Repentance and confession

[Andrey Vershinin]

Saturday is approaching and I wonder how I am to find what is sinful about me; I know that I am a sinner, but how am I to find what to say in confession if I cannot find what I am sinful of when I want to tell the sin to God?

Furthermore, if I've said all of my sins to God and asked him for forgiveness, what will I say in confession if I've said all to God?

[[George] Blaisdell]

Andrey proffers:
"If I've said all of my sins to God and asked him for forgiveness, what will I say in confession if I've said all to God?"

There is a story of a would-be penitent, who did some rather shameful things, and confessed them to his priest every week, but also confessed that he really felt no remorse, and could not bring himself to tears over them.

Now his priest was a wise priest, and remembered that in the early Church, confession was done before ALL and to ALL the members of the Church congretating for services. And so he took the un-repentant brother to the center of the Church during the service of the Divine Liturgy, and told him to get on his knees, and before God and all those present, to confess his shameful deeds.

The penitent proceeded to do so, and was so overcome with shame, that he began crying bitterly as he continued to confess his deeds, and in that manner entered the gates of repentance which up till then had been too high for him to scale.

When Christianity "went public", the confession to the whole Church changed to confession to the priest in their place, yet the basic idea remained the same: To confess to God, before the Ekklessia, ones shameful deeds. That is the Biblical teaching...

If any should have difficulty finding sins they commit, there are some really good and long checklists of sins that one can ask of oneself. These will convict the most saintly, which is why I avoid them!! I have PLENTY to confess, unlike your hypothetical first person...

Rdr. Arsenios