The beginning, foundation and peak of spiritual life in Orthodoxy is deep repentance. This is the same difficult and narrow path that the Savior commanded us to follow. On this path we encounter many obstacles, stumbling blocks, and perplexities.
And here is the famous Russian saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), a deep and subtle expert human soul, who himself has gone through the sorrowful path of repentance and now prays to God for us sinners, teaches us invaluable lessons.

Eight main passions
About virtues
Additions. The shortest confession
Confession
The penitent is required
Better is war than peace, which removes us from God

Eight major passions with their divisions and industries

1. Gluttony

Binge eating, drunkenness, non-keeping and allowing fasts, secret eating, delicacy, and generally violation of abstinence. Incorrect and excessive love of the flesh, its belly and rest, which constitutes self-love, which leads to failure to remain faithful to God, the Church, virtue and people.

2. Fornication

Prodigal lust, prodigal sensations and attitudes of the soul and heart. Acceptance of unclean thoughts, conversation with them, delight in them, permission for them, slowness in them. Prodigal dreams and captivities. Failure to preserve the senses, especially the sense of touch, is the insolence that destroys all virtues. Foul language and reading voluptuous books. Natural prodigal sins: fornication and adultery. Prodigal sins are unnatural.

3. Love of money

The love of money, in general the love of property, movable and immovable. The desire to get rich. Reflection on means of enrichment. Dreaming of wealth. Fears of old age, unexpected poverty, illness, exile. Stinginess. Selfishness. Disbelief in God, lack of trust in his providence. Addictions or painful excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain concerns. Loving gifts. Appropriation of someone else's. Likhva. Cruelty towards the poor brethren and all those in need. Theft. Robbery.

Hot temper, acceptance of angry thoughts: dreams of anger and revenge, indignation of the heart with rage, darkening of the mind with it: obscene shouting, argument, swearing, cruel and caustic words, stress, pushing, murder. Malice, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and insult to one’s neighbor.

5. Sadness

Sadness, melancholy, cutting off hope in God, doubt in God’s promises, ingratitude to God for everything that happens, cowardice, impatience, lack of self-reproach, grief towards one’s neighbor, grumbling, renunciation of the cross, attempt to descend from it.

Laziness towards any good deed, especially prayer. Abandonment of church and cell rules. Abandoning unceasing prayer and soul-helping reading. Inattention and haste in prayer. Neglect. Irreverence. Idleness. Excessive calming by sleeping, lying down and all kinds of restlessness. Moving from place to place. Frequent exits from cells, walks and visits with friends. Celebration. Jokes. Blasphemers. Abandonment of bows and other physical feats. Forgetting your sins. Forgetting the commandments of Christ. Negligence. Captivity. Deprivation of the fear of God. Bitterness. Insensibility. Despair.

7. Vanity
The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly and vain honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and cell things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of your body. A disposition towards the dying sciences and arts of this age, a desire to succeed in them in order to acquire temporary, earthly glory. Shame to confess your sins. Hiding them before people and the spiritual father. Craftiness. Self-justification. Disclaimer. Making up your mind. Hypocrisy. Lie. Flattery. People-pleasing. Envy. Humiliation of one's neighbor. Changeability of character. Indulgence. Unconscionability. The character and life are demonic.

8. Pride
Contempt for one's neighbor. Preferring yourself to everyone. Insolence. Darkness, dullness of the mind and heart. Nailing them to the earthly. Hula. Disbelief. False mind. Disobedience to the Law of God and the Church. Following your carnal will. Reading books that are heretical, depraved and vain. Disobedience to authorities. Caustic ridicule. Abandonment of Christ-like humility and silence. Loss of simplicity. Loss of love for God and neighbor. False philosophy. Heresy. Godlessness. Ignorance. Death of the soul.
Such are the ailments, such are the ulcers that constitute the great ulcer of the old Adam, which was formed from his fall. The holy prophet Isaiah speaks about this great ulcer: from the feet even to the head there is no integrity in it: neither a scab, nor an ulcer, nor a scorching wound, do not apply a plaster, below the oil, below the bandage (Isa. 1, 6). This means, according to the explanation of the Fathers, that the ulcer - sin - is not private, and not on just one member, but on the entire being: it has embraced the body, embraced the soul, taken possession of all the properties, all the powers of a person. God called this great plague death when, forbidding Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he said: “If you take away one day from it, you will die.” (Genesis 2:17). Immediately after eating the forbidden fruit, the forefathers felt eternal death; a carnal feeling appeared in their gaze; they saw that they were naked. The knowledge of the nakedness of the body reflected the nakedness of the soul, which had lost the beauty of innocence on which the Holy Spirit rested. There is a carnal sensation in the eyes, and in the soul there is shame, in which is the accumulation of all sinful and shameful sensations: pride, impurity, sadness, despondency, and despair. The Great Plague is spiritual death; the decay that occurred after the loss of the Divine likeness is incorrigible! The Apostle calls the great plague the law of sin, the body of death (Rom. 5:23-24), because the mortified mind and heart have completely turned to the earth, slavishly serve the corruptible desires of the flesh, have become darkened, burdened, and become flesh themselves. This flesh is no longer capable of communicating with God! (Genesis 6:3). This flesh is not capable of inheriting eternal, heavenly bliss! (1 Cor. 4:50). The great plague spread over the entire human race and became the unfortunate property of every person.
Considering my great ulcer, looking at my mortification, I am filled with bitter sadness! I'm perplexed, what should I do? Will I follow the example of the old Adam, who, seeing his nakedness, hastens to hide from God? Will I, like him, justify myself by placing the blame on the guilt of sin? It is in vain to hide from the All-Seeing One! It is in vain to justify yourself before the One who always wins, to always judge Him (Ps. 30:6).
Instead of fig leaves, I will clothe myself with tears of repentance; Instead of justification, I will bring sincere consciousness. Clothed in repentance and tears, will I appear before the face of my God? Is it in heaven? I have been expelled from there, and the cherub standing at the entrance will not let me in! By the very burden of my flesh I am nailed to the ground, my prison!
Sinful descendant of Adam, take heart! A light has shone in your prison: God has descended into the low country of your exile to lead you to your lost highland fatherland. You wanted to know good and evil: He leaves you this knowledge. You wanted to become like God, and from this you became like the devil in your soul, like cattle and beasts in your body; God, uniting you with Himself, makes you God by grace. He forgives your sins. This is not enough! He will remove the root of evil from your soul, the very infection of sin, hell, cast into your soul by the devil, and will give you medicine for the entire path of your earthly life for healing from sin, no matter how many times you become infected with it, due to your weakness. This healing is the confession of sins. Do you want to put off the old Adam, you, who through holy baptism have already been clothed in the New Adam, but through your own iniquities managed to revive old age and death in yourself, to choke life, to make it half-dead? Do you want, enslaved to sin, drawn to it by the violence of habit, to regain your freedom and righteousness? Immerse yourself in humility! Conquer vain shame, which teaches you to hypocritically and craftily pretend to be righteous and thereby preserve and strengthen spiritual death within yourself. Cast out sin, enter into hostility with sin by sincere confession of sin. This healing must precede all others; without it, healing through prayer, tears, fasting and all other means will be insufficient, unsatisfactory, fragile. Go, proud one, to your spiritual father, at his feet find the mercy of the Heavenly Father! One, one sincere and frequent confession can free one from sinful habits, make repentance fruitful, and correction lasting and true.
In a brief moment of tenderness, in which the eyes of the mind are opened for self-knowledge, which comes so rarely, I wrote this as an accusation to myself, as an admonition, reminder, instruction. And you, who with faith and love for Christ read these lines and, perhaps, find in them something useful for yourself, bring a heartfelt sigh and prayer for the soul that has suffered much from the waves of sin, that has often seen drowning and destruction before itself, that has found rest in one refuge: in confession of one’s sins.

About the virtues opposite the eight main sinful passions HERE: http://www.wco.ru/biblio/books/ignbr9/Main.htm
The repentant is required to:
Consciousness of one's sins. Condemning yourself in them. Self-accusation before the confessor. Repentance is not only in word, but also in deed. Repentance is correction—new life. Contrition and tears. Belief in the forgiveness of sins. Hate past sins. The fight against sin attracts the grace of God. Sins shorten our lives...

Here is an excerpt from the book.

On the virtues opposite to the eight main sinful passions

1. Abstinence

Avoidance of excessive consumption of food and nutrition, especially excessive consumption of wine. Maintaining strict fasts established by the Church, curbing the flesh with moderate and constantly equal consumption of food, from which all passions in general begin to weaken, and especially self-love, which consists of a wordless love of the flesh, its life and peace.

2. Chastity

Avoidance of all kinds of fornication. Avoidance of voluptuous conversations and reading, from the pronunciation of voluptuous, nasty and ambiguous words. Storing the senses, especially sight and hearing, and even more so the sense of touch. Modesty. Rejection of the thoughts and dreams of prodigals. Silence. Silence. Ministry to the sick and disabled. Memories of death and hell. The beginning of chastity is a mind that does not waver from lustful thoughts and dreams; the perfection of chastity is purity that sees God.

3. Non-covetousness

Satisfying yourself with one thing necessary. Hatred of luxury and bliss. Mercy for the poor. Loving the poverty of the Gospel. Trust in God's providence. Following Christ's commandments. Calmness and freedom of spirit and carelessness. Softness of heart.

4. Meekness

Avoidance of angry thoughts and indignation of the heart with rage. Patience. Following Christ, who calls His disciple to the cross. Peace of the heart. Silence of the mind. Christian firmness and courage. Not feeling insulted. Kindness.

5. Blessed cry

A feeling of decline, common to all people, and of one’s own spiritual poverty. Lamentation about them. Cry of the mind. Painful contrition of the heart. The lightness of conscience, grace-filled consolation and joy that vegetates from them. Hope in God's mercy. Thanks be to God in sorrows, their humble enduring from the sight of their many sins. Willingness to endure. Cleansing the mind. Relief from passions. Mortification of the world. The desire for prayer, solitude, obedience, humility, confession of one’s sins.

6. Sobriety

Zeal for every good deed. Non-slothful correction of church and cell rules. Attention when praying. Careful observation of all your deeds, words, thoughts and feelings. Extreme self-distrust. Continuous stay in prayer and the Word of God. Awe. Constant vigilance over oneself. Keeping yourself from a lot of sleep and effeminacy, idle talk, jokes and sharp words. Love of night vigils, bows and other feats that bring cheerfulness to the soul. Rare, if possible, departure from cells. Remembrance of eternal blessings, desire and expectation of them.

7. Humility

Fear of God. Feeling it during prayer. Fear that arises during especially pure prayer, when the presence and greatness of God is felt especially strongly, so as not to disappear and turn into nothing. Deep knowledge of one's insignificance. A change in view of neighbors, and they, without any coercion, seem to the humbled person to be superior to him in all respects. The manifestation of simplicity from living faith. Hatred of human praise. Constant blaming and beating yourself up. Rightness and directness. Impartiality. Deadness to everything. Tenderness. Knowledge of the mystery hidden in the Cross of Christ. The desire to crucify oneself to the world and passions, the desire for this crucifixion. Rejection and oblivion of flattering customs and words, modest due to compulsion or intent, or the skill of pretending. Perception of the riot of the gospel. Rejection of earthly wisdom as obscene before God (Luke 16:15). Leaving word justification. Silence before those who offend, studied in the Gospel. Putting aside all your own speculations and accepting the mind of the Gospel. The casting down of every thought placed upon the mind of Christ. Humility or spiritual reasoning. Conscious obedience to the Church in everything.

8. Love

Changing during prayer the fear of God into the love of God. Loyalty to the Lord, proven by the constant rejection of every sinful thought and feeling. The indescribable, sweet attraction of the whole person with love for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the worshiped Holy Trinity. Seeing the image of God and Christ in others; resulting from this spiritual vision, the preference for oneself over all neighbors, their reverent veneration for the Lord. Love for neighbors is brotherly, pure, equal to everyone, joyful, impartial, flaming equally towards friends and enemies. Admiration for prayer and love of the mind, heart and whole body. Indescribable pleasure of the body with spiritual joy. Spiritual intoxication. Relaxation of bodily members with spiritual consolation (St. Isaac of Syria. Sermon 44). Inactivity of the bodily senses during prayer. Resolution from the muteness of the heart's tongue. Stopping prayer from spiritual sweetness. Silence of the mind. Enlightening the mind and heart. Prayer power that overcomes sin. Peace of Christ. Retreat of all passions. The absorption of all understandings into the superior mind of Christ. Theology. Knowledge of incorporeal beings. The weakness of sinful thoughts that cannot be imagined in the mind.

Sweetness and abundant consolation in times of sorrow. Vision of human structures. The depth of humility and the most humiliating opinion of oneself... The end is endless!

CONFESSION. SACRAMENT OF REPENTANCE

To help the penitent.

By blessing His Holiness Patriarch Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II

To the reader

P repentance is called the second baptism: if baptism frees us from the power of original sin, then repentance washes away the filth of our own sins committed after baptism. However, in order to

To repent and receive remission of sins, you need to see your sin. And it's not that simple. Self-love, self-pity, self-justification interfere with this. We tend to consider a bad act of which our conscience accuses us of being an “accident” and blame circumstances or our neighbors for it. Meanwhile, every sin in deed, in word

or thought is a consequence of the passion living in us - a kind of spiritual illness.

If it is difficult for us to recognize our sin, then it is even more difficult to see the passion that has taken root in us. So, we can live without suspecting the passion of pride in ourselves until someone hurts us. Then passion will be revealed through sin: wishing harm to the offender, a harsh offensive word, and even revenge.

The fight against passions is the main task of Christian ascetics, especially monastics. But every Christian seeking salvation must face this struggle, albeit to varying degrees, for each state of the human soul is characterized by both its own measure of virtues and its own measure of struggle against evil, which prevents the virtues from establishing themselves in the soul.

Therefore, having taken upon myself the labor of publishing this small book to help the repentant, we hope that it will help the reader understand himself, see his sins, recognize the sinful illnesses of his soul and, through repentance, find a saving path to the Kingdom of Heaven.

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About the sinful ailments of the human soul

Through the transgression of the first man, sin entered the world (Rom. 5:12), and the human race was filled with all sorts of

lawlessness. Mouths will not proclaim the deeds of men! It is impossible to count all the countless 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 sin, which offends his Lord and Savior, cannot help but desire to follow His commandments, but how obvious is our powerlessness

good striving to be faithful to Christ!

The reason for our constant falls is sinful diseases our soul.

The primordial man, in the Fall, rejected and trampled on the will of God, choosing his own will instead, and wanted to be a self-sufficient being, independent of God, unrestricted by anything in his endless demands. This is the state of the soul of a person, St. fathers call “selfishness”, or “conceit”, and it is characteristic of all people,

as heirs of the fall of our ancestors.

As a result of the Fall, man withdrew from God, lost Divine communion and fell under the power of the devil. IN

The devil sowed sinful thoughts in the soul of a person who fell into crime and moved away from God and established the law of sin (St. Athanasius the Great). According to patristic teaching, "evil thoughts", or passion ,

growing from original sin, and are the source of countless sinful human deeds.

By passionate disposition the soul, originally created in the likeness of God and destined for communion with God,

alienated from God and, as a result, deprived of eternal, true life. “Evil thoughts” deceive a person with deceptive sweetness and plunge him into slavery to sin. Working with passions, usually a person does not feel this slavery at all. And only having entered into the fight against sinful evil, he begins to experience the greatest suffering from slavery to the “law of sin” (Rom. 7:23). And the saints who reached high levels of moral perfection experienced one “attack” of passion as martyrdom.

If passions are diseases of the human soul, then virtues are naturally inherent in it - properties of the soul,

opposite to passions and together constituting the perfection and godlikeness of man. Virtue -

this is not a “good deed”, not an act in itself, just as passions are different from sinful deeds. “Virtue is the mood of the heart when what is done is truly pleasing to God” (St. Mark the Ascetic) - for not every 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. restoration of communion with God destroyed by sin. Only those “who approach God through holiness of life and virtue” can achieve this goal (St. Justin Martyr). But “the barrier to the innermost virtues of the soul” are passions, and therefore for salvation it is absolutely necessary, first of all, cleanse yourself of passions, open this “door closed in the face of purity” (St.

Isaac the Syrian).

But is this possible? The Holy Scriptures and the works of the Holy Fathers agree that this is impossible through human efforts. But this is why the Savior came to earth, to restore the soul of man “in

its primitive state,” to deliver from a passionate state. And the commandments were given by the Lord as medicine 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, by observing the commandments, can be cleansed not only from sins, such as sinful deeds, but also from passions, from their evil habits and increase in virtue. But this is achieved through internal struggle and pious deeds, and not only through one’s own strength, but with the assistance of God’s grace.

Passions do not easily obey 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 passions; but a weak person cannot fulfill them

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passions... Therefore, purity from passions, like any virtue, cannot appear in a person except by fighting - moreover, “to the point of blood... against sin” (Heb. 12:4). About the same thing, how difficult this struggle is and how

impossible without God's help, testify to the lives of numerous Christian ascetics.

The holy ascetic fathers were not only able to recognize passions, but also knew the cures for each of them.

The doctrine of passions and the fight against them, developed to the point of subtlety, can be found in the works of Evagrius, St. John Cassian the Roman, Nile of Sinai, Ephraim the Syrian, John Climacus, Gregory Palamas and other fathers

ascetics. 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 skill for it through long-term experience (St. Gregory of Nyssa). That's why St. Ignatius Brianchaninov advises people inexperienced in 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 us into despondency, bewilderment, and confusion. God knows our sins, and if we constantly resort to Him in repentance, He will gradually heal our very sinfulness, that is, sinful skills,

qualities of the heart" (from a letter).

It is important, knowing our countless sins and failures, to achieve awareness of the general painful state of our soul, its sinfulness, stricken by sin and in sincere heartfelt repentance resort to the only Doctor,

who can heal us from our ailments that cannot be cured 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”).

Conversation about sins and repentance

(Compiled from the book of Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) “Confession”)

Sins are usually called not only sinful deeds, i.e. actions, deeds, words, thoughts, feelings,

contrary to the commandments of God, the Christian moral law, but often also the causes of sinful deeds -

passions and sinful habits of the human soul, as contrary to God’s plan for man, perverting perfection human nature created in the likeness of God.

Our daily prayers at home remind us of our sins: the evening prayer to the Holy Spirit,

daily confession of sins at the end of evening prayers, as well as the fourth prayer for holy communion: “For at Thy terrible and impartial judgment is coming...” (placed, however, not 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 a confession built on this principle is contained, for example, in

the book “The Experience of Constructing a Confession” by Archimandrite John Krestyankin (ed. Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, 1992).

This manual is especially valuable because it represents living word shepherd to our Christian contemporaries.

In it you 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 ancient people Israeli, much broader and deeper than the Old Testament. Violation of a commandment is considered a sin not only in deed, but also in thought and desire. However, the last, tenth commandment, as if preparing the Old Testament people for a perfect understanding of the Law, says: “You shall not covet.”

In the appendix to this book we place a fairly complete and detailed listing of sins in the “General Confession”.

Sins against God, neighbors and one's own soul

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 describing, but simply listing all their multitude is not part of the scope of this book, and it is impossible.

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Sins against God

WITH modern people for the most part forgot about God, forgot or did not even know the way to the temple of God, oh

At best, prayer was only heard. But if we are believers, then weren’t they hiding their faith for the sake of false shame and fear of people? If so, then didn’t the Lord say about us: “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels” (Mark 8:38)?

One of the most serious sins is deliberate swearing at God and faith, blasphemy and murmuring against God . For the last sin, the possessed and a significant number of the insane were subjected to their illness.

Blasphemy. We commit this sin when we mockingly speak about the various beliefs of the Church and its sacred customs, about which we understand nothing; also when we do not stand up for the faith, hearing obviously false and unscrupulous reproaches against it.

False oath; constant and irreverent worship . The latter reveals a person’s lack of fear of God and disdain for the greatness of God.

We sin against God by we don't fulfill our vows to reform or pious vows to undertake some feat or perform a work of charity. For this, the Lord often sends to the sinful soul a feeling of severe despondency or seemingly causeless anger, melancholy or fear - so that, remembering the unfulfilled vow, it would repent and correct its sin.

The fact that we don't visit church services . Christians must attend the services of the Holy Church at least on Sundays and holidays, and if we do not do this, then we sin before God.

It is unwise to comfort yourself with the thought that most people do not attend church at all. According to the rules of St.

The apostles who were absent from church for three weeks in a row were completely separated from church fellowship.

The fact that We don’t pray every day at home.. Not to mention 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 just a playground of passions: or debauchery, or drunkenness, or covetousness, or despondency - for only with a constant struggle against ourselves and Through the grace given to those who pray, a person can 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 words he speaks about salvation and cleansing from passions.

We greatly sin before God when We are interested in various mystical and occult teachings,

We show interest in heterodox and pagan sects, which especially at the present time have increased unusually. We also err in sympathizing with the belief in the transmigration of souls, which came from the ancient pagan Hindus, theosophy,

astrology.

Also superstition. Not to mention the many superstitions we inherited from our ancestors -

pagans, we are often carried away by the absurd superstitions of modern educated society: more and more new inventions and fantastic theories, accepted only at the request of fashion.

Sin before God is neglect of one's soul. Forgetting God, together with Him we forget our soul and do not heed it. It is impossible to listen to your soul otherwise than by opening it before God, praying to Him, reverently before Him.

Sins against neighbors

P By forgetting God and neglecting our souls, we often cause spiritual harm to our neighbors.

A particularly serious sin is gross insult to parents, constant insults inflicted on them.

The Lord said to Moses: “Whoever curses his father or his mother must be put to death” (Ex. 21:17).

And the Savior confirms this death sentence to those who slander parents, precisely as a commandment of God (Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10). The insolence of students towards teachers is similar to this sin.

Insults inflicted on neighbors. By insult we must understand not only what makes a person angry, but even more so what

harms him, and most of all harms his soul.

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chastity or modesty, obedience to parents, conscientiousness in service or study. By doing this, we make ourselves even worse sinners before God than thieves and robbers. But even more criminal are those

who tempt the innocent to sin, using efforts, sometimes prolonged ones, to do so.

When we sow doubts about faith in the hearts of our neighbors, ridicule their piety, discourage them from prayer and church, and sow discord between brothers, spouses, co-workers or comrades. All who act in this way are helpers and servants of the devil, who receives strong power over them, for they themselves have given themselves into obedience to his will.

The same goes for slandering one’s neighbors in conversations with people and in the press, as well as condemnation without confidence that one’s neighbors are really guilty.

Sin against one's neighbor - hatred, gloating instead of compassion. This sin is like murder (1 John 3,

Grudge, even if it is not expressed in vindictiveness. It counts our prayers as nothing, 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 many new evils: laziness, deception, insolence against parents or superiors, seeking sensual pleasures, theft, rejection of the fear of God, robbery and murder,

rejection of faith itself.

Evil feelings of disobedience, and especially rancor and gloating, grow in the soul that loves

condemn . Along with the habit of needlessly judging people, we develop a delight in the shortcomings of our neighbors, and

then a reluctance to recognize something good in them, and from here it is already close to both gloating and rancor.

Sins against one's own soul

M We also turn out to be unworthy masters of our own soul, which God gave us to make it capable of serving Him and our neighbors. A soul that has submitted to God is alwaysdissatisfied with myself and reproaches

themselves, except for direct violations of God’s commandments, for their careless fulfillment.

Sin of laziness. We try to go to the church where the service ends earlier, we shorten the prayers, we are lazy to visit the sick or prisons, according to the commandment of God, we do not care about charity, mercy and service.

to our neighbors - in a word, we are lazy to “work for the Lord” (Acts 20:19) selflessly, unselfishly. We love to engage in idle talk when it’s time to work, we love to visit houses where there is nothing useful or pleasing to the soul,

just to kill time, instead of using it usefully.

Idle talk develops the habit of lying, not caring about the truth, but saying what is pleasing to the ear. And this is not an unimportant matter: all bad deeds in the world are seasoned with lies and slander. No wonder Satan is called the father of lies.

From the habit of lying comes flattery. In human society, this instrument of all kinds of earthly acquisitions has become common.

The opposite sin of flattery is habit of swearing, which is so common now, especially among young people.

Abusive words coarse the soul and offend interlocutors. The Lord is especially angry with those who call their neighbors by the names of evil spirits. A Christian who values ​​his salvation will not say such words.

The sin of impatience. It is the cause of a good half of our quarrels and sorrows in the family, at work, in society,

occurring because we did not try to restrain for a few minutes the feelings of irritation at someone’s carelessness or malfunction, or at the offense caused to us. The feat of patience is also necessary for observing fasts, for violation of which a Christian is excommunicated by councils for two years from holy communion; compliance with

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they are the best way to curb passions, acquire virtues and acquire a disposition towards prayer and spiritual reading.

According to patristic teaching, every sin deprives a person of the grace of God, makes him alien to God, and -

as a consequence of this alienation, it deprives one of spiritual life. You can only be healed from sinful death by bringing sincere repentance.

Repentance is not just repentance for individual sinful acts, but the rejection of one’s previous sinful life, built on the principles of pride and self-indulgence, and the choice of life “according to God,” according to the will of God, in keeping God’s commandments. True Christian life begins with repentance and everything must be imbued with a repentant mood. No cures for sinful illnesses are ineffective and useless if they are not dissolved by repentance. Every person seeking salvation has only one need to find this difficult and painful path.

“The path of repentance... is sanctified by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, shining from the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the fathers... - writes St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. - On the path of repentance you will not find contentment with yourself. Looking within yourself, you will not find anything that flatters your self-conceit. Your weeping and your tears will comfort you, your consolation will be ease and freedom of conscience. Such is the lot and destiny set aside by God for those whom He has chosen for the spiritual,

true service to Self" (from a letter).

But there are sinful illnesses of the soul associated with false views of piety and life in general,

which hinder repentance and thereby place a person, essentially, outside the Church, outside the society of those who are being saved.

This is the essence of the following.

Unbelief and lack of faith. Unbelief is a conscious persistent rejection of the truths of faith. It is necessary to distinguish real unbelief and doubt from imaginary and apparent, which often comes from suspiciousness. The sin of unbelief or lack of faith is also doubt in the sacraments of the church.

Self-delusion and charm. This is an imaginary closeness to God and, in general, to anything Divine and supernatural. Christians who are zealous for external exploits are sometimes subject to self-delusion.

Surpassing their acquaintances in feats of fasting and prayer, they already imagine themselves as spectators of Divine visions or,

at least blessed dreams; in all cases of their lives they see special, deliberate instructions from God or the Guardian Angel, and then they imagine themselves as special chosen ones of God and often try to predict the future. The Holy Fathers do not arm themselves against anything as ardently as against this particular disease -

spiritual charm. This fatal disease has especially spread in our time, starting from the end of the last century:

Johannites, Churikovites and similar followers of the newly-minted “prophets” and “Christs”.

Long-term concealment of sin. Such a disastrous state of the human soul is associated with the fear of consciousness in sin and is most often the result of sins or very shameful and dirty ones (unnatural, according to the seventh commandment,

such as incest, bestiality, child molestation) or criminal: murder, infanticide, theft, robbery,

attempted poisoning, malicious slander out of jealousy or envy, instilling hatred towards loved ones, inciting neighbors against the Church and faith, and the like. Due to false shame or fear, a person who has committed a sin sometimes suffers all his life, considering himself lost to salvation. And it can really destroy your soul if,

For example, sudden death will deprive him of the opportunity to repent. This sinful illness entails another, no less, evil - lying in confession.

Despair. Often this feeling oppresses a person after irreparable sins, for example: infanticide or destruction of a fetus, causing irreparable harm to someone, misfortune; sometimes because of one’s own sorrows - the death of children, considered God’s punishment for previous sins, complicated circumstances, etc. Despair always has in itself the hidden poison of pride or self-love, as if the beginning of some kind of murmur and reproach to the providence of God,

an angry feeling towards God or people.

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CONFESSION. SACRAMENT OF REPENTANCE

Carelessness and petrified insensibility. This is the opposite of despair. It manifests itself, for example, in the fact that people commit serious sins - such as fornication, hurting their wife and parents, deception, completely removing their lives from the temple of God - and admit it, but with a light heart, they do not realize the destruction of these sins and They don’t think about starting a fight with them.

Self-justification and blaming others. The spirit of self-justification is one of main enemies our salvation.

Whether we are saved or far from salvation is determined not by the number of our sins, but by the ability to recognize ourselves as guilty and sinful, the degree of contrition for our sins. Also by the insults inflicted on us by our neighbors,

injustice towards us, we are not at all justified before God, but are responsible for our own guilt and passions that we have sinned with.

The opposite of self-justification, the willingness to blame oneself and not others for everything is a great virtue that not only elevates a person in the eyes of God, but also attracts the hearts of people to him.

Passions, their sinful deeds and some treatments against them

P repentance consists not only in confessing sinful deeds, but most of all in the desire and desire to free ourselves from the sinful states that captivate us, i.e. passions It is important to see and confess your sins in action,

in a word, I think. But to heal the soul from sinful illnesses, limiting yourself to repentance for individual sinful acts is far from sufficient. Fight only against sins that are revealed in actions,

just as unsuccessful as cutting off the weeds that appear in the garden, instead of pulling them out

root and throw away.

The doctrine of healing the soul is usually located by the ancient fathers in relation to the main passions,

the name and number of which are the same for most teachers of asceticism. Among the holy fathers they are arranged in a certain order, which is not at all random, since there is an internal connection between the passions. “Evil passions and wickedness are not only introduced one through the other, but are also similar to one another,” -

teaches St. Gregory Palamas. The main passions are the following: gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sadness,

despondency, vanity and pride. This scheme does not exhaust all the passions existing in the fallen world. But every passionate movement of the human soul can be reduced to the main vices listed. St. John Cassian even presents a kind of “pedigree table” of all the other “most famous” vices

(see: Interviews of Egyptian ascetics. Interview 5. §16).

In this book we place a description of the eight main passions and the virtues opposite to them in their manifestations (deeds), compiled by Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) on the basis of patristic teaching.

The ascetic fathers also give advice regarding the healing of passions - both general and for each passion separately.

The first general cure for any passion is to recognize its sinfulness and destructiveness,

recognize yourself as suffering from this passion, spiritually sick and in need of healing. The second cure should be “righteous anger” against passion itself. This is why the Creator put in us the ability to be angry, in order to direct this feeling towards our sins, passions and the devil, and not at all towards our neighbors,

neither against enemies, nor against those who hate us... By these means, passion is weakened, but not completely killed.

The fight against passion cannot be easy or short-lived. And the main means in this struggle is prayer to the Lord for help in our battle and for healing. Then you need to fight the very manifestations of passion,

refrain from its manifestations: sinful thoughts, words, actions and deeds. While fighting against passion, against a sinful disposition, one must certainly take care of instilling in the soul a virtue that is opposite to this passion.

The variety of all possible sinful states and manifestations of the human soul is infinite, so below we will dwell only on the main and most common ones, and speaking about healing them, we do not have the goal of exhausting all means, but we will point out only the main ones, for the variety of human characters is also endless,

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CONFESSION. SACRAMENT OF REPENTANCE

positions and moods. In each specific case, you need to follow the advice of a confessor who knows our

external circumstances, and the internal structure of the soul.

G the tender passion in us is revealed by our frequent quarrels with our family and those with whom we have to constantly come into contact in Everyday life. We are usually angry when our orders are not carried out, any

not enough polite word or attitude towards us.

For the most part, anger is not an independent passion in the human heart - it expresses dissatisfaction with another passion or even random desires. People often get angry at others

passions living in a person. Among the vain and money-loving, anger is expressed in envy, among the dissolute - in jealousy,

among those devoted to gluttony - in pickiness, etc.

The passion of anger, which possesses a person for a long time, if he does not bring tearful repentance about it, often turns into

Hatred is the most disgusting sin in the sight of God, for he who hates his brother is a murderer (1 John.

The opposite virtue of anger is absence of anger and associated meekness. The great gain is freedom from anger:

You will make many friends with this gift - both in heaven and on earth... The most effective, although bitter at first use, medicine against anger and irritability is to ask for forgiveness after a quarrel. It can be bitter, but it is bitter only for the proud. And if it seems so unbearable, then it exposes another in a person. serious illness- pride.

Pride and vanity

G For the majority of modern people, the sin of pride is their permanent state and is not considered a sin at all, but is called “self-esteem,” “honor,” etc. Of course, not only ours

contemporaries suffer from pride: only saints are free from it, and the descendants of Adam who did not crucify their passions bear this burden and must fight until they are freed from its burden.

Pride has two types - vanity and inner, or spiritual, pride. First passion

chases human praise and celebrity. The second is a more subtle and more dangerous feeling: it is filled with confidence in its own merits, so that it does not want to seek human praise.

Vainglorious thoughts often appear in reverent and humble-hearted people, even in the midst of their godly deeds. In these cases, you need to continue to do useful work, and for thoughts of vanity that burst into the soul,

reproach yourself and act against them. Not only the Lord, but also intelligent observers of life always see who works for business and who out of vanity. We must always check our conscience to see if the impulse of vanity was involved in our affairs, and then repent of this sin, but not give up.

Spiritual pride manifests itself in exalting oneself over others. When fighting this passion, you need to remind yourself of your many sins and passions at every manifestation of it. It is especially important to force yourself to ask for forgiveness and endure punishment without complaint.

Prodigal passion

AND It can be difficult to get rid of this passion even for ascetics who have selflessly surrendered to God. Sensual temptations continue to chase them even into the monastery and the desert. Marriage also does not liberate

completely out of this passion...

Sins arising from fornication are called sins against chastity. These sins are prohibited by the seventh commandment of the Law of God, therefore they are often also called “sins against the seventh commandment.” These are the essence:

adultery (adultery), fornication (cohabitation outside of marriage), incest (carnal relations between close relatives), unnatural sins, secret carnal sins. The degree of their severity can be judged by the fact that in the missals there are not so many questions and penances for any sin as for the sin of unchastity.

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CONFESSION. SACRAMENT OF REPENTANCE

The sins of unchastity, which destroy the souls of those who indulge in them, are punished by God with terrible illnesses and entail many other troubles: the ruin of families, suicide, infanticide, the destruction of the fetus, which, according to the rules of the Ecumenical Councils, is charged equally with infanticide. The latter crime has now become fashionable, and

the majority do not understand the gravity of this sin, but this in no way diminishes the guilt of its perpetrators.

To get rid of these sins, the pastors of the Church strongly advise, first of all, to definitely resort to confession. Many are ashamed to confess these sins, but until a Christian (or Christian woman) confesses his fall, he will return to it again and again and gradually fall into complete despair, or, conversely,

shamelessness and godlessness.

To cleanse the soul, clogged with nasty sensual passion, one should move away from everything that leads to sin,

from allies in sin, from a society where it is common and considered “normal.” Next, you must fill your life useful work, physical or mental, surround yourself with acquaintance or friendship with good people; the most important thing is to become closer to our Heavenly Father and resort to Him in prayer.

Drunkenness

P The evil of drunkenness, like unchastity, comes from unbelief, being its direct consequence. This is one of the most disastrous spiritual diseases for our Orthodox people. Drunkenness is the sister of debauchery and

all crimes in general.

The holy fathers associate this sinful passion with gluttony, but it also has other roots. Usually those who indulge in drunkenness are either filled with lustful passion, which they cannot indulge in when sober, or,

even more often, they are obsessed with unsatisfied ambition or embitterment at their failed life, or they are tormented by anger and envy. These passions aggravate the painful state of the soul, and a person often falls into the shameful captivity of binges, unable to resist them, even if he has already hated his vice and asks God and people to teach him to get rid of it.

Healing from this passion sometimes seems hopeless. But nothing is impossible with God. To heal this passion, the feat of a long and difficult journey and humiliated prayer before his Heavenly Father is necessary, leaving Whom through self-will and disobedience, a person fell into grave troubles, like the prodigal son in the Gospel parable. From youth, you need to keep yourself from wine, lead a sober, abstinent life.

H that is, despondency? This is the loss of that spiritual cheerfulness about God, which is nourished by the hope of His merciful providence for us. For people who care about their salvation, this passion takes away their love for

prayer, a melancholy mood penetrates the soul, becoming constant over time, a feeling of loneliness, abandonment by relatives, by all people in general, and even by God comes. Among the laity, this mental illness is sometimes expressed in anger, irritability, and often in binge drinking.

Despair is often a consequence of a forgotten fall or a hidden, imperceptible passion: envy,

prodigal passions, ambition, love of money, desire for revenge on the offender. Dejection can also be caused by overwork or oppressive worries. Often despondency comes from the excessive and arbitrary exploits of those who are especially zealous for the exploits of Christians.

A Christian who has become impoverished in prayer and given over to despondency must, first of all, try to find the cause of the passion that oppresses him, the sinful desire that was its cause, and enter into a struggle with it. And even before

than he defeats this sinful desire, the spirit of prayer, even purely fervent, will return to him for the sheer determination to overcome the evil within himself.

There is despondency as a result of surging external troubles and sorrows that are beyond our control - from disbelief in God’s providence, disobedience to it, ungodly anger, grumbling. We must fear such a state and ask God for forgiveness and help, and then the spirit of despondency will leave us, and in sorrow the consolation of God will certainly come and be accepted by the soul, surpassing all earthly consolations.

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Envy is one of the most terrible evils that plague the human race. "The devil's envy entered into

the world is death" (Wisdom 2:24). Envy is usually combined with an even more disgusting feeling - gloating

And it is connected with some other passion: vanity, or greed, or ambition. It is directed against another person - one’s rival - in aspirations corresponding to these passions.

To overcome envy, one must resist not only envy itself, but, first of all, those selfish basic passions of one’s soul from which it is born. If you suppress your ambition, you will not envy a comrade or colleague who has succeeded more than you; if you are not a lover of money, you will not envy your neighbor who has become rich, etc.

The source of all human passions in general is self-love. Envy most closely stems from the selfish desire for wealth and fame. But all this is very sinful: one should wish for oneself only salvation in heaven, and on earth - patience and a clear conscience.

The passion of envy allowed into the soul, even if it has itself become the subject of holy anger and struggle against it, still often awakens in the form annoying, unfriendly feeling and even influences a person’s thought, forcing him to interpret in an unkind way all the actions and words of his ill-wisher or that neighbor whom he envies. Such untruth, dishonesty of thought is a shameful phenomenon, and every Christian must stop himself from any desire or inner urge to speak biasedly about his neighbor out of envy or malice, and not out of truth. This will also be the struggle against the passion of envy, which is fueled by malicious antics against an opponent. Without receiving such food, passion itself gradually fades away.

Love of money

IN The pangs of anger, selfishness (pride) and fornication, even if they often distract a person from God, then burst into a person’s soul like blind impulses, like attacking enemies against his will; love of money and stinginess have

the property of a calm mood of the soul and direction of the will. Moreover, lovers of money transgress against the True God in that have other gods. Meanwhile, enrichment, as the guiding goal of all life,

turns out to be the lot of many people who love the Church and live abstinently and soberly.

The passion of love of money leads to many sins. A person addicted to wealth certainly rejects those in need, does not help relatives, does not support the Church, plunges his fellow traders into need, and is heartless and cruel. The love of money entails deception, covetousness, unmercifulness towards neighbors and a whole host of sins against the second, eighth and tenth commandments of the Law of God. The sin of theft and robbery is especially grave in relation to church property.

The cure for this passion is abstinence from the sinful acts it produces, rejection of the false fear of ruin, poverty, unsecured old age, etc. Thus, a merchant or owner, if it is impossible to maintain his well-being without deceit or causing harm to a rival, let him condemn himself to loss and even ruin, but not deviate from the requirement of honesty... In addition, this passion is cured by alms and charity.

About passions and virtues

based on the works of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) (Published from the 1st volume of Works, with slight abbreviations)

Eight main passions

1. Gluttony (or gluttony)

Binge eating, drunkenness, non-keeping and allowing fasting, secret eating, delicacy, any violation of abstinence.

Incorrect and excessive love of the flesh, its life and peace, which constitutes self-love, which leads to failure to remain faithful to God, the Church, virtue and people.

About repentance

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matthew 9:13), Even in His earthly life he established the sacrament of forgiveness of sins. He released the harlot, who had washed His feet with tears of repentance, with the words: “Your sins are forgiven... your faith has saved you, go in peace.” (Luke 7, 48, 50). He healed the paralytic brought to Him on his bed, saying: “Your sins are forgiven... but so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,” then He said to the paralytic, “get up, take up your bed and go to your house.” » (Matt. 9, 2, 6).

He transferred this power to the apostles, and they to the priests of the Church of Christ, who have the right to resolve sinful bonds, that is, to free the soul from the sins committed and affecting it. If only a person came to confession with a feeling of repentance, awareness of his untruths and a desire to cleanse his soul of sinful burdens...

This brochure is intended to help the repentant: it contains a list of sins compiled on the basis of the “general confession” of St. Demetrius of Rostov.

Sins against God and the Church
* Disobedience to the will of God. Clear disagreement with the will of God as expressed in His commandments, Holy Scripture, the instructions of the spiritual father, the voice of conscience, reinterpreting the will of God in one’s own way, in a sense beneficial to oneself for the purpose of self-justification or condemnation of one’s neighbor, placing one’s own will above the will of Christ, zeal beyond reason in ascetic exercises and forcing others to follow oneself, failure to fulfill promises, given to God in previous confessions.

* Murmuring against God. This sin is a consequence of distrust in God, which can lead to complete falling away from the Church, loss of faith, apostasy and opposition to God. The opposite virtue to this sin is humility before God’s Providence for oneself.

* Ingratitude to God. A person often turns to God in times of trials, sorrows and illnesses, asking to soften or even get rid of them; on the contrary, during periods of external well-being, he forgets about Him, not realizing that he is using His good gift, and does not thank him for it. The opposite virtue is constant gratitude to the Heavenly Father for the trials, consolations, spiritual joys and earthly happiness He sends.

* Lack of faith, doubt in the truth of Holy Scripture and Tradition (that is, in the dogmas of the Church, its canons, the legality and correctness of the hierarchy, the performance of worship, the authority of the writings of the Holy Fathers). Renunciation of faith in God out of fear of people and concern for earthly well-being.

Lack of faith - the absence of complete, deep conviction in any Christian truth or the acceptance of this truth only with the mind, but not with the heart. This sinful state arises out of doubt or lack of zeal for the true knowledge of God. Lack of faith is to the heart what doubt is to the mind. It relaxes the heart on the path of fulfilling the will of God. Confession helps to drive out lack of faith and strengthen the heart.

Doubt is a thought that violates (obviously and vaguely) the conviction in the truth of the teachings of Christ and His Church in general and in particular, for example, doubts in the Gospel commandments, doubts in dogmas, that is, any member of the Creed, in the holiness of something recognized by the Church saint or event Sacred history, celebrated in the Church, in the inspiration of the Holy Fathers; doubt in the veneration of holy icons and relics of holy saints, in the invisible Divine presence, in worship and in the sacraments.

In life, you need to learn to distinguish between “empty” doubts aroused by demons, environment(the world) and one’s own sin-darkened mind - such doubts must be rejected by an act of will - and real spiritual problems that must be resolved based on complete trust in God and His Church, forcing oneself to complete self-disclosure before the Lord in the presence of a confessor. It is better to confess all doubts: both those that were rejected by the inner spiritual eye, and especially those that were accepted in the heart and gave rise to confusion and despondency there. In this way the mind is purified and enlightened and faith is strengthened.

Doubt can arise on the basis of excessive trust in oneself, being carried away by other people’s opinions, and little zeal for the awareness of one’s faith. The fruit of doubt is relaxation in following the path of salvation, opposition to the will of God.

* Passivity(little zeal, lack of effort) in the knowledge of Christian truth, the teachings of Christ and His Church. Lack of desire (if there is such an opportunity) to read the Holy Scriptures, the works of the holy fathers, to ponder and comprehend with the heart the dogmas of faith, to understand the meaning of worship. This sin arises from mental laziness or excessive fear of falling into any doubt. As a result, the truths of faith are absorbed superficially, thoughtlessly, mechanically, and in the end a person’s ability to effectively and consciously fulfill the will of God in life is undermined.

* Heresies and superstitions. Heresy is a false teaching related to spiritual world and communication with him, rejected by the Church as being in clear contradiction with Holy Scripture and Tradition. Personal pride, excessive trust in one’s own mind and personal spiritual experience often leads to heresy. The reason for heretical opinions and judgments may also be insufficient knowledge of the teachings of the Church, or theological ignorance.

* Ritualism. Adherence to the letter of Scripture and Tradition, attaching importance only to the external side of church life while forgetting its meaning and purpose - these vices are united under the name of ritualism. Belief in the saving significance of only the exact fulfillment of ritual actions in themselves, without taking into account their inner spiritual meaning, testifies to the inferiority of faith and a decrease in reverence for God, forgetting that a Christian must “serve God in the renewal of the spirit, and not according to the old letter.” (Rom. 7:6). Ritualism arises due to insufficient understanding of good news Christ, but “He gave us the ability to be ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit, because the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:6). Ritualism testifies to an inadequate perception of the teachings of the Church, which does not correspond to its greatness, or to an unreasonable zeal for service, which does not correspond to the will of God. Ritualism, which is quite widespread among the church people, entails superstition, legalism, pride, and division.

* Mistrust of God. This sin is expressed in the lack of confidence that the primary cause of all external and internal life circumstances is the Lord, who desires our true good. Distrust of God is caused by the fact that a person has not sufficiently become accustomed to the Gospel Revelation, has not felt its main point: the voluntary suffering, crucifixion, death and resurrection of the Son of God.

From distrust of God arise such sins as lack of constant gratitude to Him, despondency, despair (especially in illness, sorrow), cowardice in circumstances, fear of the future, vain attempts to insure against suffering and avoid trials, and in case of failure - hidden or open murmur on God and His Providence for himself. The opposite virtue is placing one’s hopes and hopes on God, fully accepting His Providence for oneself.

* Lack of fear of God and reverence for Him. Careless, absent-minded prayer, irreverent behavior in the temple, before the shrine, disrespect for the sacred dignity.

Lack of mortal memory in anticipation of the Last Judgment.

* Small jealousy(or its complete absence) to communion with God, spiritual life. Salvation is fellowship with God in Christ in eternal future life. Earthly life for the acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit, the revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven, the world of God, the sonship of God. Achieving this goal depends on God, but God will not constantly be with a person if he does not show all his zeal, love, intelligence to get closer to Him. The whole life of a Christian is directed towards this goal. If you have no love for prayer as a way of communicating with God, for the temple, for participating in the sacraments, then this is a sign of a lack of zeal for communication with God.

In relation to prayer, this manifests itself in the fact that it occurs only under duress, irregular, inattentive, relaxed, with a careless body position, mechanical, limited only to prayers learned by heart or read out. There is no constant memory of God, love and gratitude to Him as the background of all life.

Possible reasons: insensibility of the heart, passivity of the mind, lack of proper preparation for prayer, unwillingness to think through and understand with your heart and mind the meaning of the upcoming prayer work and the content of each forgiveness or doxology.

Another group of reasons: attachment of the mind, heart and will to earthly things.

In relation to temple worship, this sin is manifested in rare, irregular participation in public worship, in absent-mindedness or talking during the service, walking around the temple, distracting others from prayer with one’s requests or comments, being late for the start of the service and leaving before dismissal and blessing.

In general, this sin comes down to inability to feel the special presence of God in the temple during public worship.

Causes of sin: reluctance to enter into prayerful unity with brothers and sisters in Christ due to being burdened with earthly concerns and immersion in the vain affairs of this world, powerlessness in the fight against internal temptations sent by spiritually hostile forces that interfere and hold us back from acquiring the grace of the Holy Spirit, and , finally, pride, an unbrotherly, unloving attitude towards other parishioners, irritation and anger against them.

In relation to the Sacrament of repentance, the sin of indifference is manifested in rare confessions without proper preparation, in the preference for a general confession to a personal one in order to go through it more painlessly, in the absence of a desire to deeply know oneself, in an uncontrite and unhumble spiritual disposition, in the lack of determination to leave sin and eradicate vicious inclinations , to overcome temptations, instead - the desire to minimize sin, justify oneself, and keep silent about the most shameful actions and thoughts. By thereby committing deception in the face of the Lord Himself, who accepts confession, a person aggravates his sins.

The reasons for these phenomena are a lack of understanding of the spiritual meaning of the Sacrament of Repentance, complacency, self-pity, vanity, and an unwillingness to internally overcome demonic resistance.

We sin especially grievously against the Most Holy and Life-Giving Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, approaching Holy Communion rarely and without proper preparation, without first cleansing the soul in the Sacrament of repentance; we do not feel the need to receive communion more often, we do not maintain our purity after communion, but again we fall into vanity and indulge in vices.

The reasons for this are rooted in the fact that we do not think deeply about the meaning of the highest sacrament of the Church, we do not realize its greatness and our sinful unworthiness, the need for healing of soul and body, we do not pay attention to the insensitivity of the heart, we do not realize the influence of fallen spirits nesting in our soul, which turn us away from communion, and therefore we do not resist, but succumb to their temptation, we do not enter into struggle with them, we do not experience reverence and fear of God’s presence in the Holy Gifts, we are not afraid to partake of the Holy Place “in judgment and condemnation,” we do not worry about the constant fulfillment of our will God in life, inattentive to our hearts, subject to vanity, approaching the Holy Chalice with a hardened heart, not reconciled with our neighbors.

* Self-justification, complacency. Satisfaction with one's spiritual structure or state.

* Despair from the spectacle of one’s spiritual state and powerlessness to fight sin. In general, self-assessment of one’s own spiritual structure and state; placing spiritual judgment on oneself in contrast to what the Lord Jesus Christ said: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” (Rom. 12:19).

* Lack of spiritual sobriety constant heartfelt attention, absent-mindedness, sinful oblivion, foolishness.

* Spiritual pride attributing to oneself the gifts received from God, the desire for independent possession of any spiritual gifts and energies.

* Spiritual fornication attraction to spirits alien to Christ (occultism, eastern mysticism, theosophy). True spiritual life is being in the Holy Spirit.

* Frivolous and sacrilegious attitude towards God and the Church: using the name of God in jokes, frivolous mention of holy things, curses with the mention of His name, pronouncing the name of God without reverence.

* Spiritual individualism, tendency to isolate oneself in prayer (even during Divine Liturgy), forgetting that we are members of the Catholic Church, members of one mystical Body of Christ, members of each other.

* Spiritual egoism, spiritual voluptuousness- prayer, participation in the sacraments only for the sake of receiving spiritual pleasures, consolations and experiences.

* Impatience in Prayer and Others spiritual exploits. This includes failure to comply prayer rule, breaking fasts, eating at the wrong time, leaving church early without a particularly good reason.

* Consumer attitude towards God and the Church, when there is no desire to give anything to the Church, to work for it in any way. Prayerful request for worldly success, honors, satisfaction of selfish desires and material wealth.

* Spiritual stinginess lack of spiritual generosity, the need to convey to others the grace received from God with words of consolation, sympathy, and service to people.

* Lack of constant concern for doing God's will in life. This sin manifests itself when we do serious things without asking for God's blessing, without consulting or asking for the blessing of our spiritual father.

Sins towards others

* Pride, exaltation over one's neighbor, arrogance, “demonic stronghold” (this most dangerous of sins is discussed separately and in detail below).

* Condemnation. The tendency to notice, remember and name other people's shortcomings, to commit overt or internal judgment on one's neighbor. Under the influence of condemnation of one’s neighbor, which is not always noticeable even to oneself, a distorted image of one’s neighbor is formed in the heart. This image then serves as an internal justification for dislike for this person, a disdainful and evil attitude towards him. In the process of repentance, this false image must be crushed and, on the basis of love, the true image of each neighbor must be recreated in the heart.

* Anger, irritability, grumpiness. Can I control my anger? Do I allow swear words and curses in quarrels with neighbors and in raising children? Do I use foul language in normal conversation (to be “like everyone else”)? Is there rudeness, rudeness, impudence, evil mockery, hatred in my behavior?

* Unmercifulness, lack of compassion. Am I responsive to requests for help? Are you ready for self-sacrifice and almsgiving? Is it easy for me to lend things or money? Am I not reproaching my debtors? Am I rudely and persistently demanding the return of what I borrowed? Am I not bragging to people about my sacrifices, alms, helping my neighbors, expecting approval and earthly rewards? Wasn't he stingy, afraid of not getting what he asked for back?

Works of mercy should be done in secret, for we do them not for the sake of human glory, but for the sake of love for God and neighbor.

* Grudges, unforgiveness of insults, vindictiveness. Excessive demands on one's neighbor. These sins are contrary to both the spirit and the letter of the Gospel of Christ. Our Lord teaches us to forgive our neighbor’s sins against us up to seventy times seventy times. Without forgiving others, taking revenge on them for an insult, holding in our minds a grudge against another, we cannot hope for the forgiveness of our own sins by the Heavenly Father.

* Self-isolation, alienation from other people.

* Neglect of neighbors, indifference. This sin is especially terrible in relation to parents: ingratitude towards them, callousness. If our parents have died, do we remember to remember them in prayer?

* Vanity, ambition. We fall into this sin when we become vain, flaunting our talents, mental and physical, intelligence, education, and when we demonstrate our superficial spirituality, ostentatious churchliness, imaginary piety.

How do we treat our family members, people with whom we often meet or work? Can we tolerate their weaknesses? Do we often get irritated? Are we arrogant, touchy, intolerant of other people's shortcomings, of other people's opinions?

* Lust, the desire to be first, to command. Do we love to be served? How do we treat people who depend on us at work and at home? Do we like to dominate, to insist on doing our will? Do we have a tendency to interfere in other people's affairs, in other people's personal lives, with persistent advice and instructions? Are we trying to leave the last word for yourself, just to disagree with the opinion of another, even if he is right?

* Humanity- this is the other side of the sin of covetousness. We fall into it, wanting to please another person, fearing to disgrace ourselves in front of him. Out of people-pleasing intentions, we often fail to expose obvious sin and participate in lies. Have we indulged in flattery, that is, feigned, exaggerated admiration for a person, trying to gain his favor? Have we adjusted to other people's opinions and tastes for our own benefit? Have you ever been deceitful, dishonest, two-faced, or dishonest at work? Didn't you betray people to save yourself from trouble? Did you place your blame on others? Have you kept other people's secrets?

Reflecting on his past, a Christian preparing for confession must remember all the bad things that he, voluntarily or unwittingly, committed towards his neighbors.

Was it the cause of grief, someone else's misfortune? Didn't he destroy the family? Are you guilty of adultery and have you encouraged someone else to commit this sin through pimping? Did you not take upon yourself the sin of killing an unborn child, did you contribute to it? These sins should only be repented of in personal confession.

Was he prone to obscene jokes, anecdotes, and immoral allusions? Didn’t he insult the sanctity of human love with cynicism and outrage?

* Disturbing the peace. Do we know how to maintain peace in the family, in communication with neighbors, and co-workers? Don't we allow ourselves slander, condemnation, and evil ridicule? Do we know how to curb our tongue, are we not talkative?

Are we showing an idle, sinful curiosity about the lives of other people? Are we attentive to the needs and concerns of people? Are we not closing in on ourselves, in our supposedly spiritual problems, turning away people?

* Envy, malice, gloating. Have you envied someone else's success, position, arrangement? Didn't you secretly wish for failure, failure, a sad outcome for other people's affairs? Did you not openly or secretly rejoice at someone else’s misfortune or failure? Did you incite others to evil deeds while remaining outwardly innocent? Have you ever been overly suspicious, seeing only the bad in everyone? Did one person point out the vice (explicit or imaginary) of another person in order to quarrel between them? Have you abused the trust of your neighbor by revealing to others his shortcomings or sins? Did you spread gossip discrediting the wife before the husband or the husband before the wife? Did your behavior cause jealousy of one of the spouses and anger against the other?

* Resistance to evil against oneself. This sin is manifested in obvious resistance to the offender, in repaying evil for evil, when our heart does not want to bear the pain caused to him.

* Failure to provide assistance to one's neighbor, the offended, the persecuted. We fall into this sin when, out of cowardice or misunderstood humility, we do not stand up for the offended, do not expose the offender, do not testify to the truth, and allow evil and injustice to triumph.

How do we bear the misfortune of our neighbor, do we remember the commandment: “Bear one another’s burdens”? Are you always ready to help, sacrificing your peace and well-being? Are we leaving our neighbor in trouble?

Sins against oneself and other sinful tendencies that are contrary to the spirit of Christ

* Dejection, despair. Have you given in to despondency and despair? Did you have thoughts of suicide?

* Bad faith. Do we force ourselves to serve others? Are we sinning by dishonestly fulfilling our duties in work and raising children? whether we keep our promises to people; Don’t we tempt people by being late to the meeting place or to the house where they are waiting for us, by being forgetful, unobligatory, and frivolous?

Are we careful at work, at home, in transport? Are we scattered in our work: forgetting to finish one task, we move on to another? Do we strengthen ourselves in the intention to serve others?

* Bodily excesses. Didn’t you destroy yourself with excesses of the flesh: overeating, sweet eating, gluttony, eating at the wrong time?

Have you abused your penchant for bodily peace and comfort, sleeping a lot, lying in bed after waking up? Have you indulged in laziness, immobility, lethargy, and relaxation? Are you so partial to a certain way of life that you are unwilling to change it for the sake of your neighbor?

Am I not guilty of drunkenness, this most terrible of modern vices, destroying soul and body, bringing evil and suffering to others? How do you fight this vice? Do you help your neighbor to give up on him? Did you not tempt the non-drinker with wine, or give wine to the young and sick?

Are you addicted to smoking, which also destroys your health? Smoking distracts from spiritual life, a cigarette replaces a smoker’s prayer, displaces the consciousness of sins, destroys spiritual chastity, serves as a temptation for others, and harms their health, especially children and adolescents. Did you use drugs?

* Sensual thoughts and temptations. Have we struggled with sensual thoughts? Have you avoided the temptations of the flesh? Have you turned away from seductive sights, conversations, touches? Have you sinned by intemperance of mental and physical feelings, pleasure and procrastination in unclean thoughts, voluptuousness, immodest viewing of persons of the opposite sex, self-defilement? Don't we remember with pleasure our previous sins of the flesh?

* Peacefulness. Are we not guilty of pleasing human passions, mindlessly following the lifestyle and behavior accepted among the people around us, including, although existing in the church environment, but not imbued with the spirit of love, feigning piety, falling into hypocrisy and pharisaism?

* Disobedience. Do we sin by disobeying our parents, elders in the family, or bosses at work? Are we not following the advice of our spiritual father, are we avoiding the penance he imposed on us, this spiritual medicine that heals the soul? Do we suppress reproaches of conscience within ourselves, not fulfilling the law of love?

* Idleness, extravagance, attachment to things. Are we wasting our time? Are we using the talents God has given us for good? Are we wasting money without benefiting ourselves and others?

Are we not guilty of addiction to the comforts of life, are we not attached to perishable material things, are we not excessively accumulating, “for a rainy day,” food products, clothes, shoes, luxurious furniture, jewelry, thereby not trusting God and His Providence, forgetting that tomorrow we can appear before His court?

* Acquisitiveness. We fall into this sin when we are overly carried away by the accumulation of perishable wealth or seeking human glory in work, in creativity; when, under the pretext of being busy, we refuse to pray and go to church even on Sundays and holidays, we indulge in over-concern and vanity. This leads to captivity of the mind and petrification of the heart.

We sin in word, deed, thought, with all five senses, knowledge and ignorance, voluntarily and involuntarily, in reason and unreason, and there is no way to list all our sins according to their multitude. But we truly repent of them and ask for grace-filled help to remember all our sins, forgotten and therefore unrepentant. We promise to continue to take care of ourselves with God’s help, avoid sin and do deeds of love. But You, Lord, forgive us and forgive us from all sins according to Your mercy and long-suffering, and bless us to partake of Your Holy and Life-giving Mysteries, not for judgment and condemnation, but for the healing of soul and body. Amen.

List of deadly sins

1. Pride, despising everyone, demanding servility from others, ready to ascend to heaven and become like the Most High; in a word, pride to the point of self-adoration.

2. An insatiable soul, or Judas’s greed for money, combined for the most part with unrighteous acquisitions, not allowing a person even a minute to think about spiritual things.

3. Fornication, or the dissolute life of the prodigal son, who squandered all his father’s estate on such a life.

4. Envy leading to every possible crime against one's neighbor.

5. Gluttony, or carnalism, not knowing any fasting, combined with a passionate attachment to various amusements, following the example of the evangelical rich man, who had fun all day long.

6. Anger unapologetic and deciding to commit terrible destruction, following the example of Herod, who in his anger beat the infants of Bethlehem.

7. Laziness or complete carelessness about the soul, carelessness about repentance until the last days of life, as, for example, in the days of Noah.

Special mortal sins - blasphemy against the Holy Spirit

These sins include:

Stubborn disbelief not convinced by any evidence of truth, even by obvious miracles, rejecting the most established truth.

Despair, or the feeling opposite to excessive trust in God in relation to God’s mercy, which denies the fatherly goodness in God and leads to thoughts of suicide.

Excessive reliance on God or the continuation of a gravely sinful life in the sole hope of God’s mercy.

Deadly sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance

* In general, intentional homicide (abortion), and especially parricide (fratricide and regicide).

* Sin of Sodom.

* Unnecessary oppression of a poor, defenseless person, a defenseless widow and young orphans.

* Withholding from a wretched worker the wages he deserves.

* Taking away from a person in his extreme situation the last piece of bread or the last mite, which he obtained with sweat and blood, as well as the violent or secret appropriation of alms, food, warmth or clothing from prisoners in prison, which are determined by him, and in general their oppression.

* Chagrin and insults to parents to the point of impudent beatings.

About the eight main passions with their divisions
and otralami and about the virtues that oppose them
(based on the works of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov)

1. Gluttony- overeating, drunkenness, non-keeping and allowing fasts, secret eating, delicacy, and generally violation of abstinence. Incorrect and excessive love of the flesh, its belly and rest, which constitutes self-love, from which comes failure to remain faithful to God, the Church, virtue and people.

This passion must be resisted abstinence - refraining from excessive consumption of food and nutrition, especially from drinking wine in excess, and maintaining fasts established by the Church. One must curb one’s flesh by moderate and constantly equal consumption of food, which is why all passions in general begin to weaken, and especially self-love, which consists of a wordless love of the flesh, life and its peace.

2. Fornication- prodigal kindling, prodigal sensations and attitudes of the soul and heart. Prodigal dreams and captivities. Failure to preserve the senses, especially the sense of touch, is the insolence that destroys all virtues. Foul language and reading voluptuous books. Natural prodigal sins: fornication and adultery. Prodigal sins are unnatural.

This passion is resisted chastity - avoidance of all kinds of fornication. Chastity is avoidance of voluptuous conversations and reading, and the utterance of voluptuous, foul and ambiguous words. Storing the senses, especially sight and hearing, and even more so the sense of touch. Alienation from television and depraved films, from depraved newspapers, books and magazines. Modesty. Rejection of the thoughts and dreams of prodigals. The beginning of chastity is a mind that does not waver from lustful thoughts and dreams; the perfection of chastity is purity that sees God.

3. Love of money- love of money, in general love of property, movable and immovable. The desire to get rich. Thinking about the means to get rich. Dreaming of wealth. Fears of old age, unexpected poverty, illness, exile. Stinginess. Selfishness. Disbelief in God, lack of trust in His Providence. Addiction or painful excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain concerns. Loving gifts. Appropriation of someone else's. Likhva. Cruelty towards the poor brethren and all those in need. Theft. Robbery.

They fight this passion non-covetousness - self-satisfaction with only what is necessary, hatred of luxury and bliss, charity for the poor. Non-covetousness is the love of gospel poverty. Trust in God's Providence. Following Christ's commandments. Calmness and freedom of spirit and carelessness. Softness of heart.

4. Anger— hot temper, acceptance of angry thoughts: dreams of anger and revenge, indignation of the heart with rage, darkening of the mind by it; obscene shouting, argument, swearing, cruel and caustic words; hitting, pushing, killing. Malice, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and insult to one’s neighbor.

The passion of anger is opposed meekness — avoidance of angry thoughts and indignation of the heart with rage. Patience. Following Christ, who calls His disciple to the cross. Peace of the heart. Silence of the mind. Christian firmness and courage. Not feeling insulted. Kindness.

5. Sadness- grief, melancholy, cutting off hope in God, doubt in God’s promises, ingratitude to God for everything that happens, cowardice, impatience, lack of self-reproach, sorrow for one’s neighbor, grumbling, renunciation of the cross, attempt to descend from it.

They fight this passion by opposing it blissful cry — a feeling of decline, common to all people, and of one’s own spiritual poverty. Lamentation about them. Cry of the mind. Painful contrition of the heart. The lightness of conscience, grace-filled consolation and joy that vegetates from them. Hope in God's mercy. Thank God in sorrows, humbly enduring them from the sight of the multitude of one’s sins. Willingness to endure.

6. Dejection- laziness towards any good deed, especially prayer. Abandonment of church and cell rules. Abandoning unceasing prayer and soul-helping reading. Inattention and haste in prayer. Neglect. Irreverence. Idleness. Excessive calming by sleeping, lying down and all kinds of restlessness. Celebration. Jokes. Blasphemy. Abandonment of bows and other physical feats. Forgetting your sins. Forgetting the commandments of Christ. Negligence. Captivity. Deprivation of the fear of God. Bitterness. Insensibility. Despair.

Opposes despondency sobriety — zeal for every good deed. Non-slothful correction of church and cell rules. Attention when praying. Careful observation of all deeds, words, thoughts

and your feelings. Extreme self-distrust. Continuous stay in prayer and the Word of God. Awe. Constant vigilance over oneself. Keeping yourself from a lot of sleep and effeminacy, idle talk, jokes and sharp words. Love of night vigils, bows and other feats that bring cheerfulness to the soul. Remembrance of eternal blessings, desire and expectation of them.

7. Vanity- the search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly and vain honors. Loving beautiful clothes. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of your body. Shame to confess your sins. Hiding them before people and the spiritual father. Craftiness. Self-justification. Envy. Humiliation of one's neighbor. Changeability of character. Indulgence. Unconscionability. The character and life are demonic.

They fight vanity humility . This virtue includes the fear of God. Feeling it during prayer. Fear that arises during especially pure prayer, when the presence and greatness of God is felt especially strongly, so as not to disappear and turn into nothing. Deep knowledge of one's insignificance. A change in view of one’s neighbors, and they, without any coercion, seem to the humbled person to be superior to him in all respects. The manifestation of simplicity from living faith. Knowledge of the mystery hidden in the Cross of Christ. The desire to crucify oneself to the world and passions, the desire for this crucifixion. Rejection of earthly wisdom as obscene before God (Lk. 16.15). Silence before those who offend, studied in the Gospel. Putting aside all your own speculations and accepting the mind of the Gospel. The casting down of every thought that rises up against the mind of Christ. Humility or spiritual reasoning. Conscious obedience to the Church in everything.

8. Pride- contempt for one's neighbor. Preferring yourself to everyone. Insolence; darkness, dullness of mind and heart. Nailing them to the earthly. Hula. Disbelief. False mind. Disobedience to the Law of God and the Church. Following your carnal will. Abandonment of Christ-like humility and silence. Loss of simplicity. Loss of love for God and neighbor. False philosophy. Heresy. Godlessness. Ignorance. Death of the soul.

Pride Resists Love . The virtue of love includes changing the fear of God into the love of God during prayer. Fidelity to the Lord, proven by the constant rejection of every sinful thought and feeling, the indescribable, sweet attraction of the whole person with love for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the worshiped Holy Trinity. Seeing the image of God and Christ in others; resulting from this spiritual vision, the preference for oneself over all neighbors, their reverent veneration for the Lord. Love for neighbors, brotherly, pure, equal to everyone, joyful, impartial, flaming equally towards friends and enemies. Admiration for prayer and love of the mind, heart and whole body. Indescribable pleasure of the body with spiritual joy. Inactivity of the bodily senses during prayer. Resolution from the muteness of the heart's tongue. Stopping prayer from spiritual sweetness. Silence of the mind. Enlightening the mind and heart. Prayer power that overcomes sin. Peace of Christ. Retreat of all passions. The absorption of all understandings into the superior mind of Christ. Theology. Knowledge of incorporeal beings. The weakness of sinful thoughts that cannot be imagined in the mind. Sweetness and abundant consolation in times of sorrow. Vision of human structures. The depth of humility and the most humiliating opinion of oneself... The end is endless!

General list of sins

I confess that I am a great sinner (name) To the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ and to you, honorable father, all my sins and all my evil deeds, which I have done all the days of my life, which I have thought even to this day.

Sinned: He did not keep the vows of holy Baptism, but he lied about everything and created indecent things for himself before the face of God.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: before the Lord with little faith and slowness in thoughts, from the enemy everything against the faith and the Holy Church; ingratitude for all His great and unceasing benefits, calling on the name of God without need - in vain.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: lack of love and fear for the Lord, failure to fulfill His holy will and holy commandments, careless depiction of the sign of the cross, irreverent veneration of holy icons; did not wear a cross, was ashamed to be baptized and confess the Lord.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: he did not preserve love for his neighbor, did not feed the hungry and thirsty, did not clothe the naked, did not visit the sick and prisoners in prison; I did not study the law of God and the traditions of the holy fathers out of laziness and negligence.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: church and cell rules by non-compliance, going to the temple of God without diligence, with laziness and negligence; leaving morning, evening and other prayers; during church service I sinned by idle talk, laughter, dozing, inattention to reading and singing, absent-mindedness, leaving the temple during the service and not going to the temple of God due to laziness and negligence.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: daring to go to the temple of God in uncleanness and touch every holy thing.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: disrespect for the feasts of God; violation of holy fasts and failure to observe fasting days - Wednesday and Friday; intemperance in food and drink, polyeating, secret eating, intoxication, drunkenness, dissatisfaction with food and drink, clothing; parasitism; one’s will and mind through fulfillment, self-righteousness, self-indulgence and self-justification; undue reverence for parents, failure to raise children in the Orthodox faith, cursing their children and their neighbors.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: unbelief, superstition, doubt, despair, despondency, blasphemy, false gods, dancing, smoking, playing cards, fortune telling, witchcraft, sorcery, gossip; he remembered the living for their repose, ate the blood of animals.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: pride, conceit, arrogance; pride, ambition, envy, conceit, suspicion, irritability.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: condemnation of all people - living and dead, slander and anger, malice, hatred, evil for evil, retribution, slander, reproach, deceit, laziness, deception, hypocrisy, gossip, disputes, stubbornness, unwillingness to give in and serve one's neighbor; sinned with gloating, malice, malice, insult, ridicule, reproach and man-pleasing.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: incontinence of mental and physical feelings, mental and physical uncleanness; pleasure and procrastination in unclean thoughts, addiction, voluptuousness, immodest views of wives and young men; in a dream, prodigal desecration at night, intemperance in married life.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: impatience with illnesses and sorrows, love for the comforts of this life, captivity of the mind and hardening of the heart, not forcing oneself to do any good deed.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: inattention to the promptings of one’s conscience, negligence, laziness in reading the Word of God and negligence in acquiring the Jesus Prayer, covetousness, love of money, unrighteous acquisition, embezzlement, theft, stinginess, attachment to all sorts of things and people.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: condemnation and disobedience of spiritual fathers, grumbling and resentment against them and failure to confess one’s sins to them through oblivion, negligence and false shame.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: by unmercifulness, contempt and condemnation of the poor; going to the temple of God without fear and reverence, deviating into heresy and sectarian teaching.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: laziness, relaxation, laziness, love of bodily rest, excessive sleeping, voluptuous dreams, biased views, shameless body movements, touching, fornication, adultery, corruption, fornication, unmarried marriage; Those who performed abortions on themselves or others, or incited someone to this great sin - infanticide, sinned gravely; spent time in empty and idle pursuits, in empty conversations, jokes, laughter and other shameful sins; read obscene books, magazines and newspapers, watched depraved programs and films on television.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: despondency, cowardice, impatience, murmuring, despair of salvation, lack of hope in God's mercy, insensibility, ignorance, arrogance, shamelessness.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: slander of one's neighbor, anger, insult, irritation and ridicule, non-reconciliation, enmity and hatred, discord, spying on other people's sins and eavesdropping on other people's conversations.

Forgive me, honest father.

I sinned: by coldness and insensitivity in confession, by belittling sins, by blaming others rather than by condemning myself.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: against the Life-giving and Holy Mysteries of Christ, approaching them without proper preparation, without contrition and fear of God.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: in word, thought and all my senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, -

willingly or unwillingly, knowledge or ignorance, in reason and unreason, and it is not possible to list all my sins according to their multitude. But in all of these, as well as in those unspeakable through oblivion, I repent and regret, and henceforth, with the help of God, I promise to take care.

You, honest father, forgive me and release me from all of this and pray for me, a sinner, and on that Day of Judgment testify before God about the sins I have confessed. Amen.

Sins confessed and resolved earlier should not be repeated in confession, for they, as the Holy Church teaches, have already been forgiven, but if we repeated them again, then we need to repent of them again. We must also repent of those sins that were forgotten, but are now remembered.

The repentant is required to recognize his sins, condemn himself in them, and self-convict himself before his confessor. This requires contrition and tears, faith in the forgiveness of sins. In order to get closer to Christ and receive salvation, it is necessary to hate previous sins and repent not only in word, but also in deed, that is, to correct your life: after all, sins shorten it, and the fight against them attracts the grace of God.

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

To help the penitent: from the writings of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

About virtues

1. Abstinence

Abstinence from excessive consumption of food and drink, especially from excessive consumption of wine. Keeping fasts established by the Church. Curbing the flesh by moderate consumption of monotonous food, from which all passions in general begin to weaken, and especially selfishness, which consists of pleasing the flesh.

2. Chastity

Avoidance of all kinds of fornication. Avoidance of voluptuous conversations, reading depraved books and looking at shameful images, and uttering voluptuous, nasty and ambiguous words. Storing the senses, especially sight and hearing, and even more so the sense of touch. Modesty. Rejection of the thoughts and dreams of prodigals. Silence. Silence. Ministry to the sick and disabled. Memories of death and hell. The beginning of chastity is a mind that does not waver from lustful thoughts and dreams; the perfection of chastity is purity that sees God.

3. Non-covetousness

Limiting yourself to the essentials in life. Hatred of luxury and bliss. Mercy for the poor. Loving the poverty of the Gospel. Trust in the Providence of God, that everything necessary for life will be provided by God. Calmness, freedom of spirit and carelessness.

4. Meekness

Avoidance of angry thoughts and indignation of the heart with rage. Patience. Following Christ, calling His disciple to the Cross. Peace of the heart. Silence of the mind. Christian firmness and courage. Not feeling insulted. Kindness.

5. Blessed cry

A feeling of decline, common to all people, and of one’s own spiritual poverty. Lamentation about them. Cry of the mind. Painful contrition of the heart. The lightness of conscience, grace-filled consolation and joy that vegetates from them. Hope in God's mercy. Thanking God in sorrows, humbly enduring them from the sight of the multitude of one’s sins. Willingness to endure. Cleansing the mind. Relief from passions. Mortification of the world. The desire for prayer, solitude, obedience, humility, confession of one’s sins.

6. Sobriety

Zeal for every good deed. Non-slothful correction of church and home rules. Attention when praying. Careful observation of all your deeds, words, thoughts and feelings. Distrust of one's own mind. Submitting your opinions to the judgment of your spiritual father. Constantly remain in prayer and meditation on the Holy Scriptures. Awe. Keeping yourself from a lot of sleep and effeminacy, idle talk, jokes and sharp words. Love of night vigils, bows and other feats that bring cheerfulness to the soul. Remembrance of eternal blessings, desire and expectation of them.

7. Humility

Fear of God. Feeling it during prayer. Extreme humility, seeing oneself as unworthy, guilty of righteous condemnation for sins. Losing all hope in everything and everyone except God. Deep knowledge of yourself. A change in the view of one’s neighbors, and they, without any coercion, seem to the humbled person to be superior to him in all respects.

The manifestation of wise simplicity from living faith. Hatred of human praise. Constant blaming and beating yourself up. Truthfulness and directness. Impartiality. Deadness to everything that moves away from God. Tenderness. Knowledge of the saving Mystery hidden in the Cross of Christ. The desire to crucify oneself to the world and passions, the desire for this crucifixion. Rejection and oblivion of false customs and words, deceit and hypocrisy. Perception of evangelical humility. Rejection of earthly wisdom as obscene before God. Contempt for everything that is high in people, that's an abomination to God(see: Luke 16, 15). Leaving word justification. Silence before those who offend. Putting aside all your own speculations and accepting the mind of the Gospel.

The overthrow of every ungodly thought. Humility, or spiritual reasoning. Conscious and complete obedience to the Holy Orthodox Church in everything.

8. Love

Achieving the love of God during prayer, accompanied by the fear of God. Loyalty to the Lord, proven by the constant rejection of every sinful thought and feeling. The indescribable, sweet attraction of the whole person with love for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the worshiped Holy Trinity. Seeing the image of God and Christ in others; resulting from this spiritual vision, the preference for oneself over all neighbors, their reverent veneration for the Lord. Love for neighbors is brotherly, pure, equal to everyone, impartial, joyful, flaming equally towards friends and enemies.

Admiration for prayer and love of the mind, heart and whole body. Unspeakable spiritual joy. Spiritual intoxication. Deep peace of heart, soul and body. Inactivity of the bodily senses during prayer. Resolution from the muteness of the heart's tongue. Stopping prayer from spiritual sweetness. Silence of the mind. Enlightening the mind and heart. Prayer power that overcomes sin. Peace of Christ. Retreat of all passions. The absorption of all understandings into the all-surpassing mind of Christ. Theology. Cognition in everything of the all-perfect Providence of the Divine. Sweetness and abundant consolation in times of sorrow. Vision of human structures. The depth of humility and the most humiliating opinion of oneself...

The end is endless!

Eight major passions with their divisions and industries 1
Borrowed from patristic writings.

1. Fullness of the belly

Binge eating, drunkenness, non-keeping and unauthorized breaking of fasts, secret eating, delicacy, and generally violation of abstinence. Incorrect and excessive love of the flesh, its contentment and peace, which constitutes self-love, which leads to failure to maintain fidelity to God, the Church, virtue and people.

2. Fornication

Prodigal kindling, prodigal sensations and desires of the body, soul and heart. Acceptance of unclean thoughts, conversation with them, delight in them, permission for them, slowness in them. Prodigal dreams and captivities. Desecration by suit. Failure to preserve the senses, especially the sense of touch, is the insolence that destroys all virtues. Foul language and reading voluptuous books. Natural prodigal sins: fornication and adultery. Fornication sins are unnatural: malakia (fornication), sodomy (man with man), lesbianism (woman with woman), bestiality and the like.

3. Love of money

The love of money, in general the love of property, movable and immovable. The desire to get rich. Thinking about the means to get rich. Dreaming of wealth. Fear of old age, unexpected poverty, illness, exile. Stinginess. Selfishness. Disbelief in God, lack of trust in His Providence. Addictions or painful excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain concerns. Desire to receive gifts. Appropriation of someone else's. Likhva. Cruelty towards the poor brethren and all those in need. Theft. Robbery.

4. Anger

Hot temper, adoption of angry thoughts; dreaming in thoughts of anger and revenge, indignation of the heart with rage, darkening of the mind by it; obscene shouting, arguing, swearing, cruel and cutting words, hitting, pushing, killing. Malice, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and insult to one’s neighbor.

5. Sadness

Sadness, melancholy, cutting off hope in God, doubt in God’s promises, ingratitude to God for everything that happens, cowardice, impatience, lack of self-reproach, sorrow for one’s neighbor, grumbling, renunciation of the labors of the difficult Christian life, an attempt to leave this field. Avoidance of the burden of the cross - the struggle with passions and sin.

6. Dejection

Laziness towards any good deed, especially prayer. Abandonment of church and prayer rules. Loss of memory of God. Abandoning unceasing prayer and soul-helping reading. Inattention and haste in prayer. Neglect. Irreverence. Idleness. Excessive calming of the flesh by sleep, lying down and all kinds of restlessness. Seeking an easy salvation. Moving from place to place in order to avoid hardships and hardships. Frequent walks and visits with friends. Celebration. Blasphemous statements. Abandonment of bows and other physical feats. Forgetting your sins. Forgetting the commandments of Christ. Negligence. Captivity. Deprivation of the fear of God. Bitterness. Insensibility. Despair.

7. Vanity

The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly and vain honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and luxurious things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of your body. Engaging in the sciences and arts of this age for the sake of temporary, earthly glory. It is a false shame to confess your sins to your confessor. Craftiness. Self-justification. Disclaimer. Following your mind. Hypocrisy. Lie. Flattery. People-pleasing. Envy. Humiliation of one's neighbor. Changeability of character. Indulgence of passions, dishonesty. Similarity in morals and life to demons.

8. Pride

Contempt for one's neighbor. Preferring yourself to everyone. Insolence. Darkness, dullness of the mind and heart. Nailing them to the earthly. Hula. Disbelief. False mind. Disobedience to the Law of God and the Church. Following your carnal will. Reading heretical and vain books. Disobedience to authorities. Caustic ridicule. Abandonment of Christ-like humility and silence. Loss of simplicity. Loss of love for God and neighbor. False philosophy. Heresy. Godlessness. Death of the soul.

Such are the ailments, such are the ulcers that constitute the great ulcer, the decay of the old Adam, which was formed from his fall. The holy prophet Isaiah speaks about this great plague: From the feet even to the head there is no integrity in it: neither a scab, nor an ulcer, nor a scorching wound: there is no plaster to apply, lower than oil, lower than duty(Isa. 1:6). This means, according to the explanation of the holy fathers, that the ulcer 2
St. Avva DorotheI. Lesson 1.

– sin is not specific, not on just one member, but on the whole being: it embraced the body and soul, took possession of all the properties, all the powers of a person. God called this great plague death when, forbidding Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he said: ...If you take away a day from it, you will die(Genesis 2:17). Immediately after eating the fruit of the forbidden, the forefathers felt eternal death: a carnal sensation appeared in their eyes - they saw that they were naked. The knowledge of the nakedness of the body reflected the nakedness of the soul, which had lost the beauty of innocence on which the Holy Spirit rested. There is a carnal sensation in the eyes, and in the soul there is shame, in which is the accumulation of all sinful and shameful sensations: pride, impurity, sadness, despondency, and despair! The Great Plague is spiritual death; the decay that occurred after the loss of the Divine likeness is incorrigible! The Apostle calls the great plague the law of sin, the body of death(Rom. 7:23, 24), because the mortified mind and heart have completely turned to the earth, slavishly serve the corruptible desires of the flesh, they have become darkened, burdened, and themselves become flesh. This flesh is no longer capable of communicating with God! (See: Gen. 6, 3). This flesh is incapable of inheriting eternal, Heavenly bliss! (See: 1 Cor. 15:50). The great plague spread over the entire human race and became the unfortunate property of every person.

Considering my great ulcer, looking at my mortification, I am filled with bitter sadness! I'm perplexed, what should I do? Will I follow the example of the old Adam, who, seeing his nakedness, hastened to hide from God? Will I, like him, justify myself by placing the blame on those who seduced me? It is in vain to hide from the All-Seeing One! It is in vain to make excuses before Him, Who always wins, never judges Him(Ps. 50:6).

Instead of fig leaves, I will clothe myself with tears of repentance; Instead of justification, I will bring sincere consciousness. Clothed in repentance and tears, I will appear before the face of my God. But where will I find my God? Is it in heaven? I am expelled from there - and the Cherub standing at the entrance will not let me in! By the very burden of my flesh I am nailed to the ground, my prison!

Sinful descendant of Adam, take heart! A light has shone in your prison: God has descended into the low country of your exile to lead you to your lost Highland Fatherland. You wanted to know good and evil: He leaves you this knowledge. You wanted to do like God, and from this he became like the devil in his soul, and in his body like cattle and beasts. God, uniting you with Himself, makes you a god by grace. He forgives your sins. This is not enough! He removes the root of evil from your soul, the very infection of sin, the poison cast into your soul by the devil, and gives you medicine for the entire path of your earthly life for healing from sin, no matter how many times you become infected with it, due to your weakness. This healing is the confession of sins. Do you want to put off the old Adam, you, who by Holy Baptism has already been clothed in the New Adam, but through your own iniquities managed to revive the oldness in yourself to death, drown out life, make it half-dead? Do you want, enslaved to sin, drawn to it by the violence of habit, to regain your freedom and righteousness? Immerse yourself in humility! Conquer vain shame, which teaches you to hypocritically and craftily pretend to be righteous and thereby keep spiritual death within yourself. Cast out sin, enter into hostility with sin by sincere confession of sin. This healing must precede all others; without it, healing through prayer, tears, fasting and all other means will be insufficient, unsatisfactory, fragile. Go, proud one, to your spiritual father - at his feet find the mercy of the Heavenly Father! Only confession, sincere and frequent, can free one from sinful habits, make repentance fruitful, and correction lasting and true.

In a brief moment of tenderness, in which the eyes of the mind are opened for self-knowledge, which comes so rarely, I wrote this as an accusation to myself, as an admonition, reminder, instruction. And you, who read these lines with faith and love about Christ and, perhaps, will find in them something useful for yourself, bring a heartfelt sigh and prayer for the soul that has suffered much from the waves of sin, which has often seen drowning and destruction before itself, who found rest in one refuge: in the confession of her sins.

Add-ons from various sources
The shortest confession

Sins against the Lord God

Belief in dreams, fortune telling, meetings and other signs. Doubts about faith. Laziness towards prayer and absent-mindedness during it. Due to laziness, not going to church, to confession and Holy Communion. Hypocrisy in Divine Worship. Blasphemy or murmuring against God in the soul and in words. The intention to raise your hands. Taking the name of God in vain. Failure to keep promises to God. Blasphemy of the sacred. Anger with mention of evil spirits. Violation of fasts and fasting days (Wednesdays and Fridays). Work on major church holidays.

Sins against one's neighbor

Lack of zeal for one's position or one's business. Disrespect for superiors or elders in position and age. Disrespect for parents. Neglect of Christian parenting. Failure to fulfill a promise to a person. Non-payment of debts. Taking by force or secret appropriation of someone else's property. Stinginess in alms. Causing offense to one's neighbor. Unnecessary suspicions. Gossip. Slander. Temptation to sin. Curse of neighbors. Failure to protect an innocent person or a just cause to the detriment of them. Enmity and discord in family life. Anger. Murder.

Sins against yourself

Staying in idle or bad thoughts. Wishing evil to one's neighbor. Deceit. Irritability. Obstinacy. Self-love. Envy. Hatred. Hard-heartedness. Memory malice. Vengefulness. Love of money. Passion for pleasure. Foul language. Drunkenness and heavy eating. Fornication. Unnatural sins. Not fixing your life.

Of all these sins against the Ten Commandments of God, some, reaching in man highest degree their development, passing into vicious states and hardening their hearts with unrepentance, are recognized as especially contrary to God, by mortals.

Mortal sins, that is, those that make a person guilty of eternal death, or destruction

1. Pride, despising everyone, demanding servility from others, satanic pride to the point of self-deification.

2. An insatiable soul, or Judas’ greed for money, combined for the most part with unrighteous acquisitions, not allowing a person even a minute to think about spiritual things. Theft.

3. Fornication, or the dissolute life of the prodigal son, who squandered all his father’s estate on such a life.

4. Envy, leading to every possible crime against one’s neighbor.

5. Gluttony or carnal knowledge, not knowing any fasting, combined with a passionate attachment to various amusements, following the example of the Gospel rich man, who had fun all the days.

6. Uncompromising anger and deciding to commit terrible crimes, following the example of Herod, who in his anger beat the Bethlehem babies. Murder.

7. Laziness, or complete carelessness about the soul, carelessness about repentance until the last days of life, such as in the days of Noah.

Sins of Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit

Excessive reliance on God's long-suffering or continuation of a gravely sinful life in self-justification. Hypocritical and crafty rejection of repentance.

Despair or a feeling opposite to hope in God in relation to God’s mercy, which denies the Father’s goodness in God and leads to suicide.

Stubborn disbelief in God and the truths of faith, not convinced by any evidence of truth, even the miracles of God, rejecting the obvious truth.

Sins crying out to Heaven for vengeance

Intentional homicide (in particular abortion), and especially the vile sins of parricide, fratricide and regicide.

Sins of Sodom

Unfair oppression of a poor, defenseless person, a defenseless widow and the insults of young orphans.

Withholding from a wretched worker the wages he deserves.

Taking away from a person in his extreme situation the last piece of bread or the last mite, which he obtained with sweat and blood, as well as the violent or secret appropriation from orphans, military personnel and prisoners in prison of alms, food and clothing that were determined by him, and generally oppressing them .

Sadness and resentment for parents, leading to daring beatings.

Confession

I confess that I am a great sinner (name) To the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ and to you, honorable father, all my sins and all my evil deeds, which I have done all the days of my life, which I have thought even to this day.

Sinned: He did not keep the vows of Holy Baptism, but he lied about everything and created indecent things for himself before the Face of God.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: before the Lord with little faith and slowness in thoughts, from the enemy everything against the faith and the Holy Church; ingratitude for all His great and unceasing benefits, calling on the name of God without need - in vain 3
In vain- in vain, without reason, benefit.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: lack of love for the Lord below fear, failure to fulfill His holy will and holy commandments, careless depiction of the sign of the cross, irreverent behavior, disrespect for holy icons; did not wear a cross, was ashamed to be baptized and confess the Lord.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: he did not preserve love for his neighbor, did not feed the hungry and thirsty, did not clothe the naked, did not visit the sick and prisoners in prison; I did not study the law of God and the traditions of the holy fathers out of laziness and negligence.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: church and home rules by non-compliance, going to church without diligence, with laziness and negligence; leaving morning, evening and other prayers; during a church service - he sinned by idle talk, laughter, dozing, inattention to reading and singing, absent-mindedness, leaving the temple during the service and not going to the temple of God due to laziness and negligence.

Forgive me, honest father.

I sinned daring to go to the temple of God in uncleanness and touch all holy things.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: disrespect for the feasts of God; violation of holy fasts and failure to observe fast days - Wednesday and Friday; intemperance in food and drink, polyeating, secret eating, early eating, drunkenness, eating the blood of animals, parasitism 4
Tunedar, illegal; food eating. There is bread for free.

; one’s will and mind through fulfillment, self-righteousness, self-indulgence and self-justification; disrespect for parents, failure to raise children in the Orthodox faith, cursing their children and neighbors.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: disbelief, superstition, doubt, despair, despondency, blasphemy, perjury, dancing, smoking, playing cards, fortune telling, turning to sorcerers and sorcerers for help (psychics, hypnotists, healers, etc.), remembering the living for their repose, reading witchcraft books and conspiracies.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: pride, conceit, arrogance, vanity, ambition, envy, exaltation, suspicion, irritability.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: condemnation of all people - living and dead, slander and anger, malicious malice, hatred, evil for evil retribution, slander, reproach, deceit, laziness, deception, hypocrisy, gossip, gossip, disputes, stubbornness, unwillingness to give in and serve one's neighbor; sinned with gloating, malice, malice, insult, ridicule, reproach and man-pleasing.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: impatience with illnesses and sorrows, attachment to the comforts of this life, captivity of the mind and hardening of the heart, not forcing oneself to do any good deed.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: inattention to the promptings of one’s conscience, laziness in reading the Word of God and negligence in acquiring the Jesus Prayer, covetousness, love of money, unrighteous acquisition, theft, theft, stinginess, attachment to various kinds of things and people.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: condemnation and disobedience of spiritual fathers, grumbling and resentment against them and failure to confess one’s sins to them through oblivion, negligence and false shame.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: unmercifulness, contempt and condemnation of the poor; going to the temple of God without the fear of God, absent-minded prayer, praying, having hostility towards his neighbor, with a cold heart, without attention, without zeal and reverence; deviated into heresy and sectarian teaching.

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