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Confession

peter75peter75
edited December 1969 in Coptic Orthodox Church
I would like to know what do u think about confession and especially how often do u confess.
My point of view is that i confess when i feel that i need that so it can be 2 times in the same month or I can stay months without confessing. What about u?

Comments

  • mmatt95mmatt95
    personally, i think it's not really a problem if u don't confess every week or on a regular base. Some people feel the need to confess very often, and others only when something specific happened, so i agree with u on that one.

    However according to church we r supposed to confess once every 40 days so that is close to every 1,5 month, which seems reasonable...
  • peter75peter75
    The fact is when nothing special or "new" happened so it's difficult to tell abouna about the same problems u had 40 days before when u already know what he is gonna answer.
  • GigiGigi
    Good point. As a matter of fact......I stayed about 5 years without confessing......to be honest......it didn't bother me, I'm not the religious type anyway ;D
    And when I did confess regularly.....say once every 2 months or so I used to dread it.....it was like playing the same old tape again...same questions and same answers nothing new.
    Therefore, I have stopped confessing.....I mean come on I dont even like my priest (for a good reason).
    Anyways....I totally agree with Peter about going to confession and saying the same problems you had 40 days ago. In that case I see no point in going to confession. What do you think? ;)
  • Christi_03Christi_03
    it does get a bit repetative and boring repeating the same thing over and over again every so often; but for spiritual growth, that's much better than not saying anything for a long time.

    when we confess, we renew the Holy Spirit within us, and we recieve absolution for the forgivness of our sins, even if its constantly the same sins. we still need forgiveness no matter what. we have to try and be pure so we are ready....

    after we confess, we come out clean and white, we're given a chance over to not make the same mistakes and stain oursleves with sin, that's when we work harder on our repetative sins and concentrate on not doing them. because of our human weaknesses, we fall into the same sins, but that doesnt excuse us from needing forgiveness.

    it is important to sit with yourself and confess to God and truly repent with the heart before going to abouna and confessing and recieveing absolution, it makes the process smoother and more benificial....

    even if sometimes we feel that confession seems 'pointless' or 'unnecessary', we should do it anyways because the divine mystery it holds is beyond us, and we dont know everything about it....

    another thing, tell your father of confession that its boring. i did. i told him i feel nothing and that its too repetative and i dont come out of it feeling anything spiritual. he knew what i was talking about and gave me some good advice and spiritual excersises, and now i like confession alot more than i did before and feel its spiritual benefit...

    just my thoughts on this....

    take care and God Bless...
  • peter75peter75
    I want to say also that we can't stay too long without confession beause no one knows when he'll die so we have to repent often. So I think a few months between 2 confessions but we can't stay years without confession.
  • Boricua_OrthodoxBoricua_Orthodox
    [glow=red,2,300]In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The One True God. Amen.[/glow]

    Confession can be an individual thing. Discuss this with your Confession father. My experience tends to be from repetive to life changing depending where I am in that point in my life. Also the more i learn what the word "sin" means and how it affects my relationship with God and others (since sin is not just a vertical thing-God and i- but also a horizontal thing- the community and i... the Cross+), the more i will feel guilt (underestimated these days) and repentance.

    Also if i am confessing the same sins am i really trying hard enuff to stop commiting them? Am i trying to avoid the people,places and things that may tempt me to fall into sin? Do i secretly latch on to my sinful habits becuase i really enjoy them even if i later feel guilty? Am i addicted to certain sins and feel ashamed to confess totally becuase i may feel my Confession father may rebuke me? Am i going thru the motions thinking i am fooling God and all those around me?

    These are honest questions to ask ourselves to help improve our walk with Christ. If we feel we cannot face the answers now then ask Rabena (The Lord) to give you the grace and guidance to confront your issues so that He can break the chains that bind you. The Holy Sacrament of Confession is here to help liberate us from the clutches of the devil, death and sin by the advice, love and forgiveness of a fellow recovering sin addict like ourselves who is also experiencing Christ's mercy in his life. Remember, Abouna also goes to Confession to another priest! We all need Christ!
    Please pray fro this recovering sinner...ty ;D!
  • FallenCoptFallenCopt
    Do you know the feeling you get right after you confess? So worry free and happy. I almost wish a car can hit me right after so i go straight to heaven.

    Well anyways what if you don't feel those emotions anymore? What if even after you confess, you still feel really bad inside? Thats how I feel.
    Sometimes not only do I worry about my sins but those who have sinned as a cause of me.

    I really don't understand this sacrament. I think sinning is inevitable, and I also think that confession is a good way to express your emotions to someone: Abouna, and God. But I don't think that its purpose is only forgiveness of sins. I don't even believe it's good enough for someone to confess all of their sins and be let off the hook.

    I guess im answering my own question. I have come to the conclusion that confession is not good enough. On top of knowing all your faults and fixing them, it's also nessassary to stop these sins from occuring in the future. And further more, you should offer to the world. You can't just pray all day, you have to think about others.
  • Christi_03Christi_03
    nicely said FallenCopt!
    that's why sometimes in confession, our FOC gives us advice on how to deal with our sins and to make sure we're not a stumbling block for someone. sometimes we're given 'spiritual exercises ' to help us out and stuff. its important to kno our sins and try to fix them, but also to work on improving oursleves through the advice of our FOC...

    confession is quite the mysterious sacrament that our Lord has given us the opportunity to use and enjoy :D

    take care and God bless!
  • mmatt95mmatt95
    [quote author=CrazyCopt link=board=4;threadid=983;start=0#msg17361 date=1104899974]
    nicely said FallenCopt!
    that's why sometimes in confession, our FOC gives us advice on how to deal with our sins and to make sure we're not a stumbling block for someone. sometimes we're given 'spiritual exercises ' to help us out and stuff. its important to kno our sins and try to fix them, but also to work on improving oursleves through the advice of our FOC...


    just as HH says; in confession we get a "7el" and a "7al": an absolution and a solution lol
  • peter75peter75
    I want to ask another question on the same topic. DO u think ther's a certain age to start confessing?

    Personaly i think when u start really young it becomes very normal 4 u to sit with abouna and tell him about anything.
  • pureplaya434pureplaya434

    I guess im answering my own question. I have come to the conclusion that confession is not good enough. On top of knowing all your faults and fixing them, it's also nessassary to stop these sins from occuring in the future. And further more, you should offer to the world. You can't just pray all day, you have to think about others.

    hello again,

    ok fallencopt about that i had the same problem i mean i kept thinking what if it was like the end of the world tommorow and this and i mistake and then its over i mean will confession help me then? well i asked my FOC about this and he said that there are two parts to confession 1.confession 2.repentance
    confession is when you admit and hold it up on yourself and realize that you did something wrong and decided to tell god and gos forgives you
    Repentance is when you make an effort not to do it again like for instance i used to continue on thsi one sin sooo much but then what i did was i kept a cross in my pocket everytyme i felt as if i was about to do it
    i put my hand in my pocket and rembered the cross i ono thats what my foc said and i have stopped a hard to stop. another thing that will help

    You can't just pray all day

    actually you can... someone once taught me somehing that is really awesome if you continue to say the lords prayer under your breath at anytyme of the day eventually your moth will stop but your heart will keep prayingit really helped me

    hope it helps

    aghape,
    Chris
  • Boricua_OrthodoxBoricua_Orthodox
    [glow=red,2,300]In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The One True God. Amen.[/glow]

    One can pray constantly. There's a classic Orthodox book specifically about this called," The Way of A Pilgrim". It's not a theological work but a simple story of a Russian peasant who is looking how to pray constantly. You can get it in most bookstores or even online (Amazon.com for example).

    The Jesus Prayer is the classic Orthodox prayer said by Orhtodox and Non- Orthodox Christians around the world. Just saying the Holy Name of the Lord Jesus is powerful and can bring peace to one's soul. Plus it can be said anytime, anywhere, without anybody noticing. In times of trouble, temptation, of doubt, for consolation... the Name of Jesus is powerful. It's not a magical charm or a mechanical phrase...its about surrendering our hearts, minds and wills thruout the day by meditating on the Name of Jesus. My signature on the bottom of my post in the Jesus Prayer.

    Saying the Our Father also is awesome or a sentence from it or a Psalm or a Bible verse or a word from a chant from Liturgy or a saying from a Holy Father....we are blessed with an arsenal of material to immerse ourselves in the Presence of God and enjoy the peace that only the Lord Jesus Christ can give us!

    God Bless you!
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