وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

In the Orthodox concept, confessing one's sins represents a main part of the Sacrament of Repentance. By confessing, we mean confessing to a priest: “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Prov.28: 13).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

People in the Old Testament practised confession. It is written: “And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for his sin which he has sinned” (Lev.5: 5,6).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

The Holy Bible is full of examples of confessions. Confession continued until the last prophet of the Old Testament or the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the time of John the Baptist, when “Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptised by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matt.3: 5,6).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

In the New Testament also people practised confession. It is written: "And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds" (Acts 19:18), and “Confess your trespasses to one another” (Jas.5: 16).

However, the Protestant groups do not believe in confession and do not consider it part of repentance.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Repentance and the Church

It is true that repentance is a work within the heart involving regret and a resolution to abandon the sin in addition to the actual abandoning of sin practically and from the heart. Yet repentance is completed inside the Church by confession and the absolution. The sinner is to confess his sins and the priest is to read the absolution and give the forgiveness, following the Lord's words: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John.20: 22,23).

This is also followed by the guidance that the penitent receives from his spiritual father in order to remain in his penitence.

As for our Protestant brethren, they present repentance as being completely independent from the Church. It is an
individual act, with no relation with priesthood because they do not believe in priesthood but they believe in the direct relationship with God.

Regarding this point, our Protestant brethren are divided into two groups:

(a) A group which openly rejects confession and priesthood. This is the weaker group because it is so open that those who are steadfast in their belief will be aware of it. Also the notions of this group are clear and can be replied to.

(b) The second group does not speak against confession or priesthood or the Eucharist, but its followers try to make people forget these sacraments by not talking about them and by presenting alternatives, For example, they say: “You are in need of repentance and in need to return to God. Go and cast yourself at God's feet; leave your sins to Him to erase by His blood and immediately you will come out justified as if you had not sinned before. He washes you and you will become whiter than snow.”

They do not speak about the importance of confession or the absolution or the Eucharist; they leave them out to make people forget about them. At the same time, they use spiritual words and thus deceive many naive people. This is an obscure way and it is our duty to reveal it to people.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

It is true that repentance is a work within the heart involving regret and a resolution to abandon the sin in addition to the actual abandoning of sin practically and from the heart. Yet repentance is completed inside the Church by confession and the absolution. The sinner is to confess his sins and the priest is to read the absolution and give the forgiveness, following the Lord's words: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John.20: 22,23).

This is also followed by the guidance that the penitent receives from his spiritual father in order to remain in his penitence.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

As for our Protestant brethren, they present repentance as being completely independent from the Church. It is an individual act, with no relation with priesthood because they do not believe in priesthood but they believe in the direct relationship with God.

Regarding this point, our Protestant brethren are divided into two groups:

(a) A group which openly rejects confession and priesthood. This is the weaker group because it is so open that those who are steadfast in their belief will be aware of it. Also the notions of this group are clear and can be replied to.

(b) The second group does not speak against confession or priesthood or the Eucharist, but its followers try to make people forget these sacraments by not talking about them and by presenting alternatives, For example, they say: “You are in need of repentance and in need to return to God. Go and cast yourself at God's feet; leave your sins to Him to erase by His blood and immediately you will come out justified as if you had not sinned before. He washes you and you will become whiter than snow.”

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Repentance and salvation

Many of our Protestant brethren try to separate repentance from the subject of salvation. When they concentrate on Christ's Blood, they say to people: “You are saved by the Blood of Christ and not by repentance. Repentance is one of the deeds and you cannot be saved by deeds.”

We do not deny that salvation is completed by the Blood of Christ. But there is no salvation without repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ says: “...unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Lk.13: 3).

Repentance is necessary for salvation because nobody is without sin. As long as there is sin, then there is punishment for sin, and the wages of sin is death. There is no salvation from that death except through repentance. Repentance makes us worthy of Christ's Blood; “unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Many of our Protestant brethren try to separate repentance from the subject of salvation. When they concentrate on Christ's Blood, they say to people: “You are saved by the Blood of Christ and not by repentance. Repentance is one of the deeds and you cannot be saved by deeds.”

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

We do not deny that salvation is completed by the Blood of Christ. But there is no salvation without repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ says: “...unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Lk.13: 3).