Father, what happens when the conscience is darkened by sin? From where someone should begin in this situation? Can he regain the purity of his conscience?
Certainly. He must fight to clean, as best he can, this dirt, this darkness from him. This is achieved through true and methodical confession. That is, he ought, not merely to go to the priest to confess – that is just one thing – but to also impose upon himself for at least 15 days strict fasting, and to sit down and a Parakleses or the prayers of confession. Above all, he ought to cry for his sins and ask for help not to fall again! Then, he must go to the priest and confess again. This is how a man is sanctified by the sacrament of confession. That is how sin or bad habit is removed and uprooted. And it is not repeated.
Staretz Samson
Translated by Dr. Nick Stergiou
