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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.
==Historical Development==
====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==
==Confidentiality==
It has been a rule through the Church that a cleric may not reveal any sins he hears during a confession. A violation of this rule is a violation of the canons and, in Orthodox Russia, of the criminal law.
Some instances of the rules are:
The usual posture today is for both the priest and penitent to stand next to one another, sometimes facing the altar, sometimes at an analogion placed elsewhere in the church for hearing confessions. However, there are at least two 14th century sources which direct the priest or both the priest and penitent to sit.
==The Form of Absolution==
There are two basic approaches in use to the form of absolution. What is called the Greek uses the third-person form, as in "may God forgive you...." What is called the Russian is in the first person, as in "I ... forgive and absolve you...." The use of the indicative in the Russian form is due to the adoption of Latin Catholic usage by Metropolitan St [[Peter Mogila]] in the seventeenth century.
==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)
*[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==
