Where and How Confession Is Performed #
As a rule, priests hear confessions in enclosed areas within the church, at the entrances to which the faithful line up. For example, in the Intercession Church at Rogozhskoye, confession takes place in the side-chapels behind the main iconostasis. Some churches have special confessionals.
While waiting for their turn to approach the priest, one should behave calmly and reverently, spending the time reflecting on one’s sins and paying attention to the ongoing church service. Before directly approaching for confession, it is customary to make three full prostrations before the icon of God, with the prayer, “O God, be merciful…”, and then, without making the sign of the Cross, to bow to the ground before the people in church with the words: “Forgive me, for the sake of Christ.” They, bowing at the waist in return, reply: “God will forgive.” Upon entering to confess, the penitent makes four (in some places three) full prostrations before the Holy Gospel and the Precious Cross lying on the analogion, saying the prayers:
“O God, cleanse me, a sinner, and have mercy on me” (prostration),
“O Lord who didst create me, have mercy on me” (prostration),
“I have sinned without number, O Lord, have mercy on me and forgive me, a sinner” (prostration),
“Receive me, O Lord, as I repent, and have mercy on me” (prostration).
In earlier times, when naming each sin or answering the spiritual father’s question about whether a certain sin had been committed, the penitent would make a full prostration (without the sign of the Cross) before the Holy Gospel and the Precious Cross each time, saying with heartfelt contrition to the spiritual father: “I have sinned (or: I, a sinner), forgive me for the sake of Christ, honorable father.” Today, this custom has been almost entirely lost.
If one must truthfully answer “no” to a question — meaning one has not committed the sin in question — then the penitent responds humbly while standing: “By the grace of God, I have been preserved.”
At the conclusion of the confession, the penitent once again makes three full prostrations before the Holy Cross and Gospel with the prayer “O God, be merciful…”, and then asks the priest for a blessing to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Upon exiting from the priest, the penitent repeats the same bows at the waist that were made when entering for confession. The people to whom the bow is directed respond: “With pure repentance.”
At What Age Does Confession Begin? #
There is no strict rule regarding the age at which a child must begin to confess. As a general practice, the first confession takes place when the child begins school, around the age of seven. At this age, the child is already capable of understanding their actions and can begin to reflect on what was right and what was wrong.
A child’s confession differs from that of an adult. The task of both the priest and the child is to learn how to discern what is good from a Christian point of view and what is not. Not all shortcomings in a Christian life at this age depend on the child. Nor is the child capable of recognizing everything. For example, a child may not keep the fast because no one in the family does so. The purpose of a child’s confession is to guide them toward improving their Christian life, taking into account the circumstances in which they live, and to begin teaching them to evaluate their own actions.