The Mystery of Repentance is a grace- giving
sacred rite in which, after the faithful offer repentance of their sins, the
remission of sins is bestowed by the mercy of God through the intermediary of a
pastor of the Church, in accordance with the Saviour's promise,
In the Mystery of Repentance
the spiritual afflictions of a man are treated, impurities of soul are removed,
and a Christian, having received forgiveness of sins, again becomes inn6cent
and sanctified, just as he came out of the waters of Baptism. Therefore, the
Mystery of Repentance is called a "spiritual medicine" One's sins,
which draw a man downward, which dull his mind, heart and conscience, which
blind his spiritual gaze; which make powerless his Christian will-are
annihilated, and one's living bond with the Church and with the Lord God is
restored. Being relieved of the burden of sins, a man again comes to life
spiritually and becomes able to strengthen himself and become perfected in the
good Christian path.
The Mystery of Repentance
consists of two basic actions: 1) the confession of his sins before a pastor of
the Church by the person coming to the Mystery; and 2) the prayer of forgiving
and remitting them, pronounced by the priest
This Mystery is also called
the Mystery of Confession (even though the confession of sins comprises
only the first, preliminary part of it), and this indicates the
importance of the sincere revelation of one's soul and the manifestation of
one's sins.
Confession-that is,
pronouncing aloud- is the expression of inward Repentance, its result, its
indicator. And what is repentance? Repentance is not only awareness of
one's sinfulness or a simple acknowledgment of one's unworthiness; it is not
even contrition or regret (although all these aspects should enter into
repentance), Rather, it is an act of one's Will for correction, a desire and
firm intention, a resolve, to battle against evil inclinations; and this
condition of soul is united with a petition for God's help in the battle
against one's evil inclinations. Such a heartfelt and sincere repentance is
necessary so that the effect of this Mystery might extend not only to the
removal of sins, but so that there might also enter the opened soul a
grace-giving healing which does not allow the soul again to become immersed in
the filth of sin..
The very uttering aloud of one
spiritual afflictions and falls before a spiritual father
-the confession of sins-has the significance that
by means of it there are overcome
a)
pride, the chief source of sins, and
b)
b) the despondency or hopelessness in one’s correction and salvation. The
manifestation of the sin brings one already near to casting it away from
oneself.
Those who approach the Mystery
of Repentance prepare themselves for it by an effort of prayer, fasting, and
entering deeply within themselves, with the aim of uncovering and acknowledging
their sinfulness.
The mercy of God goes out to
meet the repenting Christian, testifying, through the lips of the spiritual
father, that the Heavenly Father does not reject one who comes to Him, just
as Re did not reject the prodigal. son and the repentant publican, This
testimony consists in the words of the special prayer and the special words of
remission which are pronounced by the priest.
The
Institution of the Mystery
The Lord instituted the
Mystery of Repentance after His Resurrection, when, having appeared to His disciples
who, except for Thomas, were gathered together, He said to them solemnly:
Peace be unto you...And when He had
said this, He breathed on them and saith unto then: Receive ye the Holy Spirit.
Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye
retain, they are retained. (John 20:21-23)
Moreover, even before this, Christ the
Saviour twice uttered a promise about this Mystery. The first time He said to
the Apostle Peter, when Peter, on behalf of all the Apostles, had confessed Him
to be the Son of God:
I will give unto thee the keys qi the
kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven,
Priests are only the visible
instruments at the performance of the Mystery, which is performed invisibly
through them by God Him- self.
St, John Chrysostom, having in
mind the Divine institution of the authority of the pastors of the Church
to loose and bind, says:
"The priests decree below, God confirms
above, and the Master agrees with the opinion of His slaves. The priest is here
the instrument of God's mercy and remits sins not on his own authority, but in
the name of the Holy Trinity
The invisible effects of grace in the Mystery of
Repentance, in their breadth and power, extend to all the lawless deeds of men,
and there is no sin that could not be forgiven men if only they sincerely
repent of it and confess it with lively faith in the Lord Jesus and hope in His
mercy. I am come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matt..
9:13), said the Saviour, and as great as was the sin of the Apostle Peter, He
forgave him when he sincerely repented. It is known that the holy Apostle Peter
called to repentance even the Jews who crucified the true Messiah (Acts 2:38),
and later he called Simon the sorcerer, the ancestor of all heretics(Acts
8:22); the Apostle Paul gave remission to the incestuous man who repented,
subjecting him first to a temporary excommunication (II Cor. 2:7).
On the other hand, it is
essential to remember that the remissionn of sins in the Mystery is an act of
mercy, but not an irrational pity. It is given for a man's spiritual profit, for
edification, and not for destruction (II Cor. 10:8). This lays a great
responsibility upon the one who performs the Mystery
Holy Scripture speaks of cases
of conditions when sins are not forgiven. In the word of God there is
mention of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which shall not be
forgiven unto men, neither in this world, neither in the world to come (Matt.
12:31- 32). Likewise, it speaks of the sin unto death, for the
forgiveness of which it is not commanded even to pray (I John 5:16). Finally,
the Apostle Paul instructs that:
It is impossible for
those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were
made partakers of the Holy Spiriti, and have tasted the good word of God and
the powers of the world to come; if they shall fall away, to renew' them again
unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and
put Him to an open shame.
(Heb. 6:4-6)
In all these cases, the reason
why the forgiveness of sins is not possible is to be found in the sinners
themselves, and not in the will of God; more precisely, it lies in the lack of
repentance of the sinners. How can a sin be forgiven by the grace of the Holy
Spirit, when blasphemy is spewed forth against this very grace? But one must
believe that, even in these sins, the sinners, if they offer sincere repentance
and weep over their sins, will be forgiven. "For," says St. John
Chrysostom about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, "even this guilt
will be remitt6d to those who repent. Many of those who have spewed forth
blasphemies against the Spirit have subsequently come to believe, and
everything was remitted to them" (Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew).
Further, the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council speak of the possibility
of forgiveness for deadly sins: "The sin unto death is when certain ones,
after sinning, do not correct themselves, ,..In such ones the Lord Jesus does
not abide, unless they humble themselves and recover from their fall into sin.
It is fitting for them once more to approach God and with contrite heart to ask
for the remission of this sin and forgiveness, and not to become vainglorious
over an unrighteous deed. For the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a
contrite heart (PS.
33:18).
The permission and even the
direct demand to repeat the Mystery of Repentance is clear from the words of
the Gospel:
Joy shall be in heaven
over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons,
which need no repentance.
(Luke 15:7)
(Excerpt from the English translation by
Fr. Seraphim Rose of Fr. Michael Pomazansky's book Dogmatic Theology) from
"Orthodox