Do Orthodox Christians have sacrament of penance?

[Writer_for_God]

Hi,
I think I have heard that the Orthodox Churches have the same sacraments as the Catholic Church, and although not in full communion with us, the Catholic Church regards them as valid sacraments, unlike Protestant or Anglican denominations. I have a friend who is Greek Orthodox, but I don’t want to ask her. Do the Orthodox Churches have the sacrament of confession along with the other 6 sacraments? If so, is it different than how ours work?
Thanks for any light you can shed on this question I have had for a while. In addition, are there any good books about the history of the divide between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and the work being done to bring us back into full communion with each other?
Thank you all.
God bless you all. Amen.

 

[Expatreprocedit]

Hi,
I think I have heard that the Orthodox Churches have the same sacraments as the Catholic Church, and although not in full communion with us, the Catholic Church regards them as valid sacraments, unlike Protestant or Anglican denominations. I have a friend who is Greek Orthodox, but I don’t want to ask her. Do the Orthodox Churches have the sacrament of confession along with the other 6 sacraments? If so, is it different than how ours work?
Thanks for any light you can shed on this question I have had for a while. In addition, are there any good books about the history of the divide between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and the work being done to bring us back into full communion with each other?
Thank you all.
God bless you all. Amen.

The Orthodox Church indeed has the sacrament of confession. It is usually referred to as the Mystery of Confession, sometimes as the Mystery of Repentance, never, I think, as “penance”. It is beautifully done; the penitent kneels before the cross and an icon of Christ, he/she tells their confessor of all the sins which weigh on their conscience. The priest first gives whatever spiritual advice he feels is warranted, then covers the penitent’s head with a veil or covering, representing the covering of our sins by the sacrifice of Christ, and pronounces the absolution. The penitent then stands, venerates (kisses) the cross and the icon, kisses the hand of the priest and leaves. It is in many ways similar to the Roman Catholic sacrament. However, unlike in the RC practice there is rarely a “penance” given. There is also not the same emphasis on the need to confess right away for “mortal sin” as the distinction between mortal and venial sin is not as emphasized in the Orthodox Church. As in the RC church, some confess almost every week or even more often, others confess only once a year or not even then. In the Russian Church the need for confession before receiving communion is heavily emphasized.

As for books on the East-West schism, I would highly recommend His Broken Body by Fr. Laurent Cleenewerck, Orthodox. The schism is also extensively dealt with in The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy by Fr. Alexander Schmemann, also Orthodox. I also recommend East and West, the Making of a Rift in the Church by Henry Chadwick, a highly regarded Anglican church scholar. God bless.

 

[7_Sorrows]

The Orthodox Church indeed has the sacrament of confession. It is usually referred to as the Mystery of Confession, sometimes as the Mystery of Repentance, never, I think, as “penance”. It is beautifully done; the penitent kneels before the cross and an icon of Christ, he/she tells their confessor of all the sins which weigh on their conscience. The priest first gives whatever spiritual advice he feels is warranted, then covers the penitent’s head with a veil or covering, representing the covering of our sins by the sacrifice of Christ, and pronounces the absolution. The penitent then stands, venerates (kisses) the cross and the icon, kisses the hand of the priest and leaves. It is in many ways similar to the Roman Catholic sacrament. However, unlike in the RC practice there is rarely a “penance” given. There is also not the same emphasis on the need to confess right away for “mortal sin” as the distinction between mortal and venial sin is not as emphasized in the Orthodox Church. As in the RC church, some confess almost every week or even more often, others confess only once a year or not even then. In the Russian Church the need for confession before receiving communion is heavily emphasized.

As for books on the East-West schism, I would highly recommend His Broken Body by Fr. Laurent Cleenewerck, Orthodox. The schism is also extensively dealt with in The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy by Fr. Alexander Schmemann, also Orthodox. I also recommend East and West, the Making of a Rift in the Church by Henry Chadwick, a highly regarded Anglican church scholar. God bless.

Do you think the rift will ever be mended or healed?

 

[Cavaradossi]

I don’t recall it ever being done like this in my parents’ Bulgarian-Orthodox church. I remember asking the priest about it once, and he said someone can just “tell him they wanted to talk to him about something,” and they’d sit in the pew or in his office together to do so.

Does it differ among the different Orthodox churches, you think?

.

There’s an abbreviated way of doing confession which omits most of the service up until the prayer of absolution. Properly, however, there is actually a service for confession.

 

[Wannano]

As in the RC church, some confess almost every week or even more often, others confess only once a year or not even then. In the Russian Church the need for confession before receiving communion is heavily emphasized.

/QUOTE]

I would be interested in having you explain why there is need for confession before receiving communion?

 

[exnihilo]

There is also not the same emphasis on the need to confess right away for “mortal sin” as the distinction between mortal and venial sin is not as emphasized in the Orthodox Church. As in the RC church, some confess almost every week or even more often, others confess only once a year or not even then. In the Russian Church the need for confession before receiving communion is heavily emphasized.

Would a man who has committed what in Catholic theology would be a mortal sin receive communion if he has not confessed? Also, is it typical both today and historically to receive every Sunday?

 

[Dmitri77]

Expatreprocedit;13916056:

As in the RC church, some confess almost every week or even more often, others confess only once a year or not even then. In the Russian Church the need for confession before receiving communion is heavily emphasized.

/QUOTE]

I would be interested in having you explain why there is need for confession before receiving communion?

So that you receive worthily. Otherwise it can be very dangerous.

 

[HungerNThirst4R]

Expatreprocedit;13916056:

As in the RC church, some confess almost every week or even more often, others confess only once a year or not even then. In the Russian Church the need for confession before receiving communion is heavily emphasized.

/QUOTE]

I would be interested in having you explain why there is need for confession before receiving communion?

! Corinthians 11: 7-30 :
7Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

 

[gazelam]

I aware that in the Catholic Mass venial sins of those Catholics in attendance are automatically forgiven. Is there something similar in the Orthodox Churches?

 

[Expatreprocedit]

Do you think the rift will ever be mended or healed?

Yes, but only God knows when. From my human point of view, I don’t see it ending for a long time. Some steps have been made: the withdrawal of the mutual anathemas in 1965 by Pope Paul VI and Patriach Athenagaros was a great first step. There are intermittent discussions by joint Catholic-Orthodox commissions. The encyclical Ut Unum Sint was a positive step. Due to the efforts of some Catholic and Orthodox scholars some of the misunderstandings are being cleared away and the real differences are being clarified. But there is a great deal of historical resentment against Catholics in the older Orthodox countries, there are ongoing disputes over proselitization in Orthodox countries, and some teachings that the Orthodox will never be able to accept in present form have been enshrined as dogmas by Rome. So, again from a human pov, reunion is a long ways off.

 

[Wannano]

Wannano;13916492:

So that you receive worthily. Otherwise it can be very dangerous.

And I understand that since it is plain in Scripture. If someone waits for a year or more to confess his sins, is it not also dangerous to live with unconfessed sin in the event that one should die before confession?

 

[babochka]

I aware that in the Catholic Mass venial sins of those Catholics in attendance are automatically forgiven. Is there something similar in the Orthodox Churches?

It is not just the fact that a Catholic has attended Mass that brings about the forgiveness of sins. Just being a warm body in the pew doesn’t really do it. It is not automatic. It requires repentance, turning away from sin and toward God.

In both Catholicism and Orthodoxy, reception of Holy Communion is for the remission of sins.

 

[JonNC]

It is not just the fact that a Catholic has attended Mass that brings about the forgiveness of sins. Just being a warm body in the pew doesn’t really do it. It is not automatic. It requires repentance, turning away from sin and toward God.

In both Catholicism and Orthodoxy, reception of Holy Communion is for the remission of sins.

Lutheran and Anglican, too

 

[RyanBlack]

Expatreprocedit;13916056:

As in the RC church, some confess almost every week or even more often, others confess only once a year or not even then. In the Russian Church the need for confession before receiving communion is heavily emphasized.

/QUOTE]

I would be interested in having you explain why there is need for confession before receiving communion?

A very knowledgeable Greek Orthodox priest (retired seminary professor) once told me that the Russian Orthodox tradition of weekly confession, or confession prior to each act of communing, dates to the attempts of Peter the Great to westernize Russia, and was borrowed from Roman Catholic practice at that time.

 

[andrewstx]

I always confess before receiving Holy Communion. In my parish one bows before a cross and the book of Gospels. The priest stands next to and gives forgives you with his stole over your head and makes the sign of the cross.

 

[Writer_for_God]

Thank you all who shared explanation and description of the Orthodox practice of confession. I would like to learn a lot more about the Orthodox faith, and learn where they are similar and where different. My Greek Orthodox friend often encourages me to go to Mass when I stop going, and has occasionally gone to Mass with me at my Church on the Saturday vigil. Even though I cannot take communion at an Orthodox mass, I have been invited to attend, and I would like to go sometime (although I will go at a time that allows me to go to Catholic Mass that Sunday also.

Thanks for all the dialogue here.

 

[Dmitri77]

Do you think the rift will ever be mended or healed?

Not in this age. There are a number of doctrines that since the generally accepted date of the schism in 1054 the Roman Catholic Church has dogmatized. The Orthodox would never be able to accept these.

 

[7_Sorrows]

Not in this age. There are a number of doctrines that since the generally accepted date of the schism in 1054 the Roman Catholic Church has dogmatized. The Orthodox would never be able to accept these.

I guess we have to keep praying…

 

[Expatreprocedit]

I always confess before receiving Holy Communion. In my parish one bows before a cross and the book of Gospels. The priest stands next to and gives forgives you with his stole over your head and makes the sign of the cross.

In my post I incorrectly stated it was a cross and an icon. It is, as you state, a cross and the book of the Gospels. My mind must have been elsewhere.

 

[andrewstx]

No problem. I said the preist foregives instead of grants absolution.