The word of Greek origin "repentance" is inextricably included in the concept of Christianity. Repentance is a contrite sigh for sins and an indispensable desire not to commit them again, such a certain state of the soul, to which sincere prayer, contrition and subsequent joy are added. But without realizing the sinfulness of 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 have repeatedly described the essence of sin, trying to explain its nature and give a specific definition. Obviously, sin is a deviation from the commandments given by God. Of course, sin is a voluntary choice, regardless of the circumstances in which it is committed, because being absolutely free in action from birth, a person can refrain from evil and vice, or, conversely, succumb and accept it in his heart, creating a spiritual illness. It will grow and cover the whole soul, subduing through a certain passion, bad habit or inclination of the whole person, thereby moving away from God.
There is an erroneous approach to the spiritual side of life, in whichformal observance of certain commandments, which are considered only as strict rules, is carried out. And if the external manifestation of such a life may seem pious and based on serious moral piles, then a deep analysis shows the presence of great pride, narcissism, vanity, lack of faith and other "hidden" vices.
In other words, a person may not lie, be rude, or steal, be always deliberately kind and sympathetic, regularly attend services and observe fasts, but have contempt, hatred in his soul and, most importantly, he may not find places to love.
Conditionally sins can be divided into several types: against God, against neighbor and against oneself.
Sins against God
Often the opinion arises that any sin is a confrontation with God, but despite the irrefutability of this statement, one should distinguish between special deviations that directly affect the Divine essence.
These are lack of faith, superstition and lack of faith. Sometimes there is a formal visit to the temple, without fear or love for God, as a kind of ritual, which is also unacceptable in Christianity. Accusatory speeches, murmurings, broken vows, vows taken in haste, defiled icons, relics, books of Holy Scripture, crosses and prosphora - all such actions can occur completely by accident, but should lead to the thought of repentance.
This is also important for those parishioners of churches who have secular conversations during services, make jokes and burst into loud laughter,late for the service and leave it before the end without good reason. It is unacceptable to intentionally hide sins by performing the sacrament of repentance, because in this case the sin remains not only unrepentant, but also multiplies additional ones. Direct apostasy can be considered an appeal to various psychics and similar people, a passion for witchcraft, magic and adherence to sectarian creeds.
Sins against neighbor
One of the main commandments is to love your neighbor. Not only relatives and close friends are meant by the call to “love,” the Lord means any person, even an enemy, for whom a true Christian must find the strength to say a prayer. In the modern world, it is extremely difficult for people to forgive, not to gloat and not to condemn. Each person is under enormous 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, most harden, allowing the heart to cool. Ridicule, insults, assault, indifference to other people's sorrows and troubles, greed and complete unwillingness to share with those in need have become a habit, such sins are committed daily by many Christians and have taken root so much that they are often not noticed. Increasingly, people put on a mask of hypocrisy and flattery, resort to self-interest, lies and slander, deceive and envy, such negativequalities are encouraged today and are considered indispensable inclinations of a leader. You can also note a very painful sin, it is the voluntary termination of pregnancy - abortion.
Sins against oneself
Cultivating exorbitant love for oneself, a person encourages a very insidious sin - pride. Pride itself is a combination of other vices, vanity, despair, despondency, arrogance. A soul drawn into such vices and qualities is destroyed from within.
Pushing real concepts aside, a person, overwhelmed by endless pleasures and hobbies, quickly gets fed up and tries to find something more. Often, in search of additional pleasures, a person finds attachment to drugs or alcohol. Constant idleness, laziness and anxiety only about bodily comfort completely weaken the moral principles, unnecessarily liberate and create a feeling of the primacy of the body over the soul.
The sacrament of repentance
Repentance is preached in many religions. Christianity enables its followers to bring true repentance. The souls of people, weighed down by bad deeds and vices, need such spiritual, intangible help. The service of this sacrament begins with the removal of the Cross and the Gospel and putting them on the lectern.
The priest says prayers and troparia that set people preparing to confess in a certain, very subtle way. Then the confessor approaches the priest, a personal confession takes place, whichis an absolute secret, its disclosure is unacceptable.
The priest can ask questions or say words of parting words, then he covers the head of the confessor with stole and, after reading the permissive prayer, overshadows with the sign of the cross. Then the parishioner kisses the Cross and the Gospel. It should be noted that repentance is an important step towards Communion, which is allowed without confession only in strictly defined cases. In each specific situation, the priest makes the decision and takes full responsibility.
The Essence of Repentance
Archimandrite John Krestyankin compared a non-repentant person with one who does not wash off material dirt from the body for a long time. Repentance is the basis of spiritual life, a kind of instrument with the help of which the purification of the soul, its calmness is achieved. Without it, it is impossible to feel the nearness of God and to eradicate sinful traits and inclinations. Healing is a long and difficult journey. There is never too much repentance, because a person always has something to repent of, having carefully looked into himself, without self-justification and other inherent "tricks", he is able to discern the impartial corners of his soul and bring them to confession.
But, unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a formal enumeration of sins in the complete absence of repentance and repentance.
Such an attitude cannot bring relief to a person. Without experiencing shame and pain, measuring the depth of the fall, leaving sin, and even more so its forgiveness, is impossible. It is very important to firmly decide for yourself to fight, one by one, eradicating vices andmoral holes. Repentance should bring change, it is designed to change the worldview and worldview.
The connection between fasting and repentance
The most appropriate time to analyze your own sins and spiritual shortcomings is fasting. Repentance for sins and fasting pose the same task for a Christian - cleansing the soul and changing it for the better. Both of these concepts should be considered as a kind of weapon that can be used to confront one's own passions. Fasting calls for bodily and spiritual abstinence, this is the time for sincere prayer, a deep analysis of one's spiritual canvas, reading instructive books and writings. The time of fasting can be imagined as a small feat, each believer goes through it on a very individual path, with a completely different emotional and psychological background and mental attitude.
Reasonableness and understanding is extremely important, that the main thing is not the rejection of a certain type of food, going to the cinema and other worldly amusements, but spiritual meekness, looking only at the inner self, rejection of condemnation, cruelty, rudeness. When a person is immersed in relative "silence" for several weeks, moving away from the "world" as much as possible, he gets time to approach the realization of sin and use this understanding for true repentance.
Repentance in Orthodoxy
An Orthodox Christian repents solely of his own free will. His personality is aware of the sinfulness of nature, his conscience convicts bad deeds and thoughts, but there is hope in him.at the mercy of God, he does not repent as a criminal, fearing only punishment, but sincerely asks for forgiveness, like a son from his father. It is how the Father should be perceived that God is taught by the Orthodox Church and Orthodox repentance, although very often the attitude and feeling of God stops at seeing in Him a strict and harsh punishing judge. And in view of such a wrong approach, repentance occurs only because of the fear of a terrible retribution, while repentance should come from love for God and the desire to approach him in a more righteous way of life.
Conclusion
Repentance is undoubtedly a religious concept. But many interpret this type of internal purification and spiritual self-development as a kind of ability to bring purely personal secrets into view, to suppress oneself and humiliate oneself. It should be understood that repentance in itself is in full accordance with human nature, because nature has been damaged and now needs regular healing.
