"Rejoicing today in the triumph of Orthodoxy on this first Sunday of Lent, we joyfully commemorate three events: one event belonging to the past; one event to the present; and one event which still belongs to the future."

Rejoicing today in the triumph of Orthodoxy on this first Sunday of Lent, we joyfully commemorate three events: one event belonging to the past; one event to the present; and one event which still belongs to the future.

Saint Nikolai Velimirovic emphasized the significance of the continuing adult education and how crucial to the spiritual health of the faithful and community around us when he said, "The better one knows our Orthodox faith, the more he loves it." (Missionary Letters)

All Christians without exception must go to Confession if they wish to be saved. But how should the truly faithful Confession occur? Many do not know this, and that is why is necessary to discuss this question more thoroughly. Here we will look at the following three parts of Confession:

a) What we should do before we go to the confessor.

b) What we should do when we are with the confessor.

c) What we should do when we come out of Confession.

For each conscientious priest, Confession is without any doubt one of the most difficult and frustrating aspects of his ministry. It is here, on the one hand, that he encounters the only real object of his Pastoral care: the human soul, man, as he stands sinful and miserable, before God. But it is here, on the other hand, that he realizes to what degree nominal Christianity has pervaded our Church life. The basic Christian notions of sin and repentance, reconciliation with God and renewal of life, seem to have become irrelevant. If the terms are still used, their meaning is certainly quite different from that, on which our whole Christian faith is based.

At Compline (Apodeipnos) on the first four days of Holy Lent, the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete is read, divided into four sections; on Thursday in the Fifth Week, it will be read again, this time in continuous form. With its constant refrain, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, have mercy upon me', the Great Canon forms a prolonged confession of sin, an unremitting call to repentance. At the same time, it is a meditation on the whole body of Holy Scripture, embracing all the sinners and all the righteous from the creation of the world to the second coming Christ.

The Word of God says: "Sin is the transgression of the law" (I John 3:4). This means that sin is a violation of God's law. Every violated law, be it civil or natural, entails punishment. Sin, as transgression of the highest law--the will of God, leads to most heavy punishments. These punishments can be temporary or eternal. The temporary ones are sent by God to bring us to our senses and for correction. If we repent and are reconciled with God, we will save ourselves in our sins, if we do not want to repent of them, if we persist in our rebellion against God, He will let us go our own way.