Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

Confession and Forgiveness

Question:

A couple of questions regarding confession:

1) when confessing our sins formally to a priest in Church prior to taking the Eucharist, is it less proper when no concrete sins are mentioned (just 'in general')? Is the whole process 'watered down' in such instances?

2) after confession and after taking part of the Eucharist, do (or should) Orthodox believe that the sins committed prior are fully and properly forgiven (even if mentioned in specifics) - with the person now fully 'clean' of them?

Response:

Very Reverend Ihor Kutash kutash@unicorne.org

Your questions seem to indicate that you may be viewing the Mystery of Confession as a sort of legal contract between us and God, whereby if we scrupulously confess all that we may have been wrong in thinking, saying and/or doing, we shall be assured of proper absolution, whereby we can be certain that we have been fully cleansed of the stains of such wrong behaviour or attitudes.

One of the greatest temptations for Orthodox Christians – including myself - is to view the way of relationship with God and His creation which is opened up by Christ’s incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension, as well as His sending of the Spirit from the Father to indwell us, as a religion.

If that is all it is, then the process described in the first paragraph ought to be quite adequate.  But the Orthodox way is infinitely more than a religion. The way of Christ which is granted us in the Orthodox Church is one of ever-growing communion with Him and His community.  It is a relationship with Him which is manifest and which grows through our relationship with others.

Our Lord has made this abundantly clear in His description of the way the Last Judgment will unfold, in which the acts of love and kindness we have done or not done to others will reveal the direction in which we have been going (Matthew 25:31-46).

The more we grow in our desire and intention to live in fellowship with God and His creation the more we realize that there is, besides this noble and blessed desire and intention, also something which rebels against and guiltily shrinks away from God and His commandments.  Thus we need to continually purify ourselves, or, to put it in a contemporary metaphor, readjust the settings of our radar to make sure that the trajectory our life will indeed finally bring us to the realization of our desires in the eternal Kingdom of love, joy and light.

This is where the Mystery of Confession comes in.  It is means graciously provided by our Lord for us to purify and correct ourselves. A most important part of this process is not what we say during this Mystery, but how we prepare for it. The right preparation is a continuous one – a daily, hourly, minute-by-minute attentiveness to what we are thinking, saying and doing, with the intention and desire of bringing it all before God, so that what is wrong may be continually rejected and left behind, and what is good may be embraced and done as well as ever we possibly can – over and over and over again..

What is required for this to take place, above all, is humility – the quality of being continually open to learn and be corrected, of being always read to say: “I erred and I wish to do better”, of being ready to accept that we are right now is not where we ought to be, painful and embarrassing though this acceptance might be.

Certainly the practice of speaking openly about these matters to a Confessor or Spiritual Father is very helpful. It ensures that we are learning to be humble – because it is not terribly easy to tell another human being of our failings. It also gives the benefit of hearing another voice than our own discussing how we might learn to do better in the future. There is also the benefit of another person’s prayers for us. This practice is commended – and commanded – by that marvelous man, St. James the Just, the Brother of the Lord (James 5:16).

However, in order to do this, you need to choose another time than before or during the Liturgy on Sunday morning – the only time most Orthodox Christians in North America find themselves in Church. The priest at that time is under considerable constraint to get through the Confessions and celebrate the Liturgy within a reasonable time frame and simply will not have the time to hear and discuss a number of sins with the faithful. A good time to do this is after Saturday Vespers - for those whose community celebrates them. Or it might be best to contact the Pastor to make a special arrangement for a time of spiritual sharing.

Incidentally the Orthodox Church has a tradition of eldership (“starchestvo”). One’s Confessor need not necessarily be one’s Parish Priest but may be an elder (not necessarily chronologically older than we are, although age and maturity often go hand in hand) which one trusts, who may or may not be an ordained person. It is a great blessing to have someone such as this – something worth asking the Lord for in our prayers. And of course, we must also pray for such elders as well as for our Pastors and Archpastors.

As for believing that after Confession our sins are indeed wiped away, it is just that – a matter of faith. We believe and confess that our sins have already been forgiven once and for all time by Our Lord Who bore them all upon the Cross. In order for the blessings of this forgiveness to take hold and bear fruit in our lives, we must open our hearts, our minds and our souls to receive them. This is done by our humility and repentance.

That humility and repentance ought to be manifested by our sincere participation in the Mystery of Confession, however long or short, detailed or general, each particular participation may be. 

By the way, in the Orthodox Church we ask for forgiveness for all our sins – those of which we are aware and those of which we are not aware. We do not seek to excuse ourselves of sin by pleading ignorance. Our relationship with God is not a juridical one but one of love, which is expressed by an ever-growing obedience to His laws of love in humility and joyful gratitude for His unfathomable, all-embracing, boundless love towards us.

I hope that this long answer to your short questions is helpful to you.  May the Lord bless you as you continue to seek to grow in your daily walk with Him, Who is both the Source and the ultimate Goal of our lives.

Fr. Ihor

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