Confession is one of the seven church sacraments that a Christian can embark on to receive graceful help, spiritual cleansing, and growth in the faith. Otherwise, this sacrament is called repentance and means repentance before God of personal sins.
Every Orthodox person understands that the sacrament of confession is necessary for the soul. However, not everyone can afford, to the extent of various reasons, to proceed with it. Sometimes a person simply does not know what to say to the priest when he comes to confession. And such cases are very common.
First of all, the person who wishes should be mentally prepared for this mystery. It is very difficult for a complete stranger to admit all the grave. But you need to keep in mind that a Christian confesses to God, therefore he must ask for forgiveness for sins from God, not the priest. The shepherd is just a witness who is the vehicle between the Lord and the penitent.
When a person is determined to embark on a confession, he must clearly realize that you can’t hide anything. For the priest it does not matter, but God knows everything. A Christian must know that it is impossible to deceive God.
The next step is to acknowledge your sins. Much can not be noticed, much not to know. Then a human conscience comes to the rescue. She can find answers to many of her questions. To do this, it is enough to objectively, without shame, look into the depths of your soul.
The next stage of preparation can be reading literature purchased in the temple or taken from friends. There are special books about what sins are. These publications are small. From them one can understand the Christian, which relates specifically to him. For convenience, you can write down sins on paper, and then read out in confession.
The last and main component of preparing for a confession is a firm decision of one’s will to try to live better, to try not to repeat the evil already done. In the case of the repeated manifestation of sins (and this happens with all people), the sacrament of confession can begin again and again. That is how a Christian gradually purifies his soul and strives to live in conformity with the norms of the Christian faith.
