Forgive Us, Merciful Lord: A General Confession for Great Lent

Reprinted from Road to Emmaus Journal Vol. IV, No. 1 (#12) Winter 2003

From the introduction:
In Russia, where churches are filled to the streets during Christmas and Holy Week, general
confessions are held in churches where it would be physically impossible to hear thousands
of individual confessions. Although personal confessions are required throughout the year,
regular parishioners who frequently partake of the sacraments, have been to confession in
the previous weeks, and have not committed any serious sins, are allowed to attend a general confession a few days before these two great feasts in preparation for Holy Communion.
The following text from one of these general confessions, led by Fr. Artemy Vladimirov of
Moscow, is offered to our readers as a reflection for their own Lenten practice.