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NEWSLETTER About Confession

August, 2011

Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church A Parish of the Orthodox Church in America Archpriest John Udics, Rector 305 Main Road, Herkimer, New York, 13350 Parish Web Page: www.cnyorthodoxchurch.org

Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS We asked people for questions so we could put together a Question-and-Answers Newsletter (there are now 400 questions, but you can always submit your own!). The first question we received was this: “Father, I have a question about Absolution. How many times can I receive Holy Communion before I have to go to Confession again?” The answer to this question is just as complicated as the question itself, and since it’s such big problem in our Orthodox Church today, we thought it’d be best to devote this entire issue of Questions and Answers to the answer. The answer to that one simple question looked more and more like a book. Father’s favorite critic pointed out that nobody would read such a long document. With lots of editing and re-arranging, we think it’s become less bookish and more readable. The best way to read this is to start at the beginning and go through to the end: it’s a little long, you need not read it in one sitting. In any case, we hope that this ‘little’ article will help to answer some of the questions that people have about the of Penance.

1) Father, I have a question about Absolution. How many times can I receive Holy Communion before I have to go to Confession again? In order to answer your question, which covers a lot of different ground and seems to show that there are questions about Absolution, Confession, the frequency of receiving the , and so on, I think it’s best to give an explanation of what Confession is, how it got to be that way, and then to explain what the Church today says about Confession. But if you can’t wait, skip to the answer to question ‘I’.

A) What is Confession? Confession, or by its proper name, The Mystery of Repentance, or The Sacrament of Penance, is the Sacrament in which we confess our sins, and express our sorrow for having fallen out of God’s grace. And, having promised to try to better our lives, we receive, through the laying-on-of-hands of the bishop or priest, the pardon, forgiveness, and the washing away or absolution of our sins. Confession is also where we come for advice about how best to live our life and how to fight sin and temptation. There are three elements necessary to a good confession: Repentance, Confession, and Thanksgiving. Repentance comes when we become aware of sin and see how it poisons our hearts and separates us from God. When we begin to feel the enormity of sin, we feel contrition and sorrow. Second is confession, when we begin to hope for forgiveness and we desire to ask God to remit our sins, to heal our souls, and sacramentally to purify us. Already feeling God’s mercy, we remember that we have hurt others, and we ask them to forgive us, and we forgive them. One fruit of this repentance and confession is the desire to turn away from wickedness, to turn toward goodness. Third is thanksgiving. Once we feel God’s mercy and know His saving forgiveness, we are strengthened in our desire to change our life, we become more determined to turn away from sin and be led toward God. Through the joy of this reconciliation with Christ and with others, we start to know reparation and renewal in Christ. We fulfill this thanksgiving in the Eucharist, where the Body and Blood of Christ, which washes away our sins and heals infirmities, pours out. One fruit of our thanksgiving is our active and expressed desire to do good for others where we have done evil in the past, to heal where we have wounded, to soothe where we have irritated, to do kindness where we have been cruel and hurtful, to use our energy to build where we have destroyed. Repentance has to come from our hearts and be sincere. Is it enough to confess out of fear of the Last Judgment? Confessing out of fear is a good beginning, but the real repentance has to be because we love God, feel cut off from Him and want to return to Him. Once we admit to ourselves that we’ve done wrong, we make the next move which is to try to correct any hurt or damage. We must turn from our wickedness and want to live. We must feel repulsion when we look at our sinful lives and at our continual failure to live as perfect a Godly, Christian life as we can. We can come to this realization if we say our daily prayers and make the daily examination of our conscience that those prayers contain. Looking back at the day just past, we can examine our memories and look for the things we did that 2 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011 could have been done better. We can look at the things we did that we can be ashamed of and at the things that were cruel, heartless, thoughtless, inconsiderate, and maybe even criminal. And we must make a beginning of asking God to forgive us, sincerely praying that God will listen to us, will open the eyes of our souls so that we can see clearly what things are sinful so that we can be moved to repent of them. Next is the Sacrament proper. We prepare for it by remembering the examination of conscience in the daily prayers in the prayer book, and by trying to remember the things that we did that we are going to confess. The Sacrament itself begins with the Trisagion prayers (Holy God through the Lord’s Prayer), followed by troparia of repentance (which the priest says as part of his entrance prayers every time he serves Liturgy). The priest will advise us how to confess and will say that we should confess everything and hold nothing back. We then confess our sins, as well as we can remember them. The priest will give advice concerning the correcting of our lives and how to fight the sins we have confessed. Then Father will advise us about how to complete our Confession, through prayer and maybe certain acts of penance. The next prayer is the actual prayer of absolution, which means washing away. Two prayers are commonly used: first, a prayer which begins, “O Lord, God of the salvation of Thy servants...” and then, in the Greek tradition one which begins, “It was God who pardoned David through Nathan the Prophet...”, or in the Russian tradition, one which is a translation from the and which contains the phrase “And I, His unworthy priest, through the power given to me by Him, forgive and absolve Thee...” Sometimes, both are used. Finally, there is the response we must make after Confession. We thank God that He has heard our confession and has given us freedom from our sins, and we must start to fulfill the penance that the priest has given us. Some penances include repaying any debts we may have caused by our sin. Some penances are not very complicated. Other penances are more difficult, and take time to complete. In either case, a penance is given to us for our betterment, and as a means of teaching us to repent and to feel as sorry as we should for the sins that we’ve committed. There’s nothing we can do to make ourselves worthy of God’s grace and mercy, and nothing we can do to earn forgiveness. We can’t ‘even up the score’ with God. Penances can’t satisfy God or remove His righteous wrath. The prayer of absolution says that God does not desire the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live. Once we’ve turned back to God by Confession, we must not forget that we now have to start to live the way we should: not just passively avoiding further sins, but actively doing good. Turning away from our sins and illnesses, like the tenth leper, we return to God giving thanks. We thank God privately in our hearts through our prayers, and in our actions by changing our lives, and in the Church in the Eucharist. Having been previously separated from God by our sins, we now re-unite with the community of Faith, led by the Holy Spirit.

B) Was there Confession in the Old Testament? One of the prayers of absolution begins, “It was God who pardoned David through Nathan the Prophet, when he confessed his sins....” That certainly indicates that the ideas of repentance, confessing and forgiveness existed in the Old Testament. After becoming aware of his sins and being moved to repentance, the Old Testament man would confess his sins and would take the appropriate sacrifice to the Temple so that the priest could offer the sacrifice according to the Law and the sins could be atoned for. Also, there were Holy Days when the High Priest would offer sacrifices for the sins of the entire People of God. The feeling of guilt for having sinned, and the desire to get back into God’s favor was very familiar to the Old Testament. If we look at the historical books, especially Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, we see exactly how preoccupied the Old Testament can be with sin because of the long lists of sins and the details of what sacrifices were necessary for proper atonement for each sin. The priests offered daily sacrifices for their own sins and for the sins of all the people. These books also tell of how the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year to pray for forgiveness of his own sins and the sins of all the people on the Day of Atonement. To this day, the Day of Atonement is one of the major holy days of the Jews. The historical books, like the four Books of Kings (In the Orthodox Bible, the Books of Kings include both 3 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011 the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings.), are perhaps most useful to us because they show real life situations of Old Testament people and what their lives were like when they sinned. One example is King David and what he had to do to atone for his sins. Other examples are King Hezekiah and his repentance, and his son, Manasseh King of Judah, and his long prayer of repentance which we read during the service of Great Compline. The Prophetic Books, especially Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and Joel, contain excellent examples of what the Lord told the people concerning confession and repentance, through the message of the prophets. The Spiritual Books are very eloquent in explaining repentance in the Old Testament. Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143 (in the RSV numbering), are appropriate. Psalm 51 is one that we all recite every day and should know by heart. We hear it in the liturgy of the Church in many services, including in the Sacrament of Penance itself. The Book of the Wisdom of Solomon and the Books of Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiasticus (called The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or ‘Sirach’ for short) are very instructive, and are filled with teaching about repentance. Best of all is the Book of Job, with the story of Job the Long-Suffering and his trials and constant repentance.

C) Did Jesus start the Sacrament of Confession? Was there Confession in the time of Jesus and the Apostles? There are stories in the about people who sin and how Jesus dealt with them. Jesus tells us the story of the Prodigal Son, which has to be the best story illustrating repentance, confession, forgiveness and thanksgiving. Jesus tells us about the Publican who says the simple prayer ‘have mercy on me, a sinner’, the best attitude for repentance. Jesus is the one who healed the paralytic at Capernaum (Mark 2. 1-12) and told the people that he did that miracle “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (v.10). Jesus was questioned about a woman taken in adultery, (John 8.1-11) and was asked what punishment she deserved. Jesus gave a good example of how to repent by telling the accusers to accuse themselves first, and then telling the woman to ‘go and sin no more’. Jesus said of the ‘woman who had been a sinner’ who anointed his feet (Luke 7.36-50), that because she had loved much, much was forgiven. He told her, “Your sins are forgiven”, and “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” Jesus also “instituted” or began the Sacrament of Penance itself when He said, “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mat. 18.18) and then “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” (John 20. 22, 23). This command was given to all the apostles and was passed on to the bishops and priests of the Church to this very day. We have little evidence about what the Sacrament of Penance looked like in the time of the apostles. But we do know that the early Church had the Sacrament of Penance, though in a form quite different from ours.

D) What was Confession like in the early Church? In the early Church, Confession was reserved for cases of apostasy (denial of Christ and His Church in order to escape torture and persecution), blasphemy (impious statements), and murder (including abortion, involuntary murder, and accidental murder). Some ancient sources include adultery in this list. First, the penitent would come to the bishop and tell him what he had done. The bishop would give the penitent a lecture and prepare him for penance. Next the bishop would say a prayer receiving the penitent into the ranks of the penitents, much like the prayers receiving someone into the ranks of the catechumens. After the penance was completed, the penitent would be granted pardon of his sins publicly. Standing in the center of Church, he would announce his sins to the congregation, would tell how sorrowful he was for having broken God’s laws, and would ask to be re-admitted to the ranks of the faithful. The bishop would give a public lecture and would then lay his hands on the head of the penitent in formal absolution of his sins, re-uniting him to the Body of Christ - the Church, and to receiving the Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The Church also permitted private confession ‘for sins committed in private’, especially in cases where public confession would be dangerous. 4 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011

Many of the Fathers of the early Church wrote that the Sacrament of Penance was like a second Baptism, that the tears of repentance wash away sins like the waters of Baptism do. In the early Church, Penance, like Baptism, could only be administered once. It was thought that if Penance were something that could be repeated easily, there’d be nothing to stop people from committing all sorts of sins. So, in order to avoid using up the only second chance they’d get, many people put off Baptism until late in life. For a time, Baptism late in life became the regular way of doing things in the Church. Saints John Chrysostom, Basil the Great and Gregory Nanzianzen were baptized when they were in their late twenties, and Saint , the Emperor, was baptized on his death-bed. Nobody in the early Church thought they were sinless. They understood that though they might not have committed any particular sins, they lived in a sinful state. The only sinless human is the Mother of God. In the early Church, being Christian meant participation in the Body and the Blood of Christ on a regular basis. The Body and Blood of Christ washes away our sins and is the remedy for sinfulness and illness. In the thinking of the early Church, the Liturgy’s built-in prayers of forgiveness are what purify us for participation in Holy Communion. Before we receive Holy Communion, we say our prayers and ask that we be forgiven “all our sins, both voluntary and involuntary, of word, deed and thought, those committed with knowledge or in ignorance”.

E) When all the people came into the Church at the time the became Christian, did that change Confession? “One who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation.” Because we know that none of us is ever truly worthy to receive the Holy Body and Blood of Christ, this is the question every Christian who dares to approach the Chalice must ask himself. If our repentance is complete and sincere, so will our forgiveness and pardon be. When Saint Constantine the Great began to Christianize his empire, the Church was faced with a new problem. Masses of people coming into the Church were nominal, minimalistic, superficial and often even unwilling Christians.(Sound familiar?) And all these people were coming to the Sacraments. Rather than turn away all these Christians-in-name-only, the Church tried to educate these people and to instill in them a godly fear of the Sacraments. Confession became a more frequently administered Sacrament. But it was still a bit different from our Confession: the Priest had a list of sins and penances, and after a lecture, Confession was more or less finished. We don’t know much about the shape of the Sacrament of Penance itself at that time, nor do we know much about how the sacrament was developing and changing. But, at the same time these changes were taking place in the Church there was another form of Confession developing in the monasteries.

F) Monasticism started to be a big movement in the Church. What effect did it have on Confession? The tradition of a regular, even daily, confession by novice monastics to their elders was beginning to spread in monastic communities all over the Christian world. This was more a confession of every thought as a means of training, discipline, and growth in the spiritual life, rather than being exclusively a confession of sins. Monasteries became centers of life for the Church because of the intensive spiritual life there. The piety and holiness of the monks drew people to the monasteries for advice. Not all priests were well educated at that time and most often Confession in parishes was severe and perhaps rather mechanical. Those parish priests who knew how to read would often simply read a list of sins, asking the penitent if he or she had committed each one. Listed next to the sin was a penance, and the priest would simply apply the penance required. On the other hand, monasteries were centers of learning, prayer and charity, open to anyone who desired advice and spiritual counsel. By the ninth century, there is evidence that Christians who wanted regular spiritual guidance would go to the monasteries for it. In the thousand years between 600 and 1600, the Church’s practice was changing and Confession was more frequently administered than it had been in the early Church. It was still not an ordinary event, and not for ‘everyday sins’. 5 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011

G) Did Confession develop differently in the Roman Church? Private Confession to the priest had been introduced in Ireland in the 600’s by Saint Columba and his monks, thanks to the influence of the monks of the East. But the practice never really spread very far outside monastic communities. As late as the 1200’s, there were various Roman scholars who argued that true contrition is followed by divine forgiveness even without priestly Confession, though they said that such Confession was desirable. But in 1215, a canon law was written that required Confession to the priest at least once a year. The Latin mind was always inclined to look at sin and righteousness as specific acts, and not as states of being. In Latin scholastic theology, man’s relationship to God was looked at in terms of God’s constantly giving gifts of His Grace to man, and man paying to God his debts incurred by sins. Latin theology after the 1200’s began to discriminate between venial and mortal sins. Venial or “everyday” sins are those for which we can obtain forgiveness by ourselves through the daily confession of our sins to God, and through the absolving Grace of the Body and Blood of Christ. Mortal, “deadly”, sins cause our souls to die if we don’t confess them, and they require confession to the priest. On the evidence of sorrow for sin, Confession, and willingness to give satisfaction through penances, the priest, as God’s agent, would pronounce absolution. Unless one had the pardon of the priest, no one guilty of a “deadly” sin committed after baptism had the assurance of salvation. The Orthodox recognize the validity of the scholastic Roman approach but consider it too legalistic. This approach to Penance was introduced into parts of the Orthodox Church when Metropolitan Peter (Mogila) of Kiev (1633-1647) received many former Uniats back into Orthodoxy. This strong Latin influence in theology was felt for centuries and causes much confusion even today, about the traditional Orthodox understanding of the Sacraments and other teachings as well. For us Orthodox Christians, in Confession the power of the priest is secondary to the sincerity of our repentance. In the measure that we repent, that’s how much God will forgive. If we don’t sincerely repent of our sins and change our lives (or at least make an effort to change), then the power of the priest is counterbalanced. If the priest grants us absolution, but our Confession wasn’t a good one, then when we approach the Chalice to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, we are receiving to our condemnation and are damaging ourselves and our eternal souls.

H) With all those millions of people in the Russian Empire, how could the priests hear all the Confessions? One of the laws of the Russian Empire was that all civil authorities, government employees, and all the military had to go to Confession at least once a year. Other people, those not required to do so by law, didn’t go to Confession very regularly. But even so, there were so many Confessions to be heard that there were priests whose sole responsibility during Lent was to hear Confessions morning to night. Realizing that so many people coming to Confession were just doing it to keep their jobs, and that they had no real understanding of spiritual life or the Sacraments, it must have been extremely difficult for a priest assigned to such duty to keep his faith. The administration of the Sacrament of Penance had become little more than a ritual required by civil law, or an annual “custom” or “duty”. By 1900, the situation was so bad that the Church knew it could no longer delay making reforms in the way Confession was heard. It was suggested that various monks, theologians, and bishops be assigned to think about the problems and difficulties with Confession, and to present their ideas to the Great Council which was being planned for the Russian Church. One priest, Father John Sergieff, of Kronstadt, now a canonized saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, tried to return to what he thought Confession must have been like in the early Church. He began the service of the Sacrament of Penance by reading all the prayers as usual, but then he would preach to all the people about the need for repentance and for Confession. Instead of hearing each person’s Confession individually, he asked the whole crowd of people assembled in the Cathedral to confess their sins all at once. No one could hear what his neighbor was saying because there were so many people confessing at once. Father John would then absolve 6 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011 everyone, would admonish them with another sermon and would dismiss them. But this unique practice was not used anywhere else in the Orthodox Church. Saint John was a truly charismatic man – that means he was given a great gift by the Holy Spirit concerning these confessions. No one else was ever given this kind of spiritual gift, that we know of. The Revolution of 1917 interrupted the plans for the Great Council of the Russian Church, and the much needed reforms were put back.

I) What is the current situation in the Church, especially here in the New World, concerning Confession? The Russian Church was the first to establish an episcopal see here in the New World. From that beginning developed the Orthodox Church in America. It inherited the Russian style of doing things as well as the problems of the pre-1917 Russian Church. And because it too received back into Orthodoxy tens of thousands of Uniats, it also inherited a good deal of Latinized Byzantine- - in the minds of the people as well as in the styles and attitudes of many of the clergy. The Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church of America was not content to accept this situation, and proceeded with a program of education about the correct Orthodox understanding of the Sacraments and other theological ideas. First on the list was a re-education about the centrality of Holy Communion in the Christian life. A return to frequent participation in Holy Communion soon caused the clergy to be swamped with people who needed frequent Confession too, as the rule ‘Confession before each Communion’ was still applied. Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, Dean of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, was assigned the task of reviewing the Church’s situation regarding Confession and Communion, and of making a report about how to re-educate people about Confession. The Report recommends that the Church approve the practice of “General Confession”. This is a form of the sacrament where instead of the priest addressing us privately in a personal Confession, he leads the community in the prayers of repentance, then gives a meditation on sin and repentance, and on the “spiritual banquet which awaits us”. The purpose of General Confession is to re-awaken our spiritual conscience and to teach us how to make better, less general and more specific confessions. Finally, the priest gives absolution, but he reminds everyone that private confession is available. The Report was accepted and implemented. As things now stand, general confession has also engendered some additional and different problems. The most serious of these is people coming to Holy Communion without proper preparation. And likewise, priests who have become lazy and no longer hear confessions on a regular basis. (Finally! Here’s the answer to the original question from page 1!) The Diocese of New York and New Jersey, at the discretion of the Pastor, permits General Confession in parishes. The rule that Confession in one of its forms should precede each reception of Holy Communion has been modified. In practice this means that if someone wants to receive Holy Communion every week, then each week he must prepare himself by attending Vespers on Saturday evening, and by saying the pre-Communion prayers. And he goes to Confession. At the discretion of his Confessor, the penitent may be permitted to receive Holy Communion for as many as six weeks before coming to Confession again. If a person misses Communion one week or does not meet all the conditions for frequent Communion, (that is, Fasting, Vespers and the pre-Communion prayers) then they must come to private Confession before their next Communion. If you desire to receive Communion at a weekday Liturgy, providing you attended Sunday Liturgy and met the other requirements for Communion at that time, and your confessor approves, Confession is not required. Please note that in every case the operative words here are “at the discretion of the confessor”. It’s not ‘up to you’ to decide if you need Confession or not, but up to the decision of your spiritual father. Other dioceses in the Orthodox Church in America have different rules, and one should ask the local pastor what the rule is there. Other Orthodox groups have differing attitudes towards Confession. Father Anthony Coniaris, in his book Introducing the Orthodox Church, in the section on the Sacrament of Penance, shows just how different the situation of the Greek Church is as a result of the “Turkish Captivity” of the Greek Church, and thanks to its’ 7 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011 freedom from the influence of Roman Uniat theology. Other groups which follow Greek practice share the attitude that frequent Communion is normal, and that Confession is required for grave sins, but only annual Confession to the Priest for lighter sins is required. This attitude is changing in our modern times as a result of the influence of new monastic communities in the new world. Some Russian-influenced Dioceses still customarily have only annual Communion preceded immediately by Confession. Before you present yourself for Communion at the Chalice in any parish other than your own, show the courtesy to ask the pastor what the practice is there. Even in the Orthodox Church, the rule, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” still applies!

J) What’s the difference between Confession, General or ‘Common’ Confession, and Absolution? Now that we’ve learned that we ought to take Communion more regularly, does that change Confession? We’ve already described what Confession is in section ‘A’, and General Confession was described just a few paragraphs above. You might begin to hear the term “Common Confession”. Some people prefer this name because they feel that ‘general’ is being misinterpreted to mean ‘in general’, rather than as opposed to ‘private’. We do confess together, ‘in common’, hence the name. Absolution is the prayer of Confession which looses us from our sins by washing them away. The word comes from Latin ‘ab’ - from, and ‘solvere’ - loose. Absolution is not a form of Confession, it is just the final prayer of Confession. How can anything be washed away if nothing is confessed? “Now you say that there are many priests who give absolution and many Christians who receive it without any confession taking place. ‘The priest just reads a prayer over you and that’s all!’, they say. But you must know, dear reader, that in this case no sacrament takes place but - we must tell the bitter truth - a mockery of the Sacrament. A mockery which is, of course, caused by the ignorance of the Christian doctrine, in which ignorance both priests and Christians live. But the fact is that in such cases no absolution has been given since no Sacrament has taken place.” ... The priest “cannot say that he has given absolution through a mere offering of a prayer if confession, the most essential part of the Sacrament has not taken place.” Father S. Papacostas, Repentance. Now that we’ve re-learned that we ought to take communion regularly, does that change Confession? No, it doesn’t change Confession, but it affects how often we should have private Confession. The private confessions of individuals before the spiritual advisor remains the most effective way for the individual to make his confession. However, this is true only if the private confession of the penitent is something more than a perfunctory enumeration of sins by the penitent after reading a prayer of confession from his prayer book, with the priest responding with general and often impersonal admonition, the usual penance and final absolution. All this sometimes takes place in the matter of a few minutes. How can confession of sins under these conditions be that very personal encounter of the penitent with his Lord in the presence of the spiritual father? General confession should be developed more carefully, with an eye to a careful preparation of the penitent to make a good private confession regularly. Father V. S. Borichevsky. “A Pastoral Perspective on Sin and the Sacrament of Confession”, Saint Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1977.

1) What is the relationship between the penitent and his or her spiritual father? Perhaps we should begin by saying how very important it is to have a regular Father Confessor, one we go to all the time. Some people think it’s okay to flit from one priest to another the way a bee hunts for honey. But in order for us to grow in our spiritual lives, it’s essential that we have one spiritual father we can trust, rely on and find strength and stability in our relationship with him, in Christ. If you go to a doctor once for a particular symptom, he can perhaps prescribe a medication or course of action for you to follow. But if you keep 8 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011 switching to other doctors and go to them with the same ailment, they can again treat the symptoms, but none of them will have seen enough of your illness to be able to treat the root and cause of the illness in order to cure it. The relationship between the penitent and the spiritual father has to be based on obedience and discipline. Obedience is one of the monastic vows. The novice promises to obey his spiritual father as he would obey Christ himself. In a monastery, a novice can more or less choose his own elder. The elder sees everything the novice does in the monastery and hears what the novice says. Even though the novice confesses his thoughts to his elder, he may be making other mistakes which the elder is aware of and which he attempts to correct on the spot. Those of us who don’t live in the carefully controlled atmosphere of a monastery have different sorts of problems. Our parish priest can’t see how we work and play with others at school or at work, can’t observe how we live with the others in our families, and doesn’t have the possibility to immediately correct each fault as a monastic elder would. In some parishes, this because of the large size of the community, in others it’s the result of our isolated life-styles. So, unless you make a determined effort to create a spiritual bond with him, a parish priest can’t know and understand his parishioners’ every circumstance, and he can’t hope to obtain the same complete obedience as in monastic life. As our spiritual father, our parish priest can hope and even expect that we will listen to his advice. However, he can’t demand our obedience. We have the freedom to follow or reject his advice (unless we enter into a special relationship of obedience with him). Of course, if the priest advises us to avoid some sin or else be cut off from Holy Communion, and we go ahead and sin anyway, then we are no longer “free” to receive Holy Communion because if we did receive, it would be unto our judgment and condemnation. In this case, it isn’t a question of freedom or obedience, but the priest is protecting us from the fire of judgment. The parish priest can’t normally demand obedience from us, but we could offer our obedience voluntarily. He doesn’t need our obedience, but we need to learn obedience and discipline, and therefore we need to offer our obedience to our spiritual father. The priest’s advice should always be taken seriously, not only because he has years of spiritual training and experience from which we can profit, but also because the Holy Spirit inspires and speaks through the priest in Confession. Because of his detachment, often he can see clearly things that we can’t see in our selves. It is fairly obvious that even psychologists, marriage counselors and other secular advisors can see into our lives better than we can, simply because of training and detachment. But the priest has an advantage over secular counselors in that he has been given the Grace of the Holy Spirit. The prayers of Ordination to the Priesthood ask God to send the Holy Spirit to ‘heal what is infirm and to complete what is wanting’. In spite of a priest’s poor education, lack of training, or his sins, the priest is still the instrument of God when he calls on God in prayer and asks God to forgive us when we confess. The Holy Spirit is still the one who comforts us and is the Spirit of Truth in our lives. It will be the Holy Spirit who puts the words of advice, counsel and comfort into the mouth of the priest who is approached in obedience. Thus, obedience isn’t something that a priest can demand, but it is something that we should offer, because it isn’t the priest we are offering to obey, but rather the Holy Spirit who speaks through him, and Whose gifts the priest distributes. This self-discipline in the Spirit and voluntary obedience to the Holy Spirit and the Canon Laws which He inspired and to the priests who He ordained is a true offering to God, the “broken and contrite heart” that the psalm mentions. And God will reply to this offering by granting us His strength, His comforting forgiveness, and the enlightenment to see and to understand His Truth.

2) What should I confess and what should I omit? I mean, how much of the story should I tell? As a rule, confess everything, omit nothing. Confess all of your sins. Confess the sins that bother you and separate you from God, which demand to be confessed, especially those sins carried over from one confession to the next which call out for attention and which push you to want to change your ways. Confess the little every-day sins by name so you can work on not committing them repeatedly, and break the bad habits that they’ve become. How to confess is the question. When you come to Confession, you must realize that you are there to 9 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011 confess your own sins, and that’s all. Keep your story simple and use your own words. Don’t try to cover up your sin by giving a long story full of the involvements of other people. Remember that you can’t confess someone else’s sins. But if it is necessary for you to give a long explanation to show how the sin came about, then you should not include the names of other people. Resist the temptation to gossip. Don’t be graphic in your explanations, but don’t hide the sin behind euphemisms. Don’t tell the priest about all the good things you’ve done either. Omit phrases which sound like bragging about your spiritual accomplishments, unless you’re explaining that you have made some progress in overcoming a sin that you’ve been working on especially hard. The priest needs to know that your repentance is sincere, so he understands if you tell him these things, but Confession is the place to come to talk about your sins, not your successes. People think that because they haven’t committed any crimes, they haven’t committed any sins. Instead of looking at it that way, consider all the sins you may have committed in spirit and concentrate on glaring problems and shortcomings. It’s more often that we sin against the spirit of the law than we do against the letter of the law. By the way, some people seem to try to have a conversation with the priest in Confession. Confession is a Sacrament of the Church and it is a liturgical service: don’t make conversation, don’t make it a little, personal, friendly visit. And don’t argue with the priest. Would you argue with a doctor when he prescribes medicine for you? The priest is the doctor of your soul. If have a bone to pick with the priest, do it outside.

3) What about penances? In the early Church, penances were very severe. People coming for Confession would have faced a penance of one, two, five, ten or more years, and sometimes until just before death, depending on the sin. These penances could be reduced by applying various disciplines, like fasting from all meat, from all dairy products, by making a certain number of a day, by giving generous alms (within your means) or by not drinking water until a certain hour of the day. Until the penance was completed, the penitent would have been forbidden to receive Communion, unless he was in danger of death. The penitent was expected to attend all the Church services just the same, though he’d have to stand in a special place, with the catechumens. A penitent wouldn’t be able to receive any of the other Sacraments either since they are all related to Holy Communion. But so that the penitent wouldn’t be totally cut off from Church, he’d be allowed Holy Water and antidoron (bread left over from the preparation of the Holy Gifts, distributed at the end of Liturgy). In the early Church, penitents were expected to leave the Church service when the catechumens were told to leave. What is a penance? Penances are medicine for our souls. Some medicines aren’t unpleasant to take, some require frequent doses or abstinence from various foods and so on. Some medicines aren’t administered after an illness, but for prevention. Some medicines help fight off repeated or further infection, others help prevent proclivities or tendencies to contract the same disease or related ones. If we truly want to get better, we’ve got to learn to co-operate with the cure. Confession functions in all those ways to cure the soul. In the same way as the doctor, the confessor crafts the penance to fit the confession. Sometimes the penance is the recommendation to say certain prayers, sometimes it’s a recommendation that we fast for a certain time, sometimes it’s a recommendation to avoid certain behaviors in order to teach us some discipline and self-control, and sometimes it’s a recommendation that we not come to Holy Communion until we learn about the severity of our sin and the consequence of our behavior. Penances were stricter even as recently as only twenty years ago. Archbishop Kiprian used to tell priests that they shouldn’t put a penance on their parishioners that they couldn’t carry out themselves. Now priests are lenient and even lax about giving penances. Penances have become so rare that in many places, when the priest gives even a mild penance to someone, it comes as a very severe and unwelcome shock. Even though this is true, for some sins we should expect a strict penance. Priests are often very reluctant to give penances because they know that people simply won’t fulfill them, and then the priest would be forced to cut them off from Communion. There would be such bad feelings that those people might just run to some other Orthodox Church where they and their sins aren’t known, or worse yet, run to some other “church” that doesn’t 10 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011 have Confession, or penance, or even priests, and the confessor would be guilty of losing a member of his flock. Son, what are you able to observe? For penances are imposed according to the ability and the preference of those who receive them, and not in proportion to the sins. For it sometimes happens that one who has sinned little, because he is of a generous spirit, accepts his penance willingly and promptly, in order that he may receive not only remission of his sins but even the crown. But one who has sinned much, because he is of a negligent and sluggish spirit, should be punished with little severity, lest he be overwhelmed by the severity of the penance and become discouraged and give up everything. “Akolouthia kai taksis”, quoted in St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1977, p. 200. The death or transfer of the confessor does not cancel the penance. Only the priest who gave you the penance or the bishop can release you from it. If you are in danger of death, you can be released from your penance, but if you recover, you have to finish out the remainder of the penance. Penances are for our benefit, and perhaps it’s not too late for the practice to be restored. This would be one way of putting some discipline and order back into the spiritual life of the Church. For more about penances, see the answer to question ‘D.’ And if you want to see what penances are like, look at The Rudder which contains the Canon Laws and explanations of how penances are applied.

4) I heard that in some parishes they offer the priest a donation after confessing them. Is that right? Yes, in some places that’s still a custom. It comes from a time when priests were poorly paid, and people needed to find all the ways they could to make money to supplement the priest’s salary, and to maintain the Church as well. It would be better if the priest were given a good salary, so that these customs fade away, because it looks too much like someone might be trying to ‘buy’ a sacrament. That kind of bribery, called “Simony”, is named after a magician who thought he could purchase the Holy Spirit in the same way that people bought his magic spells. It’s one of the earliest heresies of the Church. You can’t buy forgiveness. “Paying for your sins” isn’t a financial statement. If you can’t bribe the priest into forgiving you, you can bribe God the Holy Spirit even less. Forgiveness has to come from heartfelt repentance. But if you want to burn a candle or make a thank-offering as a gesture of gratitude to God for hearing your prayer, for lifting the burden of sin and for washing clean your soul, then that’s different.

5) What gestures accompany Confession? When we come up to the place where Confession is being given, we first venerate the or the Gospel Book and the Holy Cross. The priest will put the epitrachilion (stole) over our heads. It is most common for Orthodox people to confess standing erect. In some places, it is the custom to stand and bow from the waist, or to bow the head at the neck. The argument for confessing while standing is that man is the only one of God’s creatures created to stand erect. It’s said that when we come to the Last Judgment, we’ll have to do it standing erect face to face with God. And so, standing erect is the posture proper to mankind. Not only that, but if you’re standing erect, then you are more comfortable, you can think clearly, and you will be able to express yourself better. It would also be easier on the back of the poor priest who would otherwise be obliged to hear all those confessions bent in two. I suppose one could argue that it’d be good for the priest’s humility to have a back-ache ... In some places, confession is made while kneeling down. This is a custom that came into the Church through Uniat influence. The Bible talks about bowing the knees of our hearts, and that means that we have to be humble. Kneeling is the sign of that humility, as well as an expression of obedience to God’s Law and Judgment. Sometimes people who don’t kneel for the entire confession will kneel for the prayer of absolution at the end of confession. Of course, the rules about not kneeling on Sundays, in the Paschal Season, and other Feast Days, still apply to Confession too. Finally, before we leave, we again venerate the icon or Gospels and the Cross and usually we ask the priest for his blessing, to show our respect for him as the minister of the Sacrament, and to show the priest that we bear him no ill feelings. 11 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011

6) Should I make a list (of sins)? First ask your confessor if he minds. But generally speaking, if it is useful for you to make a list, by all means do so. If it is the case that you confess only once or twice a year, then the list could be a useful reminder. If you confess more regularly, then a list could be more hindrance than assistance. It should be in outline form, and should be a reminder for you of the things that are weighing down your heart. Remember that Confession is for the benefit of your soul, so that if the list becomes something that you fidget with, which distracts you and prevents you from listening carefully to the advice of the priest, then put it in your pocket until you need it again. Also, remember that confession is something that is between you and God. So, if you write a list, don’t leave it where others can find it. In fact, it’s a good idea to follow the old custom and burn the list or give it to the priest so he can burn it.

7) Is it true the priest isn’t allowed to tell anyone what I confess? Yes, it’s true. The Orthodox priest is bound morally and ethically to keep your confession strictly confidential. Outside Confession, he’s not even supposed to talk about it with you unless you freely give him your permission, or if you yourself bring up the subject again. In Confession, the priest can bring it up again, if he sees a need to do so. “Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account.” (Heb. 13.17.) The priest will stand by you as your witness when you tell God your life at the Last Judgment. But until then, he’s bound by ethics not to speak about your confession to anyone. He’s also not supposed to show to others what it is that you might have done, even indirectly, through hints or allusions or even by changing his behavior towards you. Priests have to learn early to hate the sin and to love the (repentant) sinner. By the way, the penitent is also bound morally and ethically to keep silence. It says in the Bible, “Confess to each other”, and if you tell someone else your sins, that’s your business. But the information, the advice, and the penance your confessor gives to you is to be kept to yourself: don’t compare with others.

8) What if I can’t think of anything? Are you kidding? I hope you’re not saying you think you’re a saint! “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1.8,9) Joking aside, it’s true that sometimes when we actually get in front of the confessional, we freeze up, and all the things that we had thought about and prepared to say escape us. Take a deep breath, calm yourself, and explain to Father that your mind has gone blank. Maybe he can talk to you for a minute and your composure will return, or perhaps something that he’ll say will trigger your memory. And if you were saying your daily prayers the way you’re supposed to do, then the built-in daily examination of conscience would be enough to give you all sorts of reminders of what to confess. Your preparation for Confession should be a daily one, and not just something you do while sitting in the pew, waiting your turn. It’s the same difference as that between people who study their schoolwork every day bit by bit so that the exam isn’t a surprise, and those who cram like crazy the last minute. Let’s all pray that we’re well prepared for the Big Final Exam - The Last Judgment! (I don’t intend any disrespect.) But if you’re preparing yourself for Confession and you can’t think of anything, or you can’t get started, then examine your conscience from the point of view of the , or the Beatitudes, and compare them to your life. If that doesn’t help, there are lists of questions you can ask yourself. Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky)’s book Confession: A Series of Lectures on the Mystery of Repentance has useful lists based on the Ten Commandments. This list has been printed separately by the Philadelphia Deanery of the Orthodox Church in America and is distributed by all the parishes of the Deanery and at Mission Services during Great Lent.

12 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011

9) What if I think of something later? The answer to this would depend on the nature of the sin you forgot to confess. If you feel the sin is serious and you don’t want it to burden your soul until the next Confession, then go back to the priest right away. If you confess only once or twice a year, then go back right away because you probably won’t remember until your next Confession. Of course, if it’s something you were too embarrassed to say, but found your courage as you were walking away, then go back. If you can’t return to Confession for some reason, and you realize that your sin is a serious one, then you shouldn’t take Communion. If it’s something that is really minor, that you really forgot, and you’re sure that you’ll remember it until next time, then wait until the next opportunity for Confession, and go ahead and take Communion.

10) What if I confess Saturday night, and before Sunday morning Liturgy, I commit some sin? The answer to this is the same as the answer to the previous question. If it’s a serious sin that you ought to confess, then do so before Liturgy, if possible. If you aren’t sure about the severity of the sin, then ask the priest. Often, if you explain what it’s all about to the priest, he’ll accommodate you and will hear your confession before Liturgy. And if you know it is a serious sin that you should confess, but for some reason you can’t get to Confession, then DON’T present yourself at the Chalice for Holy Communion. Remember that the devil is very eager to prevent you from going to Holy Communion, and will invent all sorts of excuses for you to use - even pious ones! – in order to keep you apart from the life-giving Body and Blood of our Lord.

11) I saw a video tape about Church life in the USSR and in it I saw a priest giving confession and there were two ladies under his stole, confessing at the same time. What was that all about? This is a pious custom among older people in Russia and though it seems odd to us, there are some logical reasons for it. Sometimes priests confess parents and children together as a means of educating the youngsters and of showing them that there’s nothing to fear. This would only be for a few times, until the child got used to the idea of confessing by himself. Sometimes, two people who fought or argued will come to Confession together in order to heal the rift. If two people have committed some sin together, and realize their sin, they might confess together. And often, two relatives or very close friends might confess together, especially if there has been a disagreement or argument.

12) Is there any sin that cannot be forgiven? When Our Lord breathed on the Apostles and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20.22,23), there were no restrictions placed on this commission. However, there are two situations in which a priest would be powerless. First, if someone dies, either by accident or by suicide, before they confess their sin, then their next confession will have to wait until when the Lord Himself sits in judgment over the disposition of their soul. Secondly, if someone refuses to repent of his sins, if he refuses to stop committing a particular sin, or if he refuses to recognize the sinfulness of a particular act, then the priest can do nothing. If a sinner won’t confess and repent of his sin, then the priest can’t forgive it. The Gospels talk about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as the sin that cannot be forgiven (Matt. 12.31, Mark 3.29, and Luke 12.10.). Saint Symeon the New Theologian says blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attributing to the opposite spirit the actions and operations of the Holy Spirit and those through whom the Spirit chooses to work. The Pharisees accuse Jesus of being able to do miracles because ‘he has a devil’. They see the good of Jesus’ acts and obdurately refuse to believe their eyes. They compound this sin with malice by attributing these good acts to the opposite spirit. These two sins, obduracy and malice, are not forgivable not because God can’t forgive them, for His mercy is boundless and He wills that all men should be saved, but rather, these particular sins are called unforgivable because the sinner won’t admit to his error, won’t repent, and won’t confess. As soon as the sinner changes his mind and repents, the Church forgives. 13 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011

13) Why can’t I just confess to God? Why must I confess to a priest? This is an attitude that grew out of mistrust of the clergy. It was common where the government tried to force the clergy to report anti-government plots and certain crimes to the secret police. It is also common where uneducated and intellectually defenseless Christians come into contact with unorthodox Christian sects which reject the Sacraments (other than Communion and Baptism), including Priesthood and Confession. It also comes from a misunderstanding about the nature and the purpose of Confession. If you confess only to God, it still remains that there’s no way you can obtain release from your sins. You can’t expect the Holy Spirit to come to you and to minister to you Himself. What conceit! Jesus Himself commissioned the apostles and their successors to bind and loose sins, and the Holy Spirit chose the bishops and priests who are His ministers, and ordained them and gave them power to do His work on earth. We must respect the work of the Holy Spirit in His Church, and respect the discipline, order and power of His divinely appointed Laws and Ministers. Confession to a priest also has the benefit of therapeutic effects on your soul. The blessing given by the Holy Spirit through the priest helps to heal the wounds of your soul caused by sin. If you don’t confess to a priest, and you present yourself at the Chalice for Holy Communion, you risk condemnation for receiving unworthily, and the onus is on you alone. Hidden sins and the shame they generate are a terrible burden: they weaken every desire for good, suppressing them consumes precious energy, they infect our souls with dishonesty, they cloud our moral judgment, and as long as we don’t confront them and have them washed away in Confession, they are a cancer that eats away at us from inside. As long as we carry around sin and shame we have to pretend constantly to others and to ourselves, and that dulls every joy in our life and poisons every good feeling in our hearts. As long as we carry this burden, we fear exposure, which is an additional terrifying weight on our souls. If we carry this hidden burden long enough, we get used to it. But like a disease, eventually sin, shame and fear blinds us, paralyzes us and makes us like soulless animated shells. We are moved to confess when we feel the enormity of our sin. When sin is too great, shame too deep, fear too strong, then we must confess. We know that sharing the burden of sin with someone we trust is a relief to us, and that if we share it with a friend, we are less fearful of the sin and its weights. If we confess to God, He will answer our prayer as soon as we begin to change our ways and do good again. If we confess to God in the presence of the priest, who we know and trust, and who we know was given the power to bind and loose our sins by God the Holy Spirit, then not only do we feel relief, but also we know we have been blessed; tangibly and audibly and healingly. Confessing to God with the priest as witness frees us and heals us. When we ask Jesus for help, and we receive absolution of our sins, we gain release from the paralysis which had been gripping our heart, mind and soul. And then we can give thanks to God for having given us such a wonderful gift as the Sacrament of Penance. Confess to a friend and the shame and fears of your sins will be shared and halved. Confess to God and He will forgive you as well as help you to carry the burden. Confess to God and receive the Blessing of the Holy Spirit through the priest and have the burden of sin, shame and fear lifted and utterly washed away. (See also Questions 20 and 22)

14) What are some useful books I can read about confession? Orthodox Daily Prayers. St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press. Archpriest Vladimir Stakhy Borichevsky. “A Pastoral Perspective of Sin and the Sacrament of Penance”, St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1977. Saint Nicholas Cabasilas. The Life in Christ. Father John Chryssavgis. Repentance and Confession in the Orthodox Church. Father Alexander Elchaninov. “A Talk Before Confession”, “Advice to Young Priests”, in The Diary of a Russian Priest. John H. Erickson. “Penitential Discipline in the Orthodox Canonical Tradition”, St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1977. 14 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011

Nicholas V. Gamvas. The Psychology of Confession and the Orthodox Church. Isabel Florence Hapgood, editor. “The Rite of Confession.” Service Book of the Holy Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church. Saint John Chrysostom. Homily Against Publishing the Errors of the Brethren and The Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews in The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, volumes 9 and 14. Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky). Confession: A Series of Lectures on the Mystery of Repentance. Kasimir Kucharek. The Sacramental Mysteries, a Byzantine Approach. Archpriest Gennadiy Nefedov. “Sacrament of Penance”, Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 1985. Orthodox Church in America, Department of Religious Education. If We Confess Our Sins and We Return to God. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium: see Confession, Contrition, Epitimion, Pater Pnevmatikos, Penalty, Penance, Penitentials, Proskynesis, Sacrament. Archimandrite Seraphim (Papacostas). Repentance. Archpriest Sergiy Pravdolyubov. “How to Fast and Prepare for Confession”, Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, No. 12, 1985. Karl Rahner. Theological Investigations: Penance in the Early Church. Joost van Rossum. “Priesthood and Confession in Saint Symeon the New Theologian” in St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 4/1976. Saint Symeon the New Theologian. The Discourses. (Especially Nos. 4, 5, 14, 18, 23, 30, 31, 32.) Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann. Confession and Communion: Report to the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America. Saint Theophan the Recluse. The Spiritual Life and How to be Attuned to it.

15) When should I confess: while I’m sinning or after I’ve ‘worked it through’ and have started to repent? ... About confession - do not put it off. A weak faith and doubts are no obstacle. Go to confession without fail, repenting of weak faith and doubts, admitting them as a sign of your helplessness and sinfulness. Only the blessed, those whose spirit is full of strength, possess complete faith: how can we, impure and unbelieving, hope to possess their faith? If we had it, we would be saintly, strong, godlike, and would not need the help offered us by the Church. And so, you too – do not decline this help. Father Alexander Elchaninov, “Extracts from Letters to Young People”, in The Diary of a Russian Priest. Don’t wait. Confession is not only the place to come for forgiveness of sins, but is also the place for us to receive the spiritual counsel of the priest. Often, the longer we wait, the more difficult it is to confess. If we wait, sometimes we risk making the sin worse, and of compounding the first sin. God forbid, but there’s always the chance that an accident could happen, and we’d have no chance to repent and confess. Confession is therapy for the soul. Not only will you feel forgiven by God, but also by those who you’ve offended and those who have offended you. God forgives us whenever we confess, although from the point of view of therapy for our souls, we need to obtain absolution through the priest in order to be reconciled with the Church and all men. “Do not delay to turn to the Lord nor postpone it from day to day; for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will go forth, and at the time of punishment you will perish.” (Sirach 5.7.)

This month’s Newsletter is in memory of John Prawlocki and for the health of Nicolle Buttino at the request of Sonia Buttino 15 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, August, 2011

Parish Officer Contact Information Rector: Archpriest John Udics: (315) 866-3272 - [email protected] Committee President and Cemetery Director: John Ciko: (315) 866-5825 - [email protected] Committee Secretary: Subdeacon Demetrios Richards (315) 865-5382 – [email protected] Sisterhood President: Rebecca Hawranick: (315) 822-6517 – [email protected] Choir Director: Reader John Hawranick: (315) 822-6517 – [email protected]

Birthdays in August – God Grant You Many Years! 2 – Natalie Chlus 26 – Ashley Kinzey 2 – Anne Bayzon 27 – Millie Hubiak 3 – Alan Chlus 27 – Sandy Lack 6 – Sean Stevens 28 – Nicolle Buttino 11 – Helen Ciko 29 – Nicholas Lack 13 – Norma Stehnach 29 – Gene Lyszczarz 17 – Steve Leve 30 – Irene Ptasznik 19 – Sofia Pawlusik 30 – Julie Todd 26 – Ann Danielak

Memory Eternal. 2 - Anna Hrynda (1986) 16 - Sophia Barbey (1975) 5 - Frank Gromadzky (1974) 18 - Julia Gallik (1981) 5 - Wasil Litwen (1977) 20 - Joseph Mamrosch (1984) 5 - Mary Sokerka (1986) 20 - Michael Dedla Sr (1985) 5 - Jacob Elnicky (1997) 20 - John Prawlocki (1997) 6 - Joseph Ptasznik (1975) 23 - Anastasia Zelezniak (1975) 7 - Julia Burkes (1975) 23 - Daniel Krenichyn (2007) 8 - Joseph Spytko (1991) 23 - Charles Hardish (2007) 9 - Anna Naglowski (2002) 28 - Mary Zawko (1970) 10 - Theresa Polansky (1994) 29 - Michael Ciko (2007) 11 - Steve Bius (1998) 30 - Donald Sterzin (1992) 11 - Steven Byrda (2009) 30 - Evgenia Hrynda (2004) 14 - Martha Brelinsky (1978) 30 - Walter Spytko (1992)

Coffee Hour Hosts for August August 7, 2011 Kristen and Walter Pawlusik August 14, 2011 Lyszczarz Family August 21, 2011 Sonia Buttino and John Elnicky August 28, 2011 Elaine Kowansky and Family

FOR YOUR CALENDAR: Saint Ann Sisterhood announces that on the last Sunday of every month we will have breakfast at coffee hour time on Sunday. The hot meal will cost $5.00 per person and proceeds will go toward the funding of our 100th Anniversary celebration. These meals will be complete meals – for example eggs, meat, toast, fruit, etc.

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