This Is Confession!

This Is Confession!

After the liturgy, a woman approached the priest and asked to confess. The time of confession passed, but the woman could not be denied, therefore the priest and this woman went up to the ambon, where the confession was usually held in this church. 
“Please speak,” said the priest. 
The woman began her story: 
"I rarely go to church, I have a big dog at home ..." 
"What does the dog have to do with it?"
"I was told that this is a great sin ... Then when I had problems at work, I was taken to some people who help with prayers." She took a piece of paper out of her pocket, on which several sins were written:
"I once lived with a married man, I do not keep fasting, I have a sore stomach, I do not pray in the morning and in the evening ...' 
Then there was silence, the word "I repent" was not heard. 
Then the priest turned to the woman: 
"You know that you have named many things, which from the point of view of the Gospel are a sin, a violation of God's commandments, but not all of what you named, for example, the dog probably had nothing to do with it. But you just made a kind of progress report, about a half-lived life. Allow me to say the same thing, but how it should have sounded at confession?"
And he continued, looking at the icon of the Virgin before them.
-"Lord, I want to open my heart to You, I do not love You, Iittle or seldom do I pray, there is no prayer in my life, as there is no You in this life. Therefore, I have repeatedly betrayed You (the father spoke as though on behalf of this woman), there is no grace in my life - I do not forgive for You, I do not need it, my love is weak and passionate, I have sinned a lot in fornication and despondency, not knowing You and Your help, I betrayed You and addressed people who most likely do not serve You, but serve the enemy and seduce to this service many weak in spirit, deprived of living faith in You ..."

"For me Your word is absent, I do not hear it, I have nothing to answer You ... But now I can not live without You, all that I never dared to admit as sin and impurity, interferes with my life, and I can no longer live with it, and how to live in a different way, my soul does not know ..."

Then the priest interrupted and said to the woman: 
"You know, I thought that I would say it for you, but I feel like I am speaking it for myself to God. Can you now simply understand that Christ is now between us, can you at least roughly from the bottom of your heart say the same thing on your own? 

The woman burst into tears and losing her words, repeated not exactly repeat what the father said. “I repent, forgive me, Lord, give me a new life, may this life be with You, but my strength is not for this life, help me, do not leave me, Lord…” 

After that, the priest read the absolution prayer over her, and embraced her, looked her in the eyes and they both smiled.