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{{spirituality}}
The '''ConfessionMystery of Repentance''' (Russian покаяние, ''pokayaniye'') or '''repentanceConfession''' (Greek ἐξομολόγησις, ''exomológēsis'') is one of the [[holy mysteries]] (or sacraments) in the Orthodox Church, as well as many other Christian traditions. Through it, the penitent receives the divine forgiveness of Christ for any [[sin|sins]] that are confessed. Confession is typically given made to a Spiritual Father confessor (Greek πνευματικός, ''pnevmatikos''; Russian духовник, ''dukhovnik''), usually a parish priest or monastic). Confession can be individual or general. The frequency of required confession (as well as whether or not general confession is permissible) can vary from [[parish]] to parish, and from [[jurisdiction]] to jurisdiction.
==Historical Development==
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====Old Testament====
"he He shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong." Num. 5:7
"Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the guilt of their fathers. While they stood in their places, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day and spent another fourth of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God." Nehemiah 9:2-3
"And read out publicly this scroll which we send you, in the house of the LORD, on the feast day and during the days of assembly: 'Justice is with the LORD, our God; and we today are flushed with shame, we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem, that we, with our kings and rulers and priests and prophets, and with our fathers, have sinned in the LORD'S sight and disobeyed him. We have neither heeded the voice of the LORD, our God, nor followed the precepts which the LORD set before us.'" Baruch 1:14-18
====The New Testament====
John the Baptist and Forerunner exhorted his listeners to confess. See, e.g., Matthew 3:6 and Mark 1:5. We also see evidence of it as a practice of the early Church in Acts 19:18, 1 Timothy 6:12, 1 John 1:9, and James 5.16.
====John the baptistThe Early Church==== John During the first six centuries of the Church, it cannot be said that the baptist practiced confession Mystery of Confession existed "Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.same sense in which we say" Matthew 3:6 "And there went out unto him all that the land Mysteries of Judaea, Baptism and they of JerusalemEucharist existed during the same period.<ref>Metropolitan Hilaron Alfeyev, and were all baptized of him in the river of JordanOrthodox Christianity, confessing their sinsVol." Mark 1:5 ====The Church==== "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healedV, Chapter 4. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective</ref>." James 5:16 "Also many of those who However, there were now believers came, confessing and divulging their several practices." Acts 19:18 "Fight that no doubt formed what became to be known as the good fight Mystery of Repentance in the sixth century -- the faith. Take hold us of a general confession before the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good Eucharist, public or private confession before a bishop or presbyter, and confession in before several presbyters, with or without the presence of many witnessesbishop." 1 Timothy 6:12 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness<ref>Ibid." 1 John 1:9</ref>
==Preparing for Confession==
==Frequency of Confession==
Frequency of confession varies by [[jurisdiction]], parish, priest, and penitent. Some follow the ancient practice of confessing during the fasting periods. Others confess monthly or even before every time they wish to receive communion.
==Confidentiality==
Some instances of the rules are:* "The secrecy of the Mystery of [[Penance]] is considered an unquestionable rule in the entire Orthodox Church. Theologically, the need to maintain the secrecy of confession comes from the fact that the priest is only a witness before God. One could not expect a sincere and complete confession if the penitent has doubts regarding the practice of confidentiality. Betrayal of the secrecy of confession will lead to canonical punishment of the priest." From "Guidelines for Clergy" ([[Orthodox Church in America]])* St. [[Nicodemus the Hagiorite]] exhorts the Spiritual Father to keep confessions confidential, even under strong constraining influence. The author of the Pedalion (the Rudder), states that a priest who betrays the secrecy of confession is to be deposed. The Metropolitan of Kos, Emanuel, mentions in his handbook (Exomologeteke) for confessors that the secrecy of confession is a principle without exception."<ref>From the [http://aggreen.net/guidelines/guide03.html ''Guidelines for Clergy'' (Orthodox Church in America)]</ref>*In St. [[Nicodemus the Hagiorite]]'s ''Exomologitarion'', he writes: "Nothing else remains after confession, Spiritual Father, except to keep the sins you hear a secret, and to never reveal them, either by word, or by letter, or by a bodily gesture, or by any other sign, even if you are in danger of death, for that which the wise Sirach says applies to you: "Have you heard a word? Let it die with you" (Sir. 19:8); meaning, if you heard a secret word, let the word also die along with you, and do not tell it to either a friend of yours or an enemy of yours, for as long as you live. And further still, that which the Prophet Micah says: "Trust not in friends... beware of thy wife, so as not to commit anything to her" (Mic. 7:5).* For if you reveal them, firstly, you will be suspended or daresay deposed completely by the Ecclesiastical Canons, and according to political laws you will be thrown in jail for the rest of your life and have your tongue cut out. Secondly, you become a reason for more Christians not to confess, being afraid that you will reveal their sins, just as it happened during the time of Nektarios of Constantinople when the Christians did not want to confess on account of a Spiritual Father who revealed the sin of a woman. The divine Chrysostom both witnessed these things and suffered because of them on account of his trying to convince the people to confess. It is impossible for me to describe in words how much punishment this brings upon you, who are the cause of these things."<ref>St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite, ''Exomologitarion: A Manual of Confession'', trans. Fr. George Dokos (Greece: Uncut Mountain Press, 2006), p. 191f.</ref>* St. [[John of the Ladder]] writes: "At no time do we find God revealing the sins which have been confessed to Him, lest by making these public knowledge, He should impede those who would confess and so make them incurably sick."<ref>St. John of the Ladder, ''The Ladder of Divine Ascent'' (Homily to the Shepherd), (Brookline, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1979), p. 243. (This homily is missing from the English translation of Fr. Lazarus Moore)</ref>* The Byzantine [[Nomocanon]] states, in Canon 120: ""A spiritual father, if he reveals to anyone a sin of one who had confessed receives a penance: he shall be suspended [from serving] for three years, being able to receive Communion only once a month, and must do 100 prostrations every day."<ref>translated by Fr. Alexander Lebedeff from the [http://www.synaxis.info/synaxis/8_law/f_byzantine/nomokanon.html Slavonic text]</ref>
==General Confession==
Some parishes practice what has been called "General Confession." Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev describes it thusly: "...the priest goes out to the parishioners, reads the prayers before confession, and then himself names the more widespread sins, repenting of them on behalf of the faithful. After this the faithful silently come forward to have the prayer of absolution read over them. Strictly speaking, this kind of confession is a profanation of confession, since wordless group repentance can't be substituted for a believer's personal repentance before God with the priest acting as witness. When possible, general confession should be eliminated from parish practice. In those parishes where the priest is physically incapable of confessing each parishioner individually, general confession may be conducted out of necessity, but it cannot completely take the place of individual confess."<ref>Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, Orthodox Christianity, Vol. 5, chapter 4. </ref> Some parishes practice general confession as described, with parishioners able to choose a line to receive only absolution from the priest, or another line where they can name their sins to the priest before receiving absolution. In such parishes, even if they most often choose the former, everyone is expected to choose the latter according to parish custom (monthly or during the fasting seasons, or more frequently if conscience dictates).
===Sources===
* [http://www.schmemann.org/byhim/confessionandcommunion.html Confession and Communion] - by Protopresbyter [[Alexander Schmemann]](Accepted and Approved by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, February 17, 1972)
* [http://www.schmemann.org/byhim/reflectionsonconfession.html Some reflections on Confession] - by Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann (Paper discussed at the Alumni Retreat, St. Andrew’s Camp, June 20-22, 1961)
==Jurisdictional Resources==
===Greek Orthodox Resources===
*[httphttps://www.goarch.org/en-/ourfaith/articles/article8493.asp repentance-and-confession-introduction?inheritRedirect=true Repentance and Confession] - An introduction by John Chryssavgis*[httphttps://www.goarch.org/en-/ourfaith/articles/article8476.asp preparation-for-holy-confession?inheritRedirect=true Preparation for Holy Confession] - from the Greek Orthodox Department of Religious Education*[httphttps://www.goarch.org/en-/ourfaith/articles/article7074.asp young-people-and-confession?inheritRedirect=true Young People and Confession] by Fr. Milton Efthimiou*[httphttps://www.goarch.org/en/multimedia/video-/ the-sacrament-of-penance?inheritRedirect=true GOARCH Multimedia - Sacraments Series - The Sacrament of Penance] - in RealMedia format
*[http://home.it.net.au/~jgrapsas/pages/Communion.htm Preparing to Receive Holy Communion] - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
===Orthodox Church in America===
*[httphttps://www.oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=54 orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-sacraments/penance Penance] - in ''The Orthodox Faith'' by Fr. [[Thomas Hopko]]
===Russian Orthodox Church Abroad Outside of Russia (ROCOR)===
*[http://www.orthodox.net/confess/index.html The Sacrament Of Confession] - from St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, Dallas Texas (ROCOR)
*[http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/pr_confession.aspx Articles on Confession] from OrthodoxInfo.com
*[http://southern-orthodoxy.blogspot.com/2007/02/confession-time-space-age.html Confession: Time, Space & Age] by Fr. Joseph Huneycutt
*Nadieszda Kizenko, ''Confession in Modern Russian Culture'' (Seattle: NCEEER, 2007). http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/2007_820-13g_Kizenko.pdf
==In Literature==