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Spiritual Guide to a Sincere and Pertinent
Confession

Before Confession

Reflect on your previous confession. Recall the place, time, words, and promises you made before God. If you forgot to confess a sin during your last confession, start this confession with that sin. Check whether you fulfilled the penance or obligation assigned to you by the confessor last time. If this is your first confession, be sure to share this joyful news with the confessor during the sacrament.

Reflect on the time that has passed since your last confession. Go through each day as if reading a book. Pause on events that stir feelings of sadness, fear, or shame. These may be signs of your conscious sins. Such emotions are indicators of your conscience, guiding you toward self-awareness. Within these events may also lie unconscious sins, carefully hidden by you under justifications. Minor sins may have been deliberately forgotten, packed away, and stored in the attic of your conscience. Today is the time for a great cleansing of your soul.

For deeper spiritual preparation, we recommend reading the Preparation for Communion. Download the full document here: Canon of Preparation for Holy Communion.

Your Lord has left you a guide — the Law (the commandments). Through God’s instructions, you will discover what you need to embrace and what you need to let go of.

The Commandments of God

Spiritual wandering and attraction to spirits that are contrary to Christ. Occultism, Eastern mysticism, and theosophy.
 
Heresies and superstitions. Belief in false non-Christian teachings, folk omens, and superstitions. Magic, witchcraft, and fortune-telling. The use of sacred objects and actions for magical purposes.
 
Godlessness and atheism. Denial of faith in God due to fear of others or concerns for worldly well-being. Lack of deep conviction in any Christian truth or acceptance of such truths solely intellectually, without heartfelt belief.
 
Weak faith and doubt in the truth of Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. Doubt in the dogmas and canons of the Church, the legitimacy and correctness of its hierarchy, the validity of worship services, and the authority of the writings of the Holy Fathers.
 
Disrespect toward the Blessed Virgin Mary, other saints. Disregard for the Holy Cross and sacred icons.
 
Excessive self-reliance, fascination with the opinions of others, and a weak desire to deepen one’s understanding of faith. Laxity in following the path of salvation.
 
Resistance to God’s will. Distrust in God. Lack of consistent gratitude toward Him. Feelings of sadness, despair (especially during illness or suffering), faint-heartedness in trials, fear of the future, and attempts to avoid suffering and challenges at any cost.
 
Complaining against God. Loss of faith, apostasy, and rebellion against God.
 
Ingratitude toward God. Forgetting God and failing to recognise that one benefits from His gifts.
 
Weak or absent desire for communion with God and spiritual life. Lack of spiritual vigilance, constant heartfelt attention, and falling into sinful forgetfulness.
 
Lack of fear of God and reverent awe before sacred things. Absence of remembrance of death and the Last Judgment.
 
Disobedience to God’s will.
 
Deliberate disagreement with God’s will as revealed in His commandments, Holy Scripture, the guidance of a spiritual father, or the voice of conscience. Interpreting God’s will to suit one’s own justification or to judge others. Placing one’s own will above the will of Christ, overzealousness beyond reason in ascetic practices, and encouraging others to imitate such behavior. Failing to fulfill promises made to God during previous confessions.
 
Lack of consistent concern for fulfilling God’s will in one’s life. Undertaking significant actions without seeking God’s blessing or the counsel and blessing of a spiritual father.
 
Participation in church schisms.
 
Weak or absent desire for spiritual life and connection with God.
 
Self-justification and self-satisfaction. Contentment with one’s own spiritual state or condition.
Spiritual pride, attributing to oneself the gifts received from God, and desiring to independently possess or control spiritual gifts and powers.
 
Pride, vanity, self-exaltation over others, and arrogance. Boasting before others about one’s sacrifices, charity, or assistance to neighbors with the intent of seeking earthly recognition. Greed and stinginess.
 
Conforming to the ways of the world. Mindlessly imitating the lifestyles of others. Hypocrisy and Pharisaical behavior.
 
The desire to be first and to command; a love for dominating others, arrogance in relationships, insistence on having one’s own way at any cost, and interfering in others’ affairs or personal lives with persistent advice and directives.
 
People-pleasing, the desire to gain others’ approval, fear of embarrassment before them, feigned admiration to win their favor, conforming to others’ tastes and opinions for personal gain. Dishonesty, deceitfulness, insincerity, lack of integrity in work, shifting blame onto others, and betraying confidences.
 
Excess in bodily indulgence. Lack of restraint in eating, drinking, or consuming sweets; gluttony; untimely meals; excessive inclination toward physical comfort and ease; laziness; excessive attachment to a habitual lifestyle; drunkenness; enabling others’ drunkenness; tempting non-drinkers to drink; and smoking.
 
Ritualism. Focusing solely on the external aspects of church life while neglecting its inner meaning and purpose. Believing in the sufficiency of performing rituals without considering their spiritual and inner significance.

Blasphemy and profaning the name of God.

Irreverent attitude toward God and the Church. Uttering the name of God without reverence.

Using God’s name in jokes, making improper references to sacred things, mocking holy matters, and uttering curses that invoke God’s name.

Complaining against God and His will.

Inattentiveness in prayer. Turning personal prayer into a forced, irregular, distracted, and lax practice, accompanied by careless posture and performed mechanically, limited to rote recitation of memorised words.

False oaths and blasphemous swearing. Breaking oaths.

Breaking vows made to God.

Weak or absent desire for communion with God and spiritual life. Neglecting to attend church on Sundays and holy feast days. Engaging in unnecessary work on Sundays or holy days. Failing to observe the prescribed fasts.

Rare and irregular participation in church services. Inattentiveness and talking during the service, walking around the church, distracting others from prayer with personal requests or comments. Arriving late for the service or leaving before the dismissal and blessing. Failing to feel the special presence of God in the church.

Rare confessions made without proper preparation. A lack of desire to deeply examine oneself, overcome sin, uproot sinful tendencies, and resist temptations. The tendency to minimize sin, justify oneself, or remain silent about the most shameful actions and thoughts.

Infrequent reception of Holy Communion without proper preparation. Lack of awareness of God’s presence in the Holy Mysteries and neglect of the need for more frequent Communion. Receiving Communion without reconciliation with neighbors, in a state of bitterness and enmity, or failing to maintain spiritual purity after Communion.

Neglect of prayer. Impatience in prayer and other spiritual practices. Failure to follow a prayer rule, breaking the fast, untimely eating, or leaving the church service early without a valid reason.

Lack of love for parents, relatives, children, or other family members. Disobedience to parents. Failure to honor their wishes.

Disrespect toward others, indifference, ingratitude toward parents, callousness, and neglecting to commemorate deceased relatives.

Disobedience to parents, elders in the family, or superiors at work.

Neglect in raising and caring for children.

Disobedience to teachers and lack of love or respect for them.

Disregard for one’s homeland, people, language, and culture.

Disrespect toward the sacred priesthood, failure to follow spiritual advice, avoidance of penance, and suppression of conscience.

Murder, violence against others, and involvement in an unjust war.

Encouraging suicide and complicity in euthanasia (the deliberate termination of life for the gravely ill).

Attempted suicide, despair, sadness, thoughts of suicide, and hopelessness when reflecting on one’s spiritual condition and inability to overcome sin.

The killing of an unborn child or complicity in such an act.

Anger, irritability, quarrelsomeness, foul language, cursing, insults, rude or arrogant behavior, malicious mockery, and hatred.

Disturbing peace within the family, relationships with neighbors or colleagues; profanity, judgment, malicious mockery, excessive talkativeness, curiosity about others’ lives, neglect of others’ needs and concerns, and self-isolation.

Disrupting public peace, fostering discord, and promoting ideologies of hatred and enmity.

Causing grief or misfortune to others.

Sexual relations outside of marriage and marital infidelity.

Destroying another’s family, violating marital fidelity, or encouraging others to do so through seduction.

Sensual thoughts and pleasures; lack of control over emotional and physical desires; indulging in impure thoughts, lust, or immodest gazes at others; self-defilement. Participating in provocative conversations, viewing inappropriate content, or recalling past bodily sins with pleasure.

Indecent jokes, anecdotes, immoral insinuations; cynicism, and mockery of human emotions.

Living in a civil union without a church marriage.

Robbery and intentional harm to others’ property or well-being.

Theft and deceit in trade.

Sacrilege – the theft of items dedicated to God or the Church.

Bribery and usury.

Idleness, wastefulness, attachment to material possessions, and squandering time and God-given talents.

Greed and avarice; the desire for accumulation. Seeking human glory in work or creativity and engaging in vain pursuits.

Neglecting calls for help, refusing to give alms, reproaching debtors, and harshly demanding debt repayment.

Lack of integrity, unwillingness to help others, neglecting duties at work or in raising children, failing to keep promises, being late for meetings, forgetfulness, unreliability, carelessness, and negligence in work, daily life, or transportation. Scattering attention across tasks and inconsistency in actions.

Judgment, a tendency to notice, remember, and point out others’ flaws, and passing explicit or internal judgment on others.

Spreading gossip, causing jealousy, and fostering resentment.

Inciting others to commit wrongdoings, excessive suspicion, fostering discord and quarrels among people, and abusing others’ trust.

Taking upon oneself the role of spiritual judge and making definitive judgments about one’s own spiritual state.

Envy, malice, secret desire for others’ failure, and delight in others’ misfortune.

Promoting ideas of class hostility and advocating against private property.

The Holy Sacrament of Penance is a profound manifestation of God’s love and mercy toward us sinners. Even when we, cleansed of our sins in Baptism and enriched with God’s grace, fall again into sin through malice or weakness, the Lord does not reject or turn away from us. Instead, He patiently awaits our repentance. He forgives us if we repent and confess our sins.

cf. Luke 15:12-32 

1. Examination of Conscience

Reflect on your actions, thoughts, and omissions deeply. Recall forgotten sins and any unfulfilled penances.

2. Contrition for Sins

Feel true sorrow for offending God through your actions. Regret your sins and foster a firm aversion to them.

3. Resolution for Amendment

Make a firm decision to avoid sin and seek to do good. Commit to living in virtue and following God’s will.

4. Confession of Sins to a Priest

Confess your sins sincerely, starting with your last confession. Listen to the priest’s guidance.

5. Fulfilling the Penance

Complete the penance given by the priest prayerfully and humbly. Use it as a way to grow closer to God.