Homily - Story from St. Ignatius Brianchaninov on Confession

From the Book: The Forgotten Medicine by Archimandrite Seraphim Aleksiev

https://www.sainthermanmonastery.com/The-Forgotten-Medicine-p/fm.htm

 

The distinguished Russian writer of spiritual books, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, tells of the following event concerning the power and consequences of true Confession:

 

"In the area of Vologda, Russia, there is a big village Kubenskoe, which has several parishes. One of the parish priests fell ill, and, approaching his end, he saw his bed surrounded by demons who were getting ready to seize his soul and snatch it to hell. Then three angels appeared. One of them stood by the bed and began to argue for his soul with the most repulsive of the demons, who was holding an open book where all the sins of the priest were recorded. In the meantime, the other parish priest came to confess and give Communion to his fellow-priest. The Confession began. The ill man, directing his frightened eyes towards the demons' book, told of his sins with self-denial, as if he were casting them out of himself. And what did he see? He saw clearly that when he told of some sin, this sin disappeared from the book: the writing was erased and only a blank spot was left. In this way, through his Confession, he erased all of his sins from the demons' book and was healed quickly. He spent the rest of his days in deep repentance, and for their edification he told his neighbors about his vision, the proof of which was his miraculous healing.