The Rite of Collective Confession for Multiple Penitents

Revised and Approved by St. Tikhon of Moscow [1]

 

 

On the ambon, before the (closed) royal doors, an analogion is placed with the cross and the Gospel. The priest, vested in epitrachelion and cuffs, stands before the analogion. All the penitents stand before the ambon itself.

The priest[/s] gives them a brief instruction containing an earnest warning that they must confess their sins without fail, first, with a feeling of heartfelt contrition for them, and second, with the firm intention of striving with all their strength not to commit these sins henceforth.

Priest: Blessed is our God…

All the penitents sing together, “O Heavenly King”…

Reader: (the psaltis or one of the penitents) “Holy God… Our Father… O come, let us worship…”

Psalm 50 is read by the priest himself, slowly, expressively, in a prayerful and penitential tone and with the proper disposition; on the kliros the singers chant the troparia: “Have mercy on us, O Lord…, O Lord, have mercy on us…, Open to us the doors of compassion…”

“Lord, have mercy” is said 40 times by the priest himself, slowly, expressively, and in a prayerful and penitential tone. Then the priest, standing facing the penitents, slowly reads in a bold yet prayerful tone the two prayers for the order of confession appointed in The Book of Needs:

1. “O God, our Savior…” and

2. “O Lord Jesus Christ…” and in the first prayer, instead of the singular “Thy servant,” he says in the plural “these Thy servants”…

Then the priest, in the same position, that is, facing the penitents, reads (or better, recites from memory) the brief instruction appointed in The Book of Needs: “Behold, children, Christ…” also slowly and in a fatherly, instructive tone.

Priest: “First of all, let us confess our faith by the common singing of the Symbol of Faith.”

Note: If, depending on the composition of the penitents, the priest does not expect that this singing will be sufficiently fervent, then instead of singing he may call for the common reading of the Symbol of Faith after the priest.

After the recitation of the Symbol of Faith, the priest says: “Now let us confess to the Lord God all our sins. I shall confess the sins for myself and for you, each of you, at the mention of each sin, together with me, with a feeling of heartfelt contrition, cry aloud to the Lord: Lord, have mercy and forgive.”

Joint confession of sins.

Priest: “I confess before Thee, O Lord our God, all my sins by which I have sinned before Thee in word, deed, thought, and with all my senses. I have sinned before Thee, O Lord, by lack of faith. Doubts at times buffet my soul, and in my life I place my hope more in myself and in people than in Thee, O Lord my God.”

All and each of the penitents say aloud together with the priest: “Lord, have mercy and forgive.” And so it is at the mention of each sin. A list of sins in a clear, concrete formulation is appended separately herewith.

At the conclusion of the list of sins, the priest, on behalf of the penitents, prayerfully cries out to the Lord: “I have sinned, O Lord, beyond number, in word, deed, thought, and with all my senses, by day and by night and at every hour. O merciful Lord, have mercy on me and forgive me all my countless sins, both those which I have now remembered and those which I have forgotten and did not mention, but for which I am contrite and ask forgiveness.”

Priest: “Bow down to the ground and pray for the forgiveness of your sins, as I read the prayer for you.” The priest, facing the penitents, reads the prayer appointed in The Book of Needs:

“O Lord God, the salvation of Thy servants…” He reads it slowly, with prayerful boldness toward the Lord (changing the singular “for Thy servant” to the plural “for all Thy servants”). Having read the prayer, the priest says: “Rise. Now you will come one by one to the priest, in order to complete your confession of sins and receive the mystical grace-filled absolution from them. And believe that when the priest lays the epitrachelion and his hand upon your head and exclaims: ‘And I, the unworthy priest, by the authority given me, forgive and absolve…’—firmly believe that at that moment the Lord Himself also invisibly lays His forgiving and absolving hand upon you, and forgives all your sins, in which you have sincerely repented. Meanwhile, while you stand waiting for your turn, stand the whole time with deep contrition in your soul for your sinfulness and immeasurable guilt before the Lord, and at the same time diligently attend to the prayers of the evening rule before communion, which during this time will be read by a separate reader. And after departing from the priest, do not leave the church immediately, but wait in prayer until the end of the reading of the evening prayer rule.”

Approaching the priest to receive the prayer of absolution, each person must make a full prostration and kiss the cross and the Gospel.

To each person who comes for the prayer of absolution, the priest asks four questions:

1) What is your name?

2) Did you hear all the sins that were just mentioned, and do you repent of them with all your soul?

3) Perhaps, among these listed sins, are there some that weigh especially heavily upon your soul? If so, confess them again now.

4) Do you have upon your soul any other sins not mentioned in the list? If “yes,” then confess them now.

In accordance with the answers to these questions, the priest, if necessary, gives the appropriate admonitions.

Then the priest places the end of the epitrachelion and his hand upon the head of the penitent, first saying to the penitent: “Bow your head and pray for the forgiveness of your sins, and I shall read the prayer of absolution.” The priest should read this prayer without haste, expressively, and loudly enough that the penitent can hear every word, and moreover read it with prayerful boldness. Then the penitent again kisses the cross and the Gospel, and, having received the priest’s blessing, departs.

Note: if there are several priests attached to the church, then when there are many penitents, all the other priests also receive penitents for the prayer of absolution, acting in the same way as the priest who performs the entire order of confession. For this, by that time, vested in epitrachelion and cuffs, they stand in the places appointed for this purpose, with an analogion before them holding the cross and the Gospel. The penitents then approach whichever priest they wish.

After all the penitents have come forward for the prayer of absolution and the reading of the evening rule has been completed, the priest gives the dismissal with the cross, and, having made a brief instruction on how the penitents should conduct themselves at home after confession and until communion, he gives everyone to venerate the cross.

Additional notes:

1. If one of the children (who came with their parents) approaches for the prayer of absolution, the priest should put to him all the questions used in children’s confession;

2. The celebration of the above-described order of confession requires of the priest a special penitential and boldly prayerful elevation of spirit, and for this a corresponding prior spiritual preparation, with reverent concentration of mind and heart on the meaning of every word of the prayers appointed for confession and of the text of the joint confession of sins.

Approximate list of sins used in the collective confession for many penitents

I confess before Thee, O Lord my God, all my sins by which I have sinned before Thee, in word, deed, thought, and with all my senses.

1) I have sinned before Thee, O Lord, by lack of faith: doubts often buffet my soul, and in my life I hope more in people and in myself than in Thee, O Lord my God.

Lord, have mercy and forgive.

2) I have sinned by passionate attachment to earthly goods, joys, and pleasures. What is earthly and sinful is dearer and sweeter to my heart than what is heavenly, spiritual, and holy.

3) I have sinned by laziness in prayer and forgetfulness of Thee, O Lord my God. I pray unwillingly and distractedly, and for whole hours and even days I do not remember Thee at all, my heavenly Father.

4) I have sinned by neglecting the church services; as soon as I begin to prepare to go to the house of God, I find all sorts of seemingly urgent matters that keep me from the church service.

5) I have sinned by standing irreverently in the house of God: during the church service often only my body is present in the church, while my soul does not attend to the church prayers, does not converse with God, but is carried far, far away to earthly cares, affairs, and attachments.

6) I have sinned by not observing the feasts and fasts of the Church: I often spend feast days as though they were weekdays, and not in church, or at home in prayer or reading the word of God, but in worldly affairs and entertainments; during the fasts I allow myself every kind of lack of restraint.

7) I have sinned by ingratitude toward Thee, O Lord: when I do not receive from Thee what I ask, I murmur against Thee, and when I do receive it, I do not give thanks.

8) I have sinned by impatience in sorrows and misfortunes: I have no patience, I lose hope in God’s help, and I fall into despondency and even despair.

9) I have sinned, O Lord, before Thee, by idle talk, frivolous laughter, joking unseemly for a Christian and unchaste, and finally even by foul speech.

10) I have sinned by lack of restraint in food and drink—overeating, fondness for delicacies, at times gluttony and drunkenness.

11) I have sinned, O Lord, before Thee, by self-love, ambition, and pride: I always consider myself better than others and like to be praised and placed above others.

12) I have sinned by envy: I envy when another lives better than I do.

13) I have sinned by greed: all that I have always seems too little to me, and I want to have more and more, and I am sorry to share my goods with those in need.

14) I have sinned by resentment: for a long time, I cannot forget and forgive when someone has offended me.

15) I have sinned by ill-will: I often wish evil upon my enemies and those hostile to me.

16) I have sinned by malicious joy: I rejoice with sinful joy when my enemy or one who has offended me falls into trouble or misfortune.

17) I have sinned by anger and irritability not only toward strangers, but even toward those close to me and those most dear to me.

18) I have sinned by vindictiveness and a hostile attitude toward my neighbors.

19) I have sinned, O Lord, before Thee, in that I have criticized and condemned my neighbors and mocked them.

20) I have sinned in that with sinful pleasure I listened to and myself spread evil rumors and judgments, and even slander, about my neighbors.

21) I have sinned in that I deceived my neighbors.

22) I have sinned in that I appropriated what belonged to another.

23) I have sinned, O Lord, before Thee, in that I have wronged my neighbors in every way: I have wronged my parents—father and mother, brothers and sisters, husband, wife, children, relatives, acquaintances, and strangers. I have wronged them by word—harsh and sharp—and by deed—through my actions. I have wronged them intentionally and unintentionally, consciously and unconsciously.

24) I have sinned, O Lord, before Thee, by unchaste, impure, foul, and lustful thoughts, looks, words, and deeds.

25) I have sinned by defiling my body and all my senses with various unseemly sinful acts, which I am ashamed even to name.

26) I have sinned, O Lord, before Thee, by showing disrespect to my parents, especially in my youth and younger years.

27) I have sinned by negligence in raising my children in the Christian faith and piety.

28) I have sinned by negligence toward my relatives and those close to me.

29) I have sinned by lack of mercy toward the poor and needy, and by indifference toward those in need of help.

30) I have sinned by cruelty toward animals and other creatures of God.

I have sinned, O Lord, beyond number—in word, deed, thought, and with all my senses, willingly and unwillingly, knowingly and unknowingly, consciously and unconsciously, by day and by night and at every hour. O merciful Lord, have mercy on me and forgive me all my countless sins—both those which I remember at this day and hour, and those which I have now forgotten and did not mention, but for which I am now contrite and ask forgiveness.

Lord, have mercy and forgive.

Note: the above list of sins is only approximate. Each priest performing the order of full joint confession may, at his own discretion, supplement this list with new sins or alter their wording, in accordance with the sinful inclinations and habits he has observed in his flock, but with great caution and after careful consideration, so as not to tempt those making confession by any incautious expression.

 

Notes

[1] Printed here as a historical document on Moscow parish confessional practice in the time of Patriarch Tikhon. The practical use of this order at the present time is possible only with the permission of the local church authority.

 

Russian source: Пастырское богословие из академических лекций [Pastoral Theology from Academic Lectures], by Protopresbyter Vasily Vinogradov, Issue #2, Parishioners of the Munich Church of the Archangel Michael in Ludwigsfeld, Munich, 1965.

Online: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Vasilij_Vinogradov/pastyrskoe-bogoslovie/#0_6