To help penitents

To the reader

Repentance is called the second baptism: if baptism delivers us from the power of original sin, then repentance washes us away from the defilement of our own sins committed after baptism. However, in order to repent and receive forgiveness of sins, it is necessary to see your sin. And this is not so easy. Self-love, self-pity, self-justification interfere with this. A bad deed, of which our conscience convicts us, we are inclined to consider an "accident", to blame circumstances or neighbors for it. Meanwhile, every sin in deed, word, or thought is a consequence of the passion that lives in us, a kind of spiritual illness. If it is difficult for us to recognize our sin, it is even more difficult to see the passion rooted in us. Thus, we can live without suspecting the passion of pride in ourselves, until someone hurts us. Then passion will be revealed through sin: wishing evil to the offender, a harsh insulting word, and even revenge. The struggle with the passions is the main activity of Christian ascetics, especially monastics. But every Christian who seeks salvation is faced with this struggle, although to a different extent, for each state of the human soul is characterized both by its own measure of virtues and by its own measure of struggle against evil, which prevents virtues from being established in the soul. Therefore, having taken upon ourselves the task of publishing this small book to help penitents, we hope that it will help the reader to understand himself, to see his sins, to recognize the sinful illnesses of his soul, and through repentance to find the salvific path to the Kingdom of Heaven.

On the sinful ailments of the human soul

Through the transgression of the first man, sin entered into the world (Romans 5:12), and the human race was filled with all kinds of iniquities. The mouth shall not declare the works of men! It is impossible to count all the innumerable sinful deeds known among people! Sin is a crime against the will of God, against the righteous and eternal law of God, an insult to the eternal and infinite truth of God (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk). A Christian cannot love a sin that offends his Lord and Saviour, cannot but desire to follow His commandments, but how obvious to us is the impotence of our good striving to be faithful to Christ! The cause of our constant sinful falls is the sinful illnesses of our soul. In the Fall, the first-created man rejected and trampled on the will of God, choosing his own will instead, he wanted to be a self-sufficient being, independent of God, not limited by anything in his endless demands. Such a state of the human soul is called "selfishness" or "self-love" by the Holy Fathers, and it is characteristic of all people as heirs of the fall of their forefathers. As a result of the Fall, man distanced himself from God, lost Divine communion and fell under the power of the devil. In the soul of a man who had fallen into crime and had distanced himself from God, the devil sowed sinful thoughts and established the law of sin (St. Athanasius the Great). According to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, "evil thoughts" or passions that grow out of original sin are the source of an innumerable multitude of sinful human deeds. Through a passionate disposition, the soul, originally created in the likeness of God and destined for communion with God, is alienated from God and as a result is deprived of eternal, true life. "Evil thoughts" deceive a person with deceptive sweetness and plunge him into slavery to sin. Working with passions, a person usually does not feel this slavery at all. And only when he enters into the struggle with sinful evil, he begins to experience the greatest suffering from slavery to the "law of sin" (Romans 7:23). And the saints, who had attained high levels of moral perfection, experienced one "admixture" of passion as martyrdom. If passions are diseases of the human soul, then virtues are naturally inherent in it - qualities of the soul that are opposite to passions and together constitute the perfection and likeness of man to God. Virtue is not a "good deed", not an act in itself, just as passions are different from sinful deeds. "Virtue is that mood of the heart when what is done is truly pleasing to God" (St. Mark the Ascetic) – for not all human good is pleasing to God, but only that which is done in purity of heart. The goal of every Christian's life is salvation, i.e. the restoration of communion with God destroyed by sin. Only those "who draw near to God by holiness of life and virtue" (St. Justin Martyr) can achieve this goal. But the passions are "an obstacle to the hidden virtues of the soul," and therefore for salvation it is absolutely necessary first of all to purify oneself from passions, to open this "door closed in the face of purity" (St. Isaac the Syrian). But is it possible? The Holy Scriptures and the works of the Holy Fathers agree that this is impossible by human efforts. But this is why the Saviour came to earth, in order to restore the human soul "to its primitive state," to deliver it from the state of passion. And the commandments were given by the Lord as medicines, in order to cleanse the soul from passions and sins (St. Isaac the Syrian). If the Old Testament Law was intended to protect man from sinful deeds, then the commandments of the Gospel heal the ailments of human nature. After holy baptism, Christians can be cleansed not only of sins as sinful deeds, but also of passions, of their evil habits, and grow their virtues. But this is achieved through inner struggle and pious feats, and not only by one's own strength, but by the cooperation of God's grace. Passions do not easily submit to the commandments, they rebel against them. Passion blinds a person, and he does not see his illness. To fulfill the commandments means to be healed of the passions; but they cannot be fulfilled by a person who is weak in passions... Therefore, purity from passions, like any virtue, cannot manifest itself in a person except in a struggling way - moreover, "to the point of blood... against sin" (Heb. 12:4). The lives of numerous Christian ascetics testify to how difficult this struggle is and how impossible it is without God's help. The holy ascetic fathers were not only able to discern the passions, but also knew the remedies for each of them. The doctrine of the passions and the struggle with them, developed to the point of subtlety, can be found in the works of Evagrius, St. John Cassian of Rome, Nilus of Sinai, Ephraim the Syrian, John of the Ladder, Gregory Palamas and other ascetic fathers. But this "medical science of souls" – wisdom – is so difficult that it is impossible to learn it without an experienced mentor who has acquired the habit of it through long-term experience (St. Gregory of Nyssa). That is why St. Ignatius Brianchaninov advises people who are inexperienced in the spiritual life not to enter into a detailed and subtle examination of their sins and sinful qualities. "Gather them all into one vessel of repentance, and cast them into the abyss of God's mercy. This will only plunge you into despondency, bewilderment, and confusion. God knows our sins, and if we constantly resort to Him in repentance, then He will gradually heal our very sinfulness, that is, sinful habits, qualities of the heart" (from the letter). It is important, knowing our innumerable sins and falls, to attain awareness of the general morbid state of our soul, its sinfulness, its affliction with sin, and in sincere heartfelt repentance to resort to the one Physician who can heal us from our incurable ailments by any earthly means (References to the works of the Holy Fathers are taken from the book by S.M. Zarin "Asceticism according to Orthodox Christian Teaching").

Discourse on Sins and Repentance

Sins are usually called not only sinful deeds, i.e. actions, deeds, words, thoughts, feelings that are contrary to the commandments of God, the Christian moral law, but often also the causes of sinful deeds - the passions and sinful habits of the human soul, as contrary to God's plan for man, distorting the perfection of human nature, created in the likeness of God. We are reminded of our sins by daily prayers at home: the evening prayer to the Holy Spirit, the daily confession of sins at the end of evening prayers, as well as the fourth prayer before Holy Communion: "For at Thy dreadful and impartial judgment seat..." (not placed, however, in all prayer books), and others. In most manuals for those preparing for the sacrament of confession, sins are distributed according to the Ten Commandments of the Law of God and the commandments of the Gospel. An example of confession built on this principle is contained, for example, in the book "The Experience of Building a Confession" by Archimandrite John Krestyankin (published by the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, 1992). This manual is especially valuable because it represents the living word of the pastor to our Christian contemporaries. In it one can find sins characteristic of our time. It should be noted that the Gospel understanding of the commandments of the Law of God, given through the prophet Moses to the ancient people of Israel, is much more extensive and profound than the Old Testament. Sin is considered to be the violation of the commandment not only by deed, but also by thought and desire. However, the last, tenth commandment, as if preparing the Old Testament people for a perfect understanding of the Law, says: "Thou shalt not covet." In the appendix to this book we place a fairly complete and detailed enumeration of sins in the "General Confession".

Sins against God, Neighbors and Your Own Soul

Sins Against God

The entire multitude of human sins can be conditionally divided into sins against God, against neighbors, and against one's own soul. Here we will point out only a few sins, because not only to describe, but also simply to enumerate all their multitude is not part of the task of this book, and it is impossible.

Modern people for the most part have forgotten about God, have forgotten or did not know the way to the temple of God at all, at best they have only heard about prayer. But if we are believers, then did we not hide our faith for the sake of false shame and fear of people? If so, then did not the Lord say of us: "Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of Man also be ashamed, when He shall come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38)? One of the most serious sins is deliberate abuse of God and faith, blasphemy and murmuring of God. For the latter sin, the demoniac and a significant number of the insane are subjected to their illness. Blasphemy. We commit this sin when we speak mockingly of the various beliefs of the Church and her sacred customs, of which we understand nothing; Likewise, when we do not stand up for the faith, hearing knowingly false and unscrupulous reproaches against it. False oath; constant and irreverent godliness. In the latter, the absence of the fear of God in man and disregard for the greatness of God are manifested. We also sin against God in that we do not fulfill our vows to reform or pious vows to undertake some podvig or perform a work of charity. For this, the Lord often sends the sinful soul a feeling of heavy despondency or as if groundless anger, anguish or fear - so that it, remembering the unfulfilled vow, will repent and correct its sin. By the fact that we do not attend church services. Christians should attend the services of the Holy Church, at least on Sundays and feast days, and if we do not do this, we sin before God. It is unwise to comfort oneself with the thought that most people do not attend church at all. According to the rules of the Holy Apostles, those who were absent from church for three weeks in a row were completely excommunicated from church communion. By the fact that we do not pray every day at home. Apart from the fact that this is our duty, we must fulfill this duty as a Christian, a son of the Church, if we do not want to be only a plaything of passions: either debauchery, or drunkenness, or covetousness, or despondency, for only with a constant struggle against oneself and through the grace given to the worshippers can a person correct his life. And if he does not pray and does not resort to the Church, then his sinful vices will remain with him, no matter how beautiful the words about salvation and purification from passions he may say. We sin greatly before God when we are carried away by various mystical and occult teachings, when we show interest in foreign and pagan sects, which have especially multiplied at the present time. We also sin in sympathy with the belief in the transmigration of souls, which came from the ancient pagan Hindus, theosophy, and astrology. Also superstition. Apart from the many superstitions we have inherited from our pagan ancestors, we are often carried away by the absurd superstitions of modern educated society: more and more new fictions and fantastic theories, accepted only at the demand of fashion. Sin before God is also neglect of one's soul. Forgetting God, we forget our soul together with Him and do not heed it. It is impossible to pay attention to one's soul except by opening it before God, praying to Him, and reverently before Him.

Sins against Neighbors

Through forgetfulness of God and negligence about our souls, we often inflict spiritual harm on our neighbors. A particularly grave sin is the gross insult of parents, the constant insults inflicted on them. The Lord said to Moses: "Whosoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death" (Exodus 21:17). And this death sentence to those who curse their parents is confirmed by the Saviour, precisely as a commandment of God (Matt. 15:4; Mk. 7:10). Similar to this sin is the insolence of the disciples in relation to the teachers. Offenses inflicted on neighbors. By offense we must understand not only that which angers a person, but even more that which harms him, and most of all harms his soul. We offend our neighbors when we advise them something bad, vicious; when we ridicule their good qualities: chastity or modesty, obedience to parents, conscientiousness in service or in teaching. In doing so, we make ourselves even more grievous sinners before God than thieves and robbers. But even more criminal are those who tempt an innocent person to sin, using efforts, sometimes long, for this. When we instill doubts in the faith in the hearts of our neighbors, we ridicule their piety, we discourage them from prayer and church, we sow discord between brothers, spouses, co-workers, or comrades. All those who act in this way are helpers and servants of the devil, who receives a strong power over them, because they themselves have given themselves in obedience to his will. Such is the slander of one's neighbors in conversations with people and in the press, as well as condemnation without the certainty that one's neighbors are really guilty. Sin against one's neighbor is hatred, schadenfreude instead of compassion. This sin is similar to murder (1 John 3:15). Rancor, even if it is not expressed in vindictiveness. It counts our prayers as worthless, according to the word of the Lord (Mark 11:24-26), and shows that our heart is filled with all self-love and self-justification. Disobedience is also a sin against one's neighbors - in the family, at school or at work. Sin in the universe began with disobedience; disobedience is followed by a multitude of new evils: laziness, deceit, insolence against parents or superiors, the search for sensual pleasures, theft, rejection of the fear of God, robbery and murder, rejection of faith itself. Evil feelings of disobedience, and especially of rancor and schadenfreude, grow in the soul that loves to condemn. Along with the habit of needlessly condemning people, we develop a delight in the shortcomings of our neighbors, and then an unwillingness to recognize something good in them, and from here it is close to schadenfreude and rancor.

Sins against one's own soul