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One of the most
important areas of individual work and one of the most important ways to
make the acquaintance of the sheep of the flock, to get to know their
names and their needs, is the confession session held by the priest with
his son.
The meeting of the son with his spiritual father is the true Christian
discipleship which prepares the believer for the spiritual graces that
help him achieve quiet and continuous growth in his life. Holy Communion
is one of those spiritual graces which makes a person worthy of a life
of discipleship.
When the Lord Jesus Christ, glory be to Him, instituted the Last Supper
in the per Room in Zion, He gave His Body and Blood to His disciples
only. Therefore, only those who are disciples should partake of the Holy
Sacraments; that is, only those who have a father confessor and a
spiritual guide from among the clergy. Thus, one becomes the priest’s
disciple and learns spiritual economy and the Christian virtues from
him. He confesses to him the sins and mistakes he has committed as he
leads a life of discipleship and repentance.
I am aware that most priests schedule confession after the offering of
Evening Incense or after general evening meetings in Church in order to
make things easier for people. When the priest begins hearing
confessions, the confessors enter one by one in turn, quietly and in
accordance to the system in place.
During the waiting period before you go in for confession to your father
confessor, occupy yourself with some spiritual readings from a book that
you get with you in order to increase your spiritual fervor, to keep
yourself from evil thoughts and from the attacks of Satan who tries hard
at that moment to prevent you from confessing and, subsequently, from
taking Holy Communion. When your turn comes, enter with reverence and
greet your father with respect, kissing his hand and the cross. Sit
quietly and know well that you sit as one accused before the judge, no
matter what your position or status may be. Be prepared to make your
confession, whether this preparation is done mentally or on a piece of
paper that you have with you and which contains what you want to confess
as well as the questions you want to ask your father.
Church history tells us that one of the Patriarchs would sit on the
ground when he was confessing to his father confessor and when the
latter said to him apologetically, “Sit beside me, Father,” the
patriarch would insist on sitting humbly and submissively on the ground,
saying: “You now represent God and in your hands is the authority to
forgive my sins. Allow me to feel that I am a defendant before the judge
who has the power to acquit me.”
Confess your sins and errors in detail, whether they are in your mind or
on the paper, and be careful not to hide anything no matter how ugly or
embarrassing it is, keeping in mind the advice of the apostle: “ If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn. 1: 9). Do not blame others or
your circumstances and justify yourself of wrongdoing, remembering what
the apostle said: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a
liar, and His word is not in us” (1Jn. 1: 10).
Confess all you know of your
failings, recalling what the prophet said: “Pour out your heart like
water before the face of the Lord” (Lam.2: 19). The prophet mentions
water in particular, for water does not leave any trace or odor after it
is poured from the vessel in contrast to oil which inevitably leaves
some remains in the vessel no matter how thoroughly you pour it, and in
contrast to vinegar which leaves an odor in the vessel after it is
poured out.
Therefore, your confessions should be a total outpouring of your sins
before God in the presence of the priest so that no trace or odor of sin
is left within your heart. Know that the pouring out of your sins in
confession is done before God, “before the face of the Lord” and not
before a human being because the Holy Spirit is present to hear and
forgive. The Holy Bible tells us this story:
When the people of Israel entered Jericho, the Lord warned them and
forbade them to take anything, but Achan, the son of Carmi, found some
valuables and stole them. The anger of the Lord burned against the
children of Israel and they were defeated by the small town of Ai. When
Joshua asked the Lord about the reason for this unexpected defeat, the
Lord said: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you
cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing
from among you.” (Jos. 7: 13). So Joshua fetched Achan son of Carmi and
ordered him to confess to the Lord before him (Joshua) saying: “My son,
I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to
Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me” (Jos.
7: 19). And so Achan son of Carmi confessed before the Lord in the
presence of Joshua son of Nun.
Know that you are in the presence of the spiritual physician who will
heal you of all your sins and weaknesses, recalling the apostle’s
advice: “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one
another, that you may be healed.” (Jm. 5: 16)
We know that a sick person does not hide anything about his sickness
from the doctor, no matter how secret, ugly, or shameful, so that the
doctor can know all the patient is suffering from: the symptoms of his
disease, its causes, and its complications. Thus, he can prescribe the
appropriate medicine which will bring about his full recovery.
Since spiritual diseases are harder to diagnose and discover and are
more dangerous to the patient than physical diseases as they lead to
eternal perdition, we have to help our father confessor discover and
diagnose our diseases so that it is easier for him to know their causes
and motives and to prescribe the effective medicine that will lead to a
speedy recovery.
Would that you remembered what the psalmist said: “I acknowledged my sin
to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my
transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
(Ps. 32: 5) Solomon said: “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but
whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (Pr. 28: 13). The
Lord encourages you to confess saying: “Put Me in remembrance; let us
contend together; state your case that you may be acquitted” (Is. 43:
26).
Repentance is a second baptism; its action is strong and its effect is
great. Listen to what St. Athanasius, the Apostlic, says: “Just as the
one who is baptized by a priest is enlightened by the grace of the Holy
Spirit, so is the one who confesses his sins to the priest granted
forgiveness through the grace of Christ.”
My brother, the courageous fighter, after you are through with your
confession, after you have addressed to the priest all the questions and
the inquiries you have, after you have listened to his wise and fatherly
answers to your questions and his useful replies to your inquiries, and
learned from him the healing remedies for your ills, and after you have
heard the practical and spiritual solutions to your problems, kneel with
reverence in the spirit of prayer and supplication and accept the
absolution from the mouth of God.
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Some people believe
it is enough if they tell the father confessor some of their sins during
the readings of the Mass “the Pauline epistles....”. The problem with
this method is that the time is very limited, especially if the priest
is serving the Mass alone and there is no other priest in the church.
Because of the lack of time, the penitent cannot confess all his sins
and the priest cannot listen with concentration and give necessary
advice, good solutions, or useful exercises. Moreover, the climate is
not appropriate to the sacredness of this Holy sacrament.
What is even worse is that some people do not go for confession and in
spite of this awful shortcoming in the care of their souls, they partake
of Holy Communion. All they do is that they ask the priest to give them
absolution just before Holy Communion. Unfortunately, some priests
respond to these people and do grant them absolution without knowing
anything about them or even asking them some basic questions. After they
get the absolution, they feel relieved and their consciences are
drugged. They partake of the sacraments without repentance or worthiness
and so add a new sin to their other sins and incur a greater judgment.
What I ask now is: what is the use of absolution if it is not preceded
by confession? Is it a magic formula that forgives and removes sins that
the person has not confessed to, revealed, or exposed before God in the
presence of the priest, the steward of God’s sacraments?
There is another very strange and widespread phenomenon in our churches.
Some people who have confessed their sins, are prepared for Holy
Communion, attend Mass from the beginning and attend all the ritual
absolutions, might ask the priest, before Holy Communion, for a special
absolution. Why? I wish the priests would draw the people’s attention to
this prevalent error.
Know, dear reader, that if you come to church after the gospel is read,
you have no right to partake of Holy Communion as the Church rites teach
us. However, if you come between matins and absolution and the reading
of the gospel, and if you have confessed and are prepared to take Holy
Communion, do not request a special absolution. This is for the
following reasons:
1. You have confessed and are prepared and have received the absolution
at the end of your personal confession.
2. The priest will grant a general absolution after the Fraction prayer
of division. You will attend these absolutions and will offer repentance
and contrition with the whole church at that time.
Therefore, you do not need a special absolution which everybody is in
the habit of asking the priest for separately, as though it were an
official permission to partake of Holy Communion. This wrong procedure
on the part of the congregation harasses the priests and affects their
performance of the liturgy in the correct way.
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