Instruction about. John of Sergius (Kronstadt) during the celebration of the Sacrament of Repentance

1. “I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7). 2. “Even the righteous have a tendency toward sin, but remaining in sin is already a consequence of the death of the soul. God replaces the fulfillment of His commandments with repentance—sorrow over sins imputes to us instead of virtue: such is God’s goodness!” 3. “Come, sinners like me, to Christ the Savior with faith and unfeigned repentance, and He will give you peace. I myself was subjected to repeated destructive and deadly rebellion of passions, and each time, through heartfelt repentance, I received deliverance from the Lord.” “That icon is miraculous,” said the deeply wise high priest of the Russian Church, a 90-year-old elder, 1 which is powerful to arouse faith in its miraculousness. The power of this profound saying can also be applied to Father John of Kronstadt,” these are the words of the late His Eminence Nikanor, Archbishop of Kherson and Odessa 2. Yes, truly, the acts of the Kronstadt shepherd are miraculous; the fame of them spreads like blessed waves throughout Russia, sweeping far beyond its borders. Who does not know about the miraculous healings of those who are physically or mentally ill - healings that occur almost daily, through the prayers of Fr. John? Who has not heard about the miraculous deliverances of Fr. John drunken from their vicious and destructive passion? Who, finally, does not know about the beneficial and life-giving power of all the prayers of Fr. John? But not everyone has heard about the general confession of Fr. John, and even more so - not everyone had to experience the clearly miraculous power of this confession, which takes possession of the entire being of those confessing, penetrating with a warm ray of sunshine into their souls darkened by sins, softening unrepentant hearts. And how touching and touching is the sight when hundreds of penitents, with loud crying or quiet pacifying tears, cry out to the Almighty for forgiveness - they cry out to the sounds of the divinely inspired speech of the good shepherd, on whose sorrowful eyes pure, sincere tears shine for the sins of lost sinners, for the fleshly weakness of man. It is not surprising after this that those who, at least once, had the opportunity to attend the general confession of Fr. John or to hear about it from their loved ones and acquaintances, they express a desire, as I have heard about it more than once, to have this confession in their possession, but, unfortunately, it has not yet appeared in print, which is why, to the best of my ability and ability, having gradually written down the words of the confession in the church and comparing my notes with the lists circulating in Kronstadt, I decided to publish it, so that those who repented at the general confession of Fr. John could better imprint her intelligible words not only in the heart, but also in their minds, and everyone, in general, having become acquainted with its contents, would not lose heart, would not lose heart, but would believe, fervently believe that the Lord God, who had mercy on the kings David and Manasseh, who sinned “grievously” against Him, would also have mercy on us sinners, provided, of course, “sincere and deep-hearted” repentance. Sinners and sinners who want to begin the Holy Mysteries, brothers and sisters! Are you prepared to receive such a great Sacrament? Know that I bear a great answer before the throne of the Most High if you approach unprepared. Know that you are not repenting to me, but to the Lord Himself. Who is invisibly present here, whose Body and Blood are currently on the altar. Listen, brothers and sisters, to prayer. (The first prayer of repentance is read). In this prayer to God the Father, the First Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the All-Good, All-Holy, Omnipresent, All-Wise, All-Creator, All-Powerful, All-Ruling, Terrible of Every Creation, the Holy Church prays to the Lord to grant mercy to repentant sinners and sinners, to forgive them their sins, all iniquities committed either through frivolity or thoughtlessness, willingly or unwillingly, he would forgive and have mercy, as he once had mercy on the prophet and king David 3, who sinned gravely before God. Walking one day on the terrace of his palace, he saw a very beautiful, young Jewish woman bathing, was captivated by her beauty, was inflamed with passion for her and wanted to make her his wife, for which he sent her husband to war and ordered the military leaders to place him in a dangerous place, where they killed him. But the prophet Nathan, sent from God, began to strongly and firmly denounce King David of lawlessness, urging him to repent. David finally realized his grave sin, began to sincerely and fervently repent before the Lord and pray, shed bitter tears about his sin; then the Lord heard the cry of his heart and forgave him his sin. Before his sin, David had the Holy Spirit, who retreated from him after the sin, but when he repented, the Spirit of God again dwelt in him and did not leave him until the end of his days. King David expressed his heartfelt and sincere contrition for his sins in psalms in which he thanked and glorified the Lord. He left behind a book - the Psalter, most commonly used in the Orthodox Church, and the well-known psalm 50, “Have mercy on me, O God!” represents a wonderful and irreplaceable example of heartfelt repentance. Brothers! King David was a pious, meek, kind, wise man, who had the gift of prophecy, but he sinned and did not take care of himself. Oh, how easy it is for a man to sin! You need to be vigilant towards your soul, you need to always look after yourself, curb your feelings. Another king, Manasseh 4, fell away from God and fell into idolatry, practiced sorcery, summoning spirits, was a spiritualist 5, as it is today, and taught his children the same. The ungrateful, proud people despised the people who loved God, and caressed and brought closer the selfish, like themselves. With his iniquities he angered the Lord, the Lord’s patience was exhausted: during the war between the Jews and the Assyrians, Manasseh was taken captive, his hands and feet were chained in stocks, and a copper ring was threaded through his nostrils; in such a shameful form he was led through Babylon and thrown into a gloomy dungeon, where he was kept for three months. And so, being in such severe captivity, he came to his senses, realized his sins before the Lord and his insignificance, realized that he was a worm, that he had nothing to be proud of, because before the Lord everyone is equal: God created everyone equally, created them from one dust and will turn everyone into dust. Manasseh began to pray earnestly, repent, and cry day and night over his errors; The Lord heard his prayers and forgave him. King Manasseh left the prayer of repentance, which is read during Lent, at Compline. In the person of these two kings, David and Manasseh, who sinned gravely, the Holy Church represents examples of sincere and deep-hearted repentance. The Lord God is terrible, Judge of all the earth. He will not look at anyone’s face: a man or a woman, a boy or a young woman, a king or a commoner, a gentleman or a peasant, a general or a soldier, a rich man or a poor man - everyone is equal before Him, but he looks at what the hope is, what the faith is, what the deeds are, he looks at the heart. The Lord will demand more from high-ranking, educated people than from common people, although he does not let the latter off when they sin, get drunk or commit adultery. Listen, brothers and sisters, to the second prayer to Jesus Christ, the Son of God: (The second prayer of repentance is read). In this prayer, the Holy Church prays to the Chief Shepherd that He, the most merciful, will forgive our untruths, prays to have mercy, to deliver us from eternal torment and to forgive our lawless intentions, our thoughts and lawless deeds. The Holy Church prays to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who took upon himself the sins of the whole world and who will come with terrible glory to judge the living and the dead, to have mercy on us, as two Gospel debtors who had nothing with which to pay a large debt to the creditors; like the harlot who washed Christ’s feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. The Lord God saw her true repentance, her desire to atone for her sins, and let her go in peace. Also, all who repent will be forgiven and delivered from eternal torment. We are given a lot of time in life to come to our senses, so that we mourn, grieve, cry, but people are lazy, do not want to take care of their souls, do not want to fight the sins that, like thieves and robbers, break into their souls, do not want to fight with them, drive them away. The Lord God does everything for those who love Him, but those who boldly push away the right hand of God do not wish good for themselves and go to their own destruction. Without God, we cannot exist for even one second: we owe everything to Christ for our life, our breath, the air we breathe, the light of the sun, our food, our drink; we owe Him endlessly, we are His unpaid debtors. The Lord God is terrible, righteous Judge, He did not have mercy on the fallen angels who were proud against God himself, but condemned them to eternal torment. We sinners sin every minute and anger the Lord with our sins. Why do we need such leniency? God the Father sent His beloved Son into the world, who took upon himself the sins of the whole world, suffered for the sins of people, removed from people the curse that had weighed on them since the fall of the first people, and, instead, bestowed blessing. The Lord Jesus Christ, through His suffering on the cross, delivered us from eternal torment and, thus, satisfied the Divine truth and fulfilled all the truth of God, and this could only be done by the Son of God, and not by man. God the Father gave all the power of judgment over people to Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ gave the power to the apostles, and those to the bishops and priests, therefore, including me, the sinful priest John, to allow the repentant to forgive or not forgive, depending on whether they sincerely repent or not. If a person repents sincerely, with contrition of heart, then the priest absolves him from sins; on the contrary, if a person does not repent sincerely, unconsciously, then the priest does not absolve him of his sins so that he comes to his senses. So, in order to receive forgiveness of sins, you must repent ardently, sincerely, from the heart. What is repentance? Repentance is a gift of God, bestowed by God for the merits of His beloved Son, who fulfilled all the righteousness of God. Repentance is a gift given for self-condemnation, self-accusation, self-reproach. Repentance is a firm and unwavering intention to leave your former sinful life, to correct yourself, to be renewed, to love the Lord with all your soul, to be reconciled with God, with your conscience. Repentance is firm hope, hope that the merciful Lord will forgive all our sins. He who does not repent becomes an enemy of the Church; just as rotten twigs or branches fall away from a tree, so unrepentant sinners fall away from the Head of the Church - Christ. Christ Himself is the vine, and we are branches feeding on life, the juices of this vine. The schismatics die in error, the Pashkovites 6 also die, the Tolstoyans 7 also die, they are all unrepentant sinners: they themselves perish and drag others to destruction. Brothers and sisters, do you repent? Do you want to improve your life? Are you too lazy to pray to God? were you drinking? committed adultery? deceived? oathbreakers? blasphemed? were you jealous? were they cunning? were you angry? slandered? stole? Yes, you have many, many sins, brothers and sisters, you can’t count them all. (A prayer of permission is read). COMPLETE WORKS Archpriest Fr. Ioann Ilyich Sergiev 1st, 2nd and 3rd volume, in luxurious covers by the artist N. N. Karazin; The 4th and 5th covers are by A.E. Zemtsov. With the 1st volume there is a portrait of the author. Previous edition - brochures included entirely in volume 1: I issue (179 countries) – Conversations about God the Most Holy Trinity without binding with postage……………………………………………………………..50 kopecks. II issue (96 countries) – Discourses on the Beatitudes of the Gospel without binding with postage...................................................................................30 kopecks. Brochures of the new edition, borrowed from the books “My Life in Christ” I issue, with a portrait of the author: 1) About the Holy Trinity and about the Persons of the Trinity Divinity separately; 2) About God, as the Creator of the universe, His creative power, manifested in the smallest of creations…………………………10 kopecks. II issue: 1) About the church of God; 2) About St. Icons. Their importance in the Christian faith; 3) About the invocation of the Most Holy Theotokos, all the saints, and the cross……………………………………………………………………..10 kopecks. III issue: 1) About faith, its necessity for a Christian and what temptations it is exposed to from the enemy; 2) Thoughts about the objects of Christian hope……………………………………………………………….10 kopecks. IV Issue: The spiritual unity of Christ with the Church in general and with each soul of a believer - separately 15 kopecks. NOTE: Volume I contains: 1) conversations about God the Most Holy Trinity; 2) conversations about the beatitudes of the Gospel; 3) words and teachings on the feasts of the Lord and 4) words and teachings on the feasts of the Mother of God. Volume II contains a complete annual circle of words, teachings and conversations on weekly (Sunday) days and St. Pentecost. Volume III contains as its content: 1) teachings, words and speeches on church holidays (Kronstadt St. Andrew's Cathedral) and various occasions; 2) words for highly solemn days; 3) various speeches, words and teachings and 4) the life, suffering and miracles of St. All-praised Great Martyr Euphemia. Volumes IV and V contain extracts from the diary under the title: “My life in Christ, or moments of spiritual sobriety and contemplation, reverent feelings, spiritual correction and peace in God.” The “Essay on the life and work of Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev” op. A. A. Zybina, second edition, corrected and significantly expanded. Price 75 kopecks, including postage. 1 rub. Kronstadt: Posadskaya, no. 27, apt. 12, at Iv. Vasil. Fidelina. Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Isidore, in the world Yakov Sergeevich Nikolsky, b. 1 Oct. 1799, died 7th September. 1892 His Eminence Nikanor, in the world Alexander Ivanovich Brovkovich, was born in 1826, died on December 27, 1890. He is known as an eloquent preacher and writer. Of his works, the most remarkable is “Analysis of the Roman Doctrine of Supremacy”; For this work, Archbishop Nicanor was awarded the degree of Doctor of Theology in 1869. (Approx. S.O.) David, second king of the people of Israel, prophet and psalmist; the son of Isaiah or Jesse (Jisha) from the tribe of Judah, was elected to the kingdom after the death of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul. David conquered Jerusalem and increased the kingdom of Israel with happy wars; During his life he suffered a lot of grief from the indignation of his sons, Absalom and Adonijah. Died 70 years old, around 1018 BC. Christ. (Approx. S.O.) Manasseh, king of Judah, son of Hezekiah, succeeded his father in 697 BC. Christ, taken captive by the Assyrians in 642 (Note by S.O.) Spiritist is a follower of spiritualism, i.e. the belief in the possibility of communication with the souls of the dead, in the past - through various spellcasters (Emanuel von Swedenborg) and magnetizers (Justin Kerner), and now (since 1849; Fox sisters in America) - with the help of mediums or intermediaries between the mysterious world of spirits and ordinary people asking questions through a medium and through him receiving answers as if from spirits. (Approx. S.O.) The Pashkovites are followers of a sect distinguished by an extremely Protestant character and which began with the sermons of Lord Redstock, who came to St. Petersburg in 1874. The Englishman Redstock never had such enormous success, neither in his homeland, nor in Paris, nor in Switzerland, as here in St. Petersburg, and mainly among the aristocratic society (Prince Gagarin, General M. Chertkova, Count M. Korf and others). The sect got its name from the retired guard Colonel Pashkov, who became an ardent admirer of Redstock and became the head of the sect. Father John of Kronstadt is known as a mighty fighter against the heresy of the Pashkovites: “Near St. Petersburg itself, on the path from where the leader of the heresy (Lord Redstock) came to us, a shepherd with a special gift of prayer and healing appears. This most humble shepherd is a living and strong denouncer of the proud superstition of sectarian wisdom,” said P. A. Smirnov, rector of St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, a wonderful preacher, about Father John. Tolstoyans are followers of the beliefs of Count L.N. Tolstoy, a brilliant Russian novelist, but an unsuccessful and enthusiastic interpreter of the Gospel truths. (Approx. S.O.) You might be interested in: