Please tell me what to do. I feel like a normal person, not deprived of the attention of the female sex. But I have a sin of fornication in my soul, I like to watch films containing the XXX category (especially on the Internet)... He had this kind of "fun" for pleasure with his cousin. I believe in God, I go to church, I resort to saving sacraments. But I do not repent of this in confession – I cannot: I am ashamed... What to do?

You say well: "I feel like a normal person." This is very important. This means that you are well aware of the abnormality, the unnaturalness of the passion that corrodes your soul. One should not be surprised or even horrified by it in oneself, one should not consider it one's own; you must, on the contrary, believe that this is a devilish temptation, in its essence contrary to your nature. In human nature, damaged by the fall, there is the possibility of any sin. But the devil strives to arouse in a person, including a Christian, that passion that is most likely to destroy his soul. He hates the image of God, indelibly imprinted in us, and wishes to abuse it in us, to humiliate man, God's beloved creation. And fornicatory passions and sins, especially those of an unnatural nature, are the best way for him to achieve such a goal. Therefore, wherever the devil has the opportunity to succeed in tempting man with such images and thoughts, his zeal will have no limits.

Unfortunately, in our time, too much serves the enemy of salvation as an aid. People have completely lost not only the fear of God, but also elementary shame. Films, magazines, books with the most perverted content are now generally available and can easily ignite a fire of the most obscene passion in the heart of a person who comes into contact with them from a small smoldering spark. You can see this in this case and in yourself.

What can I advise you? Thank God, you are a believer, and therefore you can seek help in your weakness from God and from His holy Church, which you are partly doing. But here is your biggest mistake: instead of repenting of your sins (real and mental) in confession from a sincere heart, you conceal them, daring to approach the sacrament of Communion. The Lord is very merciful and long-suffering. However, when a person receives the Body and Blood of Christ unworthily, without confessing all his sins, hiding something out of cowardice and not forsaking the sin that is repeated again and again, then the grace of the sacrament can serve him not so much for salvation as for condemnation. In order to prevent this from happening, it is necessary to decide on a sincere, completely frank confession, without concealing anything in it of which your conscience accuses you.

Shame before a priest is a false shame. Yes, of course, a priest is also a human being, and he can be tempted and condemned by his weakness. However, a true pastor will never turn away from a Christian who exposes his spiritual wounds in confession (no matter how unsightly they may be) and asks for their healing. On the contrary, it is towards such a person that he will show the greatest care and compassion.

Full confession will certainly be the most effective step towards spiritual healing for you. But it is also necessary to reconsider one's life as a whole along with confession. Review and remove from it everything that can contribute to the development of passion. Immodest films and books, communication with people who are subject to such sin – all this must be eliminated from your life. At the same time, it is necessary for your Christian life to acquire a more definite, firm character. Regular attendance at church, regular confession, the fulfillment of the prayer rule, attention to one's inner life and the work of self-correction – this is what strengthens the soul, gives strength to fight the sin that tempts it.

You say that you are "not deprived of attention" by girls. Pray that the Lord will send you a good, believing girl with whom you could connect your life by entering into a marriage blessed by the Church; I think this would also help to cope with the current temptation.

I am a believer, my husband is not, but his parents are believers. They often turn to a certain person who has supernatural abilities: he determines the causes of diseases, cures with his methods. The husband is even going to take a training course with him. Can faith in God be combined with turning to such people?

No, faith in God cannot be combined with an appeal to such people. Most likely, your husband's parents only consider themselves believers, but they do not believe in God, but in the person who promises them healing. The nature of the "supernatural abilities" of those people who today call themselves healers, psychics, etc. (at different times they both name and manifest their "abilities" in different ways) has been known since ancient times. And the attitude towards them in the Holy Scriptures is expressed very definitely: "Everyone who does these things is an abomination to the Lord" (Deuteronomy 18:10-13).

The Holy Fathers of Orthodoxy unanimously testify that "supernatural abilities," if they are not banal charlatanism, have a demonic nature and human pride is a "breeding ground" for them.

The Bible speaks no less clearly about those who turn to the bearers of "secret knowledge" and "gifts" for help: "And if any soul has turned to those who summon the dead, and to sorcerers, to go after them in fornication, I will set my face on that soul, and will cut him off from among his people" (Lev. 20:6).

Spiritual laws operate regardless of the reason for which a person turns to psychics: out of ignorance or out of a desire to get what he wants faster and more surely – health, money, someone else's husband... Experience shows that all these appeals end tragically: the "gone" bodily diseases return in an even more severe form, very often a person has deviations in the psyche, mental illnesses, and his whole life is destroyed. As a rule, the life of a psychic also ends terribly: the one who is called in the Gospel a murderer, a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44) – the devil – laughs at the one who believes him, destroys a person in earthly life and throws him into hell after death. And the Church, warning about this, does not "fight with competitors," as the same healers and "bioenergetics" tell their clients, but seeks to warn people: do not touch what is deadly.

The only possible path for a person who considers himself a believer is to follow Christ, to trust God, who gives us everything we need for our salvation. Sometimes you have to bear the cross of illness and sorrows with patience. But God is faithful, says the Apostle, Who will not suffer you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but when you are tempted He will also give you relief, so that you may be able to endure (1 Corinthians 10:13).