Confessions 24/7?

[M. Partyka]

I read this question on a Catholic forum:


Is there really any way to know if our contrition is perfect enough for a mortal sin to be forgiven before you are able to make it to confession? What if you are sorry both because you hurt God and because you want to avoid hell?

If a person commits a mortal sin, is it generally considered enough to repent the best you can until you can get to confession at the regular time? Or, should that person call a Priest to hear his confession any time of night or day, beat down the door if need be, to get the sin confessed since we do not know when we will die. Or, is it enough that one has the desire to go to confession when time permits?A priest responded:


That's just the point. There is no way to know of one's contrition is perfect. The Church teaches that we can try to make an act of perfect contrition if in danger of death and no priest is available. But at all other times one must actually go to Confession before receiving Holy Communion if one is in the state of mortal sin. By all means, call the priest. We're talking eternal life and eternal death here!Does this reflect Orthodox teaching/attitudes as well as Catholic teaching/attitude? And is the same sense of anxiety over mortal sin prescribed in Orthodoxy? Seems a pretty awful way to live, having to wait on a priest's availability for Confession, especially since many Orthodox priests are married and have families -- I can't imagine the "call me 24/7" approach is practiced. (The priest I know has regular Confession time scheduled before and after Vespers, and is available by appointment otherwise.)

[Father David Moser]

Does this reflect Orthodox teaching/attitudes as well as Catholic teaching/attitude? And is the same sense of anxiety over mortal sin prescribed in Orthodoxy?

the only thing Orthodox about either the question or the answer is the words sin and confession. The meaning of these words and the theology behind them are very much different in Orthodoxy. I would suggest that you search the threads here that deal with confession - as I recall there is some pretty good material already here. Also, ask me again after Pascha - now I have barely enough time to remember to eat and breathe.

Fr David Moser

[Olga]

I might add that the Orthodox Church does not classify sins as mortal or venal as does the Roman Catholic church. Sins is sins, only "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" is seemingly beyond redemption.

[Matthew Namee]

This is a little tangential, but confession is perhaps the most historically variable sacrament in the Church. By this I mean that not only has the outward form changed significantly over time (which can be said of most sacraments), but even the concept of confession as sacrament has undergone a great deal of evolution. The best work I have found on the subject is Dr. (now Fr.) John Erickson's essay, which appears in his book The Challenge of Our Past. The history of confession contained in the essay gave me a new appreciation for it, and also a greater aversion to the kind of legalism which some (such as the Roman Catholic priest quoted above) would apply to it.