How to confess correctly and what to say to the priest: examples. Sins at confession in your own words: briefly, a list of possible sins and their description Examples of confession on paper

A Brief Instruction Before Confession (Based on materials from Orthodox publications)

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! As we prepare to begin the great sacrament of holy confession, looking at the mercy of God, let us ask ourselves whether we have shown mercy to our neighbors, whether we have reconciled with everyone, whether we have enmity against anyone in our hearts, remembering the cherished words of the Holy Gospel: "if you forgive a man their sins, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Matthew 6:14). This is the condition that we must understand and observe in the salvific work of holy repentance. However, in order to repent and receive the remission of sins, it is necessary to face your sin. And it's not that easy. Self-love, self-pity, self-justification interferes with this. A bad deed, in which our conscience convicts us, we are inclined to consider it an "accident", to blame circumstances or neighbors for it. Meanwhile, every sin in deed, word or thought is a consequence of the passion living in us - a kind of spiritual illness.

If it is difficult for us to recognize our sin, then it is even more difficult to see the passion that has taken root in us. So, you can live without suspecting the passion of pride in yourself, until someone hurts us. Then the passion will be revealed through sin: a wish for evil to the offender, a harsh insulting word, and even revenge. The fight against passions is the main thing for every Christian.

Usually people who are inexperienced in spiritual life do not see the multitude of their sins, do not feel their heaviness, their aversion to them. They say: “I didn’t do anything special”, “I only have minor sins, like everyone else”, “I didn’t steal, I didn’t kill,” - so many often begin confession. But our holy fathers and teachers, who left us prayers of repentance, considered themselves the first of sinners, with sincere conviction appealed to Christ: "No one has sinned on earth from the beginning, as I have sinned, accursed and prodigal!" The brighter the light of Christ illuminates the heart, the more clearly all the shortcomings, ulcers and wounds of the soul are recognized. And vice versa: people immersed in the darkness of sin do not see anything in their hearts, and if they see, they are not horrified, since they have nothing to compare with, for Christ is closed to them by a veil of sins. Therefore, in order to overcome our spiritual laziness and insensitivity, the Holy Church laid preparation days to the sacrament of repentance, and then to Communion - fasting. The fasting period can last from three days to a week, unless there is special advice or instructions from the confessor. At this time, one should observe fasting, keep oneself from sinful deeds, thoughts and feelings, in general, lead a temperate, repentant life, dissolved by deeds of love and Christian goodness. During the fasting period, you need to attend church services as often as possible, pray at home more than usual, devote time to reading the works of the holy fathers, the lives of saints, self-deepening and self-examination.

Understanding the moral state of your soul, you must try to distinguish between the main sins from their derivatives, the roots - from leaves and fruits. One should also beware of falling into petty suspicion of every movement of the heart, losing the sense of what is important and unimportant, getting entangled in trifles. The penitent must bring to confession not only a list of sins, but, most importantly, a feeling of repentance; not a detailed account of his life, but a broken heart.

Knowing your sins does not mean repenting of them. But what should we do if our heart, dried up from the sinful flame, is not irrigated with life-giving waters of tears? What if the infirmity of the spiritual and the “impossibility of the flesh” are so great that we are not capable of sincere repentance? But this cannot be a reason to postpone confession in anticipation of a feeling of repentance. The Lord accepts confession - sincere and conscientious - even if it is not accompanied by a strong feeling of repentance. Only this sin - petrified insensitivity - must be confessed courageously and frankly, without hypocrisy. God can touch the heart even during confession itself - soften it, refine spiritual vision, awaken a feeling of repentance.

The condition that we must certainly comply with in order for our repentance to be accepted by the Lord effectively is the forgiveness of the sins of our neighbors and reconciliation with everyone. Repentance cannot be perfect without verbal confession of sins. Sins can only be permitted in the church sacrament of repentance performed by a priest.

Confession is a feat, self-compulsion. During confession, you do not need to wait for questions from the priest, but make an effort yourself. It is necessary to name sins exactly, without obscuring the ugliness of sin with general expressions. It is very difficult, when confessing, to avoid the temptation of self-justification, to give up attempts to explain to the confessor "extenuating circumstances", from references to third parties who allegedly led us into sin. All these are signs of self-love, lack of deep repentance, continuing stagnation in sin.

Confession is not a conversation about one's shortcomings, doubts, it is not a simple awareness of the confessor about oneself, although spiritual conversation is also very important and should take place in the life of a Christian, but confession is different, it is a sacrament, and not just a pious custom. Confession is an ardent repentance of the heart, a thirst for purification, this is the second baptism. In repentance we die to sin and are resurrected to righteousness and holiness.

Having repented, we must be strengthened inwardly in the determination not to return to confessed sin. The sign of perfect repentance is hatred and aversion to sin, a feeling of lightness, purity, inexplicable joy, when sin seems just as difficult and impossible as this joy was just far away.

Human life is so diverse, the depth of our soul is so mysterious that it is difficult even to enumerate all the sins and sins that we commit. Therefore, when approaching the sacrament of holy confession, it is useful to remind ourselves of the fundamental violations of the moral law of the Holy Gospel. Let us carefully check our conscience and repent of our sins before the Lord God. The sacrament of holy repentance has the main goal - to awaken our spiritual consciousness, open our eyes to ourselves, come to our senses, deeply understand what a destructive state our soul is in, how it is necessary to seek salvation from God, ask tearfully and contritely for forgiveness of our countless sins before Him. The Lord Jesus Christ expects from us a sincere awareness of our deviations from His holy will and humble conversion to Him, as His unworthy servants, who have sinned many times and offended His Divine love for us.

We need to remember and deeply believe in the infinite mercy of God, which extends its arms to every converting sinner. There is no sin that God, in His inexpressible mercy, would not forgive a person who has shown sincere repentance for his sins, a firm determination to correct his life and not return to his former sins. Coming to confession, let us pray to God that with His almighty help He would open the doors of repentance for us, reconcile and unite us with Himself, grant the Holy Spirit for a new and renewed life. Amen!

An example of a confession.

I confess, the sinful (th) servant (a) of God (s) (name ...), to the Lord God Almighty, in Holy Trinity to the glorified and worshiped Father and Son and the Holy Spirit, and to you, honest father, all my sins, voluntary and involuntary, committed by word, or deed, or thought.

I sinned by not keeping the vows given by me at baptism, but I lied and transgressed in everything, and made myself indecent before the face of God.

He sinned with little faith, unbelief, doubt, wavering in faith, slowing down in thoughts, from the enemy planted, against God and the Holy Church, blasphemy and mockery of the shrine, doubt in the existence of God, superstition, turning to "grandmothers", healers, psychics, fortune telling, playing cards, arrogance, negligence, despair in his salvation, hope in himself and in people more than in God, forgetfulness of God's justice and lack of sufficient devotion to the will of God, did not thank God for everything.

I sinned with rebelliousness to the actions of God's providence, a stubborn desire for everything to be in my opinion, pleasing people, partial love for things. He did not try to know the will of God, did not have reverence for God, fear of Him, hope in Him, zeal for His glory, for He is glorified by a pure heart and good deeds.

He sinned with ingratitude to the Lord God for all His great and unceasing blessings, forgetting about them, grumbling at God, cowardice, despondency, hardening of his heart, lack of love for Him and failure to fulfill His holy will.

He sinned by enslaving himself to passions: voluptuousness, greed, pride, laziness, self-love, vanity, ambition, covetousness, gluttony, delicacy, secret eating, gluttony, drunkenness, smoking, drug addiction, addiction to games, spectacles and amusements.

He has sinned with God, by not fulfilling vows, by forcing others to worship and swearing, by imperviousness to sacred things, by blasphemy against God, against saints, against every holy thing, by blasphemy, calling on the name of God in vain, in bad deeds, desires, thoughts.

He sinned by disrespecting church holidays, did not go to the temple of God due to laziness and negligence, in the temple of God he stood reverently; he sinned with talking and laughter, inattention to reading and singing, absent-mindedness, wandering thoughts, vain memories, walking around the temple during worship without need; left the temple before the end of the service.

He sinned by negligence in morning and evening prayers, by abandoning the reading of the Holy Gospel, the Psalter and other Divine books, and patristic teachings.

He sinned by forgetting sins at confession, by self-justification in them and by diminishing their severity, by concealing sins, by repentance without contrition of heart; he did not make efforts to properly prepare for the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, without reconciling with his neighbors he came to confession and, in such a sinful state, dared to come to Communion.

He sinned by breaking fasts and not keeping fasting days - Wednesdays and Fridays, which are equated with the days of Great Lent, as days of remembrance of the sufferings of Christ. He sinned with intemperance in food and drink, careless and irreverent overshadowing himself with the sign of the cross.

He sinned by disobedience to superiors and elders, self-will, self-justification, laziness to work and unscrupulous performance of assigned tasks. He sinned by disrespecting his parents, by abandoning prayer for them, by not raising children in the Orthodox faith, by not honoring his elders, by impudence, waywardness and disobedience, rudeness, stubbornness.

Sinned by not having Christian love to one's neighbor, impatience, resentment, irritability, anger, harming one's neighbor, fights and quarrels, intransigence, enmity, retribution of evil for evil, unforgiveness of insults, rancor, jealousy, envy, malevolence, vindictiveness, condemnation, slander, theft, preparation and sale moonshine, "rewinding" the electric meter, appropriation of state property.

He sinned with mercilessness towards the poor, did not have compassion for the sick and crippled; sinned by avarice, greed, extravagance, covetousness, infidelity, injustice, hardness of heart, thoughts and attempts to commit suicide.

He sinned with deceit in relation to his neighbors, deceit, insincerity in dealing with them, suspicion, duplicity, gossip, ridicule, witticisms, lies, hypocritical treatment of others and flattery, human pleasing.

Sinned by forgetting about the future eternal life, forgetfulness of his death and doomsday and unreasonable, partial attachment to earthly life and its pleasures, deeds.

He sinned with the intemperance of his tongue, idle talk, idle talk, foul language, laughter, told jokes; they sinned by divulging the sins and weaknesses of their neighbor, by seductive behavior, liberty, insolence, immoderate TV watching, gambling and computer games.

He sinned with intemperance of his spiritual and bodily feelings, addiction, voluptuousness, indiscreet look at persons of the opposite sex, free treatment of them, fornication and adultery, intemperance in married life, various carnal sins, a desire to please and seduce others.

He sinned in the absence of straightforwardness, sincerity, simplicity, fidelity, truthfulness, respect, degree, caution in words, prudent silence, did not guard and did not defend the honor of others. They sinned by lack of love, temperance, chastity, modesty in words and deeds, purity of heart, non-possessiveness, mercy and humility.

We sinned with despondency, longing, sadness, sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, lust, impurity and all our feelings, thoughts, words, desires, deeds. I also repent of my other sins, which I forgot and did not remember.

I repent that I angered the Lord my God with all my sins, I sincerely regret this and wish to refrain from my sins in every possible way and to correct myself. Lord our God, with tears I pray to You, our Savior, help me to establish myself in the holy intention to live as a Christian, and forgive the sins I have confessed, as Good and Humanitarian. Amen.

You need to name only your committed sins from those listed here. The sins that are not listed here should be specifically said to the confessor. For convenience, sins can be written down on a piece of paper and read in front of a priest. Sins that were previously confessed and resolved should not be named at confession, for they have already been forgiven, but if we repeat them again, then we need to repent of them again. It is also necessary to repent of those sins that were forgotten, but are now remembered. Speaking of sins, one should not give unnecessary details and names of other persons - accomplices of sin. They must repent for themselves. Habits for sin are eradicated by prayer, fasting, abstinence, good deeds. Confession is made in the temple after the evening service or by agreement with the priest at any time. How often should one resort to this saving sacrament? As often as possible, at least in each of the four posts.

Simple Rules for Confession

Confession, especially if it is associated with fasting, almsgiving, fervent prayer, returns a person to the state in which Adam was before the fall.

Confession can be done in any setting, but it is generally accepted to confess in a church — during a divine service or at a time specially appointed by the priest. The confessor must be baptized, a member Orthodox Church, recognizing all the foundations of the Orthodox faith and repenting of their sins.

In preparation for confession, the church charter does not require either a special fast or a special prayer rule- Requires faith and repentance. However, it is recommended to read penitential prayers, fasting is also possible.

The penitent must confess his sins. It is necessary to show a general awareness of one's sinfulness, especially highlighting the passions and weaknesses most characteristic of him (for example: lack of faith, love of money, anger, etc.); and also to name those specific sins that he sees behind him, and especially those that are most burdensome to his conscience.

EIGHT MAIN PASSIONS

(think about whether these sins weigh you down)

one . Entrapment: Overeating, drunkenness, non-keeping and permission of fasts, secret eating, delicacy, generally violation of abstinence. Wrong and excessive love of the flesh, its life and peace, from which self-love is made, from which non-keeping of fidelity to God, the Church, goodness and people.

2. Fornication: Prodigal kindling, prodigal sensations and positions of the soul and heart. Acceptance of impure thoughts, conversation with them, delight in them, permission to them, slowness in them. Prodigal dreams and captivity. Non-keeping of the senses, especially the sense of touch, which is impudence, destroying all virtues. Cursing and reading voluptuous books. Fornication sins are natural: fornication and adultery. Fornication sins are unnatural.

3. Love of money: Loving money, generally loving property, movable and immovable. Desire to get rich. Reflection on the means to enrichment. Dream of wealth. Fear of old age, unexpected poverty, sickness, exile. Avarice. Greed. Unbelief in God, distrust of His Providence. Addictions or painful, excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain cares. Loving gifts. Appropriation of someone else's. Likhva. Hardness of heart to the poor brethren and to all those in need. Theft. Robbery.

4. Anger: Hot temper, acceptance of angry thoughts: dreaming of anger and vengeance, indignation of the heart with rage, clouding the mind with it; obscene shouting, argument, swearing, cruel and caustic words, stress, pushing, murder. Remembrance, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and resentment of one's neighbor.

5. Sadness: Grieving, anguish, cutting off hope in God, doubting the promises of God, ungratefulness to God for everything that happens, cowardice, impatience, not self-reproach, sorrow for one’s neighbor, grumbling, renunciation of the cross, an attempt to get off it.

6. Despondency: Laziness in every good deed, especially in prayer. Abandonment of church and private rules. Leaving unceasing prayer and soulful reading. Inattention and haste in prayer. Neglect. Irreverence. Idleness. Excessive comfort with sleep, lying down and all kinds of languor. Transition from place to place. Frequent exits from the cell, walks and visits to friends. Idle talk. Jokes. Blasphemers. Leaving bows and other bodily feats. Forgetting your sins. Forgetfulness of the commandments of Christ. Negligence. Captivity. Deprivation of the fear of God. Bitterness. Insensibility. Despair.

7. Vanity: The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly and vain honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and private things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of the body. Disposition to the perishing sciences and arts of this age, the search to succeed in them in order to acquire temporary, earthly glory. Shame to confess your sins. Hiding them before people and the spiritual father. Craftiness. Self-justification. Contradiction. Compiling your mind. Hypocrisy. Lie. Flattery. Humanity. Envy. Humiliation of the neighbor. Change of temper. Indulgence. Unscrupulousness. The temper and life are demonic.

8. Pride: Neighbor contempt. Preferring yourself to everyone. Insolence. Omra-chenie, corpulence of the mind and heart. Nailing them to the earth. Hula. Disbelief. False mind. Disobedience to the Law of God and the Church. Follow your carnal will. Reading books heretical, depraved and vain. Disobedience to authorities. A biting mockery. Abandoning Christ-like humility and silence. Loss of simplicity. Loss of love for God and neighbor. False philosophy. Heresy. Irreligion. Ignorance. Death of the soul.St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)

Brief list of sins.

• It is necessary to repent of sins committed by deed, word, and thought.

• Remember sins since the previous confession or, if you have never confessed, since the time of baptism.

• If you were baptized in infancy, try to remember from the age of six.

• "per minute" and there is no need to remember and tell in details. Suffice it to say that such and such a sin, one way or another, happened in life. In deed, in word, in thought.

• In confession, do not make excuses, but only repent.

• When confessing, try to speak to the point, without being distracted by extraneous topics.

• Don't hide sins. This makes confession invalid and redoubles the burden of sin on the soul.
• Do not try to "quickly get off" by saying: "Sinful in everything!". It is necessary to figure out exactly what, in order to identify your spiritual illnesses - the causes life problems and consciously begin their healing.
• Fasting, in the sense of eating, is not obligatory before confession.

• If you have already confessed some sin and have not committed it again, you do not need to repeat it.

• It is a sin to continue to torment yourself about what you have already repented of in confession. This is an expression of disbelief.
• Unbelief, lack of faith, doubts about the existence of God, about the truth of the Orthodox faith.
• Not keeping the law of God.
• Resentment against God.
• insulting God, Holy Mother of God, saints, holy church. The mention of the Name of God is in vain, without reverence.
• Condemnation of the clergy.
• Caring only for earthly life.
• Non-observance of the prayer rule, fasting and other church regulations.
• Non-attendance or rare visit to the temple.
• Unbaptized children. Raising children outside the Orthodox faith.
• Failure to keep promises made to God.
• Work on Sundays and major church holidays.
• Refusal prayer help near. Alive and dead.
• Non-communion or rare communion to the sacraments of repentance, communion, unction.
• Lack of Christian love.
• Lack of good deeds. Failure to provide all possible assistance to the Church.
• Committing criminal offences.
• Homicide, abortion. Attempted murder or suicide.
• Pride. Condemnation. Resentment, not a desire to reconcile, forgive. rancor.
• Envy . Malice, hatred.
• Lies, deceit.
• Backbiting, gossip. Swearing, swearing. Causing harm, damage. Insult, insult.
• Failure to fulfill parental obligations. Failure to owe parents
• Any dishonesty.

• Lack of mercy, failure to help those in need.

Greed, covetousness, money-grubbing, bribery.

• Extravagance.

• Erroneous judgments about life, the spread of their delusions.
• Seduction to any sin. Initiation, in any form, to delusions and false teachings:

different philosophical systems; schisms, heresies and sects in Christianity;

other beliefs - Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and their offshoots;

about. sects - Satanism, Dianetics (Scientology), Marmons, Jehovah's Witnesses, yoga, meditation, etc., "health" systems, false trends in psychology and

- Superstition. Belief in omens, interpretation of dreams, observance of pagan rites and holidays.

• Entering into direct communication with evil spirit. Divination, witchcraft, conspiracies, love spells, magic.

• Any games and actions with cards.

• Drinking, drug addiction, smoking.
• Fornication. (Sexual satisfaction is illegal, that is, outside of marriage or in a perverted form.)
• Failure to save marriage. Divorce.
• Despondency, sadness. Gluttony. Laziness. Self-justification.
• Unwillingness to work for one's own salvation.

At the end of the confession, one can say this: I have sinned (a) in deed, in word, in thoughts, with all the feelings of the soul and body. Do not list all my sins, according to their multitude. But in all my sins, both expressed and forgotten, I repent.

God! Be merciful to me a sinner (sinner)

AT modern world The gospel call to always be awake and pray without ceasing is very difficult to put into practice. Constant worries, a very high pace of life, especially in large cities, practically deprive Christians of the opportunity to retire and stand before God in prayer. But the concept of prayer is still extremely relevant, and it is certainly necessary to turn to it. Regular prayer always leads to the thought of repentance, which occurs at confession. Prayer is an example of how you can accurately and objectively assess your state of mind.

Concept of sin

Sin should not be seen as some kind of legal violation of a God-given law. This is not a “going beyond” accepted in the mind, but a violation of the laws that are natural for human nature. Every individual is endowed by God absolute freedom, respectively, any falls are committed consciously. In fact, by committing sin, a person neglects the commandments and values ​​given from above. There is a free choice in favor of negative deeds, thoughts and other actions. Such a spiritual crime harms the personality itself, damaging the very vulnerable inner strings of human nature. Sin is based on passions, inherited or acquired, as well as original susceptibility, which made a person mortal and weaker to various diseases and vices.

This greatly contributes to the fact that the soul deviates towards evil and immorality. Sin is different, its severity, of course, depends on many factors in which it is committed. There is a conditional division of sins: against God, against neighbor and against oneself. Considering your own deeds through such a gradation, you can understand how to write a confession. An example will be discussed below.

Consciousness of sin and confession

It is extremely important to understand that in order to eliminate dark spiritual spots, you should constantly turn your inner gaze on yourself, analyze your actions, thoughts and words, and objectively evaluate the moral scale of your own values. Having found disturbing and haunting features, you need to carefully deal with them, because if you turn a blind eye to sin, you will very soon get used to it, which will distort the soul and lead to spiritual illness. The main way out of this situation is repentance and repentance.

It is repentance that grows from the depths of the heart and mind that can change a person for the better, bring the light of kindness and mercy. But the path of repentance is a lifelong path. He is prone to sin and will commit it every day. Even the great ascetics who secluded themselves in deserted places sinned with thoughts and could repent daily. Therefore, close attention to one's soul should not weaken, and with age, the criteria for personal assessment should be subjected to more stringent requirements. The next step after repentance is confession.

An example of correct confession is true repentance

In Orthodoxy, confession is recommended for all people over the age of seven. A child brought up in a Christian family, by the age of seven or eight, already acquires an idea of ​​the sacrament. Often it is prepared in advance, explaining in detail all aspects of this difficult issue. Some parents show an example of a confession written on paper, which was invented in advance. A child left alone with such information has the opportunity to reflect and see something in himself. But in the case of children, priests and parents rely primarily on the psychological state of the child and his worldview, the ability to analyze and realize the criteria of good and evil. With excessive haste in forcibly attracting children, one can sometimes observe deplorable results and examples.

Confessions in the church often turn into a formal "roll call" of sins, while the performance of only the "outer" part of the sacrament is unacceptable. You can not try to justify yourself, to hide something embarrassing and shameful. You need to listen to yourself and understand whether repentance is really present, or whether there is just an ordinary ritual ahead that will not bring any benefit to the soul, but can cause significant harm.

Confession is a voluntary and repentant enumeration of sins. This sacrament includes two main parts:

1) Confession before the priest of sins by a person who has come to the sacrament.

2) Prayerful forgiveness and resolution of sins, which the shepherd pronounces.

Preparation for confession

A question that torments not only novice Christians, but sometimes even those who have been churched for a long time - what to say in confession? An example of how to repent can be found in various sources. It can be a prayer book or a separate book dedicated to this particular sacrament.

When preparing for confession, one can rely on the commandments, ordeals, take the example of the confession of holy ascetics who left notes and sayings on this topic.

If we build a penitential monologue on the basis of the division of sins into three types given above, then we can determine an incomplete, approximate list of deviations.

Sins against God

This category includes lack of faith, superstition, lack of hope in God's mercy, formality and lack of faith in the tenets of Christianity, grumbling and ungratefulness of God, and oaths. This group includes an irreverent attitude towards objects of veneration - icons, the Gospel, the Cross, and so on. Mention should be made of skipping services for an unexcused reason and leaving obligatory rules, prayers, and also if the prayers were read hastily, without attention and the necessary concentration.

Adhering to various sectarian teachings, thoughts of suicide, turning to sorcerers and soothsayers, wearing mystical talismans is considered apostasy, and this must be brought to confession. An example of this category of sins is, of course, approximate, and each person can supplement or shorten this list.

Sins against neighbor

This group considers the attitude towards people: relatives, friends, colleagues and just casual acquaintances and strangers. The first thing that is most often clearly revealed in the heart is the lack of love. Often, instead of love, there is a consumer attitude. Inability and unwillingness to forgive, hatred, gloating, malevolence and revenge, stinginess, condemnation, gossip, lies, indifference to someone else's misfortune, mercilessness and cruelty - all these ugly splinters human soul must be confessed. Separately, actions are indicated in which there was open self-harm or material harm was caused. It can be fights, extortion, robbery.
The gravest sin is abortion, which will certainly entail church punishment after it is taken to confession. An example of what punishment can be is learned from the parish priest. As a rule, penance is imposed, but it will be more disciplinary than redemptive.

Sins directed against oneself

This group is reserved for personal sins. Despondency, terrible despair and thoughts of one's own hopelessness or exorbitant pride, contempt, vanity - such passions can poison a person's life and even drive him to suicide.

Thus, listing all the commandments one by one, the pastor calls for a detailed examination of the state of mind and checking whether it corresponds to the essence of the message.

About brevity

Priests often ask to confess briefly. This does not mean that it is not necessary to name some kind of sin. We must try to talk specifically about sin, but not about the circumstances in which it was committed, without involving third parties who may be somehow involved in the situation, and without describing in detail the details. If repentance occurs in the church for the first time, you can sketch an example of confession on paper, then during the exposure of oneself in sins it will be easier to get together, convey to the priest and, most importantly, to God absolutely everything noticed, without forgetting anything.

It is recommended to pronounce the name of the sin itself: lack of faith, anger, insult or condemnation. This will be enough to convey what worries and weighs heavily on the heart. “Extracting” exact sins from oneself is not an easy task, but this is how a short confession is created. An example may be the following: “Sinned (a): pride, despondency, foul language, fear of little faith, excessive idleness, bitterness, lies, ambition, abandonment of services and rules, irritability, temptation, bad and unclean thoughts, excess in food, laziness. I also repent of those sins about which I forgot (a) and did not utter (la) now.

Confession, of course, is a difficult task that requires effort and self-denial. But when a person gets used to the purity of heart and tidiness of the soul, he will no longer be able to live without repentance and the sacrament of communion. A Christian will not want to lose the newly acquired connection with the Almighty and will only strive to strengthen it. It is very important to approach spiritual life not in jerks, but sedately, carefully, regularly, to be “faithful in little things”, not forgetting gratitude to God in absolutely all life situations.

When a person wants to open up before God in his misdeeds, he does not always understand how to do it. Of particular difficulty are sins at confession. Not everyone can formulate a list in their own words briefly. Which ones are important and which ones can be skipped? What exactly is considered sin?

Rite of Penance

Confession in the Christian faith is a confession of committed sins before a priest who is a witness of your repentance on behalf of Christ. With special prayers and permissive words, the priest forgives the sins of all who sincerely regret them. According to the rules of the Christian Church:

1. Everyone who is already 7 years old can pass the ceremony.
2. The representative of the church cannot force confession. This decision is voluntary.

During the procedure, the layman must list everything that he considers necessary. If he finds it difficult, the Holy Father can push him with leading questions. It is better when every Orthodox has his own spiritual mentor, who knows a person from childhood and can help him grow spiritually, to act not only as a priest, but also as a teacher.

Today, according to all laws, confession is a secret matter, and a priest cannot be convicted if he refused to reveal the facts known to him from the confession. This is done so that any person can cleanse his soul, since everyone has the right to do so. In order to feel confident with a priest, you need to think everything over well in advance and get ready.

How to prepare for confession in church?

Here are some tips given by spirit guides:

1. You need to understand and understand what you did wrong. Realize your misdeeds committed before God and people.
2. Get ready for a simple conversation. Do not think that now I will require you to know some special church language. Everything is like people in the world.
3. Do not be afraid to confess even the most terrible, in your opinion, sins. God knows everything and you won't surprise him. However, like a priest. During the years of his ministry, he heard everything. In addition, we are all the same for the most part, so you cannot tell him anything particularly new. Don't worry, he won't judge. This is not why the Holy Father came to the service.
4. Don't talk about small things. Think about serious things. Remember how you treated God and your neighbors. By close people, the church understands everyone you have met and even managed to offend.
5. Ask for forgiveness from those who are near personally, who are far away - mentally.
6. Read special prayers the day before.

Confession must become regular for a person who wants to spiritually grow above himself. This will help you take a more responsible attitude towards your life and the people around you.

In this video, all the answers to your questions about this rite will be given:

How to write sins for confession?

It is believed that when listing your misdeeds, it is wrong to use their list. It needs to be pronounced like this. But some people get nervous and can't get their thoughts together, so you can draft a draft for yourself. This will help put your thoughts in order and not forget anything.

Divide the sheet of paper into these columns:

1. Sins against God.

Here you write:

• Blasphemy.
• Failure to fulfill your vows.
• Thoughts of suicide.
• dissatisfaction with fate.

1. Sins against relatives.

Namely:

• Parent disrespect.
• Resentment.
• Envy, malice, hatred.
• Slander.
• Condemnation.

1. Crimes against your soul:

• Laziness.
• Narcissism.
• Foul language.
• Self-justification.
• Fornication.
• Disbelief.
• Impatience.

What sins to list at confession?

So, let's try to highlight in more detail the most common and requiring attention in the list:

• I allowed myself to be dissatisfied with the life given to me by God and the people around me.
• She had the courage to scold her children and be angry with her loved ones.
• I doubted honesty.
• She condemned others for their sins, weakness.
• I ate unhealthy food and drank unhealthy drinks.
• I did not forgive those who offended me.
• Frustrated due to losses.
• Used someone else's work.
• She did not protect herself from diseases and did not go to the doctors.
• I cheated myself.
• She celebrated the holidays with booze and earthly hobbies.
• Laugh at someone else's misconduct.
• She believed in signs, followed them.
• Wishing for death.
• She set a bad example in her life.
• I was fond of trying on clothes and jewelry.
• She slandered people.
• I was looking for the culprits of my problems.
• Visited fortune-tellers, psychics.
• It was the cause of discord between people.
• Jealous.
• She used food for pleasure, not to satisfy hunger.
• I was lazy.
• I was afraid of suffering.

We tried to remember and pick up the most life situations. As you can see, some of the sins are truly feminine. But there are those that only the strong half of humanity does. We also dismantled them and issued a list below.

Repentance for a man

Here is such a blank for men who cannot formulate some of their misdeeds, or maybe they did not notice them at all:

• I doubted God, faith, life after death.
• He laughed at the unfortunate, miserable.
• He was lazy, vain, proud.
• Avoided military service.
• Didn't perform duties.
• Fought, rowdy.
• Insulted.
• Seduced married women.
• He drank, took drugs.
• Refused to help those who asked.
• Stole.
• Humiliated, boasted.
• Engaged in mercenary disputes.
• Hamil and behaved arrogantly.
• I was afraid.
• Played games of chance.
• Thought about suicide.
• He told dirty jokes.
• Didn't repay the debt.
• Noisy in the temple.

Of course, it is impossible to list all the sins. Everyone also has some that are hard to guess. But now you will understand how to think. It turns out that the elementary things to which we seem to be accustomed are a sin.

So, we tried to help you figure out what sins can be called in confession. The list in their own words was briefly drawn up as a list in this article for convenience.

Video: what to say in confession to a priest

In this video, Archpriest Andrey Tkachev will tell you how to properly prepare for confession, what words to say to the holy father:

Every day of an ordinary or churchly, worldly person passes in sins. We sometimes do not even notice these offenses or do not attach importance to them. Yes, we do not do terrible and terrible things, but we hold grudges, we are lazy, we envy, we watch TV a lot or we discuss and condemn the girl next door - all these are sins.

In the modern world, when a person is surrounded by so many temptations, various, conflicting information flows in a stream, it is difficult to control oneself, one's mind. A person whose thoughts are weighed down by worries about his own mistakes suffers, sometimes even falls ill. But an Orthodox Christian knows that one can repent of one's sins, and then the soul will feel better, the spirit will be strengthened and the body will be healthier, and life will again sparkle with bright colors.

Confession is a sacrament, in which the penitent tells his sins to the clergyman and gets rid of them. To prepare for confession and communion, you should make a note with the sins that a person wants to repent of. Usually this is a small piece of paper listing sinful deeds and thoughts. Why a list sheet? Because during confession a person can get worried, get confused (especially if confession is the first in a person’s life) and not tell about something. And then, being at home in a calm environment, remember this and suffer again.

How to make a note?

As mentioned above, you should prepare and write down your sins on a piece of paper. But, before you sit down to write, you should think and remember all those acts that Orthodox world are considered objectionable to the Lord God. It is from the moment of awareness and recognition of the offense that the believer repents.

Important to remember that a note with sins is not a certificate with a given format - such and such a sin, sinned so many times. This is not a legal document. This is a leaf with the repentance of your soul, your conscience. You need to understand that this small memo is needed for the confessor, so that at the moment of excitement he does not forget to tell about everything that weighs.

It is worth writing in a note the mistakes that you made, in your opinion, starting from a conscious age (about 6 years old). If you once already asked for forgiveness for something, and no longer committed this deed, then you do not need to return and repent of it again. One time is enough. If you remember the same sin over and over again, then you have weak faith, which in turn is also considered an offense. Therefore, confess once and do not return to this topic again.

Sample note:

I didn’t keep the post, I wanted to earn money more money, had an abortion, devoted little time to prayers and rarely visited the temple, did not baptize the child, fell into despondency, was lazy, complained about her position, envied and got angry, wondered.

What should be written?

If repentance occurs for the first time, it is worth describing the most important offenses:

Sins against the Lord God. This includes:

1. disbelief in the existence, as well as the denial of the existence of God;
2. atheism (it manifests itself among worldly people in that they think they believe in God, but do not confirm this with their everyday actions);
3. creation and worship of some idol. (Whether it be some person or money, any material values).

List of sins against neighbor. This includes:

1. own pride and selfishness, as well as a dismissive attitude towards other people, inattention to the needs of those who suffer;
2. discussing and condemning other people;
3. fornication sins - treason, cohabitation, the so-called civil marriage (however, it should be noted that an unmarried, but painted in the registry office, a couple is not considered prodigal);
4. abortion (you should repent even if the abortion occurred for medical reasons or under pressure from another person);
5. appropriation of someone else's property (theft, non-payment or delay in payment of wages);
6. False.

You need to try to write down your sins in ordinary human language, without distorting them with church names. It is very important to describe all the sins without hiding anything. The priest should not be afraid, shy and think that he will condemn you for doing something. On the contrary, he will rejoice for you that you are correcting yourself, since you have decided to confess on such an important issue for you. During the service, the priest listens to a very large number of confessions, moreover, they are usually of the same type, so trust him and tell everything that worries you.

Important! Don't try to justify yourself by listing wrongdoings. Confession is needed to recognize and accept your sins.

You should not fill out a note with phrases such as “embroidered on a holiday” or “ate a cutlet in fasting.” Confession means turning and returning oneself and one's thoughts to God, forgiving one's loved ones, and not listing worldly hardships in the form of non-observance of fasting.

After writing, you should have a feeling of peace, which will intensify after you voice the contents of this note to the priest at the sacrament.

If you still have a very long list of sins, you can arrange for a personal conversation with the clergyman so as not to delay other parishioners, but also satisfy your need for a long and sincere conversation with the priest.

Remember: it is important not only to write a list of mistakes, but also to start correcting your life, without waiting for the moment of confession.

home » Attic » How to confess correctly and what to say to the priest: examples. Sins at confession in your own words: briefly, a list of possible sins and their description Examples of confession on paper