The Confession.

        When a Christian falls into sin after baptism, he violates the vows he took at baptism, separates himself from the Church, and forfeits the right to partake of holy communion. But there remains to him the possibility of cleansing himself again from sins and being saved; for Jesus Christ gave to His disciples the power of remitting the sins of those who repented and of again joining them to His Church. This power the Apostles transmitted to their successors, the bishops, and these again empowered the priests to hear the repentant confessions of the faithful and to remit their sins in the name of Jesus Christ, if they judged that their repentance was sincere and strong. This remission of sins is given in the Sacrament of Penance which is therefore called a “second baptism,” a “baptism by tears,” and the office in which it is performed is called the “Rite of Confession.”

        The Sacrament of Penance is one in which the Christian who confesses his sins before the entire Church or her representative, and sues for pardon, receives absolution from the priest, and at the same moment is invisibly absolved by Christ Himself. Hence the rite of Confession consists of three acts: prayers for the remission of sins; confession of sins before the priest; and absolution from sins in the name of Jesus Christ.

        After hearing the preliminary prayers, the penitential troparia, the Penitential Psalm and the prayers for the remission of sins, the penitent, standing before the icon of the Saviour, confesses his sins to the priest, concealing nothing, adducing no excuses to minimize his transgressions, then asks for pardon and absolution. After confession he kneels and bows his head. The priest then prays that the Lord may forgive the penitent’s sins and join him to His holy Church, covers his head with the Epitrachelion (stole) in token that he, the priest, through the grace of God, has the power to remit sins in the name of Jesus Christ, blesses him, and utters the words of absolution: “Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, by His grace and the bountifulness of His lovingkindness, forgive thee, child, N., all thy transgressions; and I, an unworthy priest, by His power which is given unto me, forgive thee and absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.” With these words the grace of the Holy Spirit descends into the soul of the penitent and cleanses it of sins, so that he, by the grace of God, goes from the presence of the priest a pure and holy man.

        As only he receives remission of sins who, repenting of them, profoundly regrets having committed them and firmly determines to abstain from them in the future, such repentance necessitates a period of preparation. During this time the Christian lays aside all worldly pre-occupations, and devotes himself to fasting, prayer, meditation on his soul, and the better to do all this, seeks solitude and keeps away from all amusements and distracting things. The length of the time of preparation depends on how long a time a man can spare from his worldly obligations.

        The priest who receives a penitent’s confession enters into a close spiritual connection with him, and therefore is called his “spiritual father,” while the penitent is the priest’s “spiritual child.” The spiritual father does not merely hear the sinner’s confession, and judge of the condition of his soul; he, like a physician, tries to find out what is his spiritual disease, points out to the careless transgressor how important and deep-seated his sins are, and him who despairs of his improvement and salvation he supports and encourages by hope in the mercy of God. This means that the better the spiritual father knows his spiritual children, the more useful his counsels and instructions will be to them. It is a rule, therefore, that a spiritual father shall not be changed without absolute necessity.

        It sometimes happens that a spiritual father remits a penitent’s sins on condition that he will fulfill some task or discipline imposed upon him, either of prohibition or command, this is called a “penance.” The spiritual father imposes a penance to help the penitent to break himself of a sinful habit, or to cure him of carelessness with regard to his self-correction, or again to calm his conscience troubled by sin and not let him sink into despair. The penance imposed by one spiritual father cannot be remitted by another, excepting in case of the penitent’s dangerous illness or that of the death of the spiritual father himself.