"If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.” (I John 1: 9)

Penance is the sacrament by which an individual, after confessing his sins, receives forgiveness and absolution for his wrongdoings from the priest. Those who want to receive this sacrament prepare themselves by fasting, abstinence and prayer. The penitent realizes his sins and repents for them, confessing them before God and the Church. The penitent is asked to have the intention to rectify his life, have faith in Christ and hope for His mercy. During the confession the penitent reads a special supplication, in which all possible sins are enumerated. At the conclusion of confession, the priest absolves the sins of the faithful in the name of Holy Trinity, and recites the following prayer:

“May God who loves mankind have mercy on you and forgive all of your sins, both those which you have confessed as well as those which you have forgotten. Therefore, with the priestly authority committed to me and by the Lord’s command that ‘whatever you forgive on earth shall be forgiven in heaven’; by His very word I absolve you of all participation in sin committed in thought, in word, and in deed, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and I reinstate you in the sacraments of the Holy Church, that whatever you may do, may be accounted to you for good and for the glory in the life to come. Amen.”