The sacrament of communion in the Orthodox. Communion is the grace-filled introduction of the soul to eternal life

How to prepare for confession and communion? Preparing for confession and communion, especially for the first time, raises many, many questions. I remember my first communion. How difficult it was for me to figure everything out. In this article you will get answers to the questions: what to say in confession to a priest - an example? How to take communion and confession correctly? rules for communion in church? How to confess for the first time? how to prepare for communion? The answer to these questions is given by the modern Greek preacher Archimandrite Andrei (Konanos) and other priests.

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Communion was instituted by Jesus Christ Himself at his last meal with the Apostles. The modern Greek preacher and theologian Archimandrite Andrei (Konanos) says, if people realized what a gift of unity with God they receive during communion, because now the blood of Christ flows in their veins... if they realized this fully, their lives would change a lot!

But, unfortunately, most people during communion are like children playing with precious stones and those who do not understand their value.

Rules for communion can be found in any Temple. They are usually presented in a small book called “HOW TO PREPARATE FOR HOLY COMMUNION.” These are the simple rules:

• Before communion you need Fast for 3 days- eat only plant foods (no meat, dairy products and eggs).
• Need to be at the evening service the day before communion.
• Need to confess either at the evening service or on the day of communion at the very beginning of the liturgy (the morning service, during which communion takes place).
• Need a few more days pray hard- to do this, read the morning and evening prayers and read the canons: Canon of repentance to our Lord Jesus Christ ,
  Canon of prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos,
  Canon to the Guardian Angel,
  Follow-up to Holy Communion *. * If you have never read the Canons (in Church Slavonic), you can listen to the audio (available on prayer book sites at the links provided).
• You need to take communion on an empty stomach (do not eat or drink anything in the morning). An exception is made for sick people, such as diabetics, for whom food and medicine are vital.

If you begin to receive communion at every liturgy, every Sunday, your confessor will be able to allow you to fast less and not read all the indicated prayers. Don’t be afraid to ask the priest and consult with him.

How is communion celebrated in church?

Suppose you decide to take communion on Sunday. This means that the night before (Saturday) you need to come to the evening service. Usually the evening service in Temples begins at 17:00. Find out what time the liturgy (morning service) begins on Sunday, at which the communion itself will take place. Usually, the morning service in Temples begins at 9:00. If there was no confession at the evening service, then you confess at the beginning of the morning service.

About halfway through the service, the Priest will remove the Chalice from the altar. Everyone who was preparing for communion gathers near the chalice and folds their hands on their chest, right over left. They approach the bowl carefully so as not to tip it over. The priest gives the communicants the Holy Gifts with a spoon - a piece of the body and blood of Christ under the guise of bread and wine.

After this, you need to go to the end of the Temple, where you will be given a drink. This is water diluted with wine. You need to drink it down so that not a single drop or crumb of the Eucharist is wasted. Only after this can you cross yourself. At the end of the service you need to listen thanksgiving prayers.

How to prepare for confession? What to say to a priest in confession - an example? List of sins

The main rule in confession, which priests always remind us of, is not to recount sins. Because if you start retelling the story of how you committed a sin, then you will unwittingly begin to justify yourself and blame others. Therefore, in confession, sins are simply named. For example: pride, envy, foul language, etc. And so as not to forget anything, use a list of sins against God, against neighbors, against oneself(usually such a list is in the book “HOW TO PREPARE FOR HOLY COMMUNION.”

Write down your sins on a piece of paper so you don’t forget anything. Come to the Temple early in the morning so as not to be late for confession and common prayer before confession. Before confession, go to the priest, cross yourself, venerate the Gospel and the cross, and begin listing your pre-recorded sins. After confession, the priest will read a prayer of permission and tell you whether you are allowed to receive communion.

It very rarely happens when a priest, for your correction, does not allow you to take communion. This is also a test of your pride.

It is important during confession, naming a sin, to promise yourself not to repeat it. It is very important on the eve of communion to reconcile with your enemies and forgive your offenders.

How to confess for the first time?

The first confession is often called the general confession. As a rule, a piece of paper with a list of sins includes almost all the sins from the list of sins against God, one’s neighbor and oneself. The priest will probably understand that you have come to confession for the first time and will help you with advice on how to try not to repeat sins and mistakes.

I hope the article “How to prepare for confession and communion?” will help you decide and go to confession and communion. This is important for your soul, because confession is the cleansing of the soul. We wash our bodies every day, but we don’t care about the purity of our souls!

If you have never confessed or received communion and it seems to you that it is very difficult to prepare, I recommend that you still perform this feat. The reward will be great. I assure you that you have never experienced anything like this before. After communion, you will feel an extraordinary and incomparable spiritual joy.

The most difficult thing usually seems to be reading the canons and following to Holy Communion. Indeed, it is difficult to read the first time. Use the audio recording and listen to all these prayers over 2-3 evenings.

Listen in this video to the story of priest Andrei Tkachev about how much time (usually several years) separates a person from the desire to go to the first confession until the moment of the first confession.

I wish everyone to enjoy life and thank God for everything!

Alena Kraeva

Orthodox Christians treat church sacraments with special trepidation and respect. And if some of them are more understandable, not everyone knows such communion in church.

Under this concept lies a sacred act, thanks to which Divine grace descends on a person. It cannot be seen with the eyes, but it can be felt with all the heart.

There are seven main sacraments: marriage, priesthood, confirmation, baptism, repentance and communion. ABOUT the last three Jesus Christ told the world of them. What is communion in church, how and why is it done. This is one of the most revered sacred rites. It also has a second name – Eucharist, which means “thanksgiving”.

During its execution, the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ occurs. Participants receive these sacred gifts of purification by participating in the sacrament.

The fact is that the church considers not only the material essence of a person, but to a greater extent its spiritual component. And just as the flesh needs food to maintain physical life, so the soul needs spiritual food.

The procedure for conducting the sacrament of communion was inherited by priests from ancient times, when the birth of the Church of Christ took place.

All actions are performed exactly as it was at the last supper of Christ with his apostles. Then Jesus Christ himself, breaking bread, blessed his disciples. Wine was taken from a common bowl, dipping pieces of bread into it.

Note! Thanks to tasting divine gifts, a person is cleansed of passions, receives peace and harmony with the external and internal world.

Meaning

What does the Eucharist give to the believer, why is it necessary? Orthodox Christian. It serves as a reminder of the sacrifice that the Savior made in the name of every person. His body was nailed to the cross and his blood was shed so that every sinner could gain eternal life.

According to Orthodox doctrine, when the Day of Judgment comes, those who have undergone the ritual of communion after the resurrection will be able to reunite with God.

Sin is inevitable on earth, and just as contaminated blood requires renewal, so the soul suffers if it does not receive strength for restoration. And the believer finds it through thanksgiving.

Everyone who receives the blood and body of Christ is cured of passions, finds peace and joy of life. He will take a conscious step towards purification, improvement and salvation of the soul. This is the meaning of the sacrament.

Timing

A true Christian life is not led by those who attend church in holidays and gives alms, but the one who tries to live by faith and keep the commandments that were given by Christ. This is the only way to fulfill the will of God. But faith in which there is no love is dead and cannot serve as a road to eternal life.

People wonder how often communion is needed in church. The answer will be ambiguous; different demands were made in different eras. At the dawn of Christianity, believers received communion daily, and those who missed the sacrament three times were considered to have “fallen away” from the church and were excluded from the community.

Over time, the tradition has changed, and now the clergy do not insist on the same frequency. But it is recommended to take communion at least once a year. IN Tsarist Russia parishioners received thanksgiving before fasting, for example, on the day when they celebrated their name day.

You can participate in the sacrament on the twelve feasts celebrated by the church. But the most correct advice would be this: take communion at the behest of your soul. This should not be a clear schedule, but an internal spiritual message. Otherwise the sacrament is lost main value and meaning for humans.

Before undergoing the sacrament, careful preparation is required: reading the sequence and canons, observing fasting. Without sincere faith, without effort and achievement, it is impossible to receive salvation.

During the sacrament, you must take a submissive pose, crossing your arms in front of you on your chest and bowing your head, approach the clergyman, and say your name. Having received the gifts, one must kiss the cup with the Holy Gifts and peacefully step aside, giving way to the next communicant.

Having received the prosphora and water, called “warmth” in the church, you need to drink it and eat a piece of the prosphora.

It is important to be extremely careful not to catch the cup, so it is better not to cross yourself while being close to it. After communion, you should not rush to leave the temple. You must wait until the end of the service. When the priest finishes his sermon from the pulpit, come up and kiss the cross. After this you can leave the temple.

Important! Throughout the day, you should try to maintain peace of mind and avoid quarrels and conflicts. Spend time praying or reading the Bible in a quiet environment.

The Church teaches that confession and communion contribute to the purification of the soul, lighten it, filling it healing power and grace. A person becomes more sensitive to bad deeds, realizes the boundary between good and evil, strengthens in true faith and finds the strength to resist temptation.

Another question that worries parishioners is who can receive communion. Any person who has received holy baptism has the right to participate in the sacrament.

Moreover, this is highly desirable and even obligatory for a Christian, but it cannot be approached without preliminary preparation souls and bodies. The ritual is preceded by prayer, fasting and confession of one’s sins.

Interesting! What is: when and how to pray correctly.

Set of rules

The Eucharist, like other church sacraments, has its own laws. So, in order to undergo repentance, you need to listen to your soul and come to church when it asks.

Preparing for communion in church is not only about following the instructions, but about prayer, sincere faith and a special mental attitude.

Rules to follow:

1. It is important to be in awe of the upcoming event.
2. Understand the meaning of the sacrament itself.
3. Sincerely believe in God and his son.
4. Feel peace and forgiveness.

This must be known and followed.

Preparation

The climax Divine Liturgy is the sacrament, preparation for it requires time and effort. During the main church service, believers turn to God with gratitude for saving humanity from sin.

Before or after the liturgy, a general confession takes place, provided for those who repented individually no later than a month ago.

It is important to know! You cannot begin communion without confessing your sins. An exception is provided for children under 7 years of age, but parents must prepare for them.

In order for repentance of sins to proceed correctly, it is necessary to think about your actions in advance and correlate them with the commandments of Christ. It is important to try to forgive everyone and not hold evil in your heart.

1. Prayer canon to the Blessed Virgin Mary
2. Penitential canon Our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Canon to the Guardian Angel.

At midnight, stop eating. With the permission of the priest, an exception may be made for pregnant, nursing women, children and the severely weakened.

First Communion

Only church members have the right to take part in church sacraments. The first time a child becomes a participant in this ritual is immediately after baptism has been performed.

The clergy teach that after receiving communion in church, the baby receives the protection of a Guardian Angel who will accompany him throughout his life.

It is recommended that children be accompanied by their biological parents and future parents. godfathers and mother. Some of them will bring the child to the Chalice, some will help calm him down if he bursts into tears or is capricious.

You can learn about what the first joining to God is like from special literature, which talks about what needs to be prepared.

If the child is not yet three years old, then he is allowed to relax the fast and eat in the morning, but so that this happens no later than thirty minutes before participating in the sacrament.

It is important that the little person feels good and calm. To do this, you need to avoid noisy games and other entertainment that can overstimulate nervous system. It is necessary to ensure that the clothes the child wears are convenient and comfortable, and nothing bothers him.

You don’t have to buy expensive outfits for your first communion in church and wear fancy hairstyles. What is important here is something completely different. In addition, expensive suits can cause envy among poor families, so parents should be wise and dress their child cleanly, but not pompously.

The clergy will explain how infants receive communion and what is necessary for this. The child is held on right hand, holding it so that he could not accidentally knock over the Thicket or push the priest.

If for some reason it was not possible to take communion immediately after baptism, it is better to do it as soon as possible, as soon as the opportunity arises.

There have been cases more than once when a sick child, having received thanksgiving, began to feel much better and soon completely recovered.

The Eucharist is a step that leads to real Christian life, so it is not surprising that church ministers recommend participating in it every Sunday.

When should first communion take place? A child begins to confess at about 8 years of age. But age is not the main guideline; the main indicator that a son or daughter is ready for this is that they begin to consciously commit bad acts.

Having noticed this, parents should prepare the child throughout the year with the help of spiritual mentor to fulfill God's Commandments and repentance.

How to fast

It is always necessary to observe a liturgical fast before communion, which involves abstaining from food and water for 24 hours. You can ask the priest what to eat and drink on such days. It should be lean food.

But fasting is not only about introducing food restrictions. It is necessary to get a mental mood, and this can only be done by consciously avoiding entertainment events, watching entertainment and music shows.

Both the body and soul of a person should strive for purity. Even married couples should avoid physical intimacy the day before communion. This must be done consciously.

And if a certain relaxation in food is introduced for the sick and children, then strict fasting begins exactly at midnight. In the morning you should go to the temple on an empty stomach, and those who suffer from the sin of smoking should abstain from this addiction for a while.

Preparation procedure:

1. For exactly three days it is necessary to refrain from various delights and give preference to modest food: dishes from cereals, vegetables, fish, nuts and fruits are allowed.
2. Alcohol, meat, milk and eggs are prohibited.
3. Try not to get into conflicts and not to swear.
4. In your thoughts, strive for good, driving away envy, anger, and resentment.
5. Refrain from any kind of entertainment.
6. Keep the body strict, avoiding pleasures, viewing entertainment programs and reading romance novels.
7. Keep the commandments of Christ, make peace with those with whom you are in quarrel.

Now it is much easier for believers to abstain from food. Modern manufacturers offer a sufficient range of lean products, which in their own way taste qualities is in no way inferior to the real thing.

The table lists what you can eat during Lent before communion itself:

Useful video: Preparing for Communion

Let's sum it up

There is no way to receive holy gifts age restrictions. The doors of the church are always open to those who want to let God into their body and gain unity with him.

Communion should not be scary, and preparation for it should take place with the blessing of the priest. And if you have never had to take part in this sacrament before, you should not be afraid of something new. Trust the Lord, and with his help everything will work out.

Confession (repentance) is one of seven Christian Sacraments, in which the repentant, confessing his sins to the priest, with the visible forgiveness of sins (reading a prayer of absolution), is invisibly absolved from them. By the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This sacrament was established by the Savior, who said to His disciples: “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (untie) on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, verse 18). And in another place: “Receive the Holy Spirit: whose sins you forgive, their sins are forgiven; on whomever you leave it, it will remain on him” (Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 22-23). The apostles transferred the power to “bind and loose” to their successors - the bishops, who in turn, when performing the Sacrament of ordination (priesthood), transfer this power to the priests.

The Holy Fathers call repentance the second baptism: if at baptism a person is cleansed from the power of original sin, transmitted to him at birth from our first parents Adam and Eve, then repentance washes him from the filth of his own sins, committed by him after the Sacrament of Baptism.

In order for the Sacrament of Repentance to be accomplished, the following are necessary on the part of the penitent: awareness of his sinfulness, sincere heartfelt repentance for his sins, the desire to leave the sin and not repeat it, faith in Jesus Christ and hope in His mercy, faith that the Sacrament of Confession has the power to cleanse and wash away, through the prayer of the priest, sincerely confessed sins.

The Apostle John says: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1st Epistle of John, chapter 1, verse 7). At the same time, you hear from many: “I don’t kill, I don’t steal, I don’t

I commit adultery, so what should I repent of?” But if we take a closer look at God's commandments, we will find that we sin against many of them. Conventionally, all sins committed by a person can be divided into three groups: sins against God, sins against neighbors and sins against oneself.

Ingratitude to God.

Disbelief. Doubt in faith. Justifying one's disbelief through an atheistic upbringing.

Apostasy, cowardly silence when they blaspheme the faith of Christ, failure to wear pectoral cross, visiting various sects.

Taking the name of God in vain (when the name of God is mentioned not in prayer or in pious conversation about Him).

Oath in the name of the Lord.

Fortune telling, treatment with whispering grandmothers, turning to psychics, reading books on black, white and other magic, reading and distributing occult literature and various false teachings.

Thoughts about suicide.

Playing cards and other gambling games.

Failure to comply with morning and evening prayer rules.

Failure to visit the temple of God on Sundays and holidays.

Failure to observe fasts on Wednesday and Friday, violation of other fasts established by the Church.

Light (non-daily) reading Holy Scripture, soulful literature.

Breaking vows made to God.

Despair in difficult situations and disbelief in God's Providence, fear of old age, poverty, illness.

Absent-mindedness during prayer, thoughts about everyday things during worship.

Condemnation of the Church and its ministers.

Addiction to various earthly things and pleasures.

Continuation of a sinful life in the sole hope of God’s mercy, that is, excessive trust in God.

It’s a waste of time watching TV shows and reading entertaining books to the detriment of time for prayer, reading the Gospel and spiritual literature.

Concealing sins during confession and unworthy communion of the Holy Mysteries.

Arrogance, philanthropy, i.e. excessive hope for own strength and on someone’s help, without trusting that everything is in God’s hands.

Raising children outside the Christian faith.

Hot temper, anger, irritability.

Arrogance.

Perjury.

Mockery.

Stinginess.

Non-repayment of debts.

Failure to pay money earned for work.

Failure to provide assistance to those in need.

Disrespect for parents, irritation with their old age.

Disrespect for elders.

Lack of diligence in your work.

Condemnation.

Appropriation of someone else's property is theft.

Quarrels with neighbors and neighbors.

Killing your child in the womb (abortion), inducing others to commit murder (abortion).

Murder with words is bringing a person through slander or condemnation to a painful state and even to death.

Drinking alcohol at funerals for the dead instead of intense prayer for them.

Verbosity, gossip, idle talk. ,

Reasonless laughter.

Foul language.

Self-love.

Doing good deeds for show.

Vanity.

The desire to get rich.

Love of money.

Envy.

Drunkenness, drug use.

Gluttony.

Fornication - inciting lustful thoughts, unclean desires, lustful touching, watching erotic films and reading such books.

Fornication is the physical intimacy of persons not related by marriage.

Adultery is a violation marital fidelity.

Unnatural fornication - physical intimacy between persons of the same sex, masturbation.

Incest is physical intimacy with close relatives or nepotism.

Although the above sins are conditionally divided into three parts, ultimately they are all sins both against God (since they violate His commandments and thereby offend Him) and against their neighbors (since they do not allow true Christian relationships and love to be revealed ), and against themselves (because they interfere with the salvific dispensation of the soul).

Anyone who wants to repent before God for their sins must prepare for the Sacrament of Confession. You need to prepare for confession in advance: it is advisable to read literature on the Sacraments of Confession and Communion, remember all your sins, you can write them down on

a separate piece of paper to review before confession. Sometimes a piece of paper with the listed sins is given to the confessor to read, but the sins that especially burden the soul must be told out loud. There is no need to tell the confessor long stories; it is enough to state the sin itself. For example, if you are at enmity with relatives or neighbors, you do not need to tell what caused this enmity - you need to repent of the very sin of judging your relatives or neighbors. What is important to God and the confessor is not the list of sins, but the repentant feeling of the person being confessed, not detailed stories, but a contrite heart. We must remember that confession is not only an awareness of one’s own shortcomings, but, above all, a thirst to be cleansed of them. In no case is it acceptable to justify yourself - this is no longer repentance! Elder Silouan of Athos explains what real repentance is: “This is a sign of the forgiveness of sins: if you hated sin, then the Lord forgave you your sins.”

It is good to develop the habit of analyzing the past day every evening and bringing daily repentance before God, writing down serious sins for future confession with your confessor. It is necessary to reconcile with your neighbors and ask for forgiveness from everyone who was offended. When preparing for confession, it is advisable to strengthen your evening prayer rule by reading the Canon of Repentance, which is found in the Orthodox prayer book.

To confess, you need to find out when the Sacrament of Confession takes place in the church. In those churches where services are performed every day, the Sacrament of Confession is also celebrated every day. In those churches where there are no daily services, you must first familiarize yourself with the service schedule.

Children under seven years of age (in the Church they are called babies) begin the Sacrament of Communion without prior confession, but it is necessary from early childhood to develop in children a sense of reverence for this great

Sacrament. Frequent communion without proper preparation can develop in children an undesirable sense of the ordinariness of what is happening. It is advisable to prepare infants 2-3 days in advance for the upcoming Communion: read the Gospel, lives of saints, and other soul-helping books with them, reduce, or better yet completely eliminate, television viewing (but this must be done very tactfully, without developing negative associations in the child with preparation for Communion ), follow their prayer in the morning and before bed, talk with the child about the past days and lead him to a feeling of shame for his own misdeeds. The main thing to remember is that there is nothing more effective for a child than the personal example of parents.

Starting from the age of seven, children (adolescents) begin the Sacrament of Communion, like adults, only after first performing the Sacrament of Confession. In many ways, the sins listed in the previous sections are also inherent in children, but still, children's confession has its own characteristics. To motivate children to sincere repentance, you can pray for them to read the following list of possible sins:

Did you lie in bed in the morning and therefore skip the morning prayer rule?

Did you not sit down at the table without praying and did you not go to bed without praying?

Do you know the most important ones by heart? orthodox prayers: “Our Father”, “Jesus Prayer”, “Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice”, prayer to your Heavenly patron, whose name you bear?

Did you go to church every Sunday?

Have you been carried away by various amusements on church holidays instead of visiting the temple of God?

Did you behave properly? church service, didn’t he run around the temple, didn’t he have empty conversations with his peers, thereby leading them into temptation?

Did you pronounce the name of God unnecessarily?

Are you performing the sign of the cross correctly, are you not in a hurry, are you not distorting the sign of the cross?

Were you distracted by extraneous thoughts while praying?

Do you read the Gospel and other spiritual books?

Do you wear a pectoral cross and are you not embarrassed by it?

Aren't you using a cross as a decoration, which is sinful?

Do you wear various amulets, for example, zodiac signs?

Didn’t you tell fortunes, didn’t you tell fortunes?

Didn’t you hide your sins before the priest in confession out of false shame, and then receive communion unworthily?

Were you not proud of yourself and others of your successes and abilities?

Have you ever argued with someone just to gain the upper hand in the argument?

Did you deceive your parents for fear of being punished?

During Lent, did you eat something like ice cream without your parents’ permission?

Did you listen to your parents, didn’t you argue with them, didn’t you demand an expensive purchase from them?

Have you ever beaten anyone? Did he incite others to do this?

Did you offend the younger ones?

Did you torture animals?

Did you gossip about anyone, did you snitch on anyone?

Have you ever laughed at people with any physical disabilities?

Have you tried smoking, drinking, sniffing glue or using drugs?

Didn't you use foul language?

Didn't you play cards?

Have you ever engaged in handjobs?

Did you appropriate someone else's property for yourself?

Have you ever had the habit of taking without asking what does not belong to you?

Weren't you too lazy to help your parents around the house?

Was he pretending to be sick to evade his responsibilities?

Were you jealous of others?

The above list is only a general outline of possible sins. Each child may have his own, individual experiences associated with specific cases. The task of parents is to prepare the child for repentant feelings before the Sacrament of Confession. You can advise him to remember his misdeeds committed after the last confession, write his sins on a piece of paper, but you should not do this for him. The main thing: the child must understand that the Sacrament of Confession is a Sacrament that cleanses the soul from sins, subject to sincere, sincere repentance and the desire not to repeat them again.

Confession is performed in churches either in the evening after the evening service, or in the morning before the start of the liturgy. Under no circumstances should you be late for the start of confession, since the Sacrament begins with the reading of the rite, in which everyone who wishes to confess must prayerfully participate. When reading the rite, the priest turns to the penitents so that they say their names - everyone answers in an undertone. Those who are late for the start of confession are not allowed to the Sacrament; the priest, if there is such an opportunity, at the end of confession reads the rite for them again and accepts confession, or schedules it for another day. Women cannot begin the Sacrament of Repentance during the period of monthly cleansing.

Confession usually takes place in a church with a crowd of people, so you need to respect the secret of confession, not crowd next to the priest receiving confession, and not embarrass the person confessing, revealing his sins to the priest. Confession must be complete. You cannot confess some sins first and leave others for next time. Those sins that the penitent confessed in pre-

previous confessions and those that were already released to him are not mentioned again. If possible, you should confess to the same confessor. You should not, having a permanent confessor, look for another to confess your sins, which a feeling of false shame prevents your familiar confessor from revealing. Those who do this by their actions try to deceive God Himself: in confession, we confess our sins not to our confessor, but together with him to the Savior Himself.

In large churches, due to the large number of penitents and the impossibility of the priest to accept confession from everyone, a “general confession” is usually practiced, when the priest lists out loud the most common sins and the confessors standing in front of him repent of them, after which everyone, in turn, comes up for a prayer of absolution . Those who have never been to confession or have not gone to confession for several years should avoid general confession. Such people must undergo private confession - for which they need to choose either a weekday, when there are not many people confessing in the church, or find a parish where only private confession is performed. If this is not possible, you need to go to the priest during a general confession for a prayer of permission, among the last, so as not to detain anyone, and, having explained the situation, open up to him about your sins. Those who have grave sins should do the same.

Many devotees of piety warn that a grave sin, about which the confessor remained silent during general confession, remains unrepentant, and therefore not forgiven.

After confessing sins and reading the prayer of absolution by the priest, the penitent kisses the Cross and the Gospel lying on the lectern and, if he was preparing for communion, takes a blessing from the confessor for communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

In some cases, the priest may impose penance on the penitent - spiritual exercises intended to deepen repentance and eradicate sinful habits. Penance must be treated as the will of God, expressed through the priest, requiring mandatory fulfillment for the healing of the soul of the penitent. If it is impossible for various reasons to perform penance, you should contact the priest who imposed it to resolve the difficulties that have arisen.

Those who wish not only to confess, but also to receive communion, must prepare worthily and in accordance with the requirements of the Church for the Sacrament of Communion. This preparation is called fasting.

The days of fasting usually last a week, in extreme cases - three days. Fasting is prescribed on these days. Meal food is excluded from the diet - meat, dairy products, eggs, and on days of strict fasting - fish. Spouses refrain from physical intimacy. The family refuses entertainment and watching television. If circumstances permit, you should attend church services on these days. The morning and evening prayer rules are followed more diligently, with the addition of the reading of the Penitential Canon.

Regardless of when the Sacrament of Confession is celebrated in the church - in the evening or in the morning, it is necessary to attend the evening service on the eve of communion. In the evening, before reading prayers for bedtime, three canons are read: Repentance to our Lord Jesus Christ, Mother of God, Guardian Angel. You can read each canon separately, or use prayer books where these three canons are combined. Then the canon for Holy Communion is read before the prayers for Holy Communion, which are read in the morning. For those who find it difficult to perform such a prayer rule in

one day, take a blessing from the priest to read three canons in advance during the days of fasting.

It is quite difficult for children to follow all the prayer rules for preparing for communion. Parents need to, together with their confessor, choose the optimal number of prayers that the child can handle, then gradually increase the number necessary prayers necessary to prepare for communion, up to the complete prayer rule for Holy Communion.

For some, it is very difficult to read the necessary canons and prayers. For this reason, others do not confess or receive communion for years. Many people confuse preparation for confession (which does not require such a large volume of prayers read) and preparation for communion. Such people can be recommended to begin the Sacraments of Confession and Communion in stages. First, you need to properly prepare for confession and, when confessing your sins, ask your confessor for advice. We need to pray to the Lord to help us overcome difficulties and give us strength to adequately prepare for the Sacrament of Communion.

Since it is customary to begin the Sacrament of Communion on an empty stomach, from twelve o'clock at night they no longer eat or drink (smokers do not smoke). The exception is infants (children under seven years of age). But children from a certain age (starting from 5-6 years, and if possible earlier) must be accustomed to the existing rule.

In the morning, they also don’t eat or drink anything and, of course, don’t smoke, you can only brush your teeth. After reading morning prayers prayers for Holy Communion are read. If reading prayers for Holy Communion in the morning is difficult, then you need to take a blessing from the priest to read them the evening before. If confession is performed in the church in the morning, you must arrive on time, before confession begins. If confession was made the night before, then the person confessing comes to the beginning of the service and prays with everyone.

Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ is a Sacrament established by the Savior Himself during the Last Supper: “Jesus took bread and, blessing it, broke it and, giving it to the disciples, said: Take, eat: this is My Body. And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verses 26-28).

During the Divine Liturgy, the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is performed - bread and wine are mysteriously transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ and the communicants, receiving Them during Communion, mysteriously, incomprehensible to the human mind, are united with Christ Himself, since He is all contained in every Particle of the Sacrament .

Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ is necessary to enter eternal life. The Savior Himself speaks about this: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day...” (Gospel of John, chapter 6, verses 53 - 54).

The Sacrament of Communion is incomprehensibly great, and therefore requires preliminary cleansing by the Sacrament of Repentance; the only exception is infants under seven years of age, who receive communion without the preparation required for the laity. Women need to wipe off lipstick from their lips. Women should not receive communion during the period of monthly cleansing. Women after childbirth are allowed to take communion only after the cleansing prayer of the fortieth day is read over them.

When the priest comes out with the Holy Gifts, the communicants make one prostration (if it is a weekday) or a bow (if it is a Sunday or holiday) and carefully listen to the words of the prayers read by the priest, repeating them to themselves. After reading the prayers

private traders, folding their hands on their chests crosswise (right over left), decorously, without crowding, in deep humility approach the Holy Chalice. A pious custom has developed to let children go to the Chalice first, then men come up, and then women. You should not be baptized at the Chalice, so as not to accidentally touch it. Having said his name out loud, the communicant, with his lips open, accepts the Holy Gifts - the Body and Blood of Christ. After communion, the deacon or sexton wipes the communicant’s mouth with a special cloth, after which he kisses the edge of the Holy Chalice and goes to a special table, where he takes the drink (warmth) and eats a piece of prosphora. This is done so that not a single particle of the Body of Christ remains in the mouth. Without accepting the warmth, you cannot venerate either the icons, the Cross, or the Gospel.

After receiving the warmth, the communicants do not leave the church and pray with everyone until the end of the service. After the emptiness (the final words of the service), the communicants approach the Cross and listen carefully to the prayers of thanksgiving after Holy Communion. After listening to the prayers, the communicants ceremoniously disperse, trying to preserve the purity of their souls, cleansed of sins, for as long as possible, without wasting time on empty talk and deeds that are not good for the soul. On the day after communion of the Holy Mysteries, bows to the ground are not made, and when the priest gives a blessing, they are not applied to the hand. You can only venerate icons, the Cross and the Gospel. The rest of the day must be spent piously: avoid verbosity (it is better to remain silent in general), watch TV, exclude marital intimacy, it is advisable for smokers to abstain from smoking. It is advisable to read prayers of thanksgiving at home after Holy Communion. It is a prejudice that you cannot shake hands on the day of communion. Under no circumstances should you receive communion several times in one day.

In cases of illness and infirmity, you can receive communion at home. For this purpose, a priest is invited to the house. Depending

Based on his condition, the sick person is adequately prepared for confession and communion. In any case, he can receive communion only on an empty stomach (with the exception of dying people). Children under seven years of age do not receive communion at home, since they, unlike adults, can only receive communion with the Blood of Christ, and the reserve Gifts with which the priest administers communion at home contain only particles of the Body of Christ, saturated with His Blood. For the same reason, infants do not receive communion at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, celebrated on weekdays during Great Lent.

Each Christian either himself determines the time when he needs to confess and receive communion, or does this with the blessing of his spiritual father. There is a pious custom of receiving communion at least five times a year - on each of the four multi-day fasts and on the day of your Angel (the day of remembrance of the saint whose name you bear).

How often it is necessary to receive communion is given by the pious advice of the Monk Nicodemus the Holy Mountain: “True communicants are always, following Communion, in a tactile state of grace. The heart then tastes the Lord spiritually.

But just as we are constrained in body and surrounded by external affairs and relationships in which we must take part for a long time, the spiritual taste of the Lord, due to the splitting of our attention and feelings, is weakened day by day, obscured and hidden...

Therefore, zealots, sensing its impoverishment, hasten to restore it in strength, and when they restore it, they feel that they are tasting the Lord again.”

Published Orthodox parish in the name of St. Seraphim Sarovsky, Novosibirsk.

Repentance or confession is a sacrament in which a person confessing his sins to a priest, through his forgiveness, is absolved from sins by the Lord Himself. This question, Father, is asked by many people who join church life. Preliminary confession prepares the soul of the penitent for the Great Meal - the Sacrament of Communion.

The essence of confession

The Holy Fathers call the Sacrament of Repentance the second baptism. In the first case, at Baptism, a person receives cleansing from the original sin of the ancestors Adam and Eve, and in the second, the repentant is washed from his sins committed after baptism. However, due to the weakness of their human nature, people continue to sin, and these sins separate them from God, standing between them as a barrier. They are unable to overcome this barrier on their own. But the Sacrament of Repentance helps to be saved and to acquire that unity with God acquired at Baptism.

The Gospel says about repentance that it is a necessary condition for the salvation of the soul. A person must continuously struggle with his sins throughout his life. And, despite any defeats and falls, he should not become discouraged, despair and grumble, but repent all the time and continue to carry his life’s cross, which the Lord Jesus Christ laid on him.

Awareness of your sins

In this matter, the main thing is to understand that in the Sacrament of Confession, a repentant person is forgiven all his sins, and the soul is freed from sinful bonds. The ten commandments received by Moses from God, and the nine received from the Lord Jesus Christ, contain the entire moral and spiritual law of life.

Therefore, before confessing, you need to turn to your conscience and remember all your sins since childhood in order to prepare a real confession. Not everyone knows how it goes, and even rejects it, but a true Orthodox Christian, overcoming his pride and false shame, begins to spiritually crucify himself, honestly and sincerely admit his spiritual imperfection. And here it is important to understand that unconfessed sins will lead to eternal condemnation for a person, and repentance means victory over oneself.

What is real confession? How does this sacrament work?

Before confessing to a priest, you need to seriously prepare and understand the necessity of cleansing your soul from sins. To do this, you need to reconcile with all the offenders and with those who were offended, refrain from gossip and condemnation, any indecent thoughts, watching numerous entertainment programs and reading lightweight literature. Better free time devote to reading the Holy Scriptures and other spiritual literature. It is advisable to confess a little in advance at the evening service, so that during the morning Liturgy you will no longer be distracted from the service and devote time to prayerful preparation for Holy Communion. But, as a last resort, you can confess in the morning (mostly everyone does this).

For the first time, not everyone knows how to confess correctly, what to say to the priest, etc. In this case, you need to warn the priest about this, and he will direct everything in the right direction. Confession, first of all, presupposes the ability to see and realize one’s sins; at the moment of expressing them, the priest should not justify himself and shift the blame onto another.

Children under 7 years of age and all newly baptized people receive communion on this day without confession; only women who are in purification (when they are menstruating or after childbirth until the 40th day) cannot do this. The text of the confession can be written on a piece of paper so that you don’t get lost later and remember everything.

Confession procedure

In church, a lot of people usually gather for confession, and before approaching the priest, you need to turn your face to the people and say out loud: “Forgive me, a sinner,” and they will answer: “God will forgive, and we forgive.” And then it is necessary to go to the confessor. Having approached the lectern (a high stand for a book), crossed yourself and bowed at the waist, without kissing the Cross and the Gospel, bowing your head, you can begin confession.

There is no need to repeat previously confessed sins, because, as the Church teaches, they have already been forgiven, but if they were repeated again, then they must be repented of again. At the end of your confession, you must listen to the words of the priest and when he finishes, cross yourself twice, bow at the waist, kiss the Cross and the Gospel, and then, having crossed yourself and bowed again, accept the blessing of your priest and go to your place.

What do you need to repent about?

Summing up the topic “Confession. How does this sacrament work?” it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the most common sins in our modern world.

Sins against God - pride, lack of faith or lack of faith, renunciation of God and the Church, careless performance of the sign of the cross, failure to wear pectoral cross, violation of God's commandments, taking the name of the Lord in vain, careless execution, not attending church, praying without diligence, talking and walking in church during services, belief in superstitions, turning to psychics and fortune tellers, thoughts of suicide, etc.

Sins against one's neighbor - grief of parents, robbery and extortion, stinginess in alms, hard-heartedness, slander, bribery, insults, barbs and evil jokes, irritation, anger, gossip, gossip, greed, scandals, hysteria, resentment, betrayal, treason, etc. d.

Sins against oneself - vanity, arrogance, anxiety, envy, vindictiveness, desire for earthly glory and honors, addiction to money, gluttony, smoking, drunkenness, gambling, masturbation, fornication, excessive attention to one's flesh, despondency, melancholy, sadness etc.

God will forgive any sin, nothing is impossible for him, a person only needs to truly realize his sinful deeds and sincerely repent of them.

Participle

They usually confess in order to receive communion, and for this they need to pray for several days, which means prayer and fasting, attending evening services and reading at home, in addition to evening and morning prayers, the canons: Theotokos, Guardian Angel, Repentant, for Communion, and, if possible , or rather, at will - Akathist to the Sweetest Jesus. After midnight they no longer eat or drink; they begin the sacrament on an empty stomach. After receiving the Sacrament of Communion, you must read prayers for Holy Communion.

Don't be afraid to go to confession. How is it going? You can read accurate information about this in special brochures that are sold in every church; everything is described in great detail in them. And then the main thing is to tune in to this true and saving work, because an Orthodox Christian always needs to think about death so that it does not take him by surprise - without even communion.

How to prepare for your first confession? This question worries many beginning Orthodox Christians. You will find out the answer to this question if you read the article!

Using the following below simple tips you can take your first steps.

How to confess and receive communion for the first time?

Confession in church

The only exception may be the briefest “memo” of basic sins, which are often not recognized as such.

An example of such a memo:

A. Sins against the Lord God:

– disbelief in God, recognition of any significance for other “spiritual forces”, religious doctrines, in addition to Christian faith; participation in other religious practices or rituals, even “for company,” as a joke, etc.;

– nominal faith, not expressed in any way in life, that is, practical atheism (you can recognize the existence of God with your mind, but live as if you were an unbeliever);

- creation of “idols”, that is, placing them in first place among life values anything other than God. Anything that a person really “serves” can become an idol: money, power, career, health, knowledge, hobbies - all this can be good when it occupies the appropriate place in the personal “hierarchy of values”, but when it comes first , turns into an idol;

- appeal to various kinds fortune tellers, sorcerers, sorcerers, psychics, etc. - an attempt to “subdue” spiritual forces magically, without repentance and personal effort to change life in accordance with the commandments.

b. Sins against one's neighbor:

– neglect of people, resulting from pride and selfishness, inattention to the needs of one’s neighbor (a neighbor is not necessarily a relative or acquaintance, it is every person who happens to be next to us in this moment);

– condemnation and discussion of the shortcomings of your neighbors (“By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned,” says the Lord);

– prodigal sins of various kinds, especially adultery (violation of marital fidelity) and unnatural sexual relations, which are incompatible with being in the Church. The so-called so-called, widespread today, also refers to prodigal cohabitation. “civil marriage”, that is, cohabitation without marriage registration. It should, however, be remembered that a registered but unmarried marriage cannot be regarded as fornication and is not an obstacle to remaining in the Church;

– Abortion is the taking of the life of a human being, essentially murder. One should repent even if the abortion was done for medical reasons. Inducing a woman to have an abortion (by her husband, for example) is also a serious sin. Repentance for this sin implies that the repentant will never knowingly repeat it again.

– appropriation of someone else’s property, refusal to pay other people’s labor (ticketless travel), withholding wages subordinates or hired workers;

- lies of various kinds, especially - slandering one's neighbor, spreading rumors (as a rule, we cannot be sure of the veracity of rumors), inability to keep one's word.

This sample list the most common sins, but once again we emphasize that you should not get carried away with such “lists”. When further preparing for confession, it is best to use the Ten Commandments of God and listen to your own conscience.

• Talk only about sins, and your own.

In confession you need to talk about your sins, without trying to minimize them or show them as excusable. It would seem that this is obvious, but how often do priests, when accepting confession, hear, instead of confessing sins, everyday stories about all their relatives, neighbors and acquaintances. When in confession a person talks about the grievances caused to him, he evaluates and condemns his neighbors, essentially justifying himself. Often in such stories, personal sins are presented in such a light that it would seem completely impossible to avoid them. But sin is always the fruit of personal choice. It is extremely rare that we find ourselves in such conflicts when we are forced to choose between two types of sin.

• Don't invent a special language.

When talking about your sins, you shouldn’t worry about how to call them “correctly” or “church wise”. We must call things by their proper names, in ordinary language. You are confessing to God, who knows even more about your sins than you do, and calling sin as it is will definitely not surprise God.

You won't surprise the priest either. Sometimes penitents are ashamed to tell the priest this or that sin, or there is a fear that the priest, having heard the sin, will condemn you. In fact, over the years of ministry, a priest has to listen to a lot of confessions, and it is not easy to surprise him. And besides, all sins are not original: they have practically not changed over thousands of years. Being a witness to sincere repentance of serious sins, the priest will never condemn, but will rejoice at the person’s conversion from sin to the path of righteousness.

• Talk about serious things, not trifles.

There is no need to start confession with such sins as breaking the fast, not going to church, working on holidays, watching TV, wearing/not wearing certain types of clothes, etc. First of all, these are definitely not your most serious sins. Secondly, this may not be a sin at all: if a person has not come to God for many years, then why repent of not keeping fasts if the very “vector” of life was directed in the wrong direction? Thirdly, who needs endless digging into everyday little things? The Lord expects from us love and giving of the heart, and we told him: “I ate fish on a fast day” and “embroidered on a holiday.”

The main focus should be on our relationship with God and our neighbors. Moreover, by neighbors, according to the Gospel, we mean not only people who are pleasant to us, but everyone who has met us in our lives. life path. And above all, our family members. Christian life for family people begins in the family and is checked by it. Here best field to cultivate Christian qualities in oneself: love, patience, forgiveness, acceptance.

• Start changing your life even before confession.

Repentance on Greek sounds like “metanoia”, literally “change of mind”. It is not enough to admit that you have committed such and such offenses in life. God is not a prosecutor, and confession is not a confession. Repentance must be a change of life: the penitent intends not to return to sins and tries with all his might to keep himself from them. Such repentance begins some time before confession, and coming to church to see the priest already “captures” the change taking place in life. This is extremely important. If a person intends to continue sinning after confession, then maybe it’s worth postponing confession?

It is necessary to stipulate that when we talk about changing life and renouncing sin, we mean first of all the so-called “mortal” sins, according to the word of the Apostle John, that is, incompatible with being in the Church. With such sins Christian church Since ancient times, she considered renunciation of faith, murder and adultery. Sins of this kind can also include the extreme degree of other human passions: anger towards one’s neighbor, theft, cruelty, etc., which can be stopped once and for all by an effort of will, combined with the help of God. As for small, so-called “everyday” sins, they will largely be repeated after confession. One must be prepared for this and accept it humbly as an inoculation against spiritual exaltation: there are no perfect people among people, only God alone is sinless.

• Be at peace with everyone.

“Forgive and you will be forgiven,” says the Lord. - “By whatever court you judge, you will be judged.” And even more strongly: “If you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” . If we ask God for forgiveness, then we ourselves must first forgive the offenders. Of course, there are situations when it is physically impossible to ask for forgiveness directly from a person, or this will lead to an aggravation of the already difficult relationships. Then it is important to at least forgive on your part and not have anything against your neighbor in your heart.

Some practical recommendations. Before you come to confession, it would be a good idea to find out when confession is usually held in the church. In many churches they serve not only on Sundays and holidays, but also on Saturdays, and in large churches and monasteries - on weekdays. The greatest influx of confessors occurs during Lent. Of course, the Lenten period is primarily a time of repentance, but for those who come for the first time or after a very long break, it is better to choose a time when the priest is not very busy. It may turn out that confession is held in the church on Friday evening or Saturday morning - on these days there will probably be fewer people than during Sunday services. It’s good if you have the opportunity to personally contact the priest and ask him to set a convenient time for you to confess.

There are special prayers that express a repentant “mood.” It is good to read them the day before confession. The repentant canon to the Lord Jesus Christ is printed in almost any prayer book, except for the shortest ones. If you are unfamiliar with praying in Church Slavonic, you can use the Russian translation.

During confession, the priest may assign you penance: abstaining from communion for a while, reading special prayers, prostrations to the ground, or deeds of mercy. This is not a punishment, but a means to overcome sin and receive complete forgiveness. Penance can be prescribed when the priest does not meet the proper attitude towards serious sins on the part of the penitent, or, conversely, when he sees that the person has a need to do something practically to “get rid of” the sin. Penance cannot be indefinite: it is appointed for a certain time, and then must be terminated.

As a rule, after confession, believers take communion. Although confession and communion are two different sacraments, better preparation combine for confession with preparation for communion. We will tell you what kind of preparation this is in a separate article.

If these small tips helped you prepare for confession - thank God. Do not forget that this sacrament must be regular. Don't put off your next confession until long years. Confession at least once a month helps you to always be “on your toes” and treat your life attentively and responsibly. Everyday life, in which, in fact, our Christian faith should be expressed.

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