When a person begins to take the first steps to the Lord, he is faced with various problems. How to dress in the temple? Is it possible to come to the church wearing makeup, apply to the icons, being unclean ("critical days" in women)? How to behave in the temple? And the questions concerning these or those sacraments are constantly confounding neophytes.
Let's talk about the sacrament of confession, discuss what sins in a confession to list, how to prepare and correctly tell about the most secret.
What is sin?
Before you start a conversation about confession of sins, you need to find out the meaning of this word. Sin is a crime of God's commandments, a violation of the established law. When a worldly man transgresses through the law, he is punished. In spiritual terms, everything is much more complicated. One can often hear from people that God punishes sinners. God is merciful, He sent His Son to earth in order to save the "lost sheep." The Lord is hardly a formidable and cruel punisher; God loves both sinners and the righteous. When committing sin, a person voluntarily gives himself into the hands of unclean spirits. The sinner departs from God, forgets the Savior and falls into the power of the enemy of the Creator.
Ten Commandments
"What sins to list in confession?" - such a question is asked by those who begin their journey to the Lord. The Savior gave people the Ten Commandments, and violating them, a person sins.
For those who do not know about the commandments, we publish all ten for review:
- I am the Lord thy God; may you have no other gods before me.
- Do not make yourself an idol or any image of what is in the sky above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth; Do not worship them and do not serve them.
- Do not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; Work and do all your work for six days, and the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God.
- Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long on earth.
- Dont kill.
- Do not commit adultery.
- Do not steal.
- Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- Do not desire your neighbor's house; do not desire your neighbor’s wife, nor his slave, nor his slave, nor his ox, nor his ass, anything that is thy neighbor’s.
Lists of sins
What sins in confession should I list? Let's start by using a little hint. There are numerous pamphlets telling about human sins. A very good clue book compiled by Father John (Krestyankin). It is sold in any church shop, it is quite cheap (up to 100 rubles), the essence of sin is explained in it very capaciously.
We will arm ourselves with a book published in 2004 with the blessing of Metropolitan Sergius of Ternopol. The book is called "List of the most common sins with an explanation of their spiritual meaning." The enumeration will become the most understandable for the neophyte, many began the path to God with this little book-clue.
Metropolitan Sergius divides sins into several groups:
Against God and the church.
Against the neighbor.
Against himself.
Deadly sins.
Special mortal sins.
Sins crying out to heaven for vengeance.
Now let's talk about each group in more detail.
Sins Against God and the Church
What is included in this subgroup? What sins should be listed in the confessions relating to her? Be patient, we’ll talk about everything in order.
Sins against God is the crime of the first three commandments. This includes lack of faith, doubt about the truth of Scripture and Tradition, little jealousy in the knowledge of Christian doctrine, fascination with heresy and superstitions, distrust of God, grumble and ingratitude towards the Creator. Lack of spiritual life is another sin against the Savior. A person does not pray at all, does not attend the temple and does not proceed to the Sacraments of confession and communion or approaches the Chalice without proper preparation and reverence.
The lack of fear of the Lord, disobedience to His will, ignoring the memory of the mortal and sobriety in prayer - these sins belong to this subgroup.
Sins against the neighbor
What sins to list in confession? Is there a list of sins? Everyone should talk about what is disturbing, what they want to get rid of as soon as possible. Each has his own list, we can only suggest the main sins, which is what we are doing now.
In the first place in the list of sins against the neighbor is condemnation. People like to wash the bones of others, what can I say. There is a wonderful parable about this. The old man lived a high spiritual life. He lived in a monastery, once one of the brothers complained to the elder about the misbehavior of another brother. The wise father shook his head and only said: "Yes, the brother did not do well."
Time passed, that sinful brother died. Angels took his soul and brought it to the elder, so that he decided where to send it. Once the old man uttered only four words, but how severe was the sin of condemnation.
Vanity and vanity are sins in which a person prides himself on his education, a good life, and prosperity. The exaltation of one's person over others, the veneration of oneself as the best and the very-most, is self-esteem.
Ancestorism is a desire for leadership over others. It’s not at all necessary to sit down in the boss’s chair for this, the ability to poke one’s nose into other people's affairs and give extra advice relates to arbitrariness.
Man-pleasing is the opposite of the above sin. In an effort to please someone, to win the location of this object, a person begins to curry favor, flatter, humiliate himself, elevating him. Because of the sin of humanity, pretty scary things happen.
Envy, gloating - with these sins is clear without explanation. This also includes vengeance, vindictiveness, inability to forgive insults.
Failure to help the persecuted neighbor. The sin we fall into because of our own cowardice and cowardice. People forget the words about the need to “bear each other’s burdens”, that is, to sacrifice themselves in order to help one's neighbor.
Sins against oneself
What does the list of sins look like? What sins to list in confession? It is noted above that each person has a list. However, there are clue books to help remember long-forgotten sins. If a person first embarks on a confession, then brochures will help prepare for the sacrament, direct the neophyte to the true path.
What sins of confession need to be listed? When it comes to oneself, sins are as follows:
Despondency and despair, testifying to distrust of God. Especially assuming suicidal thoughts is disgusting to the Savior. It is necessary to repent.
Corporal excesses. Stay in bed in the morning? Eat an extra treat? Smoke or get drunk? All of the above refers to bodily excesses that must be combated.
Unscrupulousness, squandering, idleness, attachment to things - these sins hardly need explanation.
Mortal sins
The falling away of man from God, as a result of which the soul perishes. Hence the name - mortal sins. They mean seven passions that captivate a person. It is impossible to overcome these passions independently, without God's help.
We talked about what sins in the confession should be listed. The seven deadly sins are obligatory, in which one must repent. To repent and not to commit in future, and not to tell the priest about them, and then, having left the temple, set to work on the old. A person must reconsider his life, correct himself and fight with all sins, especially with these.
The seven deadly sins include pride, gloom, gluttony, fornication, envy, anger, and idleness.
Special sins
Special sins means blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Everything is forgiven by God except this sin. Of course, when the detractor repents and corrects his life, there is a chance to receive forgiveness.
Despair or excessive trust in the will of God. It would seem that the second act is bad? The fact is that a person continues to lead a particularly difficult and sinful life, completely not wanting to repent of it, but he trusts in the mercy of the Lord. Like, God have mercy, He is good.
Persistent disbelief in God. When they try to convince an individual of the existence of the Lord, the Savior reveals various miracles to "Thomas the unbeliever," but he continues to stubbornly ignore appearances and beliefs, then - forgive me. The Lord did everything to convince an unbeliever, for the rest a person is responsible independently. In which case you should not blame God later.
Sins crying out to heaven for vengeance
What sins are listed during confession? All available, but listed in this section, require special repentance:
Murder is one of the worst sins. This also includes abortion, below we talk about it.
Sodom sin. Today's fashion of same-sex love is called Sodom sin. Do you know where the name came from? From the exterminated city of Sodom. The Lord burned him for sins, including for the sin of same-sex love.
Resentment inflicted on an orphan, widow, wretched and defenseless person.
Retention earned from an employee.
Taking the last piece of bread or the last penny from the poor.
Sorrows and grievances inflicted on parents, beatings.
Are there female sins?
What does the list of sins for confession for women look like? And is there such a principle? "Female" sins include abortion, although with the participation of the spouse in this matter, the sin lies on both. Under the participation of a spouse is meant insisting on his part to have an abortion.
What list of sins in a confession for women can be? About abortion said above. This list also includes entering the temple, being "unclean," kissing (kissing) the icons in this state, touching the shrine (lighting a candle). Unclean confession and communion are also prohibited.
Unclean woman - in a state of monthly purification. As for whether it is possible to apply to icons in this state and proceed to the sacraments, there is debate. Young priests allow, the elderly swear heavily. Whom to listen to?
According to the decree of the Bishop’s meeting of 2015, a woman is forbidden to start the sacrament of communion, being in a state of impurity, without much reason. A special situation is the threat of death without repentance and communion.
These are the sins that women need to be told in confession, if they have occurred. Oh yes, one more thing! Makeup, manicure and hair coloring are considered sinful acts in which you must repent.
How to confess?
How to properly name your sins in confession is a question that often arises among neophytes. A person is embarrassed to list his own sins or does not know how to do this.
False shame comes from the evil one. He dreams of taking possession of the human soul, so he brings up thoughts about what to tell about some sins - it is shameful. Drop false doubts! The concealment of sin is unacceptable.
What about the one with a sense of shame prevailing over everyone else? There are two options for confession. According to the first, a person lists his sins verbally, and according to the second, he writes on paper. Particularly shy confessors write down a confession, and then give it to the priest or read it on their own, standing in front of the lectern.
For those who want to confess verbally - a hint: a piece of paper will help not to forget this or that sin. The most daring come to confession without any notes, focusing on their own memory. Once near the lectern, they begin to get lost. Not from forgetfulness, but from fear of the priest. Do not be afraid or shy, feel free to talk about your misconduct - grave and not very. What are the sins of confession? Everything is simple: we say “sinned / sinned”, and then the list of sins follows. In word, deed, thinking, condemnation, envy, and so on. What sins in the confession should be listed - described above.
The same principle works when writing sins on paper. People sometimes write real works in the style of: "I went to a neighbor to drink some tea. And the neighbor scolded my daughter, and I answered. It would not have been, but she was to blame." This is not a confession, but self-justification. A person going to repentance should be firmly aware of his offenses and talk about them, and not tell the priest about the evil neighbor.
First confession
When a person just begins his acquaintance with God and the church, he does not know how to confess. The first confession has a second name - general. The primitive remembers and confesses all his sins, starting at the age of seven. Up to seven years, children are considered sinless, they do not need the sacrament of repentance.
"I'm going to confession for the first time, what sins to list?" - a question often asked by a newcomer going to God. To help the penitent - help books, the speech of which is higher. There are brochures regarding children's confession. Such hints will be useful to a person preparing for a general confession. It is difficult to recall sins committed at the age of seven.
So, have you agreed? You buy brochures, write a confession on paper (so as not to forget anything), come to the priest and lay everything out as if in spirit. What confession is, how to properly name your sins to father, you now know.
Speaking of confession time. There is a very large flow of people in the parishes, and the priest has catastrophically little time. It is rare where there are priests who are ready to listen to the original for more than an hour. The first confession is very long, so if you have the opportunity, go to the nearest monastery. The monks devote much more time to the confessors than an ordinary father can afford.
And what to do in the absence of such an opportunity? Choose the church in which you want to confess, and go to the priest in advance, explaining your situation. It is possible that the priest will appoint a separate day for the first confession or indicate the hours when it is better to approach him.
A little more about confession
What does every newcomer about to begin the sacrament of confession need to know? There are several points that should be discussed separately.
First of all, time. In some churches, confession begins before the service (on Sunday), we are talking about a church where one priest serves. It is necessary to take this moment into account when going to confess. How to find out about the schedule of a temple? Call or come in person and clarify a question of interest.
The second point is the evening confession. Believe me, the best option for telling the priest more and, as a result, to repent is Saturday night. As a rule, priests come to confession closer to the end of the service or after it. In the evening there is more time and opportunity to devote the necessary attention to every penitent than on Sunday, when a good part of the confessors gathered to receive communion.
Priests are different. Someone is kind, supports and reassures during a confession, while others are strict and act so as to sober up a person. After hearing something that you don’t want at all, wait to be disappointed and leave the church forever. Better think about the words of the priest, delve into yourself. Sometimes the most offensive words and teachings are the most correct impetus to the correction of one’s own life.
And the last: starting the mystery of repentance, speak quietly. Sometimes the confessors so sincerely and loudly repent of their sins that he hears not only the line standing behind, but also the greater part of the church. Therefore, when a priest asks to speak more quietly, one should not be offended.
Conclusion
So we got acquainted with the lists of sins, talked about how to behave in confession, and touched on female repentance. Confession is a sacrament; it is necessary to prepare for it properly. And of course, you need to start confession and communion as often as possible. Once a week communion is the best option for an Orthodox Christian who visits the church regularly.