The Ustav of St. John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople (VI century), in its lengthy redaction, contained a sermon pronounced by the confessor to the penitent. The main ideas of this word boiled down to explaining to the penitent the basic provisions of confession. The priest said that confession made before a person who has a priestly rank is accepted by God Himself, Who, through the mouth of His servant, forgives him his sins. And for this, the penitent must confess all his sins without false shame and

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after confession, do not return to the same sins.146

On the example of the Greek rites of confession, the main purpose of the teaching is revealed: to arouse the trust and respect of the confessor in the matter of confession as an act

mysterious, having a Divine origin and testified to by the Holy Scriptures. The authors of such teachings constantly draw the attention of the confessor to the invisible presence of God Himself and the angels at confession. If the confessor confesses his sins with all his heart, then the scroll with the sins written on it is destroyed, and there is great joy for God and the angels.

Confession in Ancient Russia, in order to achieve its thoroughness and effectiveness for the subsequent life of the confessor, is also preceded by an exhortation. Usually, in ancient Russian confessional monuments, the pre-confessional instruction was "a series of separate thoughts directed towards one goal - to induce the confessor to full and open confession."147 The pre-confessional instruction, in accordance with this orientation of its content - exhortation, is sometimes set forth in a dialogical form - in the form of a conversation between the confessor and the confessor.

The various teachings of the Russian Trebniks contain the same thoughts as the Greek rites, but they set before the priests who receive confession the task of urging penitents to confess their sins to their very depths, convincing them that no one is free from hidden sins. "Just as an ordinary physician," says one of the authors of such teachings, "is useful when only the sick person reveals his illness, so the cure of sins - spiritual illnesses - is possible only under this condition."148

The modern Great Trebnik in Chapter 13 gives an example of such an exhortation.

In the Holy Spirit, beloved child, name, it is good for you that you have come to Holy Repentance. With it, as with a spiritual font, you will wash away the sins of your soul and, as by Heavenly healing, you will be healed of its deadly wounds. For this purpose, work earnestly to contrite your heart for all your sins to the Lord your God, Who is invisibly with us, before me, humble, who has received from Him the power to forgive sins, to truly confess them, without concealing anything or adding anything, but confess what you have done and what you remember. Know that concealment of sin is a delusion that destroys the soul, and addition is a deadly slander: in both cases, even all confessed sins are not forgiven. Because of this obstacle, the mystery of Repentance is not performed, and a new mortal sin is born. You do not have (the right) to conceal a single sin, even in the presence of shame. And I, a person subject to passions, can fall into such sins and have (by grace) the art of healing human infirmities. When, despising shame, you denounce yourself before me in private, then you will not be convicted of confessed sins before the angels of God and before all men at the Dread Judgment of Christ. But if you hide your sins in private before me, then before the universal assembly of angels and men you will be rebuked and will not escape eternal punishment. Therefore, do not conceal your sins out of fear, for I have no desire to embitter you and ever to reveal your sin to people. I have (the power) in the spirit of meekness to heal you. When confessing your sins, rebuke, and do not excuse yourself. Reveal your own sins, not those of others. Do not name to me the persons who participate with you in the fall, for this is the evil of dishonoring your neighbors. Only confess your sins, speaking about them not as in a simple conversation, but with heartfelt contrition and a good intention to refrain from such sins in the future. Without all this, there can be no true Repentance. Having thus arranged your heart, give glory to the Lord and confess the iniquities that you have before me, a sinner, in order to accept your absolution, to be freed from sinful bonds, to be cleansed and to have a soul healed by the grace of God."

Heeding the admonition of the priest, the penitent gathers the strength of his soul to confess his sins. By this action of his, he hopes to receive a grace-filled revival of the soul. The soul comes to a prayerful disposition and turns to God: Revive me, O Lord. The presence of prayer, says His Eminence Theophan the Recluse, is "a sign of the revival of the spirit."149 He has come to life to such an extent that he can "behold his sins" (the Lenten prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian), in order to become aware of the deathly fetters of the passions. The desire to be free from them is a sign that a person feels how strong the passions are and that he cannot overcome them on his own and alone. Exhortation, in this way, inclines a person's soul to prayer for the sending down of the life-giving power of God and opens the doors of repentance.

The revitalization of the spirit also affects the revitalization of the conscience, for "conscience is the feeling of the human spirit, subtle, luminous, distinguishing between good and evil."150 It distinguishes between good and evil more clearly than the mind. Confession of sins before a priest returns to a person the correct action of conscience. As a result, she is freed from the evil with which sin infected her. The grace of God cleanses a person from voluntary sins, by which the conscience is obscured. Its action removes the harmful impression of each confessed sin. And the conscience comes to life in order to follow the teaching of Christ, to combat the sinful deception of the mind, which is supported by a sin-loving will.

The Holy Scriptures on the Repentant Work of a Christian

St. Basil the Great teaches Christian believers to confess their sins "before those to whom the economy of the Mysteries of God has been entrusted..." "And the penitents of old," he says, "did this before the saints. For it is written in the Gospel that they confessed their sins to John the Baptist (Matt. 3:6), and in the Acts to the apostles, by whom they were all baptized" (Acts 19:18).151