They have a beautiful custom here in Russia (perhaps they have it in some parishes in the US?): After you have confessed your sins and the priest has read the Prayer of Absolution, you hand the piece of paper on which your sins were written to the priest, and he tears the paper up and hands it back to you.
The first time I saw this--at Sretensky Monastery (Monastery of the Meeting) I was quite amazed. I thought it was maybe a custom of just that priest or just that monastery. Then, last night, at St. Nicholas Church on Maroseika Street, when I finally got near the front of the confession line about 45 minutes after Vigil was over, after standing in line the whole vigil (!), I saw the lady in front of me who was confessing hand her scrap of paper to one of the priests, who tore it up and gave it back to her. "So they do it here, too," I thought. When my turn came and I had finished confessing, I shoved my notes back in my pocket out of habit, then remembered what the lady had done and quickly decided to take them back out and do the same. The priest took my paper likewise, tore it up, and gave it back to me and blessed me—“Mir Vam!” “Peace be unto you!” I looked at the torn shreds in my hand... what a powerful feeling! Yes, a feeling of great peace… I remembered hearing the expression somewhere in the services:
Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God, Kontakion 12: When the Absolver of all mankind desired to blot out ancient debts, of His Own will He came to dwell among those who had fallen from His Grace; and having torn up the handwriting of their sins, He heareth this from all: Alleluia!
From the Molieben: O God, the Lord of hosts, and Author of all creation, who in Thine ineffable tender mercy hast sent down Thine Only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the salvation of our kind, and through His Holy Cross hast torn up the handwriting of our sins and thereby triumphed over the princes and dominions of darkness: do Thou, O Master, who lovest mankind, accept these prayers of thanksgiving and supplication even from us sinners, and deliver us from every deadly and dark transgression and from all the visible and invisible enemies that seek to do us harm. Nail our flesh with the fear of Thee, and let not our hearts incline to evil words or thoughts, but wound our souls with Thy love, that ever gazing upon Thee, guided by Thy light and beholding Thee, the eternal Light that no man can approach, we may send up unceasing praises and thanks unto Thee, the Father without beginning, together with Thine Only-begotten Son and Thy most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
(Exact quotes with the help of a search engine, not my memory ;)
Sunday of Orthodoxy, March 2009
