The Holy and Saving Mystery of Confession (source)
Prayers for Holy Confession, by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain
A prayer before Holy Confession
O Father of mercies before the ages,
and God of all entreaty, I the wretched one, desiring to try my
conscience regarding my offenses, fear greatly and tremble, because
the condition of my life is so utterly clear, where no deed or single
thought could be hidden from before Your eyes. Therefore, I ask with
all my lowliness, through the mercies of Your Only-begotten Son, that
you grant me the grace to come to know well, and to hate and to
correct all of my sins. Give to me, O Father of lights, Your All-holy
Spirit, to bring to me the remembrance of sins that I have forgotten,
and to crush my heart towards contrition, and to bring repentance
over these, that I might come to hate them, and to distance myself
from every sin that comes. And you, O Virgin Theotokos, the Mother of
mercy, and Refuge of sinners, nourish me, I entreat you, and help me at the Judgment seat of the compassion and righteousness of God, that I
might come to know, and hate from my heart and to confess all of my
sins. And similarly, O Holy Angel, the guardian of my soul, I entreat
you to help me in this work, which is so necessary for my eternal
salvation. Amen.
A prayer following Holy Confession
I thank You greatly, my Redeemer, and
Most-philanthropic Physician of the human race, for with the
most-precious balsam of Your life-creating Blood, You heal the wounds
of my soul, and You cleans me from the leprosy of my sins. I know
Your divine compassion, with which you brought me to repentance, I,
the thrice-wretched sinner, while so many others are being tortured
currently in the wrath of Your righteousness in Hades. Receive,
therefore, I entreat You, my Lord, through the intercessions of Your
Ever-virgin Mother and Theotokos Mary, and all of Your Saints, this
my confession, and if anything stands missing or incomplete in any
instance, complete this through Your divine compassion and love for
man, and through this I entreat You that I be totally forgiven, and
correct my moral life, bringing forth worthy fruits of repentance,
and thus, remaining steadfast in goodness in this present life, may
I be made worthy to partake of the glory of Your divine glory in
Heaven. Amen.
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
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