Repent ye: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Mt. 3:2)—with this call begins the Gospel story of the fulfillment of God’s promise to mankind about the coming of the Savior into the world. The call to repentance and active repentance are the cornerstone of a Christian’s spiritual life.
Through the sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation and the Eucharist we can receive spiritual gifts and thus get closer to the high calling of Christians. For every Christian, these sacraments are a path, the beginning of which is Baptism. Through it sins are forgiven to believers, and through its waters we enter the Kingdom of the grace of God. Through Chrismation the Church gives us strength for spiritual growth.
The sacrament of the Eucharist as the Source of Life in Christ crowns this path. It is its goal and meaning at the same time. Without participation in the Divine Supper, spiritual life is impossible and the Church as the Body of Christ is impossible, according to the Apostle Paul: Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular (1 Cor. 12:27).
However, after being purified in the baptismal font we remain very susceptible to sin and continue to sin in deed, word, and thought. That is why Christ gave us repentance as an opportunity to heal our infirmities and maintain a living link with God. It is not in vain that the Holy Fathers call the sacrament of repentance a “second Baptism”.
According to the Fathers and teachers of the Church, through the sacrament of repentance, through the power of the Holy Spirit, a penitent Christian receives absolution from all sins committed by him since Baptism, and he becomes as guiltless as he was after the waters of Baptism. Through the sacrament of repentance, a person again gets closer to the Kingdom of God, which he lost through sins committed after Baptism.
In the Orthodox worldview, the concept of “sin” is of great importance. This is not an abstract idea, but a fundamental rupture in your heart and a real illness in your soul. In one of the prayers for the sacrament of confession we read: “Take heed, therefore, lest having come to the physician, you depart unhealed” (the Book of Needs).
Thus, the purpose of the sacrament of confession is to heal the soul and restore it to its original state. It is not a “legal procedure”, as in the Western Christian tradition. The Holy Hierarch John Chrysostom speaks about this, considering Repentance as healing and receiving forgiveness of sins, and not punishment.
What is the power of repentance, according to St. John Chrysostom? First, you must recognize your sins and sincerely confess them. Second, repentance consists of lowliness of mind. If you confess your sins properly, then your soul will humble itself, because conscience, tormenting the soul, makes it humble. After humbleness of mind, we need incessant prayers and weeping over our sins. After intense prayers, great mercy is vital, because it makes healing by Repentance especially effective.
In the sacrament of repentance, sin is destroyed and, in some sense, ceases to exist in us. But the inclination to sin remains, which is why we constantly need the sacrament of repentance. Having sinned, we depart from the truth of God, and in the sacrament of confession we are justified and sanctified by the grace of Christ.
But it should be noted that sins committed by us remain in us as memories like “scars” on the body of the soul, and continue to affect us. In addition, we should remember the effect of sinful actions; some sins easily disappear into oblivion, while we bear full responsibility for other sins, because they have serious consequences and influence our environment. There are sins, the negative impacts of which we will have to remedy for a long time; therefore, frequent participation in the sacrament of repentance is necessary, especially for inveterate sinners.
Through the fruits of repentance our soul is reborn and the link between it and God is restored. Repentance is, in a sense, “regret for lost love”, as Bishop Atanasije (Jevtic) of Zahumlje and Herzegovina said. Through repentance the gap between man and God’s creation is actively bridged.
Of course, the role of the priest in the sacrament of repentance is very important, because it is the pastor who tries to open for a believing sinner “the door of repentance, an entry onto a new path of life”, in the words of Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern). Through the efforts of a spiritual father, it is possible to encourage a penitent sinner to his future moral transformation and reform.
Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern). Photo: Voskr.orthpatr.ru
By the way, it should be noted that the sacrament of confession is the spiritual indicator of a priest—it indicates who he really is, a pastor or a hireling. Administering the sacrament of confession, a priest realizes or actualizes the gift of grace that was given to him in the sacrament of ordination. His spiritual state and behavior should match the sublimity and uniqueness of this gift. In other words, a priest should always remember the words of Christ, Ye are the light of the world (Mt. 5:14).
In the tradition of the Orthodox Church, repentance has always been considered as a second Baptism. The holy King and Psalmist David cries out to God: Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin (Ps. 50:4). Christ begins His preaching on salvation with a call to repentance (cf. Mt. 4:17). The Apostle Peter calls on the Jews gathered for the feast of Pentecost to repent (cf. Acts 2:38), thereby linking his preaching and that of his Divine Teacher with a spiritual thread.
Thus, the importance and necessity of the sacrament of repentance is clear, both from the experience of the Church and from its dogmatic teaching about the fall.
