Orthodox Penance

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Do the Orthodox Churches have the sacrament of confession the same way as the Catholics do? E.g., confessional, screen or face to face, etc.
 
Priest and penitent stand together in the “nave” of the church facing an icon of the Lord. The penitent verbally confesses his sins to the priest. The priest may or may not assign a penance if he feels it will be remedial. When the priest says the prayer of absolution (which is said in the Third Person not the First), he places his stole over the penitent.
This also describes confession in the Eastern Catholic Churches.
 
Interesting. Thank you. I hope not to open up a can of worms here, but how do either the Catholic or Orthodox penitential rites compare to how it was practiced when it was first standardized?

(My understanding is that there were differences across the church in how it was administered until ca. 1000-1100 AD.)
 
Priest and penitent stand together in the “nave” of the church facing an icon of the Lord. The penitent verbally confesses his sins to the priest. The priest may or may not assign a penance if he feels it will be remedial. When the priest says the prayer of absolution (which is said in the Third Person not the First), he places his stole over the penitent.
This also describes confession in the Eastern Catholic Churches.
I can’t imagine being forced into face-to-face mode. Thank heaven for the Irish, who I think came up with the screen thing.😃
 
@katy—Location: Near a cornfield; OK, used to be near a cornfield

Same here–but the cornfield left and I stayed. They planted a cornfield and many years later it grew into medical offices. 😉
 
I can’t imagine being forced into face-to-face mode. Thank heaven for the Irish, who I think came up with the screen thing.😃
You know who your talking to, so I don’t see the point of the screen. PS you approach the preist one by one from across the room, the rest of the people are obviously out of earshot unless you were yelling.
 
Interesting. Thank you. I hope not to open up a can of worms here, but how do either the Catholic or Orthodox penitential rites compare to how it was practiced when it was first standardized?

(My understanding is that there were differences across the church in how it was administered until ca. 1000-1100 AD.)
The rite of confession is not standardized across the Church now, nor has it ever been. East and West have always had differences in how the sacraments are performed and those differences continue. Each of the Eastern rites has its own rites.
 
I can’t imagine being forced into face-to-face mode. Thank heaven for the Irish, who I think came up with the screen thing.😃
The screen is generally attributed to St. Charles Borromeo, who was not Irish.

It isn’t forced into “face-to-face mode” when it is simply the tradition of the Church and how confessions are done.
 
I can’t imagine being forced into face-to-face mode. Thank heaven for the Irish, who I think came up with the screen thing.😃
I’ve done the face to face several times. Look, we are all sinners, we are there for absolution. I have definitely had worse confessional experiences from behind the screen than I have had face to face.

When our church was going through renovations they were doing confessions in a multipurpose room. So not only was I face to face, but there were other people in the room. THAT was awkward!
 
When our church was going through renovations they were doing confessions in a multipurpose room. So not only was I face to face, but there were other people in the room. THAT was awkward!
This is the normal experience for Orthodox/Byzantine Catholics. Confessions are in the nave of the Church, out in the open, in front of God and everybody. You get used to it and people are respectful and stay back to allow privacy.
 
I can’t imagine being forced into face-to-face mode. Thank heaven for the Irish, who I think came up with the screen thing.😃
Only time I want the screen is if it’s been a while since my last confession…and the priest hearing my confession actually knows me. Besides that, doesn’t bother me - they are human and sinning just like me.

And I see hundreds of people get up for the Eucharist but maybe only like 10-15 people for confession. So that seems to suggest to me that not enough people are taking self examination seriously before receiving. And so I think the priests actually appreciates those of us who do show up.
 
It definitely sounds like your priest has had an Eastern influence. I’ve never had an Eastern priest give “three Hail Mary’s” or “an Our Father”. Their penances are almost always directed toward the specific sins and as a remedy for them.
 
I can’t imagine being forced into face-to-face mode. Thank heaven for the Irish, who I think came up with the screen thing.😃
I’ll just speak for myself, but I’m at the point where I’m much more concerned with what God thinks of me than other people.
 
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