This sacrament has been of huge benefit to me. It has freed me from guilt, assisted me in bereavement following the death of my father, and delivered me from a lifelong irrational fear and hatred of hearses, among other spiritual benefits.
There are two ways to do confession, the first being auricular confession in complete , legally protected privacy with a priest. This I have found to be most conducive to spiritual health, particularly when the person making the confession is not automatically penanced as in the Roman Rite, and partakes of the Eucharist in a liturgy immediately following their confession.
The other way is general confession via the liturgical confiteor, where the congregation prays for forgiveness for all sins they have committed and the priest absolves them without hearing the details. This is mainly done as the sole means of confession in low church Protestant churches, but it can be of benefit in promoting compunction and humility in any liturgical setting.
There is also a variant on this option, or a hybrid, if you like, implemented by St. John of Kronstadt, who is credited with restoring frequent reception of the Eucharist to the Russian Orthodox Church, whereas for a few centuries, following the Nikonian Schism, there was a problem similar to that which once plagued the Roman Catholic Church, where people would confess and partake of the Eucharist only once a year, despite it being served at every divine liturgy. Some priests grew accustomed to this, so while to my knowledge the gifts were never reserved for the priest as it used to be in Solemn Masses and the Mass of the Presanctified in the Roman Rite, and still is in the Armenian Rite during Lent (when paradoxically, every other Orthodox Church encourages more frequent communion), many people came to St. John’s parish on Sunday in the port city of Kronstadt adjacent to St. Petersburg, too many to hear all their confessions individually as per the Russian tradition of auricular confession before every divine liturgy or once a month plus the first time one attends the parish, so he had the entire congregation simultaneously shout their confessions, so they would drown each other out, and then absolved them and gave the Eucharist to each of them.
There are two ways to do confession, the first being auricular confession in complete , legally protected privacy with a priest. This I have found to be most conducive to spiritual health, particularly when the person making the confession is not automatically penanced as in the Roman Rite, and partakes of the Eucharist in a liturgy immediately following their confession.
The other way is general confession via the liturgical confiteor, where the congregation prays for forgiveness for all sins they have committed and the priest absolves them without hearing the details. This is mainly done as the sole means of confession in low church Protestant churches, but it can be of benefit in promoting compunction and humility in any liturgical setting.
There is also a variant on this option, or a hybrid, if you like, implemented by St. John of Kronstadt, who is credited with restoring frequent reception of the Eucharist to the Russian Orthodox Church, whereas for a few centuries, following the Nikonian Schism, there was a problem similar to that which once plagued the Roman Catholic Church, where people would confess and partake of the Eucharist only once a year, despite it being served at every divine liturgy. Some priests grew accustomed to this, so while to my knowledge the gifts were never reserved for the priest as it used to be in Solemn Masses and the Mass of the Presanctified in the Roman Rite, and still is in the Armenian Rite during Lent (when paradoxically, every other Orthodox Church encourages more frequent communion), many people came to St. John’s parish on Sunday in the port city of Kronstadt adjacent to St. Petersburg, too many to hear all their confessions individually as per the Russian tradition of auricular confession before every divine liturgy or once a month plus the first time one attends the parish, so he had the entire congregation simultaneously shout their confessions, so they would drown each other out, and then absolved them and gave the Eucharist to each of them.
