Confession at distance: from ancient letters to mobile phones
When a person finds himself in a hospital ward or under shelling, the question arises: can a telephone conversation with a priest replace a real confession?
There are situations when the familiar world shrinks to the size of a hospital bed, a trench, or an apartment in an occupied city. A person is left alone, the soul is heavy, and the nearest church is out of reach. In such moments a question keeps turning over in the mind: can one dial the number of a priest one knows and make confession by telephone?
It is easy to fall into one of two extremes here. The first is to fall into despair and decide that without confession in person a person cannot be absolved of sins. The second is to suppose that a smartphone easily replaces the lectern, and that it is enough for a priest to read the prayer into a microphone. But the Church's experience on this question is far richer.
A meeting before the icon
If we open the Great Euchologion (Bolshoi Trebnik) and look at how the "Order of Confession" is described, we see a model of a living encounter. The hierarchs and theologians of the past composed this rite with great sensitivity. The priest leads the penitent to the icon of the Savior. The person bows his head and speaks his transgressions, and at the end of the confession the priest makes the sign of the cross over him with his right hand.
The heart of this prayer is the awareness that it is the Lord Himself who forgives sins, and the priest merely, by His authority, absolves the person of sins. This sacred rite consists in two people standing together before God.
Even when it comes to giving Communion to a seriously ill person at home, the rite prescribes that the relatives step aside for a time so that the person may remain alone with the priest. The canons of ancient councils, for example the First Ecumenical or the Council of Carthage, always sought to set down such rules so that a dying person would not be left without the final viaticum from his spiritual father. But even in the most extreme cases, the rules simplified the order of the rite without abolishing the prayerful meeting itself.
Letters from seclusion
It is sometimes said that spiritual guidance at a distance has always existed. That is true. In the sixth century, Venerable Barsanuphius the Great lived in Palestine. This elder labored in seclusion and received no visitors at all. Abbot Seridos of the monastery would go to his cell and write down the elder's answers to the brethren's questions.
The holy fathers corresponded, answered the anxieties of laypeople, and helped them lay bare their thoughts. But this correspondence was a spiritual conversation, not the Sacrament of Repentance with a prayer of absolution. A letter or a phone call helps a person to sort himself out, but they do not automatically turn paper or a telephone into an epitrachelion.
What to do if there is no priest?
What, then, is a person to do who is cut off from the Church? The great preacher St. John Chrysostom spoke simply: "Have you sinned? Say to God: I have sinned." The saint does not suggest looking for a substitute for the Church; he calls us to repent wherever we find ourselves.
Sincere repentance begins in the heart. St. Theophan the Recluse of Vyshensky Monastery reminded us that sins of which a person has repented and which he does not repeat will not be remembered at God's Judgment.
There is a good ancient practice: take a sheet of paper and write down everything that weighs on the conscience. Read these notes with prayer, ask God for forgiveness, and promise to come to confession in church at the first opportunity. Later this sheet is brought to the church for confession.
A conversation with a priest by telephone is very important. It offers consolation, pastoral counsel, and support. But it is precisely a conversation, which should be followed by a personal coming to the lectern for confession once the obstacles are removed. St. John Climacus observed that the very thought of an upcoming confession restrains the soul from new mistakes, like a strong bridle.
The Experience of Recent Years
Let us recall the spring of 2020, when the whole world faced COVID restrictions. Various religious jurisdictions sought answers to this challenge. The Synod of the Orthodox Church in America then temporarily, for one month, permitted priests to hear confession by video link or telephone, reading the prayer of absolution aloud. But as soon as that period expired, parishes returned to the traditional practice, and a clear explanation appeared on websites: confession by telephone is not the norm.
At the same time, a document was published in Rome reminding that if a person, because of grave circumstances, cannot reach a priest, sincere repentance born of love for God will bring forgiveness, provided there is a firm intention to confess in person as soon as the opportunity arises.
The Church does not leave a person in distress.
If there is no church nearby, the doors of God's mercy are not closed. A telephone conversation with a pastor will support one's waning strength, and a personal meeting at the lectern will certainly take place when the time comes.
