"Sinful me." This phrase is sometimes heard from the closest people. And it is said with particular bitterness.
"We should go to the temple." Another phrase that can be heard. To the temple, to confession, the soul asks.
"How to atone for my sins? There are so many of them that I can't even remember." And these words make my heart ache. God is merciful, He forgives our sins. Including especially serious ones.
What is sin?
This is a violation of the commandments that the Lord left us. In simple terms, violation of the spiritual law. Sin separates from God. But that doesn't mean that nothing can be fixed. Repentance and a review of one's own life will fix everything.
Is it possible to atone for sins? We will talk about this below.
Why do we sin?
Going down is always easier than going up. And it is easier to sin than to repent. Why do people sin? out of weaknesshis. We do not notice how we sin. Every day, every hour, every minute. It would seem, what can be especially sinful in a day? Wake up, go to work. We worked until lunch, ate, worked again. And then it was time to go home. Dinner was cooked at home, lunch for tomorrow. The lessons of the children were checked, the washing machine was launched. I talked with my husband. Where are the sins?
And let's, for the sake of interest, analyze this vain day. Woke up and didn't pray. We went to work, if by public transport, it is quite possible that someone made a remark. They didn't, they thought so badly of that plump woman over there who was arguing loudly with the conductor.
We got to work, poured ourselves some tea. Gossiped with a colleague. While we are working, we will run into the Internet more than once. At lunchtime, we again chatted with colleagues, condemned someone.
You shouldn't continue, I guess. They didn’t pray, allowed bad thoughts, got carried away with idle talk, didn’t pray before dinner. These are our sins. And we do them, it seems, not intentionally. Everyday sins have become a habit, no matter how strange it may sound.
But there are special sins. They cry out to Heaven for vengeance. That is, they are severely punished. If you do not ask yourself the question, how to atone for sins.
Especially grave sins
How to pray for sins before God? Sincere repentance and correction of your life. That is, no longer return to sin after repenting of it.
What are the sins mentioned in the title? How to repent in them? Let's look at the answer to the first question first.
- Humanicide, including abortion.
- Withholding wages from a poor worker.
- Harassment of a sick, wretched person, widow or orphan.
- Disregard for parents, up to beating.
These sins need, as we said, special repentance. And of course, it is unacceptable to do them again after repentance.
Sin of abortion
How to pray for sin for aborted children? What is the sin here? This is not a person yet, but just a bunch of cells. This is how women who have had an abortion think.
But their reasoning is wrong. Man has a soul, it is immortal. And the Lord gives this soul at the moment of conception. Even a one-day-old embryo born in the womb already has a soul. And if so, what right do women have to kill her? What, in fact, the Lord God sends and gives. Abortion is a challenge to God. The woman seems to be saying: “Lord, you gave me a child, but I don’t need him. I think that I’m smarter than you, I’ll figure it out myself in my life. Therefore, I’ll kill your gift.”
Sounds creepy and unbelievable. But if you think about it, that's the way it is. And how to atone for the sins of abortion?
First of all, realize that this is murder. A certain old man made me realize this very well. A married couple came to him, who already had four children. The wife became pregnant with the fifth. Standing in front of the elder, she said that the family would not feed another child, so the expectant mother decided to have an abortion.
The elder was silent, and then advised to kill. But not this, yetunborn baby. It's not fair not to let him see the light. And to kill the eldest, fifteen-year-old daughter. She has already lived in the world.
The couple was horrified, the mother said in fear that she could not do it. To which the elder said that killing a child in the womb is no different from killing an adult child. The couple repented of their intentions, and soon their fifth baby was born.
So awareness is the first way to repentance. Once you realize how horrendous an abortion is, you probably won't want to do it again.
And after awareness, the soul is cleansed. I no longer have the strength to carry this sin in myself, it begins to oppress and gnaw at the failed mother from the inside. That's when she goes to the temple to confess.
What to do next after confession? What prayer to atone for sins or the sin of abortion? The priest will give directions. It is possible that he will inflict penance for the sin committed.
A woman, if she feels that penance and prayer is not enough, after consulting with a priest, she can do works of mercy specifically for this sin. For example, to give alms, to carry things to an orphanage, to take care of abandoned old people, to be a volunteer in a hospital. But this should be done only in agreement with the priest.
Sin of treason
Another very common sin today. A person deliberately enters into fornication while being married. How to pray for the sin of treason? Repentance. Sincere and aware. Confession and works of mercy in agreement with the priest.
Do you confess to your spouse in treason? Here you need to consult with the father. Let's take an example fromlife.
The husband suspected his wife of infidelity. The wife swore and swore that she had nothing with anyone. The man did not believe. Then, in desperation, the woman took him to the temple and swore before the icon that she had not cheated on her husband. She asked if he cheated on her. Husband confessed to cheating. She could not forgive, the marriage fell apart.
An elderly priest, after hearing this story from her now ex-husband, only said: "You should have kept quiet, you fool."
Therefore, in such a difficult situation, only a priest will give sensible advice.
Sin of fornication
How to atone for sins, including fornication? Fornication is an intimate relationship outside of marriage. Modern civil marriage, as the people call cohabitation, is nothing more than fornication.
As one elderly man said to his grandson, before entering into an intimate relationship, you need to sign. And in relation to the spiritual, also get married. But the church also recognizes civil painting.
How to pray for the sin of fornication? To atone for this sin, you need, as in all other sins, to sincerely repent. And change your life, give up fornication. And not so that they came to confession, listed their sins, went outside the temple gates and started all over again. And even if they took communion.
What is sincere repentance?
Imagine: they took a dirty vessel, washed it, filled it with a fragrant drink and sealed it. And take the vessel and fall into a dirty puddle. Want to pick it up and print it out? Or launder again?
After repentance and communion, we are pure vessels filled with God'sgrace. Why fall into the mud again? God, probably, is also not very pleased to wash us every time, knowing that we will again begin to sin. Daily sins due to ignorance can still be understood. But such terrible deeds as abortion, adultery or fornication, which people commit on purpose, are scary and incomprehensible.
How to atone for sins at home? Is it possible? Yes, it's possible. We repent of them every day if we read the evening rule. At the very end there is a special prayer in which we confess our daily sins. After it, you can ask for forgiveness in your own words. They tend to be the most sincere.
Sincere repentance is the realization of one's sins. Disgust for them and desire to change your life. Continue it without particularly grave sins. Even in everyday life, watch your thoughts, words and actions. Try not to allow too much in thoughts and actions. But the latter, of course, is ideal. Almost monastic, it can hardly be realized in our vain life. Although everything is possible with a strong desire.
How to change your life?
How to atone for sins and how to repent, we figured it out. But how to change? It does not happen that once and for all - a person rejected the past. It doesn't happen, of course. We cannot change our start, that is, the past. But it is in our power to change the finish, that is, our own future.
Everything starts small when it comes to sins that are not particularly serious. Does a person smoke a pack of cigarettes a day? Let him begin to divide this pack into twodays, then three, then four. And such a division for a month, for example. So quit smoking.
Or a person likes to lie in front of the TV on his day off. And you get up and go for groceries, for example. And then wash the dishes. And lie down again. On the next weekend, do not do two things, but three. And every weekend for a month, add the number of cases. This is how laziness wins.
If the sin is especially serious, for example, treason or fornication, then they must be abandoned once and for all. It is difficult, resisting the temptation will be unbearable at first. But gradually the desire to commit this act will begin to disappear. And then disappear altogether.
Should you give charity for your sins?
Very interesting question. In the understanding of a modern person, more precisely, most modern people, alms must be given in monetary terms. About the spiritual, for some reason, is forgotten.
Meanwhile, it is not necessary to give alms in money. Help is spiritual charity. And it is much more valuable than money.
Why not help an old lonely neighbor with groceries? Especially if funds allow. Or not to visit the hospice as a volunteer? Or don't help a homeless animal shelter? With this, we ask for forgiveness for the laws we have violated, given by God.
But any charity should be done in agreement with the priest, do not forget about it. Sometimes a person takes on his shoulders a very heavy burden in terms of almsgiving. He understands that he is beyond his strength, but he cannot throw it offmaybe. And the murmuring begins. It is better to discuss your actions of this kind with the priest, with whom you constantly confess.
Sins of children
How to atone for the sins of children? Before answering this question, one more question should be asked: is it possible to do this?
We pray for children, there are special prayers for this. But it is impossible to repent of other people's sins, even if these are the sins of one's own children, without the permission of the priest. Only very strong spiritual personalities, such as the slain Optina New Martyrs, have the courage to take on the sins of others. Or Father John Krestyankin, for example. Have many of us living in the world reached such spiritual heights? That's it.
Therefore, before undertaking to atone for the sins of your children, first discuss this topic with the priest. Self-will in this case can lead to detrimental spiritual consequences.
Conclusion
The main purpose of the article is to tell readers how to atone for sins. We highlight the main aspect of all that has been said:
Pray for sins is quite real. With sincere repentance for them, disgust for them and the desire to change your life. From this moment until the last breath, do not step into the mud of this or that sin
Especially grave sins, treason and fornication, require special repentance and good deeds in life. It is worthy to endure the penance given by the priest, not to grumble about this, to do alms and not to come into contact with these sins anymore - the best repentance by deed.
