are always invisibly arrayed against us.

Therefore, he who keeps the commandments is himself protected by them and cannot lose the riches which God has entrusted in him. But he who disdains the commandments stands exposed before the enemies and is easily defeated by them. And having lost all these riches, he is in debt to the King and Master for all the things we spoke of which are impossible for man to pay back or even to find. For these are heavenly and He came from heaven. And He comes every day and brings them and distributes them to the faithful. Where could those who had once received them but also lost them possibly find them again? Truly nowhere.

Just as neither Adam, nor any of his sons, was able to restore himself or remake his relatives, it would have been impossible had not God, Who is above all being, become Adam’s son according to the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, and come and raised up both him and us from our fall by His divine power. Let him, who with regard to the commandments, only chooses to keep some of them and to forsake some of them, be aware that if he neglects to keep even one of the commandments, he will lose all of the riches. Imagine that the commandments are twelve armed men encircling you all around, and you are standing naked in the middle of them and they are guarding you. Imagine also other warriors who are your opponents and they come and surround you seeking to seiz and kill you immediately.

Therefore, if one of the twelve falls away by your own choice and neglects to protect you and gives up his post like an open gate to the enemy, of what benefit are then the remaining eleven men if even one of the enemies is able to enter into the centre and mercilessly cut you to pieces while the other eleven cannot turn around to help you? For even if they chose to turn around to help you they too will be slain by the enemy.

So the same thing will happen to you if you do not keep the commandments. Because if you should fall from a single blow of your enemy, all of the commandments leave you and, little by little, your strength is drained from you. Or to put it another way, a vessel filled with wine or oil does not need to be punctured all around to lose all its contents. A single hole opened up in one place is sufficient for all that was within to be slowly lost. Likewise, if you neglect just one commandment, you will slowly fall away from all the others, as Christ said:

“For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him who hath not shall be taken away that which he hath” (Mt.25:29).

And again,

“Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments,” and by his transgression, “teach men to do so shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt.5:19).

And Paul said,

“For of whom a man overcome, to the same is he in bondage” [This passage belongs to 2Pet.2:19].

And again,

“The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor.15:56).

Nowhere did not say this or that sin, but every sin is the sting of death. And he calls sin the sting of death because whosoever is stung by it dies. For every sin is unto death because even if someone sinned but once, Paul says he has already died, being under indictment for debt and sin and left lying on the road by the thieves.

5. What, then, does a dead man long for but to be raised up? And what does one who is unable to pay his debt long for but to receive the remission of his debt and avoid being thrown in prison until it can be repaid, something which he can never do since he has nothing with which to pay his debt, and thus will never come out of eternal prison, that is, the eternal darkness? Therefore, he who has been wounded by the spiritual thieves asks for a compatible and compassionate physician to come to him. For he does not have within him fear of God that is fervent enough that he would be able to go to a physician since his soul is faint from neglect, and he lies there a terrible and wretched sight to those who are able to see well, that is, who spiritually see the falls of the soul. So through sin one becomes a servant of the devil:

“Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves as servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness” (Rm.6:16),

and he is a mockery of the Father and God, and is trampled upon by the enemies who apostatized from God.

Such a one has become naked of the royal purple and has been left blackened. Instead of a child of God, he became a child of the devil. What can he do in order to acquire again the things he fell away from? What else other than to ask for a mediator and a friend of God who has the power to restore him to his previous condition and reconcile him to God his Father? For he who was joined to Christ by grace and became His member and was adopted by Him, and like the dog that

“turned to his own vomit again” (2Pet.2:22)

and joined himself to a harlot or to some other body, is condemned the same as the unbelievers since he has dishonoured and blasphemed Christ Himself. Because according to the divine Apostle

“we are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1Cor. 12:27).

Therefore, he who joins himself to a harlot makes the members of Christ members of fornication (1Cor.6:15). So one who has done such a thing and angered his Master and God cannot be reconciled to God except by the mediation of a man who is holy and a friend and servant of Christ, and by abstaining from evil.

6. For this reason we must first depart from sin. However, if it happens that we are pierced by the dart of sin, let us not delay and allow its poison to entice us as honey. And neither ought we to repeat the same thing like a bear that has been enticed, and make the wound even greater. But rather we ought to run directly to a spiritual physician, purging ourselves of the poison of sin by confession and spitting out the poison.

And swiftly we ought to receive as antidotes the epitimia [corrections] given by him for our repentance and do them always in fervent faith and struggle in the fear of God. For all who emptied out the entire riches that were entrusted to them and spent their paternal estate on harlots and publicans, and whose conscience now is so burdened by shame that they cannot look upward and are without courage before God, naturally seek after a man of God who can receive their debt. And then through him they can approach God, which is something I know is impossible to do without sincere repentance and ongoing toils if one wishes to restore his relationship with God. But it has never been heard of or written in the divinely inspired Scriptures that one can take upon himself the sins of another and defend him if the sinner does not first undertake the toils corresponding to the sins and show proper fruits of his repentance. Because as the voice of the Forerunner of the Word said,

“Bring forth proper fruits of repentance, and think not to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father” (Mt.3:8),

for as the Lord Himself said to those who are so foolishly disposed,

“Verily, I say unto you: And though they stand Moses and Daniel in their midst to save their sons and daughters, they shall not be saved.” (See Ez.14:14,16,20)

What then should we do, we who wish to repent, and in what manner, in order to have our debts remitted and to rise up from our fall? Since God has so given, listen that I might explain it to each of you.

7. If you wish, search out a mediator and a physician and a good counsellor and let him show you: how as a good counsellor he will apply his counsel on the ways of repentance; how as a physician, he will give you the appropriate medicine for every wound; how he will be a mediator through prayer; and how he has communication with God and will stand before Him face to face in your behalf to gain the mercy of the Divine. Therefore, if you find a flatterer or a slave of the belly do not strive to make him your counsellor and ally lest he come around to your will and teach you not those things that are pleasing to God but those that you will accept, and thus you remain again the enemy of God and unreconciled with Him. Accept neither an inexperienced physician who will plunge you into despair with his great abruptness and improper incisions and cauteries, nor one who, in his excessive sympathy, will leave you ill while you think you are cured and, worst of all, what you do not expect, will surrender you to eternal hell.

For this hell is brought about when, in this life, the soul’s illness is not cured but continues until it dies with us.

“For not all who are of Israel are Israelites”” (Rm. 9:6),

but those with the name who also know the power of the name and are minds that see God. Likewise not all who are called Christians are really Christians.

“Not everyone, who saith unto Me, Lord, Lord,” Christ says, “shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father Which is in heaven,” and He says, just as “many will say to Me on that day…in Thy name we cast out demons…and then I will profess to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Mt.7:21-23).

8. This is why, my brothers, all of us must be careful — the mediators on the one hand, and the sinners on the other who wish to be reconciled to God — that neither the mediators bring down wrath upon their heads instead of rewards, nor the sinners who wish to be reconciled to God rush to, an enemy and a murderer and a bad counsellor instead of a true mediator. For these are the king who will hear the frightful words,

“who made thee rulers and judges over my people” (Ex.2:14)?

And again,

“Thou hypocrite, first cast out the timber from your own eye, and then shalt Thou see clearly to remove the splinter from thy brother’s eye” (Mt.7:5).

For the timber is a passion or desire which darkens the eye of the soul. And moreover,

“Physician, heal thyself” (Lk.4:23),

and again,

“But to the sinner God hath said, Why dost Thou declare Mine ordinances and take up My covenant in thy mouth? Whereas Thou has hated instruction, and hast cast My words behind thee” (Ps.49:16)?

And Paul says,

“Who art Thou that judgest another man’s servant, for it is by his own master that he standeth or falleth?” (Rm.14:4)

9. Therefore, because of all these things, my brothers and fathers, I shudder and tremble. I plead with all of you, bracing myself also with this plea to you, not to be superficial about these mysteries which are divine and awesome to all, not to play with things that are not games, and not to act against your soul because of vainglory, love of honours, or commerce or insensibility.

For it is possible to take up strange reasoning simply to be called “fathers” or “teachers”. I beg you, as we are simply taught by the earthly example, let us not shamelessly usurp equal honour with the Apostles. Because if one arrogantly dares to impersonate the representative of the earthly king and is caught with his colleagues and followers carrying out either secretly or openly what was entrusted by the king, he is subjected to extreme punishments in order to frighten others, and everyone laughs at him because he is a fool and senseless. What, then, awaits those who seize the office of the Apostles unworthily?

10. Nor should you wish to become mediators for others before you have been filled with the Holy Spirit, and know, and are reconciled to the King of all, and can sense it in your soul. For neither can everyone who knows the earthly king be a mediator to him in behalf of others. Extremely few are able to do this, for they have acquired this familiarity before him because of their virtues and by their sweat and labours for him. And they do not have need of a mediator before him themselves but converse mouth to mouth with the king.

Therefore, fathers and brothers, are we not going to keep the same order before God? Are we not going to honour the heavenly King even equally as we honour the earthly king? Are we going to usurp and grant ourselves the seat at His right and left before we even ask for it and receive it? Such recklessness! What shameful thing has taken hold of us? Why, even if we are called to give an account for nothing else, for this alone, that we are disdainful, we shall be disgraced and denied a seat of dignity and cast into eternal fire. Now what has been said is sufficient for the exhortation of those who wish to be careful about themselves.

For this sake, our words have digressed a little beyond the subject at hand. But now, my son, we shall address what you asked to learn about.

11. Confession to a monk who does not have holy orders, you will find, was practised everywhere ever since monks existed and the garment of repentance and, the monastic life were given by God in His legacy, as it is recorded in the divinely inspired writings of the Fathers. And if you look into them, you will find that what we are saying is true. Prior to this, as successors to the holy Apostles, only bishops received the power to bind and loose. But as the time passed, the bishops became corrupt, and this fearful undertaking passed on to priests who had a blameless life and were worthy of grace.

And later, the priests as well, as the bishops associated with and became just like the rest of the people. And many of them, just as now, would fall into spirits of delusion [plani; prelest] and vain, empty speech and would be lost. Then the power to bind and loose was transferred to the chosen among the people of God, that is to say, to the monks. It was not that it was removed from the priests and bishops, but that the priests and bishops estranged themselves from this grace. “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God,” as the Apostle Paul says, and “he ought, as for the people, so also for himself offer” sacrifice (Hb.5:1,3).

12. But let us go back and start this commentary from the beginning and let us see when and how and to whom this power of sacerdotal service and of binding and loosing was given. And the order in which you phrased the question will thus make the answer clear not only to you but to all other men. When our Lord and Saviour said to the man with the withered hand,

“Thy sins are forgiven thee,” hearing this, the Jews said, “This man speaketh blasphemies. Who can forgive sins but God alone” (See Mt.9:2-3; 12:10; Mk.2:7; Lk.5:21)?

Because [ex officio] forgiveness of sins was never given by prophets or priests or by any of the patriarchs in those times. This is why the Scribes rejected Christ’s words as some new doctrine or odd preaching. And therefore the Lord did not blame them for it but He taught them something they did not know, showing Himself granting remission of sins as God and not as man. He says to them,

“But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to remit sins” (Mt.9:6),

and He says to the man who has the withered hand,

“Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored like the other” (Mt.12:13).

So by means of the visible miracle He proved the greater and invisible one. It was the same with Zaccheus, the same with Peter who denied Him three times, the same with the paralytic whom He cured and later found and said,

“Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee” (Jn.5:14).

By saying this, He showed that the man fell ill through sin and, when he was delivered from the illness, he received remission of his sins without fasting, without making the hard ground his bed, through his return and unhesitating faith, and the cutting off of evil, and through true repentance and many tears like the harlot, and like Peter who wept bitterly.

From such a beginning comes the great gift which belongs to God alone, and which He alone possesses. But when He was about to ascend to the heavens, in His place, then, He left this gift to His disciples. And how is it that He gave this authority and power to them? Let us see to whom and how many and when: to His eleven chosen disciples when He passed through the closed doors and they were gathered within. He entered and stood in their midst and blew on them saying;

“Receive ye the Holy Spirit; whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained” (Jn.20:22-23).

And He gave them no command regarding epitimia since they would be taught by the Holy Spirit (see Jn.14:26).

13. Thus, as we said, the holy Apostles passed it on to those who succeeded them and ascended to their thrones, so that among the others no one could even dare to think about anything like it. And thus the disciples of the Lord guarded the authority of this power with great care. But as we said previously, with the passing of time, the worthy became mixed with the unworthy. And because the unworthy were many more, they overshadowed and corrupted the worthy and engaged them in disputations over who has higher authorfty, and feigned virtue in order to preside over the others.

And because those who sat on the thrones of the Apostles showed themselves to be carnal, lovers of pleasure and lovers of honour, and they inclined towards heresies, divine grace abandoned men such as these and the power was removed from them. And this is why all of the qualities the performers of sacerdotal service ought to possess are put aside, and the only thing asked of those who are to be ordained is that they be Orthodox.

However, I fear that in reality they do not even ask that. For one is not Orthodox merely because he brings no new doctrine into the church of God, but because he has a life that is consistent with the correct teaching. Btit patriarchs and metropolitans at varous times’ sought after this kind of candidate either unsuccessfully, or they succeeded but preferred the unworthy over him. And they required of the unworthy only a signed statement of the Symbol of Faith, and asked of him only this: that he neither be a zealot for the good, nor that he fight against something that is bad. Supposedly, they were attending to the peace of the Church in this way, but this way is worse than any hatred and is the cause of great disorder.

And by this cause, the priests were corrupted and became as the people. For among them there were none who were the salt which the Lord spoke of, and who, by use of reproaches, could bind and check the flowing away of life. On the contrary, they agreed and covered up evil and passions for one another, and became worse than the people. And the people, in turn, became worse than them. In fact some of the people were shown to be better than the priests, because, amidst the total darkness of the priests, they appeared as a lighted coal. For, according to the words of the Lord, if in their lives the priests did

“shine forth like the sun” (see Mt.5:16; 13:43),

the coals would not have been seen to glow and would have appeared darkened in contrast to the more powerful light. But because among the people there remained only the form and external appearance of the priesthood, the gift of the Holy Spirit was transferred to the monks. And it was recognized by signs showing that the monks, by their works, were living the life of the Apostles.

There too, then, the devil again performed his work. Seeing that the monks appeared in the world like some new disciples of Christ and shone forth by their life and miracles, he brought into their midst and mixed among them false brothers who were his own vessels. And slowly they increased, as you see, and the monks were corrupted and became monks who were completely unmonastic.

14. Therefore, the power to remit sins is given by God neither to those who have the monastic schema nor to those who are ordained to the ranks of priesthood, nor to those honoured by the office of episcopacy, I mean to patriarchs and metropolitans and bishops. merely because of their ordination and its office. Heaven forbid! Only the performance of services is permitted to them, and to most of them, I suspect, not even that, so they, being straw, will not be burnt up. But the power of remitting sins is given only to those from among the priests and bishops and monks who belong to the rank of the disciples of Christ because of purity.

15. How, then, will they, whom we spoke of, know if they are among these disciples, and how will others who seek after them accurately recognize them? For this purpose, the Lord taught us saying,

“And these signs shall follow them that believe: In My name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak in new tongues,”

which refers to the divine and beneficial teaching of the Word;

“they shall pull up snakes; and if they drink any deadly things, it will not hurt them” (Mk.16:17).

And also,

“My sheep hear My voice” (Jn.10:27),

and

“Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Mt.7: 16).

By which fruits? Paul enumerates the many fruits and says,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Gal.5:22),

and accompanying these are “compassion, brotherly love, charity”, and the consequences of these. And with them are

“the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, the gift of healing”, and many others. “But all these worketh that one and selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man as he wills” (1Cor. 12:8-11).

So those who have become participants in these gifts — either completely or in part according to what is profitable to them — are counted among the host of Apostles. Also counted among them are those who today become like them. And this is why they are the light of the world, as Christ Himself says:

“No man who lights a candle places ft under a table or under a bed, but places ft in a candlestick so ft will give light to all that are in the house.” (See Mt.5:14,15)

They are known not only by this but by the conduct of their lives. For in this way those who seek such men, as well as the men themselves, may know if, in the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ, they are wfthout cause for shame and, like Him, have accepted rather as the greatest glory lowliness and humbleness and unhypocritical obedience to their own fathers and guides and, moreover, to their spiritual commanders; if, wfth all their soul, they have loved dishonour and insults and ridicule and reproaches; if they have regarded those who heap these things on them as the cause of great gifts and have prayed tearfully for them with all their soul; and if they have spat upon the glory of this world and regarded as dung the delights of this world.

But do I need to say so much, and to say the obvious, and drag out my commentary? If a man finds that he has achieved every virtue that is heard about in the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and he has performed every good work and knows the degree of his advancement and change regarding each one of them, and he is ascending to the heights of divine glory, then let him know himself as a participant of God and in His gifts; and those who see clearly and even those with dimmest vision will recognize him. And may those who are like him say to everyone with boldness,

“We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you through us… Be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).

And all who are such as these kept the commandments of God unto death. They sold their possessions and distributed the money to the poor. They followed Christ and endured temptations. They lost their lives in this world for the love of God and found them in the eternal life. And when they found their lives they found them in noetic light. And then in that light they saw the unapproachable light, God Himself, as it is written,

“In Thy light we shall see light” (Ps.35:10).

But how is it possible for one to find the life which he already has? Pay close attention. Every man’s life is a drachma which we have each lost. For it is not God, but each of us who has steeped ourselves in the darkness of sin. But Christ the true light comes and – meets face to face those who seek Him and grants that-they may see Him by means He alone knows.

This is what it means for one to find his life: to see God, and in that Light to become higher than all of the visible Creation, and to have God as his shepherd and teacher, from whom, if he wishes, he will learn to bind and to loose. And having learnt it accurately, he will worship Him who gave ft, and he will pass it to all who have a need of it.

16. I know that to such men, my son, the power to bind and loose is given by God the Father from our Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, that is to those, who are his adopted sons and holy servants. And I was a disciple of such a father who did not have the ordination by men, but he made me a disciple by the hand of God, that is by the Holy, Spirit. And he ordered me to receive the ordination of men, for it would be well to observe the customary form since, from my early days, the Holy Spirit was moving me toward it with great desire.

17. Therefore, my brothers and fathers, first, let us pray that we become like them, able to speak to others about freedom from passions and to hear their thoughts. And let us seek such a spiritual father. Indeed, let us search with toils for such men who are true disciples of Christ.

And let us beseech God with pangs of the heart and much tears for many days to uncover the eyes of our heart that they may know if and where such a man is to be found in our evil generation.

And having found him, pray that we may receive remission of sins through him, obeying his commandments and injunctions with our whole soul, just as he obeys the commandments of Christ and became a participant in His grace and gifts, and received from Him the power to bind and loose sins and was made fire by the Holy Spirit, to Whom be every glory, honour, and worship together with the Father and the only-begotten Son unto the ages. Amen.

Source

© 2011, admin. All rights reserved.

1. Essential aspects of the Biblical doctrine of repentance

The doctrine of Repentance is represented in different books of the Old and New Testament. There it is set out with different degrees of fullness depending on historical conditions as well as on the sacred authors? purposes and objectives. Philologically it is not restricted to any one term; and while the biblical teaching about salvation was evolving, repentance terminology was also acquiring fullness and accuracy in meaning.

That is why in setting out the biblical doctrine of repentance there arises a difficulty of a technical character. The abundant material and the wholeness of the scene call for the carrying out of a scrupulous and consistent analysis of repentance in all biblical books, and only after that, can we put the different parts and features of this doctrine together and suggest a certain system as a synthesis. However, while relevant to a comprehensive monograph, such an approach is unacceptable in a short report, not pretending to fullness. So the author suggests that a “mathematical” method should be used in summary of the material: first, a “theorem” will be formulated, i.e. the total scheme of the biblical doctrine of repentance will be presented, followed by it?s “proof”— illustrations of different aspects of the biblical doctrine in certain texts and examples.

Bearing in mind the historical genesis of the biblical doctrine, the final outline will be presented on the basis of the idea that there is a mutual harmony in matters of the doctrine in the books of Scripture.

Briefly the Biblical repentance doctrine can be represented in the following way. From the Scriptural point of view, repentance is an overall change in human life, a fundamental shift of life courses, a person?s conversion from sin to the Lord and confirming him upon a new way of life. In the process of repentance a number of aspects can be marked out, that can be described both logically and formally. With regard to form we are required to distinguish internal and external, as well as private and public repentance. The types mentioned are closely interconnected and may serve as the external terms of the different stages of repentance, and that reflect the logical process.

The first logical stage of repentance is contrition, i.e., when a person (or even a group of people) realizes the viciousness of his way of life, understands sins as definite transgressions of the commandment, and apprehends the bitterness drawn to the soul and to all the human essence by sin.

The second stage of repentance — turning — brings change in the sinner?s life, his appeal to the Lord begging for pardon and forgiveness.

The third stage — confession — when the penitent uses different ways to express his repentance by oral declamation, offerings in the Old Testament, or the Sacrament in the New Testament Church. Confession is needed not only to express feelings of repentance but to present the sinner with the belief that he is forgiven by the Lord. The stage of purification has also to be attributed to the logic of repentance. That is the mysterious effect of God?s Grace on the penitent, in the course of which, the Lord heals the nature struck down by sin, forgives sins and gives power to do good deeds.

And the last stage — remaining in virtue — is the penitent’s conversion from all former evil deeds in favor of striving for the good. We will bear in mind this general plan of the biblical doctrine of repentance while studying the following examples, and we will recall that the authors of the sacred books were not restricted to any strict scheme given in advance when setting out the doctrine of repentance. That is why in the examples from the Bible the stages of the repentance process may differ from the above logical plan both in their sequence and number.

Read the rest of the article here, or download the PDF here.

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony Bloom (1914 – August 4, 2003) was bishop of the Diocese of Sourozh, the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland. He wrote masterfully about Christian prayer, and many Orthodox Christians in Great Britain and throughout the world consider him to be a saint.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Many are those among you who have come to confession either yesterday or the days before, on occasions before, before you received communion, and I want you to reflect later on a very important point. The early Church knew nothing of the private confession which we use nowadays. People came to confess their sins to the whole community, to all their brothers and sisters in Christ because it was felt – as it should be felt by us but is very little perceived – that when one member of the body sins the whole body is wounded, that whatever sin I commit it soils and pollutes the whole body, and moreover that whenever I commit a sin against a brother, against a sister, indeed against myself I am partaking in the Crucifixion of Christ. Because He came into the world to save sinners and whoever is a sinner is to a greater or lesser extent responsible for the Incarnation He accepted in order to die for us. And in the early Church people had an intense sense of community and therefore when sin was committed it was confessed to all the community.

And I know of two communities in the early days of the Revolution when two spiritual guides whenever anyone wanted to make a confession called together all their spiritual children and the confession was made aloud before all in his presence, standing there as the friend of the bridegroom and endowed with the power to forgive or to bind which was given by Christ to His disciples. And when the sinner had confessed his misdeeds these spiritual guides turned to the community and said: you have heard now, are you prepared to carry the weight of his sin, are you prepared to take him on as a beloved brother or sister, are you aware that you are sharing with him his misery? If you are prepared to take him on wholeheartedly, completely, unreservedly in the name of Christ I can give him forgiveness, if you refuse to do this, I cannot do it, but also you will be answerable before God for having rejected one for whom Christ had given His life.

This was the early attitude of the Church: come to the whole community and open one’s heart. And this was possible as long as the community was small, as long as it was persecuted, as long as it was an act of heroism to be a member of the body of Christ. But when the Church was recognized by the State, when there was no danger in belonging to it, moreover when it was easy and advantageous to belong to it, then a confession of that kind was impossible because it was nor received by people who considered that the sin of their brother was their own sin and that they had to carry one another’s wounds and weaknesses; and therefore individual confession was introduced.

You have a certain experience of what this common confession can be at retreats when the priest having prayed with you, talked to you, standing before God with you, makes aloud his own confession before God. You participate in his own confession and you can identify with him as he accepts to share with you his frailty, his sinfulness and his need of forgiveness. This is a small approximation but we must learn to share together the burden of one another sins.

I remember by hearsay the story of a Russian officer who came at a youth conference in the 1920ths and said to the priest in confession that he was in a position to mention all the sins he has committed but his heart was of ice and of stone and he had no feeling about it. He could give a list but not shade a tear. And this priest, father Alexander Elchaninov, commanded him not to make his confession to him but the next morning when the Liturgy would be celebrated to come /off/ before the Liturgy and to all the youth conference assembled there to make the confession he intended to make to the priest.

And this man, feeling the desperate need of his resurrection from the dead, because he was dead at heart, came out, explained what he was about to do. He expected that everyone would move away from him in horror instead of which he felt that all the conference moved towards him in compassion, in sympathy, in oneness; he began to speak his confession and his heart broke and he burst into tears and he was redeemed.

And therefore when we come to confession let us not be content to come to the priest and to speak in his presence to the Lord Jesus Christ who stands there with the wounds of the Crucifixion to which we have added our own. But let us turn to everyone whom we may have offended individually between our last confession or perhaps a long, long time before, open our heart, tell the truth, obtain forgiveness for our victim, heal that limb of the body of Christ which we have wounded at time almost mortally and then only come to the priest and confess our sins to the Lord Jesus Christ who stands crucified and obtain from the priest in His name forgiveness of the sins for which we have truly repented. Amen.

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

From a discussion with the students of the Moscow Theological Academy at the Lavra of Saint Serge with the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Saint Vlassios, Hierotheos Vlachos.

Question: How many times a year must one receive Holy Communion?

Is the Sacrament of Confession necessarily tied to Holy Communion?

Answer: Holy Communion is not absolutely linked to Confession. In the ancient Church, people had the Grace of God in them; they were in a state of enlightenment of the nous* and they of course prayed and received Holy Communion frequently. When someone committed a sin, it meant that they had forfeited the Grace of God, in which case, they would remain outside the Temple, together with the catechumens. This is because one cannot have the Grace of God and yet deny Christ. When one sins, and especially in the flesh – and I am not referring to the carnal relations within a marriage in Christ – it shows that they are preferring carnal pleasure more than Christ and as such, are denying Christ in practice. This reduces them to the ranks of the repentants, and they will need to re-attain the state of enlightenment of the nous, following a specific procedure.

In Basil the Great and other Fathers, we notice that there were four ranks of Christians.

• Firstly, there were the “forgiveness-seekers”, who sat outside the Holy Temple and asked for forgiveness from the Christians that went into the Temple.
• Secondly, there were the “beseechers”, who remained in the Temple only up to the recitings of the Divine Liturgy and would depart along with the catechumens.
• Thirdly there were the “aligned”, who remained in place until the end of the Divine Liturgy, but without receiving Holy Communion. And fourthly, there were the partakers of Holy Communion.

In other words, when someone committed a sin, they would have to go through a period of repentance and repentance meant that the person had to reach the enlightenment of the nous through catharsis – he would have to alter his nous, and from a darkened state make it light again.

The Bishop would then read a blessing and that person could afterwards receive Holy Communion.

That is why I mentioned that Confession is not absolutely tied to Holy Communion. If someone sins and he needs to confess, then he must confess. If there are certain sins – the so-called “excusable” ones – they are forgiven with the Service of Communion and with the prayer

“…and forgive us our trespasses….”

which is included in the “Lord’s Prayer”.

As to how many times a year one can receive Holy Communion – well, that is determined by one’s Spiritual Father.

That is, we go to our Spiritual Father and we open up our heart completely; we tell him all of the problems that we have, we report on the condition we are in, and he will give us the appropriate instructions. The same thing takes place here, as it does with doctors. We visit the doctor, we inform him of our ailment and the doctor will make the appropriate diagnosis and prescribe suitable medication and treatment. For example, he might tell us to abstain from certain foods because our organism can’t tolerate them, and that we will be free to consume those foods only after we are cured.

It is in this context that we should also look upon Holy Communion, because to some, Holy Communion can be Light, while to others it can be fire.

The Holy Fathers say that when we place two objects – that is, mud and wax – under the sun, then the sun’s rays will harden the mud and melt the wax. Although the sun’s energies are the same, however, the substance of the objects is different, which is why the results are different. In the same way, God and Holy Communion become [are experienced as] Light to some, and to others, fire.

In the churches of Monasteries they depict the scene of the Second Coming. At the top of the icon is the Throne, and from the Throne emanates the Light which illuminates the saints, while from the Throne flows the river of fire that consumes the sinners. Saint Isaac the Syrian says that “hell” is God’s “whip of love” – a love that mankind cannot comprehend, because their hearts are unclean and incurable. God loves both the righteous AND the sinner, but not everyone can experience God in the same manner.

Basil the Great wrote that the Light has two energies: the illuminating and the caustic, and as such, it illuminates and it burns. Whoever has eyes will avoid its caustic energy and will enjoy the illuminating energy of the Light. Those who have no eyes to see, will accept the caustic characteristic of the light. That is what will happen during the Second Coming: the righteous will perceive God’s light and sinners will perceive His fire.

The exact same thing takes place during the Divine Liturgy. Some receive Holy Communion and are illuminated, while others receive Holy Communion and are condemned. The Apostle Paul says in his Epistle to Corinthians:

“For this, there are among you many who are weak and sick, and a great many are reposed” (1 Cor.11:30).

That is why the work of a priest is not to distribute tickets so that people might enter Paradise; he must heal people, so that when they encounter God, God will become Light and not fire to them.

We must clarify at this point the question of how frequently a healthy person and a sick person can receive Holy Communion; for example, a paralytic person. It appears that a healthy person has many more sins and a paralytic does not have as many. But that is not correct. It does not mean that a healthy person sins and a paralytic doesn’t. Sins are committed with one’s thoughts and one’s desires as well as with the body. One can be healthy and spend all day glorifying God and live an angelic life, and the other – a sick person – can live with faithlessness and indignation. What is important, is for one to glorify God – whether in health or in sickness.

Notes

*Nous = The human nous in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the “eye of the heart or soul” or the “mind of the heart”. The soul of man is created by God in His image; man’s soul is intelligent and noetic. St Thalassios wrote that God created beings “with a capacity to receive the Spirit and to attain knowledge of Himself; He has brought into existence the senses and sensory perception to serve such beings”.Eastern Orthodox Christians hold that God did this by creating mankind with intelligence and noetic faculties. Angels have intelligence and nous, whereas men have reason – both logos and dianoia – nous and sensory perception. This follows the idea that man is a microcosm and an expression of the whole creation or macrocosmos. The human nous was darkened after the Fall of Man (which was the result of the rebellion of reason against the nous), but after the purification (healing or correction) of the nous (achieved through ascetic practices like hesychasm), the human nous (the “eye of the heart”) will see God’s uncreated Light (and feel God’s uncreated love and beauty, at which point the nous will start the unceasing prayer of the heart) and become illuminated, allowing the person to become an orthodox theologian.

Source

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

Turning my eyes carefully upon myself and watching the course of my inward state, I have verified by experience that I do not love God, that I have no religious belief, and that I am filled with pride and sensuality. All this I actually find in myself as a result of detailed examination of my feelings and conduct, thus:

1. I do not love God. For if I loved God I should be continually thinking about Him with heartfelt joy. Every thought of God would give me gladness and delight. On the contrary, I much more often and much more eagerly think about earthly things, and thinking about God is labor and dryness.

If I loved God, then talking with Him in prayer would be my nourishment and delight and would draw me to unbroken communion with Him. But, on the contrary, I not only find no delight in prayer, but even find it an effort. I struggle with reluctance, I am enfeebled by sloth, and am ready to occupy myself eagerly with any unimportant trifle, if only it shortens prayer and keeps me from it. My time slips away unnoticed in futile occupations, but when I am occupied with God, when I put myself into His presence every hour seems like a year. If one person loves another, he thinks of him throughout the day without ceasing, he pictures him to himself, he cares for him, and in all circumstances his beloved friend is never out of his thoughts. But I, throughout the day, scarcely set aside even a single hour in which to sink deep down into meditation upon God, to inflame my heart with love of Him, while I eagerly give up twenty-three hours as fervent offerings to the idols of my passions. I am forward in talk about frivolous matters and things which degrade the spirit; that gives me pleasure. But in the consideration of God I am dry, bored and lazy. Even if I am unwillingly drawn by others into spiritual conversation, I try to shift the subject quickly to one which pleases my desires. I am tirelessly curious about novelties, about civic affairs and political events; I eagerly seek the satisfaction of my love of knowledge in science and art, and in ways of getting things I want to possess. But the study of the Law of God, the knowledge of God and of religion, make little impression on me, and satisfy no hunger of my soul. I regard these things not only as a non-essential occupation for a Christian, but in a casual way as a sort of side-issue with which I should perhaps occupy my spare time, at odd moments. To put it shortly, if love for God is recognized by the keeping of His commandments (“If ye love Me, keep My commandments,” says our Lord Jesus Christ), and I not only do not keep them, but even make little attempt to do so, then in absolute truth the conclusion follows that I do not love God. That is what Basil the Great says: ‘The proof that a man does not love God and His Christ lies in the fact that he does not keep His commandments’.

2. I do not love my neighbor either. For not only am I unable to make up my mind to lay down my life for his sake (according to the Gospel), but I do not even sacrifice my happiness, well-being and peace for the good of my neighbor. If I did love him as myself, as the Gospel bids, his misfortunes would distress me also, his happiness would bring delight to me too. But, on the contrary, I listen to curious, unhappy stories about my neighbor and I am not distressed; I remain quite undisturbed or what is still worse, I find a sort of pleasure in them. Bad conduct on the part of my brother I do not cover up with love, but proclaim abroad with ensure. His well-being, honor and happiness do not delight me as my own, and, as if they were something quite alien to me, give me no feeling of gladness. What is more, they subtly arouse in me feelings of envy or contempt.

3. I have no religious belief. Neither in immortality nor in the Gospel. If I were firmly persuaded and believed without doubt that beyond the grave lies eternal life and recompense for the deeds of this life, I should be continually thinking of this. The very idea of immortality would terrify me and I should lead this life as a foreigner who gets ready to enter his native land. On the contrary, I do not even think about eternity, and I regard the end of this earthly life as the limit of my existence. The secret thought nestles within me: Who knows what happens at death? If I say I believe in immortality, then I am speaking about my mind only, and my heart is far removed from a firm conviction about it. That is openly witnessed to by my conduct and my constant care to satisfy the life of the senses. Were the Holy Gospel taken into my heart in faith, as the Word of God, I should be continually occupied with it, I should study it, find delight in it and with deep devotion fix my attention upon it. Wisdom, mercy, love, are hidden in it; it would lead me to happiness, I should find gladness in the study of the Law of God day and night. In it I should find nourishment like my daily bread and my heart would be drawn to the keeping of its laws. Nothing on earth would be strong enough to turn me away from it. On the contrary, if now and again I read or hear the Word of God, yet even so it is only from necessity or from a general love of knowledge, and approaching it without any very close attention, I find it dull and uninteresting. I usually come to the end of the reading without any profit, only too ready to change over to secular reading in which I take more pleasure and find new and interesting subjects.

4. I am full of pride and sensual self-love. All my actions confirm this. Seeing something good in myself, I want to bring it into view, or to pride myself upon it before other people or inwardly to admire myself for it. Although I display an outward humility, yet I ascribe it all to my own strength and regard myself as superior to others, or at least no worse than they. If I notice a fault in myself, I try to excuse it, I cover it up by saying, ‘I am made like that’ or ‘I am not to blame’. I get angry with those who do not treat me with respect and consider them unable to appreciate the value of people. I brag about my gifts: my failures in any undertaking I regard as a personal insult. I murmur, and I find pleasure in the unhappiness of my enemies. If I strive after anything good it is for the purpose of winning praise, or spiritual self-indulgence, or earthly consolation. In a word, I continually make an idol of myself and render it uninterrupted service, seeking in all things the pleasures of the senses, and nourishment for my sensual passions and lusts.

Going over all this I see myself as proud, adulterous, unbelieving, without love to God and hating my neighbor. What state could be more sinful? The condition of the spirits of darkness is better than mine. They, although they do not love God, hate men, and live upon pride, yet at least believe and tremble. But I? Can there be a doom more terrible than that which faces me, and what sentence of punishment will be more sever than that upon the careless and foolish life. that I recognize in myself?

From “The Way of a Pilgrim”

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

During Great Lent, and the other fasts of the Church Year, it is customary for all Orthodox Christians to go to confession to their priest.

Properly, this should be done several times a year, the exact frequency depending upon how often one is blessed to receive the Holy Mysteries and on the counsel and blessing of one’s spiritual father. As a preparation for this sacramental confession and to help one examine one’s conscience before coming to confession, the following questions are sometimes distributed in parishes and, although of course the list is not exhaustive, it may be a help to those of our readers who are Orthodox Christians preparing for a saving confession.

I publish this every year for the use of my parishioners during Great Lent.

Sins Against God

Do you pray to God in the morning and evening, before and after meals?

During prayer have you allowed your thoughts to wander?

Have you rushed or gabbled your prayers? or when reading in church?

Do you read the Scriptures daily? Do you read other spiritual writings regularly?

Have you read books whose content is not Orthodox or even anti-Orthodox, or is spiritually damaging?

Have you pronounced the name of God without reverence, joking? Have you asked God’s help before starting every activity?

Have you made the sign of the Cross carelessly, thoughtlessly? Have you sworn? Have you murmured against God?

Have you sinned by forgetting God?

Have you been slack in attending church?

Have you consecrated even part of the feast days, particularly Sundays and the Twelve Great Feasts, to God?

Have you tried your best to attend church on these days? or have you spent them more sinfully than ordinary days?

If unable to attend church for some reason, have you nonetheless tried to devote some part of these days to prayer and spiritual reading?

Have you joined with people not of the Faith in prayer, or attended their worship services?

Have you kept the fasts?

Have you behaved irreverently in church, or before the clergy and monastics?

Have you laughed or talked in church, or moved about unnecessarily, thus also distracting other people from prayer?

Have dressed modestly and in a becoming manner when in church?

Have you tried to pay reverent attention to the readings, hymns, and prayers in church?

Have you striven to pray with the service, crossing yourself, etc., or have you rather simply stood and day-dreamed?

Have you prepared for the services beforehand, looking up the Scriptural readings, making sure you have the texts to follow the service etc., especially if the service will be in a language you do not readily understand?

Have you ever left church after the Divine Services, and particularly after receiving the Holy Mysteries and immediately engaged in light talk and thus forgotten the blessings and graces you have received?

Have you been ashamed of your Faith or the sign of the Cross in the presence of others?

Have you made a show of your piety?

Have you used your Orthodox Faith or its teachings merely to browbeat others or belittle them?

Have you used it as a shield or excuse for your own inadequacies rather than humbling yourself?

Have you believed in dreams, fortune telling, astrology, signs and other superstitions?

Do you give thanks to the Lord for all things?

Have you ever doubted God’s providence concerning yourself?

Do you at least try to perceive His purpose in all the things that come upon you?

Sins Against Your Neighbors

Do you respect and obey your parents?

Have you offended them by rudeness or contradiction?

(These two apply also to priests, superiors, teachers and elders.)

Have you insulted anyone?

Have you quarreled or fought with anyone? Have you hit anyone?

Are you always respectful to old people?

Are you ever angry, bad tempered or irritable?

Have you called anyone names? Do you use foul language?

Have you derided any that are disabled, poor, old or in some way disadvantaged?

Have you entertained bad feelings, ill will or hatred against anyone?

Have you forgiven those who have offended you?

Have you asked forgiveness from those whom you have offended?

Are you at peace with everyone?

Have you left the needy without help when you could have helped?

Have you attended the sick or elderly when they have asked you to do so?

Have you shown kindness and attention to all, remembering that God is expecting just such an attitude from you?

Have you hit animals without a cause or been cruel to them, or neglectful of those in your care?

Have you stolen anything?

Have you taken or used other people’s things without asking?

Have you kept money or things that were lent you without returning them?

Have you wasted your employers’ time or resources? Have you taken things from work for your own use, used the firm’s phone or other facilities for your own purposes without permission or repayment?

Are you obstinate, and do you always try to have your own way?

Have you been inconsiderate of other people’s feelings?

Have you tried to have your revenge against those who have offended you?

Have you harboured resentment? Have you deceived people?

Have you gossiped?

Have you told untruths?

Have you judged and condemned others?

Have you taken pains before approaching for confession to be reconciled with all?

Sins Against Yourself

Have you been proud? Do you boast of your abilities, achievements, family, connections or riches?

Do you consider yourself worthy before God?

Are you vain, ambitious? Do you try to win praise and glory?

Do you bear it easily when you are blamed, scolded or treated unjustly? Do you think too much about your looks, outward appearance and the impression you make?

Have you sinned in thought, word or deed, by a look or glance, or in any other way against the seventh commandment? (Adultery, fornication, all extra-marital sexual relationships with others, masturbation, engaging in unnatural sexual acts, fantasizing, pornography, etc.)

Have you envied anyone anything? Have you been over-sensitive?

Have you been lazy? Have you done your duties heartily?

Have you wasted your time, energy or abilities in things that do not profit the soul?

Have you become obsessive about anything? Have you been despondent or listless?

Have you had thoughts of committing suicide?

Have you brought a curse on yourself or others or ill-wished them, being impatient?

Have you a weakness for alcohol? Have you drunk too much, or become dependent on drink?

Have you taken drugs, other than necessary medicines? Have you smoked?

Have you watched television too much or indiscriminately? Have you given yourself up to any other similar pastime which wastes your time and energy and might have harmed you?

Have you been greedy, either with regard to food or to possessions?

Have you indulged in comfort-eating? Have you become accustomed to eating between meals?

Have you been picky about your food, or wasteful of foods, forgetting that so many people are without proper nourishment? Have you been extravagant? Have you been wasteful?

Do you care for and seek first the salvation of your soul, the spiritual life and the kingdom of God, or have you put earthly considerations in the first place?

Is there any other sin, which burdens your conscience, or which you are ashamed to tell?

Anyone preparing for confession must ask God to help his resolve to tell all his sins. A penitent should prepare for confession and collect his thoughts regarding his sins at least a day before confession. The most valuable thing in the eyes of God is the confession of the sin which weighs most on the conscience.

The questions listed are intended to help the Orthodox Christian examine himself and identify the symptoms of his spiritual ills; they should not be taken as some kind of test to ascertain how well we are doing as if there was a certain “pass-mark.” Before God’s perfections, we shall always fail. It is for that reason that, as believing Christians, we throw ourselves on the mercy of the Lord and do not trust in our own righteousness.

Remember that our sins can never outweigh God’s love towards us. Even if we should seem to have failed with regard to all the points mentioned above and more, we should not lose heart but confess our sins unshamefacedly, we should regret the wrongs we have done, be resolved to make amends, and receive whatever remedy our confessor should be guided to lay upon us. Most of all, one should be assured of the blessing of God which these endeavours will bring upon you.

REMEMBER

HE LOVES YOU!

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

Our father among the saints Innocent of Alaska, Equal-to-the-Apostles and Enlightener of North America (1797-1879), was a Russian Orthodox priest, bishop, archbishop, and Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia. He is known for his missionary work, scholarship, and leadership in Alaska and the Russian Far East during the 1800s. He is known for his great zeal for his work as well as his great abilities as a scholar, linguist, and administrator.

He was a missionary, later a bishop and archbishop in Alaska and the Russian Far East. He learned several native languages and was the author of many of the earliest scholarly works about the natives and their languages, as well as dictionaries and religious works in these languages. He also translated parts of the Bible into several native languages. His translations are still considered the authoritative translations in native Alaskan language studies to this day.

What is Confession? Confession is the oral avowal of one’s sins which lie heavy upon the conscience. Repentance cleanses the soul and makes it ready to receive the Holy Spirit, but confession, so to speak, only empties the soul of sins.

Let us present a simple analogy and comparison to confession. For example, suppose you had only one vessel of some kind, which you through negligence or laziness let reach a stage where little by little it accumulated all sorts of dirt so that your vessel became not only unusable but even unbearable to look at without repugnance. But what if a king wanted to give you as a gift some sort of fragrant and precious balm, one drop of which could heal all infirmities and protect what then?

Would you refuse such a valuable gift only because you had no other clean vessel in which to put it?

No! It would be very natural for you to accept such a gift and you would try to clean your vessel. How would you begin to clean your vessel? No doubt, before anything else, you would rid it of all uncleanness; you would begin by washing it with water and, perhaps would even burn it out so that it no longer retained any of its former odors. Isn’t that so?

Now let the vessel represent the soul given to you by God, which you have brought to such a state that it has been filled with all kinds of transgression and iniquities; let the sweet-smelling balm, given by the king, signify the Holy Spirit, Who heals all infirmities and afflictions, Whom the King of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ, freely bestows upon us. To examine your vessel signifies feeling your guilt before God and recalling all sins which have stolen into your heart.

To clean out the vessel typifies the confession of your sins before your spiritual father, and washing with water and burning with fire signifies a sincere and even tearful repentance and a voluntary resolve to endure all unpleasantness, needs, afflictions, misfortunes, and even calamities that befall us.

Now tell me: Is Confession profitable or needful? Certainly it is profitable and even essential; because, just as it is impossible to cleanse a vessel without ridding it of all uncleanness, so it is impossible to purge your soul of sins without confession. But tell me, is confession alone enough for the reception of the Holy Spirit? Certainly not, because in order to receive the sweet-smelling and precious balm into a defiled vessel it is not enough to just empty it, but it is necessary to wash it with water and refine it with fire.

Just so, in order to receive the Holy Spirit, it is not enough just to confess or recite your sins before a spiritual father, but it is necessary together with this to purge your soul with repentance or contrition and grief of soul, and burn it out with voluntary endurance of afflictions. So then, this is what confession and repentance mean!

What does a true and correct confession consist of? When we wish to cleanse our conscience of sins in the Mystery of Repentance,

1) before everything else it is necessary to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and firmly hope that He is ready to forgive all sins, no matter of what magnitude, if only the sinner repents open-heartedly; it is necessary to believe and hope that the God of all wants and seeks our return. Of this He assures us through the prophet thus: As I live, saith the Lord, i. e., I assure and swear by My life, In desiring I do not desire, i e., I do not at all desire the death of a sinner, but entirely desire his conversion.

2) It is necessary to have a broken heart. Who is God? and who are we? God is the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth; He is the awful and righteous Judge. And we? We are weak and insignificant mortals. All people, even the greatest people, are less than dust before God, and we can never imagine how disgusting to God is any sin and how any transgression offends Him. And we, insignificant and weak, we mortals endlessly benefited by our God, dare to offend Him the All-Good One?

Oh! This is so horrible! We are such debtors before God, such transgressors, that not only should we not dare to call ourselves His children, but are not even worthy of being His lowliest servants.

Therefore, picturing all this, you see what contriteness, what lamentation it is necessary to have then, when we want to purge ourselves of sins. And such a feeling must be had not only before confession and during confession, but also after confession. And even more important, do you want to offer a sacrifice to God such as will be acceptable to Him? Naturally we all gladly want this and as far as possible we offer it. But what can we offer Him really acceptable.?a broken heart.

A sacrifice unto God is a broken spirit; a heart that is broken and humbled,

here is an offering to God more priceless than all offerings and oblations!

3) It is necessary to forgive all our enemies and offenders all the harmful and offensive things they have done to us. Forgiveness – what does it mean to forgive? To forgive means never to avenge, neither secretly nor openly; never to recall wrongs but rather to forget them and, above all, to love your enemy as a friend, a brother, as a comrade; to protect his honor and to treat him right-mindedly in all things. This is what it means to forgive.

And who agrees that this is difficult? So, it is a hard matter to forgive wrongs, but he who can forgive wrongs is for this reason great, truly great, both before God and before man,Yes, it is a hard matter to forgive your enemies; but to do nothing, it is necessary to forgive, otherwise God Himself will not forgive. Jesus Christ said:

If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your trespasses. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses.

On the contrary to this, though you pray to God every hour, though you have such faith that you can move mountains, even though you give away all of your belongings to the needy, and give your body to be burned,if you do not practice forgiveness and do not wish to forgive your enemy, then all is in vain, for in such circumstances neither prayer, nor faith, nor charity, will save you, in short, nothing will save you.

But if it is needful to forgive our enemies, so likewise it is indispensable to ask also forgiveness of those people whom we have offended. Thus, if you have offended anyone by word, ask forgiveness of him, come and bow down at his feet and say, “Forgive me.” Have you offended by deed?

Endeavor to expiate your guilt and offenses and recompense his damage, then be certain that all of your sins, no matter how heavy they be, will be forgiven you.

4) It is necessary to reveal your sins properly and without any concealment. Some say, “For what reason should I reveal my sins to Him Who knows all of our secrets?” Certainly God knows all of our sins, but the Church, which has the power from God to forgive and absolve sins, cannot know them, and for this reason She cannot, without confession, pronounce Her absolution.

Finally, it is necessary to set forth a firm intention to live prudently in the future. If you want to be in the kingdom of heaven, if you want God to forgive your sins, then stop sinning!

Only on this condition does the Church absolve the penitent of his sins. And he who does not think at all about correcting himself confesses in vain, labors in vain, for even if the priest says,

“I forgive and absolve,”

the Holy Spirit does not forgive and absolve him!

From Orthodox Life, vol. 38, no. 4 (July-August, 1988), pp. 20-22.

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

A priest of the Orthodox Church in America, Fr. John first published this excellent little article in March 1995.

Great Lent is now upon us. It is a time for what Fr. Alexander Schmemann (of blessed memory) called “bright sadness.”

It is a time, above all, for reflection and movement back to God.

Sin, in literal translation, means “missing the mark.” Not being where we should be. Where we should be, but are not, is in communion with God. So, for practical purposes, sin is separation from God. And, by definition, separation from God is death–because life can only exist where God is present.

Great Lent is the time when we try to reverse the effects of sin in our lives. We are, since sin came into the world with the very first person created by God, “consumers,” filling ourselves with everything. Food, possessions, material wealth, sexual adventures, various and sundry substances (not just drugs, but alcohol, etc.) all become simply “ways” to satisfy our urges. During Great Lent, we fast in order to restore the proper understanding and balance between our desires and the basic necessities that God provides for our nurture. Food is denied not because it is bad, but because we only need a little. Food is restored to its proper place.

Prayer, both personal and corporate, is also important during the lenten season. Hunger that grows with our fast should be transformed by prayer into a hunger not for food, but for God Himself, who is the Bread of Life and the Fountain of Holiness. Fasting without prayer is like the man who had the unclean spirit and cleaned it out, but left his heart empty, so seven spirits even MORE unclean than the first possessed him.

But the most personal and difficult aspect of our effort is the journey to the Sacrament of Confession. Confession of our sins is basic and necessary. But Confession in Orthodox Tradition has always been face-to-face — a hard journey!

Many people outside our faith wonder why we simply do not confess our sins in private “to God.” The answer is very simple — God already “knows” about our sins. Confession is a gift from God that allows us to not only confess our sins, but to receive the assurance of God’s forgiveness and the spiritual guidance that we need to help us overcome these sins.

Confession is a three-step process. First, we must recognize our sins. As we get “holier,” we see better and better how truly awful our life is, how truly estranged we are from God. Second, we must truly be sorry for the sins, and one of the true tests of our sorrow is the ability to confess those sins to another human being. We can be so prideful that we refuse to confess our sins because we are worried about what someone else might think about us. Finally, once our pride is defeated and the sin confessed, we must try to repent, overcome the sin and live a truly sinless life. Of course, the effort is in the struggle, since we cannot actually avoid acts of sin.

But why should we confess to the priest?

Sin is, as we have said, separation.

First of all, sin separates us from God. Sin keeps us from being who God intends us to be. The communion with God that was given on the first day of creation is fractured by sin, and eternal life can only be granted when that fracture is healed. Confession to the priest overcomes and heals this because the priest is the sacramental presence of Christ in the Church. When someone confesses to the priest, he is confessing to God Himself, thereby healing the fracture which has occurred when someone sins. Our proper and intended relationship with God is restored when we confess to the priest.

Sin separates us from the Church. When we raise the consecrated bread of the paten just before Communion, the priest says “Holy things for the holy.” No one is “sinless” when they receive the Holy Gifts, but when we progress beyond the “daily sins” or accumulate so many of them that our soul is burdened, we must confess them to restore our relationship with the Church. Our communion with the Church is fractured by sin, and healing can only take place when we bring our sin to the Head of the Church — who is Christ. The priest is the sacramental presence of Christ in the Church, and to restore unity with the Church, we confess to him.

Sin separates us from each other. Nowhere is the lack of communion between us and God that happens because of sin shown better than in how estranged we are from each other. Sin destroys my relationship with the “other,” and Christ Himself says that we can only know and love God when we know and love each other. So many of our sins are selfish, denying not ourselves, but the other. We must confess our sins and repent of them to restore our relationship with the “other.”

In the early Church that was very simply done — you stood up in the midst of the church community and confessed your sin, thereby healing that relationship with others.

When problems with that system arose, the priest began to stand in the place of the community.

So we also confess our sins to the priest because he is a man, created and fallible just like everyone else — standing in the place of everyone else.

When these three “healings” take place — between me and God, between me and the Church, between me and everyone else — then true healing begins, with the long struggle to overcome our sins and

“be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect.”

Orthodox New England, March 1995

Source

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

When preparing to go to confession, every Orthodox Christian should try to remember all the sins that he has committed, whether voluntary or involuntary, and should examine his life in detail. If there are sins that were committed before his last confession, but which he then forgot to confess, he should mention these also.

When you come to confession, you should confess your sins sincerely, remembering that you are not confessing them to the priest, but to God Himself, Who already knows, but wants you to admit your wrongs and your guilt. You should not feel embarrassed before your spiritual father, because, being a man like yourself, he knows human weaknesses and the inclination that all people have towards sin, and thus he cannot judge you harshly when you come to confession. But maybe you are embarrassed to confess your sins before your spiritual father because you are afraid of losing his good opinion?

On the contrary, if you value his good opinion, you should understand that he will respect you all the more for the sincerity of your confession. Also, if you are ashamed and afraid to lay bare your sins before your spiritual father, how will you bear it when at the Dread Judgment your sins—if you have not been freed of them by true repentance—will be revealed before God Himself, His angels, and all mankind, both people you know and strangers?

If you remember this, you will want to free yourself from your sins and from the punishment that they bring upon you, and will confess them in all sincerity before your spiritual father. You should hide nothing wrong that you have done, but at the same time you should not add anything extra, and not blame yourself for what you have not done by simply saying, “Everything I have done is sinful,” or some such catch-phrase.

Nor should you admit every sin you are asked about whether you have done it or not, as some people mistakenly think they should Your confession must be realistic and therefore true.

Another reason why you should not simply say, “I have sinned in everything, word, deed, and thought, and by omission,” without giving further details, is because your spiritual father needs to know exactly what you have done in order to give you good advice.

Also such a short, undetailed confession means that you are avoiding what confession is intended to achieve, i. e. to bring you to admit what you have done and to admit that you were wrong in doing it. Your spiritual father already knows that you are a sinner, for no man is without sin; even the holy Apostle Paul described himself as the “chief of sinners.”

Each sin must be mentioned in turn, just as you would enumerate all your symptoms to a doctor. You should not just think of a couple of main trends to “discuss,” and neglect to mention the innumerable other sins.

Do not mention the sins of others in your confession, unless this is necessary for your spiritual father to understand how and why you yourself have sinned. If you have a personal problem involving other people, which you would like to discuss with your spiritual father, or if you are in need of advice or some consolation for some unkindness that has been done to you, make an appointment to see your spiritual father at some other time. Also, do not use the fact that many people commit some sin that you have committed as an excuse for it.

Still less say “but everyone does that.” For one thing, you have come to confess your own sins, not those of others. How can you be sure that without exception every human being commits any given sin? Or even though you might know of their sin, how can you be sure they have not repented of it in their heart? Pay no heed to the sins of others. Oftentimes we imagine the motives and intentions and sinful inclinations of others, for no man knows the heart of another.

Confess your sins fully but concisely; one does not have to make a story of them!

That in itself can be an evidence of pride. Particularly regarding carnal sins, do not go into detailed descriptions of sin. If your spiritual father feels that you need to confess any particular sin in fuller detail, he will ask you about it, and then you should not hesitate to describe it fully and to answer all his questions.

Before going to confession make a thorough preparation, and examine your life so that you recognize your sins. If you wish you can write out a list, or keep a list day by day. In order to check your sins, it is wise to check them against some list. One can use the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, or the list of sins in the prayer of daily confession of sins read before going to sleep each day, or that in the prayer at the end of the Canon to the Guardian Angel in the Prayer Book.

Such checking against a list is very beneficial, otherwise one tends to remember only the most serious sins, or the most noticeable or most extraordinarily, and to forget, perhaps deliberately, the underlying ones, the ones that have become habitual, and the things that we have forgotten even to remember as sins because they have become so much a part of our life. Sins of neglect, omission, and laziness often fall into this category, as do the ones that are seemingly respectable: pride, vanity, etc.

Do not try to make excuses for your sins, for the more that you justify yourself, the less forgiveness you will receive. It is important that you yourself should fully realize how wrong each sin you have committed is—and the more you understand the wrongfulness of any sin, the easier it will be for you to make an effort of will to avoid committing it in the future. However, you may mention if there is any special circumstance, such as some particular temptation or outside pressure, that it would be useful for your spiritual father to know, so that he can advise you how to deal with it.

It is important not to overlook any sin, but to mention all the sins that you have committed.

If you are asked whether you have committed a particular sin, it is not good enough to reply, “I can’t remember.” This is, of course, much less likely to happen if you go to confession regularly. It is good at the end of your confession to admit that there may be other sins which you have forgotten or have not realized that you have committed—such a sin might be by a careless word or action which has upset someone and perhaps caused them to sin.

Unless your spiritual father asks you about them, do not mention sins that you have not committed, nor good deeds that you have done. If you are asked whether you have committed some sin and have not, simply say “No.” Do not say, “I have committed no serious sins,” because this means that you do not realize how sinful what you have done is, and how sinful your insensitivity is.

Also do not be insensitive to the feelings and weaknesses of others, including your spiritual father. If you have not confessed for some time, or have some particular difficulty and are likely to need a long confession, try not to come on the eve of a great feast or when there will be many other people going to confession, but come on a day when there are likely to be few, or make a special arrangement with the priest.

Also, unless it is otherwise completely impossible (because, for instance, you live far from the church), do not come for confession either immediately before the Divine Liturgy (when the priest will be preparing the gifts) or during the service, when you will cause the entire congregation to wait while your confession is heard.

If after your confession you are hoping to receive a blessing to partake of the Holy Mysteries, it is best to come for the confession after the evening service on the previous night.

You must be truly sorry for the sins you have committed. Unless you really regret having done them, and intend to try to avoid them in the future, you lack true penitence, without which your sins are not forgiven.

It is also necessary to confess with faith in Jesus Christ and to trust in His mercy. Only if we believe and trust in Jesus Christ can we receive remission of our sins. Judas Iscariot, for example, repented of his sin, not before one man, but before all, and he returned the pieces of silver. But instead of believing in Jesus Christ and trusting in His mercy, he fell into despair and, receiving no remission, he died a terrible death. Thus, in addition to careful confession and true repentance, faith and hope are essential for the salvation of a sinner.

Penances — Their Nature and Purpose

Penance is a form of discipline or a prohibition administered by the priest (in accordance with the canons or laws of the Church) to those repentant Christians for whom it is necessary, much as a doctor prescribes a suitable medicine or treatment. It is a form of treatment for a moral sickness.

Examples of penances are: fasting over and above what is required of all Orthodox Christians, special prayers of repentance with prostrations, reading books which will help in overcoming one’s weakness, and the performance of’ good works.

Penances are not given to all who come to confession, but only to those who, by the nature or seriousness of their sins, require this special medicine.

An example of this is St. Paul’s excommunication of a Christian of the Church of Corinth for incest; then, because of his penitence, he received him back into the Church (11 Cor. 2:6-8).

Although penance would seem to be a punishment, its purpose is not to make retribution for sins, to pay back a debt, but is rather corrective, medicinal, and instructive—to cure the sinner from his sinful habits, to instruct him regarding both the harmful nature of what he has been doing, and ways to change his life, so that he shall not repeat his sin. Penance is intended to deepen and increase the penitent’s regret for what he has done, and to strengthen the desire of his will for correction.

The Apostle says,

“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of” (II Cor. 7:10).

This is upheld by the canons of the Ecumenical Councils and the teaching of the Fathers, who describe penance as a means of spiritual treatment to cure the diseases of the soul. The 102nd canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council says:

“The character of a sin must be considered from all points and conversion expected. And so let mercy be meted out.”

Moral Guidance or “The Opening of One’s Thoughts”

It is necessary to distinguish between the mystery of confession itself, and the moral guidance of a spiritual father in “the opening of thoughts” which is still used, especially in some monastic communities, but is something quite different from confession. The telling of one’s thoughts and actions before a spiritual elder, from whom one seeks moral guidance, has a vast psychological significance.

It is very useful for moral training, the correction of bad inclinations and habits, and the overcoming of doubts and indecisiveness. In some monasteries this is practiced daily, but it is not a course to be entered upon lightly. Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov says,

“An indispensable condition of such submission is a Spirit-bearing guide, who by the will of the Spirit can mortify the fallen will of the person subject to him in the Lord, and can mortify all the passions as well.”

And he issues dire warnings about heeding “Elders” falsely so-called. Nonetheless, some writers (notably Prof. Andreyev) suggest that some form of “opening of the thoughts” can form part of Christian family life, so that husband and wife open their thoughts to each other each day. Of course such a practice is far removed from the spiritual discipline of Eldership of which Bishop Ignatius writes.

Either way, this type of spiritual guidance, although very beneficial when rightly ordered, does not have the significance of a mystery or grace-bearing Church rite like confession, which is why confession itself, the sacrament of penitence, can take place only before a priest.

Reprinted from The Shepherd, published by the Brotherhood of St. Edward the Martyr, London, England.

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

This article is an excerpt taken from the book titled “REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION”, by Monk Moses of the Holy Mountain, “Orthodoxi Kypseli” Publications, Thessaloniki.

I am indebted to Fr. John Stavropoulos for bringing it to my attention.

Confession is a God-given commandment, and it is one of the Sacraments of our Church. Confession is not a formal, habitual (“to be on the safe side”, or, “in view of upcoming feast-days”), forced and unprepared act, springing from an isolated duty or obligation and for psychological relief only. Confession should always be combined with repentance. A Holy Mountain Elder used to say:

“Many confess, but few repent!”

(Elder Aemilianos of the Simonopetra Monastery, Mt. Athos)

Repentance is a freely-willed, internally cultivated process of contrition and sorrow for having distanced ourselves from God through sin. True repentance has nothing to do with intolerable pain, excessive sorrow and relentless guilty feelings.

That would not be sincere repentance, but a secret egotism, a feeling of our “ego” being trampled on; an anger that is directed at our self, which then wreaks revenge because it is exposing itself and is put to shame – a thing that it cannot tolerate.

Repentance means a change in our thoughts, our mentality; it is an about-face; it is a grafting of morality and an abhorrence of sin.

Repentance also means a love of virtue, benevolence, and a desire, a willingness and a strong disposition to be re-joined to Christ through the Grace of the almighty Holy Spirit.

Repentance begins in the depths of the heart, but it culminates necessarily in the sacrament of divine and sacred Confession.

During confession, one confesses sincerely and humbly before the confessor, as though in the presence of Christ. No scientist, psychologist, psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, sociologist, philosopher or theologian can replace the confessor.

No icon – not even the most miracle-working one – can provide what the confessor’s stole can: the absolution of sins. The confessor takes the person under his care; he adopts him and ensures he is reborn spiritually, which is why he is called a “spiritual father”.

Normally, spiritual paternity is lifelong, sacred and powerful – even more powerful than a family bond. Spiritual birth is a painful process. The confessor must keep track of the confessing soul, with a fear of God (as one who is “accountable to God”), with understanding, humility and love, and guide him with discretion in the ever-upward course of his in-Christ life.

The confessor-priest has been given a special blessing by his bishop for the undertaking of his confessional opus. However, the gift of “binding and un-binding” sins is initially acquired through his ordination as presbyter, when he is rendered a successor to the Apostles. Thus, validity and canonicity in Apostolic succession, through bishops, is of central and great importance. Like all the other holy sacraments of our Church, the sacrament of Confession is performed (and it bestows Grace on the faithful), not in conjunction with the skill, the scientism, the literacy, the eloquence, the energy and the artfulness of the priest – not even with his virtue and holiness – but through the canonicity (validity) of his priesthood and through the “Master of Ceremonies” – the Holy Spirit.

The possible sins of the priest do not obstruct divine Grace during the Sacraments. Woe betide, if we were to doubt (on account of the unworthiness of the priest) that the bread and the wine actually become the Body and the Blood of Christ during the Divine Liturgy! This of course does not mean that the priest should not have to constantly concern himself with his own “cleanliness”.

Thus, there is no such thing as “good” or “bad” confessors. Each and every confessor provides the exact same absolution. However, we do have the right to choose our confessor; and of course we have the right to turn to the one who truly makes us feel at ease with him, spiritually. To constantly change our confessor however, is not a very sober decision; this kind of tendency does not reveal spiritual maturity. But confessors should, respectively, not fret excessively -or even create problems- when a spiritual child of theirs happens to depart from them.

This may mean that they were morbidly attached to each other (sentimentally, to the person. and not to Christ, nor to the Church). They may also regard that departure as an insult; one that is demeaning to them and makes them think there is no-one better than them, or, it may give them a feeling that the other “belongs” to them exclusively and they can therefore dominate them and in fact even behave forcibly towards them, as if they are repressed and confined subordinates.

We did mention that the confessor is a spiritual father, and that spiritual fatherhood and spiritual childbirth entails labor.

Thus, it is only natural for the confessor to feel sorrow upon the departure of his spiritual child. However, it is preferable for him to pray for his child’s spiritual progress and its union to the Church, even despite its disengagement from him. He must wish for, and not against that child.

The confessor’s opus is not just the superficial hearing of a person’s sins and the reciting of the prayer of absolution afterwards. Nor is it restricted to the hour of confession. Like a good father, the confessor continuously cares for his child; he listens to it and observes it carefully, he counsels it appropriately, he guides it along the lines of the Gospel, he highlights its talents, he does not place unnecessary burdens on it, he imposes canons with leniency only when he must, he consoles it when it is disheartened, weighed down, resentful, exhausted, and he heals it accordingly, without ever discouraging it, but constantly pursuing the struggle for the eradication of its passions and the harvesting of virtues; constantly shaping its eternal soul to be Christ-like.

This ever-developing paternal and filial relationship between confessor and spiritual child eventually culminates in a feeling of comfort, trust, respect, sanctity and elation. When confessing, one opens his heart to the confessor and discloses the innermost, the basest and most unclean – in fact, all of his – secrets, his most intimate actions and detrimental desires, even those that he would not want to confess to himself, nor tell his next-of-kin or his closest friend. For this reason, the confessor must have an absolute respect for the unlimited trust that is being shown to him by the person confessing.

This trust most assuredly builds up with time, but also by the fact that the confessor is strictly bound (in fact to the death) by the divine and Sacred Canons of the Church, to the confidentiality that confession entails.

In Orthodox confession there are of course no general instructions, because the spiritual guidance that each unique soul requires is entirely personalized. Each person is unprecedented, with a particular psychosynthesis, a different character, differing potentials and abilities, limitations, tendencies, tolerances, knowledge, needs and dispositions. With the Grace of God and with divine enlightenment, the confessor must discern all these characteristics, in order to decide what he can utilize best, so that the person confessing will be helped in the best possible manner. At times, leniency will be required, while at other times, austerity.

The same thing does not apply to each and every person. Nor should the confessor ALWAYS be strict, just for the sake of being called strict and respected as such; and he should likewise not ALWAYS be excessively lenient, in order to become the preferred choice and be regarded as a “spiritual father of many”. What is required of him is a fear of God, discernment, honesty, humility, deliberation, understanding and prayer.

“Economy” (Oekonomia: to make allowances for something, exceptionally) is not demanded of the person confessing, nor is it proper for the confessor to make it a rule. “Economy” must remain an exception.

“Economy” must also be a temporary measure (Archmandrite George Gregoriates). When the reasons for implementing it no longer exist, it must naturally be retracted. The same sin can be confronted in numerous ways.

A canon is not always necessary. A canon is not intended as a form of punishment. It is educative by nature. A canon is not imposed for the sake of appeasing an offended God and an atonement of the sinner in the face of Divine Justice; that is an entirely heretic teaching. A canon is usually implemented during an immature confession, with the intent to arouse awareness and a consciousness of the magnitude of one’s sin. According to Orthodox teaching, “sin” is not so much the transgression of a law, as it is a lack of love towards God. “Love, and do whatever you want”, the blessed Augustine used to say…

A canon is implemented for the purpose of completing one’s repentance in view of confession, which is why fr. Athanasios of Meteora rightly says:

“just as the confessor is not permitted to make public the sins being confessed to him, so must the person confessing not make public the particular canon that the confessor has imposed in his specific case, as it is the resultant of many parameters.”

A confessor acts as the provider of the Grace of the Holy Spirit. During the hour of the Sacrament of Confession, he does not function as a psychologist and scientist. He functions as a priest, as an experienced doctor, as a caring father. When listening to the sins of the person confessing, he prays to God to give him enlightenment, to advise him what the best “medication” for cure will be, and to gauge the degree and the quality of that confession.

The confessor does not place himself opposite a confessing person with curiosity, suspicion, envy, excessive austerity, power and arrogance; but equally not with indifference, thoughtlessly, carelessly and wearily. The humility, love and attention of the confessor will greatly help the person confessing.

The confessor should not ask too many, too unnecessary and too indiscreet questions.

He must especially interrupt any detailed descriptions of various sins (especially the carnal ones) and even the disclosure of names, to safeguard himself even more. But the person confessing should also not feel afraid, or hesitate and feel embarrassed; he should feel respect, trust, honor and show reverence to the confessor. This clime of sanctity, mutual respect and trust must be mainly nurtured, inspired and developed by the confessor.

Our holy mother the Orthodox Church is the Body of the Resurrected Christ; She is a vast infirmary, for the healing of frail, sinning faithful from the traumas, the wounds and the illnesses of sin; from pathogenic demons and from the venomous demonic traps and the influences of demonically-driven passions.

Our Church is not a branch office of the Ministry of Social Services, nor does She compete against the various societies for social welfare – without this meaning that She does not acknowledge this significant and well-meaning opus, or that She Herself does not offer such services bounteously, admirably and wondrously; it is because the Church is mainly a provider of a meaning to life, of redemption and salvation of the faithful “for the sake of whom Christ died”, through their participation in the sacraments of the Church.

“The priest’s stole is a planing instrument”

as the Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain used to say -

“that planes and straightens out a person; it is a therapeutic scalpel that excises passions, and not a trowel for workaholics, or a symbol of power. It is a servant’s apron intended for ministering to people, for providing therapy and salvation.”

God uses the priest for the forgiveness of His creature. It is plainly stated in the absolution blessing: “May God forgive you – through me the sinner – everything, both in the present age and in the future one, and may He render you blameless, before His awesome Seat of Judgment; having no longer any worry for the crimes that have been confessed, may you go forth in peace.” Sins that have not been confessed will continue to burden a person, even in the life to come.

Confessed sins should not be re-confessed; it would be as though one doesn’t believe in the grace of the Sacrament. God is of course aware of them, but it is for the sake of absolution, humbling and therapy that they need to be outwardly confessed. As for the occasional penance imposed for sins, one must realize that it does not negate the Church’s love for the person, but that it is simply an educative imposition, for a better awareness of one’s offenses.

According to Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, “confession is a willed, verbal revealing of one’s evil deeds and words and thoughts; solemn, accusatory, direct, without shame, decisive, to be executed before a legitimate spiritual father.” This God-bearing saint has succinctly, fully and meaningfully clarified that confession must be willed, free, effortless, without the confessor straining to extract the person’s confession. It should be with solemnity, in other words, with an awareness of the sorrow that he caused God with his sin, and not with sentimental, hypocritical, fainthearted tears.

Genuine “solemnity” implies an inner collapsing, remorse, a hatred towards sin, a love of virtue, and a feeling of gratitude to the Gift-Giver God. “Accusatory” implies a responsible confession, without attempts of justification, subterfuge, chicanery, irresponsibility and scapegoating; with sincere self-reproach and genuine self-humiliation that carries the so-called “happy-sorrow” and the “joyous bereavement” defined by the Church. “Direct” implies a confession with all sincerity, directness and precision, valour and courage, severity and bravery.

It often happens that during the hour of confession, one avoids admitting his defeat, his fall and his weakness and by means of eloquent and long-winded descriptions attempts to deflect his share of responsibility, with twists and turns and half-truths – or even by accusing others – all for the sake of preserving (even at that hour) a prim and proper ego. A confession “without shame” implies a portrayal of our true, deplorable self.

Shame is a good thing to have, prior to sin and not afterwards, and in the presence of the confessor. The shame felt during confession they say will free us from the sin during the Ultimate Judgment, given that whatever the confessor absolves will not be judged again. A “direct” confession implies that it should be clean, specific, sincere, and accompanied by the decision that the faithful will never repeat the sins he has confessed to.

Furthermore, confession should be continuous, so that the “willingly recurring” passions (according to Saint John of the Ladder) are not strengthened, but rather, are cured sooner. Thus, old sins will not be entirely blotted out from memory, there will be a regular self-monitoring, self-observation, self-awareness and self-reproach; Divine Grace will not abandon; demonic entrapment will be averted much more easily, and reminiscence of Death will not seem as horrid and terrible.

Another thing that is all too frequently observed – and we admit this with deep pain and abundant love – is that sermons are not always as Orthodox as they should be; in other words, they only manage to sound like just another commentary on an unimportant news item, thus transforming the sacred pulpit into yet another television “frame” where we can air our own opinion on daily events and occurrences.

The Orthodox sermon however is by nature mainly ecclesiological, Christological, salvatory, hagiological and beneficial to the soul. The sermon on repentance as delivered by the Prophets, the holy Baptist, the Savior Christ and all the Saints remains forever opportune and a necessity.

A basic prerequisite for partaking in the holy sacraments and for an upward spiritual course is a purity of heart; a purity that is rid of miscellaneous sins; the spirit of avarice and blissfulness inspired by today’s hyper-consumerist society; the spirit of God-despised pride in a world of narcissism, individualism, non-humility, non-philanthropy, arrogance and the bizarre; the demonic spirit of mischievous thoughts, fantasies and imaginations and unclean and obscure suspicions and envy.

Purity of heart has become a rare ornament – in brotherly and conjugal relations, in obligations towards colleagues, in friendships, in conversations, in thoughts, in desires, in pastoral callings. The so-called Mass Media have lapsed and become mere sources of contamination.

Forgotten are neptic awareness. ascetic sobriety, traditional frugality, simplicity and gallantry. This has led to a polluting of the soul’s rationalizing ability, an arousal of its desirous aspect towards avarice, while its willpower has become severely blunted, thus drawing a weakened person towards evil, without any impediments or limitations.

Nowadays prevail self-justification, excuses for our passions, beautification of sin, and its reinforcement through modern psychological supports. The admission of mistakes is regarded as belittlement, weakness and generally improper. The constant justification of our self, and the meticulous transferal of responsibilities elsewhere have created a human being that is confused, divided, disturbed, worn-out, miserable and self-absorbed, taunted by the devil, and captured in his dark meshes.

There is a prevalence of foolish rationalism nowadays, which observes evangelical virtues and Conciliar canons according to its liking, preference and convenience, on important issues such as fasting, abstinence, childbearing, morality, modesty, honesty and precision.

In view of all the above – none of which I believe has been exaggerated – it is our belief that the opus of a confessor is not an easy one. Ordinary coercion to repent and the cultivating of humility are nowadays inadequate; the fold requires catechesis, re-evangelizing, spiritual training, as well as a spiritual about-face, in order to acquire powerful antibodies. Resistance, reaction and the confronting of the powerful current of de-sanctification, of secularization, of demoting heroism, of eudemonism and of amassing wealth are imperative. The young generation is in need of special attention, instruction and love, given that their upbringing has not proven to be of any help in their becoming aware of the meaning and the purpose of life, or of the void and the indecorousness, the lawlessness and the darkness of sin.

Another serious problem – even for our Christians – is the often over-zealous quest for a labor-less, toil-free and grief-free life. We are in search of Cyreneans to carry our crosses. We refuse to lift up our own personal cross. We have no idea of the depth and breadth of our own cross. We bow in reverence before the Cross in church, we cross ourselves, but we do not embrace our personal cross. In the long run, we would like a non-crucified Christianity. But there cannot be an Easter Sunday without a Good Friday.

We honor martyrs and saints, but we ourselves do not want to suffer any hardships, any postponements, any difficulties. Fasting is too difficult a task to accomplish; we feel resentful during an illness; we cannot tolerate any harsh words, not even when we are to blame, therefore how could we possibly tolerate injustice, slander, persecution and exile, the way our saints did? It is an indisputable fact that the contemporary, secular spirit of convenience, leisure and excessive consumerism has greatly affected the measure of spiritual living. Generally speaking, we demand a non-ascetic Christianity… Orthodoxy however has the ascetic Gospel as its basis.

One other serious problem of our time is man’s morbid and undue reliance on logic, intellect, knowledge, and personal judgment – we are referring to the over-fed and ultimately tiring rationalization. Neptic Orthodox theology teaches us to consider our Nous a tool, and to lower it, into the Heart. Our Church does not cultivate and produce intellectuals. To us, rationalization is not a philosophical mentality, but a clearly sin-oriented life view – a form of atheism – since it goes contrary to the commandment of placing our faith, hope, love and trust in God. A rationalist judges everything using the filter of his own mind and only with his finite mind, with himself and his sovereign ego as the epicentre, and does not place any trust in divine Providence, divine Grace and divine Assistance in his life.

By often regarding himself as infallible, a rationalist does not allow God to intervene in his life and therefore judge him. That way, he is convinced that he is not in need of confession. Saint Simeon the New Theologian says however that, for one to believe he has not fallen into any sins is the greatest of falls and fallacies, and the greatest sin of all. Certain newer theologians speak of “missing the target” and not of “sinning”, in their desire to blunt the natural protesting of one’s conscience. The self-sufficiency displayed by certain churchgoers and fasting Christians can at times be hiding a latent pharisaic stance, i.e., that “they are not like the others” and therefore are not in need of confession.

According to the holy fathers of our Church, the greatest of evils is Pride; it is the mother of all passions, according to Saint John of the Ladder. It is the mother of many offspring, the first ones being vainglory and self-vindication. Pride is a form of denial of God; it is an invention of wicked demons, the result of too much flattery and praise, which in turn results in a debilitation and exhaustion of man, God-despised censure, anger, rage, hypocrisy, the lack of compassion, misanthropy, and blasphemy. Pride is a passion that is formidable, difficult, powerful and hard to cure.

Pride is also strong in many ways, and with many faces. It manifests itself as vainglory, boastfulness, conceit, arrogance, presumptuousness, swell-headedness, insolence, self-importance, megalomania, ambition, self-love, vanity, avarice, flesh-loving, a love for leadership, accusations and arguments. Also as smugness, favouritism, insolence, disrespect, outspokenness, insensitivity, contradiction, obstinacy, disobedience, sarcasm, stubbornness, disregard, indignity, perfectionism and hypersensitivity. Finally, pride can lead to impenitence.

The tongue often becomes the instrument of pride, through unchecked, long-winded, useless talking; gossiping, silliness; vain , insincere, indiscreet, two-tongued, diplomatic, pretended and mocking conversations.

Out of the seven deadly sins many other passions spring forth. Having mentioned the offspring of Pride, we then have Avarice, which gives birth to the love of money, greed, stinginess, lack of charity, hardheartedness, fraud, usury, injustice, deceitfulness, simony, bribery, gambling. Fornication manifests itself in myriads of ways, for example, envy – with its underhanded and evil spite, insatiable gluttony, anger, as well as suspect negligence and lack of care.

Special attention should also be paid to many un-Orthodox elements in family life, which we believe should be examined carefully by confessors and the persons involved. The avoidance of childbearing, the idolizing of one’s children (when regarded as the extension of the parents’ ego); overprotecting them, or constantly watching their moves and savagely oppressing them.

Marriage is an arena for exercising humility, mutual leeway and mutual respect, and not the parallel journey of two egotisms despite a lifelong coupling and coexistence. The devil dances for joy whenever there is no forgiveness in human weaknesses and in everyday mistakes.

Parents will help their children significantly, not with excessive courtesy outside the home, but with their peaceful, sober and loving example in the home, on a daily basis. The participation of the children together with the parents in the sacrament of confession will fortify them with divine Grace in an experiential life in Christ.

When parents ask for forgiveness with sincerity, they simultaneously teach their children humility, which destroys all demonic plots. In a household where love, harmony, understanding, humility and peace bloom, there the blessings of God will be bounteous and the home becomes a castle that is impervious to the malice of the world around. The upbringing of children with the element of forgiveness creates a healthy family hearth, which will inspire them and strengthen them for their own futures.

One other huge matter that constitutes an obstacle for repentance and confession is self-vindication, which plagues many people of the Church also. Its basis is, as we mentioned earlier, demonic Pride. A classic example is the Pharisee of the Gospel parable.

The self-vindicating person has apparently positive elements, which he will over-praise and for which he would like to be honoured and praised. He is happy to be flattered and to demean and humiliate others. He has excessive self-esteem, he vindicates himself to excess and believes that God is necessarily obliged to reward him. In the long run, he is a poor wretch, who, in his wretched state makes others wretched. He is possessed by nervousness and agitation and he is demanding, thus imprisoning himself; these are tendencies that will not allow him to open the door to divine mercy, through his repentance.

An offspring of Pride is censure, which is unfortunately also a habit of many Christians, who tend to concern themselves more with others than themselves. This is a phenomenon of our time and of a society that pushes people into a continuous observation of others, and not of the self.

Modern man’s myriad occupations and activities do not want him to ever remain alone to study, to contemplate, to pray, to attain self-awareness, self-critique, self-control and to be reminded of death.

The so-called Mass Media are incessantly preoccupied with scandal-seeking, persistently and at length, with human passions, with sins, with others’ misdemeanors.

These kinds of things provoke, impress, and, even if they do not scandalize, they nevertheless burden the soul and the mind with filth and ugliness and they actually reassure us, by making us believe that “we are better” than those advertised. Thus, a person becomes accustomed to the mediocrity, the tepidity and the transience of superficial day-to-day life, never comparing himself to saints and heroes. This is how censure prevails in our time – by giving man the impression that he is justly imposing a kind of cleansing, by mud-slinging at others, albeit contaminating himself by generating malice, hatred, hostility, resentfulness, envy and frigidity.

Saint Maximus the Confessor in fact states that the one who constantly scrutinizes other’s sins, or judges his brothers based on a suspicion only, has not even begun to repent, nor has he begun any research into discovering his own sins.

Many and various things can be said; but in the end, only one thing is opportune, significant and outstanding: our salvation, which we do not attend to forever. Salvation is not attained, except only through sincere repentance and clean confession.

Repentance not only opens the celestial Paradise, but also the terrestrial one, with the foretasting -albeit partial- of the ineffable joy of the endless reign of the heavens and of wonderful peace, in the present time. Those who uphold the practice of confession can be the truly and genuinely happy people; pacifist and peace-bearing; heralds of repentance, of resurrection, of transformation, freedom, grace, and with the blessing of God in their souls and their lives. “God’s bounteous Grace turns the wolf into a lamb”, says Saint John the Chrysostom.

No sin can surpass God’s love.

There is not one sinner who cannot become a saint, if he desires to. It has been proven, by the innumerable names that are recorded in the Book of Saints.

The confessor listens to confessions and absolves those confessing, under his blessed stole. He cannot however confess himself and place the stole over his own head to obtain forgiveness in the same manner. He must necessarily kneel underneath another stole to confess and be absolved.

That is the way the spiritual law functions; that is the way God’s Wisdom and Mercy have ordained. We cannot confess others, but not submit ourselves to confession; to not practice what we preach; to talk about repentance, but not to repent; to talk about confession, but not confess ourselves regularly. None of us can dethrone himself, and none can absolve himself. The unadvised, the disobedient, the unconfessed are a serious problem for the Church.

Dear brothers and sisters, the confessor’s stole can be a miraculous scalpel for the removal of malignant tumors; it can raise the dead, renew and transform the indecorous world, and bring joy to earth and heaven. Our Church has entrusted this grand ministry, this sacred service, to our priests and not to the angels, so that we might be able to approach them with ease and without fear, as fellow-sufferers and corporeal counterparts.

All the above have been deposited with sincerity and not at all pretentiously, by a co-sinner, who did not aspire to play the teacher, but a co-struggling, co-student, together with you. It was merely his desire to remind you with simple and inartistic words the Tradition of our holy mother, the Church, on the ever-opportune matter of divinely-spun and divinely-blessed Repentance and the divinely-delivered and God-favored, blessed sacrament of Confession.

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.