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THE HOLY
MYSTERY OF
REPENTANCE
THERAPIA
AND HEALING
(Sacrament = “Holy Mysterion”)
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We retain the original Greek root
“Mystery”
Mysterion: =
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a Salvific personal Encounter with a Deity:
The Mystery of Repentance (Penance)
--is the “liturgical” way to
Encounter Christ and have him
forgive/heal/save/call/love us.
Confession: Law Court paradigm
• This theology of Confession is juridical.
• Here, Christ appears as the Judge, and sin is
regarded as the breaking of the law.
• one needs an absolution to be washed from
his sense of culpability.
• This approach refers to the words of Christ to
His apostles: « If you forgive sins of any, they
are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of
any, they are retained » (Jn 20:23).
Therapia: Healing Hospital Model
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the model of the hospital. It is therapeutic.
Christ appears as the physician, the healer.
Sin is regarded as a spiritual illness.
penance appears as the medicine which brings
restoration to wholeness.
• teaching of the Holy Apostle James who said: «
• Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the
priests of the church, and let them pray over him,
anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And
the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will
raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be
forgiven » (James 5:14-15)
Council of Trullo: Canon 102
• sin is an illness.
• The spiritual father is a physician.
• He has to find not only the proper medication (ejpitimiva,
penance),
• but also the proper measure, since the same medication cannot
be used in the same proportions for each sick person.
• Therefore, the confessor has to use discernment and has to
apply the holy canons, the sacred rules with a sense of
economy.
• It is not correct to regard the principle of economy in Byzantine
canonical tradition as an exception, or as a dispensation. The
principle of economy is the pastoral exercise to apply with
discernment the rules to a concrete situation for the salvation of
the person.
• Therefore, the confessor has to take as a model the Only
Physician of our souls and bodies — Christ our Saviour, and to
imitate His compassion and condescension.
Beginning Prayers
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Priest: Blessed be our God always, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
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Trinity most holy, have mercy on us. Cleanse us of our sins, O Lord;
pardon our transgressions, O Master; look upon our weaknesses and
heal them, O Holy One; for the sake of Your name.
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Lord, have mercy. (3x)
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Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us. We sinners bring this
appeal to You, O Master, for we have no defense. Have mercy on us.
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Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
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Lord, have mercy on us, for we have put our trust in You. Be not
exceedingly angry with us and do not remember our transgressions,
but look upon us now with compassion. Redeem us from our enemies,
for You are our God, and we are Your people. We are all the work of
Your hands, and we call upon Your name.
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Now and ever and for ages of ages.
Exhortation: to God (deprecatory)
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Confession to God
Not to Priest
Icon
Gospel Book & Cross
Priest is sinner, not judge
Priest is witness
Exhortation not to fear or
conceal
– Bring out all that needs
healing
Excerpts from an Exhortation formula
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My beloved Child in the Holy Spirit, N., it is good that you have come to
Holy Repentance, for there, as by a spiritual font, you will wash the
sins of your soul, and, as with heavenly medicine, it shall be healed of
death-bearing wounds.
Only strive that your heart might be broken on account of all your sins,
and that you may confess
them truthfully to the Lord your God Who is with us invisibly
But do not conceal even one sin, not even because of shame, for I also
am a man subject to passions, able to fall into similar sins, and I have
experience of the weakness of man.
… I will not censure you; uncover your sins, and I will not be as a
stranger to you.
Do not speak to me about those who participate with you in
Sins… Confess only your sins, not idly, but with a pricked heart, and,
with good intent,
…having ordered your heart, give glory to the Lord.
Confessing your transgressions before me, a sinner, and receiving
absolution, you will be
freed from the bonds of sins, you will be cleansed, and you will be
healed spiritually by the grace of God.
The place of Confession
• Usually in an alcove
in the sanctuary
– E.g. behind a kiot
– no “confessional
boxes or rooms”
Personal but Private
• Private & Confidential
• but
• “Personal”: non-anonymous
– Done side by side: Presbyter & Penitent
– Facing the Icon, Gospel Book, & Cross
• Because: Therapy
– good Diagnosis
The Absolution:
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not indicative (I forgive)
Deprecatory
not the Priest:
Christ God forgives
Epitrakhil over the head
– Christ Himself:
– Lay on Hands
• Absolution Formula
A Byzantine Absolution
• O Lord God...the salvation of thy servants, gracious,
bountiful and long–suffering, who repentest thee
concerning our evil deeds, and desirest not the death
of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his
wickedness and live:
• Show thy mercy now upon Thy servant, N., and grant
unto him (her) an image of repentance, forgiveness
of sins, and deliverance, pardoning his (her) every
transgression, whether voluntary or involuntary.
• Reconcile and unite him (her) unto thy holy Church,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom also are
due unto thee dominion and majesty, now and ever,
and unto the ages of ages. Amen
Absolution (Russian formula)
• May our Lord and God, Jesus
Christ, by the grace and mercies
of His love for us, pardon you,
my child, N... all your faults,
• and I, an unworthy priest, by
His authority given me,
• Pardon and absolve you of all
your sins,
• in the name of the ✙Father and
of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
A Byzantine Absolution
• God through Nathan the prophet
forgave David his sins; and Peter
shedding bitter tears over his denial;
and the Adulteress weeping at his feet;
and the Publican and the Prodigal Son.
• May this same God, through me, a
sinner, forgive + you everything in
this life and in the life to come. And
may he make you stand uncondemned
before his awesome judgment-seat, for
his blessed forever and ever. Amen.
Absolution Dismissal
• the Priest says:
• "Whatever you have said to my humble
person,
• and whatever you have failed to say,
• whether through ignorance or
forgetfulness,
• whatever it may be,
• may God forgive you in this world and
the next....
• Have no further anxiety; go in peace."
Confession & Spiritual Direction
• There is a practice
where people
confess to their
Staretz (a monk or
nun)
• On a regular basis
(spiritual direction)
• & are sent by the
Staretz for the
Absolution
Clergy
• Higher Clergy with major
orders
• Confess in the Altar
• Before the Holy Table
– Removing their pectoral cross
• When a presbyter is hearing
the confession of a bishop,
• the presbyter kneels before
the Holy Table
How often?
• As with many things in
Byzantine Churches
• no Canonical rule
• General guideline:
– 4 times per year
– Because of the 4
Fast/Penitential Seasons
• In some Orthodox
Churches,
• must before every Holy
Communion
CHRIST THE LIFE GIVER