The great Day is approaching when the Great God will sit to judge all His creation. All people will be resurrected: their immortal souls will forever be united with their bodies. And the fiery angels will carry everyone to God’s judgment, to give an account for all our deeds done on Earth. Complete justice will be restored. - The righteous will receive an eternal reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, and for all their atrocities, sinners will have to bear eternal retribution in the flames of hell.
There is only one way to avoid punishment for your atrocities - to repent to God for your sins and receive forgiveness in the sacrament of Confession and Communion. Perhaps this is because Jesus Christ died for our sins and took our punishment upon Himself. And therefore God forgives sins only to those who are members of the Orthodox Church, which is the mystical Body of Christ. The priest of the Church in the sacrament of Ordination (ordination to the priesthood) receives from God the power to forgive and retain the sins of people.
Anyone who wants to receive forgiveness of sins and be saved needs the following:
- You must be an Orthodox Christian who has received the sacrament of Baptism from a legitimate priest (those baptized by grandmothers or someone else must resolve this issue with the priest). We must firmly believe and accept the Revelation of God given to the Church - the Bible. Its essence is summarized in the Creed, which we must know by heart. An explanation of our faith can be found in the book "Catechism". It is always available in the church store or library.
- You need to remember (and if you need to write down) your evil deeds, starting from the age of 7 (or from the moment of Baptism - who was baptized as an adult) and admit that only you are to blame for all your evil deeds, and no one else. Those who, in confession, talk about the sins of others do great evil.
- You must promise God that with His help you will make every effort not to repeat the sin, but to do the opposite good deed.
- If sin has led to damage to your neighbor, you must make every effort before confession to make amends for this damage (give back what was stolen, make peace with the offended person).
- We must forgive all offenses ourselves for the sake of the blood of Christ, then God will forgive us our sin.
After this, one must go to the priest for confession and tell without concealment all one’s evil deeds, which Christ, through the priest, will forgive the repentant. There is no need to be afraid that the priest will be shocked by your confession. During his ministry, every shepherd hears almost every conceivable sin. You won’t surprise or upset him with anything, except for an attempt to shift the blame onto someone else. We must remember that confession remains only between the priest and you. For disclosing the secret of confession, a priest can be defrocked.
To make it easier to prepare, we present short list sins that must be fought mercilessly, in accordance with the 10 Commandments.
- I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before Me. Sins: atheism, false teachings, communism, magic, going to grandmothers and healers, astrology (including reading horoscopes), participation in sects, pride, boasting, careerism, arrogance, self-love.
- Do not make an idol for yourself, do not worship or serve them. Sins: idolatry, invoking spirits, feeding brownies, fortune telling, man-pleasing, love of money.
- Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Sins: blasphemy, mockery of a sacred thing, swearing, desecration, breaking a promise to God, swearing, not reading the Bible every day.
- Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; You shall work six days, and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. Sins: missing Sunday services, working on holidays, parasitism, breaking fast.
- Honor your father and your mother. Sins: insulting parents, not honoring them and not remembering them in prayers, cursing at the priesthood and authorities, not respecting elders and teachers, not inviting a priest to visit relatives before death.
- Don't kill. Sins: murder, abortion, anger, swearing, fighting, hatred, resentment, rancor, irritability.
- Don't commit adultery. Sins: adultery, sex outside marriage, homosexuality, masturbation, watching pornography.
- Don't steal. Sins: theft, robbery, fraud, usury, stinginess.
- Do not bear false witness. Sins: perjury, lies, slander, gossip, betrayal, deception.
- Don't covet someone else's. Sins: envy, dissatisfaction with one's position, grumbling.
If you have repented of these sins, then you should prepare for the greatest Miracle of Holy Communion, when, under the guise of bread and wine, the faithful partake of the Body and Blood of Christ for cleansing from sins and eternal life. Communion is celebrated in the morning during the Sacrament of the Divine Liturgy.
In order to receive communion worthily, one must prepare oneself by fasting (usually 3 days) and prayer. During fasting, one does not eat eggs, meat or dairy products. They read the Bible more than usual. On the evening before Communion, they must come to church for the evening service and confess their sins. During preparation, the “Rule for Holy Communion” and 3 canons are read - to the Lord, the Mother of God and the Guardian Angel. All these texts are in the Prayer Book. If some word in the prayers is not clear, you need to ask the priest about it.
On the day of communion, they do not eat or drink anything from midnight. In the morning they come to the temple and during the Liturgy they reverently approach St. Remembering more often the Death and Resurrection of Christ. At the end of the Liturgy, they thank God and go out into the world to do good deeds.
(a short list of the most common sins in our time)
I (name) sinned before God:
With weak faith (doubt about His existence).
I have neither proper fear nor love for God, and therefore: I don’t know how to repent, I don’t see sins, I don’t particularly try to find out what is sinful and what is salvific, I don’t fulfill His holy Commandments, I don’t remember death, I don’t prepare to face death. The judgment of God, and is generally indifferent in relation to faith, to God and to one’s bitter fate in Eternity.
Sinned:
I don’t thank God for His mercies.
Attributing success to oneself rather than to God’s help.
In conceit and pride, he relied on himself and on people more than on God.
Not by submission to the will of God (I wish that everything would be my way).
Impatience of sorrows and illnesses (I am afraid of the suffering allowed by God for my sins, forgetting that they were given to me to cleanse my soul from them and save me).
Murmuring at one's life cross ("fate"), at people (God), accusing Him of cruelty.
Cowardice, despondency, sadness, hardness of heart, despair of salvation, thoughts of suicide, attempted suicide.
Sinned:
I justify my sins (by citing everyday needs, illness and physical weakness, and that no one taught me faith in God in my youth).
Being an unbeliever, he seduced people into unbelief.
Visited places of godlessness (mausoleum, atheistic events...), participated in them.
Blasphemy against God and all sacred things.
Not by wearing a cross.
Wearing shoes with crosses on the soles.
By indiscriminately consuming newspapers... in which the name of God was written...
He called animals by the names of saints: “Vaska”, “Mashka”.
Sinned:
Rarely visiting Church on Sundays and holidays. He spent these days in work, trading, drunkenness, sleeping a lot and having fun (this can lead to clouding of mind, shamelessness, carnal lust, quarrels, damage to health...).
Not going to church (due to rain, mud, frost..., laziness and negligence).
By being late to Church and leaving early.
During the service - I sinned by talking, laughing, dozing, inattention to reading and singing, absent-mindedness, walking around the temple unnecessarily.
Walking through the temple, he pushed people and was rude.
I listened to sermons with a feeling of criticism and condemnation of the preacher, and left the sermon.
I rarely think about what I heard in church and read in the Holy Scriptures.
During women's uncleanness, she dared to walk around the church and touch the shrine (for men after nightly desecration).
Sinned:
I rarely confess.
Having committed a sin, he did not reproach himself and did not repent immediately (this brought his soul to petrified insensibility).
He dared to approach Communion without proper preparation (without reading the canons and prayers, concealing and belittling sins in confession, without fasting, in enmity...).
Didn't read prayers of thanks.
He did not spend the days of Communion sacredly (in prayer, in reading the Word of God, in pious meditations, but indulged in overeating, sleeping too much, idle talk...).
Sinned:
Out of laziness, I don’t read the morning and evening prayers (entirely from the prayer book), I shorten them.
I don’t always pray before meals, work and after.
I pray absentmindedly.
She prayed with her head uncovered, wearing a hat, having enmity towards her neighbor.
By carelessly depicting the sign of the cross on oneself, by irreverent veneration of St. icons and shrines of the Lord.
To the detriment of prayer, reading the Gospel, Psalms and spiritual literature, I watched TV...
Cowardly silence when people blasphemed in front of me, shame to be baptized and confess the Lord in front of people (this is one of the types of renunciation of Christ).
He spoke about God without reverence and humility.
Sinned:
In vital matters, he did not consult with the priest and elders (which led to irreparable mistakes).
Being under the guidance of his spiritual father, he lived according to his own sinful will.
Gave advice without knowing whether it pleased God.
Passionate love for people, things, activities...
I tempted those around me with my sins (my unchristian behavior blasphemed the name of the Lord).
Sinned:
Violation of fasts, as well as Wednesdays and Fridays (they are equal in importance to Great Lent, as days of remembrance of the sufferings of Christ).
Saturation in food and drink, secret eating, delicacy (addiction to sweets).
Ate the blood of animals (bloodweed...).
On a fast day, the festive or funeral table was modest. He commemorated the deceased with vodka.
Sinned:
Superstition (belief in dreams, omens, horoscopes...).
Appealing to "grandmothers" (pouring wax, swinging eggs, pouring out fear...), psychics (for what?).
I drank and ate what was said by fortune tellers and psychics.
He defiled himself with urine therapy.
Fortune-telling with cards (tarot...), enchantment (for what?).
He was afraid of sorcerers more than of God.
Coding (why?).
Passion for Eastern religions, occultism or Satanism (specify what).
By attending sectarian, occult... meetings.
Yoga, meditation, Ivanov dousing..., martial arts.**
Reading and keeping prohibited by the Church occult literature: magic, palmistry, horoscopes, dream books, prophecies of Nostradamus, literature of Eastern religions, the teachings of Blavatsky and the Roerichs, Lazarev's "Diagnostics of Karma", Andreev's "Rose of the World", Aksenov, Klizovsky, Vladimir Megre, Taranov, Sviyazh, Vereshchagina, Garafini Makovy, Asaulyak ***...
Forcing (advice) and others to contact them and do it (indicate what the advice was given for).
** Worship of the spirit of the teacher, the hall, pagan-occult teaching about the disclosure of “inner capabilities” leads to communication with demons, possession...
***The Orthodox Church warns that occultism has nothing in common with the teachings of Christ the Savior, and that the works of the above and other occult authors are a wolf pit prepared by the devil for the inexperienced and arrogant in their pride. A Christian through the occult, entering into deep communication with demons, falls away from God and destroys his soul).
Sinned:
Laziness towards work and every good deed.
I did not visit the lonely, the sick, the elderly, children in orphanages, prisoners....
The desire for bodily peace, restlessness in bed.
Sorrow that I cannot enjoy a worldly, sinful, luxurious life.
Addiction to gambling, shows and entertainment (cards*, dominoes, computer games, TV, cinemas, video salons, discos, cafes, bars, restaurants, casinos...).
Drinking until drunk, using foul language, smoking**, using drugs.
Listening to pop and rock music (excites base feelings).
(*Regardless of type card game or fortune telling, the atheistic symbolism of the cards is intended to blasphemously mock the suffering of Christ the Savior.
** Among the American Indians, smoking tobacco had a ritual meaning - the worship of demon spirits. By smoking tobacco, a Christian is a traitor to God and a demon worshiper).
Sinned:
By reading and viewing (in books, magazines, films...) erotic shamelessness and sadism.
I watched immodest games, shows, dances*, and danced myself.
He took part in “beauty” competitions, fashion models, masquerades (“malanka”, “driving a goat”, “Halloween” festival..), as well as in dances accompanied by shamelessness (specify which).
He did not move away from sinful encounters and temptation.
Slowed down and enjoyed the lustful dreams and memories of past sins.
Lustful views and free treatment of persons of the other sex (immodesty, hugs, kisses, unclean touching of the body...).
Fornication (sexual intercourse before marriage).
Prodigal perversions (handjob (masturbation), postures, oral and anal fornication).
Sins of Sodom (homo..., lesbianism, bestiality, incest (fornication with relatives)...).
Selling your body, pimping, renting out premises for fornication.
Following the godless customs of this world, and also wanting to please and seduce: she cut her hair and dyed her hair (this violated God’s commandment about appearance women), dressed shamelessly (in short, with slits, trousers, shorts, too tight, see-through...). In this form, without respect for the shrine, she dared to enter the temple of God.
He was immodest in his gestures, body movements, and gait.
Swimming and sunbathing in the presence of people of the other sex (contradicts the concepts of Christian chastity).
Deliberate temptation to sin (which one?).
(*They led to the martyrdom of John the Baptist, after which dancing for Christians is a mockery of the memory of the Prophet).
Sinned:
Adultery (cheating in marriage).
Not married.
Lustful intemperance in marital relations (during fasts, Sundays and holidays, during pregnancy, on days of female uncleanness).
In marital relations he committed perversions (specify which ones).
Using contraceptives*.
Wanting to live for his own pleasure and avoiding life's difficulties, he killed his children (abortion).
Advising (forcing**) others to have an abortion.
Was the cause of family scandals, insulted family members....
Not the desire to bear joint responsibilities for raising children and maintaining the household, parasitism, wasting money, sending children to an orphanage...
(*The spiral and pills kill the conceived fetus at a very early stage. This is the same abortion, only without surgery.
**Men who forced women to have abortions, or acquiesced, are also child killers. Doctors who perform abortions are murderers, and assistants are accomplices).
Sinned:
He ruined the souls of children, preparing them only for earthly life (he did not teach them about God and faith, did not instill in them the love of church and home prayer, fasting, humility, obedience and other commandments of God, as well as a sense of duty, honor, responsibility..., didn’t look at what they read, who they are friends with, what they do, how they behave.).
Punished them too harshly (taking out anger and irritation, and not for correction, calling them names, cursing).
He seduced children with his sins (swearing, foul language, gossip, watching immoral TV shows, intimate relationships... in their presence).
Sinned:
Disobedience to parents, elders and bosses, insulting them.
Negligent care for elderly (sick) parents, relatives... (left without supervision, food, money, medicine..., transferred to a nursing home...).
Whims, stubbornness, contradiction, self-will, self-justification.
Laziness towards studying.
Was careless about his work (public position).
He used his talents and social position (work) not for the glory of God and the benefit of people, but for personal gain.
Embezzled state and collective property.
Giving and accepting bribes, extortion (which could lead to harm to public and private tragedies).
Harassment of subordinates (for what purpose?).
Having a leadership position, he did not care about suppressing non-Christian customs (corrupting the morality of the people); teaching immoral subjects in schools...
He did not provide all possible assistance to the Orthodox Church (he was indifferent to the dominance Orthodox people false faiths, did not contribute to the spread of Orthodoxy, did not protect church shrines, did not provide assistance in the construction and repair of churches and monasteries, cleaning the church territory...).
Sinned:
I judge the living and the dead (but I don’t see my sins).
Idle talk (empty talk about the vanity of life...).
Telling and listening to vulgar and blasphemous jokes (about God, the Church and clergy).
Excessive laughter, laughter, showing off your own wit in front of people, leading them to laugh.
Calling on the name of God in vain (unnecessarily, in empty talk, jokes).
Condemnation of priests and monks.
By listening and retelling gossip about clergy and Church affairs (through this the name of God was blasphemed among people through me).
Disclosure of other people's sins and weaknesses, slander, spreading bad rumors and gossip.
Lies, deceit, failure to fulfill promises given to God (people).
Fighting God, a false oath, false testimony in court. Unfair trial (acquittal of criminals and condemnation of the innocent...).
Sinned:
Theft (what kind?).
Love of money (addiction to money and wealth).
Non-payment of debts.
Greed, stinginess for alms (and I spend money on whims and vain entertainments without stint).
I did not use the surplus of my income for spiritual benefits (alms, buying spiritual books...).
Self-interest (using someone else's..., benefiting from everything).
Wanting to get rich, he gave money at interest.
He ruined people's souls by selling vodka, cigarettes, drugs, contraceptives, immodest clothes, porn...
Fried, weighed, passed off bad goods as good... (indicate other sins of your trade).
Sinned:
Self-love, envy, suspicion, gloating, flattery, hypocrisy, deceit, people-pleasing, insincerity. I listened to slander with pleasure and agreement.
Approval and justification of sin.
Forcing others to sin (lie, steal, spy, inform, retell, eavesdrop, drink alcohol...).
Participation in bad things and conversations.
By doing good for show, by the desire for fame, gratitude, praise. Seeking primacy and respect...
Playing sports* and martial arts for the sake of fame, money, robbery (racketeering)...
Boasting, admiring oneself (appearance, abilities, clothes...).
Out of pride, he humiliated his neighbors with ridicule (jokes), stupid jokes...
Laughed at the poor, the crippled, the misfortune of others...
(*professional sport damages health and destroys the soul by developing pride, vanity, superiority, contempt, thirst for enrichment...).
Sinned:
Pride.
Touchiness.
Grudge.
Vengefulness.
Hatred.
Intransigence.
Enmity.
Hot temper.
Anger.
Rough treatment of neighbors.
Impudence and impudence (climbing out of turn, pushing).
Swearing (including swearing, with reference to evil spirits).
Assault, beating.
Murder.
Purchasing a driving license.
Violation of traffic rules.
Driving while drunk... (thus endangering people's lives).
Causing harm to one's neighbor (what kind of harm?).
Not protecting the weak, the beaten, women from violence...
Cruelty to animals.
A cold and insensitive confession.
I sin deliberately, trampling on my convicting conscience. There is no firm determination to correct your sinful life.
I repent that I offended the Lord with my sins, I sincerely regret this and will try to improve.
(Since remembering all sins during confession would s It’s difficult, you can write them all down on a piece of paper and read them out during confession.)
The priest often has to stand at the lectern with the Cross and the Gospel not to accept the confession of the penitents, but to listen to speeches of self-justification and condemnation of neighbors (relatives, co-workers, neighbors, etc.) This happens partly due to the Orthodox misunderstanding of the meaning of the sacrament of Confession, partly due to the tedious unwillingness to talk to your conscience, to remove the filth of sin and wash it with repentance.
Confession is not a conversation about your shortcomings, doubts, or telling your confessor about your life. Confession is repentance of the heart, born of a thirst for cleansing from the filth of sin. We come to confession with the intention of receiving forgiveness of sins from the Lord God through the priest. So know that your confession is empty, fruitless, invalid and even offensive to the Lord if you go to confession without any preparation, without testing your conscience, for shame or another reason you hide your sins, you confess formally, coldly, mechanically, without having a firm intention to improve.
Here is what needs to be done in preparation for the Sacraments of Penance and Eucharist (Communion):
3 days - fasting (food of animal origin is excluded, abstaining from entertainment).
Follow the following prayer rule:
MORNING PRAYERS
PRAYERS FOR THE SLEEP OF THE COMING
CANON:
REPENTANCE TO OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
PRAYER TO THE HOLY VIRGIN
GUARDIAN ANGEL
Using the book THE EXPERIENCE OF CONSTRUCTING A CONFESSION, compose a confession on paper.
On the days of preparation for confession, one must attend divine services in church and read the GOSPEL.
After CONFESSION, before COMMUNION, read in the evening:
PRAYERS FOR THE SLEEP OF THE COMING
CANON FOR HOLY COMMUNION.
After midnight they no longer eat or drink, because it is customary to begin the SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION on an empty stomach (you cannot smoke).
In the morning read: MORNING PRAYERS
FOLLOWING HOLY COMMUNION, except for the canon read the day before.
At the end of the service, you must hurry home, read the PRAYERS OF THANKS FOR HOLY COMMUNION and spend the rest of the day reading spiritual books and helping your neighbors, protecting yourself from empty talk and entertainment.
Prayer book
“The experience of constructing a confession.” I. Peasant.
New Testament
Communion is a mysterious, incomprehensible to the mind, the deepest and closest connection with God possible for a person through the partaking of the greatest shrine - the Eucharistic Gifts, Bread and Wine - the true Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is necessary to begin this most holy Sacrament, if possible, monthly, but not less than 4 times a year. One must carefully prepare for it so that Communion does not lead to judgment or condemnation.
When preparing for communion, be sure to make peace with everyone with whom you had a conflict or quarrel. Taking communion in hostility is a grave sin.
On the eve of the day of communion, it is necessary to attend the evening service. This is an indispensable condition for preparation for the sacrament of Communion.
The Sacrament of Communion must necessarily be preceded by the Sacrament of Confession.
The communicant must wear a cross on his body.
One should approach the Holy Chalice with reverence, without pushing anyone, realizing one’s unworthiness. Cross your arms across your chest, right over left. Do not be baptized before the Chalice. name yours full name given at baptism. Take St. carefully. Gifts, kiss the edge of the Chalice and calmly move away. Chew the gifts immediately, if necessary, and swallow them. Then wash down the Gifts with “warmth” and eat a piece of prosphora.
Usually people inexperienced in spiritual life do not see either the plurality of their sins or their vileness - “I didn’t do anything special, I only have minor sins, like everyone else - I didn’t steal, I didn’t kill.” What about self-esteem? Intolerance to reproaches? Callousness? People-pleasing, weakness of faith, lack of love for one's neighbor? Are these all unimportant sins? Let's take a closer look at ourselves, remember what our relatives and friends usually reproach us for. Very often their accusations and reproaches are fair. Have we achieved meekness, freedom from anger, humility? Do we love every person as commanded by the Savior?
Knowing your sins does not mean repenting of them. True, the Lord accepts confession: - sincere and conscientious, even if it is not accompanied by a strong feeling of repentance, even if this sin of ours - the stony insensibility of the heart - we confess courageously and frankly, without hypocrisy. And yet, contrition of heart, sorrow for our sins is the most important thing that we can bring to confession. To soften our hearts and sharpen the feeling of repentance, we need prayerful preparations for confession and fasting. Fasting disrupts bodily well-being and complacency, which is disastrous for spiritual life, loosens the soil of our heart, which can then absorb prayer, the word of God, the lives of saints, the works of the Holy Fathers, and this, in turn, will give us strength to fight sin and do good deeds .
There is no need to wait for questions during confession, you need to make the effort yourself, because confession is a feat and self-compulsion. We must speak precisely, without obscuring the ugliness of sin with general expressions. We must give up attempts to justify ourselves with “mitigating circumstances,” and give up references to others who allegedly led us into sin. Confession must be complete, that is, we must confess all our sins, without hiding anything or putting it off “for later.” Unrepentant sins constantly burden the soul and prepare it for eternal damnation. One should be ashamed to commit a sin, and not repent of it. Don’t you dare think that your sins are so great that it’s not worth repenting. Who accepts our repentance? Who heals our sinful ulcers? Almighty God. Almighty Doctor! And as such, He makes forgiveness possible for all the most serious sins.
It is wrong to think that after confessing our many sins, the priest will begin to neglect us as sinners. On the contrary, any priest rejoices at the sincere repentance of a sinner, just as a good shepherd rejoices when he finds a lost sheep. Knowing our ailments, he will be more likely to help us, to indicate a way to heal from our sinful ulcers.
based on materials from Orthodox websites.
(21 votes: 4.43 out of 5)(Translation from the Moscow Theological Academy.
Reprinted from a prayer book published in Moscow in 1874).
Prayers Before Communion
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who is everywhere and fills everything, the source of blessings and the giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth and save, O Good One, our souls.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and now (now), and ever (always), and forever and ever. Amen (truly so).
Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse our sins, Master, forgive our iniquities, Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Your name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy (three times). Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be Your name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us our daily (necessary) bread today, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (the evil one is evil, the devil) For (because) Thine is the kingdom , and the power and glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Psalm 22
The Lord shepherds (leads) me and does not deprive me of anything. There, in a green place, He settled me and raised me by the still water. He converted my soul, directed me on the path of righteousness for the sake of His name. Even if I walk in the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me: Your rod and Your staff - they have comforted me. You have prepared a table for me in view of my oppressors, You have anointed my head with oil, and Your cup gives me drink as if it were excellent! And Your mercy follows me all the days of my life. And I will abide in the house of the Lord many days!
Psalm 23
The Lord's earth and everything that fills it, the universe and all who live in it. He founded it on the seas and built it on the rivers. Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who will stand in His holy place? The one who has blameless hands and a pure heart, who in his soul was not carried away by vanity and did not swear deceitfully to his neighbor. This one will receive a blessing from the Lord and mercy from God his Savior. This is the generation of those who seek the Lord, looking for faces God of Jacob! Princes, lift up your gates and stand up, everlasting gates! And the King of Glory will enter. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord is mighty and strong, the Lord is mighty in battle. Princes, lift up your gates and stand up, everlasting gates! And the King of Glory will enter. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory.
Psalm 115
I believed and therefore said: I am very broken. I said in my frenzy: every man is a liar. What shall I render to the Lord for all that He has given me? I will accept the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord before all His people. The death of His saints is honorable before the Lord. God! I am Your servant. I am Your servant and the son of Your handmaid. You have broken my bonds. I will offer you a sacrifice of praise and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord before all His people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, among you, O Jerusalem!
Tropari
Lord, born of a virgin! Despise my iniquities, cleanse my heart and make it a temple of Your most pure Body and Blood, and do not cast me away from Your face, O immeasurably merciful One!
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. How can I, unworthy, dare to partake of Your holy things? If I dare to approach You with those who are worthy, my clothes convict me, because they are not marital, and I will deserve the condemnation of my sinful soul: cleanse, O Lord, the impurity of my soul and save me, because You love mankind.
And now and ever, and unto ages of ages, Amen. Our Lady is pure! I have many many sins. I ran to You, seeking salvation. The One Blessed One! Come to the aid of my weary soul and pray to Your Son and our God that He will forgive me for everything that I have done that is wicked.
On Holy Pentecost it is read:
When the glorious disciples were enlightened during their washing at the evening, then the wicked Judas, sick with the love of money, became darkened (in soul), and handed You over, the righteous Judge, to the lawless judges. Look, collector of estates, at the one who hanged himself because of them. Flee the insatiable soul that treated the Teacher so impudently. Merciful Lord to all, glory to You!
Psalm 50
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy and according to the multitude of Your mercies, cleanse my iniquity. Wash me often from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin, for I am aware of my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. You alone have I sinned and done evil before You, so that You will be righteous in Your judgment and will be victorious when You judge. For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and my mother bore me in sins. You loved the truth: You showed me the unknown and secret of Your wisdom. Sprinkle me with hyssop (an herb used in worship) and I will be cleansed, wash me and I will become whiter than snow.
Bring joy and gladness to my hearing, and humble bones will rejoice. Turn Your face away from my sins and cleanse my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and strengthen me with the Sovereign Spirit. I will teach the wicked Your ways, and the wicked will turn to You. Deliver me from (shedding) blood, O God, God of my salvation! And my tongue will joyfully praise Your righteousness. God! Open my mouth, and they will declare Your praise. If You wanted a sacrifice, I would give it, (but) You do not favor a burnt offering. A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God will not despise a contrite and humble heart.
Bless Zion, O Lord, according to Your good pleasure, and may the walls of Jerusalem be built. Then you will be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, the wave offering and the burnt offering, then they will lay bulls on Your altar.
K A N O N (2nd voice).
Song 1
Irmos: Come people, let us sing a hymn to Christ God, who divided the sea and led through it the people whom He brought out of slavery in Egypt; for He is glorified. (At each song of the canon, after the irmos (before the first troparion) one should say: “Create a pure heart in me, O God, and renew the spirit of righteousness in my insides,” before the next troparion - “Do not cast me away from Thy presence and Thy Holy Spirit do not take it away from me.” Before the Mother of God - “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!”).
Merciful Lord! May Thy Holy Body be to me the bread of life that has no end, and may Thy holy Blood be a cure for various diseases.
Christ! Desecrated by vile deeds, I, pitiful, become unworthy of communion of Your most pure Body and Divine Blood; honor me with it.
Theotokos: Blessed Bride of God, beautiful land, which has grown without cultivation the Spear, saving the world, make me worthy of salvation, who partakes of it.
Song 3
Irmos: You who established me on the rock of faith, You have opened my mouth against my enemies; for my spirit rejoiced in singing: there is none so holy as our God, and none is righteous except Thee, O Lord.
Lord Christ! Give me drops of tears that cleanse the impurity of my heart, so that, purified by my conscience, with faith and fear I begin to partake of Your Divine Gifts.
More humane! May Your Most Pure Body and Divine Blood serve me for the remission of sins, for the communion of the Holy Spirit, in eternal life and liberation from passions and sorrows.
Theotokos: The most holy meal of living bread, which by His mercy came down from on high and gives to the world new life! Now deign me, unworthy, to taste it with fear in order to be alive.
Song 4
Irmos: Not an intercessor, not an angel, but You Yourself, Lord, came from the Virgin, taking flesh from Her, and saved all of me, a man; Therefore I cry to You: glory to Your power, O Lord!
Most merciful! For our sake, having become incarnate, You wanted to be slain for the sins of people, like a sheep; Therefore, I humbly beg You: cleanse my sins.
God! Heal the wounds of my soul and sanctify everything. Master! Honor me, the unfortunate one, to partake of You, Your mystical Divine Supper.
Theotokos: Lady! Be merciful to me, who was born of You, and keep me, Your servant, undefiled and immaculate, so that, having accepted the pearl imagined in my mind, I may be sanctified.
Song 5
Irmos: Lord, Giver of Light and Creator of Times! Guide us with the light of Your commandments; for we do not recognize any other God besides You.
Christ! What You yourself said before, let it be done to Your insignificant servant and, as you promised, abide in me; for behold, I eat Your Divine Body and drink Your Blood.
O Word of God (the Father) and God! May the coal of Your Body serve me, the darkened one, for enlightenment, and Your Blood for the cleansing of my desecrated soul.
Theotokos: Mary, Mother of God, precious receptacle of fragrance! Make me a chosen vessel of Your prayers, so that I may be a partaker of the sanctifications of Your Son.
Song 6
Irmos: Having plunged into the abyss of sin, I call upon the incomprehensible abyss of Your mercy. God, bring me out of destruction!
Savior! Sanctify my mind, soul, heart and body and deign, Master, to approach terrible mysteries without condemnation.
Christ! Through the communion of Your holy mysteries, may I be freed from passions and receive an increase in Your grace and strengthening of life.
Theotokos: God, Holy Word of God! Through the prayers of Your Holy Mother, sanctify me in all respects, as I now approach Your Divine mysteries.
Kontakion
Christ! Allow me to receive bread - Your Body, and do not deprive me, unfortunate Master, of the communion of Your Divine Blood - Your most pure and terrible secrets. Let communion not serve as a condemnation for me, but it will grant me eternal and immortal life.
Song 7
Irmos: The wise youths did not serve the golden image, they themselves went into the flames and laughed at their gods; They cried out in the midst of the flames, and an angel sprinkled them with dew: the prayer of your lips was heard.
Christ! May the communion of Your immortal mysteries now be a source of blessings for me, light, life, victory over passions, and serve for the success and increase of Divine virtue, so that I may glorify You, the only merciful one.
Philanthropic! With trembling, love and reverence, now approaching You, Your immortal and Divine mysteries, may I get rid of passions, enemies, needs and all sorrow in order to sing to You: blessed are You, God of our fathers!
Theotokos: Filled with Divine grace, incomprehensibly giving birth to Christ the Savior! I beg You, Pure One, I, Your unclean servant, cleanse all of me from the impurity of flesh and spirit, who now wants to begin the most pure mysteries.
Song 8
Irmos: Sing the creations of the Lord and extol to all ages God, Who descended to the Jewish youths into the fiery furnace and turned the flame into dew.
My Savior, Christ God! Honor me, who have lost all hope of salvation, to now be a partaker of the heavenly, terrible and holy mysteries and Your Divine Mystical Supper.
Merciful! Running under Your mercy, I call upon You with fear: Savior, as You Yourself said, abide in me and I in You! Trusting in this mercy, here I eat Your Body and drink Your Blood.
When I receive fire, I tremble lest I should be burned like wax and grass. O terrible mystery! O mercy of God! How can I, clay, partake of the Divine Body and Blood and remain unharmed?
Song 9
Irmos: The Son of the Beginningless Father, God and Lord, incarnate from the Virgin, appeared among us to enlighten the darkened, to gather the scattered, therefore we magnify the glorious Mother of God.
Taste and see - this is Christ. The Lord, who for our sake became like us, who once sacrificed Himself to His Father, always slaughters himself, sanctifying those who receive communion.
Master, most merciful benefactor! Through communion of the sacred mysteries, may I be sanctified in soul and body, may I be enlightened, may I be saved; may I be Your house, having You within me, together with the Father and the Spirit.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. May Your Body and Most Honorable Blood, my Savior, be like fire and like light to me, burning up everything sinful in me and consuming the thorns of passions, and may they always enlighten me so that I can worship Your Divinity.
And now and forever, and forever and ever. Lady! God became incarnate from Your pure blood; therefore, every race and multitude of intelligent (creatures) glorify You, because they clearly know that he who has received human nature from You is the Lord of all.
It is truly worthy to glorify You, Mother of God, always blessed and immaculate, Mother of our God. You are more honorable (more honorable) than the cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the seraphim. We magnify You, who incorruptibly gave birth to God the Word.
Prayers Before Communion
Lord Jesus Christ, our God, the source of life and immortality, the Creator of all creation, visible and invisible, the Son of the beginningless Father, together with Him, eternal and beginningless, in last days out of excessive mercy, clothed in flesh, crucified and buried for us, ungrateful and insensitive, renewing our nature damaged by sin with His blood! Immortal King Himself, accept repentance from me, a sinner, incline Your ear to me and hear what I will say: I have sinned, Lord, I have sinned before heaven and before You and I am not worthy to raise my eyes to the height of Your glory, for I have angered Your mercy by transgressing Your commandments and not listening to Your commands.
But You, Lord, gentle, long-suffering and abundantly merciful, did not leave me to perish with my iniquities, waiting in every possible way for my conversion. You, O Lover of Mankind, Yourself said through Your prophet: “I absolutely do not want the death of a sinner; but I want him to convert and live.” So You, Lord, do not want to destroy the creation of Your hands; You do not want the destruction of people. But you want everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, even though I am unworthy of heaven and earth and this fleeting life, having given myself entirely into slavery to sin and sensual pleasures, I have desecrated Your image. But I, unfortunate one - Your creation and creation - do not lose hope for my salvation and approach, hoping for Your immeasurable mercy. And so, Lover of mankind, accept me as a harlot, as a thief, as a publican, as prodigal son, and remove from me the heavy yoke of sin, You, who take away the sins of the world, heal human infirmities, call to yourself the toiling and burdened and calm them, who came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Cleanse me from all impurity of body and spirit. Teach me to perform a holy work with reverence for You, so that I, with an impeccable testimony of conscience, accepting part of Your holy things, unite with Your holy Body and Blood and have You within me, living and abiding together with the Father and Your Holy Spirit.
Hey, Lord Jesus Christ my God! May the communion of Your most pure and life-giving Mysteries not serve as a condemnation for me, and may I not become weak in soul and body from unworthy communion of them. Grant me, Lord, until my last breath, to uncondemnably accept part of Your holy things into the communion of the Holy Spirit, as parting words of eternal life, as a favorable response to Your terrible judgment, so that with all Your chosen ones I can participate in Your incorruptible blessings that You have prepared for those who love You and for which You are blessed forever. Amen.
Lord my God! I know that I am unworthy and unsuitable for You to come under the roof of the house of my soul, because it is empty and fallen, and you will not find in me a place worthy to lay your head. But You, from heavenly heights, appeared on earth for us in a humble form; descend also now to my misery. And just as You deigned to lie down in the cave and in the manger of dumb beasts, enter also into the manger of my foolish soul and into my sinful body. Just as you did not disdain to enter and dine with sinners in the house of Simon the leper, deign also to enter the house of my wretched soul, leper and sinner. Just as You did not reject from Yourself a sinful harlot like me, who came and touched You, also have mercy on me, a sinner, who comes and touches You. And just as you did not disdain the uncleanness of her defiled lips that kissed You, do not also disdain my even more unclean and foul lips and my disgusting, unclean and defiled lips, and my even more unclean tongue.
But may the coal of Your most holy Body and Your honest Blood serve me in sanctification, enlightenment and strengthening of my wretched soul and body, in easing the burden of many of my sins, in preserving me from all devilish influence, in removing and liberating me from my evil and evil habit, to mortify passions, to preserve Your commandments, to increase Your Divine grace, to win Your Kingdom. I approach You, Christ God, not with negligence, but with boldness in Your ineffable mercy, so that, avoiding communication with You for a long time, I would not be caught by a mental wolf, like a predatory beast.
Therefore I pray to You: You, one holy Master, sanctify my soul and body, mind and heart, and all my inward parts, renew me entirely, root Your fear in my members, and make Your sanctification unchangeably be in me. And be my help and shield, ruling my life in silence, worthy of me standing on the right side with Your Angels, through the prayers and intercession of Your Most Pure Mother, Your incorporeal servants and most pure powers and all the saints who have pleased You from the beginning of the world. Amen.
One pure and incorruptible Lord, through unspeakable compassion and love for mankind, who took upon Himself our entire complex nature from the pure and immaculate blood of the Virgin, who supernaturally gave birth to You by the Divine Spirit by the influx and favor of the eternal Father, Christ Jesus, the Wisdom of God, and peace, and power! You, who have accepted life-giving and saving sufferings through Your flesh: the Cross, nails, spears, death, kill my bodily passions that are destructive to the soul. By Your burial You have devastated the kingdom of hell, bury my bad intentions with good thoughts and scatter the spirits of evil. By Your life-giving resurrection on the third day of the fallen forefather, raise up me too, who slipped through sin, offering me the means of repentance. By Your glorious Ascension, having deified the flesh and given it the honor of sitting at the right hand of the Father, honor me with the communion of Your holy Mysteries right side to reach those being saved. By the descent of the Comforter of the Spirit, having made Thy sacred disciples into precious vessels, show me also to be the receptacle of His coming. He who is coming again to judge the universe righteously! Deign me too to meet You, my Creator and Creator, on the clouds with all Your saints, so that I may endlessly glorify and sing Your praises, with Your beginningless Father and Your all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Master Lord Jesus Christ, our God, merciful and humane, who alone has the power to forgive the sins of people, despise (forget), forgive all my sins, conscious and unconscious, and grant me, without condemnation, to partake of Your divine, glorious, most pure and life-giving Mysteries not in punishment, not for the multiplication of sins, but for cleansing, sanctification, as a pledge of future life and kingdom, as a strong stronghold, for protection, for the defeat of enemies, for the destruction of many of my sins. For You are the God of mercy and generosity, and love for mankind, and we glorify You with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
I know, Lord, that I unworthily partake of Your most pure Body and Your honorable Blood, and I am guilty, and I eat and drink condemnation for myself, not realizing that this is Your Body and Blood, Christ and my God. But, trusting in Your mercies, I come to You, who said: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood, he abides in Me, and I in him.” Have mercy, O Lord, and do not expose me, a sinner, but deal with me according to Your mercy, and may this Holy Place serve me for healing, cleansing, enlightenment, for the protection, salvation and sanctification of soul and body, for driving away all dreams and evil deeds, and the attack of the devil, acting through thought in me - into boldness and love for You, into correcting life and strengthening it, into increasing virtue and perfection, into fulfilling the commandments, into communication with the Holy Spirit, into parting words into eternal life, into a favorable response at Your Last Judgment - not to condemnation.
From foul lips, from a vile heart, from an unclean tongue, from a defiled soul, accept this prayer, my Christ, and without rejecting my words, my character, or my shamelessness, let me freely say what I want, my Christ, but better and teach me what I should do and say. I have sinned more than the harlot, who, having learned where You are, having bought peace, dared to come to anoint Your feet, my Christ, my Lord and my God. Just as You did not reject her, who came from a pure heart, do not disdain me, Word! Allow me to hold and kiss Your feet, and boldly anoint them with a stream of tears, like precious ointment. Wash me with your tears, cleanse me with them, Word! Forgive my sins and grant me forgiveness. You know many vices, you know my wounds, and you see my ulcers, but you also know my faith, and you see my zeal, and you hear my groans. Not a drop of tears, not a drop of a certain part is hidden from You, my God, my Creator, my Redeemer. Your eyes have noticed what I have not completed, but in Your book there is also what has not yet been written down by You. Look at my humility, look at my suffering, and forgive me all my sins, O God of the universe, so that with a pure heart, a trembling thought and a contrite soul, I may partake of Your most pure and all-holy Mysteries, by which everyone who eats You and drinks with sincerity is revived and deified. heart. After all, You, my Lord, said: “Whoever eats My Flesh, as well as drinks My Blood, abides in Me, and I am in him.” In everything, the word of my Master and God is true: after all, partaking of the divine and deifying Gifts, I am truly not alone, but with You, my Christ, the Light, bright as three suns, enlightening the world. Therefore, so that I would not be left alone, without You, the Giver of my life, my breath, my life, my joy, the salvation of the world, I came to You, as You see, with tears and a contrite soul, begging for deliverance for me. from my sins and Your life-giving and immaculate Sacraments, receiving communion does not lead to condemnation; so that You may remain, as You said, with me, who am thrice unhappy; so that the seducer, finding me deprived of Your grace, does not steal me insidiously and, having deceived me, does not lead me away from Your deifying words. Therefore, I fall at Your feet and fervently cry out to You: just as You accepted the prodigal son and the harlot who came to You, so, O Merciful One, accept me, the prodigal and the vile, who now comes to You with a contrite soul. I know, Savior, that no one else has sinned before You like I have, or done the deeds that I have done. But I also know that neither the severity of sins nor the multitude of sins exceeds my God’s great patience and great love for mankind, but with merciful compassion You cleanse and enlighten those who ardently repent, and introduce them to the light, generously making them partakers of Your Divinity; and - what is marvelous both to Angels and to human thoughts - You converse with them many times, as with Your true friends. It gives me courage, it inspires me, my Christ! And, boldly trusting in Your rich benefits to us, rejoicing and trembling together, I, the grass, partake of the fire, and am - a wondrous miracle - inexplicably watered, like in ancient times a thorn bush that burned without being consumed. So, with a grateful thought and a grateful heart, with all my grateful feelings, my soul and body, I worship, and magnify, and glorify You, my God, as blessed both now and forever.
God! Let go, resolve, forgive my sins that I have committed in word, deed, thought, voluntarily or involuntarily, consciously or unconsciously, and, as a merciful and humane person, grant me forgiveness in everything. And through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother, Your intelligent servants and holy powers (angels) and all the saints who have pleased You from the beginning of the world, deign me, without condemnation, to accept Your holy and most pure Body and honorable Blood for the healing of soul and body and for the purification of my evil thoughts . For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Prayer is his
Sovereign Lord! I am not worth it for You to enter under the roof of my soul, but since You, as a lover of mankind, want to live in me, I approach with boldness. You command that I open the doors created by You alone, and You should enter into them with Your characteristic love for mankind. You come in and enlighten my darkened thoughts. I believe that You will do this, for You did not withdraw from the harlot who came to You with tears, did not reject the publican who brought repentance, did not drive away the thief who knew Your kingdom, and the persecutor who turned to You, did not leave what he was , but You placed all those who turned to You through repentance among Your friends. You alone are blessed always, now and in endless ages. Amen.
Prayer is his
Lord Jesus Christ, my God! Let go, resolve, cleanse and forgive me, Thy servant, sins, crimes, falls and everything that I have sinned from my youth to this day and hour - consciously or unconsciously, in words, deeds, intentions, thoughts, activities and in all my feelings - and through the prayers of the Most Pure Ever-Virgin Mary, who gave birth to You without seed (without a husband), Your Mother, the only undoubted hope, intercessor and salvation of my, grant me without condemnation to partake of Your most pure, immortal, life-giving, and terrible sacraments for the forgiveness of sins, in eternal life, sanctification and enlightenment, strengthening, healing and health of soul and body, destruction and complete elimination of my unclean thoughts, thoughts, undertakings and night dreams, dark and evil spirits. For Thine is the kingdom, power, honor and worship, together with the Father and Thy Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
I am already standing before the doors of Your temple, and unclean thoughts do not leave me. But You, Christ God, Who justified the publican, who had mercy on the Canaanite woman and who opened (opened) the doors of paradise to the thief, open to me the doors of Your love for mankind and accept me, who comes and touches You, as a harlot and a bleeding woman. As soon as one touched the hem of Your garment, she immediately received healing; the other, grasping Your most pure feet, received remission of her sins. I am the accursed one, who dares to accept Your whole body, so that I will not be scorched (burnt). But accept me like those two, and enlighten the feelings of my soul, burning away sinful inclinations, through the prayers of the immaculate One who gave birth to You and through the prayers heavenly powers. For You are blessed forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer of St. John Chrysostom
(read by the priest when removing the chalice).
I believe, Lord, and confess that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. I also believe that this is your most pure Body, and this is your precious Blood. Therefore, I pray to You: have mercy on me and forgive me my sins, voluntary and involuntary, which (I have committed) in words and deeds, consciously and unconsciously, and grant me, without condemnation, to partake of Your most pure Sacraments for the remission of sins and eternal life. Amen.
Son of God! Honor me today to be a partaker of Your mystical Supper. I will not reveal the sacraments to Your enemies, and I will not give You a kiss like Judas, but like a thief I will confess You. Remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom! May the communion of Your most pure Mysteries be not a condemnation for me, O Lord, but a healing of soul and body. Amen
When you begin communion, say the following verses to yourself.
Here I begin to receive Divine Communion,
Do not burn me, Creator, with this sacrament,
Because You are the fire that burns the unworthy;
But cleanse me from all uncleanness.
Then:
And poems: Shudder, man, when you see the deifying Blood:/ for it is a burning coal, scorching the unworthy./ The Body of God both deifies me and nourishes me:/ deifies the spirit, but nourishes the mind incomprehensibly.
And troparia: You attracted me with love, Christ, / and changed me with a divine desire for You. / But burn my sins with immaterial fire / and grant me to be satisfied with pleasure in You, / so that I, rejoicing, magnify / Your two comings, O Good One.
How will I, unworthy, enter into the bright host of Your saints?/ After all, if I dare to enter the bridal chamber with them,/ my clothes will expose me,/ for this is not what they wear to marriage,/ and, bound, I will be expelled by the Angels./ Cleanse, Lord, defile my soul/ and save me, as a Lover of mankind.
And again: As a participant in Your mystical Supper/ this day, Son of God, accept me./ For I will not tell Your secrets to Your enemies,/ I will not give You a kiss like Judas./ But as a thief I confess You:/ “Remember me, O Lord, in Your kingdom!
Prayers After Communion
Glory to You, God! Glory to You, God! Glory to You, God!
First prayer
I thank You, Lord my God, that You have not rejected me, a sinner, but have made me worthy to be a participant in Your holy things. I thank You for making me, unworthy, worthy to partake of Your most pure and heavenly gifts. But, O philanthropic Master, for our sake you died and rose again, and gave us these terrible and life-giving sacraments of Yours for the benefit and sanctification of our souls and bodies! Give them to me for the healing of soul and body, for the reflection of every enemy, for the enlightenment of the eyes of my heart, for the pacification of my spiritual strength, for unashamed faith, for unfeigned love, for the increase of wisdom, for the fulfillment of Your commandments, for the increase of Your grace and the assimilation of Your kingdoms, so that I, protected by them in Your sanctification, always remember Your grace and live not for myself, but for You, our Lord and benefactor. And so, having finished real life with the hope of eternal life, I have achieved eternal rest, where the unceasing voice of those enjoying bliss and the endless joy of those contemplating the indescribable beauty of Your face is heard, for You, Christ our God, are the true delight and inexpressible joy of those who love You, and You are praised by all creation forever. Amen.
Prayer of St. Basil the Great
Lord Christ God, King of the ages and Creator of all! I thank You for all the benefits that You have given me in accepting Your most pure and life-giving sacraments. I beg You, merciful and humane, keep me under Your roof and in the shadow of Your wings and grant me, until my last breath, with a clear conscience, to worthily partake of Your holy things for the remission of sins and eternal life. For You are the bread of life, the source of holiness, the giver of blessings, and we send up glory to You together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Having given me Your flesh for food voluntarily, You are the fire that burns the unworthy! Do not burn me, my Creator, rather go into the members of my body, into all the joints, into the insides, into the heart, and burn up the thorns of all my sins. Cleanse my soul, sanctify my thoughts, strengthen my knees and bones, enlighten the five main feelings, nail me all with fear of You. Always protect, protect and protect me from every deed and word harmful to the soul. Cleanse, wash and arrange me; decorate, admonish and enlighten me. Show me to be Your abode, the one Spirit, and no longer the abode of sin, so that after receiving Communion every evildoer, every passion will flee from me, as from Your house, as from fire. As intercessors for myself, I present to You all the saints, the Commanders of the disembodied armies, Your Forerunner, the wise Apostles, and above them, Your immaculate, pure Mother. Accept their prayers, my merciful Christ, and make Your servant a son of light. For You, the only Good One, are the sanctification, as well as the radiance of our souls, and to You, as befits God and Master, we all send up glory every day.
Prayer Four
Lord Jesus Christ, our God! May Your holy body be for me eternal life and Your venerable blood for the remission of sins. May this (supper) thanksgiving be for me joy, health and joy. At Your terrible second coming, grant me, a sinner, to stand on the right side of Your glory through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother and all the saints.
Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Most Holy Lady Theotokos, light of my darkened soul, hope, protection, refuge, consolation, my joy! I thank You for deigning me, unworthy, to partake of the most pure Body and precious Blood of Your Son. But, having given birth to the true light, enlighten the spiritual eyes of my heart! Producing the source of immortality, revive me, killed by sin! As the merciful Mother of the merciful God, have mercy on me and grant to my heart tenderness and contrition, to my thoughts modesty and liberation from the captivity of my thoughts. Grant me, until my last breath, to uncondemnably accept sanctification with the most pure sacraments for the healing of soul and body. And give me tears of repentance and confession, so that I can sing and glorify You all the days of my life; for You are blessed and glorified forever. Amen.
Now do You let Your servant go, O Lord, according to Your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all people, a light for the enlightenment of the pagans and the glory of Your people Israel ().
Are you thinking about going to confession, but haven't decided to do it yet? Are you confused because you don't know how to properly prepare for this? Using the following below simple tips you can take your first steps.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR CONFESSION
Confession- the sacrament of reconciliation with God, when the penitent, in the presence of a witness-priest, reveals his sins to God and promises not to repeat them, and the priest prays for the forgiveness of the sins of the confessor. A confidential conversation with a priest, where you can discuss some details of your life and get answers to questions, should be distinguished from confession. Of course, some issues can be resolved during confession, but if there are a lot of questions or their discussion requires a long time, then it is better to ask the priest to set up a time for you to talk separately. Next, let's move directly to tips on preparing for confession.
1. Realize your sins. If you are thinking about confession, it means that you admit that in your life you did something wrong. It is with the awareness of one’s sins that repentance begins. What is sin and what is not? Sin is everything that contradicts God's will, or, in other words, God's plan for the world and man. God's plan for the world is revealed in the Holy Scriptures - the Bible. A partial, most “compressed” expression of God’s plan for the practical life of man are the commandments - the famous Ten Commandments given to Moses at Sinai. Jesus Christ boiled down the essence of these commandments to the following: “ Love the Lord God with all your heart" and "love your neighbor as yourself" Before preparing for the first confession, it is useful to re-read the Savior’s Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7 of the Gospel of Matthew) and the parable of Last Judgment, where Jesus Christ says that our lives will be judged based on how we treated our neighbors.
2. Don’t use “sin lists.” Recently, among believers (as they say, “churched”, that is, more familiar with church tradition, and in practice - with parachurch superstitions) various kinds of “lists of sins” are common. They rather harm the preparation for confession, because they very successfully help turn confession into a formal listing of “what-is-sin.” In fact, confession should not be formal under any circumstances. In addition, among the “lists of sins” there are some completely curious examples, so it is better not to consider brochures of this kind seriously at all.
The only exception may be the most a brief “memo” of the main 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 the 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);
- the creation of “idols,” that is, placing something other than God in first place among life values. 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;
- turning to various kinds of 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 at the moment);
- condemnation and discussion of the shortcomings of others (“ You will be justified by your words and you will be condemned by your words", 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 consciously 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 yourself, 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.
5. 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 throughout many years didn’t come to God, then why repent of not keeping fasts if the “vector” of life itself was directed in the wrong direction? Thirdly, who needs endless digging into everyday minutiae? 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 on the path of life. And above all, our family members. Christian life for family people begins in the family and is tested by it. Here is the best field for cultivating Christian qualities: love, patience, forgiveness, acceptance.
6. 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 in 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. Since ancient times, the Christian Church has considered renunciation of faith, murder and adultery to be such sins. 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, only God alone is sinless.
7. Be at peace with everyone. « Forgive and you will be forgiven", says the Lord. - " By which court you judge, you will be judged" And even more powerfully: “ 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. Canon of repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ is printed in almost any prayer book, except the shortest ones.
During confession, the priest may assign you penance: abstaining from communion for a while, reading special prayers, bowing to the ground or doing acts 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, it is better to combine preparation for confession with preparation for communion.
If these little tips helped you prepare for confession, thank God. Do not forget that this sacrament must be regular. Don't put off your next confession for many 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.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR HOLY COMMUNION
A reminder to a Christian who wishes to approach the Holy Chalice to receive communion of the life-giving Body and Blood of Christ the Lord.
An Orthodox Christian who wishes to begin the Holy Sacrament of Communion must remember that in order for Communion to the Lord not to be “in court and condemnation,” a Christian must fulfill a number of essential and disciplinary conditions. Disciplinary conditions are not strictly mandatory, and in the event of extraordinary circumstances (for example, in the event of a serious illness of a person or his dying condition) are not enforced. However, Orthodox Christians should remember that the development of these disciplinary conditions was based on the extensive experience of the life of the Church, and therefore, under normal circumstances, this external preparation (attendance at worship services, fasting, home prayer, etc.) is also mandatory.
1. Awareness of meaning. A person must be absolutely aware of where and why he has come. He came to enter into Communion with God, to become a partaker of the Divine, to unite with Christ, to taste the Lord’s Supper for his sanctification and cleansing from sins, and not to perform a religious ritual, “drink compote” or have dinner. The Apostle Paul puts it this way: “ Next, you gather together in a way that does not mean eating the Lord's supper; for everyone hastens to eat his food before others, so that some are hungry, and others get drunk. Have you no houses to eat and drink? Or do you neglect the church of God and humiliate the poor? What should I tell you? Should I praise you for this? I won't praise you"(1 Cor. 11:20-22).
2. Sincere desire. A person must have a completely sincere desire to unite with Christ. This desire must be alien to all hypocrisy, and it must be combined with the Fear of God: “ The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord"(Prov. 9:10). A person must remember that “whoever eats this Bread or drinks this Cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord"(1 Cor. 11:27).
3. Mental peace. A person approaching the Chalice must have peace of mind, that is, a state alien to malice, enmity or hatred against anyone. In such a state, it is impossible for a believer to approach the Sacrament. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “ So, 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"(Matt. 5:23-24).
4. Churchness. And, finally, the last essential condition: a person must not violate the canons of the Church, which excommunicate him from Communion and the Church, that is, be within the limits of faith and faith permitted by the Church. moral life, because " grace is given to those who do not violate the limits of faith and do not transgress the traditions of the fathers"(Message to Diognetus).
5. Confession. The tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church requires mandatory confession before Communion : « Let man test himself, and in this way let him eat from this Bread and drink from this Cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, without considering the Body of the Lord. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying."(1 Cor. 11:28-29). Confession before Communion can take place either the night before or in the morning before the Liturgy., and in necessary cases (holidays, priests’ workload due to large crowds of people, etc.), several days before Communion.
6. Liturgical fast. Before communion ancient tradition The Church needs the so-called liturgical fast, or fasting before communion, which consists of from 24 o'clock on the night before communion they do not eat or drink anything, for it is customary to approach the Holy Chalice on an empty stomach . On holiday night services (Easter, Christmas, etc.), it should be remembered that the duration of liturgical fasting, as determined by the Holy Synod, cannot be less than 6 hours. The question arises: if someone, while fasting for communion of the Holy Mysteries, while washing himself or while in the bathhouse, reluctantly swallowed a little water, should he receive communion? As St. Timothy of Alexandria answers in his canonical letter: “ Must. For otherwise Satan, having found an opportunity to remove him from Communion, will more often do the same"(answer 16). In doubtful cases, in the morning before the service, you should seek advice from the priest.
7. Body fasting. Anyone who wishes to receive communion must try to adequately prepare for this holy sacrament. The mind should not be overly distracted by the trifles of life and have fun. During the days of preparation, if circumstances permit, one should attend church services and more diligently follow the home prayer rule. The means to such a more focused spiritual life is fasting (in church practice it is called fasting): the body is prescribed abstinence and restriction in food (meat and dairy) . Physical fasting before Communion usually lasts for several days. And general rule here it is: the less often a person receives communion, the stricter and longer the physical fast should be, and vice versa. The amount of physical fasting is also determined by family and social circumstances (life in a non-church family, hard physical and intellectual work), and under these conditions it naturally decreases. Let us note that for Christians who observe one-day and multi-day fasts, during Bright Easter Week, physical fasting before communion is, as a rule, completely abolished.
8. Bodily cleanliness. There are certain requirements for bodily cleanliness for men and women. First general requirement There is renunciation of physical marital relations on the eve of Communion . The ancient ascetic tradition also prescribes, unless absolutely necessary, for men to abstain from Communion on the day after an overnight involuntary discharge, and for women during women's days and the 40-day postpartum period : « It is not forbidden to pray, no matter what state someone is in and no matter how disposed they are, to remember the Lord and ask for help. But let him who is not entirely pure in soul and body be prohibited from approaching what is the Holy of Holies."(Second canonical rule of St. Dionysius of Alexandria).
9. Attendance at worship services and home prayer. Since temple worship allows you to better prepare for the liturgy (common cause - Greek), on the eve of Communion, a healthy person must come to church and pray with everyone else at the evening service .
Home prayer includes in addition to the usual morning and evening prayers, reading Follow-up to Holy Communion (following morning prayers in the morning).
The evening before Communion is also provided reading the three canons:
- Canon of repentance to the Lord,
- Prayer canon to the Most Holy Theotokos, And
- Canon to the Guardian Angel
Those who wish, according to their personal zeal, can also read other prayers, for example, the Akathist to the Sweetest Jesus.
Alexander Bozhenov
Patriarchal Center spiritual development children and youth
Submit a church note (commemoration)
Brothers and sisters, now you can order requirements from the list offered to you right here on the website
Nowadays, the development of information technology makes it possible to submit memorial donations remotely. On the website of the Holy Resurrection Church (old) in Vichug, such an opportunity also appeared - submitting notes via the Internet. The process of submitting a note takes just a few minutes...
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General Confession
(sins against God,
sins against one's neighbor,
sins against oneself)
(Matt. 10:33; Mark 8:38).
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
(for example, on maps).
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
(starved them, beat them).
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
General Confession
(sins against God,
sins against one's neighbor,
sins against oneself)
I confess to the Lord God, in Holy Trinity glorified, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, all my sins from my youth to the present time, committed by me in deed, word, thought and all my feelings, voluntarily or involuntarily. I consider myself unworthy of forgiveness from God, but I do not give in to despair, I place all my hope in God's mercy and I sincerely wish to improve my life.
I sinned by lack of faith, by doubting what the faith of Christ teaches us. I sinned by indifference to faith, unwillingness to understand it and be convinced of it. He sinned with blasphemy - frivolously ridiculing the truths of the faith, the words of prayer and the Gospel, church rituals, as well as the shepherds of the Church and pious people, calling their zeal for prayer, fasting and alms hypocrisy.
I sinned even more: with contemptuous and impudent judgments about faith, about the laws and institutions of the church, for example about fasting and worship, about the veneration of holy icons and relics, about miraculous manifestations of God’s mercy or God’s wrath.
I sinned by deviating from the Church, considering it unnecessary for myself, considering myself capable of a good life, of achieving salvation without the help of the Church, but one must go to God not alone, but with brothers and sisters in faith, in a union of love, in the Church and with Church: only where there is love, there is God; To whom the Church is not a Mother, God is not a Father.
I sinned by renouncing faith or hiding faith out of fear, out of profit or out of shame in front of people, I did not heed the words of the Lord Jesus Christ: Whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Heavenly Father; Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels (Matt. 10:33; Mark 8:38).
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
I sinned by not relying on God, relying more on myself or on other people, and sometimes on untruth, deception, cunning, deceit.
In happiness I sinned by ingratitude to God, the giver of happiness, and in misfortune by despondency, cowardice, murmuring against God, anger towards him, blasphemous and impudent thoughts about the Providence of God, despair, the desire for death for myself and my loved ones.
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
I sinned by loving earthly goods more than the Creator, Whom I should love most of all - with all my soul, with all my heart, with all my mind.
I sinned by forgetting God and not feeling the fear of God; I forgot that God sees and knows everything, not only deeds and words, but also our secret thoughts, feelings and desires, and that God will judge us by death and at His Last Judgment; That’s why I sinned uncontrollably and boldly, as if for me there would be no death, no Judgment, no righteous punishment from God. I sinned with superstition, unreasonable trust in dreams, omens, and fortune telling. (for example, on maps).
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
I sinned in prayer through laziness and incompetence; I skipped morning and evening prayers, before and after eating food, at the beginning and end of any task.
I sinned in prayer by haste, absent-mindedness, coldness and callousness, hypocrisy, I tried to seem to people more pious than I really am.
I sinned by having an unpeaceful mood during prayer; I prayed in a state of irritation, anger, ill-will, condemnation, murmuring, and disobedience to God’s Providence.
I sinned by carelessly and incorrectly performing the sign of the cross - from haste and inattention or from a bad habit.
I sinned by not attending divine services on holidays and Sundays, inattention to what is read, sung and performed in church during the service, failure to perform or reluctant performance of church rituals (bows, veneration, kissing the cross, Gospel, icons).
He sinned by irreverent, indecent behavior in the temple - worldly and loud conversations, laughter, arguments, quarrels, cursing, pushing and oppressing other pilgrims.
I sinned by frivolously mentioning the name of God in conversations - by swearing and swearing without extreme necessity or even in a lie, as well as by not fulfilling what I promised to do good to someone with an oath.
I sinned by carelessly handling sacred objects - the cross, the Gospel, icons, holy water, prosphora.
I sinned by not observing holidays, fasting and fast days, non-observance of fasting, that is, he did not try to free himself from his shortcomings, bad and idle habits, did not try to correct his character, did not force himself to diligently fulfill the commandments of God.
Countless are my sins against the Lord God and His Holy Church!
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
My sins are countless, both against my neighbors and in relation to my duties towards myself. Instead of love for others, selfishness with all its destructive fruits prevails in my life.
I sinned with pride, conceit, considering myself better than others, vanity - love for praise and honor, self-praise, lust for power, arrogance, disrespect, rude treatment of people, ingratitude towards those who do me good.
I sinned by condemning, ridiculing the sins, shortcomings and mistakes of my neighbors, slander, gossip, and with them brought discord among my neighbors.
He sinned with slander - he unfairly spoke about people that was bad and harmful and dangerous for them.
I sinned with impatience, irritability, anger, intransigence, stubbornness, grumpiness, insolence, and disobedience.
I sinned with resentment, malice, hatred, rancor, and vindictiveness.
I sinned with envy, ill-will, gloating, I sinned with abuse, foul language, quarrels, curses like others (maybe even your children), and yourself.
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
I sinned by not honoring my elders, especially my parents, by not wanting to take care of my parents and to rest them in their old age; I sinned by judging and ridiculing them, by treating them rudely and impudently; I sinned by failing to remember them and my other loved ones in prayer - living and dead.
I sinned not through mercy, ruthlessness towards the poor, sick, grieving people, merciless cruelty in words and deeds, I was not afraid to humiliate, insult, upset my neighbors, sometimes, perhaps, I drove a person to despair.
He sinned through stinginess, avoidance of helping those in need, greed, love of profit, and was not afraid to take advantage of other people’s misfortunes and social disasters.
I sinned by addiction, attachment to things, I sinned by regretting what I did good deeds, sinned by cruelty to animals (starved them, beat them).
He sinned by appropriating someone else's property - theft, concealing what was found, buying and selling stolen property.
He sinned by not doing or doing his work carelessly - his household and official affairs.
I sinned with lies, pretense, double-mindedness, insincerity in dealing with people, flattery, and people-pleasing.
I sinned by eavesdropping, spying, reading other people's letters, divulging trusted secrets, cunning, and all kinds of dishonesty.
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
I sinned by laziness, love of idle spending time, idle talk, daydreaming.
I sinned not by being thrifty with my own and other people’s property.
He sinned by intemperance in food and drink, polyeating, secret eating, drunkenness, and smoking.
He sinned by being whimsical in his clothes, being excessively concerned about his appearance, and wanting to be liked, especially by people of the opposite sex.
He sinned by immodesty, impurity, voluptuousness in thoughts, feelings and desires, in words and conversations, in reading, in looks, in addressing persons of the other sex, as well as intemperance in marital relations, violation of marital fidelity, fornication, marital cohabitation without a church blessing , unnatural satisfaction of lust.
Those who performed abortions on themselves or others, or incited someone to this great sin - infanticide, sinned gravely.
Lord, have mercy and forgive us sinners!
I sinned in that with my words and actions I tempted other people to sin, and I myself succumbed to the temptation to sin from other people, instead of fighting it.
I sinned bad upbringing children and even damaging them by their bad example, excessive severity or, conversely, weakness, impunity; did not teach children to pray, obedience, truthfulness, hard work, frugality, helpfulness, and did not monitor the purity of their behavior.
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
I sinned by being careless about my salvation, about pleasing God, not feeling my sins and my irresponsible guilt before God.
I sinned through regret and laziness in the fight against sin, constant delay of true repentance and correction.
I sinned by carelessly preparing for confession and communion, forgetting my sins, inability and unwillingness to remember them in order to feel my sinfulness and condemn myself before God.
I sinned in that I approached confession and communion very rarely.
I sinned by not fulfilling the penances imposed on me.
He sinned by justifying himself in sins; instead of condemnation in confession - downplaying one’s sins.
I sinned in that during confession I accused and condemned my neighbors, pointing out the sins of others instead of my own.
He sinned if during confession he deliberately hid his sins out of fear or shame.
I sinned if I approached confession and communion without making peace with those I had offended or who had offended me.
Lord, have mercy and forgive me, a sinner!
I know and feel, Lord, that I am unworthy of forgiveness, I am irresponsible before You and Your holy Truth, but I appeal to Your boundless mercy: accept my wretched repentance, forgive my countless sins, cleanse, renew and strengthen my soul and body, so that I can steadily walk I'm on the path to salvation.
interpretation
Understanding the high significance of the sacrament of Repentance, many church rectors strive to begin confession in the evening and use the time before the start of the Divine Liturgy. However, the time and physical strength of priests are limited. That is why we have to conduct a general confession, since on Sundays and holidays there are many people who receive communion. In such cases, usually the priest, after prayers, reads a detailed list of sins and calls on everyone who comes to confession to repent. There should be no doubt that the merciful Lord will accept such a confession, caused by special circumstances, and forgive sins. If there were no mortal sins, then there is no need to repent again.
Religious rituals are an expression of a person's faith in. Since we cannot imagine the material God approaching and communicating with him, we invent for ourselves the sacraments of rites and rituals that help us convey this or that appeal to him. IN Orthodox religion There are many such rituals: baptism, confession, wedding, prayer, communion. Let's consider the last of them. What must be read before communion and confession for the ceremony to take place?
What are participles used for?
Communion - Christian ritual of uniting God with a parishioner. It is held in the church only a few times a year. The concept of the word “Communion” is explained as “involvement” - belonging to something, in this case to the church and higher powers. The ritual itself helps to cleanse the body and soul.
Three days before must be abandoned from:
- Alcohol.
- Smoking.
- Sex.
- Attendance at entertainment events.
- Animal products (meat, fish, eggs and milk).
On the day of the sacrament, it is forbidden to eat at all. On the eve of the ritual, a person seeking self-purification and enlightenment should pray and attend church services. It is necessary to perform the rite of communion with a clear conscience and thoughts: compare who you quarreled with, apologize to those you may have offended. After all, keeping irritability, anger or envy inside you will not receive a real ritual, no matter how much you want it.
You need to know for sure why are you doing it?: for your own peace of mind or actual cleansing of your spiritual world, bringing him closer to perfection, that is, to God. After all, this is why we ask for participation. Before communion it is necessary to confess.
Sacrament of Confession
In Christianity and some other religions, confession is an admission of one's sins before the face of God in the presence of a priest. It involves complete repentance and a person's decision to sin no more. Having repented, a person receives forgiveness of sins from the Almighty. All Christian believers should go to confession from time to time. How to do this correctly?
- You really need to realize everything you want to confess. Re-read the commandments and the parable of the Last Judgment, where Jesus Christ teaches that our earthly life will be assessed by how we treated loved ones.
- IN lately Believers have become extremely practical; they come to confession with a list of their sins, as if they were going to a store. This is wrong. The cleansing of the soul must be sincere. What you really is bothering you, for which you wanted to ask for forgiveness, don’t carry too much. There is no need to apologize for minor everyday mistakes; life is not enough to list them all. Only sins against one's neighbor deserve forgiveness.
- Don’t be shy, you won’t surprise the Holy Father with anything. Speak simply and clearly as you communicate with friends. Don’t try to hide, God knows everything and even more about your misdeeds.
- Confessing does not mean returning home to your old life. If you are forgiven today, this does not give reason to think that next time you will come and you will be forgiven again. To confess means to realize and change.
After confession, believers proceed to communion.
Communion ritual
You must come to church to receive communion. in the morning. It is advisable for women to appear in long skirts, on the head, as usual. Men are allowed to go bareheaded.
Young children are allowed into the ceremony first. Despite their age, they, like adults, are allowed to drink a little wine and eat a piece of special church bread - prosphora.
To make the wine more like the blood of Christ, add a little warm water. After children, men are allowed to participate in the ritual, and only then women. Those receiving communion take turns approaching the chalice and identifying themselves. The priest wipes the man’s lips and allows him to kiss the cup, drink a sip of wine and eat bread. Since this is the “blood of Jesus Christ” - not a single drop should fall past, to do this, the priest wipes his lips again after.
Under different circumstances, you can celebrate communion at home, if, for example, a person is very sick and cannot come to church himself.
What to do after communion?
After the completion of the communion ritual, you cannot leave the church immediately; you must defend the service until the end. What other rules must be followed?
- Find an icon of Jesus Christ and bow to it as a sign of gratitude and repentance.
- We must behave modestly. Try to help people more, avoid noisy companies and have a fun feast. Do not forget that you have just performed the Christian rite of communion with God.
- After the Holy Father has given you the blood of Jesus Christ to drink and treated you to church bread, you can venerate any icons and pray to them, ask for help and support. Maybe someone close to you is sick, ask for their healing. Now your spirit is pure and bright, you are more likely to be heard.
You need to take communion not once in your life, but regularly, just like going to confession. Only our Lord is sinless, but we are constantly sinful. We must wash away our earthly misdeeds in the same way constantly. So try to do this more often. Be happier, God is next to a happy person, giving him faith and hope.
What can you eat before communion?
As mentioned above, before the ritual of spiritual cleansing, it is necessary cleanse yourself physically, that is, follow a diet. What can a person eat before communion?
- Vegetables and fruits.
- Herbal teas and decoctions.
- Sweet products that do not contain eggs.
- Bread and cereals.
- Porridge cooked in water.
- Mushrooms.
- Pasta.
- Honey, halva, marmalade.
- Nuts, seeds.
- Lenten chocolate and cookies.
Today, stores have a large selection of dietary foods, and for strict fasting you can choose products from these shelves. Sick people, pregnant women and small children are allowed not to change their diet.
This diet will be useful not only for those people who want to perform a ritual, but also for us everyone Sometimes it doesn't hurt to fast.
What to read before communion and confession?
In order to prepare for confession or communion, believers need to attend services and read prayers. During prayer, we can think, become self-aware, rethink everything. The texts can be taken from the Holy Canon, but if this is not possible, you can read from yourself. Here are examples of some of them:
- Prayer before Holy Communion: “Our Holy Father Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Come and dwell in me, cleanse me from all filth. Save our souls, Holy God. Cleanse our sins, forgive lawlessness and deception. Master, heal and drive away all illnesses, heal infirmities and forgive us our debts. Lord have mercy (3 times). I bow to the King and my God. "
- Prayer before confession: “Lord our God, hear my prayers, the accursed sinner and the serpent and great villain who sit within me. May God grant me humility in my heart and purify my thoughts, save my sinful soul from the evil one. Please accept my sincere confession, Master. Amen"
Pray from your heart and soul.
Communion is the same thing that helps believers get closer to God. If you decide that you are ready to repent and receive communion from the Holy Father, you will now know how the ritual works and what you need to read before receiving communion the day before.
Video: reading a prayer before communion