Question: To what degree can we prepare for confession at home? You know that there is a rule that we read the three Canons of Repentance? In Russia, this rule is adhered to fairly strictly, but in the West, not so strictly. What would you recommend as preparation for confession as a domestic rule?
Metropolitan Anthony: The first thing I shall say is that the confession must be your confession, your own. Therefore you must stand up before the face of your own conscience and ask yourself the question: "What am I ashamed of? What if all the people suddenly saw me such as I am, what would I be ashamed to show them?" And then you will see that there is a whole gradation of sinfulness: there are formal little sins which do not mean anything in particular, for example a moment of irritation or something casual happening, but there are some more substantial things, say, my continuing dislike of a certain person or some particular race or members of some particular political or religious grouping. And when you have discovered such an attitude in yourself, then you can take the next step... What God needs is for you to judge yourself on your relations with God, with yourself, with other people, with life.
+Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, from Coming Closer to Christ, Questions People Ask
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