Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feasts of the Resurrection of the Lord and of all the Saints!

Today’s feastday was established by the Byzantine Emperor Leo, who wanted to erect a church in honour of his first wife, Theophana. The church hierarchy did not bless his desire because the Church had not canonized her as of that moment. Therefore, the emperor built a church in honor of all the saints. He acted in this way with the understanding that if Theophana had truly pleased God, she would be numbered amongst all the saints, and thus would be one of those holy men and women to whom the church was dedicated.

Today before us stands an innumerable multitude of righteous examples. We see these saints and hope that one day in Heaven we will be vouchsafed to have communion with them. Alas, probably most of us must admit that our sins and passions separate us from the Lord and His saints. Fortunately, we have the opportunity to repent, mend our ways, cleanse ourselves, and in such a manner to return to the spiritual path that leads into the Heavenly Kingdom. Our main tool in achieving such a goal is the mystery or sacrament of repentance or confession. Let’s try, in the course of the next several weeks, to examine in detail this sacrament, so as to receive the maximum benefit from this mystery.

Some Protestants, as well as some people who consider themselves Orthodox Christians, have a negative opinion of the sacrament of confession. One person is ashamed of confessing his sins before a priest, while another sees that the priest himself is not without sin, and therefore does not understand how one could hope to receive spiritual help from such a man. The third person thinks that it is sufficient to confess and ask for remission of sins directly from God, be it at home or at church, without the participation of a priest.

If someone has such or similar thoughts about confession, one can remember that this rite was established by Jesus Christ Himself, and that the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament give us direct evidence of this. Let’s remember that Christ gave His Apostles the power to forgive sins. In the Gospel according to John, our Lord Jesus Christ, after His resurrection, told His disciples the following: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” (John 20: 22-23). In another place, the Lord says to Simon Peter: “I will give unto thee the keys of 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” (Matthew 16: 19). Yet in another place the Saviour addressed all of the apostles with the following words: “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18: 18). Such clear and direct instructions from the Holy Scriptures about the Apostles receiving the authority to remit sins should convince us that the mystery of confession was established by the Lord Jesus Christ and that the successors of the Apostles, i. e. the bishops, and through ordination the priests, also have this authority.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, tomorrow the Peter and Paul fast begins. We are continually obliged to correct the spiritual side of our life, but especially so during the course of lent. Therefore, let’s remember that the Lord God established the sacrament of confession, and let’s use this spiritual remedy for the betterment of our spiritual condition.

priest Alexis