Unfortunately, none of us are perfect. But there are times when we just need to turn to God - with a request or for comfort. And in order for our words to be heard, we need to go through the sacrament of confession, to be cleansed of bad thoughts and sins. However, not all so simple. Confession must be prepared carefully and seriously.
Preparation stages
The preparation for confession consists of several stages. First, you need to understand what exactly should be said. We are used to consider ourselves good, good, positive people. It’s rare that anyone even dares to confess to himself not too specious matters and thoughts, and even bring them to someone’s court, to make them a subject of discussion ... It seems to us that the way we do, most people act, and no one pokes anyone with your fingers. Preparing for a confession helps to recognize the wrongfulness of such an opinion. The fact that someone does the same as us does not remove the seal of sinfulness from our actions. To understand this and sincerely repent, to want to get rid of sins - this is what the sacrament implies.
The next step is to cope with your embarrassment. It is especially strong when such a conversation with the Lord comes before the first time. Preparation for confession includes the attitude that the priest who will listen to us is not just a person, but a kind of connecting link between us and God. He is appointed by the Higher Power to fulfill the Sacrament of Penance. Therefore, embarrassing him or trying to hide something is the same as hiding from the all-seeing eye of the Most High. Thus, preparation for confession is a very, very serious spiritual work of a person on himself. It will give us the opportunity to come to a decision to say goodbye to sins alone and to strongly fight our other godly habits.
What Confession Rules Should Know Beforehand
Going to church, we tune in to the fact that our confession, our Act will be pleasing to God and accepted by Him. This will happen if our words come from the heart, with maximum sincerity, without embellishment and efforts to whitewash, justify ourselves, with humility and fear of the Lord. What are the basic confessional rules?
- Preparing to confess sins requires recognizing and telling your own, not someone else's. After all, we will ask for forgiveness for ourselves, and not for our neighbor;
- Do not confess anything at confession. It is necessary to clearly and concretely state what we have done in our life “not so”, where we stumbled or were mistaken, to whom we caused pain and evil;
- Confession in the church does not provide for again and again to recall those misconduct in which we have already repented and for which we received forgiveness. Repeat is possible and even necessary only if we commit our sin again;
- But you can’t hide anything either. Otherwise, it may seem that we do not realize the seriousness of what is happening, we treat the process superficially, and, by and large, we do not take God himself seriously, we play hide and seek. Such an attitude, of course, is unacceptable. By this we only make the burden of our sins more heavy, we make them unbearable;
- The main goal of confession is not only to be forgiven, so that the priest will say the appropriate prayer over us. The goal is to abandon the previous unrighteous life and realize the desire to start a new life, like a child of God. If this is not in us, then confession will turn into a simple retelling of everyday stories, without enlightenment and purification. And there will be no sense in this;
- Preparing for confession, you should fast and lead a modest lifestyle, read the Bible and spiritual literature. The father to whom you turn will give appropriate instructions and instructions.
Confession is a responsible event, it imposes a number of duties on a person. Observing them is the task of those who want to find in God a reliable support and guiding force for all earthly life.