Penance - helping the penitent in the fight against the sin of fornication

Penance is translated from ancient Greek as punishment, punishment. Previously, in the Christian world, penance was considered one of the types of church punishment. In modern practice, penance is viewed rather as helping a sinner, healing his fallen soul, and the path of a repentant sinner with the help of a spiritual mentor to the truth. Penance, in most cases, consists of deprivations that are ascetic in nature. Such sanctions include reading the prayer rule, food restrictions in the form of additional fasting, and bowing to the ground in the temple. Also, the sinner may be excluded from communion for a certain time.

Penance for fornication is prescribed for the sin of lust and the associated sins of adultery and fornication. Fornication differs from other known sins in its power of influence on the soul, body and mind. The consequences of fornication make a person dishonest and poor, leading to diseases of the soul and flesh. Men and women who are in intimate relationships before marriage are subject to penance. Homosexual relations, prostitution and masturbation are considered sinful. Those who cheat on their lawful spouse and “those who covet their neighbor’s wife” are subject to penance.

Punishment for fornication is an inevitable measure, since in this sin the one who stumbles offends not only his own flesh, but also the flesh of Christ.

Harlots, adulterers and those who have repented of the sin of fornication are not allowed to the sacrament of communion as part of penance. The Apostle Paul explains the severity of the sin of fornication by the fact that a person gives “ his members ” to a harlot. Therefore, everyone who partakes of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ must remember that by desecrating his own flesh, he is also defiling the flesh of Christ.

What is the essence of penance?

The fundamental essence of penance is not to punish the sinner, because such decisions are subject to only God. This is a way to restore peace to the soul of the repentant, to alleviate the suffering of conscience for committing fornication, and to heal the spiritual wound caused by sin. Penance is an additional opportunity for the sinner, through strengthening ascetic practices, to come to unity with God, thank him for his love and enlightenment, realize his wrongdoing before him and demonstrate that repentance is not superficial, but comes from the heart.

Penance is intended to show the penitent the depth of his sinful defeat and distance from God.

Basil the Great claims that the essence of church punishment is to extract a Christian from the snares of the evil one and to “ overthrow and destroy sin in every possible way .” In his opinion, the duration of penance may not be fixed, but depend on the state of mind of the sinner, his repentance and the spiritual benefit of the imposed sanctions. According to Basil the Great, “ healing should be measured not by time, but by the way of repentance .”

The main thing that a priest must remember when imposing penance is that this measure is intended to heal and help the souls of the lost, and not to punish.

The purpose of penance is to reveal sin and call the sinner to repent. Through repentance and the sanctions of penance, the causes of sin are eradicated and its repetition is prevented.

Qualities of penance

Archpriest Georgy Breev claims that committed sin can be atone for by Godly deeds. For the stingy, this is a manifestation of mercy. For one who committed fornication, a chaste and modest way of life.

The assignment of penance is a purely individual process. Healing occurs by performing acts opposite to the sin for which the parishioner repents. As St. Basil asserts, any of the mental abilities given by God to man “ becomes good or evil for the one who possesses it according to the way it is used .” St. Basil teaches that everything depends on “ consent ” and proportionality, on harmony or “ symmetry ” of mental life. Harmony lies in the human mind. The key to rational consent and integrity of the soul lies in the human mind. Penance acts as a benefactor that allows one to find this key. One of the main qualities of penance is being alone with God and communicating with him in love. Sin consists of fornication, and the root cause of sin lies in distance from God. Only then will penance be beneficial and healing when it is commensurate with the deed committed.

Penance is designed to eradicate sin

Basil the Great explains that sin is healed by actions that are essentially opposite to it. For example, the one who slandered must bless. Likhodeev is called upon to give back. Those who sin by drunkenness are healed by fasting. The sin of pride is cured by humility. The sin of fornication is abstinence. Also important is the power of repentance, the willingness to accept all the hardships and trials that will be on the way to cleansing the soul.

It is worth considering the personal qualities of the sinner and his living conditions. Thus, fasting should not be prescribed to pregnant women or a sick person. Spiritual punishment is prescribed based on the following factors:

• circumstances of the sin;
• accompanying causes and circumstances;
• gender of the sinner;
• age;
• family status and social status.

In the work of Archbishop Benjamin “ The New Tablet ” it is written that the priest must ask seven questions at the sacrament of confession. The confessor must know who sinned and what prompted him to do so. Ask what was done and where, and also how, at what time and for what purpose. It is important to find out during confession who the repentant is, what kind of life he leads and the internal motives of his spiritual decline.

For example, penance for fornication in relation to a young man will be softer than for a similar sin committed by an adult mature man who has been married for several years.

Awareness of the need

According to the holy fathers, penance has a close connection with the sinner’s repentance and determination to move away from sin. And it is their natural consequence and is an important part of the sacrament of repentance. The priest should not prescribe penance to someone who does not want to pay it in accordance with his sin.

Thus, penance is a means that a sinner, who has deep faith in the Almighty and understands his guilt before him, takes upon himself in the form of a number of restrictions. At the same time, he wants to show that his repentance is not superficial. And also that he is grateful to God for his mercy, but is ready to suffer additional righteous retribution in accordance with his unseemly deeds.

“Sanctions” of penance and the admissibility of its mitigation

Penance depends both on the sin and on the conditions and life situation of the penitent. The confessor, when determining penance, acts not only on the basis of the teachings of Jesus and the existing rules of penance, but also on the basis of the specific situation. Penance is intended to alleviate the suffering of the sinner, to convince him to renounce false beliefs, and to curb lust.

Archbishop Plato believes that church punishment should be valid until the moment when the sinner needs it. He compares spiritual healing to physical treatment - the patient must take pills constantly until he is cured. Therefore, it is necessary to follow spiritual restrictions until the symptoms of the sin committed appear.

Accordingly, punishment for laity and clergy occurs in different forms and is assigned for different periods. The essence of church penance is the deprivation of certain rights and benefits, which are determined by the decision of the Church. The apogee for the sinner is excommunication, or anathema.

It is possible, as an exception, for a second confessor to change the punishment prescribed by another priest. This happens if the first spiritual mentor did not take into account the life situation or due to significant changes in life:

• sudden illness;
• change of service and occupation;
• impoverishment.

The main sanction of penance is repentance. Traditionally, penitents go through four stages and are divided into appropriate groups. Basil the Great characterized the degrees of repentance in this way:

1. The mourners are those who offer prayers to God and ask for forgiveness outside the temple.
2. Listeners are people who listen to church hymns inside the temple.
3. Those who fall are those standing behind the ambo, and those leaving at the proclamation of the deacon.
4. Those who are eligible for purchase are those admitted to certain church rites, but who abstain from the sacrament of communion.

In the tradition of penance, the bishop acts not only as a spiritual mentor, but also as a judge. Philanthropy is the main trait of a bishop, which he must use when observing someone who has sinned. Warm repentance and a new life without previous sins are a reason to reduce the term or severity of punishment for fornication. Basil the Great explains the right of clergy to strengthen or weaken penance by the fact that they received from God the power to resolve issues of spiritual punishment. Bad judges will be condemned by the Creator if they increase or decrease the period of penance, guided by personal motives.

Heretics and schismatics - life sentence

The Church was merciless towards all heretics. Penance was prescribed for them until the heretic, Old Believer, or schismatic renounced their errors. Moreover, penance could be received not only by the Old Believer himself, but also by the person sheltering him. Additionally, penance was reinforced by other punishments. As noted in the article “The Russian Orthodox Church on the schismatic movement and the Old Believers,” M. Slepkova, introduced in 1716-1718. The schismatics paid a double fine for absence from confession. Old Believers were anathematized, exiled to Siberian penal servitude with complete confiscation of property, blacklisted, forbidden to have passports, and deprived of other civil rights.

The Catholic Church punished apostates even more severely. One of the monographs of the American historian and expert on the history of the Inquisition, Henry Charles Lee, states that in theory, penance served as a way to save lost souls. Usually the penance imposed by the Inquisition boiled down to tireless prayer, strict observance of fasts, pilgrimages to holy places, and the distribution of money to charity. In practice, it often turned into voluntary imprisonment, imprisonment on bread and water. If a heretic escaped from prison, he was recognized as a madman who rejected the “saving medicine.” Not only the one who “lost his faith” was severely punished, but anyone who gave him shelter or alms, who did not report him to the authorities or did not detain him to be brought to court. The “accomplice” was also accused of heresy and subject to lifelong penance.

The inquisitors also used humiliating methods of influencing the souls of the “lost sheep.” For example, the late Spanish Inquisition, as a penance, obliged the heretic to stand at the door of the church in Sanbenito or wear “shameful clothes” at all times. One of the cruel forms of Catholic penance in the 13th century was scourging - it was considered an easy way of healing, but could last until the death of the condemned person. Although death did not relieve those who did not fully fulfill the penance imposed on them from humiliation and shame. Thus, in 1329, Carcassonne inquisitors ordered the bones of seven buried heretics who had not yet completed their penance to be dug up and burned, the property of their children to be confiscated, and the heirs to be deprived of all rights.

Good glory of penance

A person’s turning to God is a great sacrament. Priests do not have the right to assign open penance for secret sins reported by penitents. When assigning penance, the priest must proceed from good intentions, and it should not harm the good name of the repentant. Sanctions imposed by the Church should not interfere with family and work responsibilities or cause any other dishonor.

The priest is called to be a good and wise shepherd for the repentant sinner.

The actions of a clergyman should be aimed at a good deed, helping to heal the soul of a sinner. The task of the priest is to re-sanctify the path from which the parishioner has left.

A sinner who has gone through all the stages of repentance and penance is reborn not only in soul and body, he is purified in his thoughts and desires. The true meaning of penance is to save a sinful soul by doing good deeds, which a person will continue to do even after the penance is removed from him. Good deeds, prayers, turning to the Lord with repentance - the main components teach not to commit past sins and give birth in the head of the repentant to a new view of the world, filled with the desire to commit virtue again and again.

Adulterers – from 3 to 15 years

As follows from the rules of one of the Church Fathers, Basil the Great, women for adultery were punished with 15 years of penance, while in the church they were forbidden to stand next to other parishioners, which increased the moral censure of the shameless woman.

For male adulterers, the penance was milder. As stated in the “Canons of the Orthodox Church” by Grabbe, those caught in adultery or unwittingly exposed in it are necessarily subject to penance, but its duration is determined by the priest. The one who forcibly took as his wife the intended wife of another and forcibly molested her received 9 years, and the one who married without the consent of her father received only 3 years. Penance was also imposed on those who remarried. For a broken first marriage and a desire to marry again, the sinner was excommunicated from communion for a year or two. The triplets were punished with five years of penance.

Types of penance

Penance is assigned to a person solely for the good. During ascetic acts, the sinner realizes that he has moved away from God and is looking for a way to him again. Penance is the will of the Lord. Everyone is sent only those difficulties that a person is able to overcome. The imposed penance must be carried out unquestioningly.

Vyacheslav Ponomarev in the “ Handbook of an Orthodox Person ” lists the following types of penance:

1. Greeting God by bowing and reading prayers at home.
2. Prayer to Jesus Christ.
3. Midnight service.
4. Reading spiritual texts - the Bible and Life.
5. Strict post.
6. Refusal of marital intimacy.
7. Alms.

Killers - from 5 to 20 years

The length of penance for murderers depended on the severity of the crime. In the “Canons of the Orthodox Church,” the famous Bishop of the ROCOR Gregory (Grabbe) distinguishes three types of murder - voluntary, voluntary and involuntary. The longest, 20 years, was penance for free murder. Husbands who killed their wives in anger, robbers, and those who committed murder out of self-interest or out of hostility were sentenced to it. Poisoners, including women who accidentally poisoned their husbands with a love potion, also received a twenty-year penance. Abortion was also considered free murder, although for “infanticide in the womb” the period of penance was halved - to 10 years.

An eleven-year penance was imposed for voluntary murder. As Grabbe writes, it included murder in passion or anger, as well as murder through negligence. Eleven years of penance were punished for those who exceeded the degree of self-defense, that is, those who killed a person while defending themselves during a fight.

The most lenient punishment was for involuntary murder. The penance for him was prescribed for five years, although in most cases the period of “correction of the sinner” was determined by the priest. Involuntary murder included cases of deprivation of life due to negligence. For example, “he throws a stone at a tree,” and the stone bounces off and kills a person. Or he will “hit with a belt or a light iron” and inadvertently kill the one whom he tried to “correct with a whip.”

Church canons

Historically, Ancient Rus' borrowed the practice of church repentance from Byzantium. Therefore, initially the right to impose or cancel church punishments was concentrated in the hands of bishops. Since ancient times, penance was prescribed after secret confession.

The procedure for imposing penance was prescribed in the “ Spiritual Regulations ”. Most of the provisions are valid in church practice of modern times. According to the regulations, minor excommunication was equivalent to civil defamation. Defamed persons were deprived of their legal capacity. Anathema meant religious death and was equivalent to political death.

General concept

Penance means (translated from ancient Greek) “punishment, punishment.” The term comes from the word “epithymion” - punishment under the law. Previously, in Russian it was pronounced as “penance” - with the emphasis on the penultimate syllable. Now the emphasis is on the latter.

Despite the translation of this word, it meant punishment, a penalty that was imposed on a guilty person only in ancient times. To date, this interpretation is only partially correct. From the point of view of modern Orthodoxy, this is, in a spiritual sense, a medicine that a sinner who is experiencing pangs of conscience is looking for.

Penance is the voluntary performance by a penitent of any pious deeds, for example, prolonged prayer, mercy, pilgrimage, or intense fasting. These actions are performed as measures serving for moral correction.

Penance in Orthodox practice

In Orthodoxy, penance is often expressed in the prohibition of participation in the Eucharist. The period for which a sinner is deprived of the opportunity to take part in the sacrament of Holy Communion depends on the degree of sin:

• heretics and sectarians will not have the opportunity to “ unite with God in Christ ” until they depart from blindness, fornication and heresy;
• those who sinned by mixing blood were excommunicated for 12 years;
• those who repented of grave-digging or the crime of oath - for 10 years;
• those who practiced witchcraft were deprived of the opportunity to take part in the sacraments for 25 years;
• the sacrament is not available to adulterers for a period of 9 to 15 years;
• murderers - up to 25 years;
• men who shared a bed with other men or livestock were excommunicated for 15 years.

Patriarch Jeremiah on the reasons for penance

Patriarch Jeremiah of Constantinople identifies the following reasons for announcing penance. The deprivations due to the sinner are designed to:

1. Through suffering, which is accepted voluntarily, one will lose punishment in the subsequent life after death. Jesus showed a different example of suffering during earthly life for the sake of life.
2. To eradicate the causes of sin in the sinner, to curb lust, to put thoughts in order. You can only be cured of sins by doing the opposite of good deeds.
3. Spiritual punishment acts as a “ bridle ” of the human insides. “ bridle ” restrains you from the temptation to repeat the offense again.
4. Any virtue is not easy. Based on this, the one who has endured penance is taught work, discipline and diligence.
5. This measure is used to make sure that a person does not return, even mentally, to the sin committed, that he condemns such behavior.

Gospel parable about penance

An example of the expediency of penance is the interlude from the Gospel about the publican Zacchaeus. The Lord told him: “. ..today I need to be in your house ” (Lk. 19:5). The tax collector in Judea at that time seemed to deeply religious people to be a despicable apostate who had lost his conscience. After Jesus said that he would visit his house, the Publican realized God’s chosenness and love for him and said: “ Lord! I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have offended anyone in any way, I will repay him fourfold .”

There is no mention of orders or advice from Jesus in the parable. Having visited the infidel, Jesus showed him his love, his readiness to forgive and do good deeds, which gave rise to a reciprocal feeling in the Publican. He realized that he could not live as he existed in the past before meeting God. Therefore, penance for the sinner is a meeting with God, the opportunity to feel his love, and give him yours. The publican declared penance for himself, and each of the people living today can repeat his feat, repenting of his sins, or turn to a priest for help to make the path to the truth easier.

For what sins can it be imposed today?

• For infanticide . abortion is most often implied in this case . The church also considers this sin to be infanticide. Moreover, if it was committed by a married woman, both spouses are considered guilty. It is believed that the Lord himself sends punishment for this grave sin. This could be infertility, illness, family problems. If any of the above happens, these problems can be recognized as God's penance, which a person (or couple) is forced to bear through life, so the priest will no longer assign anything else on his own.
• For fornication and adultery (this list can be continued with the sins of lesbianism, homosexuality and other violations of the 7th commandment). Even today, for a riotous lifestyle and adultery, people can be excommunicated from communion for 7 years.
• For blasphemy . This also includes curses that some unrestrained people hurl in all directions without hesitation.
• For perjury . It is considered a very serious sin to swear, to tell a lie in front of icons (trying in the name of God to add more authority to one’s lies), to lie with one’s hand on the Bible. A lie is evil in itself, but when a person also drags the Lord into his fantasies as a witness, it is doubly bad.
• For theft . Just praying in church is not enough. If, due to the fault of a person, someone has suffered serious losses, these losses must be restored to him.
• For false words , testimonies. Of course, if people lie when they call for work in the morning that they are stuck in a traffic jam, and then continue to sleep it off, this is a sin. But it’s much worse if someone’s lies ruin people’s destinies. Such sins should entail serious mental “treatment.”
• For magic (for example, fortune telling with cards). Of course, the priest will not strongly scold young girls who jokingly call a “black hand” at summer camp. But adult women who trade in witchcraft (even with prayers in front of icons) cannot be called righteous, even with a stretch.
• For alcoholism, drug addiction . This is a double sin. Firstly, addictions destroy the body given to a person (therefore, alcoholism is even comparable to suicide). And secondly, they make the relatives of such a person suffer. But the church can help not only atone for sins, but also get rid of a killing habit, you just need to believe in it.

Is it prescribed to everyone?

No. The fact is that in order to be cleansed from sin, a person must clearly understand that this is precisely sin. If a parishioner has only recently returned to the fold of the church and is becoming familiar with and pondering many aspects of the faith, then penance may seem like an obscure ritual to him. Which, among other things, can turn him away from faith.

The priests understand this well and, like the father rejoicing at the arrival of the prodigal son in the parable, they do not judge very harshly. They can simply confess such people, giving them advice and comments.

If a person has been visiting the temple for a long time and the priest has become a real spiritual father to him, who understands his thoughts well; if this believer has come to a deep understanding of the meaning of serving the Lord, it means that he has “grown” to a more conscious atonement for his own sins.

So, you understand that penance is not a strict punishment, but your voluntary “payment” for sins. But sins are sometimes so grave for the soul that, even if the priest forgives them, a person wants to repent again and again... Is it possible, at the request of a believer (believer), to receive penance for a sin already forgiven in the church? The priest answers:

The state of mind of a penitent during penance

Theophan the Recluse called church repentance with a temporary restriction from the sacraments “ a great protective power .” Archbishop Plato was also convinced that this church punishment in the best form warns the repentant from old and new sins, eradicates the worst human qualities, and protects from wrong inclinations.

The most important element for penance is not the sin for which it is imposed, but the state of the soul of the sinner at the time of committing fornication, during repentance and fulfillment of penance, as well as mental balance after it. When prescribing certain measures as part of penance, the priest takes into account the person’s state of mind, his lifestyle, temperament, social status and many other factors.

Penance protects the repentant from fornication, teaches him not to succumb to the call of the flesh, to learn to hear the voice of reason and the word of God in the heart. Suffering during earthly life, a person will be happy in heaven. However, existing in sin will not give happiness either in earthly life or in the next. Timely awareness, repentance and atonement for sin lifts a person’s soul closer to God, to truth and absolute love.

The sinner, subject to sincere repentance, constant turning to God and to his own heart, can achieve the abolition of penance. However, it is more important not only to worthily undergo all the hardships assigned by the priest according to the will of God, but also to hate your sin. As Archbishop Innocent said, a sinner, through his good deeds and ascetic deprivations, shows the Lord his readiness to correct his life, and to devote the remaining time to atonement for previous sins.

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SMOLINA_OLGA

What it is?

From Greek this word is translated as “punishment according to the law.” But the priests explain: in fact, analogies cannot be drawn with worldly courts. Penance is the voluntary cleansing of the human soul from the “wounds” left by a truly serious offense .

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Sometimes even after the most honest confession, a person is not completely cleansed. Therefore, he is assigned to perform certain feats, that is, tasks, by performing which he will be purified and become above a sinful life.

If a person is sick physically, the doctor prescribes him medicine - you cannot be cured without drinking it. It’s the same with penance: a Christian must take it as seriously as possible and be sure to fulfill everything that was “prescribed” to him.

What are the types of penance?

When compared with the secular judicial system (fines, prison), church “punishments” are less severe: this may include reading certain prayers, giving alms to poor people, or fasting. The priest tries to choose a feat based on the personal qualities and sins of a particular person. Let's say:

• a money lover (thief, bribe taker, greedy person) will have to give alms;
• a person guilty of the mortal sin of gluttony may be “prescribed” a strict fast;
• a Christian who is too idle will be ordered to visit the temple of God more often.

Most often, the time for such spiritual “treatment” is about 40 days . If during this time the circumstances of a person’s life have changed and he can no longer follow the priest’s instructions, he should visit his spiritual mentor or another church person and receive other instructions. Well, if the test turned out to be beyond the strength of the believer, he can turn to the priest or bishop to have it removed.

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The most common examples of penance:

• reading prayers (say, 10 times a day “Our Father”);
• serious study of spiritual literature;
• bowing to the ground during home prayer or in church;
• exclusion of sexual intimacy (such a ban is often imposed on couples who could not abstain from intimacy before the wedding);
• temporary excommunication from communion.

Who can impose this ecclesiastical punishment?

Confessor. It is important that the parishioner frequently communicates with this clergyman and confesses to him. In this case, the priest will be able to choose a “pill” that suits his strength and at the same time is not too “weak”, because one must perform penance not playfully, but by overcoming something evil and unworthy in oneself.

After the feat is completed, the believer must again come to the priest. The priest will read a prayer of permission (this is called “allowing the forbidden”). If the priest is away for a long time, is seriously ill or has died, this prayer can be read by another clergyman.

Sometimes penance is imposed by another representative of the church - for example, a monk (this can happen if a person goes on a pilgrimage to a holy monastery and there, when communicating with a monk, he repents of his sins). True, in such circumstances it is not recommended to ask for penance, because this person does not know all your qualities well, and the “medicine” he prescribed may not be valid, or even completely unbearable.

Not a punishment, but a cure

In the Russian Orthodox Church, penance is imposed with great care and love, so that the sinner in no case falls into even greater despondency, and is not imposed at all if the Christian, having realized his sinfulness, sincerely repents and is determined not to sin again. Penance, as a rule, is imposed only if the believer persists in sin - for admonition. At the same time, the clergyman must know the person himself well and be confident that penance will benefit him.

Therefore, usually clergy are attentive to new converts and do not give them any special prayer exercises, which, as a rule, consist of penance. The task of the priest is to bring the sinner closer to Christ, to help him realize his sins and cope. Therefore, penance is imposed only in exceptional cases.

Proportionality with the property of sins

Penance must include actions that are contrary to the nature of sins. So, for example, Saint Basil writes that you need to do the following if:

• slandered - bless;
• if you covet, give it back;
• reveled - fast;
• if you were proud, humble yourself;
• envied - console.

John Chrysostom calls repentance not only to move away from previous bad deeds, but even more so to do good deeds.

John the Baptist proposes to create fruits worthy of repentance in the following way. He says: “If you stole someone else’s, now give back yours. Have you committed adultery for a long time? Refrain from close contact with your wife on certain days, getting used to abstinence. Have you insulted or even hit someone? So, bless those who offend you, and do good deeds for those who beat you. Indulged in voluptuousness and drunkenness? Fast and drink only water. Have you looked at someone else's beauty with passionate eyes? Now don’t look at women at all.”