Слово второе в пяток недели 2-й Великого поста, перед исповедью

“It is good to confess to the Lord!” (Ps. 91:2). For such a person as Saint David was, a king who was favored by the Lord with both the gifts of nature and the gifts of grace, and yet who sometimes fell deeply from the height of his great, prophetic dignity, without a doubt, it was no easier for us, my brothers, to confess our sins and admit our iniquities. Meanwhile, you see how he looks at confession: as a great mercy, as a precious gift, as a delight for the soul and heart: “It is good to confess to the Lord!” And many of us go to our spiritual father for confession, as if it were some kind of torture, ashamed to confess our sins. Where does this difference come from? Because Saint David clearly saw how harmful and destructive sin is for a person, but we do not see this. For whoever sees the deadly poison of sin naturally tries to free himself from it, and therefore loves confession, as the surest means to this. And whoever is not sure of the destruction contained in sin, therefore does not value confession, but, on the contrary, is burdened by it, for it forces him to reveal before the altar server all the shame of his sinful acts. Therefore, before confession, it is extremely necessary for each confessor to acquire the confidence that sin is the greatest evil for a person, so that if he does not free himself from it through repentance and confession, then sooner or later he will perish forever. Is it difficult to be sure of this? No, for this it is enough to pay attention to even one, so to speak, surface of sin. For what is sin? Violation of the most holy will of the Creator. Now judge: is it a small thing to become an adversary and enemy of the Almighty Being, that Being in whose hands we and the whole world, our life and breath, our time and our eternity! What is sin? Deviation to the side of the enemy of God - the devil. Judge again: is it a small thing to become one with this murderer, to become like him in betraying the truth, to become infected with his serpentine poison! What is sin? Blinding of the mind, corruption of the will, distortion of the conscience, corruption of the body. What a trifle it is to spoil your entire godlike being in this way, to deviate it from the purpose of existence in the opposite direction and to introduce into it the seed of aphids and eternal death! What awaits the sinner in the future? Even greater darkness awaits, even greater exhaustion of strength, even greater grief and destruction awaits, final deprivation of all blessings, mental and physical, final rejection from the face of God, condemnation to eternal torment in hell, with the devil and his angels. These simplest concepts about sin are enough to make your whole being tremble at the mere thought that you are a sinner! And when you tremble at the thought of your sins, how can you not rush to confession, when in it, by the power of the Wisdom of God, a way is opened to reconcile us with God and our conscience? When in it, for one sincere recognition of one’s iniquities and repentance for them, is perfect forgiveness given? Truly, we should hasten to confession, even if it required something most difficult and inconvenient for us: for it is better to endure everything and lose everything, than to remain an enemy of God and a friend of the devil. But nothing of the kind is required of us, but only the most necessary: ​​that we confess our sins, show disgust for them, decide to leave them forever and reward the past with what we can in the present. And move away from this? And is this considered difficult? And for this reason to remain in sins? What does our repentance mean after this? Where is the hatred of sin? Where is the love for God, for ourselves? Let us say, brethren, together with Saint David: “It is good to confess to the Lord”; - and let us hasten to the holy tribute, just as criminals rush to the place where forgiveness and royal mercy are announced. Amen. You might be interested in: