If no bishop present in the Sanctuary, the thurifer gives peace to all the priests, deacons and acolytes and then proceeds to the people. Now as forgiven and reconciled people, we proceed to offer ourselves through the bread and wine and ask God the Father to send us the Holy Spirit to sanctify us all and to transform our offerings of bread and wine to be the Body and Blood of Christ, our Savior and Lord. To summarize what I have been saying, our liturgy has four important steps before the Anaphora or the Liturgy proper. All these aspects are built into the liturgy and are part of the public celebration. Of course, there is opportunity to make private confession and receive private absolution before the worship.
Private absolution is out of place in the context of public worship.
We, as a people of God, the celebrant and the congregation confess our sins and receive absolution as one body. Periodical sacramental confession is absolutely necessary for spiritual growth. Trusting your spiritual father should be a joyful experience for you, for the Orthodox Christian. Frequent communion is another aid to spiritual growth. Therefore, let us use these opportunities and grow spiritually.