Anyone who has never repented or repented uncleanly must make a general confession - remember and write down all the sins committed since childhood. Others write down only those sins that they did not repent of before, but if these sins were repeated, they need to be repented of again. Then we need to make peace with our neighbors: both with those whom we have offended and with those who have offended us. Ask them for forgiveness.
When we come to confession, we must not justify ourselves, but expose, recognize our sins, condemn them, reveal them to our confessor and believe that the Lord has forgiven them in the Sacrament of Repentance. The priest, seeing sincere repentance, places the end of the stole on the bowed head of the penitent and reads a prayer of permission. Having kissed the cross and the Gospel, the confessor departs with a calmed conscience and prays to the Lord to honor him with communion of the Holy Mysteries.
No person can justify himself before God: we can only repent and confess our sins. But sins must be confessed firmly, without hiding anything. If a person deliberately keeps silent about any of his sins during confession, then he makes his spiritual state even more painful and hopeless. If we do not find the strength within ourselves to repent of all our sins, then we need to try, through prayer from a contrite and humble heart, to ask God for gracious help in our spiritual impotence. “Listen,” the priest addresses the penitents before the Sacrament of Confession, “for you have come to the hospital (where you can receive healing from your suffering), and do not leave unhealed.”
To help those preparing for confession
Sins against the Lord God:
- were proud;
- did not fulfill the holy will of God, violated the commandments and vows given to God;
— sinned through unbelief and lack of faith, doubt;
- they had no hope for God’s mercy, they despaired;
— continuing to sin, they overly hoped for the mercy of the Lord;
— they resisted the will of God, insisted on their own;
— hypocritically worshiped God;
- did not have the love and fear of God;
- they did not thank the Lord for all His blessings, for sorrows, illnesses;
— turned to psychics, astrologers, fortune tellers, sorcerers; practiced black and white magic, witchcraft, fortune telling, spiritualism;
— they sinned with superstition: they believed in dreams, omens, and wore talismans;
- they blasphemed and grumbled against the Lord in their souls and in words;
- did not fulfill the vows given to God;
- called on the name of God in vain (unnecessarily), swore by the name of the Lord;
- treated icons, relics, candles, saints, Holy Scripture, etc. blasphemously, without due reverence;
- read heretical books and kept them at home, watched heretical TV shows;
— were ashamed to be baptized and profess the Orthodox faith;
- did not wear a cross;
— carelessly crossed themselves;
- did not fulfill or poorly fulfilled the prayer rule: morning and evening prayers, other prayers, bows, etc., did not read the Holy Scriptures, spiritual literature;
- missed Saturday, Sunday and holiday services without good reason;
- went to church without diligence and diligence;
- were lazy to pray, prayed absent-mindedly and coldly;
- talked, dozed, laughed, walked around the church during church services; they listened inattentively and absent-mindedly to readings and chants, were late for services and left the church before dismissal;
- rarely confessed sins, deliberately concealed them; sinned by self-justification;
- received communion without contrition and fear of God, without proper preparation, without reconciliation with neighbors, after fornication;
— they did not obey their spiritual father, they condemned the clergy and monastics, they grumbled and took offense at them, they were jealous;
- they did not honor God’s holidays, they worked on holidays;
- broke fasts, did not observe fast days Wednesday and Friday;
— listened to Western preachers, sectarians, became interested in Eastern religions;
— thought about suicide and tried to commit suicide.
Sins against one's neighbor:
- they did not know how to forgive, to endure, they repaid evil for evil, they were angry, they did not want to give in;
— disrespectful to elders and superiors (in charge), to parents; upset and offended parents;
- did not fulfill what was promised;
- did not pay debts;
— openly or secretly appropriated someone else’s property;
- robbed, extorted, poisoned, set fire to;
- they refused to stand up for the weak and innocent, to help those who were drowning, freezing, burning, or in trouble;
— sinned with infidelity, deceit, double-mindedness, flattery;
- were lazy to work and help others;
- did not respect other people's work;
— they sinned with wastefulness, throwing away food and clothes;
— they sinned through unmercifulness: they despised and condemned the poor;
- they sinned through stinginess and did not give alms;
- did not visit patients in hospitals or at home;
- sinned by hardness of heart;
— were cruel to homeless and sick animals, needlessly killing livestock, birds, insects, and destroying trees;
- they argued, did not give in to their neighbors, argued;
- slandered, condemned, slandered, gossiped, retold the sins of others;
- they offended, insulted, were at enmity with their neighbors;
- they made trouble, threw tantrums;
- cursed;
- they behaved impudently, brazenly and freely towards their neighbors;
— they were hypocrites, they said barbs;
— were angry, suspected their neighbors of unseemly acts;
- they deceived, bore false witness, behaved seductively, wanting to seduce;
- were jealous;
- idle talk; told indecent jokes;
- did not pray for mentors, relatives, enemies;
— they sinned through selfish friendship and betrayal.
Sins against yourself:
— they sinned by forgetting Eternal Life, not remembering their death and the Last Judgment, and unreasonable attachment to earthly life and its pleasures;
- were proud, vain, considered themselves better than everyone else;
- they sinned with pride, ambition;
- wished harm to your neighbor, took revenge;
— sinned by lack of humility and obedience, arrogance;
- lied;
- were jealous;
— idle talk, foul language;
- were irritated, indignant, remembered evil; insisted on their own, were offended, upset;
— despondent, sad, sad;
- did good deeds for show;
- stingy;
- were lazy;
- spent time in idleness, slept and ate a lot (gluttony, secret eating, delicacy);
- strived for earthly honors and glory;
— sinned by fornication (lived outside of a church marriage), sinned by adultery (cheating in marriage), unnatural types of fornication (sodomy, etc.);
- allowed liberties to the crown and perversions in marriage;
— sinned by fornication (they desecrated themselves with prodigal touches);
- smoked, used drugs, alcohol (got drunk);
- played cards, gambling, decorated themselves to seduce, engaged in pimping, prostitution, sang obscene songs, told jokes, used foul language, laughed, danced, watched pornographic films, read pornographic books, magazines, entertained lewd thoughts, became defiled in their sleep;
- they forgot about Christian humility, virtues, death and hell, lived carelessly and carelessly, did not correct themselves;
- loved earthly, material things more than heavenly, spiritual things;
- addicted to money, things, luxury, pleasures, games, shows and amusements;
- overly attentive to the flesh.