Message of Confession

“The Message of Confession” (17 chapters) is devoted to the Sacrament of Repentance and the issue of spiritual guidance. St. Simeon the New Theologian reveals the understanding of confession not just as a formal act, but as a person’s sincere recognition of his spiritual “debt” before God and condemnation of his own “madness” in the face of His gifts. The author explains that the power to “bind and loose” sins, originally given to the apostles, was eventually transferred to their successors - bishops and priests. However, when the clergy became "unfit" due to lack of purity of life and righteousness, this grace and spiritual power passed to the monks, who acquired the Holy Spirit and confirmed their holiness by active life and miracles. The Monk Simeon calls to seek a true spiritual father - a mediator, doctor and good adviser, who possesses not only knowledge of the Scriptures, but also a living experience of the knowledge of God, enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit and known by the fruits of virtue (love, joy, peace, humility). He warns against self-proclaimed teachers who, lacking the Holy Spirit, only increase pride and unbelief. The message is a call to deep, heartfelt repentance, a conscious search for a spiritual mentor and obedience to him as a condition for reconciliation with God and the acquisition of eternal life. See also another translation of the 1st epistle: Epistle 1. Like the saints of our father Simeon the New Theologian, a word about confession, written to a certain child of his, and about those who received the power to bind and absolve the sins of St. Simeon the New Theologian 1. You commanded our insignificance, father and brother, to answer your question: “Is it permissible for some monks who do not have the priesthood to confess sins?”, adding also this: “because we hear that the power to knit and decide is given to priests alone.” These words and soul-searching questions [testify of] your God-loving soul, ardent desire [to know the truth] and fear [of God]. Approving your desire for good and desire to learn about divine and sacred objects, we, however, are not able to reason and write about this, which is why we would like to remain silent; after all, “to compare spiritual with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:13) is the work of dispassionate and holy men, from whom we stand far apart in life, word, and virtues. 2. But since, as it is written, “the Lord is close to all... who call on Him in truth” (Ps. 145:18), then I, unworthy, having called Him in truth, will tell you the following, not in my own words, but from the most divine and God-inspired Scripture, not teaching [myself], but offering you from it a testimony of what you asked [me] about; so that, by the grace of God, I may save myself and my listeners from both abysses: both from hiding my talent, and from explaining dogmas unworthily and vainly - moreover, [being] in darkness. So, where do we start the word, if not from the beginningless Beginning of everything? This is best, because then what is said will be firm. We were not created by angels and did not learn from people, but by the grace of the Spirit we mysteriously learned and every hour we always learn from wisdom from above, which we have now called upon and will speak here. And first of all, let's talk about the method of confession and its power. 3. So, confession is nothing more than confession of debts, as well as recognition of mistakes and one’s own madness, that is, condemnation of one’s poverty; as in the Gospel parable the Lord said: “One lender,” he says, “had two debtors, and one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty; but since they did not have anything to pay with, he forgave them both” (Luke 7:41–42). So, every faithful person is a debtor to his Master and God, and what he took from Him will be asked of him at His terrible and terrible Judgment, when all of us - kings and beggars together - will appear before Him naked, with our heads bowed. Listen to what exactly has been given to us by God. There are many other things that no one can count, but first of all the best and most perfect: liberation from condemnation, sanctification from defilement, transition from darkness to His ineffable light, and also that through divine Baptism we become His children, sons and heirs, put on God Himself, become His members and accept the Holy Spirit living in us, which is the royal seal with which the Lord seals His sheep, and – why talk a lot? - to become like us to Him, becoming brothers and joint heirs with Him. All this and more than this is given immediately at divine Baptism to all who are baptized - what the divine Apostle calls wealth and inheritance (Eph. 3:8; Col. 1:12). 4. The commandments of the Lord are given as guardians of these ineffable gifts and gifts: they, like a wall, surround the faithful from everywhere, keep the treasure stored in the soul unharmed and make it inviolable for all enemies and thieves. We, however, believe that the commandments of the man-loving God are kept by us, and we are burdened by this, not knowing that rather we ourselves are kept by them; for he who keeps the commandments of God does not keep them, but keeps himself and preserves himself from visible and invisible enemies, of which Paul speaks, showing that they are countless and terrible: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), that is, those who are in the air and who always invisibly oppose us. So, he who keeps the commandments is himself preserved by them and does not lose the wealth entrusted to him by God; he who despises the commandments turns out to be naked and easily vulnerable to enemies and, having squandered all his wealth, becomes a debtor to the King and Master in everything that we have said - which is impossible for a person to compensate for in any way and which is impossible to find. For these [goods] are heavenly, and from heaven came and comes daily the One who brings and distributes them to the faithful; and where can those who have received and lost them find them again? Truly, nowhere. For neither Adam nor any of his sons would have been able to accomplish the restoration of himself and his relatives, if the supernatural God and our Lord Jesus Christ, having become his Son according to the flesh, had not come and raised him and us from the fall with divine power. And whoever thinks to keep not all the commandments, but only some, while neglecting others, let him know that if he neglects even one, he loses all his wealth entirely. Suppose that the commandments are twelve armed men who surround and guard you, standing naked among them; Imagine also other enemy soldiers advancing from everywhere, attacking, trying to capture you and kill you immediately. So, if one of the twelve of his own free will falls away, neglects the guard and leaves his place like a door open to the enemy, what will be the use of the remaining eleven men when one [of the opponents] comes inside and mercilessly cuts you apart, since they cannot even turn around to help you? After all, if they want to turn around, they themselves will be captured by their opponents. Exactly the same thing will happen to you if you do not keep the commandments. For if you are wounded by one enemy and fall, all the commandments fly away from you, and little by little you lose your strength. In other words, just as from a vessel filled with wine or oil, if it is not intact at all, but has become full of holes on one side, all the contents gradually pour out, so you, having neglected at least one commandment, little by little fall away from all the others, as Christ says: “To him who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away (Matthew 25:29). And again: “Whoever breaks one of these commandments... and teaches... people” - that is, by his crime [teaches] - to do the same, “he will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:19). And Paul says: “Whoever is overcome by someone is his slave” (2 Pet. 2:19). And again: “The sting of death is sin” (1 Cor. 15:56). And he did not say: “this or that [sin],” but whatever the sin, it is the sting of death. He calls sin the sting of death because those who are stung die. So, every sin leads to death. For he who has once sinned, as Paul says, has already “died” (Rom. 6:10), having become guilty of debts and sins; he was left lying by the robbers [by the road] (Luke 10:30). 5. So, will the deceased want anything other than to be resurrected; and the one who is in debt and does not have anything to pay off - what, except to receive forgiveness of debts and not be thrown into prison until he pays off the debt? After all, due to the fact that he has nothing, he will never escape eternal prison, that is, darkness. In the same way, one who is beaten by mental robbers seeks in every possible way for a compassionate and merciful doctor to come to him. For in himself he does not have the fear of God that warms him, which would [encourage] him to go to the doctor himself, but, having wasted his spiritual strength due to his own negligence, he lies, [representing] a terrible and pitiful sight for those who see well, or, better yet, spiritually, spiritual sins. So, the one who, because of sin, became a slave of the devil - for [Paul] says: “Do you not know that... you... are slaves of him whom you obey - slaves of righteousness to righteousness, or of sin to sin?” (Rom. 6:16) - and became such to the derision of the Father and God, trampled upon by the enemies who retreated from God, who was left naked from the royal scarlet and blackened, who instead of the child of God became a child of the devil, what will he do to again enter into possession of that from which he fell? Of course, he will seek a mediator and friend of God, capable of restoring him to his previous state and reconciling him with God and the Father. For he who by grace cleaves to Christ and becomes a member of Him and is adopted by Him, if, having left Him, returns like a dog to his vomit (2 Pet. 2:22) and either associates with a prodigal woman, or unites with another body, is condemned along with the unbelievers as having dishonored and insulted Christ, since, according to the divine apostle, “you also are the body of Christ, and members separately” (1 Cor. 12:27). So, whoever has sex with a harlot makes the members of Christ members of the harlot (1 Cor. 6:15). And the one who did this and thus angered his Master and God cannot be reconciled with God in any other way except through an intermediary, a holy man, a friend and servant of Christ, and through the avoidance of evil. 6. Therefore, first of all, let us avoid sin; if we are wounded by his arrow, then we will not hesitate, enjoying his poison like honey, or, like a wounded bear, licking the wound, making it even worse, but we will immediately run to the spiritual doctor and through confession we will vomit out the poison of sin and, having spat out the sinful poison, we will readily receive from him the penitential penances he gives as an antidote and we will always try to fulfill them with ardent faith and in the fear of God. For all those who have completely squandered the wealth entrusted to them and, together with prodigals and tax collectors, have squandered their parental property, whose conscience, due to great shame, has bowed down and does not have the strength to rise up, deprived of boldness, are looking for some man of God to become the recipient of their debts, so that through him they may approach God, since, as I think, it is impossible, without sincere and laborious repentance, even if desired, to be reconciled with God. For it has never been heard or written in the inspired Scriptures that anyone should take upon himself the sins of another and be responsible for them, unless the one who sinned first shows worthy fruits of repentance corresponding to the types of sin, and does not lay down his own labors as the foundation. For the voice of the Forerunner of the Word said: “Create... fruit worthy of repentance and do not think of saying within yourself: “We have Abraham as our father” (Matthew 3:8–9). For our Lord Himself, turning to the foolish, said this: “Truly I say to you, even if” both Moses and Daniel “rose up to save their sons and daughters, they would by no means save them” (Ezek. 14:14-20). So, what shall we do or how shall we, if we wish, intend to repent in order to leave our debts and restore ourselves from the Fall? Listen to what God gives [me] so that I can answer each of you. 7. Seek, if you want, a mediator and a doctor and a good adviser, so that, as a good adviser, he would offer you images of repentance corresponding to good advice, like a doctor, he would give you medicines suitable for each wound, and as an intermediary, standing before God face to face, with prayer and intercession before Him, he would propitiate the Divine for you. But do not try, having found a flatterer and a slave of the womb, to make him your adviser and supporter, so that, adapting to your will, and not to what God loves, he teaches you what is pleasant to you, and at the same time you would still remain a truly implacable enemy [of God]. And do not [look for] an inexperienced doctor, lest he, with excessive severity and untimely operations and cauterizations, plunge you into the depths of despair, or, again, with excessive condescension, do not allow you, the patient, to think that you are recovering, and do not betray you to the most terrible thing - eternal torment, which you hope to avoid. For this and a similar [method of healing] causes us an illness from which the soul dies. Finding a mediator between God and people - I don’t think it will be easy. For “not all those Israelites who are from Israel” (Rom. 9:6), but only those who, according to the name, actually recognize the very power of this name and see God with their minds; and not all who call on the name of Christ are truly Christians. For “not everyone who says to Me: “Lord, Lord,” said Christ, “will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father” (Matthew 7:21). And he also said: “Many will say to Me on that day:... Lord,... did we not cast out demons in Your name?” But I “will declare to them: Truly I say to you, I do not know you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity” (Matthew 7:22–23). 8. Therefore, all of us, brothers, both those who mediate, and those who have sinned, and those who wish themselves, should strive for reconciliation with God, so that neither those who mediate incur wrath instead of a reward, nor those who stumble, nor those who strive to be reconciled [with God] receive an enemy and a murderer and a wicked adviser instead of a mediator. For such will hear a terrifying threat: “Who has made you rulers and judges” of my people? (Exodus 2:14). And again: “You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see how to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). The beam is any one passion or lust that darkens the eye of the soul. And again: “Physician! Heal yourself.” yourself” (Luke 4:23). And again: “God says to the sinner: “Why do you preach My statutes and take My covenant in your mouth, but you yourself hate My instruction and throw My words away for yourself?” (Ps. 49:16–17). And Paul said, “Who are you, judging another man’s servant? He stands before his master... or falls... But God is able through His faithful servant to restore him” (Rom. 14:4). 9. For all this, I tremble and tremble, my brothers and fathers, and I admonish all of you, strengthening myself through admonitions to you, not to treat these divine and terrible sacraments with contempt and not to play with anything that is not toys, nor against our souls because of vanity, or love of fame, or [the desire for] profit, or insensibility. For it happens that in order to be called “rabbi” or “fathers”, you accept the thoughts of others. Let us not, I ask, so shamelessly and easily steal the apostolic dignity, [but let us] be guided by an example from earthly [life], namely: if someone is convicted of having arbitrarily dared to take upon himself the likeness of an envoy of an earthly king and manage what is entrusted to [the envoy], doing [this] secretly, or subsequently and openly declaring [his] actions, then both he and his associates will his servants will be subjected to the most severe punishments to intimidate others, and he will be ridiculed as crazy and insensitive more than anyone else. What awaits in the future [century] those who unworthily steal apostolic dignity? 10. But do not want to be mediators for other [people] before you are filled with the Holy Spirit and know with the feeling of the soul the King of all and become His friend, since not everyone who is familiar with the earthly king can intercede with Him for others. For very few can do this - those who, due to virtues and sweat, that is, their labors, have acquired boldness towards him, and they no longer need a mediator, but speak to the king mouth to mouth. So, shall we really not preserve this rank in relation to God, brothers and fathers, will we not honor the Heavenly King at least on an equal footing with the earthly, but will we predatoryly arrogate to ourselves [the right] to sit in the pulpits to the right and left of Him, before we asked for and received [this] from Him? Oh, impudence! What shame will overwhelm us! Even if we are not called to account for anything else, for this alone we will disgracefully lose our leadership as despisers and will be cast into the unquenchable fire. But this is enough for the edification of those who want to listen to themselves; for for this reason we made a deviation from the topic of [our] word. Now let's talk about what you, child, wanted to hear about. 11. That we are allowed to confess to a monk who does not have the priesthood, you will find this happening to everyone since the clothes and garb [monastic] were given by God to His inheritance and the monks received their name, as it is written in the divinely inspired writings of the fathers, having delved into which you will find that what is said is the truth. Before [the monks], only the bishops, by succession from the divine apostles, received the power to knit and decide, but with the passage of time and when the bishops became unfit, this terrible commission passed to the priests, who had an immaculate life and were awarded divine grace. When they, the priests together with the bishops, mixed with the rest of the people and became like them, and when many, as now, fell under the influence of the spirits of delusion and vain idle talk and perished, it was handed over, as it is said, to the chosen people of God - I’m talking about the monks; it was not taken away from the priests and bishops, but they themselves made themselves alien to it. “For every priest... stands” before God, as a mediator between God and people, as Paul said, “and... he must offer sacrifices both for the people and for himself” (Heb. 5:3). 12. But let’s start talking from an earlier [time] and see where and how and to whom this power to perform sacred acts, to knit and to decide was given from the beginning, and in the order in which you asked the questions, so let clear answers follow - not for you alone, but for all other people. When our Lord and God and Savior said to the paralytic: “Your sins are forgiven you” (Matthew 9:2), the Jews, hearing this, said: “He is blaspheming” (Matthew 9:3); “Who can forgive sins except God alone?” (Luke 5:21). Thus, no one was given the opportunity to forgive sins - neither the prophets, nor the priests, nor any of the then patriarchs. That is why the scribes were indignant because it was as if some new teaching and strange thing was being preached. The Lord did not reproach them for this, but, on the contrary, taught them what they did not know, showing that as God, and not as man, it was given to him to forgive sins. For, having told them: “So that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the paralytic, “get up, take up your bed and go to your house. And he immediately stood up... and walked... glorifying God” (Luke 5:24–25). Through a visible miracle [Christ] confirmed the greater and invisible. So [it happened] with Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), so with the harlot (Luke 7:47-50), so with Matthew at the tax collection (Matthew 9:9-13), so with Peter, who denied three times (John 21:15-19), so with the paralytic, whom He healed and [to whom], meeting [him] later, he said: “Behold, you are cured; Sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you” (John 5:14). Having said this, He showed that because of sin, he [the paralytic] fell into illness, and having been healed from it, he received forgiveness of his sins - not thanks to many years of requests, or fasting, or sleeping on a hard bed, but only thanks to conversion, unshakable faith, rejection of vice, true repentance and many tears, like the harlot and Peter, who wept bitterly (Luke 7:38, 44; Matt. 26:75). Hence the beginning of this gift - great and befitting only God and which He alone possesses. Further, before [His] ascension to heaven, He leaves this gift to the disciples in His place. How did He give them this dignity and power? We also explore - to whom, and how many, and when. To the chosen eleven disciples when they were gathered together behind closed doors. For entering and standing in the midst of them, He breathed and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive... they will be forgiven, and whose sins you retain... they will remain” (John 20:22–23). And nothing commands them at all regarding penances as those who must learn from the Holy Spirit. 13. As has already been said, the holy apostles, by succession, transferred this power to those who accepted their thrones, since none of the others even dared to think anything like that. Thus, the disciples of the Lord strictly reserved [their] right to this power. But, as we said, over time the worthy ones dissolved among the unworthy, mixed with them - and hid under the majority, one challenging the other for primacy and pretending to be virtuous for the sake of the chairmanship [place]. For since those who assumed the thrones of the apostles turned out to be carnal, voluptuous, love-loving and prone to heresies, divine grace left them, and this power was taken away from them. Therefore, since they have abandoned everything else that priests should have, only one thing is required of them - to preserve Orthodoxy. But I think that they do not [observe] this either; for he is not an Orthodox who does not introduce a new dogma into the Church of God, but he who has a life in agreement with the right teaching. But modern patriarchs and metropolitans either search for him and do not find him, or, having found him, they prefer someone unworthy to him, demanding from him only one thing - to set out the Creed in writing, and are content with this alone, that he is neither a zealot of good nor a fighter against evil. In this way they supposedly preserve the peace of the Church, but this [peace] is worse than any hostility and is the cause of great disorder. Because of this, the priests also became corrupted and became like the people. For, as the Lord said, none of them is salt (Matthew 5:13), in order to bind and at least somehow restrain moral decay through reproof, but, on the contrary, by recognizing and hiding each other’s passions, they became worse than the people, and the people worse than them. Some of the people turned out to be even better than the priests, appearing like coals against the background of the hopeless darkness of the latter. For if the priests, according to the word of the Lord, shone with life like the sun (Matthew 13:43), the burning coals would not be visible, but would appear blackened in comparison with the brighter light. Since only the guise and clothing of the priesthood remained in the people, and the gift of the Spirit passed on to the monks, and thanks to signs and wonders it became obvious that by [their] deeds they had entered [the path] of the apostolic life, then here, again, the devil did what was characteristic of him. For, seeing them that they, like some new disciples of Christ, again appeared in the world and shone with life and miracles, he introduced [into their midst] and mixed with them false brothers and his own tools; and, little by little, having multiplied, they, as you see, became unfit and became very unmonastic monks. So, neither monks in appearance, nor those ordained and included in the degree of priesthood, nor those awarded the rank of bishop - patriarchs, I say, metropolitans and bishops - 14. Just like that, only because of ordination and its dignity, it is not given by God to forgive sins - let it not be! For they are only allowed to perform sacred acts, but I think that even this is not for many of them, so that, being hay, they do not burn to the ground because of this, but only for those among the priests, bishops and monks who can be numbered among the disciples of Christ for their purity. 15. So, how do they themselves know that they are numbered with those of whom I spoke, and how do those who look for such recognize them with accuracy? The Lord taught this, saying: “These signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues” - we are talking about the divinely inspired and useful teaching of the Word - “they will take up snakes, and if they drink anything mortal, it will not harm them” (Mark 16:17-18). And again: “My sheep obey my voice” (John 10:27). And again: “By their fruits you will know” them (Matthew 7:16). For what fruits? According to those about which Paul speaks, listing most of them: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23), and with them mercy, brotherly kindness, almsgiving and those following them; and to them also “the word of wisdom,... the word of knowledge,... gifts... of miracles” and more; “Yet one and the same Spirit works all these things, dividing them to each one” as he wishes (1 Cor. 12:8–11). Those who became partakers of such gifts - either all, or only a certain part, in accordance with what is useful to them - are included in the ranks of the apostles, and those who are now becoming such are included there. Therefore, they are the light of the world, as Christ Himself said: “No one, having lit a lamp, puts it under a bushel or under a bed, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:15). However, such people are recognized not only by these [gifts], but also by their way of life. So those who are looking for them will recognize them, and they themselves will each accurately [recognize themselves], if they, as if in the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ, are not only not ashamed of poverty and humility, but rather even count them for great glory and, like Him, show unfeigned obedience to their fathers and leaders, submitting to their spiritual fathers; if they love dishonor and ridicule, curses and insults from the heart, and those who inflict these [insults] on them are perceived as givers of great blessings and pray for them with tears from the heart, if they despise all worldly glory, and consider all the sweets of the world to be dirt. And why lengthen the word with many and obvious things? If each of the above finds himself having achieved every virtue that he hears and reads about in the Holy Scriptures, if he also does all good deeds and in each of them achieves success, changes of a low degree and is taken to the height of divine glory, then let him recognize himself as having become a partaker of God and his gifts, and will be recognized by [others] who see well, or even those who are short-sighted. And then such can say to everyone with boldness: “We are ambassadors... of Christ, and as if God Himself exhorts through us: ... be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). For all such kept the commandments of Christ until death, sold their property and gave it to the poor, followed Christ through enduring temptations, lost their souls in the world for the love of God and purchased them for eternal life. Having acquired their souls, they found themselves in mental light and thus in this light they saw the unapproachable Light - God Himself, according to what is written: “In Your light we will see light” (Ps. 36:10). How to find what belongs to the soul? Pay attention. The soul of each of us is a drachma, which was lost not by God, but by each of us, plunging ourselves into the darkness of sin. Christ, being the true Light, having come and met those who sought Him, granted them to see Him as only He Himself knows. This means to find one’s soul - to see God and in His light to become higher than every visible creature, and to have God as a shepherd and teacher, from whom, if he wants, he will learn [how to] knit and decide, and, having definitely learned, will worship the Giver [of these benefits] and transfer [them] to those in need. 16. I know, child, that such is given the power to bind and bind from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit - to those who by adoption are sons and His holy servants. I myself was a disciple of such a father 1, who did not have ordination from people, but who enrolled me by the hand of God, that is, the Spirit, into discipleship and commanded me to accept the correct ordination from people according to the established order - I, who had long been moved by the Holy Spirit to this with a strong desire. 17. So, let us first desire to become such, brothers and fathers, and only then will we speak to others about liberation from passions and acceptance of thoughts, and we will seek such a confessor. So, let us diligently seek such men, disciples of Christ, and with heartache and many tears we will beg God all day long to open the eyes of our hearts, so that we may recognize them, if, of course, one is found anywhere in this evil generation, so that, having found him, we may receive remission of our sins through him, obeying with all our soul his commands and commandments, just as he, having heard [the commandments] of Christ, became a partaker of His grace and gifts. and received from Him the power to bind and solve sins, having been kindled by the Holy Spirit, to whom belongs all glory, honor and worship with the Father and the Only Begotten Son forever. Amen. This means Simeon the Studite - ed. You might be interested in: