Dear Brothers and Sisters

Congratulations with the feastday of the resurrection of the Lord, as well as the memory of the Fathers of the first six Ecumenical Councils!

Already for many weeks we have discussed various aspects of the Sacrament of Repentance and are now drawing close to the end of this topic. Sometimes this sacrament, for example in the exhortation read by the priest before the actual confession (at 5:30 pm on Saturdays in our church), is called a hospital. Without a doubt, confession is a spiritual hospital, for all our spiritual diseases are washed away and we are made clean. Unfortunately, the root causes of our sins are not always cured and we, because of our weak nature, once again fall into the same sins. The same spiritual diseases make themselves manifest as if they had not been treated at all. For these types of sins, it is necessary to not simply to visit a doctor, but to also take medicine.

There are medicines that are taken against all sorts of spiritual sicknesses. These are, of course, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. If we truly wish to defeat our passions and cure our souls, it is imperative that we use these means. Fasting strengthens us and gives us the opportunity to gather our thoughts and concentrate on the spiritual world. Prayer is our cry for help from God. The giving of alms, or in general any service to our neighbour, puts us second in regard to those around us. This cannot but help us see our sins and weaknesses and to begin to correct them. Good deeds also cure idleness, which often leads one to sin.

Sometimes these regular medicines are considered not strong enough and a penance is placed on the repenting person. There are different types of penances: supplementary fasting, a special prayer rule, specific good deeds, spiritual reading, prostrations, as well as a period of time without communing of Christ’s Mysteries. A penance should be understood, first of all, as a method of spiritual healing and not as a punishment. A person who has never prayed before, but comes to confession, must of course at least begin to pray. A thief must naturally return that which was stolen. A repenting person who doubts that his sins with be forgiven will receive great benefit from reading the life of Saint Mary of Egypt. For a church-going person, a period of time without Communion is bitter, but on the other hand can protect him from repeating a certain sin. Conversely, a person who is not church-going at all and has never come up to the Chalice may receive spiritual healing from communing often. One and the same sin may call for different penances depending on the situation, but always with the goal not of punishing, but of healing.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, let’s harness fasting, prayer, and good deeds to our repentance so that our spiritual ailments may be fully cured and never infect us again.

priest Alexis