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

From apostolic times, the Church of Christ has been teaching about the Sacrament of Repentance, calling every believer to confess his sins before a bishop or priest. In the Early Church, confession could be public or secret. Absolution from sins at confession was always accompanied by the prayer of its performer. The descent of God's grace upon man helped the penitent in the correction of his life. The healing effect of confession was greatly facilitated by the word of edification on the part of the confessor, preceding, and often

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и завершая исповедь христианина.152

Книга «Постановления апостольские» (окончательная редакция V в.) свидетельствует об обязанности епископа вразумлять согрешивших и оплакавших свой грех принимать в общение верных.153

Устав совершения исповеди, усвояемый святителю Иоанну Постнику, патриарху Константинопольскому (VI в.), предписывал епископу и пресвитеру совершать не только предысповедную молитву совместно с кающимся, но и предысповедное поучение. Молитвой и наставлением они готовили сердце кающегося к исповеданию своих грехов без стыда и смущения и убеждали на примерах Священного Писания в Божественном

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установлении исповеди.154