Repentance is what? Sacrament of Penance

The word of Greek origin "repentance" is inextricably included in the concept of Christianity. Repentance is a broken sighing for sins and an indispensable desire not to make them again, a certain state of the soul to which sincere prayer, contrition and subsequent joy are added. But without realizing the sinfulness of the human nature, it is impossible to bring true repentance, this leads to the need to understand what sin is.

Christian perception of sin

Many holy ascetics repeatedly described the essence of sin, trying to explain its nature and give a specific definition. Obviously, sin is a departure from the commandments given by God. Of course, sin is a voluntary choice, regardless of the circumstances in which it occurs, because as a completely free person in action, a person can restrain himself from evil and vice or, on the contrary, succumb and take it into his heart, creating a spiritual illness. It will expand and cover the whole soul, subordinating through a certain passion, bad habit or inclination of the whole person, thereby removing from God.

There is an erroneous approach to the spiritual side of life, in which formal observance of certain commandments is carried out, considered only as strict rules. And if the external manifestation of such a life can seem pious and based on serious moral piles, then profound analysis shows the presence of enormous pride, narcissism, vanity, lack of faith and other "hidden" vices.

In other words, a person can not lie, do not be rude, do not steal, be always deliberately kind and sympathetic, regularly attend worship services and keep fasting, but in the soul have contempt, hatred and, most importantly, there may not be room for love in him.

Conditionally sins can be divided into several types: against God, against neighbor and against oneself.

Sins against God

Often there is an opinion that any sin is a confrontation to God, but with all the incontrovertibility of this statement, it is necessary to distinguish special departures that directly touch the Divine essence.

Such are the lack of faith, superstition and lack of faith. Sometimes there is a formal visit to the temple, without fear or love of God, as a ritual, which is also unacceptable in Christianity. Accusative speeches, murmurings, broken vows, arrogant vows, desecrated icons, relics, Holy Scripture books, crosses and prosphors - all such actions can happen completely by accident, but should lead to the thought of bringing repentance. This is important for those parishioners of temples who conduct secular conversations during divine services, release jokes and burst out laughing loudly, are late for service and leave it before the end without valid reasons. It is inadmissible to deliberately conceal our sins by performing the sacrament of repentance, for in this case sin remains not only unrepentant, but also multiplies additional ones. Direct apostasy can be considered an appeal to various psychics and similar people, fascination with witchcraft, magic and contiguity to sectarian beliefs.

Sins against the neighbor

One of the main commandments is love for one's neighbor. Not only family and close friends are meant to be called "to love," the Lord means any person, even an enemy, for whom a true Christian should find the strength to say a prayer. People in the modern world are extremely hard to forgive, not to gloat and not to condemn. Each person experiences tremendous pressure from the streams of incessant negative information, shaken moral guidelines, among which there is sometimes a place for the most obscene and disgusting things. A person is constantly in tension and in stressful situations, at work, at home, on the road. It is not easy to resist the realities, the majority is hardened, allowing to cool down the heart. Tricks, insults, assault, indifference to other sorrows and troubles, greed and complete reluctance to share with the needy have become a habit, such sins are committed daily by many Christians and rooted so that they are often not noticed. More and more often people wear a mask of hypocrisy and flattery, resort to self-interest, lies and slander, deceive and envy, such negative qualities are encouraged nowadays and are considered indispensable aspirations of the leader. You can also note a very painful sin, it is a voluntary abortion - abortion.

Sins against himself

Cultivating an unreasonable love for oneself, a person encourages a very insidious sin - pride. Pride itself is a combination of other vices, vanity, despair, despondency, arrogance. The soul, drawn into such vices and qualities, is destroyed from within. Pushing the real concepts to the background , the person, overwhelmed by endless delights and hobbies, quickly becomes fed up and tries to find something more. Often in search of additional pleasures, a person finds attachment to narcotic substances or alcohol. Constant idleness, laziness and anxiety only about bodily comfort completely weaken the moral principles, unnecessarily liberate and create a sense of domination of the body over the soul.

Sacrament of Penance

Repentance is preached in many religions. Christianity enables its followers to bring true repentance. The souls of people, burdened with bad deeds and vices, need such spiritual, intangible help. Chinoposledovanie this ordinance begins with the removal of the Cross and the Gospel and putting them on the anal. The priest utters prayers and troparia, which set up people preparing to confess, to a certain, very subtle way. Then the confessor approaches the priest, there is a personal confession, which is an absolute secret, its disclosure is unacceptable.

The priest can ask questions or say words of farewell, then he covers the head of the confessor with an epitaph and, after reading the permissive prayer, overshadows with the cross sign. Then the parishioner kisses the Cross and the Gospel. It should be noted that repentance is an important step towards Communion, which is admitted without confession only in strictly defined cases. In each specific situation, the decision is made by the priest and assumes all responsibility.

The essence of repentance

Archimandrite John Krest'yankin compared a non-repentant person to one that does not wash away material mud from the body for a long time. Repentance is the foundation of spiritual life, a kind of instrument through which the soul is purified and calmed. Without it, it is impossible to feel the intimacy of God and eradicate sinful traits and inclinations. Healing is a long and complex path. Repentance is never too much, because a person always has something to repent, looking carefully into himself, without self-justification and other inherent "tricks", he is able to discern the unpleasant corners of his soul and bring them to confession. But, unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a formal transfer of sins in the complete absence of repentance and repentance.

Such an attitude can not bring relief to a person. Without testing the shame and pain, measuring the depth of the fall, the abandonment of sin, and even more so, its forgiveness, is impossible. It is very important to firmly resolve for oneself to fight, one after another eradicating vices and moral "holes". Repentance must bear change, it is called upon to change the world outlook and perception of the world.

Relationship of fasting and repentance

The most suitable time for analyzing your own sins and spiritual failings is fasting. Repentance in sins and fasting put the same task before the Christian - purification of the soul and changing it for the better. Both of these concepts should be regarded as a kind of weapon that can be used to confront one's own passions. Fasting calls for bodily and spiritual abstinence, this time for sincere prayer, a deep analysis of your spiritual canvas, reading instructive books and scriptures. The time of fasting can be presented as a small feat, every believing person passes it on a very individual path, with absolutely different emotional and psychological background and mental state. It is extremely important to be sensible and understanding that the main thing is not the refusal of a certain kind of food, going to the movies and other worldly entertainments, but spiritual meekness, the look of the gaze only on the inner self, the rejection of condemnation, cruelty, rudeness. When a person for a few weeks is immersed in relative "silence", having withdrawn as far as possible from the "world", he gets time to come closer to the realization of sin and use this understanding for true repentance.

Repentance in Orthodoxy

The Orthodox Christian repents only of his own free will. His personality realizes the sinfulness of nature, the conscience denounces evil deeds and thoughts, but there is a hope for the mercy of God, he brings repentance not as a criminal, afraid only of punishment, but sincerely asks for forgiveness, like his father's son. It is how the Father should perceive God, this is taught by the Orthodox Church and Orthodox repentance, although very often the attitude and sense of God stop on seeing Him as a strict and rigid punishing judge. And in view of this wrong approach, repentance occurs only because of fearful punishment, whereas repentance must come from the love of God and the desire to approach it in a more righteous way of life.

Conclusion

Repentance is, undoubtedly, a religious concept. But many interpret this kind of inner purification and spiritual self-development as a kind of ability to make secrets purely personal for a review, to suppress oneself and humiliate. It should be understood that repentance itself is in full conformity with human nature, because nature has been damaged and now needs regular healing.