The Rite of Forgiveness
The Rite of Forgiveness
On the evening of Forgiveness Sunday, we celebrate Forgiveness Vespers. After the dismissal at Vespers, the priest stands beside the analogion, or before the ambon, and the faithful come up one by one and venerate the icons, after which each makes a prostration before the priest, saying, “Forgive me, a sinner.” The 
priest also makes a prostration before each, saying, “God forgives. Forgive me.” The person responds, “God forgives,” and receives a blessing from the priest. Meanwhile the choir sings quietly the irmoi of the Paschal Canon, or else the Paschal Stichera. After receiving the priest’s blessing, the faithful also ask forgiveness of each other in the same manner until each person has mutually forgiven each other.
While we do not know exactly when the Church began celebrating this beautiful service, we do know Forgiveness Vespers has been practiced since at least 520 A.D.; we see it mentioned in the story of the Life of St. Mary of Egypt, who lived around that time.
“One may ask, however: Why should I perform this rite when I have no “enemies”? Why should I ask forgiveness from people who have done nothing to me, and whom I hardly know? To ask these questions is to misunderstand the Orthodox teaching concerning forgiveness. It is true, that open enmity, personal hatred, real animosity may be absent from our life, though if we experience them, it may be easier for us to repent, for these feelings openly contradict Divine commandments. But, the Church reveals to us that there are much subtler ways of offending Divine Love. These are indifference, selfishness, lack of interest in other people, of any real concern for them—in short, that wall which we usually erect around ourselves, thinking that by being “polite” and “friendly” we fulfill God’s commandments. The rite of forgiveness is so important precisely because it makes us realize – be it only for one minute – that our entire relationship to other men is wrong, makes us experience that encounter of one child of God with another, of one person created by God with another, makes us feel that mutual “recognition” which is so terribly lacking in our cold and dehumanized world.” ( Fr. Alexander Schmemann).
To Summarize the how to do it:
1. The faithful gather for Vespers
2. The priest stands before the ambon or beside the analogion
3. One by one, the faithful come up and venerate the icon
4. Each person prostrates before the priest and says, “Forgive me, a sinner”
5. The priest responds, “God forgives. Forgive me”
6. The person responds, “God forgives” and receives a blessing from the priest
7. The faithful ask forgiveness of each other in the same manner