Young People 

and Confession

by Fr. Milton Efthimiou

 The motivation for this article came from a young teenager who heard me speak on pornography and drugs. He asked me if it was a sin to read “dirty books,” and to occasionally smoke marijuana. I told him that he should go to his priest and that if he wished to reconcile himself with God, he should go to the sacrament of confession. He called me back one day and said that his priest said that we no longer emphasize the confessional and that the confessional should be used for very serious sins.....

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من أقوال القديس إكليمادوس

وصايا لمن يريد الدخول 

فى سلك الرهبنة

اسمع يا بنى كلامى واحفظه فهذه وصاياى يجب ان تمارسيها ان اثرت ان تكون رابهاً لأنك ان كسلت فى اتمام احدى هذه الوصايا فما اكملت الواجب ، ويكون وعدك كاذباً وآراؤك عن الرهبنة ليست صحيحة ، ومالك الذى وزعته قد أضعته سيدى إذ تصبح طلباتك فارغة لأنك لم تستيقط بقوة ولم تقبل على السيرة الرهبانية باجتهاد ولم تربط وسط قلبك بالكمال ولم تستعد للقتال الشيدد ضد الشياطين الغير منظورين ، كما يقول الرسول بولس: ان قتالنا ليس مع لحم ودم ، بل مع الرؤساء والسلاطين ومع احياء الشر فى عالم الظلمة ومع الارواح الخبيثة.

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 FORGIVENESS

A Homily by Father Alexander Schmemann + 1983

As once more we are about to enter the Great Lent, I would like to remind us —myself first of all, and all of you my fathers, brothers, and sisters of  the verse that we just sang, one of the stichera, and that verse says: ‘ ‘Let us begin Lent, the Fast, with joy.”

Only yesterday we were commemorating Adam crying, lamenting at the gates of Paradise, and now every second line of the Triodion and the liturgical books of Great Lent will speak of repentance, acknowledg­ing what dark and helpless lives we live, in which we sometimes are immersed. And yet, no one will prove to me that the general tonality of Great Lent is not that of a tremendous joy! Not what we call “joy” in this world — not just something entertaining, interesting, or amusing — but the deepest definition of joy, that joy of which Christ says: “no one will take away from you” Jn. 16:22 ). Why joy? What is that joy?

So many people under various influences have come to think of Lent as a kind of self-inflicted inconvenience. Very often in Lent we hear these conversations: ‘‘What do you give up for Lent?” — it goes from candy to, I don’t know what. There is the idea that if we suffer enough, if we feel the hunger enough, if we try by all kinds of strong or light ascetical tools, mainly to “suffer” and be “tortured,” so to speak, it would help us to “pay” for our absolution. But this is not our Orthodox faith. Lent is not a punish­ment. Lent is not a kind of painful medicine that helps only inasmuch as it is painful.

Frequent Communion 
and the Tradition of the Church
From the American Carpatho-Russian Diocese website:
Frequent Communion: Tradition or Innovation?
Recently an article was published which stated that the frequent reception of Holy Communion and the practice of receiving Communion without going to Confession each time was unknown in Eastern Europe and was, in fact, "an American innovation."It is, indeed, unfortunate that very often as Orthodox Christians we tend to regard the practices of some other Orthodox jurisdiction or national church as being "correct."The rational for this seems to be "Well, they have been Orthodox for centuries; they must know the correct way..." Or "Our ancestors brought the faith from (fill in the blank); therefore, what they do there now must be the correct way."
This trend is not new by any means. One thinks of the famous case of Patriarch Nikon and the Old Believers in 17th century Russia. In brief, at this time many Greek Patriarchs and bishops, under the crushing heel of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, came to Orthodox Russia seeking alms. Nikon and others noticed that these hierarchs served the Liturgy differently and even made the sign of the

Many Confess, Few Repent

February 23, 2010 By Fr. John A. Peck

This article is an excerpt taken from the book titled “REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION”, by Monk Moses of the Holy Mountain, “Orthodoxi Kypseli” Publications, Thessaloniki.

I am indebted to Fr. John Stavropoulos for bringing it to my attention.

Confession is a God-given commandment, and it is one of the Sacraments of our Church. Confession is not a formal, habitual (“to be on the safe side”, or, “in view of upcoming feast-days”), forced and unprepared act, springing from an isolated duty or obligation and for psychological relief only. Confession should always be combined with repentance. A Holy Mountain Elder used to say:

“Many confess, but few repent!”

(Elder Aemilianos of the Simonopetra Monastery, Mt. Athos)

Repentance is a freely-willed, internally cultivated process of contrition and sorrow for having distanced ourselves from God through sin. True repentance has nothing to do with intolerable pain, excessive sorrow and relentless guilty feelings.

الكاهن المستحق

خدمة المؤمنين في الوعظ والصلوات والرعاية يقول بولس إن فيها تعبا وتعييرا. امّا التعب فلكون الكاهن يستغرق ذلك منه وقتًا طويلًا وانشغال بال ومتابعة لأمور المؤمنين وإلّا كان كسولا. اما التعيير (الانتقادات) فلأن بعضا من المؤمنين عن حق او باطل ينتقدونه ويرتكبون النميمة بحقه أكانوا دارسين مبرر الذم ام غير دارسين. وهو يستقوي بالله إزاء التعديات لارتباطه بالرب الذي يخلّص المؤمنين ومنهم أهل النميمة.

هذا الكلام موجّه الى تيموثاوس تلميذ بولس وكان شابا وتخوّف بولس الا يتقبل بعض الرعية شابا راعيا لهم فكتب له "لا يستهن أحد بفتوّتك" فكان عليه ان يقنعهم بأنه مستحق للرعاية اذا عمل بما أوصاه الرسول: "كن مثالا في الكلام" اي في المعرفة والسلوك والمحبة والعفة. غير ان هذا يجب ان يرافقه مستلزمات الكهنوت: "كن مواظبًا على القراءة الى حين قدومي"، والقراءة آنذاك تعني قراءة العهد القديم وما ظهر من

An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith

BOOK IV CHAPTER IX

St. John of Damascus – Concerning Faith and Baptism

We confess one baptism for the remission of sins and for life eternal. For baptism declares the Lord’s death. We are indeed “buried with the Lord through baptism,” as saith the divine Apostle. So then, as our Lord died once for all, we also must be baptized once for all, and baptized according to the Word of the Lord, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, being taught the confession in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those, then, who, after having been baptized into Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and having been taught that there is one divine nature in three subsistences, are rebaptized, these, as the divine Apostle says, crucify the Christ afresh. For it is impossible, he saith, for those who were once enlightened, to renew them again unto repentance: seeing they crucify to themselves the Christ afresh, and put Him to an open shame. But those who were not baptized into the Holy Trinity, these must be baptized again. For although the divine Apostle says: Into Christ and into His death were we baptized, he does not mean that the invocation of baptism

Some reflections on Confession

- Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann

1. For each conscientious priest confession is without any doubt one of the most difficult and frustrating aspects of his ministry. It is here, on the one hand, that he encounters the only real object of his pastoral care: the human soul, man, as he stands sinful and miserable, before God. But it is here, one the other hand, that he realizes to what degree nominal Christianity has pervaded our Church life. The basic Christian notions of sin and repentance, reconciliation with God and renewal of life, seem to have become irrelevant. If the terms are still used, their meaning is certainly quite different from that, on which our whole Christian faith is based.

2. Another source of difficulties is the theoretical, or even theological, confusion as to the nature of the sacrament of penance. In practice a purely formal and juridical understanding of it, clearly Western and "romanizing" in its origin, coexists paradoxically with an equally doubtful reduction of confession to psychology. In the first case the man comes to the priest, confesses transgressions of Christian law, and receives absolution which entitles him to the second sacrament "of obligation" - Holy Communion. Confession proper is reduced here to a minimum, and in some churches even replaced by a general formula to be read by the penitent. All emphasis is on the priest's power of absolution and the latter is

Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage

in the Orthodox Church:

Economia and Pastoral Guidance

by Mgr. Athenagoras Peckstadt

Bishop of Sinope[1]

International Congress

Catholic University of Leuven (18-20 April 2005)

1. INTRODUCTION

The question is often asked what the orthodox position is on marriage. The answer to this question should be sought in the orthodox teaching on the “mystery or the sacrament” of marriage. We also know that the Roman Catholic Church considers marriage as a sacrament. There is however a very important difference which should be clarified here. In the first place, the Roman Catholic Church holds that the bride and bridegroom execute the marriage themselves, in their vows to each other. In the Orthodox Church it is the priest or the bishop who consecrates the marriage, who calls upon God in the name of the community, and asks that the Holy Spirit be sent down (epiclesis) on the man and woman and in this way make them “into one flesh”. In addition marriage is for the Orthodox Church rather a spiritual path, a seeking after God, the mystery of oneness and love, the preparatory portrayal of the Kingdom of God, than a necessity for reproduction.

2. THE CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE: MYSTERY - SACRAMENT[2]

THE GREATEST

MIRACLE OF ALL

All the acts of God are wonder­ful and mysterious. Each one of His Works, being a divine manifestation, bears the stamp of the mysterious and the incomprehensible. But the Blessed Sacrament of Holy Com­munion is the greatest of all the mir­acles that our Lord wrought upon earth.

The little, fragile, unpretentious Lamb which we adore upon our altars outviews the very stars of heaven in their infinity and splen­dor; it outweighs the whole universe, filled though it be with the wonders of the Almighty. Not only one mir­acle, but a whole chain of miracles envelop it like the crystal, and en­compass it like the gold and the precious stones of the Chalice. “Manhu, what is it?” exclaimed the people of Israel in joyful surprise when the manna fell like snowflakes from heaven. Manhu, what is it?” we may likewise exclaim, when we gaze upon our “Bread” from heaven and meditate on the wonders mani­fested in that miraculous Food.

In this inspiring Sacrament two golden chains of divine love unite. One extends from heaven to earth; the other ascends from earth to heaven.  READ MORE

MARRIAGE AS

UNITY AND EDUCATION

An important quote in the Orthodox Matrimonial Service captures the aspects of unity and education in only a few words:

Unite them in one mind and one flesh, and grant unto them fair children for education in thy faith and fear.

Listening carefully to that quote, one will see two distinct ideas. The first idea has to do with the union of husband and wife: “Unite them in one mind and one flesh.” The second idea has to do with children and education: “Grant unto them fair children for education in thy faith and fear.”  READ MORE

الاعتراف اليوم 

 مقاربة واقعية

إذا أردنا أن نكون صادقين مع أنفسنا، فلنعترف أن ممارستنا الخاطئة أحياناً لسر الاعتراف، هي التي تقف وراء نفور الكثيرين من الاعتراف، ونتحوّل إلى فاشلين في جذب الشباب إلى حياة الإيمان. وسأورد هنا بعض الأمور السلبية التي يجب الانتباه إليها وتجنُّبها:

1- فرض الأب الروحي:

أن يفرض المرشد على أبنائه الاعتراف عند نفس الأب الروحي الذي يعترف عنده! هذا ليس أمراً ضرورياً أو حتمياً أو صائباًن بل يكفي أن يكون أحد الاقتراحات وفقط. وإلا تحوّل الأمر إلى تسلط على نفوس البشر، وهذا لا يريح الإنسان بل يبعده عن الله

IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS

An Orthodox Explanation

of the Mystery of Confession

1. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 5-10, 2:1-2)

حاجة الانسان المعاصر الى سر الاعتراف

: غربةُ الإنسان في عصرنا

تركوني أنا ينبوع المياه الحي واحتفروا لأنفسهم آباراً، آباراً مشقّقة لا تمسك الماء" (ارميا ٢:۱٣)يؤكد غير قليل من المعطيات السائدة في بيئاتنا الاجتماعية أننا نعيش في عصر لا يقيم وزناً لفضائل مثل التيقظ الروحي والسهر على حفظ الحواس وصون النفس من الزلل. مجتمعاتنا الجادة في طلب السعادة عبر وسائل اللذّة والاستهلاك والتكنولوجية لم تعد تتحسس الابعاد الروحية للقيم كالجمال والطبيعة والفن والجسد... البشر جملةً في حركة متسارعة الى اللهو. كلام كثير يذاع هنا وثمّة عن "حقوق الانسان"، ومعظمه لا غاية له سوى استغلال الانسان وانتهاك حرماته أو بكلام آخر جعله باسم الحرية عبداً. هذا، ويذهب غير قليل من المحلّلين الاجتماعيين الى أن فلسفات الأنسنة والتي هي وليدة عصور "التنوير الغربي"، لم تترك مكاناً للبعد الروحي في حياتنا. حضارة اليوم تدعو كلّ واحد منّا وتمهّد له السبيل للاستغناء همّا هو ديني روحي، ليكتفي بالغايات الآنية لوجوده، فيرتاح الى ما يحقّقه من انجازات بشرية صغيرة كانت أم كبيرة، ويبني أهراءات المال والسلطة واللذة التي تؤمّن مستقبل مجتمعه واستقراره.غير أن الحقيقة الأكثر صدقاً أن انساننا

On Confession
by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony Bloom (1914 – August 4, 2003) was bishop of the Diocese of Sourozh, the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland. He wrote masterfully about Christian prayer, and many Orthodox Christians in Great Britain and throughout the world consider him to be a saint.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Many are those among you who have come to confession either yesterday or the days before, on occasions before, before you received communion, and I want you to reflect later on a very important point. The early Church knew nothing of the private confession which we use nowadays. People came to confess their sins to the whole community, to all their brothers and sisters in Christ because it was felt – as it should be felt by us but is very little perceived – that when one member of the body sins the whole body is wounded, that whatever sin I commit it soils and pollutes the whole body, and moreover that whenever I commit a sin against a brother, against a sister, indeed against myself I am partaking in the Crucifixion of Christ. Because He came into the world to save sinners and whoever is a sinner is to a greater or lesser extent responsible for the Incarnation He accepted in order to die for us. And in the early Church people had an intense sense of community and therefore when sin was committed it was confessed to all the community.

Confession and Communion

From a discussion with the students of the Moscow Theological Academy at the Lavra of Saint Serge with the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Saint Vlassios, Hierotheos Vlachos.

Question: How many times a year must one receive Holy Communion?

Is the Sacrament of Confession necessarily tied to Holy Communion?

Answer: Holy Communion is not absolutely linked to Confession. In the ancient Church, people had the Grace of God in them; they were in a state of enlightenment of the nous* and they of course prayed and received Holy Communion frequently. When someone committed a sin, it meant that they had forfeited the Grace of God, in which case, they would remain outside the Temple, together with the catechumens. This is because one cannot have the Grace of God and yet deny Christ. When one sins, and especially in the flesh – and I am not referring to the carnal relations within a marriage in Christ – it shows that they

Sacrament of Confession

Perhaps the most misunderstood sacrament of the Christian Church is confession (or repentance). How did it originate? What role does a priest play? Is there a special procedure for confession? The Holy Scriptures hold answers to these questions.

God's Word promises "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). The faithful are to bring their sins to God in repentance and receive cleansing and forgiveness.

The early Christians would stand and confess their sins to God in the presence of the whole congregation. Jesus encouraged His followers to walk in the light

التوبة والاعتراف

الفهرس

... كلمات

التوبة

التوبة والاعتراف

ما هو الاعتراف؟

الإعتراف للكاهن

فائدة الاعتراف

بماذا نعترف؟

متى أعترف؟

الاعتراف والإرشاد الروحي

ملاحظات إضافية

1- كلمات...

- "...فخرجوا وصاروا يكرزون أن يتوبوا" (مرقس 12:6)

- "إن اعترفنا بخطايانا فهو أمين وعادل حتى يغفر لنا خطايانا ويطهرنا من كل إثم. إن قلنا أننا لم نخطئ نجعله كاذباً وكلمته ليست فينا" (يوحنا 9:1-10)

- "اعترفوا بعضكم لبعض بالزلات" (يعقوب 16:5)

- "اطلب التوبة في كل لحظة. ولا تدع نفسك للكسل لحظة واحدة". القدّيس أنطونيوس

Infant Baptism

by Jordan Bajis

“Should I be baptized again?” Many renewed Orthodox Christians have asked themselves and others whether they should be baptized as adults. I readily understand why this question is asked, for I myself must admit that I did not always feel comfortable about the Orthodox Church baptizing infants. I asked myself several other questions as well: “How can an infant ‘believe and be baptized’?” Where in Scripture does it show an infant being baptized?” “Is not the baptizing of infants the reason why the contemporary Orthodox Church has a need for renewal and re-evangelization?”

These questions were so significant to me that I refused to actively support or encourage the practice of infant baptism until I was able to get some satisfactory answers. On one occasion I even rejected the honor of being the best man at a close friend’s