How often is the modern holy participle what they say. Communion - how often should I take communion? Holy Fathers on Frequent Communion

Recently, publications on the topic “about the frequency of communion” have become more frequent.

In principle, it is not correct to talk about how often one “should” take communion. The fact is that the “frequency” of communion is only a superficial, external “indicator” of a person’s spiritual state, and the specific conditions of his external “situation”: how often each person receives communion depends on his desire and circumstances, simply the ability to begin Communion ( is it possible to come to the Temple, or, if a person is bedridden by illness, can a priest come, and how often).

If a person doesn’t want to, then when he hears that “you need to do it more often,” will he really want to? And when he hears “not often”, he will want even less!

If a person wants and cannot, “you have to do it more often” will not help him in any way, but “you can’t do it often” will harm him, because may weaken the desire for Communion.

If a person wants and can, i.e., receives communion according to his desire and capabilities, then both statements can be harmful, because they can switch his attention from truly spiritual issues of inner life to an external, superficial, formal “indicator”, he can really begin to take communion more often or less often, but formally, which is extremely dangerous.

We must receive communion with meaning and according to the circumstances. Sometimes, circumstances must be overcome when they really interfere, and sometimes, circumstances must be humbly submitted, and then they actually help.

Example: You have an elderly sick person at home, and you cannot attend Church often. If you, formally following the call of frequent communion, do not miss a single service, to the detriment of those around you, then I do not think there will be any spiritual benefit. If, having resigned yourself to the circumstances, you cry with internal tears, out of grief that, due to your unworthiness, you have once again been deprived of Holy Communion, then the result will be enormous.

The danger of the advice of “frequent communion” is that there are quite a lot of people who can accept it formally and begin to follow it blindly, to the detriment of their spiritual life, thinking about the “frequency” and not about their spiritual state: “Well, I’ll miss Communion , but it is said that it is necessary more often...” Or: “Since I often take communion, then I am already a righteous person!”

It is not the “frequency” that is important, but the degree, the strength of the desire for Communion.

This is what Father John of Kronstadt says: “When you eat sweet bread, think about the true bread that gives eternal life to souls - the Body and Blood of Christ, and hunger for this bread, that is wish take communion more often."

Thus, it is correct to speak specifically about the degree of desire, the desire for Holy Communion. Frequency is only a consequence of desire. By frequency one can only indirectly, superficially judge desire. Thus, there is no need to talk about frequency at all.

What determines, what determines, the degree of desire to begin this greatest Sacrament - Holy Communion, the true Body and Blood of the Son of God, the God-Man Jesus Christ - that’s all that makes sense to think and talk about!

If someone rarely receives Communion, how to help him, first of all, DESIRE Communion. To help you understand and feel what this amazing Sacrament gives you to fight the evil in yourself.

Let me explain with an example: How often should children receive communion?

Infants, of course, must be given communion at every Liturgy.

But then it’s more difficult. Many parents continue to formally give Communion to their children frequently (sometimes even with an element of “violence”, forcing the children) and feel very reassured - we do everything that is necessary, because Communion is the main thing! Alas, false reassurance: the main thing is not the “fact” itself, but the DESIRE for Communion. And the desire can only be the result of the spiritual life of the entire family (there are exceptional cases, but, alas, it is better not to count on this!).

How to explain to children the meaning of Communion?

We need to talk to children about the fact that God is Love. About God's love for people. That without God's help we cannot do anything. About the fact that internal evil prevents us from loving, and we can only fight it with God’s help. That this is why the Son of God came into the world and became the God-man Jesus Christ to help us in this struggle. That Jesus Christ established the Sacraments of Repentance and Communion. In the Sacrament of Repentance, the Lord frees us from repentant inner evil, and in the Sacrament of Communion, we partake of the Love of God, we accept God into ourselves. Communion is the Love of God, God Himself. In Communion we take into ourselves a Particle of God and unite with God Himself!

Formal communion for mature children who have not yet begun to live a spiritual life, i.e., who have not begun their internal struggle against evil, often leads to a loss of reverence, a loss of a sense of sacredness, and the fear of God. Frequent - even more so. Here we need a “golden mean”: a little “push”, but indirectly: by conversations on spiritual topics, reading spiritual literature, by the parents themselves preparing and receiving communion. If a child has behaved badly, in some cases, it is even necessary to deprive him of Communion, explaining to him that sin makes a person unworthy of Communion, that it is scary to begin this great Sacrament without penance... It is necessary to talk with children from an early age about love, goodness, and sin , evil Show them with examples from books and life that sin and evil lead to suffering, first of all, for the sinner and the evil one himself. Teach them to see love in other people and evil in themselves, teach them to fight evil in themselves, explain that an “evil” person is one who does not fight evil in himself, does not see it, that is why he is evil! To say that the internal evil that exists in everyone, if you do not fight it, even outwardly changes a person, disfigures him; that in general illnesses, and even death itself, are the result of sin. Help them feel that bad actions come from wrong, evil thoughts, and they feel bad at heart. Teach them to hear the quiet voice of their conscience. Explain to them that it is possible to overcome evil in oneself only with God’s help, and God helps in the Sacraments of Repentance and Communion. Help children feel the need for confession. (How often a person confesses also says a lot about his spiritual state. Simply confessing more often, without real internal effort or desire, to free oneself from sin also does little for the soul!). Teach children to preserve the Grace of Communion: after the Liturgy, do not shout and, as they absolutely rightly say, do not “rage,” but occupy the children with some interesting activities: needlework, reading, etc.

All this, of course, applies to adults.

In general, the process of churching a person - both small and adult - is very complex and requires the constant participation of a priest.

Archpriest Mikhail Lyuboshchinsky , ndean of the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Hamilton, Canada

Note:

St. John of Kronstadt, “My life in Christ”, entry 447,

http://ni-ka.com.ua/index.php?Lev=mylivdaya

Question about the frequency of Communion. The Apostolic Rules say that a Christian who does not receive communion for three weeks in a row is expelled from the Church, and a Christian who is present at the Liturgy and does not come to receive communion must leave the church. Is it so?

All the rules that exist in the Church always correspond to the time in which they were established - time, situation and environment. I especially want to say about Communion at every Liturgy. Yes, there was a time, an initial time, a time of special spiritual gifts, without which, if they had not existed - for example, in the 1st century, Christianity would have been destroyed, wiped off the face of the earth. Terrible persecutions were raised. Tell me, who would convert to Christianity, would become a Christian, just once after watching in the circus how animals tear Christians to pieces? Who would accept this Christianity? Nobody. Never. In fear, if only I had heard, I would have jumped away from him. I couldn't even communicate with him. Christianity would have already been destroyed in the first century.

Only thanks to the extraordinary gifts that the first Christians received - firstly, extraordinary joy, the gift of healing, the gift of insight, the gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues and so on - only thanks to these amazing gifts that simply amazed the people around them, Christianity was not only preserved in history , but also spread throughout the Roman Empire. Otherwise it would have been destroyed.

So, these rules are the rules of the first centuries. They corresponded with the life of that era. In our time, the situation is such that we must ensure that Communion does not end up in judgment and condemnation for us. We must see to it that I can, at least more or less, prepare for Holy Communion, and not just approach so that Satan will then enter me, like Judas. Therefore, these lines of instructions regarding communion at every Liturgy can hardly, that is, cannot even be applied to us now. But what is the situation - if I cannot receive communion, I feel that I cannot, which means that I should not go to the Liturgy then? What's better? Will I go to the Liturgy and not receive communion, or will I not only not receive communion, but also not go to the Liturgy?

The Church said - no, you should at least stay at the Liturgy. That is, the Liturgy in this case is already a divine service for this person, at which he can pray, repent, be with himself, be with God. Therefore, even in such a strict form, this rule, of course, is no longer applicable to our time. But, nevertheless, this rule reminds us that long non-communion is a clear evidence of the cooling of the human soul.

Therefore, you should, as far as possible, take communion. There are different things here. Before the revolution, for example, you read: at least once a year, or - well, four - in four posts. You will read this from no one else - from Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov). At least every post, well, if you can, then every month would be good.

It all depends on the conditions in which we find ourselves. In addition, it must be said that they also impose unbearable burdens on those preparing for Communion. What corresponds, for example, to monastic life - when fasting is three days or more - can hardly suit every layman who is in conditions of work, this bustle, and so on. Here, at least, fast for at least one day. One, well, two - you need to watch, but not less than at least one day. That is, these restrictions are needed, and they must be reasonable. What keeps so many people - and the priests know this - from receiving Communion is a three-day fast. Well, he can’t do it for three days - it’s just an unbearable thing for him. We must take this into account. And here the priest, knowing the person and talking with him, can regulate the number of days of preparation.

Professor of the MDA A.I. Osipov.

Transcript: Galina Paramoshina.

The Lord Jesus Christ, before suffering, established the Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which bread and wine become the Body and Blood of the Savior. Is it often necessary to receive Holy Communion? How not to lose reverence when receiving communion often? Answered by Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov, rector of PSTGU

Sacrament of sacraments

– What is the teaching of the Church on communion?

– The teaching of the Church on the Eucharist begins from the moment described in the Gospel of John, where the Lord says to his disciples: “... unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:53-54). This teaching is fully revealed at the moment of the establishment of the sacrament of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. From the very beginning, it was clear to Christians that the Eucharist is a sacrament that creates the Church. This is stated in the definition given by the Apostle Paul - “The Church is the Body of Christ” (1 Cor. 12-12), that mysterious Body, the divine-human organism in which people are united with Christ. This Body lives, grows and bears fruit precisely thanks to the sacrament of the Eucharist, in which each of the members of the Church, eating a part of the Body of Christ, is united to one whole Body, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

From this concept of the sacrament it becomes completely obvious that it is necessary to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ often. From the Apostolic Rules, it follows that anyone who did not partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ for more than three weeks without a good reason was considered to have fallen away from the Church.

Ancient Christians received communion every Lord's Day (that is, every Sunday), and in the fourth century, St. Basil the Great writes: “We (meaning ourselves and our monastic community) receive communion four times a week.” Many Holy Fathers write about frequent communion. The Eucharist itself contains the words of the Gospel: “As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and, giving it to the disciples, said: Take, eat: this is My Body. And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said: drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28), “... do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19).

This call of the Lord to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, the Body and Blood of Christ, lives in the heart of every Christian and powerfully calls him to this greatest sacrament! Saint Maximus the Confessor says that no sacrament is completely without communion. Therefore, the Eucharist is called the “sacrament of sacraments,” believing that the entire mysterious, grace-filled life of the Church is rooted in it. The Eucharist creates the Church precisely as a Eucharistic community. Those moments in history in which the Eucharistic life in the Church begins to weaken become very difficult for the fate of Christianity in this world.

Of course, there were moments in the life of the Church when it was necessary to receive communion very rarely. For example, the first monks who went into the Egyptian desert could not often receive communion, especially since they did not have holy orders and could not perform the liturgy themselves. But this is a special case, and in such an incredibly difficult feat, the grace of God made up for this deficiency in their lives. Subsequently, the monasteries grow, large communal monasteries appear, “sanctified” monks appear in them - hieromonks, and the Eucharist begins to be celebrated.

The loss of Eucharistic life is one of the reasons for the revolution and persecution of the Church

The celebration of the Eucharist constantly, even daily, has long become the norm for Christian peoples. And, of course, it is all the more strange to see that the Eucharist is celebrated, but there are no communicants! This is complete nonsense. It is proclaimed: “Take, eat, this is My Body,” but no one wants to accept the Body of Christ and no one wants to partake of the Blood of Christ. The rules of the Holy Apostles qualify this as an insult to God.

If it is not possible to celebrate the liturgy, this is a different matter, but if the liturgy is being celebrated, then not receiving communion is more than strange.

Nevertheless, in pre-revolutionary Russia the tradition of taking communion once a year was established. Unfortunately, most of the Russian people accepted this abnormal situation as the norm. And there is an opinion (with which it is difficult to disagree) that precisely this loss of Eucharistic life is one of the reasons for the revolution and persecution that came to the Church.

When the people retreated from the Church, cooled in faith, retreated from love for Christ, were able to live without the sacrament that unites them with Christ, they suffered troubles, misfortunes, sorrows, mortal suffering inherent in life without God in a world that “lies in evil” , whose prince is the devil. Only then did people again begin to pray with all their hearts, began to repent and receive communion. During the period of persecution, there was no longer a question of how often one should receive communion - everyone tried to receive communion as often as possible. Because it was scary! When they stopped allowing people into churches, when churches were taken away, blown up, closed, Christians began to celebrate the Liturgy in their homes secretly, like the first Christians, and tried to be sure to receive communion.

Today frequent communion has become the norm

Now that freedom has arrived, many have tried to return to the Eucharistic life in the Church, and frequent communion has become the norm. Many communicants come to churches on Easter night, the first day of Easter, Christmas, and other holidays on which they did not receive communion before; many children are brought, which was generally prohibited under Soviet rule.

Of course, in this case some irregularities may appear, which again raise doubts about the norm of frequent communion, which seems illogical. It would be smarter and more natural to analyze the reasons for the irregularities. When a person has to hear the demand: “If you want to receive communion often, then before that you must confess in detail each time, fast, i.e. go to church every day for a week, fast for a week, read akathists and canons, and if you don’t do it, you can’t.” Such a mechanical transfer of norms and rules that developed during a period when people rarely received communion to those who today want to receive communion often leads to a contradiction. Because if you take communion often and fast for a week before that, then you will have to fast all the time, if you go to church every day for the whole week, then when will you work, when will you perform other duties? These are “unbearable burdens.” And with such demands the issue is artificially driven into a dead end.

In fact, Christians, who often took communion in ancient times, had different standards of life, both preparation for communion and asceticism were different. If today this training is brought into line with human capabilities, then most of the problems will disappear.

How to take Communion often and maintain the fear of God

The most important problem remains: will a person who receives communion frequently retain the fear of God? That is, won’t he get used to this sacrament and perceive it as something ordinary? If such an addiction occurs and a person’s soul relaxes, does not tremble before the throne of God, rejoices and desires this moment, as happens with those who have not received communion for a very long time, then the question arises about the correctness of frequent communion for such a person. To prevent this from happening, you need to think about how reverence is cultivated in the soul of a Christian? How to prepare a person for the upcoming Christian life, not only in name, but in heart?

If a person lives in Christian deed every day, tries to pray to God, not to offend anyone, not to say bad words, to be temperate, pure, simple-hearted, not to be cunning, not to deceive, to observe Wednesday and Friday, fasts and holidays, then preparation can be shorter, and he will receive communion with even greater reverence and awe. If he wants to combine an apparently Christian life with a sinful worldly life, that is, to be a Christian in church, but forget about his Christianity outside the church, then he will inevitably lose his reverence. All this will turn into some kind of theater and will lose all meaning; it will give the impression of hypocrisy, deception, and degradation of Christian life.

– Father Vladimir, Father Vsevolod Shpiller was the first to introduce frequent communion into the church practice of the Russian Church after the Second World War. How did this happen?

– Yes, one of the first priests in Russia who began to give communion to people on Easter and Christmas was Father Vsevolod, who was sure that it was often necessary to receive communion. But the conditions were such that mass communion on Easter was simply physically impossible. Then there were so many people that during the Easter service only a small spot remained on the solea at the Royal Doors so that a priest or deacon could come out to cense and say the litany. It was impossible to move. Therefore, it was impossible to confess, take communion, or approach the sacrament.

In ordinary times, Father Vsevolod gave communion to his spiritual community often and regularly. But he couldn’t cope on Easter, and there was no mass communion. He gave communion to very few of his spiritual children with whom he could talk, confess in advance, and explain something. He gave them communion, and, seeing how these people received communion, the whole church began to move in this direction, and the desire to receive communion on Easter began to appear among the people. And little by little the ice began to break. When such an opportunity arose, they began to give communion to everyone.

When Father Vsevolod died, the people “fled away” from our church; not many people remained, and it was easier for the new rector to solve this problem, and he really wanted to follow Father Vsevolod in giving communion to everyone on Easter.

Reading anaphora

– Father Vladimir, in your lectures on the Liturgical Tradition you say that you once began to read the anaphora prayer out loud, and then stopped doing it. Tell us how this happened?

The ever-remembered Patriarch Alexy II also had a sick voice, they made a microphone for him, and he read the anaphora prayer for the entire church. Patriarch Kirill has a very strong voice, and reads this prayer out loud without a microphone. Now I also have such a microphone, and I also read this prayer out loud.

People do not always accept the loud reading of these prayers. Perception depends on preparedness. If the community is mature and has real Eucharistic life, then this reading arises very naturally and is easily perceived. If the church is large and “pass-through” (in large cathedrals, where new people constantly appear and it is unknown who confessed or took communion when), this is difficult to do.

Reading the Eucharistic prayers aloud naturally arises in a situation of a living and full-fledged spiritual community. In such a community, its members actively participate in worship: they sing, read, provide everything necessary for the life of the temple and want to pray together, understand what is happening in the altar, and truly be a single organism. In this case, there are no problems with the supposedly incomprehensible Slavic language: everyone understands, everyone has read the necessary books, and has learned the necessary information. It is easy to pray and serve together with your community, and it would be strange not to read the most important prayers out loud to everyone.

ABOUT CONFESSION AND COMMUNION

Priest Dimitry Galkin

Comp. priest Dimitry Galkin

CONFESSION AND HOLY COMMUNION

EXPLANATIONS

Based on the book by N. E. Pestov “Modern practice of Orthodox piety”

Every time the Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the church, a priest comes out of the altar before the service begins. He heads to the vestibule of the temple, where the people of God are already waiting for him. In his hands, the Cross is a sign of the sacrificial love of the Son of God for the human race, and the Gospel is the good news of salvation. The priest places the Cross and the Gospel on the lectern and, reverently bowing, proclaims: “Blessed is our God always, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen".

This is how the Sacrament of Confession begins. The name itself indicates that in this Sacrament something deeply hidden is accomplished, revealing layers of a person’s life that in ordinary times a person prefers not to touch. This is probably why the fear of confession is so strong among those who have never started it before. How long they have to overcome themselves to approach the confessional lectern!

Vain fear!

It comes from ignorance of what actually happens in this Sacrament. Confession is not a forcible “picking” of sins from the conscience, not an interrogation, and, especially, not a “guilty” verdict on the sinner. Confession is the great Sacrament of reconciliation between God and man; this is the joy of forgiveness of sin; This is a tear-touching manifestation of God’s love for man.

We all sin a lot before God. Vanity, hostility, idle talk, ridicule, intransigence, irritability, anger are constant companions of our lives. On the conscience of almost each of us lie more serious crimes: infanticide (abortion), adultery, turning to sorcerers and psychics, theft, enmity, revenge and much more, making us guilty of the wrath of God.

It should be remembered that sin is not a fact in biography that can be frivolously forgotten. Sin is a “black seal” that remains on the conscience until the end of days and is not washed away by anything other than the Sacrament of Repentance. Sin has a corrupting power that can cause a chain of subsequent, more serious sins.

One ascetic of piety figuratively likened sins... to bricks. He said this: the more unrepentant sins a person has on his conscience, the thicker the wall between him and God, made up of these bricks - sins. The wall can become so thick that a person becomes insensitive to the influence of God's grace, and then he experiences the mental and physical consequences of sins. Mental consequences include dislike for certain people or irritability, anger and nervousness, fears, attacks of anger, depression, the development of addictions in the individual, despondency, melancholy and despair, in extreme forms sometimes turning into a craving for suicide. This is not neurosis at all. This is how sin works.

Bodily consequences include illness. Almost all diseases of an adult, explicitly or implicitly, are associated with previously committed sins.

So, in the Sacrament of Confession, a great miracle of God’s mercy is performed towards the sinner. After sincere repentance of sins before God in the presence of a clergyman as a witness of repentance, when the priest reads a prayer of permission, the Lord himself, with His all-powerful right hand, breaks the wall of sin-bricks into dust, and the barrier between God and man collapses.”

When we come to confession, we repent in the presence of the priest, but not in front of the priest. The priest, being a man himself, is only a witness, a mediator in the Sacrament, and the true celebrant is the Lord God. Then why confess in church? Isn’t it easier to repent at home, alone before the Lord, because He hears us everywhere?

Yes, indeed, personal repentance before confession, leading to awareness of sin, heartfelt contrition and rejection of the crime committed, is necessary. But in itself it is not exhaustive. Final reconciliation with God, cleansing from sin is accomplished within the framework of the Sacrament of Confession, certainly through the mediation of a priest; this form of the Sacrament was established by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Appearing to the apostles after his glorious resurrection. He blew and said to them: “...receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; On whomever you leave it, it will remain on him” (John 20:22-23). The apostles, the pillars of the ancient Church, were given the power to remove the veil of sin from the hearts of people; from them, this power was transferred to their successors - church primates - bishops and priests.

In addition, the moral aspect of the Sacrament is important. It is not difficult to list your sins in private before the All-Knowing and Invisible God. But, discovering them in the presence of a third party - a priest, requires considerable effort to overcome shame, requires the crucifixion of one’s sinfulness, which leads to an incomparably deeper and more serious awareness of personal wrong.

The sacrament of confession and repentance is the great mercy of God towards weak and prone to fall humanity, it is accessible everyone a means leading to the salvation of a soul constantly falling into sin.

Throughout our lives, our spiritual clothing is continually stained with sin. They can only be noticed when clothes are our problem, i.e. purified by repentance. On the clothes of an unrepentant sinner, dark with sinful dirt, stains of new and separate sins cannot be noticeable.

Therefore, we must not put off our repentance and allow our spiritual clothing to become completely soiled: this leads to dulling of conscience and to spiritual death.

And only an attentive life and timely cleansing of sinful stains in the Sacrament of Confession can preserve the purity of our soul and the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in it.

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt writes:

“You need to confess your sins more often in order to amaze and scourge sins by openly recognizing them and in order to feel more disgust for them.”

As Fr. writes. Alexander Elchaninov, “insensibility, stonyness, deadness of the soul - from neglected and unconfessed sins in time. How the soul is relieved when you immediately, while it hurts, confess the sin you have committed. Delayed confession can cause insensitivity.

A person who often confesses and has no deposits of sins in his soul cannot help but be healthy. Confession is a blessed discharge of the soul. In this sense, the significance of confession and of life in general, in connection with the gracious help of the Church, is enormous. So don't put it off. Weak faith and doubts are not an obstacle. Be sure to confess, repent of weak faith and doubts, as of your own weakness and sin. “So it is: complete faith only of the strong in spirit and the righteous; where can we, the unclean and the cowardly, have their faith? If she were, we would be holy, strong, divine and would not need the help of the Church that She offers us. Don’t shy away from this help either.”

Hence, participation in the Sacrament of Confession should not be rare - once in a long period, as those who go to confession once a year or a little more may think.

The process of repentance is a continuous work to heal mental ulcers and cleanse every newly emerging sinful spot. Only in this case will the Christian not lose his “royal dignity” and will remain among the “holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9).

If the Sacrament of Confession is neglected, sin will oppress the soul and at the same time, after it is abandoned by the Holy Spirit, the doors will be open for the entry of dark power and the development of passions and addictions.

There may also come a period of hostility, enmity, quarrels, and even hatred towards others, which will poison the life of both the sinner and his neighbors.

Obsessive bad thoughts (“psychasthenia”) may appear, from which the sinner is unable to free himself and which will poison his life.

This will also include the so-called “persecution mania”, severe wavering in faith, and such completely opposite feelings, but equally dangerous and painful: for some, an insurmountable fear of death, and for others, a desire for suicide.

Finally, mental and physical unhealthy manifestations may occur that are usually called “damage”: seizures of an epileptic nature and that series of ugly mental manifestations that are characterized as obsession and demonic possession.

Holy Scripture and the history of the Church testify that such severe consequences of unrepentant sins are healed by the power of God’s grace through the Sacrament of Confession and subsequent communion of the Holy Mysteries.

The spiritual experience of Elder Hilarion from Optina Hermitage is indicative in this regard.

Hilarion, in his senile service, proceeded from the position stated above, that every mental illness is a consequence of the presence of unrepentant sin in the soul.

Therefore, among such patients, the elder first of all tried, by questioning, to find out all the significant and serious sins that they had committed after the age of seven and were not expressed at the time in confession, either out of modesty, or out of ignorance, or out of oblivion.

After discovering such a sin (or sins), the elder tried to convince those who came to him for help of the need for deep and sincere repentance of sin.

If such repentance appeared, then the elder, like a priest, after confession, absolved sins. With the subsequent communion of the Holy Mysteries, complete deliverance usually occurred from the mental illness that tormented the sinful soul.

In those cases when the visitor was found to have severe and long-term enmity towards his neighbors, the elder commanded to immediately reconcile with them and ask their forgiveness for all previously inflicted insults, insults and injustices.

Such conversations and confessions sometimes required great patience, endurance and perseverance from the elder. So, for a long time he persuaded one possessed woman to first cross herself, then drink holy water, then tell him her life and her sins.

At first he had to endure many insults and manifestations of anger from her. However, he released her only when the patient humbled herself, became obedient and brought complete repentance in confession for the sins she had committed. This is how she received complete healing.

One patient came to the elder, suffering from a desire for suicide. The elder found out that he had previously made two attempts at suicide - at the age of 12 and in his youth.

At confession, the patient had not previously brought repentance to them. The elder achieved complete repentance from him - he confessed and gave him communion. Since then, the thoughts of suicide have stopped.

As can be seen from the above, sincere repentance and confession of sins brought to a Christian not only their forgiveness, but also the fullness of spiritual health only when the sinner returns to grace and the presence of the Holy Spirit with the Christian.

Since only through the permission of the priest is sin finally erased from our “book of life,” so that our memory does not fail us in this most important of our lives, it is necessary to write down our sins. The same note can be used in confession.

This is what Elder Fr. suggested doing to his spiritual children. Alexy Mechev. Regarding confession, he gave the following instructions:

“When approaching confession, you need to remember everything and consider every sin from all sides, bring all the little things to memory, so that everything in your heart burns out with shame. Then our sin will become disgusting and the confidence will be created that we will no longer return to it.

At the same time, we must feel all the goodness of God: the Lord shed His Blood for me, takes care of me, loves me, is ready to accept me like a mother, hugs me, comforts me, but I keep sinning and sinning.

And immediately, when you come to confession, you repent to the Lord crucified on the cross, like a child when he says with tears: “Mom, forgive me, I won’t do it again.”

And whether there is anyone here or not, it will not matter, because the priest is only a witness, and the Lord knows all our sins, sees all our thoughts. He only needs our consciousness of being guilty.

Thus, in the Gospel, He asked the father of the demon-possessed youth since when did this happen to him (Mark 9:21). He didn't need it. He knew everything, but he did it so that the father would acknowledge his guilt in his son’s illness.”

At confession, Fr. Alexy Mechev did not allow the confessor to speak in detail about sins of the flesh and touch on other persons and their actions.

He could only consider himself guilty. When talking about quarrels, you could only say what you said yourself (without softening or justifying) and not touch on what they answered you. He demanded that others be justified and that they blame themselves, even if it was not your fault. If you quarrel, it means you are to blame.

Once said in confession, sins are no longer repeated in confession; they are already forgiven.

But this does not mean that a Christian can completely erase from his memory the most serious sins of his life. The sinful wound on the body of the soul is healed, but the scar from sin remains forever, and a Christian must remember this and deeply humble himself, mourning his sinful falls.

As Rev. writes. Anthony the Great:

“The Lord is good and forgives the sins of all who turn to Him, no matter who they are, so that He will not remember them anymore.

However, He wants those (those who have been pardoned) to remember the forgiveness of their sins that they have committed so far, so that, having forgotten about this, they would not allow anything in their behavior that would force them to give an account of those sins that have already been committed. were forgiven - as happened with that slave to whom the master renewed the entire debt that had previously been remitted to him (Matthew 18:24-25).

Thus, when the Lord forgives us our sins, we must not forgive them to ourselves, but always remember them through (continuous) renewal of repentance for them.”

Elder Silouan also speaks about this:

“Although sins are forgiven, you must remember and grieve about them all your life in order to maintain contrition.”

Here, however, we should warn that remembering one’s sins can be different and in some cases (for carnal sins) can even harm a Christian. Rev. writes about it this way. Barsanuphius the Great.

“Remembering our sins does not mean each one separately, so that sometimes even through their recollection the enemy does not lead us into the same captivity, but it is enough just to remember that we are guilty of sins.”

It should be mentioned at the same time that the elder Fr. Alexei Zosimovsky believed that although there was remission of some sin after confession, if it continues to torment and confuse the conscience, then it is necessary to confess it again.

For someone who sincerely repents of sins, the dignity of the priest accepting his confession does not matter. Fr. writes about it this way. Alexander Elchaninov:

“For a person who truly suffers from the ulcer of his sin, it makes no difference through whom he confesses this sin that torments him; just to confess it as soon as possible and get relief.

In confession, the most important state of the soul of the penitent, whatever the confessor may be. Our repentance is important. In our country, the personality of the confessor is often given primacy.”

When confessing your sins or asking your confessor for advice, it is very important to catch his first word. Elder Silouan gives the following instructions on this matter.

“In a few words, the confessor says his thoughts or the most essential things about his condition and then leaves the confessor free.

The confessor, praying from the first moment of the conversation, waits for admonition from God, and if he feels a “notice” in his soul, then he gives such an answer, which should be stopped at, because when the “first word” of the confessor is missed, then at the same time the effectiveness of the Sacrament is weakened , and confession can turn into a simple human discussion.”

Perhaps some who repent of serious sins when confessing to a priest think that the latter will treat them with hostility after learning their sins. But that's not true.

As Archbishop Arseny (Chudovskoy) writes: “When a sinner sincerely, with tears, repents to his confessor, the latter involuntarily develops in his heart a feeling of joy and consolation, and at the same time a feeling of love and respect for the penitent.

To the one who reveals sins, it may perhaps seem that the shepherd will not even look at him now, since he knows his filth and will treat him with contempt. Oh no! A sincerely repentant sinner becomes dear, dear, and as if dear to the shepherd.”

O. Alexander Elchaninov writes about the same thing:

“Why is a confessor not disgusted with a sinner, no matter how disgusting his sins are? “Because in the Sacrament of Repentance the priest contemplates the complete separation of the sinner and his sin.”

CONFESSION

(based on the works of Father Alexander Elchaninov)

Usually people inexperienced in spiritual life do not see the multiplicity of their sins.

“Nothing special”, “like everyone else”, “only minor sins - didn’t steal, didn’t kill” - this is usually the beginning of confession for many.

But self-love, intolerance of reproaches, callousness, people-pleasing, weakness of faith and love, cowardice, spiritual laziness - aren’t these important sins? How can we claim that we love God enough, that our faith is active and ardent? That we love every person as a brother in Christ? That we have achieved meekness, freedom from anger, humility?

If not, then what is our Christianity? How can we explain our self-confidence in confession if not by “petrified insensibility”, if not by “deadness”, the heart and soul death that precedes the body?

Why St. the fathers who left us prayers of repentance considered themselves to be the first of sinners and with sincere conviction cried out to the Sweetest Jesus: “No one on earth has sinned as I have sinned, the accursed and prodigal one,” and we are convinced that everything is fine with us?

The brighter the light of Christ illuminates the hearts, the more clearly all shortcomings, ulcers and wounds are created. And, on the contrary, people immersed in the darkness of sin do not see anything in their hearts: and if they do, they are not horrified, since they have nothing to compare with.

Therefore, the direct path to the knowledge of one’s sins is to approach the Light and pray for this Light, which is the judgment of the world and everything “worldly” in ourselves (John 3:19). In the meantime, there is no such closeness to Christ in which a feeling of repentance is our usual state, we must, when preparing for confession, examine our conscience - according to the commandments, according to some prayers (for example, the 3rd Vespers, the 4th before Holy Communion), in some places of the Gospel and Epistles (for example, Matt. 5, Rom. 12, Eph. 4, James 3).

When understanding your soul, you must try to distinguish between basic sins and derivative ones, symptoms from deeper-lying causes.

For example, absent-mindedness during prayer, dozing and inattention in church, and lack of interest in reading the Holy Scriptures are very important. But don’t these sins stem from lack of faith and weak love for God? It is necessary to note in yourself self-will, disobedience, self-justification, impatience of reproaches, intransigence, stubbornness; but it is even more important to discover their connection with self-love and pride.

If we notice in ourselves a desire for society, talkativeness, laughter, increased concern for our appearance and not only our own, but our loved ones, then we must carefully examine whether this is not a form of “diverse vanity.”

If we take everyday failures too much to heart, endure separation hard, grieve inconsolably for those who have passed away, then in addition to the strength and depth of our feelings, doesn’t all this also testify to a lack of faith in God’s Providence?

There is another auxiliary means that leads to the knowledge of our sins - to remember what other people, our enemies, and especially those who live side by side with us and loved ones usually accuse us of: almost always their accusations, reproaches, attacks are justified. You can even, having conquered your pride, ask them directly about it - you know better from the outside.

Before confession, it is necessary to ask for forgiveness from everyone to whom you are guilty, and to go to confession with an unburdened conscience.

During such a test of the heart, one must be careful not to fall into excessive suspiciousness and petty suspicion of every movement of the heart; Having taken this path, you can lose your sense of what is important and unimportant, and get confused in the little things.

In such cases, you must temporarily abandon the testing of your soul and, with prayer and good deeds, simplify and clarify your soul.

The point is to remember as fully as possible and even write down our sins, and to achieve such a state of concentration, seriousness and prayer in which our sins become clear as if by light.

But knowing your sins does not mean repenting of them. True, the Lord accepts confession - sincere, conscientious, when it is not accompanied by a strong feeling of repentance.

Still, “contrition of heart”—sorrow for our sins—is the most important thing we can bring to confession.

But what to do if “we have no tears, less than repentance, less than tenderness?” “What should we do if our heart, dried up by the flame of sin, is not watered by the life-giving waters of tears? What if “weakness of soul and weakness of the flesh are so great that we are not capable of sincere repentance?

This is still not a reason to postpone confession - God can touch our heart during confession itself: confession itself, the naming of our sins can soften our repentant heart, refine our spiritual vision, sharpen our feelings. Most of all, preparation for confession serves to overcome our spiritual lethargy - fasting, which, exhausting our body, disrupts our bodily well-being, which is disastrous for spiritual life. Prayer, night thoughts about death, reading the Gospel, the lives of saints, and the works of St. serve the same purpose. fathers, increased struggle with oneself, exercise in good deeds.

Our insensitivity in confession is mostly rooted in a lack of fear of God and hidden unbelief. This is where our efforts should be directed.

The third point in confession is the verbal confession of sins. There is no need to wait for questions, you need to make the effort yourself; Confession is a feat and self-compulsion. It is necessary to speak precisely, without obscuring the ugliness of sin with general expressions (for example, “I have sinned against the 7th commandment”). When confessing, it is very difficult to avoid the temptation of self-justification, attempts to explain “mitigating circumstances” to the confessor, and references to third parties who led us into sin. All these are signs of pride, lack of deep repentance, and continued stalemate in sin.

Confession is not a conversation about one’s shortcomings, it is not a confessor’s knowledge of you, and least of all a “pious custom.” Confession is an ardent repentance of the heart, a thirst for purification that comes from a sense of holiness, dying to sin and reviving for holiness...

I often notice in those confessing a desire to go through confession painlessly for themselves - either they get off with general phrases, or talk about little things, keeping silent about what should really weigh on their conscience. There is also false shame before the confessor and general indecision, as before every important action, and especially - a cowardly fear of seriously starting to stir up one’s life, full of small and habitual weaknesses. A real confession, like a good shock to the soul, is terrifying in its decisiveness, the need to change something, or even just to at least think about oneself.

Sometimes in confession they refer to a weak memory, which does not seem to give the opportunity to remember sins. Indeed, it often happens that you easily forget your sins, but does this only happen because of a weak memory?

In confession, a weak memory is not an excuse; forgetfulness - from inattention, frivolity, callousness, insensitivity to sin. Sin that burdens the conscience will not be forgotten. After all, for example, cases that especially hurt our pride or, on the contrary, flattered our vanity, we remember praise addressed to us for many years. We remember everything that makes a strong impression on us for a long time and clearly, and if we forget our sins, doesn’t this mean that we simply do not attach serious importance to them?

A sign of completed repentance is a feeling of lightness, purity, inexplicable joy, when sin seems as difficult and impossible as this joy was just far away.

Our repentance will not be complete if, while repenting, we do not confirm internally in the determination not to return to the confessed sin.

But, they say, how is this possible? How can I promise myself and my confessor that I will not repeat my sin? Wouldn't the opposite be closer to the truth - the certainty that the sin will be repeated? After all, everyone knows from experience that after a while you inevitably return to the same sins. Observing yourself from year to year, you do not notice any improvement, “you jump and again remain in the same place.”

It would be terrible if that were the case. Fortunately, this is not the case. There is no case when, if there is a good desire to improve, successive confessions and Holy Communion do not produce beneficial changes in the soul.

But the fact is that, first of all, we are not our own judges. A person cannot correctly judge himself whether he has become worse or better, since both he, the judge, and what he judges are changing quantities.

Increased severity towards oneself, increased spiritual clarity, heightened fear of sin can give the illusion that sins have multiplied: they remained the same, maybe even weakened, but we did not notice them like that before.

Besides. God, in His special providence, often closes our eyes to our successes in order to protect us from our worst enemy - vanity and pride. It often happens that sin remains, but frequent confession and Communion of the Holy Mysteries have shaken and weakened its roots. And the very struggle with sin, suffering about one’s sins - isn’t it an acquisition?

“Do not be afraid,” says John Climacus, “even if you fall every day, and do not depart from the ways of God. Stand courageously and the angel protecting you will honor your patience.”

If there is no this feeling of relief, rebirth, you must have the strength to return again to confession, to completely free your soul from impurity, to wash it with tears from blackness and filth. Those who strive for this will always achieve what they are looking for.

Just let us not take credit for our successes, count on our own strengths, rely on our own efforts - this would mean ruining everything we have acquired.

“Collect my scattered mind. Lord, cleanse my frozen heart: like Peter, give me repentance, like the tax collector, sighing, and like the harlot, tears.”

And infrom the advice of Archbishop Arseny / Chudovsky / on preparation for confession:

“We come to confession with the intention of receiving forgiveness of sins from the Lord God through the priest. So know that your confession is empty, idle, invalid and even offensive to the Lord if you go to confession without any preparation, without testing your conscience, out of shame or for some other reason you hide your sins, you confess without contrition and tenderness, formally , coldly, mechanically, without a firm intention to improve forward.

They often approach confession unprepared. What does it mean to prepare? Diligently test your conscience, recall and feel your sins in your heart, decide to tell all of them, without any concealment, to your confessor, repent of them, but avoid them in the future. And since our memory often fails us, those who write down remembered sins on paper do well. And about those sins that you, no matter how much you want, cannot remember, do not worry that they will not be forgiven you. Just have a sincere determination to repent of everything and with tears ask the Lord to forgive you all your sins, which you remember and which you do not remember.

In confession, say everything that bothers you, that hurts you, so don’t be shy to once again talk about your previous sins. This is good, it will testify that you constantly walk with a feeling of your damnation and overcome any shame from discovering your sinful ulcers.

There are so-called unconfessed sins that many live with for many years, and perhaps their entire lives. Sometimes I want to reveal them to my confessor, but it’s too embarrassing to talk about them, and so it goes by year after year; and yet they constantly burden the soul and prepare for it eternal condemnation. Some of these people are happy, the time comes. The Lord sends them a confessor, opens the mouths and hearts of these unrepentant sinners, and they confess all their sins. The abscess thus breaks through, and these people receive spiritual relief and, as it were, recovery. However, how one must be afraid of unrepentant sins!

Unconfessed sins are like our debt, which we constantly feel and constantly burden us. And what better way than to pay off the debt - then your soul will be at peace; It’s the same with sins - these spiritual debts of ours: you confess them to your confessor, and your heart will feel light, easy.

Repentance before confession is a victory over oneself, it is a victorious trophy, so that the one who has repented is worthy of all respect and honor.”

Preparing for Confession

As a model for determining one’s inner spiritual state and for detecting one’s sins, one can take the “Confession” of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, slightly modified in relation to modern conditions.

I confess that I am a great sinner (name of rivers) 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 in all the days of my life, which I have thought even to this day.

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

Forgive us, Merciful Lord (for the people). Forgive me, honest father (for singles). Sinned: before the Lord with little faith and slowness in thoughts, from the enemy everything against faith and the Holy. Churches; 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 for the Lord, lower than fear, failure to fulfill the holy. His will and St. commandments, careless depiction of the sign of the cross, irreverent veneration of St. 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; the law of God and St. I did not learn the traditions of my 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 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.

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 St. fasting and non-keeping of fast days - Wednesday and Friday; intemperance in food and drink, polyeating, secret eating, disordered eating, drunkenness, dissatisfaction with food and drink, clothing, parasitism; one’s own will and reason through fulfillment, self-righteousness, self-indulgence and self-justification; not properly honoring parents, not raising children in the Orthodox faith, cursing their children and their neighbors.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: unbelief, superstition, doubt, despair, despondency, blasphemy, false religion, dancing, smoking, playing cards, gossip, commemorating the living for their repose, eating the blood of animals (VI Ecumenical Council, 67th canon. Acts of the Holy Apostles, 15 ch. ).

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: seeking help from intermediaries of demonic power - occultists: psychics, bioenergeticists, non-contact massage therapists, hypnotists, “folk” healers, sorcerers, sorcerers, healers, fortune tellers, astrologers, parapsychologists; participation in coding sessions, removal of “damage and evil eye”, spiritualism; contacting UFOs and “higher intelligence”; connection to “cosmic energies”.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: viewing and listening to television and radio programs with the participation of psychics, healers, astrologers, fortune-tellers, healers.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: studying various occult teachings, theosophy, eastern cults, the teaching of “living ethics”; doing yoga, meditation, dousing according to Porfiry Ivanov’s system.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: reading and storing occult literature.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: attending speeches by Protestant preachers, participating in meetings of Baptists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists, the "Virgin Center", "white brotherhood" and other sects, accepting heretical baptism, deviating into heresy and sectarian teaching.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: pride, conceit, envy, conceit, 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, disputes, stubbornness, unwillingness to give in and serve one's neighbor; sinned with gloating, malice, slander, insult, ridicule, reproach and man-pleasing.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: incontinence of mental and physical feelings; spiritual and physical impurity, 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. I sinned through covetousness, love of money, unrighteous acquisition, embezzlement, theft, stinginess, attachment to various kinds of things and people.

Forgive me, honest father.

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

Sinned: unmercifulness, contempt and condemnation of the poor; going to the temple of God without fear and reverence.

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: laziness, relaxation, love of bodily rest, excessive sleeping, voluptuous dreams, biased views, shameless body movements, touching, fornication, adultery, corruption, fornication, unmarried marriages; (those who performed abortions on themselves or others, or inclined someone to this great sin - infanticide, sinned gravely).

Forgive me, honest father.

Sinned: spending time in empty and idle activities, in empty conversations, in excessive watching of television.

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.

Sinned: coldness and insensibility in confession, belittling sins, blaming others rather than condemning oneself.

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 - willfully or involuntarily, knowledge or ignorance, reason or foolishness, and it is impossible 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.

General Confession

As you know, the church practices not only separate, but also the so-called “general confession”, in which the priest absolves sins without hearing them from the penitents.

The replacement of a separate confession with a general one is due to the fact that now the priest often does not have the opportunity to accept confession from everyone. However, such a replacement is, of course, extremely undesirable and not everyone and not always can participate in general confession and after it go to Communion.

During general confession, the penitent does not have to reveal the dirt of his spiritual vestments, does not have to be ashamed of them in front of the priest, and his pride, pride and vanity will not be hurt. Thus, there will not be that punishment for sin, which, in addition to our repentance, would gain us God's mercy.

Secondly, general confession is fraught with the danger that such a sinner will approach Holy Communion who, during a separate confession, would not be allowed to come to Him by the priest.

Many serious sins require serious and lengthy repentance. And then the priest prohibits communion for a certain period and imposes penance (prayers of repentance, bows, abstinence in something). In other cases, the priest must receive a promise from the repentant not to repeat the sin again and only then be allowed to receive communion.

Therefore, general confession cannot be started in the following cases:

1) those who have not been to a separate confession for a long time - several years or many months;

2) those who have either a mortal sin or a sin that greatly hurts and torments his conscience.

In such cases, the confessor must, after all other participants in the confession, approach the priest and tell him the sins that lie on his conscience.

Participation in general confession can be considered acceptable (due to need) only for those who confess and receive communion quite often, check themselves from time to time in separate confession and are confident that the sins that they say in confession will not serve as a reason for prohibition for them Participles.

At the same time, it is also necessary that we participate in general confession either with our spiritual father or with a priest who knows us well.

Confession from Elder Zosima

The possibility in some cases of silent (i.e., without words) confession, and how one must prepare for it, is indicated by the following story from the biography of Elder Zosima from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

“There was a case with two ladies. They go to the elder’s cell, and one of them repents of her sins all the way - “Lord, how sinful I am, I did this and that wrong, I condemned this and that, etc... forgive me. God"…. Both the heart and mind seem to fall at the feet of the Lord.

“Forgive me, Lord, and give me strength not to offend You like this again.”

She tried to remember all her sins and repented and repented along the way.

The other one calmly walked towards the elder. “I’ll come, I’ll confess, I’m a sinner in everything, I’ll tell you, I’ll take communion tomorrow.” And then she thinks: “What kind of material should I buy for my daughter’s dress, and what style should I choose for her to suit her face...” and similar worldly thoughts occupied the heart and mind of the second lady.

Both of them entered Father Zosima’s cell together. Addressing the first one, the elder said:

Get on your knees, I will now forgive you your sins.

Why, father, I haven’t told you yet?..

There is no need to say, you told the Lord all the time, you prayed to God all the way, so now I will allow you, and tomorrow I will bless you to take communion... And you,” he turned to another lady, “you go, buy some material for your daughter’s dress, choose style, sew what I had in mind.

And when your soul comes to repentance, come to confession. And now I won’t confess to you.”

About penances

In some cases, the priest may impose penance on the penitent - spiritual exercises prescribed with the aim of eradicating the habits of sin. In accordance with this goal, feats of prayer and good deeds are assigned, which must be directly opposite to the sin for which they are assigned: for example, works of mercy are assigned to the lover of money, fasting to the unchaste, kneeling prayers to those weakening in faith, etc. Sometimes, due to the persistent unrepentance of a person confessing to some sin, the confessor may excommunicate him for some period of time from participating in the Sacrament of Communion. Penance must be treated as the will of God, spoken through the priest about the penitent, and must be accepted for obligatory fulfillment. If it is impossible for one reason or another to perform penance, you should contact the priest who imposed it to resolve the difficulties that have arisen.

About the time of the Sacrament of Confession

According to existing church practice, the Sacrament of Confession is performed in churches in the morning on the day of the Divine Liturgy. In some churches, confession also happens the night before. In churches where the Liturgy is served every day, confession is daily. Under no circumstances should you be late for the beginning of Confession, since the Sacrament begins with the reading of the rite, in which everyone who wishes to confess must prayerfully participate.

Final steps in confession: After confessing sins and reading the prayer of absolution by the priest, the penitent kisses the Cross and Gospel lying on the lectern and takes a blessing from the confessor.

The connection of the Sacrament of Anointing with the forgiveness of sins

“The prayer of faith will heal the sick... and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him” (James 5:15)

No matter how carefully we try to remember and write down our sins, it may happen that a significant part of them will not be told in confession, some will be forgotten, and some will simply not be realized and not noticed due to spiritual blindness.

In this case, the church comes to the aid of the repentant with the Sacrament of Unction or, as it is often called, “unction.” This sacrament is based on the instructions of the Apostle James, the head of the Jerusalem Church.

“Is any of you sick, let him call the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will restore him; and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him” (James 5:14-15).

Thus, in the Sacrament of the Blessing of Anointing, we are forgiven of sins that were not said in confession due to ignorance or forgetfulness. And since illness is a consequence of our sinful state, liberation from sin often leads to healing of the body.

Some of the careless Christians neglect the Sacraments of the church, do not attend confession for several or even many years. And when they realize its necessity and come to confession, then, of course, it is difficult for them to remember all the sins they have committed over many years. In these cases, the Optina elders always recommended that such repentant Christians take part in three Sacraments at once: confession, Blessing of Anointing and Communion of the Holy Mysteries.

Some of the elders believe that in a few years not only the seriously ill, but also all those who are zealous for the salvation of their souls can participate in the Sacrament of Anointing.

At the same time, it should be pointed out that those Christians who do not neglect the fairly frequent Sacrament of Confession were not advised by the Optina elders to undergo unction unless they had a serious illness.

In modern church practice, the Sacrament of Anointing is performed in churches annually during Great Lent.

Those Christians who for some reason will not have the opportunity to take part in the Sacrament of Anointing, need to remember the instructions of the elders Barsanuphius and John, which were given to the student in response to the question - “oblivion destroys the remembrance of many sins - what should I do?” The answer was:

“Which lender can you find more faithful than God? who knows also what has not yet happened?

So, lay the account of the sins you have forgotten on Him and tell him:

“Master, since it is a sin to forget one’s sins, I have sinned in everything against You, the One Knower of the Heart. You forgive me for everything according to Your love for mankind, for there the splendor of Your glory is manifested, when You do not repay sinners for their sins, for You are glorified forever. Amen".

COMMUNION OF THE HOLY MYSTERIES OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

The meaning of the Sacrament

“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you will not have life in you” (John 6:53)

“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:56)

With these words, the Lord pointed out the absolute necessity for all Christians to participate in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Sacrament itself was established by the Lord at the Last Supper.

“Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying: Take, eat: this is My Body. And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).

As the Holy Church teaches, a Christian, receiving Holy Communion, is mysteriously united with Christ, for in every particle of the fragmented Lamb the whole Christ is contained.

The significance of the Sacrament of the Eucharist is immeasurable, the comprehension of which exceeds the capabilities of our mind.

This Sacrament ignites Christ's love in us, lifts the heart to God, gives rise to virtues in it, restrains the attack of dark forces on us, gives strength against temptations, revives the soul and body, heals them, gives them strength, returns virtues - restores that purity in us the soul that the first-born Adam had before the Fall.

In his reflections on the Divine Liturgy, Bishop. Seraphim Zvezdinsky there is a description of the vision of one ascetic elder, which clearly characterizes the meaning for a Christian of the Communion of the Holy Mysteries.

The ascetic saw: “a fiery sea, the waves rose and seethed, presenting a terrible sight. On the opposite bank there was a beautiful garden. From there you could hear the singing of birds and the scent of flowers.

“Take the two wings that the Divine Eucharist has given: one wing is the Divine Flesh of Christ, the second wing is His Life-giving Blood. Without them, no matter how great the feat, it is impossible to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven.”

O. Valentin Svenitsky writes:

“The Eucharist is the basis of that real unity that is expected in the general resurrection, for both in the transubstantiation of the Gifts and in our communion is the guarantee of our salvation and resurrection, not only spiritual, but also physical.”

Elder Parthenius of Kiev once, in a reverent feeling of fiery love for the Lord, repeated the prayer for a long time: “Lord Jesus, live in me and give me life in You,” and heard a quiet, sweet voice: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I am in it."

In some spiritual illnesses, the sacrament of Communion is the most effective healing: for example, when a person is attacked by so-called “blasphemous thoughts,” the spiritual fathers propose to fight them with frequent communion of the Holy Mysteries.

Holy Righteous Fr. John of Kronstadt writes about the significance of the Sacrament of the Eucharist in the fight against strong temptations:

“If you feel the weight of the struggle and see that you cannot cope with evil alone, run to your spiritual father and ask him to impart the Holy Mysteries to you. This is a great and all-powerful weapon in the fight.”

Repentance alone is not enough to preserve the purity of our hearts and strengthen our spirit in piety and virtues. The Lord said: “When the unclean spirit leaves a person, it walks through dry places, seeking rest, and, not finding it, says: I will return to my house from whence I came. And when he arrived, he found it swept and put away. then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and live there, and the last thing for that person is worse than the first (Luke 11:24-26).

So, if repentance cleanses us from the defilement of our soul, then the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord will fill us with grace and block the return into our soul of the evil spirit expelled by repentance.

Therefore, according to the custom of the church, the Sacraments of Repentance (confession) and Communion follow directly one after the other. And Rev. Seraphim of Sarov says that the rebirth of the soul is accomplished through two sacraments: “through repentance and complete cleansing from all sinful filth by the Most Pure and Life-Giving Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ.”

At the same time, no matter how necessary the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is for us, it cannot take place if repentance does not precede it.

As Archbishop Arseny (Chudovskoy) writes:

“It is a great thing to receive the Holy Mysteries and the fruits that come from this are great: the renewal of our hearts by the Holy Spirit, a blissful mood of spirit. And this task is so great, it requires such careful preparation from us. And therefore, if you want to receive God’s grace from Holy Communion, try your best to correct your heart.”

How often should you partake of the Holy Mysteries?

To the question: “how often should one partake of the Holy Mysteries?” St. John answers: “the more often, the better.” However, he sets an indispensable condition: to approach Holy Communion with sincere repentance of one’s sins and a clear conscience.

In the biography of Rev. Macarius the Great has his words to one woman who suffered cruelly from the spell of a sorcerer:

“You have come under attack because you have not received the Holy Mysteries for five weeks.”

Holy Righteous Fr. John of Kronstadt pointed to the forgotten apostolic rule - to excommunicate those who have not been to Holy Communion for three weeks.

Rev. Seraphim of Sarov commanded the Diveyevo sisters to unacceptably confess and receive communion on all fasts and, moreover, on the twelve feasts, without tormenting themselves with the thought that they are unworthy, “since one should not miss the opportunity to use the grace bestowed by communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ as often as possible. Trying, if possible, to concentrate in the humble consciousness of one’s complete sinfulness, with hope and firm faith in God’s ineffable mercy, one should proceed to the Holy Sacrament that redeems everything and everyone.”

Of course, it is very saving to receive communion on your name day and birthday, and for spouses on their wedding day.

Archbishop Arseny (Chudovskoy) writes: “Continuous Communion should be the ideal of all Christians. But the enemy of the human race... immediately understood what power the Lord had given us in the Holy Mysteries. And he began the work of turning Christians away from Holy Communion. From the history of Christianity we know that at first Christians received communion daily, then 4 times a week, then on Sundays and holidays, and then during all fasts, i.e. 4 times a year, finally, barely once a year, and now even less often.”

“A Christian must always be ready for death and for Communion,” said one of the spirit-bearing fathers.

So, it is up to us to frequently participate in the Last Supper of Christ and to receive at it the great grace of the Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ.

One of the spiritual daughters of the elder Fr. Alexia Mecheva once told him:

Sometimes your soul longs to unite with the Lord through Communion, but the thought that you recently received Communion holds you back.

This means the Lord touches the heart,” the elder answered her, “so all these cold reasonings are no longer necessary and appropriate... I give you communion often, I proceed from the purpose of introducing you to the Lord, so that you feel how good it is - abide with Christ.

One of the wise shepherds of the twentieth century, Fr. Valentin Svenitsky writes:

“Without frequent communion, spiritual life in the world is impossible. After all, your body dries up and becomes powerless when you do not give it food. And the soul demands its heavenly food. Otherwise, it will dry out and become weak.

Without communion, the spiritual fire in you will die out. It will be filled with worldly rubbish. To free ourselves from this rubbish we need a fire that burns the thorns of our sins.

Spiritual life is not abstract theology, but real and most undoubted life in Christ. But how can it begin if you do not accept the fullness of the Spirit of Christ in this terrible and great sacrament? How can you live in Him without accepting the Flesh and Blood of Christ?

And here, as in repentance, the enemy will not leave you without attacks. And here he will plot all sorts of intrigues for you. He will erect many external and internal barriers.

Either you will have no time, then you will feel unwell, or you will want to put it off for a while, “to better prepare.” Do not listen. Go. Confess, take communion. You don’t know when the Lord will call you.”

Let every soul listen sensitively to its heart and be afraid to listen to the hand of the Distinguished Guest knocking on its door; let her be afraid that her hearing will become coarse from the vanity of the world and will not be able to hear quiet and gentle calls coming from the kingdom of Light.

Let the soul be afraid of replacing the experience of heavenly joy of unity with the Lord with the muddy entertainments of the world or the base consolations of bodily nature.

And when she is able to tear herself away from the world and everything sensory, when she yearns for the light of the Heavenly world and reaches out to the Lord, let her dare to unite with Him in the great Sacrament, while dressing herself in the spiritual clothes of sincere repentance and the deepest humility and the unchanging fullness of spiritual poverty.

Let the soul also not be embarrassed by the fact that, despite all its repentance, it is still unworthy of Communion.

Elder Fr. says this about it. Alexy Mechev:

“Take Communion more often and do not say that you are unworthy. If you talk like that, you will never receive communion, because you will never be worthy. Do you think that there is at least one person on Earth worthy of receiving the Holy Mysteries?

No one is worthy of this, and if we do receive communion, it is only by the special mercy of God.

We are not created for communion, but communion is for us. It is we, sinners, unworthy, weak, who more than anyone else need this saving source.”

And here is what the famous Moscow pastor Fr. said about frequent communion of the Holy Mysteries. Valentin Amfitheatrov:

“... You need to be ready for communion every day. as to death... Ancient Christians took communion every day.

We must approach the Holy Chalice and think that we are unworthy and cry out with humility: everything is here, in You, Lord - mother, father, husband - you are all, Lord, joy and consolation.”

Known throughout Orthodox Russia, the elder of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, schema-abbot Savva (1898-1980), wrote this in his book “On the Divine Liturgy”:

“The most pleasant confirmation of how much our Lord Jesus Christ Himself desires for us to approach the Lord’s Table is his appeal to the apostles: “I desire to eat this Passover with you, before I will not even accept torment” (Lk. 22, 15).

He did not speak to them about the Old Testament Passover: it took place annually and was ordinary, but from now on it must stop completely. He ardently desired the Passover of the New Testament, that Passover in which He sacrifices Himself, offers Himself as food.

The words of Jesus Christ can be expressed this way: with the desire of love and mercy, “I longed to eat this Passover with you,” because it embodies all of My love for you, and all of your true life and bliss.

If the Lord, out of His ineffable love, so ardently desires her not for His own sake, but for his sake, then how ardently we should desire her, out of love and gratitude to Him, and for our own good and bliss!

Christ said: “Take, eat...” (Mark 14:22). He offered us His Body not for a one-time, or infrequent and occasional use, as medicine, but for constant and everlasting nourishment: eat, not taste. But if the Body of Christ were offered to us only as medicine, then even then we would have to ask permission to receive communion as often as possible, because We are weak in soul and body, and spiritual weaknesses especially affect us.

The Lord gave us the Holy Mysteries as our daily bread, according to His word: “The bread I will give, this is my flesh” (John 6:51).

From this it is clear that Christ not only allowed, but also commanded that we often begin to eat His meal. We do not leave ourselves for a long time without ordinary bread, knowing that otherwise our strength will weaken and bodily life will cease. How can we not be afraid to leave ourselves for a long time without heavenly, divine bread, without the Bread of Life?

Those who rarely approach the Holy Chalice usually say in their own defense: “We are unworthy, we are not ready.” And whoever is not ready, let him not be lazy and get ready.

Not a single person is worthy of communion with the all-holy Lord, because God alone is sinless, but we are given the right to believe, repent, correct, be forgiven and trust in the grace of the Savior of sinners and the Discoverer of the lost.

Whoever carelessly leaves himself unworthy of communion with Christ on earth will remain unworthy of communion with Him in Heaven. Is it wise to remove yourself from the source of life, power, light and grace? He is wise who, to the best of his ability, correcting his unworthiness, resorts to Jesus Christ in His Most Pure Mysteries, otherwise the humble consciousness of his unworthiness can turn into coldness towards faith and the work of his salvation. Deliver, Lord!”

In conclusion, we present the opinion of the official publication of the Russian Orthodox Church - the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate (JMP No. 12, 1989, p. 76) regarding the frequency of communion:

“Following the example of Christians of the first centuries, when not only monks, but also ordinary laymen, at every opportunity, resorted to the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion, realizing the great significance they have, and we should, as often as possible, cleanse our conscience with repentance, strengthen our lives with confession faith in God and proceed to the Sacrament of Holy Communion, in order to thereby receive from God mercy and forgiveness of sins and to unite more closely with Christ...

In modern practice, it is customary for all believers to receive communion at least once a month, and more often during fasting, two or three times per fast. They also receive communion on Angel's Day and birthdays. Believers clarify the order and frequency of communion of the Holy Mysteries with their confessor and, with his blessing, try to maintain the timing of communion and confession.”

How to prepare for Holy Communion

The basis of preparation for the Sacrament of Communion is repentance. Awareness of one's sinfulness reveals personal weaknesses and arouses the desire to become better through unity with Christ in His Most Pure Mysteries. Prayer and fasting set the soul in a repentant mood.

“The Orthodox Prayer Book” (ed. Moscow Patriarchate, 1980) indicates that “... preparation for Holy Communion (in church practice it is called persecution) lasts several days and concerns both the physical and spiritual life of a person. The body is prescribed abstinence, i.e. bodily cleanliness and food restriction (fasting). On fasting days, food of animal origin is excluded - meat, milk, butter, eggs and, if

strict fasting, fish. Bread, vegetables, fruits are consumed in moderation. The mind should not be distracted by the trifles of everyday life and have fun.

On the days of fasting, one should attend services in church, if circumstances permit, and more diligently follow the household prayer rule: whoever usually does not read all the morning and evening prayers, let him read everything in full. On the eve of communion, you must be at the evening service and read at home, in addition to the usual prayers for the future, the canon of repentance, the canon to the Mother of God and the Guardian Angel. The canons are read either one after the other in full, or combined in this way: the irmos of the first song of the penitential canon (“Like on dry ground...”) and the troparia are read, then the troparia of the first song of the canon to the Mother of God (“Contained by many...”), omitting the irmos “Water passed through.” , and the troparia of the canon to the Guardian Angel, also without the irmos, “Let us drink to the Lord.” The following songs are read in the same way. The troparia before the canon to the Mother of God and the Guardian Angel are omitted in this case.

The canon for communion is also read and, for those who wish, an akathist to the Sweetest Jesus. After midnight they no longer eat or drink, for it is customary to begin the Sacrament of Communion on an empty stomach. In the morning, the morning prayers and the entire sequence for Holy Communion are read, except for the canon read the day before.

Before communion, confession is necessary - either in the evening or in the morning, before the liturgy.”

It should be noted that many believers rarely receive communion, since they cannot find the time and energy for long fasting, which thereby turns into an end in itself. In addition, a significant, if not the majority of the modern flock consists of Christians who have recently entered the Church, and therefore have not yet acquired the proper prayer skills. As such, the specified preparation may be overwhelming.

The Church leaves the question of the frequency of Communion and the scope of preparation for It to priests and spiritual fathers to decide. It is with the spiritual father that one must agree on how often to take communion, how long to fast, and what prayer rule to perform before this. Different priests bless differently depending on the co-. the state of health, age, degree of church membership and prayer experience of the fasting person.

Those who come to the Sacraments of Confession and Communion for the first time can be recommended to focus all their attention on preparing for first in their lives of confession.

It is very important to forgive all your offenders before Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. In a state of anger or hostility towards someone, you should under no circumstances take communion.

According to the custom of the Church, after their baptism, up to the age of seven, infants can receive communion frequently, every Sunday, moreover, without prior confession, and starting from 5-6 years old, and if possible, from an earlier age, it is useful to teach children to receive communion on an empty stomach.

Customs of the Church for the Day of Communion of the Holy Mysteries

Having risen in the morning, the one preparing for Communion must brush his teeth so that no unpleasant odor is felt from him, which in some way offends the very sanctity of the Gifts.

You need to come to the temple at the beginning of the Liturgy without delay. When carrying out the Holy Gifts, all communicants bow to the ground. The prostration is repeated when the priest finishes reading the pre-communion prayer “I believe, Lord, and I confess...”.

The communicants should approach the Holy Chalice gradually, without crowding, pushing, or trying to get ahead of each other. It is best to read the Jesus Prayer while approaching the Chalice: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”; or prayerfully sing with everyone in the temple: “Receive the Body of Christ, taste the immortal source.”

When approaching the Holy Chalice, you do not need to cross yourself, but have your hands folded crosswise on your chest (right to left) for fear of touching the Chalice or the spoon.

Having received the Body and Blood of the Lord from the spoon into the mouth, the communicant must kiss the edge of the Holy Chalice, as if the very rib of the Savior, from which blood and water flowed. Women should not receive Communion with painted lips.

Moving away from the Holy Chalice, you need to make a bow in front of the icon of the Savior and go to the table with “warmth”, and while drinking it, wash your mouth so that no small particle remains in your mouth.

The day of communion is a special day for the Christian soul, when it is united with Christ in a special, mysterious way. Just as for the reception of the most honored guests the whole house is cleaned and put in order and all ordinary affairs are abandoned, so the day of communion should be celebrated as a great holiday, devoting them, as far as possible, to solitude, prayer, concentration and spiritual reading.

Elder Hieromonk Nilus of Sorsky, after communion of the Holy Mysteries, used to spend some time in deep silence “concentrating within himself” and advised others the same, saying that “it is necessary to give silence and silence the convenience of the Holy Mysteries to have a salutary effect on the soul that is sick with sins.”

Elder Fr. Alexy Zosimovsky, in addition, points out the need to especially protect oneself in the first two hours after communion; At this time, the human enemy is trying in every possible way so that a person insults the shrine, and it would cease to sanctify a person. She can be offended by sight, by careless words, by hearing, by verbosity, and by condemnation. He recommends being more silent on the day of Communion.

“Therefore, it is necessary for those who want to begin Holy Communion to judge who is starting what, and for those who have received communion to judge what they have received. And before Communion one needs reasoning about oneself and the great Gift, and after Communion one needs reasoning and memory about the Heavenly Gift. Before Communion, you need heartfelt repentance, humility, putting aside malice, anger, carnal desires, reconciliation with your neighbor, a firm proposal and the will of a new and pious life in Christ Jesus. After Communion we need correction, evidence of love for God and neighbor, thanksgiving, and a diligent striving for a new, holy and immaculate life. In a word, before Communion, true repentance and heartfelt contrition are needed; after repentance, the fruits of repentance are needed, good deeds, without which there can be no true repentance. Consequently, Christians need to correct their lives and begin a new one, pleasing to God, so that Communion will not be a judgment or condemnation for them.” (Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk).

May the Lord help us all in this matter.

The end and glory to God!

List of used literature

1) Ep. Ignatius Brianchaninov. "To help the penitent." St. Petersburg, "Satis" 1994.

2) St. rights. John of Kronstadt. “Thoughts of a Christian about Repentance and Holy Communion.” M., Synodal Library. 1990.

3) Prot. Grigory Dyachenko. “Questions for Confession of Children.” M., “Pilgrim”. 1994.

4) Schema-abbot Savva. "On the Divine Liturgy." Manuscript.

5) Schema-abbot Parthenius. “The path to the only need—Communication with God” Manuscript.

6) ZhMP. 1989, 12. p. 76.

7) N.E. Pestov. "Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety." T. 2. St. Petersburg, “Satis”. 1994.

How to spend the day after the Sacrament of Communion? Can anyone take communion and how should one take communion during Lent? The rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy, Bishop Sylvester (Stoichev), tells in detail.

- Vladyka, is Communion a gift or a medicine?

Communion is both the greatest gift and, naturally, medicine, because, as it is said in the prayers, “for the healing of soul and body.” The works of the holy fathers often say that Communion is a medicine that is given to us so that we have grace-filled strength for life in Christ. Many Byzantine authors consider Holy Communion within the framework of the scheme: Baptism-Confirmation-Communion, where Baptism is adoption in Christ, new birth in Him; Confirmation is the receipt of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the Eucharist is the strengthening of a renewed person. This is how, for example, St. Nicholas Kavasila thinks, although, of course, one must understand that the Eucharist is the “formative” Sacrament of the Church. One of the famous religious Russian philosophers, Alexei Khomyakov, even once said that the Church is walls erected around the Eucharistic chalice. Christians gather together in worship to pray together.

- When and for whom was the Sacrament of Communion established?

The Sacrament of Communion was established by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself during the Last Supper, the participants of which, according to the Gospel text, were the apostles. The Eucharist is intended for all Christians for all times: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Based on the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, we can say that already in those days there were recommendations for the correct approach to this Sacrament: “Let a person examine himself, and in this way let him eat from this bread and drink from this cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, without considering the Body of the Lord. Because of this, many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying” (1 Cor. 11:30).

- How often can you take communion?

Complex issue. It must be said that for a long time there was such a practice that one must take communion 4 times a year - every fast. We will not go into details of the historical factors that led to the emergence of such a practice, one thing is obvious: church life involves more frequent participation in the Sacraments.

In the 20th-21st centuries, a certain Eucharistic revival took place in our Church, and in most parishes the clergy say that we need to receive communion often: every Sunday or, as St. Seraphim of Sarov, every twelfth holiday.

- But doesn’t frequent communion cause a danger of cooling towards the sacred?

It depends on the person, the confessor, the parish. Everything is very individual. The life of an Orthodox Christian is impossible without constant communion. I am glad that most of our parishioners receive communion often. In some Orthodox Churches this is not observed, for example, in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, where parishioners rarely receive communion. A friend of mine from Bulgaria told me that she visits a church in which the priest recommends frequent communion, but he adopted this practice from familiar priests of the Russian Church. But such a parish is the only one in their diocese.

-Can anyone take communion?

No one can say with boldness that he is worthy of the Sacrament of Communion. Everyone must understand that they have obstacles.

- What are serious obstacles?

Deadly sins. We are all sinners: we get irritated, offended, and fuss every day, but this is not a radical obstacle to Communion. If a person commits serious sins: murder, fornication, then he cannot be allowed to the Chalice without going through a certain course, which will be assigned to him by his confessor in the form of penance. According to the tradition of clergy, the priest decides whether to bless the approach to Communion or not. Our confessors know all the intricacies of our soul. We must follow their advice.

- How should and can one receive communion during Lent?

Considering that Lent is a special time for repentance, one must take communion every week, unless there are serious obstacles.

How should you spend the day after the Sacrament of Communion? They say that you cannot bow. Is it possible to kiss a priest’s hand or an icon after Communion?

There are many myths associated with this. I even heard that you shouldn’t take a shower (smiles). There is, of course, no logic in such statements. The time after Communion should be spent in chastity, silence, and reading spiritual literature. The Lord's Day must be dedicated to Him. Everyone has daily worries, but try to deal with things in advance or spend a minimum of time on them on the day of Communion. Communion is a day of joy, spiritual celebration, and it should not be exchanged for fussy everyday affairs.

As for the practice of not kissing a hand or an icon. After Communion, the Blood of Christ may remain on the lips. The priest who administers communion, or the deacons holding the plate, monitor this, but anything can happen. Until you have taken a drink, it is customary not to kiss either the cross, or the hand, or the icon, so that there is no temptation. There are no other purely practical recommendations. On Sunday, bowing to the ground is not required by the charter.

- What would you advise a person before First Communion?

Much depends on a person’s initial preparation: one person attends Church for six months and only then approaches the Chalice, another does not go to church, but decides to take communion on Maundy Thursday, because that is the custom. You need to consult with the priest who confesses you. As a rule, beginners need a detailed confession, during which the depth of their intentions and the degree of churching are established. The priest must also explain how to fold his hands and how to approach the Chalice. The prayerful mood is very important: some are accustomed to performing morning and evening prayers and will not find it a burden to read 3 canons and the canon, and prayers for Communion, others can only say the “Our Father” once a year. Such people should divide the prayer rule over several days so that they do not lose the desire to pray. It is customary to fast for several days before Communion. Communion must be received with reverence. If a person does not have reverence at the moment, then it is better to explain to him that Communion should be postponed, so that there is no sin either on this person or on the priest, who, seeing such a state, nevertheless gave his blessing to approach Communion.

Interviewed by Natalya Goroshkova