Preparing for Confession
Advice given by Saint Theophan the recluse from his book Path to Salvation.
To make a good confession
it is necessary to prepare yourself carefully. Ask God to give you
Grace to make a thorough examination of your conscience, the courage
to make a sincere and complete confession, and the strength to amend
your way of life in the days to come.
Think timidly and fearfully
of our weak human condition.
Begin your examination from the time
of your last confession; try to recall whether you omitted anything
through carelessness or lapse of memory, or from fear of embarrassment.
Examine yourself with the assistance of the form of self-examination
according to the Ten Commandments of God which follows.
It is most
necessary that you be truly sorry for the sins which you have committed,
and that you firmly purpose amendment of your manner of living. Embrace
the story of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32).
When I disobeyed in ignorance
Thy fatherly glory, I wasted in iniquities the riches that Thou gavest
me. Wherefore, I cry to Thee with the voice of the prodigal son,
saying, I have sinned before Thee, O compassionate Father, receive
me repentant, and make me as one of Thy hired servants.
You must
take time to know your sins. This can not be taken for granted as
most of us are blind to our sinfulness. Make up a sheet with the
Commandments of God on one side and your life on the other. Examine
the differences.
Recall all your obligations in relation to God, your
neighbor and yourself. Go through the ten commandments. Review the
Sermon on the mount (Matthew 5). Read the Epistle of James and the
Epistles of Paul especially Romans 12:9-21 and Ephesians 4. Also
read the Epistle of Saint John.
Seek out the things you should not
have done and those which you should have done but didn’t. Also examine
your good deed and try to see the motivations which were behind them.
Was there a self serving agenda associated with them?
Be specific in your examination. In each case try and to identify
the time, place, people involved and so forth. This will help you
to avoid meaningless generalities and make you aware of specific
behaviors that you will want to examine to change.
Once you have competed
this list, which may be lengthy, Identify the underlying pattern
which show you the characteristics of your inner heart. Identify
the passions which are governing your life. Find the one passion
which conditions all the other actions. Once you have identified
this you have found the root of your sinfulness.
Next, reflect on
these sins and their root until you see clearly that each one was
committed according to your own desire. Don’t listen to the excuses
your mind will begin to make for you. These don’t help. Keep working
on this until you are ready to honestly say, I am guilty of this
and that. In this process you will feel burdened and wretched. Don’t
let this get you down. Feel good that you are uncovering your sinfulness
and increase your desire to uncover them all. The right feeling to
have is one of regret and repentance. This will lead you to making
a vow to change. This is true metanoia or repentance.
Saint Theophan recommends that yu read the story about Saint Theodora and her expereince at the toll houses which is recorded in the life of Saint Basil the Younger.
Once you have
completed this process you are prepared for the sacrament of confession.
It is through the sacrament that all the guilt and bad feelings can
be erased and you can start with a clean start on a new way of life
in Christ. It is a renewal process that you need to undertake at
a minimum of once a year.
