Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much.
εξομολογεισθε αλληλοις τα παραπτωματα και ευχεσθε υπερ αλληλων οπως ιαθητε πολυ ισχυει δεησις δικαιου ενεργουμενη
11 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Although Scripture says that the prayer of the righteous can do much, it is effective when aided by the repentance and amendment of those for whom it is offered.
How can it help those whose manner of life is unrepentant and incorrigible, when they themselves hinder it by their deeds?
The prayer of a righteous man has great power when the one for whom he prays also assists his prayer by sorrow of soul.
For if, while others pray for us, we spend our time in luxury, softness, and lack of self-restraint, we thereby weaken the power of the prayer of the one struggling on our behalf.
Then the saying is fulfilled in us: "When one builds and another tears down, what will they gain except weariness?" (Sir 34:23).
Every man always requires such manifestations of love for mankind from another toward himself, whenever possible. For everyone wants left unpunished in another man's house what he himself would punish if it were done in his own.
If he is invited to a friend's house, and the friend becomes angry in his presence with someone whom he has authority to punish, or if he unexpectedly arrives while the friend is angry, then he is considered highly inhuman if he does not intervene.
Question LVII. “The fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (Jas 5:16). What does “fervent” mean?
Answer. I think the prayer of a righteous man becomes effective in two ways. The first is when the one praying offers this prayer to God together with righteous works according to the Lord’s commandment.
Prayer must not be merely verbal, becoming an empty shaking of the air. Then it becomes useless and ineffectual. It must be active and living, animated by the various ways in which the commandments are carried out.
The essence of prayer and supplication is clearly revealed in the practice of the virtues. Therefore the righteous man possesses a strong and all-powerful prayer, because it is assisted by the commandments.
The second way is when the one who needs the righteous man’s supplication also performs the works of prayer. He corrects his former life and makes the righteous man’s supplication strong, because it gains still greater power through his good change of life.
There is no benefit in the supplication of a righteous man if the one who needs that supplication willingly gives himself over to sins.
Once the great Samuel grieved over Saul when he sinned. Yet he could not propitiate God, because he found no helper for his contrition in the sinner’s proper correction.
Therefore God ended His servant’s useless contrition, saying to him: “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?” (1 Sam 16:1).
Again, the most compassionate Jeremiah prayed for the Jewish people, who were possessed by demonic falsehood. He was not heard by God, because his prayer had no cooperation in the turning of the impious Jews from falsehood to truth.
Therefore he prayed in vain, and God turned him away from such useless prayer, saying: “Do not pray for this people, nor ask that mercy be shown them, nor make supplication, nor draw near to Me for them, for I will not hear you” (Jer 7:16).
It is true folly, not to say madness, to desire to obtain salvation through the prayers of the righteous for someone who willingly gives himself, by the inner disposition of his soul, to destructive sins.
It is also madness for someone who voluntarily and deliberately defiles himself with sins to ask the righteous to entreat God for the forgiveness of those sins.
If the righteous man’s supplication is not to prove useless and inactive, the one who needs it must not only be filled with true hatred for vices. He must also make this hatred active, strong, and winged by his own virtues.
Then it can and is able to grant forgiveness to those who have sinned.
Thus the prayer of a righteous man avails much in two cases. Either it becomes effective through the righteous man himself who offers it, or through the one who asks the righteous man for it.
In the first case, this prayer gives the righteous man boldness to offer to God petitions proper to righteous men. In the second case, it turns the one who asks for the righteous man’s prayers away from his former wickedness.
It changes the inner disposition of his soul and turns him toward virtue.
“The prayer of a righteous man avails much when it is assisted,” as it is said (Jas 5:16). It is assisted in two ways. First, when the one praying is himself righteous and lifts up prayer to God together with works according to the commandments.
Such prayer does not consist in word alone. It is not uttered as an empty sound of the voice, lying idle and having nothing firm beneath it. It is effective and living, being animated by works according to the commandments.
The power and stability of prayer depend on fulfilling the commandments through the practice of the virtues. Therefore the righteous man has a strong and mighty prayer, assisted by the commandments.
Second, when someone who asks prayer from the righteous man himself performs the works of prayer. He promises to correct his former life and actually corrects it. By this good conversion of his own he makes the righteous man’s prayer strong and mighty.
There is no benefit from the prayer of a righteous man for one who has recourse to it, if he delights more in sinful deeds than in the virtues.
Thus once the great Samuel lamented Saul when he sinned. Yet he was not able to propitiate God on his behalf, because he did not receive, as assistance for his lamentation, the sinner’s fitting correction.
Therefore God restrained His servant from useless weeping and said to him: “How long will you mourn for Saul? I have rejected him from reigning over Israel” (1 Sam 16:1).
Again, the most compassionate Jeremiah prayed for the Jewish people, who had clung madly to demonic delusion. He was not heard, because his prayer was not strengthened by the conversion of the impious Jews from this delusion.
Therefore God restrained him also from continual and useless entreaty, saying: “Do not pray for this people, nor ask that they be shown mercy, nor make supplication, nor draw near to Me for them, for I will not hear you” (Jer 7:16).
It is a sign of great ignorance, not to say madness, for someone who delights in destructive deeds in his heart to seek salvation through the prayers of the saints.
It is also madness to ask forgiveness for that by which, with self-praise, he is at the same time actually defiled in thoughts and feelings.
One who asks the prayer of a righteous man must not allow himself to make it fruitless and ineffectual, if he truly hates evil. Rather, by giving it wings through his own virtues, he should make it active and strong enough to ascend to Him who can grant remission of transgressions.
“The prayer of a righteous man avails much” when it is assisted either by the righteous man who offers it, or by the one who asks the righteous man to offer it.
On the righteous man’s side, it is assisted because it gives him boldness before the face of Him who is mighty to fulfill the petitions of the righteous. On the side of the one asking for it, it is assisted if he abandons his former evil disposition and turns to virtue with all his heart.
The true traditions of the sayings teach us that the prayers of the righteous in this life, not to speak of those after death, are effective only for people worthy of sacred prayers.
This counsel of James must be followed with caution. We should confess to one another daily, lighter sins, believing that our daily prayer for one another will heal them.
But if we have sinned more seriously, then, according to the law, we ought to show our wound to the priest. We must bear the labor of healing, of such a kind and for as long as he says.
"Confess your sins to one another," παραπτώματα, meaning offenses. In order that the Mystery of Holy Unction may have greater power for the sick person himself, the apostle requires confession of sins not only before God, but also before others.
According to the flow of the discourse, these others must be understood as the same presbyters. To them alone has been given the authority to absolve the sins confessed to them.
The expression α̉λλήλοις, and then α̉λλήλων, indicates the mutual trust and care of the members of the Christian community. In the present case it is equivalent to ά̉λλοις ά̉λλων.
Thus Saint John Chrysostom quite rightly paraphrases the apostle's expression in this way: "You who are sick, confess your sins before the presbyters. And you, presbyters, pray for the sick" (On the Priesthood 1:3).
"Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed."
The apostle sets forth the prayer of the presbyters of the Church, who have come to the sick person at home, as the means for healing from the sins that brought illness upon him.
As the means for healing from sins that have not brought illness, he presents confession accompanied by prayer, just as anointing with oil was accompanied by it.
But the words "to one another" and "for one another" may give rise to the thought that presbyters of the Church are no longer needed here.
It is true that there is no need to call them to one's home, since the one who has sinned is healthy.
He must come to the church, where the assembly of the other faithful is present.
At first, the confession of sins was supposed to be made for the whole assembly to hear, and that assembly offered unanimous prayer for the penitent.
Nevertheless, this confession was made chiefly before the presbyters, as presidents of the assembly, who possess authority to absolve sins.
The apostle says "to one another," or "one to another," άλλήλοις, and not "to the presbyter," because this must be done not at home but in the church, where other brothers in the faith are gathered.
"For the prayer of a righteous man has great power when it is working." Here the power of prayer is presented in general, and especially its significance for the spiritual healing of others: "pray for one another, that you may be healed."
But whose prayer is such? The prayer of a righteous man.
Since no one in this life can be called righteous in the strict sense, for "we all stumble in many ways" (Jas 3:2), the apostle's words find special justification in relation to prayers offered for us by the righteous.
These are those who have departed this life and have been glorified after their departure. They remain in the bond of faith and love with us, who are still passing through the arena of earthly life.
Imitating the words of the Apostle James, we say in prayer to the Most Holy Virgin that "the maternal supplication has great power before the compassion of the Master."
“Confess,” more precisely, confess openly, “your trespasses to one another.” The direct, literal sense, taken with what follows, shows that this instruction concerns all members of Christian society. Each person should disclose his trespasses to another.
Yet this meaning is plainly very broad and requires limitation. The expression “to one another” includes the notion of choosing before whom one confesses. It is not each before all, but each before the one he wishes and can approach, and who is disposed to receive his neighbor’s confession.
This is not the sacrament of repentance, but a simple mutual acknowledgment of trespasses. It may be for mutual reconciliation, consolation, relief, counsel, and the like. Yet, without any doubt, confession of trespasses is not excluded here before those clothed by the Lord Himself with authority to bring down forgiveness of sins and trespasses upon those who confess (Mt 18:18; Jn 20:23).
The first is good. To acknowledge a trespass to someone disposed to sympathize, console, give counsel, and so forth, is to ease one’s conscience. Often it also means departing from such trespasses. Yet it does not yet mean cleansing one’s conscience or receiving forgiveness from God for trespasses.
This latter thing is attained only when trespasses, or sins generally, are confessed before persons who have authority for this. In such mutual confession the apostle prescribes mutual prayer for one another. This means both those who offer confession and those who receive it.
The apostle does not specify the content of the prayer. Yet without doubt it is the asking of forgiveness from God for the trespasses of the one confessing. The purpose of this confession and mutual prayer is that one may be healed.
In the context, this means being healed or delivered from sins or trespasses. They are presented under the image of a sickness holding a man fast, for sin is truly a disease of the soul.
Mutual acknowledgment of trespasses and mutual prayer are indeed healing for moral progress. Nevertheless, repentance has full healing power only before persons authorized with the power to bind and loose sins.
Only such repentance grants forgiveness from God for sins committed. It blots out sins and cleanses the conscience of the sinner.
Hope for healing from mutual acknowledgment of trespasses and mutual prayer rests on this general truth: the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. That is, it is very powerful before God and can work miracles, as is clear from the following example of Elijah.
Consequently, it is also powerful for healing the sinner from his sinful infirmities. It is powerful to bring down upon the sinner the mercy of God, which heals him.
“Of a righteous man.” This word indicates that the apostle advises confessing transgressions before people who possess Christian perfection in the fullest possible measure. Their prayer is stronger than the prayer of others.
Such, above all, should be those clothed with a special grace-given authorization to perform the mysteries. These are the presbyters, or generally the heads of the Church. Of them it was said above that their prayer of faith heals the sick (v. 15).
Such power belongs to the fervent prayer of a righteous man. Because the Greek word has more than one meaning, this term may be understood in different ways.
It may mean a prayer effective in itself, as the prayer of a righteous man. Or it may mean a prayer whose power is further strengthened by the cooperation of the one being healed, for whom the righteous man offers prayer.
“The prayer of a righteous man has great power when the one for whom he prays also cooperates with his prayer through sorrow of soul. For if, while others pray for us, we spend our time in luxury, softness, and self-indulgence, then by this we weaken the power of the one laboring for us” (Theophylact).
As an example of how much the prayer of a righteous man can do, the apostle cites the prayer of the prophet Elijah. Someone might think that the example of Elijah, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, does not apply to ordinary people precisely because of the greatness of his person (Sir 48:1-15).
Therefore the apostle says, or as it were notes beforehand, that this prophet was a man like us. More exactly, he was of like passions with us. That is, he was of the same nature as all mortals (cf. Acts 14:15; Wis 7:1 and following).
On the basis of the connective particle "therefore," the apostle's words about confessing sins may be read as a continuation of his preceding words about the mystery of Holy Unction.
One may find in them an indication of the mystery of confession of sins before presbyters, which in apostolic times was joined with the mystery of Holy Unction.
According to the interpretation of St. Chrysostom, the apostle is speaking here precisely of confession before presbyters: "Confess your sins, and you presbyters pray for the sick" (On the Priesthood).
"For the prayer of a righteous man has great power when it is working," or, as in the Russian translation, "when intensified," that is, by the combined prayerful sighs of several presbyters.
The phrase "of a righteous man" indicates that the apostle advises confessing transgressions before people who possess Christian perfection. Their prayer is stronger than the prayer of others.
Such people should above all be the presbyters, or generally the presidents of the Church, clothed with a special gracious authority to perform the mysteries.
Above it was said of them that their prayer of faith heals the sick completely.
The fact that God does not forgive sins depends especially on this: people themselves do not forgive others.
Therefore the apostle advises that all should confess, έξομολογεϊσθε, their sins against one another.
For according to the Savior's word, only on condition of acknowledging one's guilt before another and asking forgiveness can one pray with hope of forgiveness. See Mt 6:15.
As a sick person who tells others of his illness is near to healing and easily finds it, so those who confess their sins and remember them with sighs and tears are near to their healing.
In urging them to pray for one another, the apostle sees the especially beneficial meaning of mutual prayer in this: among those praying, someone may be more righteous.
For the sake of his prayer, mercy may be shown to the others also.
Yet because the discourse is fragmentary and connected with what follows, the great significance of the prayer of the righteous may be understood not only of the living.
It may also be understood of the righteous who have departed this life. Since they form one Church with Christians, they can, through the prayers of the living, intercede for them before God.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 16 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS