Patristic sources on confession in front of a priest

[Abraham Ghattas]

Glory to God in All in Things,

I was wondering if anyone can list for me or quote some sources for me from the Fathers regarding confession specifically in front of a priest. I know many fathers talked about confession in general, but I would love specific quotes regarding the sacrament in front of the priest. I believe St. Cyprian mentioned this but I am not too sure. Love to hear back!


Love never fails,
Abraham

[R. Murray]

Abraham,

There is a collection of quotes on Orthodox.net regarding confession here is a link :http://www.orthodox.net/gleanings/confession.html

Some quotes do deal with confession in front of a Priest or a Spiritual Father. Not all quotes are from Church Fathers, some are from Authors and modern Saints.

They have a full collection of quotes arranged by topic http://www.orthodox.net/gleanings/sub_all_topics.html

My wife shared with me that she read a book The Reconciling Community - The Rite of Penance, James Dallen (http://books.google.com/books?id=BDw7FQmMgH8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Reconciling+Community++By+James+Dallen&ei=u9kHSbXQCoLoyASRzOz-Bw)


and it mentions St. Cyprian in a footnote and quotes an author who wrote The Penitential Teaching of Cyprian of Carthage (Karl Rahner)


Here is a limited preview but a reference to The Letters of St. Cyprian of Carthage (http://books.google.com/books?id=7lZZBPSo9t4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Letters+of+St.+Cyprian+of+Carthage++By+St.C yprian,+G.+W.+Clarke&ei=eNoHSbWgLoPqyAT3y4mVDw) By St.Cyprian, G. W. Clarke

I am new here, my apologies for such a basic reply.

In Christ

Ruairi

[Michael Stickles]

St. John Chrysostom's Homily 86 on the Gospel of John (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/240186.htm) has this to say in commenting on John 20:22-23 (He breathed on them, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained."):


Yet one will not be wrong in asserting that they then also received some spiritual power and grace; not so as to raise the dead, or to work miracles, but so as to remit sins. For the gifts of the Spirit are of different kinds; wherefore He added, Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, showing what kind of power He was giving. But in the other case, after forty days, they received the power of working miracles. ...

Let us then do all we can to have the Holy Spirit with ourselves, and let us treat with much honor those into whose hands its operation has been committed. For great is the dignity of the priests. Whosesoever sins, it says, ye remit, they are remitted unto them; wherefore also Paul says, Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves.

It doesn't directly address confession as a practice, but does address the role of the priest in our receiving forgiveness of our sins.

In Christ,
Michael

[Matthew]

When I prepared for my first confession, my Father told me to let my conscience by my guide. More specifically, he told me to be only as specific as necessary in order to really root out the sin. He reassured me that no matter how awful something felt to confess that he had heard worse. I can add to that a reassurance that after confession comes a great sense of relief and an experience of God's mercy and grace by His ability to forgive.

I found information in the following webiste helpful in making sure my confession was as complete as I could make it: www.orthodoxinfo.com (http://www.orthodoxinfo.com). Do a search for "confession".

I'm sure that this is more simplistic that what the Patristics have to say, but I hope it's helpful to someone. Confession is a wonderful tool (perhaps even a weapon) that isn't used enough in modern times.

[Owen Jones]

In the early Church, confessions were made before the community. As the Church grew and expanded it was abandoned because there were many people in Church just because it was socially acceptable. But certainly that is the ideal!

St. John Chrysostom said that confession is not necessarily required to prepare for communion. That charity, alms giving, prayer and tears were all acceptable forms of preparation for communion.

[Matthew Namee]

Dr. (now Fr.) John Erickson wrote an outstanding history of confession in his book The Challenge of Our Past (SVS Press). It may be out of print, but you can find it on various used book websites.

[Michael Stickles]

A more specific patristic reference from St. Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome (5th century), in his letter to Bishop Theodore (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf212.ii.iv.ciii.html):


The manifold mercy of God so assists men when they fall, that not only by the grace of baptism but also by the remedy of penitence is the hope of eternal life revived, in order that they who have violated the gifts of the second birth, condemning themselves by their own judgment, may attain to remission of their crimes, the provisions of the Divine Goodness having so ordained that God’s indulgence cannot be obtained without the supplications of priests. For the Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, has transmitted this power to those that are set over the Church that they should both grant a course of penitence to those who confess, and, when they are cleansed by wholesome correction admit them through the door of reconciliation to communion in the sacraments. In which work assuredly the Saviour Himself unceasingly takes part and is never absent from those things, the carrying out of which He has committed to His ministers, saying: "Lo, I am with you all the days even to the completion of the age:" so that whatever is accomplished through our service in due order and with satisfactory results we doubt not to have been vouchsafed through the Holy Spirit.


In Christ,
Michael