Don't be ashamed to confess your sins

Contents Preface 1. Biblical texts about sin 2. The influence of the devil on the origin of sin in the human race 3. On free will in man 4. The internal reason for the origin of sin lies in the free will of man 5. The history of the fall of the first people I. The origin of sin II. The Fall of the Forefathers III. The severity of the first sin About the consequences of the fall of our ancestors according to the image of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church 1st consequence: loss of the grace of God 2nd consequence: illness, sorrow, exhaustion 3rd consequence: bodily death 4th consequence: darkness of the mind 5th consequence: perversion of the will and its inclination more towards evil than good 6th consequence: distortion of the image of God 7th consequence: expulsion from paradise 8th consequence: loss or reduction of power over animals 9th consequence: curse of the earth in human affairs 7. What is original sin 8. How much original sin has perverted human nature 9. Explanation of the words: “By one man sin came into the world, and by sin death, and so death came into all men, in whom all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12) About the necessity and power of repentance How one should repent When and under what conditions repentance leads to the desired goal - the healing of our spiritual ulcers, to the complete cleansing of the soul In confession we must see the infinite goodness of the Heavenly King towards His criminals subjects Examples of the cleansing power of repentance Do not be ashamed to confess your sins It is dangerous to hide sins in confession Instruction of St. Cyprian to the priest on how he should confess the repentant What true repentance consists of What is required of those approaching the Sacrament of Repentance 1. Contrition for sins 2. A firm intention to correct one’s life in the future 3. Faith in Jesus Christ and hope in His mercy 4. Oral confession of sins before a priest How saving repentance begins and how it is supported Temptations in the feat of repentance and the means against them The opinion of one ascetic about how much time is needed for repentance You need to confess your sins with heartfelt contrition The importance of sincere confession for the salvation of the soul What should we do when we perceive a sin in ourselves God's mercy to the repentant sinner for her mercy Examples of true repentance There is no after death repentance Eight main passions with their divisions and branches 1. Gluttony 2. Fornication 3. Love of money 4. Anger 5. Sadness 6. Dejection 7. Vanity 8. Pride About the virtues opposite to the eight main sinful passions 1. Temperance 2. Chastity 3. Non-covetousness 4. Meekness 5. Blessed crying 6. Sobriety 7. Humility 8. Love The shortest confession Sins against the Lord God Sins against one's neighbor Sins against oneself Mortal sins, that is, making a person guilty of eternal death or destruction Sins of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit Sins crying out to heaven for vengeance for them Confession From the penitent is required: Prayer to the Holy Cross Canon of repentance to the Most Holy Theotokos List of used literature Using examples from the Holy Scriptures, the works of the Fathers of the Church and the exploits of holy ascetics, this work explains the need for repentance as a means of correcting sin and helps Christians prepare for the Sacrament of Confession. Nothing is more destructive to sin than its reproof and condemnation combined with repentance and tears Why is repentance necessary? What is sin, what is the nature of its origin? What virtues help fight sins? How to prepare for confession? – these and other questions can be answered in this book, compiled on the basis of the collection “Lessons and Examples of the Christian Faith (edited by Archpriest G. Dyachenko).” Dyachenko Grigory Mikhailovich (1850–1903) was born in the Vitebsk province, in the family of a deacon. In 1877 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy, in 1885 he defended his master’s thesis “On the preparation of the human race to receive the Savior” and was ordained, and in 1899 he became an archpriest. The service took place in Moscow, in the Church of St. martyr Tryphon, where he soon gained fame as a talented writer and preacher. Most of Father Gregory's works are homiletical (preaching) in nature. One of the most popular: “Full Yearly Circle of Brief Teachings” - sermons on topics of Holy Scripture (according to church readings), which served as a valuable tool for more than one generation of pastors. Also known are the “Preaching Encyclopedia” and “Lessons and Examples of Christian Hope” - an experience of catechetical anthology. Catechesis (Greek κατήχησις - teaching, instruction) - the study by a member of the church, or by a person preparing to become a member of the church, of the fundamentals of the Christian faith and the doctrine of the church. Catechetical teachings are the most important type of preaching literature, since they explain the foundations and essence of the doctrine. It is these edifying texts that allow those who have converted to Orthodoxy to join Christian teaching and not deviate into heresy. If in the first centuries of Christianity catechesis preceded baptism and could take a long time, now, in modern Russia, the situation is the opposite - many people who were baptized in childhood live outside the Church and, formally classifying themselves as Orthodox, often treat Christianity as a kind of folk tradition intertwined with many pagan superstitions. And most often this happens due to elementary ignorance, lack of awareness of the fundamentals of faith. Today it is especially important to remember that Christianity is the faith of enlightened, conscious people; faith combined with knowledge. In our information age, we are often more aware of outer space and life in the Arctic depths than of the heights and abysses of our own souls. Therefore, the call of the ancients is to know yourself! – is relevant again. Knowledge of oneself is inseparable from knowledge of the Creator, who created man in His image and likeness. After all, when you love, you strive to get to know the object of your love as best as possible, so that, by discovering its new advantages, you will love it even more. The path to this begins through studying the fundamentals of faith, participating in church sacraments designed to unite believers with their Creator. There are only seven church sacraments: the sacrament of Baptism, the sacrament of Confirmation, the sacrament of Repentance (confession), the sacrament of Communion (Eucharist), the sacrament of Marriage, the sacrament of Anointing (unction), and the sacrament of Priesthood. This book is dedicated to the sacrament of Confession and repentance of sins. Using examples from the Holy Scriptures and the works of the Holy Fathers, sin is defined as a distortion of the initially good human nature. “God created the soul,” writes Basil the Great, “and not sin.” The cause of sin is the external influence of evil forces, but first of all, it is the inclination towards evil of a person’s will, his free choice. The fruits of sin are sorrow, illness, shame, weakness of prayer, separation from God, death to eternal life. But any sin, even the most terrible one, is a drop in the ocean of the Lord’s mercy. “Are you sinful? - says John Chrysostom, - Do not despair. Every day you sin, every day you repent.” Sincere repentance and correction of life can make a sinner a saint - this is confirmed by the examples of great ascetics, such as St. Mary of Egypt. It is difficult to see sin in oneself and find a means to combat it, just as it is difficult to notice a stain on clothes already blackened by dirt - this is helped by listing sins and the virtues that overcome them, as well as an example of a short confession. It is difficult to resist, it is difficult to fight temptation, trying not to repeat what you repented of. But even having sinned, there is no need to despair. “Don’t be surprised that you fall every day,” says St. John Climacus, - do not retreat, but stand courageously, and your guardian angel, without a doubt, will reward you for your patience.” So do not be ashamed to confess your sins, be ashamed to sin. But even if you have sinned, do not despair, hoping in the One who conquered death. 1. Biblical texts about sin an abomination to God: “the way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but He loves the one who walks in the path of righteousness” (Prov. 15:9). “I sent all My servants the prophets to you, I sent you early in the morning to say: “Do not do this vile thing, which I hate” (Jer. 44:4); the fruit of lust: “lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin; but sin that is committed gives birth to death” (James 1:15); the work of darkness: “Woe to those who think to hide themselves in the depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their deeds in darkness and say: “Who will see us?” and who will recognize us? (Isa.29:15). “The night is past, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom. 13:12); the work of the devil: “Whoever commits sin is of the devil, because the devil sinned first. For this reason the Son of God appeared, to destroy the works of the Devil” (1 John 3:8); the work of the flesh: “The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness” (Gal. 5:19); the sting of death: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56). live according to the flesh: “while we lived according to the flesh, then the passions of sin, revealed by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit in death” (Rom. 7:5); obey the lusts of the flesh: “but put on our Lord Jesus Christ and do not turn the cares of the flesh into lusts” (Rom. 13:14). – “I say: walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh” (Gal.5:16); to be in darkness: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light” (Eph.5:8). – “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, but walk in darkness, then we lie and do not act in the truth” (1 John 1:6); hate sin: “You who love the Lord, hate evil! He guards the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked” (Ps. 96:10). – “Let love be unfeigned; turn away from evil and cleave to what is good” (Rom. 12:9); to flee from sin: “Fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints” (Eph. 5:3). – “Now put aside everything: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (Col. 3:8). - “But the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His”; and: “Let everyone who confesses the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness” (2 Tim. 2:19); move away from sinners in order to avoid their punishment: “flee from the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life, so as not to perish from its iniquity. For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance, He will give him recompense” (Jer. 51:6). – “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for for this reason the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience; Therefore, do not be their accomplices” (Eph. 5:6–7). a) Sin makes prayer invalid: “If I had seen iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have heard me” (Ps. 65:18). “Whoever turns away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer is an abomination” (Proverbs 28:9). “And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; and when you multiply your prayers, I do not hear: your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:15). “But we know that God does not listen to sinners; but whoever honors God and does His will listens to him” (John 9:31); b) Sin removes the blessings of God: “Oh, that you would heed My commandments! then your peace would be like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea” (Is. 48:18). - “Your iniquities have turned away this, and your sins have removed this good thing from you” (Jer. 5:25); c) Everyone will be punished for their sin: “fathers should not be punished with death for their children, and children should not be punished with death for their fathers; everyone must be punished with death for his crime” (Deut. 24:16). – “For each one will bear his own burden” (Gal.6:5); d) Sin leads to remorse: “Your arrows have pierced me, and Your hand is heavy on me. There is not a whole place in my flesh from Your wrath; there is no peace in my bones because of my sins” (Ps. 37:3-4). - “And you will groan later, when your flesh and your body are exhausted, and you will say: “Why did I hate instruction, and my heart despised reproof, and I did not listen to the voice of my teachers, I did not incline my ear to my teachers” (Prov. 5:11-13); e) To shame: “we lie in our shame, and our shame covers us, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth until this day, and we did not obey the voice of the Lord our God” (Jer. 3:25); f) To sorrows: “the foolish suffered for their lawless ways and for their iniquities” (Ps. 106:17). “Your ways and your deeds have caused this to you; your wickedness makes you so bitter that it reaches your heart” (Jer. 4:18); g) To diseases: “And I will do this to you: I will send upon you terror, wasting away and fever, from which your eyes will be weary and your soul will be tormented; you will sow your seeds in vain, and your enemies will eat them up” (Lev.26:16); h) Sin is sometimes punished by premature and sudden death: “these who spread evil rumors about the earth died, being defeated before the Lord” (Num. 14:37). – “Righteousness leads to life, but he who strives for evil strives for his own death” (Proverbs 11:19). – “Suddenly an angel of the Lord struck him (Herod) because he did not give glory to God; and he was eaten by worms and died” (Acts 12:23); i) God blots out the sinner from the Book of Life: “The Lord said to Moses: He who has sinned against Me will I blot out from My Book” (Ex. 32:33). – “And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one devoted to abomination and lies, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27); j) Sin excludes from heaven: “He (the Lord) will say: I tell you, I don’t know you, where you come from; Depart from Me, all workers of iniquity. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves being cast out” (Luke 13:27-28). “Neither thieves, nor the covetous, nor slanderous drunkards, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:10). “Then He will also say to those on the left hand: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life” (Matthew 25:41, 46); k) The earth was cursed because of sin: “And he said unto Adam, Because thou hast listened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thee; you will eat from it in sorrow all the days of your life; She will bring forth thorns and thistles for you; and you will eat the grass of the field” (Gen. 3:17–18); m) Labor and illness appeared as a result of sin: “He said to the wife: By multiplying, I will multiply your sorrow in your pregnancy; in illness you will give birth to children; and your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground from which you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:16, 19); m) Death is a consequence of sin: “But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17). “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). – “But lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin; but sin that is committed gives birth to death” (James 1:15). – “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23); o) Grave sins lead to a second, eternal death: “But the fearful, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars will have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). 2. The influence of the devil on the origin of sin in the human race As an evil creature trying to harm man and lead him into sin, Satan clearly appears in the book of Genesis, which tells how he, having entered into the serpent, tempted our first parents and ultimately persuaded them to violate the commandment of God - to eat the fruits of the forbidden tree (Gen. 3); further, the devil is the same evil creature in the book of Job (Job 1:6–12, 2:1–7). The book of Chronicles says that “Satan rose up against Israel and stirred up David to number the Israelites” (1 Chronicles 21:1). Here Satan appears to have provoked David to number the Israelites and thus drawn him into sin, which David himself confessed to God (1 Chronicles 21:8) and for which the Lord punished the Israeli people with a pestilence (1 Chronicles 21:14). In the same way, in the New Testament there are clear indications that the devil leads people into sin. First of all, his very name is “tempter” (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thess. 3:5), i.e., tempting a person to sin. Satan is a tempter even in relation to Jesus Christ (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13). In the desert, where Jesus Christ retired after baptism, Satan appeared to Him and began to deceive Him with all his tempting means, such as: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). But Jesus Christ provided decisive resistance to all the temptations of Satan, so that the latter had to withdraw from Him and realize his powerlessness - to lead the Son of God into sin. The influence of the devil on the origin of sin in the human race is clearly recognized by the Savior in His parable of the seed and the tares (Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43). “The kingdom of heaven,” he says, “is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. While the people were sleeping, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away” (Matthew 13:24-25). “The field,” according to the Savior’s explanation, “is the world, the good seed is the sons of the Kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them is the devil” (Matthew 13:38–39). Thus, the evil in the world seems, according to the Savior, to have been sown or originated from the devil. According to the Gospel, Satan inspired Judas to betray Jesus to the chief priests and scribes (Luke 22:3; John 13:2, 27). The Apostle John also clearly recognizes the devil as the originator of sin when he says: “Whoever commits sin is of the devil, because the devil sinned first. For this reason the Son of God appeared, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Here the sinful actions of man are directly called the works of the devil. This means that their origin is influenced by the devil; that is why they are called his works. In the words of the Apostle Peter, in which he warns Christians against the wiles of the devil, we also find an indication of the participation of the devil in the origin of sin. “Be sober, be vigilant,” says the apostle, “for your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Here the devil appears as an adversary of man, trying to destroy him; and he destroys a person when he leads him into sin. From the presented passages of the Old and New Testaments it is clearly seen that the devil influences the origin of sin in man. 3. About free will in man “God created the soul,” writes Basil the Great, “and not sin. Its predominant benefit was being with God and unity with Him through love. Having fallen away from Him, she began to suffer from various and varied ailments. Why is there a general acceptability of evil in it? Because of free striving, everything more appropriate for a rational creature. Not being bound by any necessity, having received from the Creator a free life, as created in the image of God, she understands the good, knows how to enjoy it, is gifted with freedom and the power to observe the life that is natural to her; but also has the freedom to evade the beautiful... But, they say,” the saint continues, “why is the structure itself not given to us without sin, so that it would be impossible to sin, even if we wanted to? This is why you do not recognize servants as serviceable when you keep them tied up, but when you see that they are voluntarily fulfilling their duties to you. Therefore, God is pleased not with what is forced, but with what is done voluntarily - virtue comes from will, and not from necessity, and will depends on what is in us; and what is in us is free. Therefore, whoever blames the Creator for not making us sinless does nothing more than prefer a nature that is unreasonable, motionless and has no aspirations, to a nature endowed with will and self-activity” 1 . 4. The internal reason for the origin of sin lies in human free will We find an indication of the origin of sin from human freedom in the Holy Scriptures of a) the Old and b) New Testaments and c) the teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Church. a) First of all, in the words of Moses addressed to the people of Israel: “Behold, today I have set before you life and good, death and evil” (Deut. 30:15). From these words it is clear that the choice between life and good, on the one hand, and death and evil, on the other, depends on the person himself, therefore, if he chooses evil, he does it voluntarily, and not forcedly. Such appeals of Moses to the people of Israel, such as: “if you... listen to the voice of the Lord your God, be careful to keep all His commandments” (Deut. 28:1; cf. Deut. 30:10, 16), or: “if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do not be diligent to fulfill all His commandments and His decrees” (Deut. 28:15; cf. Deut. 30:17), serve as an indication of the origin of sin from human freedom. Such appeals show that to fulfill or not to fulfill the commandments and decrees of God depends on the person himself, namely on his freedom. All the punishments that God imposed for the sins of individuals and entire nations, and in particular the people of Israel, can also serve as evidence of the origin of sin from human freedom. In fact, if sins were not free, if they occurred necessarily, under the influence of an evil being or some other reason, then God would not blame them on the sinners and would not subject the latter to punishment for these sins. If God imputes sins to those who sin, it means that they have their main cause in the sinners themselves, in their freedom, as a result of which they deserve guilt and punishment. b) In the New Testament, Jesus Christ Himself very clearly recognizes that the internal cause of the origin of sin lies in man himself, precisely in his freedom, when he calls the heart of a person, this is the focus of his inner life, the source of sinful actions. “From the heart,” says the Savior, “come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy” (Matthew 15:19). This means that the root of sin lies in man himself, in his being, in his inner desire, which is not necessarily determined by any external influence. The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans says: “The night is past and the day is approaching: let us therefore put away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. As in the day, let us behave decently, not indulging in feasting and drunkenness, nor in sensuality and debauchery, nor in quarrels and envy” (Rom. 13:12-13). If it were not in the power of man, it did not depend on his freedom to lead a virtuous or vicious life, then the apostle would not have made such an admonition, would not have invited Christians to reject the works of darkness, to remove the indicated vices from themselves and to live a virtuous, pious life. Therefore, the above passage can serve as confirmation that the vicious sinful life of a person depends on himself, on his freedom. Thus, both in the Old and in the New Testament there are clear indications of the origin of sin from human freedom. c) According to the Holy Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church believed that the main, internal reason for the origin of sin was in man, namely in his freedom. So St. Basil the Great, in refuting the teaching of the Gnostics and Manichaeans about the origin of evil, says: “Do not seek evil from the outside, do not imagine that there is some kind of original evil nature, but let everyone recognize himself as the culprit of his own evil.” 2. Elsewhere, in refutation of the fact that God is the culprit of evil, he says: “It is not God who is the cause of evil, but ourselves; because the beginning and the root of sin is what depends on us, our freedom" 3. "In the proper sense, evil, that is, sin, is the evil most worthy of this name, depends on our will, because it is in our will either to refrain from vice, or to be vicious" 4. In the same way, St. Gregory the Theologian recognizes evil as originating from ourselves and at the same time from the devil when he says: “Evil has neither a special essence nor a kingdom, it is neither beginningless nor original, it was created by God, but it is our work and the work of the evil one, and it has surpassed us from our negligence, and not from the Creator” 5 . “Rust is a detriment to solid iron, and I, a suicide, planted a detriment in myself - a sin, according to my own intention, following the insidious suggestions of an envious person” 6. In a similar way, Blessed Theodoret recognizes that sin comes from our freedom: “Since the choice of good and the opposite depends on will, it is right that some receive victorious crowns, while others bear punishment for arbitrary sins” 7 . The passages cited are quite enough to see that both the fathers and teachers of the Church believed that the main reason for the origin of sin, according to the word of God, was in man himself, precisely in his freedom 8 . 5. The story of the fall of the first people (According to the teachings of Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow) The beginning of sin is in the devil. – Man’s sin was preceded by sin in the spiritual world (1 John 3:8). “Before the visible and rational creature, that is, man, God created the invisible rational creature - spirits who are called angels. one of these bright spirits, with some spirits subordinate to him, had the audacity to leave obedience to the all-good will of God, His Creator, and through this he lost the light and bliss given to him and became an evil spirit” 9. The fact of the fall of good spirits “is confirmed by the word of God when it speaks of the angels who did not keep their origin, “but left their habitation” (Jude 1:6).” Evil spirits, “who became such through falling away from God” after their sin, “fell into self-love, pride and malice”; they became “unclean spirits who angered God, condemned, although the sentence of this judgment has not yet been promulgated throughout the entire Kingdom of God and has not been carried out with all its might” 10 ; they “have become so rooted in evil that they have become completely incapable of loving goodness and repenting of sin” 11 . It is clear after this that in relation to man they desire nothing and do nothing but evil. They try to deceive people and, deceiving them, instill in them false thoughts and evil desires (John 8:44), for which they are called devils, that is, slanderers and seducers 12. This attitude of evil spirits towards a person is all the more dangerous for him because they, as belonging to the higher world of spirits, are superior to humans in their powers. They can “act on the elements.” So, for example, the devil “was allowed to stir up fire in the air to burn Job’s sheep and shepherds, and to raise a storm to destroy the church and beat his children.” “The devil can have no less knowledge of the natural and even, perhaps, more than a person, since, due to the subtlety of his being, he sees much in nature that the human spirit, imprisoned in the body, does not see” 13. II. The Fall of the Forefathers With such a hostile mood of the devil against God, against all that is holy and good, it is not surprising that he “was jealous of the bliss of men” and wanted to “deprive them of it.” To do this, he “used cunning; entered into the serpent and persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit,” to break the commandment of God 14. The temptation of the first parents in heaven is not a myth. “The Lord said to the Jews: “You are of the nature of your father the devil... he is a murderer from time immemorial” (John 8:44). The Jews to whom this was said were not mythical, but real beings, like their father the devil. What do the words “a murderer from time immemorial” indicate? Without a doubt, for temptation in paradise and the fall of man.” This is how the fall of the first parents happened. “Having transformed before Eve into a bright angel, into a teacher of truth,” the devil first “introduced her into doubt as to whether she had truly heard the word of God from her husband and whether it was not out of superstition that she abstained from the tree of knowledge.” “Eve, responding to the serpent, repeats the commandment about the tree of knowledge, with the peculiarity that she adds to it the word: and do not touch it. From this we can guess that the thought of the severity of the commandment and the fear of death was already beginning to overshadow in her the pure feeling of love and reverence for God the Lawgiver. The second speech of the tempter contains so many words, so many lies, but intertwined in such a way that they give the appearance of apostasy to action according to the intention of God. Noting that the fear of death keeps Eve in obedience to God, he takes away first of all this support: you will not die. But in order not to seem to contradict the word of God, he tries to introduce a contradiction into the very word of God and to this he turns the God-named name of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Explaining this name, he assures that with eating from the tree of knowledge God united perfect knowledge of good and evil, just as with eating from the tree of life he united immortal life, and promises in this knowledge new eyes, that is, a new degree of knowledge and even divinity.” “Two thoughts could revive such a description of the tree of knowledge: the one that God, out of envy, forbade it so as not to have partakers of His nature, and the one that Adam changed the true meaning of God’s commandment. One was more profitable for the tempter than the other, but in Eve it is more convenient to assume the latter.” “The sinful disposition in Eve’s soul began with a disorderly direction of cognitive forces: excited to curiosity and distrust, the wife looks at the forbidden tree as if she had seen it for the first time - she forgets to look at it as an object of God’s commandment, but considers it in its supposed relation to herself - to her sensuality, to her heart, to her understanding. With the deviation from the unity of God’s truth into the multiplicity of one’s own thoughts, the multiplicity of one’s own desires, not concentrated in the will of God, or lust, which is the closest cause of deception, and which, “having conceived, gives birth to actual sin,” is inseparable (James 1:14–15). Eve sees in the forbidden tree not what it is, but what she desires, according to certain types of lust (1 John 2:16; Gen. 3:6). The first sin is born in sensuality - the desire for luxury, in the heart - the desire to enjoy without reasoning, in the mind - the dream of arrogant knowledge and, consequently, penetrates all the forces of human nature. The attraction to sin was followed by a sinful action: “the wife... She took the fruit of it (the tree of knowledge) and ate it, and gave it also to her husband, and he ate” (Gen. 3:6). This is how an event occurred that changed the subsequent fate of man and God’s attitude towards him. III. The severity of the first sin Who is the culprit of the sin that has occurred, and on whom should its consequences fall? In any case, the origin of sin does not lie in the will of God - holy and good. The goodness of God wanted nothing for man and did nothing for him except good. By the goodness of God, “the first man, having received high abilities and powerful powers at creation, having been made ruler of heaven and earth, enjoyed the most extensive freedom that a created being can have.” If “a limit was set for this freedom - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, “if Adam was not given the freedom to partake of its fruit and thus was given the opportunity to abuse freedom, then this was necessary for the establishment of freedom in good, for the improvement of man.” “God, in His goodness, gave man a (free) will, naturally disposed to love God,” is not guilty of the fact that “man used this freedom for evil,” 15 having many motives to fulfill God’s commandments. Temptation from the devil cannot completely justify the first parents; it can only reduce the degree of their sinfulness and guilt. Despite the mitigating circumstance, the sin of the forefathers was still very serious; they insulted the greatness of God “to the extreme with a criminal and rebellious desire to be “like God”; by arbitrary deviation from the law" (Gen. 3:5) they discovered "unbelief, disobedience, ingratitude, pride against God and the misuse of all abilities"; “having crossed the limit set by the commandment of God,” man “deviated his soul from God, the true universal focus and completeness, formed for it a false focus in its self, imprisoned it in the darkness of sensuality in the coarseness of matter,” “his mind, will, activity turned away, deviated, fell from God to creation, from the heavenly to the earthly, from the invisible to the visible” (Gen. 3:7); “deceived by the deception of the tempter, (man) voluntarily “became like foolish cattle and became like them” (Ps. 49:13).” This is the fall of man. About the consequences of the fall of our ancestors according to the image of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church 1st consequence: loss of God's grace Blessed Augustine says about this: “As soon as the violation of the commandment was committed, the grace of God immediately left the forefathers, and they were ashamed of the nakedness of their bodies” 16. 2nd consequence: illness, sorrow, exhaustion Having damaged all the powers of the soul, the sin of the forefathers, as an unnatural action, inevitably produced a similar disorder in their body, introducing into it the seeds of all kinds of diseases, fatigue in labor, relaxation and suffering. All this was recognized as a consequence of ancestral sin by the teachers of the Church, for example, Theophilus of Antioch: “From sin, as if from a source, sickness, sorrow, and suffering poured out on man” 17 ; Irenaeus: “In condemnation for sin, the husband accepted sorrows and earthly labor, and to eat bread by the sweat of his brow... just as the wife accepted sorrows and labors, and sighings, and the pains of birth” 18. 3rd consequence: physical death Basil the Great teaches about this this way: “Adam, as he sinned because of an evil will, died because of sin: “the dues of sin are death” (Rom. 6:23); to the extent that he moved away from life, to the extent that he approached death: because God is life, and the deprivation of life is death; Therefore, Adam prepared death for himself through separation from God, according to what is written: “those who remove themselves from You will perish” (Ps. 72:27) 19. Gregory of Nyssa: “After his fall, the first man lived for many hundreds of years; but God did not lie when he said: “If you take away a day from it, you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17) - for through the very fact that man was alienated from true life, the sentence of death was carried out on him on the same day, and a few years later physical death befell Adam.” Chrysostom: “Although the forefathers still lived for many years, as soon as they heard: you are earth and you will go to earth, they accepted the sentence of death - they became mortal, and from then on it could be said that they died; To mean this, it is said: if you wear away a day from it, you will die, that is, you will hear the verdict that from now on you are already mortal 20. 4th consequence: clouding of the mind St. Chrysostom notes on this occasion: “There is nothing worse than sin: having entered into us, it (sin) not only fills us with shame, but also makes people mad, who were previously reasonable and distinguished by great wisdom. Look how unreasonably he is now acting, who until now was distinguished by so much wisdom, who in fact showed the wisdom bestowed upon him, and even prophesied... How much madness there is in the fact that they are trying to hide from the omnipresent God; from the Creator, Who created everything from nothing, Who knows everything hidden, “created the hearts of people in private, understands all their deeds” (Ps. 33:15), “tests the hearts and wombs” (Ps. 7:10), knows the very movements of the heart?” 21. 5th consequence: perversion of the will and its inclination more towards evil than towards good St. Basil the Great says: “Adam soon became outside of paradise, outside of this blessed life, becoming evil not out of necessity, but out of recklessness” 22 . Athanasius the Great: “Having transgressed the commandment of God, Adam fell into sinful thoughts, not because God created these thoughts that ensnared us, but because the devil implanted them by deception into the rational nature of man, which fell into crimes and moved away from God, so that the devil established in human nature both the law of sin and death that reigns through sin” 23. 6th consequence: distortion of the image of God a) Basil the Great: “Man was created in the image and likeness of God; but sin distorted the beauty of the image, drawing the soul into passionate desires” 24; b) Macarius the Great: “If a coin containing the image of kings is damaged, then the gold loses its value, and the image is of no use; Adam also experienced the same thing” 25; c) Theodoret: “he (Adam), having desired to be God, destroyed even that to be the image of God” 26. 7th Consequence: Expulsion from Paradise Paradise was a blissful abode for innocent man and was prepared for him solely by the infinite goodness of the Creator; Now, when a person sinned and angered his Lord and Benefactor, the guilty one became unworthy of such a dwelling and was rightly expelled from paradise: “And the Lord God drove him out of paradise to make the earth sweet, from which he was taken” (Gen. 3:23), a thought that was very often repeated by the teachers of the Church. 8th consequence: loss or decrease in power over animals 27 This power was based on the fact that man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26); therefore, as soon as the image of God became darkened in man through sin, his power over animals was bound to weaken. “Look,” says St. Chrysostom - while Adam had not yet sinned, the animals were slaves and submissive to him, and he, like slaves, gave them names; but when he darkened his appearance with sin, then the animals did not recognize him and the slaves became his enemies... While Adam kept his appearance pure, created in the image of God, the animals obeyed him as servants; but when he darkened this appearance with disobedience, they did not recognize their master and hated him as a stranger” 28. “However,” the same teacher adds in another place, “although Adam violated the entire commandment and transgressed the entire law, God did not deprive him of all honor and did not take away all power from him, but removed from his command only those animals that were not very suitable for him for the needs of life, but those that are necessary and useful, and can serve us a lot in life, he left them all to serve us.” 9th Consequence: The Curse of the Earth in the Affairs of Man “Cursed is the earth because of your deeds...; thorns and thistles will grow for you” (Gen. 3:17–18). “And this curse is just,” notes St. Chrysostom - for, just as the earth was created for man, so that he could enjoy everything that comes from it; so now, for the sake of a person who has sinned, she indulges in a curse, so that her curse would harm the well-being and peace of a person” 29. 7. What is original sin? “Original sin is a transgression of the law of God, given in paradise to the progenitor Adam, when it was said to him: “Of the tree, knowing good and evil, you shall not take away from it; but if you take away one day from it, you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17). This ancestral sin passed from Adam into all human nature, since we were all then in Adam; and thus through Adam alone sin spread to us all. Therefore, we are both conceived and born with this sin, as the Holy Scripture teaches: “by one man sin came into the world, and death came through sin, and so death came to all men, in whom all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Original sin cannot be erased by any repentance; it is blotted out only by the grace of God, through the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the shedding of His venerable blood. This action is performed in the sacrament of Holy Baptism. Therefore, whoever is not baptized is not freed from this sin, but is subject to wrath and eternal punishment, according to the words: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5) 30. 8. How far original sin has corrupted human nature No matter how deep the fall of our first parents was, they did not lose all their perfections, all the good that the Creator so generously bestowed upon them at creation. “We believe,” the Church teaches, “that man, who fell through crime, became like dumb beasts, that is, he became darkened and lost perfection and dispassion, but did not lose that nature and power that he received from the all-good God, for otherwise he would have become unreasonable and, consequently, not human; but he has the nature with which he was created, and natural power, free, living, active, so that by nature he can choose and do good, run away and turn away from evil. The Lord also indicates that man is good by nature when he says that the pagans love those who love them; The Apostle Paul teaches about this (Rom. 15:9) and in other places where it is said that “the Gentiles, having no law, do the law by nature” (Rom. 2:14). From this it is obvious that good done by man cannot be sin, for good is not evil. Being natural, good makes a person only spiritual, and not spiritual, and without faith alone they do not contribute to salvation, but they do not serve to condemnation either: for good cannot be the cause of evil” 31 . 9. Explanation of the words: “By one man sin came into the world, and death came through sin, and so death came to all men, in whom all sinned” (Rom. 5:12) (On the imputation of Adam's sin to all his descendants) By world the apostle means not just the human race, but the whole earthly world, because the consequences of man’s sin, as rulers of the earth, extended to all earthly creatures (Rom. 8:20; Gen. 3:17). The word “inside” means that sin did not lie in the nature of man and in the natural conditions of his life, but entered from without. “And so death is everywhere among all men.” Death in man was a consequence of sin, “for God created man unto incorruption” (Wis. 2:23). Death is, of course, physical and spiritual-moral. The physical was characteristic of plants and animals; Before the fall, man had a supernatural remedy against it - the fruits of the tree of life. With the fall, he lost this means and damaged his very nature, which is why it is said that death entered man and all people. Everyone has sinned in him. In the first man all sinned, because all were in him alone 32 . The possibility of such a sin being committed by all people in one person from the natural side is explained by the origin of all people, both in body and soul, from one couple. According to Origen, Adam, as if in embryo, in seed 33, carried humanity within himself; and both he and each of his descendants “bear a son after his own kind and in his own image” (Gen. 5:3). From the legal (law, justice) side, the possibility of transmitting sin from one person to all his descendants is explained by the fact that Adam was the representative of all people, in whose person God made His covenant with the entire human race. The doctrine of original sin, which is in close connection with the dogma of the Atonement, was professed by the Church from the very first times and was most clearly expressed in Church life, in infant baptism, but it was especially revealed and defined at the local Council of Carthage in 418, on the occasion of the appearance of the heresy of Pelagius, who directly rejected this teaching. On the necessity and power of repentance (From the works of St. John Chrysostom) The Savior, healing the paralytic, said: Son, your sins are forgiven (Matthew 9:2). Forgiveness of sins is the source of health and salvation, the reward of repentance, and repentance is a medicine that destroys sin. It is a heavenly gift, a miraculous power that, by the grace of God, overcomes the power and severity of laws. It does not reject the fornicator, does not drive away the fornicator, does not turn away the drunkard, does not disdain idolaters, does not despise the slanderers, does not persecute either the blasphemer or the proud: it recreates everyone, for it is a crucible for the cleansing of sins. The wound and the cure are sin and repentance. In the wound there is rottenness, in the medicine there is cleansing of rottenness; in sin there is stench, in sin there is dishonor, in sin there is ridicule; in repentance there is hope, in repentance there is freedom, in repentance there is cleansing of sin. Do not say to me: “I have sinned much, and how can I be saved?” You cannot, but your Lord can, and so He can, that He will blot out all your sins. Listen with attention to my word: Your Lord so destroys sins that he leaves neither a stain nor a trace of them, but with the return of health he gives you good looks, with liberation from execution he imparts righteousness and makes the one who has sinned equal to the one who has not sinned. For He destroys sin and makes it happen in such a way that there is no sin and there never was - so He completely destroys it. There remains no spot, no trace, no appearance, no sign of sins (if you sincerely repent). So, let us turn from the path along which we have wandered, for the hour will come when the disgrace of this world will end and there will be no more time for exploits; and when our life is over, then we cannot make a purchase. As soon as the theater is dissolved, it cannot be crowned. The present time is the time of repentance, the future is the time of judgment; this is the time of exploits, then the time of crowns; this is a time of labor, then a time of calm; now a grueling activity, then a reward. Stand up, I beg you, stand up and willingly listen to my advice. We have lived according to the flesh, let us finally live according to the spirit; We lived in pleasures, let us decide to live in virtues; We lived in negligence, let us now live in repentance. Why are you proud, earth and ashes? Why are you arrogant, O man? Why do you raise your forehead high? What hope do you have for the glory of the world, for your wealth? Let's go to the graves, I ask you, and see what kind of sacraments are there. Let's see, our nature has crumbled, bones are exposed, bodies have rotted. If you are a sage, delve into it; if you are an intelligent person, tell me, for God’s sake, who is the king and who is the commoner, who is the noble and who is the slave, who is the wise man and who is the ignorant. Where is the beauty of youth, where is the pleasant gaze, where are the pretty eyes, where is the graceful nose, where are the fiery lips, where are the beautiful cheeks, where is the bright forehead? Isn't everything ashes? Isn't everything dust? Isn't there only smoke left? Isn't everything wormy and stinking? Doesn't everything stink? Let us think about this, brothers, let us imagine the last day, and while there is time, let us turn from the path on which we have hitherto wandered. We are “redeemed with the precious Blood” (1 Peter 1:18–19). For you, O man, God appeared on earth and did not have “where to lay your head” (Luke 9:58). Ah, miracle! The judge is brought to trial for the convicted; Life joins death; The Creator is choked by the creature; He, whom the Seraphim cannot bear, suffers reproach from a slave, eats bile and bitterness, is pierced by a spear, and is laid in the grave. And you, man, are negligent, you slumber and neglect! Don't you know that even if you shed all your blood, you would not do what is due? For the blood of the Lord is different, and the blood of the servant is different. Prevent the outcome of your soul by repentance and conversion, so that all the healing of repentance does not remain useless for you when death comes, for repentance has power only on earth - in hell it is powerless. Repentance opens heaven to a person, leads him into paradise, and defeats the devil. Are you sinful? Don't despair. Every day you sin, every day you repent. We deal with dilapidated houses in such a way that when there is rot in them, we take out the rotten parts and build them with new ones and never cease to worry about maintaining them. We must do the same in relation to ourselves: are you today worn out from sin? renew yourself with repentance. Is it possible, you say, for someone who has repented to be saved? Absolutely possible. “I spent my whole life in sin; If I repent, will I be saved? - "Certainly". “Where can you see this from?” - “from the love of your Lord. Do I really hope for your repentance? Is your repentance strong enough to destroy serious vices? If only your repentance were, you should rightly tremble: but with repentance the mercy of God is united, and God’s mercy has no measure, and His goodness cannot be interpreted in words. Your malice has a measure, but the remedy against it has no measure; your malice, whatever it may be, is human malice, but God’s mercy is inexpressible. Hope that it will exceed your malice. Imagine a spark falling into the sea: can it remain intact or appear from there again? What a spark is in relation to the sea, so is a vice in relation to God’s love for mankind, and not the same, but much less so. The sea, although great, has limits, and God’s love for mankind is limitless. I say this not to make you careless, but to arouse in you the most lively zeal for repentance” 34. (From the words of His Eminence Theophan) The purpose of our fasting is preparation for the non-judgmental acceptance of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, for the acceptance of the Lord Himself, Who says: He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in him. Since the Lord is Most Pure, and we are unclean, then the communion of the Holy Most Pure Mysteries of Christ is preceded by cleansing our conscience and receiving forgiveness in the Sacrament of Repentance. Whoever is clean will undoubtedly communicate with Christ the Savior: He is communicative, He Himself seeks communication with us, and if He does not communicate, the reason for this is our uncleanness. Therefore, the main thing for us is to cleanse our conscience and receive forgiveness in the sacrament of Repentance. This is where we will now direct all our care and concern. Those who repent properly will be cleared of conscience and will receive forgiveness. The question now is: who should repent? – One who knows his sins and confesses to them sincerely; having confessed, he laments and mourns for them. Having lamented and mourned, he sets the firm intention of no longer offending God with his sins, and, finally, in these dispositions, he humbly confesses all his sins before his confessor in order to receive permission for them and appear at the cup of the Lord justified and pure in the eyes of God. So, take care to know your sins and confess them. To know our sins means to say that such and such a sin has been committed by us; and to confess to them means to condemn oneself for them, to say: “I’m guilty,” without allowing any justifications or apologies. “I have sinned”, “I am guilty” - these two words must be said first of all and said sincerely. Look: in what and how did you sin? I don't think it would be difficult. The commandments are known, and there is a conscience. The commandment will indicate what we should have done, and conscience will testify whether we did it or not. For this, look at the commandments of the Decalogue and the Commandments of the Beatitudes, and see which commandment is broken, and which virtues are lacking in the heart. Just as in a clean mirror, when you look into it with your eyes open and not dusted, you can see small specks on your face, so all our misdeeds and sins will be revealed in words, deeds and thoughts, when we force our conscience to look in the mirror of the commandments of God, indicated in the word of God. All that remains is to add to this condemnation of ourselves, the consciousness of our guilt, and this will come when we reject any justification for ourselves, neither by the circumstances of life, nor by the type of service and the condition of relationships, nor by hobbies, nor by ignorance - in a word, by nothing, but let us do so that, as soon as sin is noticed, we speak sincerely; “Guilty, unrequitedly guilty.” Having recognized your sins, you need to mourn them, lament that they have been committed. Whoever sincerely said: “I’m guilty” is not far from saying: “Why did I do all this?” To regret it, to be ashamed of oneself, to be ill before the Lord, to be afraid of His judgment and the misfortune that awaits the one who remains unjustified in his sins. This is not far from this, however, even this requires work on oneself, self-government and self-constraint, for there is a petrification of the heart, according to which, conscious of sins, and not having anything to justify them with, they say: “What is this?” Remember how many times you said “I won’t,” “I won’t,” and you continued to sin, and even more and more stubbornly than before; remember that no one forced you; out of your own evil disposition, you sinned and insulted God, Who sees everything, in the face, and you tore off His hand with which He stopped you. Remember death, judgment, hell; remember and so on everything with which you hope to crush your stubborn heart. Disturb him in every possible way, excite him and set him in motion. To these thoughts, add a prayer to the Lord, so that the Lord of all will give you control over your heart. What kind of repentance is there in which there is no sadness or contrition! Following the disease of the heart about sins, the intention will come to lag behind them, not to offend the Lord with them anymore and not to destroy oneself. And this will be followed by the most sincere confession of sins and the most effective resolution of them. And truly saving repentance will be accomplished. But what good is it if we stand at services without feelings, with boredom or distraction, annoyed that they drag on for a long time. We will spend the time free from services in half-asleep and inaction, then we will coldly talk in the spirit of “sinful” about the sins that they ask about, and without having the thought that our main goal should be the perfect correction of life... What is the use? This will mean fulfilling the custom of fasting, and not fasting for salvation. Beware how dangerously you walk, especially in these days, when the enemy, without tempting us with sins, manages to render useless the means given to us by the grace of God for cleansing from sins and thereby continue his dominion over us 35 . When and under what conditions does repentance lead to the desired goal - the healing of our spiritual ulcers, to the complete cleansing of the soul? First of all, “repentance must be completely free, in no way forced by time or custom or by the person confessing. Otherwise it will not be repentance. “Repent,” it is said, “for the Kingdom of Heaven is drawing near” (Matthew 4:17), drawing near, that is, it has come on its own, you don’t need to search for a long time, it itself is looking for you, your free disposition.” Further: repentance must be unconditionally sincere, without any guile or self-justification. “Let us fear the petrified insensibility of our sins; Let us be afraid of the pride of our hearts, which says: “I do not need forgiveness of sins, I am not guilty, I am not a sinner.” Or: “My sins are light, human.” As if it were necessary for them to be demonic; or: “It is not bad for me to live in my sins”... This is satanic pride... Let us deeply, with all our hearts, feel our countless iniquities, we will sigh about them from the depths of our souls, we will shed tears of tenderness for them and appease the angry Master. Let us not justify ourselves in the least, like the Pharisees and hypocrites, for, as it is said, everyone who lives is not justified before God (Ps. 143:2), and only by sincere repentance of sins can we appease God. Let us leave indifference and coldness, let us work for the Lord with a burning spirit. Repentance must be accompanied by contrition of heart and crying for sins. Everyone needs tears of repentance, and without them there is no salvation. One holy man, passing by a cemetery with his disciples and seeing a widow shedding tears with screams and sobs over her husband’s grave, said to his disciples: “Just as this widow is killed at the grave, so we need to worry about our soul, which we have killed with our sins and buried in a land alien to it, the world and the lusts of the flesh.” Lamenting his sins with all his heart and shedding tears of repentance, the penitent must make a sincere vow to God - to break the ties that bind him to sin and correct his life. The repentant must hate sin with all his soul, kindle in himself the desire to resist its temptations, destroy in himself resistance to God and kindle the desire to fulfill His commandments, in a word, make an internal revolution, break his will. “It’s not just abstinence from evil,” says St. Macarius, - there is purification, but the extermination of those from conscience, complete, is purification. Go down, whoever you are, through the thoughts growing in you, take out the thoughts of your soul, a prisoner of war and a slave of sin, and examine to the bottom of your thoughts, and explore the depth of your thoughts: and see in the depths of your soul a crawling and nesting serpent, killing you with the poison of parts of your soul. For the heart is an immeasurable abyss, but if you have killed this serpent, boast before God about your purity.” The feat of repentance must be accompanied by prayer, and prayer will support us. When, in view of your depravity and the power of sin over your soul, despondency takes possession of you and, God forbid, despair in God’s mercy, say from the depths of your soul together with Metaphrastus: “I know, my Lord, that my iniquities have surpassed my head, but the multitude of Your mercies is immeasurable, the mercy of Your kindly grace is ineffable, and there is no sin that overcomes Your grace.” philanthropy. Surprise, O wonderful King, kindly Lord, and upon me, a sinner, Thy mercy, show Thy goodness the power, and show the strength of Thy beneficial mercy, and accept me, a sinner turning to You... I trust in You, my God! If there is hope of salvation for me, if Your love for mankind exceeds without number the multitude of my iniquities, be my Savior and, according to Your bounties and Your mercies, weaken me, leave me everything in which I have sinned before You, for my soul is filled with many evils and there is no hope of salvation in me.” “You are a sinner, you constantly fall, learn to rise, take care of gaining this wisdom. This wisdom consists of this: learn by heart the psalm “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy” (Ps. 50), inspired by the Holy Spirit to the king and prophet David, and read it with sincere faith and hope; after your sincere repentance, expressed in the words of King David, forgiveness of sins will immediately shine from the Lord for you, and you will feel peace of mind.” Having prepared in a worthy manner, having recognized and mourned his sins, having felt within himself the determination to correct his life, a Christian must confess his sins to the priest. Confession is certainly necessary for the purification of the soul. “You will endure the difficulty and painful sting of the operation, but you will be healthy. This means that in confession you must reveal all your shameful deeds to your confessor without concealment, even though it is painful, embarrassing, shameful, and humiliating. Otherwise, the wound will remain unhealed and will hurt, ache, and undermine mental health; it will remain a leaven for other spiritual infirmities or sinful habits and passions. A priest is a spiritual doctor; show him the wounds, without shame, sincerely, openly, with filial trust: after all, the confessor is your spiritual father, who must love you more than your relatives, father and mother, for Christ’s love is higher than carnal, natural love, for you he must give an answer to God. Why has our life become so unclean, full of passions and sinful habits? Because so many people hide their spiritual wounds or ulcers, that’s why they hurt and get irritated, and no medicine can be applied to them.” “Whoever gets used to giving an account of his life in confession here will not be afraid to give an answer at the Last Judgment of Christ. For this reason, a meek court of repentance was established here, so that we, purified and corrected through local repentance, could give a shameless answer at the terrible judgment of Christ.” Finally, everyone who sincerely repents and confesses his sins should know that his repentance, giving him peace of mind and the joy of cleansing from sin, at the same time constitutes an object of joy in heaven. “How pleasant it is for you, how fun it is when you find some lost, necessary and valuable thing! You are ready to jump for joy. Imagine how pleasant it is to the Heavenly Father, at the sight of His lost child - a sinner, but found, at the sight of His lost and revived sheep, at the sight of His lost and found drachma, that is, this living image of God - man? It is impossible to describe this joy. The Heavenly Father’s joy over His lost and found prodigal son is so great that the entire loving and benevolent heaven aspires to joy: for there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents...” “Dying brothers and sisters! Return from the path of destruction to the Heavenly Father! Repent, for fear the Kingdom of Heaven will come closer!” 36. In confession we must see the endless goodness of the Heavenly King towards His criminal subjects It is in vain that many look at confession as a heavy burden, and some even avoid it altogether. In this decree we must see the endless goodness of the Heavenly King towards His criminal subjects. The greatness of this goodness can be seen in the following example: imagine that a man from a low place was called to the court of a powerful monarch, showered with countless benefits and mercies, and for all this he paid his sovereign with cruel ingratitude, and dared to inflict the most gross insult on him. The angry king condemned the culprit to death. The sentence should have already been completed; the criminal was awaiting his death. But suddenly a messenger from the king appears to him and promises him forgiveness on behalf of the sovereign if he fulfills one condition, namely, if he confesses his crimes to one of the king’s ministers, whom he chooses for himself. Moreover, the tsar obliges this minister not to reveal the secret entrusted to him to anyone. Is this condition really difficult for a criminal? Let us imagine that the compassionate king, for fulfilling such a confession, again promises to accept the criminal into his mercy and return to him all his former dignity and honors. What could be higher than this royal mercy? Only the mercy of the Heavenly King is higher than it, and infinitely higher. For, having committed a sin, we deserve not only temporary death, but also eternal death, and in order to get rid of endless executions, infinite goodness indicates an equally easy means for us. This means is a sincere confession before a minister of the Church, and it again introduces us to the number of children of God 37 . Examples of the cleansing power of repentance There is no sin that a truly repentant sinner cannot atone for through repentance. How many sinners do we know who have received forgiveness and pardon through repentance! I. By repentance the publican was justified more than the Pharisee. II. The sinner who washed the Savior’s feet with her tears was pardoned for her repentance. III. Through repentance the doors of heaven are opened to the thief. IV. Through repentance and bitter tears, the Apostle Peter, who denied the Lord three times, was again elevated to the rank of apostle. V. Through repentance, many of the greatest sinners followed the path of virtues and received eternal bliss. Thus, the Venerable Mary of Egypt spent 17 years in a life full of sinful, vicious pleasures, but, having repented, she found such grace from the Lord that she crossed the Jordan River as if on dry land. VI. One St. The priest, who was fleeing on Mount Olympus, talked with his brothers about the salvation of the soul. During this conversation, a commoner approached the elder, bowed to him and stopped silently. The elder asked: “What do you need?” The commoner said: “I came to your shrine to confess my sins, honest father.” The elder said: “Speak in front of everyone, don’t be ashamed.” Then the commoner began to confess his sins with tears in the presence of everyone, some of which were so serious that it was inconvenient to convey them. When he told everything, he bowed down and stood despondent with a contrite heart; tears streamed down his cheeks. Meanwhile, the elder thought for a long time about something and finally said: “Do you want to take on a monastic image?” “Yes, father,” answered the commoner, “I wish it, and I even brought here the clothes necessary for tonsure.” After this, the elder gave him several instructions, clothed him in an angelic image and, releasing him, said: “Go, child, in peace and sin no more.” He bowed to the ground and left, glorifying God. The monks were surprised by all this and said to the elder: “What does this mean, father? We have heard so many grave sins from him now, and you did not give him any obedience, did not impose the slightest penance on him!” “Oh, dear children,” said the elder, “haven’t you seen that when this commoner confessed his sins, a terrible man stood next to him, whose face shone like lightning, and whose clothes were white as snow; he held in his hands the charter of the sins of the repentant, and when the commoner expressed his sins to me in front of all of you, he gradually blotted them out from the charter? And if God forgave him in this way, then how dare I give him any kind of penance after that?” Hearing this, the monks were horrified and thanked our Lord Jesus Christ, glorified His goodness and love for mankind, and dispersed, marveling at the glorious deeds of our God. VII. A similar story is conveyed by St. John Climacus. He narrates that during his stay in a common monastery near Alexandria, a robber came to this monastery for repentance and tonsure as a monk. The Great Father, the abbot of the monastery, ordered him to confess his sins at a meeting of the entire brotherhood in the church. When the robber fulfilled this with ardent jealousy and selflessness, the abbot immediately clothed him with the schema. Saint John asked the holy abbot in private why he tonsured the robber so soon? The abbot gave the reason that the robber was honored with a confession of complete remission of sins. “And don’t disbelieve this,” he added, “because one of the brethren present here assured me, saying: “I saw someone terrible, holding a written charter and a cane; and when the one who confessed pronounced his sin, that terrible one blotted out this sin on the charter with a reed, and in justice, for the Scripture says: “Rech, let me confess ... my iniquity to the Lord, and You have forsaken the wickedness of my heart” (Ps. 31:5)” 38. VIII. If a Christian’s repentance is sincere, if he firmly decides to change his sinful lifestyle, then no sins will prevent God’s mercy from granting him forgiveness and His saving help. St. Isaac the Syrian says the following about this: “Like a handful of sand thrown into the great sea, so is the fall of all flesh in comparison with God’s providence and God’s mercy. And just as an abundant spring is not blocked by a handful of dust, so the mercy of the Creator is not defeated by the vices of creatures” 39. If you, beloved brother, are still not sufficiently inspired by the hope of God’s mercy, if you still hesitate from the confusion of your conscience darkened by sins, then learn that the Lord does not deprive great but repentant sinners, just like the righteous, of the special gifts of His goodness. Here is one of many examples of this kind. The Reverend Father David was at first a robber and did so much evil, “like no one else.” One day, while resting on the mountain with his companions and reflecting on his past, he was horrified and immediately decided to repent and devote all his remaining days to serving God. Leaving his accomplices, he came to the monastery and asked the abbot to accept him as one of the brethren. Thinking that David would not be able to endure monastic feats due to his advanced years, the abbot initially refused the request. Distressed by this, David exclaimed: “Do you know, father, who I am? I am the chieftain of the robbers. If you don’t accept me, I will get back to my business, bring my comrades, destroy the monastery and leave none of you alive.” Hearing such terrible words, the abbot did not hesitate any longer and tonsured David. Then “David began to struggle with self-control, to restrain himself with humility. And all the seventy monks were blessed in the monastery.” One day, when David was sitting in his cell, an Angel appeared to him and said: “David, the Lord has forgiven you your sins and from now on you will work miracles.” And indeed, David after this performed great miraculous deeds by the power of God for the benefit of his neighbors (September 6 and 18). So, let every Orthodox Christian be sure that for him there is undoubted hope for salvation, if only he sincerely repents and hates his sins with all his soul. Not even though the death of a sinner, but always desiring “to be converted and live to him,” the Lord never leaves the repentant without His help, but gives him “all divine powers, including life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). “God, undoubtedly, does not leave those who come to Him unsaved,” says St. Simeon, but seeing those who are exhausted, he helps, and helps, and turns to Himself. He promotes appearance and non-appearance, known and unknown, to the end and to the entire ascended ladder to approach Him” 40. Don't be ashamed to confess your sins “Nothing is so destructive for sin as its exposure and condemnation, combined with repentance and tears. Have you condemned your sin? Through this you have laid aside your burden. Who says this? – The Judge himself is God. “Thou hast spoken thy iniquity before, that thou mayest be justified” (Is. 43:26). Why, tell me, are you ashamed and blushing to say your sins? Do you tell a person who will reproach you? Do you confess to a fellow servant who will divulge your deeds? You show the wound to the Lord, Provider, Lover of Humanity, and Physician. Will he, who knows our deeds even before they are done, not know if you do not tell? Is sin made more severe by its exposure? On the contrary, it is easier. And God demands confession from you not in order to punish, but in order to forgive; not in order for Him to know your sin: doesn’t He know even without this? But so that you know what debt he forgives you. He wants to show you the greatness of His goodness so that you will constantly thank Him, so that you will be slower to sin, more zealous for virtue. If you do not speak about the greatness of duty, you will not recognize the superiority of grace. I will not force you, He says, to go into the middle of the spectacle and surround yourself with many witnesses; Tell me alone, in private, the sin, so that I can heal the wound and save you from the disease” 41. “If one of the worldly judges invited one of the caught robbers or robbers to reveal their crimes and thus get rid of punishment, they would willingly accept it, despising shame for the sake of their salvation. But nothing like that happens here. God both forgives sins and does not force them to be expressed in the presence of others, but demands only one thing, that the one receiving the remission himself should know the greatness of the gift” 42 . “The Lord, knowing the weakness of our nature, when we stumble and fall into some sin, requires of us only that we do not despair, but give up our sins and hasten to confession. And if we do this, he promises us a quick pardon, because He Himself says: “When food falls, it does not rise, or when it turns away, it will not turn back?” (Jer.8:4). If He honored the thief who was on the cross with His favor, then all the more will He honor us with His love for mankind if we want to confess our sins. So, in order for us to benefit from His love for mankind, let us not be ashamed to confess our sins, for the power of confession is great and it can do much. So the robber confessed and found an open paradise” 43. “Knowing this, let us not neglect such a humane Lord, but so that we do not be punished and fall into judgment, let everyone enter into his conscience and, having examined life and carefully considering all sins, let him condemn the soul that committed them, let him curb his thoughts, tame, constrain his mind and punish himself for sins with strict repentance, tears, confession, fasting and alms, abstinence and love, so that, having put aside our sins here in every possible way, we could go there with full boldness” 44. It is dangerous to hide sins during confession Whoever hides sins from his confessor during confession, although he will hear from him: “I forgive and permit,” the Holy Spirit, as the Knower of the Heart, will not forgive or permit him. Therefore St. Chrysostom says: “We will not be ashamed of people in our sins, but we will fear, as we should, God, who even now sees our deeds, and in the next century will punish those who have not repented. Whoever now fears shame from people only, and is not ashamed to do something indecent before the all-seeing God, and does not want to repent and correct himself, will be put to shame on the future day of judgment, not before one or two people, but in view of the entire universe.”45 For hidden grave sins, people are still here on earth, during their dying illness, they are tormented by demons, and after death they are subject to torment in hell. This is narrated in the Prologue in this way: “One day a youth came to blessed Epiphanius and said: “Father Epiphanius! Your friend Raphael is sick and asks you to come to him as soon as possible, otherwise you will not find him alive.” Blessed Epiphanius immediately came to Raphael and sat down not far from him, but, seeing that he would soon die, he began to cry heavily, because he loved him very much. The sick man, lying on his bed, began to cry so bitterly that Epiphanius and everyone who was with him in the house were afraid. Epiphanius asked Raphael: “What’s wrong with you that you’re so indignant?” The sick man, having come to his senses and seeing Epiphanius, said: “Woe is me, my dear brother, because my spiritual deeds have been stolen by demons and I am being scorched by fire. I saw the Angels of God and the crafty demons, they weighed my deeds, and my evil deeds outweighed my good ones, therefore know that I will not inherit the bliss of the righteous, but I will go into eternal fire. I saw that the Angels of God were offended and left me, and one of them said to me: “I am leaving you. Woe to you, wretched one, because you lived wickedly.” When the sick man said this to Epiphanius, the devil became angry with him and led him into unconsciousness, in which he spoke a lot, but meaninglessly. Blessed Epiphanius, feeling sorry for the sick man, secretly prayed to God to deliver his soul from torment; Foreseeing this, the demons became angry with him and wanted to push him down from the elevated place where he was praying. Epiphanius, foreseeing in his spirit the intention of the demons, left his place, and they failed to harm the saint. After this, the demon began to torment the sick man, who, lying on his bed, began to tear his hair, bleat like a goat, began to speak blasphemous words, bark like a dog, which is why everyone who was with the sick man fell into fear, attributing all these actions of the sick man to the influence of the devil on him. They asked St. Epiphany: “Why does the devil have such power over the sick?” “I don’t know this, brothers,” answered Epiphanius, “but I think that the sick man committed a great sin, which he did not repent of, which is why the devil torments him.” It was in this suffering that the patient ended his life 46. Instruction of St. Cyprian to a priest on how he should confess a penitent St. Cyprian writes: “Whoever caresses a sinner with flattering caresses only disposes him more towards sin and does not suppress crimes, but feeds him. But whoever exposes his brother with strict advice and instructs him together contributes to his salvation. “If I love them,” says the Lord, “I reprove and punish” (Rev. 3:19). Thus, a priest of God should not deceive with flattering services, but provide for saving medicines. The doctor who lightly palpates the swollen convolutions of wounds is inexperienced, keeping the poison contained inside in the deep cavities, he only increases its strength. It is necessary to open the wound, cut it and, having cleared it of pus, apply a strong plaster to it. Let the patient cry out, let him scream, let him complain about unbearable pain, he will thank him later when he feels healthy” 47 . What is true repentance? True repentance, according to the teachings of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, consists of the following: a) we must abandon our previous sins and abhor them as an abomination; b) regret these sins and appease God, and confess to your confessor; protect yourself from other sins in every possible way; c) forgive your neighbor’s sins, so that God may forgive us ourselves: if you forgive a person their sins (Christ says in the Gospel), your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive you your sins; d) show love and mercy to everyone, so that you yourself may receive mercy: blessings of mercy, for there will be mercy; e) humble yourself: if you humble yourself, you will be exalted; f) do not condemn or slander anyone; g) Always pray to God so as not to fall into the enemy’s misfortune: “Watch and pray so that you do not fall into misfortune,” Christ says (Matthew 26:41) 48. What is required of those approaching the Sacrament of Penance In order for one who approaches the sacrament of Repentance to truly receive remission of sins, the following conditions are required of him, according to the teaching of the Orthodox Church 49: This is necessary by the very essence of repentance: he who truly repents cannot help but be aware of the full gravity of his sins and their disastrous consequences, cannot help but feel his guilt before God, his unworthiness, cannot help but grieve in his heart, not be contrite, and where there is no true contrition for sins, there is no true repentance, but only external one. Therefore, the holy fathers and teachers of the Church unanimously recognized contrition for sins as the most essential and necessary accessory of repentance. “You, beloved brothers,” wrote St. Cyprian, - repenting and contrite, consider your sins; recognize the grave guilt of your conscience, open the eyes of your heart to the understanding of your crime... The more we have sinned, the more we must mourn” 50. “If Peter’s lament,” St. also inspired his listeners. Chrysostom, - has blotted out such a great sin, then how can you not blot out your sin if you cry? For to deny one’s Lord was no small crime, but great and very important, and yet tears atoned for the sin. You too cry about your sin, only cry not simply and not for show, but bitterly, as Peter cried; bring down streams of tears from the very depths of your soul, so that the Lord, having mercy, will forgive you your sin” 51. “Those who repent must,” taught St. Basil the Great, - cry bitterly and other things that are characteristic of repentance, express from the heart" 52. “Repentance requires that a person first cry out within himself and break his heart, then become a good example for others, and for this he makes himself audible and declares an image of repentance” 53 . “When you sin,” says St. Chrysostom, groan not because you will be punished, but because you have offended your God, who is so merciful, who loves you so much and is so concerned about your salvation, that He gave up His Son to death for you.”54 “Rain and dew are sent freely,” says St. Ephraim the Syrian, - but the farmer should therefore not sleep and stop sowing and cultivating the land. Medicine is always ready for the sinner, but therefore we must not stop praying for the remission of sins. If the farmer does not sow, the rain will not help him; If a sinner does not pray, grace will not heal him. As the human physician, so God cries: “Show me your sore and I will heal you.” He would like to see your appeal; then he will heal you” 55. “Have you seen,” says St. Tikhon, what does a son do when he insults his father, from whom he was born and raised, by disobedience and rude actions? He curses himself, cries and is contrite in heart and judges himself to be punished worthy of his father for the sake of the only one who angered and insulted his father. This example teaches us to repent and regret that we anger and offend God through our sins. If a son according to the flesh, having angered his father, regrets, grieves and curses himself, how much more should Christians regret, grieve, grieve, curse themselves and recognize themselves as worthy of punishment when they anger God, the Heavenly Father, Who is the only love, goodness and holiness" 56 . 2. A firm intention to improve your life in the future. The Apostle Peter in his speech to the Jews said: “Repent and turn, that you may be cleansed from your sins” (Acts 3:19). St. Basil the Great says: “It is not the one who confesses his sin who said: “I have sinned,” and then remains in sin; but he who, according to the word of the psalm, acquired his sin and hated it (Ps. 50:5). What benefit will the care of a doctor bring to the patient when the person suffering from illness clings tightly to what is destructive to life? So there is no benefit from forgiveness to someone who still commits unrighteousness, and from an apology for debauchery to someone who continues to live dissolutely... The All-Wise Steward of our life wants someone who has lived in sin and then vows to rise to a healthy life, to put an end to the past and, after committing sins, to make some kind of beginning, as if renewed in life through repentance” 57 . “For those who repent, mere removal from sins is not enough for salvation, but they also need fruits worthy of repentance” 58. St. Ambrose: “Whoever brings repentance must not only wash away his sin with tears, but also cover up previous sins with better deeds, so that the sin is not imputed to him” 59 . 3. Faith in Jesus Christ and hope in His mercy For to this all the prophets testify, the remission of sins is received in His name by everyone who believes in Him” (Acts 10:43), and “for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). He alone reconciled us to God by His death on the cross (Rom. 5:1–2, 8:24–25), He alone is our eternal High Priest, “and He is also able to save to the end those who come to God through Him, He who always lives, to make intercession for us” (Heb. 7:25). Consequently, without faith in Christ the Savior and hope in Him, no matter how deep our contrition for sins and firm our intention to correct our lives, we would never be worthy to receive remission of sins from God. 4. Verbal confession of sins to a priest The need for this confession is self-evident from the fact that the priest must resolve sins in the sacrament of repentance, and in order to resolve or not resolve any sins, one must know them in advance. This institution always existed and was observed in the Church. St. Irenaeus tells how some wives, carried away into heresy and impiety by the Gnostics, upon their return to the Church confessed both their sins and errors, while others, not wanting to undergo this test, fell into despair 60. St. Gregory of Nyssa inspires the repentant: “Shed before me bitter and abundant tears, and I will unite my tears with yours: accept the priest as a father as a partner and companion of your sorrow... The priest laments as much for the sins of the one whom he has by faith instead of a son, as much as Jacob grieved when he saw Joseph’s clothes... Therefore, you must rely on him who gave birth to you in God more than on those who gave birth to you.” over your body. Feel free to show him your secrets; reveal to him the secrets of the spirit, like secret wounds to a doctor: he will take care of your health too” 61. The second rule of the Council of Laodicea says: “Those who fall into various sins, and remain in prayer, confession and repentance, and who completely turn away from evil deeds after the time of repentance has been given to them as they have sinned, for the sake of the mercy and goodness of God, bring them into fellowship.”62 In the 102nd rule of the Council of Trullo we read: “Those who have received from God the power to decide and knit, must consider the quality of sin and the readiness of the sinner for conversion, and so use the healing appropriate to the illness, so that, without observing measures in both, they do not lose the salvation of the ailing person.” How does saving repentance begin and how is it maintained? “Repentance,” as St. Isaac - is born from faith in the righteous Giver and is aroused by the fear of God's inevitable judgment and well-deserved torment. The sinner is horrified by the terrible fate prepared for the unrepentant, and decides to turn from the realm of Satan to God, his Father.” Then this is what happens in the soul of someone who begins repentance, as St. Peter describes. Ephraim the Syrian: 1. “The devil does not allow the wicked to come to their senses, presenting them with the severity of repentance. And repentance, seeing his cunning, comes up with affection and says: “Bring only God to your memory - and I will work for you. Imagine His mercy in your mind - and I will intercede for you with groanings. Just breathe a little, sinners, in repentance - and I will make you God’s servants. And the prophet Isaiah said: “When you return to breathe, then you will be saved” (Is. 30:15). Here, says repentance, I bring you testimony (from the word of God): “Just repent.” “If the sinner breathes,” continues St. father, then with groaning the burden imposed by the serpent will leave him; when the mind is relieved, it will drive away the darkness of ignorance, and the eye of the soul will become clear, and soon repentance will guide the soul to salvation.” So, a sigh from the depths of the heart is the beginning of saving repentance. 2. “Then,” continues St. Ephraim, the sinner will not only sigh, but also shed tears with great sorrow. Why? Because the soul, after a long separation from God, seeing Him as a Father, is excited to shed tears; because she finally saw the Parent, she sheds tears and bows to God, for she loves the fatherly blessing, and thus is cleansed of everything to which she was brought by the serpent.” These tears of heartfelt contrition are not tears of destructive despair, but sweet tears of tenderness of a soul turning to God.” “Remembering God,” explains St. Ephraim - leads sinners to groan; but David says: “They remembered God and rejoiced” (Ps. 77:4). That is why the repentant rejoice that they have freed themselves from the bonds of the serpent” 63. 3. Having experienced for themselves the greatness of God’s mercy and, as it were, tasting the sweetness of God’s fatherly love, which, having forgotten all the sins of the prodigal son, like the Gospel father, seeing him from afar, “attacked his neck and kissed him” (Luke 15:20), those who sincerely repent, having received undeserved forgiveness from God, punish themselves for all previous iniquities, for treacherous betrayal of such a loving father, for insensitivity and ingratitude to the Generosity, the King and God. “Whoever loves Christ as he should love,” says Chrysostom, “will not tolerate being left without punishment, even if Christ forgives him: for one insult to Him is already the greatest punishment. It is not so sad for a lover that he suffers some kind of evil for insulting his beloved, but most of all that he has insulted his beloved... So let us also reason, weep bitterly that we so ungratefully insult our Benefactor!” 64. Temptations in the feat of repentance and remedies against them 1. “Before our fall,” says St. John Climacus, “the demons represent God to us as loving of mankind, and after the fall – inexorable.” The holy fathers advise to reflect this evil thought of despair with strong hope in God’s mercy. “When someone falls,” the saint calls out. Isaac the Syrian, - let him not forget the love of his father, but if he happens to fall into many different sins, let him not cease to strive for good, let him not stop in his course, but let the conquered one again rise up to fight with his opponents and daily let him begin to lay the foundation for the destroyed building until his very departure from this world, having in his mouth the prophetic word: “Do not rejoice in me, my adversary, for I have fallen; for I will rise again. If I sit in darkness, the Lord will give me light” (Mic.7:8); and let him never stop fighting until his death, and as long as there is breath in him, let him not give up his soul to be overcome, even during the very defeat. But if every day his boat is broken and the whole cargo is wrecked, let him not cease to take care, stock up, even borrow, switch to other ships and sail with hope, until the Lord, having looked upon his feat and having mercy on his contrition, sends down His mercy on him and gives him strong motivations to meet and endure the kindled arrows of the enemy. This is the wisdom given from God; such is the wise patient who does not lose his hope!” 2. "Brother! You shouldn't despair. The helmsman, when his ship is beaten by waves, does not despair of his salvation, but steers the ship until he brings it to the pier; So you too, seeing that you have become carried away and distracted in your work, call yourself to the beginning of the path... If anyone falls, then let him again try to control himself. I believe in God that such a person will not turn this (random repetition of falls) into a habit and will not be overcome by negligence, but God will soon bring him into the dispensation of zealous workers and will not take his soul until he brings him to a high standard, “into a perfect man” (Eph. 4:13). So, do not weaken, but while you have time, do it, God will help you!” Don’t be surprised that you fall every day, says St. John Climacus, - do not retreat, but stand courageously, and your guardian angel, without a doubt, will reward you for your patience.” 3. Careless souls usually calm their consciences with undeserved and therefore false hope in God’s love for mankind: “This is a nasty illness,” says St. John Climacus, - protected by God’s love for mankind, becomes very pleasant for sensualists.” To free yourself from this illness, it is enough to be convinced of the undoubted truth that God is just as merciful as he is just: merciful to those who sincerely repent and just to unrepentant sinners, and therefore everyone needs repentance. 4. “It is impossible for us, who have fallen into the pit of iniquity, to be rescued from it unless we plunge into the abyss of the humility of the penitent.” “Bring repentance from the heart,” says St. Ephraim the Syrian, - and drop a few tears on the sin that hurts you - and the destructive ulcer will be completely healed on your members. But if custom alone draws you to the Doctor, then you will not receive health: your illness is healed only through tears and contrition.” The opinion of one ascetic about how much time is needed for repentance Strict with himself, the Monk Sisoes was very lenient towards others. He deeply believed in the inexhaustibility of divine mercy, and when he was asked: “Is one year enough for a monk to atone for sin?”, he replied: “This is cruel: if a person repents with all his soul, then God will accept his repentance in three days” 65. You need to confess your sins with heartfelt contrition. One day, two monks who were in confession with Abba Zeno came together and asked each other what effect this confession had on them. The first said that for the prayers of the elder the Lord healed him, and he felt relief from the burden of sin. Another said that although he confessed, he did not feel healing. The one who received the benefit asked: “How did you confess to the elder?” He answered: “I explained to him that I had such and such sins and asked him to pray.” But the one who received the benefit said: “And I, confessing my thoughts to the elder, watered his feet with tears, and for his prayers God healed me.” Those who confess their thoughts to their spiritual fathers must confess with all sincerity, with contrition of heart, as if before God Himself, then they can receive mercy. Confession made with negligence not only brings no benefit, but also serves to condemnation 66 . The importance of sincere confession for the salvation of the soul “There was,” writes Agapius, a Cretan monk, “a kind and pious woman. She gave alms, fasted and did other good deeds. But she committed one grave sin and did not confess it. More than once she tried to reveal her sin to her confessor and, although she talked about other sins, she was ashamed to talk about it and so left her confessor. She often prayed with bitter tears before the icon of the Mother of God and asked for her protection. Finally she died without confessing her sin. When the funeral service was being held for her in the church, where all her relatives had gathered, suddenly the dead woman stood up, sat down on her bed and said: “Great is Thy power, Immaculate Lady!” Calling her confessor, she confessed her hidden sin to him. Then she said everything out loud: “Poor me, out of shame I did not confess one sin, and so I died, but every day with deep contrition I prayed to the Most Holy Theotokos not to incur punishment for my sin. When my unfortunate soul was separated from my body, dark evil spirits reproached me for secret sin and rejoiced, considering me their prey. But the Queen of Angels appeared and with Her light dispersed the spirits of evil; She told them indignantly: “The Lord has not given you power over this soul.” Then she brought me to the Lord and asked Him to show His mercy on me; she said she showed a lot of love and faith. The Lord said: “Let this soul unite with its body and confess its sin as it should.” Then my Guardian Angel revived me. I ask you, dear sister, and all my relatives not to cry for me - this will not bring me any benefit, but let liturgies be celebrated and alms given for me.” Then she again rested in the Lord" 67. What should we do when we perceive sin in ourselves? To answer this question, we present the following story here. Once Saint Parthenius of Christ visited a man he knew, who was then very ill. They spent the evening talking about the natural causes of the disease and the means to cure it; but when the saint of God went to bed, the Lord, in a sleepy vision, revealed to him that the sick man was being punished for his love of money and violence towards the poor. Surprised, Parthenius again came to the patient in the morning and told him: “You are suffering from mental illness, shake it off and you will be healthy.” The sick man was horrified and, realizing his sin, answered through tears: “I confess my sins; pray for me, O man, according to God’s heart, that the Lord will help me to cleanse myself of my iniquities.” Then Parthenius said to him: “You, in the person of the poor, took away property from God; return to Him also in the person of the poor and you will be healthy in soul and body.” Then the patient became completely conscious. "God! I have sinned before You! - he exclaimed. “But you are so righteous and so merciful.” Then, calling his servant, he ordered that everything that had been incorrectly collected be brought to him and earnestly asked Saint Parthenius to take upon himself the labor of squandering his property on the poor, but the man of God refused. “You must distribute it yourself,” he said, “if you remember, give it to those most in need.” The sick man followed the advice of the righteous man. Soon afterwards he recovered and from that time on he did not attach his heart to the treasures. This story teaches us that, having seen sin in ourselves, we not only hasten to immediately bring repentance and firmly decide to avoid it in the future, but also try, if possible, to atone for the temptation or harm caused by it with good deeds opposite to it (Arch. Tsarevsky. Lessons on the Law of God. V, 1887. P. 156). God's mercy to the repentant sinner for her mercy One noble woman, after the death of her husband, bringing into memory all her sins and remembering the hour of death and the terrible judgment of God, bowing to him, said: “By faith I came to your shrine, honest father: I want to confess all my sins before you.” When the elder did not agree to this and said: “I (as a monk) should not listen to women’s affairs, my child,” the woman said: “Holy Father! The Lord Jesus Christ, our true God, clothed in our image, did not reject the harlot who came to Him, who with tears kissed His honest feet and confessed her sins to Him, and you, Father, drive me away at a time when I want to repent and be saved!” Having heard this, the elder said to her in response: “If so, child, and if you have come by faith to my unworthiness, then let’s go to church: confess there with heartfelt contrition to the much-merciful God who loves mankind your deeds, and I, a sinful elder, will hear them.” They both came to the church, and the woman, bowing, became silent. “What’s wrong with you, child? - the old man told her. “Since early morning you have been forcing my humility to accept you to confession, and now you don’t say anything?” “I don’t dare express it, honest father,” the woman answered, “I am embarrassed by an obscene thought.” “In that case, write it for me on paper,” he said, “and I will read it in the face of the Lord God, who forgives our sins in His great mercy.” “And I am not able to do this: my sins are so great,” answered the sinner. “If you can’t do this,” the elder continued, “then I’ll do this: I’ll remind you one by one of all the sins that happen in people’s lives,” and he began to ask her: “Didn’t you do this and that?” But the woman answered all his questions: “By the grace of God and for your holy prayers, I did nothing of the kind; my sins are not the same.” Then the elder said to her: “If it’s not them, then I’m not a heart expert: I don’t know human secrets.” And the unfortunate woman, not pacifying her conscience with repentance, only said: “Pray for me, Father,” and left. Walking along the street, she saw one weakened old black man, who was lying on the ground covered in wounds, neglected by everyone, and said to him: “Do you want me to take you to my house and calm you down, and you will beg God about my unworthiness?” “Yes, my lady,” answered the sufferer, “I would like you to show such mercy to me, the damned one!” Then the woman hurried home, prepared the bed, sent to buy monastic clothes and ordered the servants to take the paralytic monk from the street, take him to the bathhouse, wash him, dress him in new clothes, bring him to her house and lay him on the prepared bed. When all this was completed, she herself began to serve him, anointing his scabs and making every effort to heal him. After some time, the Great Fourth of the saving Passion of Christ came, and the woman said to the sick old man: “Father, I want to do something with you, just be silent and do not interfere with me.” “As you command, my lady, I will do so,” he answered. The time had come for the divine service: the clergyman was celebrating the liturgy in her home church and, as soon as he began to read the Gospel and said these words: “And to Jesus, who was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman come to Him, a glass of peace, having much value” (Matthew 26:6-7, etc.), the woman, taking a vessel of ointment, went up to the monk and poured some ointment on his feet and, kissing them, she wet them with tears; then she wiped them with her hair and immediately confessed all her secret and obvious sins before the servant of God... And so, when she did this, there was a terrible shaking - not in the whole city, but only in one of her houses - and after that a voice was heard: “Your sins are forgiven you!” And when this Divine voice was heard, the sick monk suddenly stood up completely healthy, not having a single scab on himself, not a single ulcer, glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ, who works terrible and great miracles. And this blessed wife, having received forgiveness of her sins from the unsearchable and ineffable mercy of God, spent the rest of her life in repentance and reposed to God, leaving an image for all who want to come to repentance 68 . Examples of true repentance Anyone who does not have contrition for sins does not fully feel like a sinner, does not fully realize that sin is the greatest evil, the greatest insult to the Lord God. I. The publican, when he fully recognized himself as a sinner and did not dare to lift his eyes to the Lord, but only beat himself in the chest and cried out from the depths of his soul: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Thus, true Christians, recognizing themselves as sinners, realizing that sin is the greatest insult to the Lord, constantly lamented their sins. II. The Monk Emilian, living in Rome, spent most of his life in sins; but one day he suddenly felt a desire to leave his sinful life. For this purpose, he retired to a monastery and labored for a long time in fasting, prayer and mortification. Not limiting himself to performing the ordinary feats of monastic life, every night he retired from the monastery to a secluded cave and there with tears he mourned the sins of his youth. The abbot of the monastery, wanting to know where the monk was going, one day followed him and then saw Emilian standing in prayer and illuminated by an extraordinary light; then he hears the voice of God: “Emilians! Your sins are forgiven!” The abbot, having arrived at the monastery, told the brethren about what he had seen and heard, and moreover said: “For our sake there was a voice from heaven, and the Lord sent His light-like mercy, so that we would know that God is truly not far from the repentant, that He is waiting for our conversion, so that we will be heirs of eternal life.” 69 III. The repentant thief. “When I arrived at a certain hostel, I saw,” says St. John Climacus, is the terrible judgment seat of the good judge and shepherd. While I was there, it happened that a robber came, expressing a desire to enter monasticism. The excellent shepherd and doctor of the monastery ordered him to remain in perfect peace for seven days and only examine the structure of the monastery. After the seventh day, the shepherd calls him and asks him privately if he wants to stay with them to live. And seeing that he agreed with all sincerity, he again asks him what bad thing he did while living in the world. The robber immediately and with all zeal confessed all his sins to him; then the shepherd, tempting him, said: “I want you to announce this before the whole brotherhood.” He, truly hating his sin and despising all shame, without a doubt promised to fulfill this: “If you want, I will do it even in the middle of Alexandria.” Then the shepherd gathered all his sheep, of which there were three hundred and thirty, into the church, and during the Divine Liturgy (for it was a Sunday), after reading the Gospel, he ordered to bring in this, already blameless, condemned man. Some of the brothers pulled him and hit him lightly; his hands were tied behind him; he was dressed in sackcloth, and his head was covered with ashes; so that at this one sight everyone was horrified and exclaimed with tears, for no one knew what it all meant. Then, when he was near the holy doors, the sacred and philanthropic judge called to him in a loud voice: “Stop, for you are not worthy to enter here!” Struck by the voice of the shepherd descending to him from the altar (for, as he later assured us with an oath, it seemed to him that he heard thunder, and not a human voice), the robber fell to the ground, trembling, and was completely shaken by fear. When he had thus thrown himself to the ground and wet the platform with his tears, then this wonderful doctor, who had arranged for his salvation by all means and had given everyone an image of salvation and real humility, ordered him to declare before everyone in detail all the iniquities he had committed. This is what he did: with trepidation he confessed all his sins, one after another; sins that can terrify anyone who hears them; not only carnal sins, but also poisoning, murder, and other atrocities that should neither be heard nor written down. Immediately after this confession, the shepherd ordered him to be tonsured and numbered among the brethren. Amazed by the wisdom of this monk, I asked him privately: why did he use such a strange way of repentance? “For two reasons,” answered this true doctor, “firstly, in order to save the one who confessed with present shame from the future; secondly, since among my brethren there are those who have sins that are not exposed by confession, I wanted by this example to encourage them to confession, without which no one can receive forgiveness” 70 . IV. Holy Martyr Evdokia. In Phenicia of Lebanon, neighboring the Jewish country, in the city of Iliopolis, at the beginning of the 2nd century lived the Samaritan woman Eudokia, who was known not only in her city, but also far around both for her beauty and for her dissipation. Through her debauchery she collected great treasures and lived, apparently, in complete contentment, adding sins to sins daily. Obviously, such a life could not lead to anything good: the great sinner perished. But then one night, while resting in her upper room, Evdokia, in the silence of the night, suddenly heard someone’s voice behind the thin wall of her bedchamber; She listened closely to what was being read, and she heard some words about sinners and righteous people, about God’s judgment over both, and so on. And this was prayed and read in the next room by a certain monk Herman, who accidentally stopped by his acquaintance for the night on the way to his monastery. Having strengthened himself somewhat with a night's sleep, Herman, according to his usual rule, got up early in the morning to pray and after prayer read some sacred book, which, among other things, spoke of God's judgment over sinful and righteous people. It was these words of the monk Herman that Evdokia heard: they sank deeply into her soul, awakened her conscience and caused spiritual anxiety in her. Evdokia cannot sleep and is impatiently waiting for the morning to ask in detail who was reading what in the next room. It's morning. Evdokia calls a stranger to her, asks who he is and what he has read, listens from Herman to a detailed Gospel story about how the Lord will judge all people, both righteous and sinners, at His Second Coming, and what fate awaits both. The image of God's judgment greatly struck the soul of the pagan sinner. She becomes thoughtful and begins to sigh and cry. Having opened her soul to the humble monk, she finally asks him for instructions on what to do. After a long conversation, on the advice of the monk, she brought the presbyter to her, with whom she also had a long conversation about the faith of Christ and salvation; on his advice and on the advice of Herman, she spent seven days in solitary reflection on her sins, in fasting and prayer, and then received baptism. Having learned from a conversation with the monk Herman the height of monastic desert life, she distributed all her treasures to the poor and wretched and went into the desert, to one of the monastic monasteries; there she achieved equal angelic perfection and was awarded the gift of miracles. 56 years after her baptism, she was awarded the crown of martyrdom. So wonderfully, so unexpectedly, the great pagan sinner Evdokia was called to salvation; so wonderfully did she begin and complete her holy and ascetic life 71 . V. Venerable Mary of Egypt as a high example of repentance. In her youth, Mary of Egypt was very beautiful. But alas! This heavenly beauty brought her in our sinful world to the brink of destruction. Having been seduced by a young man, at the age of twelve she lost a woman’s precious treasure - chastity - and fell into debauchery. The further she went, the deeper she plunged into carnal impurity. She did not miss a single opportunity to sin; she could no longer think about anything else but her favorite passion. It all turned into fire and in this fire slowly melted and collapsed. She lived like this for 17 years!.. While one day at the sea, she saw a ship sailing to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. Seeing many young people on the ship, she immediately wanted to lure them into her network. She begged to be accepted onto the ship. And, oh horror! Despite the fact that the ship was sailing to such a holy place as Jerusalem, with Calvary and the Holy Sepulcher, and for such an honorable holiday as the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, Mary performed such shameful acts on the ship with young people that one must be surprised how this sea did not part and swallow the ship... But what sin can surpass the long-suffering and love of God!.. From what sin is God not able to pluck a person, if, despite all its vileness, in the depths of his heart there still glimmers a spark of tenderness, kindness, love!.. And God plucked Mary from her sinful filth. Arriving in Jerusalem and seeing that all the people were heading towards the church, Mary also headed there. But as soon as she approached the doors of the church, some invisible force delayed her. No matter how hard she tried, she could not enter the church. It was then that Divine grace touched her soul for the first time. Ashamed and disgraced for the first time, lukewarm and then hot tears of remorse and endless sorrow streamed down her face. Stepping aside, she thought deeply. What was she thinking? She herself still didn’t know exactly what to think or what to do. But if God, by His mercy, found her worthy to once touch with His grace and help, then He will not leave her in the future. Raising her eyes, Maria involuntarily saw an icon of the Mother of God on the church wall. The holy and meek face of the Mother of God seemed to call her to Himself. Mary fell to her knees in front of the icon and with tears in her eyes exclaimed: “Mother of God! My sins are grave! I know that my place is not in the holy church, but in hell! But You, All-Good One, do not despise my first repentance and help me before God, Your Son! From now on I will live only for Him and for You!..” Tears crushed her and did not allow her to speak. But was it necessary to say more? Isn’t everything said here that could and should have been said to Mary at this time? Rising after prayer, Mary again approached the doors of the church. The previous invisible force did not hold her back. she freely entered the church and bowed to the Honorable Cross of Christ. The spirit of tenderness and gratitude again embraced her... she returns to the icon of the Mother of God, makes a vow in front of it to always belong to and serve God alone and leaves for the Jordan desert, where she spends 47 years in prayer and deeds!.. For 47 years she has not seen a single human face! For 47 years she fed only on grains of a few breads she took with her into the desert and herbs! For 47 years she lived not in a house, but in the open air, enduring the heat of the sun, summer rain and winter cold! It’s not hard to imagine what all this cost her body, accustomed to comfort and sweets. And what troubles she did not endure from her passions and from the enemy of the human race! When she ate the grains of her bread, she longed for the meat and fish she had eaten in Egypt, and the wine she had tasted before. When she began to pray, shameful songs that she had once sung came to her mind. Passions kindled her like a fire and drew her to her former sinful life. So 17 years passed. But Maria fought and stood firm. Then a quiet, sweet light illuminated her soul and a great silence settled in her in the place of the previous storm. The enemy of the human race was put to shame and no longer dared to approach her. Her whole soul and whole body were cleansed and sanctified, and therefore no bad thoughts came to her mind, no bad desires appeared in her heart. Striving further for another 30 years, Mary achieved such holiness and miraculousness that she crossed the Jordan River as if on dry land, during prayer she ascended from the ground into the air, she knew the Holy Scriptures well, although she had never studied it, she knew what was happening far from her, she could predict the future, her body looked more like spirit than flesh. When the time came for her death, Mary had a desire to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. Then God sent her a certain priest named Zosima to the desert. She begged this elder to bring her the Body and Blood of Christ. Having received the Holy Mysteries, Mary asked Zosima to come to her in a year. Arriving a year later, Zosima saw some extraordinary light illuminating a place in the desert. Approaching this place, Zosima saw the deceased Mary there. The angels carried her holy soul to heaven. Having cried enough and thanked God, who had deigned him to see a saint unknown to any person in the world and serve her, Zosima thought about how he should dig a grave for the burial of the deceased. Then two lions ran out of the desert, dug a hole with their claws and ran away into the desert again. Having again thanked God, Zosima reverently sang psalms and other sacred songs, humbly lifted the saint and lowered her into the grave... This story teaches us so much: a) No matter how deeply a person is mired in sinful impurity, he should never despair, but should always hope for conversion and a better life. b) If a person tries with all his might and firmly believes in God’s help, then he can not only leave the path of sin, but even achieve a high degree of holiness. c) Although the converted sinner has to endure many temptations and temptations, he has to endure a lot of struggle with his lusts and passions, but if he overcomes them victoriously, then perfect peace will fill his soul and heavenly light will illuminate his inner being. d) The further, the easier and sweeter the holy life will be for him, until finally he moves on to the afterlife, where there is no sadness or sighing, but endless life 72 . There is no repentance after death (From the works of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) “You see that there is an appointed time for everything, as Ecclesiastes says: “There is a time for everything, and a time for every thing under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1). Birds in their time build nests and give birth to children; cattle and beasts come together in due time and give birth; fish also in due time; Trees and grass in due time put on leaves, blossom and fruits vegetate; Farmers plow, sow and harvest fruits in their own time: our Creator God has determined a time for every thing. By this we learn that God has determined the time for us to seek eternal salvation. This time is the present time, until now it is called, until we are in this world, until we live and we are travelers. This time has been appointed for us to seek salvation, which Christ, the Son of God, deserved with His Blood. Whence this time is compared in Scripture to the time of sowing: “As a man sows, the same will he also reap. For whoever sows to his flesh, from the flesh will reap corruption; but whoever sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit will he reap eternal life” (Gal.6:7-8)... There will be a time when no one will receive it, although he will seek with tears and sighing. Just as foolish farmers, having missed the right time, although they sow, they destroy the seed, as if they were not sowing at the time when they should sow, so foolish sinners will once seek salvation, but will not receive it, as then it will be a time of judgment, not repentance. Now is the time to sow, seek, ask, push at the doors of God’s mercy, when God promised to hear and help: and he listens and helps. “In time I listened favorably to you and helped you on the day of salvation. Now is the time acceptable, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Now “everyone who asks receives, and whoever seeks finds, and it will be opened to the one who asks,” says Christ (Matthew 7:8). Then it won't happen. “At the point of death, I can repent,” another replies. With such repentance you can go to hell. O man, do you then want to repent when the time for repentance ceases and the time of judgment and torture comes? Then do you want to turn to God when God calls you to answer? Then do you want to search when time is already running out? It is indisputable that even at death one must repent, especially pray, and call on God with zeal, as then the greatest feat of a great soul occurs; but to put off repentance until death is delusion of the mind, negligence about salvation and the intrigue of the devil, who puts such a thought in a person’s heart and teaches him to break the law of God with fearlessness, to anger God and to put off repentance day by day in order to flatteringly destroy a person. For this reason, when you want to die blissfully, now be as you wish to be at death. Talk about worldly things, honor, glory, wealth and luxury now as the dying talk, who then leave everything. Beware of sin, and regret what you have done now, just as you were careful and sorry then. If you then want to receive remission of sins from God in the name of Christ, now strive for it. If you want to receive mercy from God then, seek it now. But whoever wants to receive mercy from the merciful God stops angering God and regrets his former fearlessness. The one who stops sinning and produces the fruits of repentance ceases to anger Him. Consider this, sinful soul, and listen to what the Forerunner said: “The ax is already lying at the root of the tree: every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). Do you see where sinners who do not produce the fruits of repentance are determined: they are cut down like barren trees with the ax of God’s judgment and thrown into eternal fire like firewood” 73 . Eight major passions with their divisions and industries Overeating, drunkenness, non-keeping and allowing fasts, secret eating, delicacy, and generally violation of abstinence. Incorrect and excessive love of the flesh, its belly and rest, which constitutes self-love, which leads to failure to maintain fidelity to God, the Church, virtue and people. Prodigal kindling, prodigal sensations and attitudes of the soul and heart. Acceptance of unclean thoughts, conversation with them, delight in them, permission for them, slowness in them. Prodigal dreams and captivities. Failure to preserve the senses, especially the sense of touch, is the insolence that destroys all virtues. Foul language and reading voluptuous books. Natural prodigal sins: fornication and adultery. Prodigal sins are unnatural. The love of money, in general the love of property, movable and immovable. The desire to get rich. Thinking about the means to get rich. Dreaming of wealth. Fears of old age, unexpected poverty, illness, exile. Stinginess. Selfishness. Disbelief in God, lack of trust in His Providence. Addiction or painful excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain concerns. Loving gifts. Appropriation of someone else's. Likhva. Cruelty towards the poor brethren and all those in need. Theft. Robbery. Hot temper, acceptance of angry thoughts: dreams of anger and revenge, indignation of the heart with rage, darkening of the mind with it: obscene shouting, argument, swearing, cruel and caustic words, stress, pushing, murder. Malice, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and insult to one’s neighbor. Sadness, melancholy, cutting off hope in God, doubt in God’s promises, ingratitude to God for everything that happens, cowardice, impatience, lack of self-reproach, grief towards one’s neighbor, grumbling, renunciation of the cross, attempt to descend from it. Laziness towards any good deed, especially prayer. Abandonment of church and cell rules. Abandoning unceasing prayer and soul-helping reading. Inattention and haste in prayer. Neglect. Irreverence. Idleness. Excessive calming by sleeping, lying down and all kinds of restlessness. Moving from place to place. Frequent unnecessarily going out, idle walks and visiting friends. Celebration. Jokes. Blasphemy. Abandonment of bows and other physical feats. Forgetting your sins. Forgetting the commandments of Christ. Negligence. Captivity. Deprivation of the fear of God. Bitterness. Insensibility. Despair. The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly and vain honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and cell things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of your body. A disposition towards the dying sciences and arts of this age, a desire to succeed in them in order to acquire temporary, earthly glory. Shame to confess your sins. Hiding them before people and the spiritual father. Craftiness. Self-justification. Disclaimer. Making up your mind. Hypocrisy. Lie. Flattery. People-pleasing. Envy. Humiliation of one's neighbor. Changeability of character. Indulgence. Unconscionability. The character and life are demonic. Contempt for one's neighbor. Preferring yourself to everyone. Insolence. Darkness, dullness of the mind and heart. Nailing them to the earthly. Hula. Disbelief. False mind. Disobedience to the law of God and the Church. Following your carnal will. Reading books that are heretical, depraved and vain. Disobedience to authorities. Caustic ridicule. Abandonment of Christ-like humility and silence. Loss of simplicity. Loss of love for God and neighbor. False philosophy. Heresy. Godlessness. Ignorance. Death of the soul. On the virtues opposite to the eight main sinful passions Avoidance of excessive consumption of food and nutrition, especially excessive consumption of wine. Precise keeping of fasts established by the Church. Curbing the flesh with moderate and constantly equal consumption of food, which is why all passions in general begin to weaken, and especially self-love, which consists of a wordless love of the flesh, life and peace. Avoidance of all kinds of fornication. Avoidance of voluptuous conversations and reading, from the pronunciation of voluptuous, nasty and ambiguous words. Storing the senses, especially sight and hearing, and even more so the sense of touch. Modesty. Rejection of the thoughts and dreams of prodigals. Silence. Silence. Ministry to the sick and disabled. Memories of death and hell. The beginning of chastity is a mind that does not waver from lustful thoughts and dreams; the perfection of chastity is purity that sees God. Satisfying yourself with one thing necessary. Hatred of luxury and bliss. Mercy for the poor. Loving the poverty of the gospel. Trust in God's Providence. Following Christ's commandments. Calmness and freedom of spirit and carelessness. Softness of heart. Avoidance of angry thoughts and indignation of the heart with rage. Patience. Following Christ, who calls His disciple to the cross. Peace of the heart. Silence of the mind. Christian firmness and courage. Not feeling insulted. Kindness. A feeling of decline, common to all people, and of one’s own spiritual poverty. Lamentation about them. Cry of the mind. Painful contrition of the heart. The lightness of conscience, grace-filled consolation and joy that vegetates from them. Hope in God's mercy. Thank God in sorrows, humbly enduring them from the sight of the multitude of one’s sins. Willingness to endure. Cleansing the mind. Relief from passions. Mortification of the world. The desire for prayer, solitude, obedience, humility, confession of one’s sins. Zeal for every good deed. Non-slothful correction of church and cell rules. Attention when praying. Careful observation of all your deeds, words, thoughts and feelings. Extreme self-distrust. Continuous stay in prayer and the word of God. Awe. Constant vigilance over oneself. Keeping yourself from a lot of sleep and effeminacy, idle talk, jokes and sharp words. Love of night vigils, bows and other feats that bring cheerfulness to the soul. Rare, if possible, departure from cells (for monastics). Remembrance of eternal blessings, desire and expectation of them. Fear of God. Feeling it during prayer. Fear that is born during especially pure prayer, when the presence and greatness of God is especially strongly felt, so as not to disappear and turn into nothing. Deep knowledge of one's insignificance. A change in the view of one’s neighbors, and without any coercion they seem to the humbled person to be superior to him in all respects. The manifestation of simplicity from living faith. Hatred of human praise. Constant blaming and beating yourself up. Rightness and directness. Impartiality. Deadness to everything. Tenderness. Knowledge of the mystery hidden in the Cross of Christ. The desire to crucify oneself to the world and passions, the desire for this crucifixion. Rejection and oblivion of flattering customs and words, modest due to compulsion, or intent, or the skill of pretending. The perception of the violence of the gospel, the rejection of earthly wisdom as obscene before God (Luke 16:15). Leaving word justification. Silence before those who offend, studied in the Gospel. Putting aside all your own speculations and accepting the mind of the Gospel. The casting down of every thought placed upon the mind of Christ. Humility or spiritual reasoning. Conscious obedience to the Church in everything. Changing during prayer the fear of God into the love of God. Loyalty to the Lord, proven by the constant rejection of every sinful thought and feeling. The indescribable, sweet attraction of the whole person with love for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the worshiped Holy Trinity. Seeing the image of God and Christ in others; resulting from this spiritual vision, the preference for oneself over all neighbors, their reverent veneration for the Lord. Love for neighbors is brotherly, pure, equal to everyone, joyful, impartial, flaming equally towards friends and enemies. Admiration for prayer and love of the mind, heart and whole body. Indescribable pleasure of the body with spiritual joy. Spiritual intoxication. Relaxation of bodily members with spiritual consolation 74 . Inactivity of the bodily senses during prayer. Resolution from the muteness of the heart's tongue. Stopping prayer from spiritual sweetness. Silence of the mind. Enlightening the mind and heart. Prayer power that overcomes sin. Peace of Christ. Retreat of all passions. The absorption of all understandings into the superior mind of Christ. Theology. Knowledge of incorporeal beings. The weakness of sinful thoughts that cannot be imagined in the mind. Sweetness and abundant consolation in times of sorrow. Vision of human structures. The depth of humility and the most humiliating opinion of oneself... Sins against the Lord God Belief in dreams, fortune telling, meetings and other signs. Doubts about faith. Laziness towards prayer and absent-mindedness during it. Not going to Church, a long absence of confession and Holy Communion. Hypocrisy in Divine Worship. Blasphemy or just murmuring against God in the soul and in words. The intention to raise your hands. In vain. An unfulfilled promise to God. Blasphemy of the sacred. Anger with mention of evil spirits (trait). Food or drink on Sundays and holidays until the end of the Liturgy. Violation of fasts or inaccurate observance of them is a work issue on holidays. Lack of diligence in one's position or one's work in the dormitory. Disrespect for superiors or elders. Failure to fulfill a promise to a person. Non-payment of debts. Taking by force or secret appropriation of someone else's property. Stinginess in alms. Personal insult to one's neighbor. Gossip. Slander. Cursing others. Unnecessary suspicions. Failure to protect an innocent person or do the right thing with a loss for them. Murder. Disrespect for parents. Failure to look after children with Christian care. Anger is hostility in family or home life. Idle or bad thoughts in the soul. Desires evil for one's neighbor. Falsity of words, speech. Irritability. Obstinacy or pride. Envy. Hard-heartedness. Sensitivity to upsets or insults. Vengeance. Love of money. Passion for pleasure. Foul language. The songs are seductive. Drunkenness and heavy eating. Fornication. Adultery. Unnatural fornication. Not fixing your life. Of all these sins against the Ten Commandments of God, some, reaching the highest stage of development in a person, passing into vicious states and hardening his heart with unrepentance, are recognized as especially serious and contrary to God. Mortal sins, that is, those that make a person guilty of eternal death or destruction 1. Pride that despises everyone, demands servility from others, is ready to ascend to heaven and become like the Most High, in a word - pride to the point of self-adoration. 2. An insatiable soul, or Judas’s greed for money, mostly combined with unrighteous acquisitions, not allowing a person even a minute to think about spiritual things. 3. Fornication, or the dissolute life of the prodigal son, who squandered all his father’s estate on such a life. 4. Envy, leading to every possible crime against one's neighbor. 5. Gluttony or carnal knowledge, not knowing any fasting, combined with a passionate attachment to various amusements, following the example of the evangelical rich man, who had fun all day long. 6. The anger is unapologetic and determined to cause terrible destruction, following the example of Herod, who in his anger beat the infants of Bethlehem. 7. Laziness, or complete carelessness about the soul, carelessness about repentance until the last days of life, as in the days of Noah. Sins of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit Excessive trust in God or continuation of a gravely sinful life in the sole hope of God’s mercy. Despair or the feeling opposite to excessive trust in God in relation to God’s mercy, which denies the fatherly goodness in God and leads to thoughts of suicide. Stubborn unbelief, not convinced by any evidence of truth, even obvious miracles, rejecting the truth itself. Sins crying out to heaven for vengeance In general, intentional homicide (abortion), and especially parricide (fratricide and regicide). Sin of Sodom. Unnecessary oppression of a poor, defenseless person, a defenseless widow and young orphans. Withholding from a wretched worker the wages he deserves. Taking away from a person in his extreme situation the last piece of bread or the last mite, which he obtained with sweat and blood, as well as the violent or secret appropriation of alms, food, warmth or clothing from prisoners in prison, which are determined by him, and generally oppressing them. Sadness and insults to parents to the point of daring beatings. I confess that I am a great sinner (name) to the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ and to you, honorable father, all my sins and all my evil deeds, which I have done in all the days of my life, which I have thought even to this day. I sinned: I did not keep the vows of Holy Baptism, I did not keep my monastic promise, but I lied about everything and created indecent things for myself in the face of God. I sinned: before the Lord by lack of faith and sluggishness in thoughts, all from the enemy against the faith and the Holy Church; ingratitude for all His great and unceasing benefits, calling on the name of God without need - in vain. I sinned: by lack of love for the Lord, below fear, by failure to fulfill His will and holy commandments, by carelessly depicting the sign of the cross, by irreverent veneration of holy icons; did not wear a cross, was ashamed to baptize and confess the Lord. He sinned: he did not preserve love for his neighbor, did not feed the hungry and thirsty, did not clothe the naked, did not visit the sick and prisoners in prison; I did not study the law of God and the traditions of the holy fathers out of laziness and negligence. I sinned: by not fulfilling church and cell rules, by going to the church of God without diligence, with laziness and negligence; leaving morning, evening and other prayers; During the church service, I sinned by idle talk, laughter, dozing, inattention to reading and singing, absent-mindedness, leaving the church during the service and not going to the church of God due to laziness and negligence. I sinned: by daring to go to the church of God in uncleanness and touch every holy thing. Sinned: by not honoring the feasts of God; violation of holy fasts and failure to observe fast days - Wednesday and Friday; intemperance in food and drink, polyeating, secret eating, disordered eating, drunkenness, dissatisfaction with food and drink, clothing, parasitism; one’s will and mind through fulfillment, self-righteousness, self-indulgence and self-justification; not properly honoring parents, not raising children in the Orthodox faith, cursing their children and their neighbors. I sinned: by unbelief, superstition, doubt, despair, despondency, blasphemy, false worship, dancing, smoking, playing cards, fortune telling, witchcraft, sorcery, gossip, remembering the living for their repose, eating the blood of animals. I sinned: with pride, conceit, arrogance, self-love, ambition, envy, conceit, suspicion, irritability. I sinned: by condemning all people - living and dead, by slander and anger, by malicious malice, by hatred, by retribution of evil for evil, by slander, by reproach, by deceit, laziness, by deception, by hypocrisy, by gossip, by disputes, by stubbornness, by unwillingness to give in and to serve one's neighbor; gloating, malice, malice, insult, ridicule, reproach and man-pleasing. Sinned: incontinence of mental and physical feelings; spiritual and physical impurity, pleasure and procrastination in unclean thoughts, addiction, voluptuousness, immodest views of wives and young men; in a dream, prodigal desecration at night, intemperance in married life. I sinned: by impatience with illnesses and sorrows, by loving the comforts of this life, by captivity of the mind and hardening of the heart, by not forcing myself to do any good deed. I sinned: by inattention to the promptings of my conscience, negligence, laziness in reading the word of God and negligence in acquiring the Jesus Prayer. I sinned through covetousness, love of money, unrighteous acquisition, embezzlement, theft, stinginess, attachment to various kinds of things and people. I sinned: by condemning and disobeying my spiritual fathers, by murmuring and resenting them and by not confessing my sins to them through oblivion, negligence and false shame. Sinned: by unmercifulness, contempt and condemnation of the poor; going to the church of God without fear and reverence, deviating into heresy and sectarian teaching. I sinned: laziness, relaxation, laziness, love of bodily rest, excessive sleeping, voluptuous dreams, biased views, shameless body movements, touching, fornication, adultery, corruption, fornication, unmarried marriages. Those who performed abortions on themselves or others, or incited someone to this great sin - infanticide, sinned gravely. He spent his time in empty and idle pursuits, in empty conversations, jokes, laughter and other shameful sins. I sinned: despondency, cowardice, impatience, murmuring, despair of salvation, lack of hope in God’s mercy, insensibility, ignorance, arrogance, shamelessness. I sinned: by slandering my neighbor, anger, insult, irritation and ridicule, intransigence, enmity and hatred, dissent, spying on other people's sins and eavesdropping on other people's conversations. I sinned: by coldness and insensitivity in confession, by belittling sins, by blaming others rather than by condemning myself. Sinned: against the Life-giving and Holy Mysteries of Christ, approaching them without proper preparation, without contrition and fear of God. I sinned: in word, in thought and with all my senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch - voluntarily or involuntarily, knowledge or ignorance, in reason and unreason, and it is not possible to list all my sins according to their multitude. But in all of these, as well as in those unspeakable through oblivion, I repent and regret, and henceforth, with the help of God, I promise to take care. You, honest father, forgive me and release me from all of this and pray for me, a sinner, and on that day of judgment testify before God about the sins I have confessed. Amen. Sins confessed and resolved earlier should not be repeated in confession, for they, as the Holy Church teaches, have already been forgiven, but if we repeated them again, then we need to repent of them again. We must repent of those sins that were forgotten, but are now remembered. Consciousness of one's sins. Condemning yourself in them. Self-accusation before the confessor. Repentance is not only in word, but also in deed. Repentance is correction - new life. Contrition and tears. Belief in the forgiveness of sins. Hate past sins. The fight against sin attracts the grace of God. Sins shorten our lives... May God rise again, and may His enemies be scattered, and may those who hate Him flee from His presence. As smoke disappears, let them disappear; just as wax melts in the face of fire, so let demons perish from the presence of those who love God and signify themselves with the sign of the cross, and who say in joy: Rejoice, Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, drive away demons by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who descended upon you into hell and trampled upon the power of the devil, and who gave us His Honorable Cross for driving away. any adversary. O Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord! Help me with the Holy Virgin Mary and with all the saints forever. Amen. Canon of Penitence to the Most Holy Theotokos Irmos: As Israel walked across the abyss on dry ground, seeing the persecutor Pharaoh drowned, we sing a victorious song to God crying out. Chorus: Most Holy Theotokos, save us. I weep for all my vile life and many immeasurable evils: what shall we confess to Thee, Pure One? I am perplexed and horrified: but help me, Lady. Where will I begin to say, my wicked and fierce fall, passionate az? Woe to me, what will happen to me? But, Lady, before the end, spare me. Glory: The hour of death, and the terrible judgment, I always think about, Most Pure One, but I am seduced by the all-evil custom: but help me. And now: The good decayer, looking at me now naked of the Divine virtues and having retreated far and alienated from God, rushes to devour me: Lady, advance. Irmos: There is no Holy One like You, O Lord my God, who lifted up the horn of Your faithful, O Good One, and established us on the rock of Your confession. My soul is sickened by the immeasurable evils of my passionate soul, to the Lady of the Mother of God: and what else will I go, completely overcome by despair? And he was cast in the image of the prodigal, alas for me, Pure, with a sublime will: in his likeness, in deed, and in word, and in thought, he did without place. Glory: There is no other man who has committed unspeakable deeds, nor was he born in the world, but I, the Good One, have been darkened in mind: for Divine Baptism has been desecrated. And now: The evil ones have reached the end, Most Holy Virgin, You will help me soon: heaven and earth cry out to the mountain, because of the placeless and incomparable deeds. Irmos: Christ is my strength, God and Lord, the honest Church sings gloriously, crying out, pure in meaning, celebrating in the Lord. The whole earth was amazed and horrified, seeing the cruel and evil things that were done by me, and the placeless: and Your Son seemed to see much mercy. Glory: The Church has desecrated the body with evil, and the Church of the Lord, into which men tremblingly enter: but I, the prodigal, enter without hesitation, woe is me! And now: Do not show me, O Lady, do not show me strange, having shunned the blood of Your Son, everything unworthy: but wash me from the filth of my sins. Irmos: By Thy God's light, O Blessed One, who dawn upon Thy souls with love, I pray: Lead Thee, O Word of God, the true God, from the darkness of sin. By Your divine radiance, O Good One, heal the passions of my soul, which are the corrupters of all things, and deliver me from this bitter captivity: he laughs, for it was in vain that I did not intercede. Adam, therefore, transgressed the one commandment of Thy Son, O Virgin, and fell into exile: how can I weep for my sins into the abyss, since I am a criminal and an apostate of Him? Glory: Cain, the murderer who appeared in ancient times and the fratricide, was cursed by God: what will I do, the all-bold one, who has killed a soul now, and am not ashamed? And now: I am fiercely jealous of Esau, full of gluttony and fullness. I have desecrated my soul with drunkenness and my kindness of life, and who does not cry passionately for me? Alas for me! Irmos: The sea of ​​life, raised in vain by misfortunes and storms, flowed to Your quiet refuge, crying out to You: lift up my belly from aphids, O Most Merciful One. My life is prodigal, my soul is filthy, and my whole stomach is cursed, but my body is all in evil, fierce stains. Try the same, Devo, to help us. The end is before me, and I cannot endure it, O Good Conscience, my conscience convicts me: for I have before me evil deeds and prodigal lives: and I am terrified at the judgment of Your Son, O Pure One. Glory: My flesh is kindled, a terrible and unquenchable river of fire awaits truly, and a never-ending worm: but quench this with Your prayers, O Most Pure One. And now: Now I am overcome with trembling, O Good One, and I am horrified by the crafty trapping. Before the end, the corrupter wants to kill me, holding me captive of everything and naked of virtues. Also: Lord have mercy (three times). Glory, and now: Hope and wall and refuge for Thy people, O Virgin, who was born without passion, the Savior of all, and the salvation of those who trust in Thee: just as Thy Son wept at the Cross, even now pray to Him to be delivered from aphids by all who sing Thee. Irmos: The angel made the venerable cave a venerable youth, and the Chaldeans were exhorted by the scorching command of God to the tormentor to cry out: Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers. For seven weeks the flame has been kindled by my evil passions, and my heart has always been mortified by fornication: with the same currents of my tears, quench it, Mother of God, and save me. Scorched by the mud of my sins, do not reject me, Good Lady: for in vain, in despair, the evil enemy laughs at me: but raise me up with Your sovereign hand. Glory: A terrible judgment, passionate and insensible to my soul, and endless and terrible torment: but now, fall to the Mother of Your Judge and God, and do not despair yourself. And now: Having been darkened by passion with a multitude of immeasurable evils, and desecrated the soul and body and mind: also, Most Pure One, with the light of Your radiances, quickly lead me to dispassionate sweetness. Irmos: From the flames of the saints you poured out dew, and you burned the righteous sacrifice with water: for you did everything, O Christ, only as you willed, We extol You to all ages. Even from the Trinity, the One God who gave birth and carried in her hand, the Virgin Mother, quench the fiery furnace of passions and wash my soul with tearful currents. I am horrified at the coming of a mortal, O Most Pure One, and now I am all afraid of his judgment, but I am in no way ashamed of an evil deed: reward me before the end with Your prayers, O Virgin. Glory: Unsilent groaning, Lady, grant me, and give me clouds of tears, so that I may wash away my many sins and incurable ulcers: so that I may gain eternal life. And now: I confess my many evils to You, Lady, as not one in the world has angered God, Your Son and Lord: I will soon change this to mercy, O Virgin. Irmos: It is impossible for a man to see God, the angels do not dare to look at the Worthless One: By You, O All-Pure One, having appeared as a man, the Word incarnate, which is magnified, with the Heavenly howls we please You. Behold, I come to You, Most Pure One, with much fear and love, knowing the strength of many Thy prayers, Thy servant: for many things can truly, O Lady, the Mother’s prayer to the Son: for she bows down with mercy. Receive the faces of the archangel and the multitude of the highest armies of my Creator: the apostle and the prophet of the councils, and the martyrs, and the saints, and the holy martyrs: and make a prayer, O Pure One, for us to God. Glory: And now and then may I find Your help, Pure One, in the hour in which my spirit departs, soon taking it away, deliver me from demonic torment, Most Immaculate One, and do not leave me, O Good One, to be betrayed to be them. And now: Judge of the Generous Tea, and of Thy Humanity-loving Son, O Pure One, do not despise me: but do Him well for me, place Him at my right hand then, O All-Immaculate One, His Most Pure Judge, for I have trusted in Thee. My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, with Your saints and all-powerful prayers, take away from me, Your humble and accursed servant, despondency, oblivion, foolishness, negligence, and all the nasty, evil and blasphemous thoughts from my accursed heart and from my darkened mind; and extinguish the flame of my passions, for I am poor and damned. And deliver me from many and cruel memories and enterprises, and free me from all evil actions. For Thou art blessed from all generations, and glorified is Thy most honorable name forever and ever. Amen. List of used literature 1. Lessons and examples of the Christian faith. The experience of a catechetical reader. (Compiled by Archpriest G. Dyachenko. St. Petersburg: Type. M. P. Frolova, 1902). 2. Basil the Great, St. Creations. At 5 o'clock. M.: Pilgrim, 1993. 3. John Chrysostom, St. Complete collection of creations. In 12 volumes, 13 books. Holy Dormition Pochaev Lavra, 2009. 4. Tikhon of Zadonsk, St. Collection of op. In 5 volumes M.: Sisterhood in the name of St. Ignatius of Stavropol, 2008. 5. Ephraim the Syrian, St. Creations. In 8 volumes. M.: Publishing house. department of the Moscow Patriarchate: Father's House; Sergiev Posad: Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 1993–1995. 6. John, abbot of Mount Sinai, St. Ladder. M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2007. 7. Isaac the Syrian, St. Ascetic words. M.: Rules of Faith, 1998. 8. Augustine Aurelius, bl. Creations. In 3 volumes. St. Petersburg: Aletheia; Kiev: UCIMM-press, 1998. 9. Writings of ancient Christian apologists. [Comp., total. ed., trans. from ancient Greek, introduction, commentary, bibliogr. and decree A. G. Dunaeva.] St. Petersburg: Blagovest: Aletheya, 1999. 10. Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Creations. M.: Orthodox Pilgrim, 1996. 11. Augustine Aurelius, bl. Confession. M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2006. 12. Philaret of Moscow, St. Words and speeches. In 5 volumes. M.: Novospassky Monastery, 2003–2007. 13. Macarius of Moscow, Metropolitan. Orthodox dogmatic theology. In 2 vols. Tutaev: Orthodox Brotherhood of St. Princes Boris and Gleb, 1999. 14. Sylvester (Malevansky), archimandrite. Experience of Orthodox dogmatic theology. St. Petersburg: Society in Memory of Abbess Taisia, 2008. 15. Filaret of Chernigov, archbishop. Holy ascetics of the Eastern Church. St. Petersburg, 1871. 16. Tsarevsky A. S. Lessons on the Law of God. Kyiv: Type. P. G. Danilova, 1886. 17. Demetrius of Rostov, St. Irrigated fleece: Conversations and teachings. St. Petersburg: Mir: Shpil, 2003. 18. Prayer book for confession and communion. Assumption-Kazan Monastery, 2009. (Creations of the Holy Fathers; VIII, 151, 156) (Creations of St. Basil the Great: Russian translation, Part 1, p. 30) (Creations of St. Gregory the Theologian: Russian translation, Part 3, p. 320) (Creations of Blessed Theodoret: Russian translation, Part 1, p. 39) (Priest V. Veltistov. Sin, its origin, essence and consequences. M., 1885. P. 183–190) (Words and Speeches, 1848. II, 290; Cat. XXIV) (Words and speeches, 1848. I, 315; 1882. IV, 586) (Words and speeches, 1861. T. III, p. 253) (Theophil. ad Autol. II, 25) (Adv. haeres. III, 35; V, 23) (Conversations about the fact that God is not the culprit of evil, in the Works of the Holy Fathers. T. VIII, p. 155; A Word about Ascetics, ibid. T. IX, p. 68) (In Genes, homil. XVII, paragraph 9; sn. homil. XVI, paragraph 6) (In Genes, homil. XVII, paragraph 2) (Conversations on the fact that God is not the author of evil, in the Works of the Holy Fathers, VII, 155) (Contr. Apollin. lib. II, paragraph 6) (A Word about Ascetics in the Works of the Holy Fathers. Vol. IX, p. 68) (In Paralipom., quaest. I) (Orthodox Confession. Part I, answer to question 22) (Exposit. in Psalm. III, Opp. Vol. V, pp. 3–4, ed. Montfauc) (In Genes, homil. XVII, paragraph 9). (Dogmatic theology of Metropolitan Macarius. T. II, pp. 184–190) (Orthodox confession, answer to question 20. Part III) (Message of the Eastern Patriarchs, part 14) (Augustine, Lib. I, de baptiz. parvul., cap. 10) (from the works of St. John Chrysostom) (Sunday Day, 1893, No. 8, pp. 116–118) (See the book “Lessons of a life of grace” according to the guidance of Father John Sergiev (Kronstadt), pp. 51–57) (Active Theology, Chapter XCIV) (Second word for those preparing for baptism) (Conversation about the cross and the thief) (on John conversation 34, p. 399) (“De lapsis”, paragraph 15; sn. “The Experience of Orthodox Dogmatic Theology” by Bishop Sylvester. T. V, pp. 20–25) (Creations of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) (Orthodox Confession. Part 1. Answer to questions 111 and 113; Long Catechism on Repentance) (“De lapsis” cap. XXXV, in Patrolog curs. compi. V. IV, p. 492) (Conversations on repentance. St. Petersburg, 1850. T. III, paragraph 13 (in the volume of conversations to the Antioch people). pp. 320–321) (Moral rules, 1, chapter III; ibid., VII, 360) (Interpretation on 15 Isa. 15, ibid., 6, 422) (Kelein. writing. T. XV, 13, p. 24) (Interpretation on Is. 1:14. Works of the Holy Fathers, IV, 58, 59) (Moral rules, 1, chapter IV, ibid., VII, 361) (Adv. haer. 1, 6, paragraph 3, 13, paragraph 5, 7) (Homil. in eos. qui alios acerbius judicant, in Opp. V. II, p. 137 Morel) (See also Ancyra rules 2, 5, 7; Neocaesarian rule 3; Basil the Great, rule 84) (On Matthew, discourse XI, p. 166) (Filaret, Archbishop of Chernigov. Holy ascetics of the Eastern Church. St. Petersburg, 1871. P. 305–306) (Irrigated fleece, Trinity leaf) (Life of St. Emilian, March 7) (St. John Climacus. Ladder, 4. On obedience, 11, 12. pp. 32–34) (St. Tikhon of Voronezh. Sunday Readings, 1870–1871. Book I, pp. 529–532) (St. Isaac of Syria. Sermon 44) You might be interested in: