How to Confess Properly

The sacrament of confession, along with baptism, communion and wedding, is one of the main rites of the Christian church. According to the Holy Scriptures, one is supposed to come to confession from seven years onwards throughout life, right up to the deathbed. However, not everyone begins to confess from an early age. Moreover, many Christians even before major church holidays, when they need to repent and partake, are afraid or unwilling to go to the confessor, because they feel awkward. And some would like to confess, but have heard that this sacrament needs to be prepared in advance, but how? In any case, before deciding on a general (first in his life) confession, it is necessary to find out all the basic church tenets regarding confession.

Instruction manual

Get ready for confession at home. Take paper and pen and write down all your sins that you remember lately. The first must be mortal sins: pride, adultery, envy, gluttony, despondency, anger, love of money. If you are guilty of murder (the church also considers abortion to be murder), be sure to write down this sin at the very beginning. Also list all your sinful activities, for example, watching entertainment programs of inappropriate content on television, visiting fortune-tellers, and so on). Remember that this sheet can be taken with you to confession and read on it. Sometimes a priest may take a sheet of sins from your hands and read them out himself.

Find out when the confession takes place in the temple where you would like to go. As a rule, all priests confess on Sunday, but the Sacraments of Confession can also be held during the week. When going to the temple, dress appropriately: for men this is a shirt or T-shirt with sleeves, no shorts. For women - a skirt no higher than the knees, a scarf on the head, lack of makeup, at least lipstick, because you will need to put your lips to the cross. In the temple, ask where they profess, as a rule, there is a small queue for the priest.

Be prepared for the fact that even before the confession begins, the priest will begin to ask you questions. For example, do you constantly pray, do you think of God, have you made an idol for yourself. And also: are you not in a quarrel with someone, and are you observing the conditions under which absolution takes effect. According to church rules, these conditions are faith in Christ, sincere repentance of all sins and the hope of starting a new, sinless life after repentance.

note

If this is your first confession, be sure to tell the priest about it.

Remember that the confessor’s departure to the house is only possible if the person is sick or dies.

If the priest in confession took from you a leaflet listing your sins and tore it up, then the Sacrament of Confession is over, you have been given absolution.

Useful advice

The first confession, no matter how old you are, is considered general. It must be confessed to the Lord in all of his basic (mortal) sins, even if their listing takes a lot of time.

Mariino standing as a special Lenten service