Address of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to the rank of forgiveness in Christ the Savior Cathedral – Official web-site of the Moscow Patriarchate

March 13, 2016 23:05

the evening of March 13, 2016, the Sunday Cheesefare (Forgiveness Sunday), the memory of Adam exile, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill celebrates Vespers with the rite of forgiveness in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. After the dismissal of Vespers of the Russian Orthodox Church appealed to the faithful to primatial word.

in the Father and the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

Today’s evening worship we enter the arena of Great Lent. The meaning of fasting is to change the human heart and mind. Each of us needs a change, because the main factor and the main reason which caused the deterioration of our inner state, the emergence of the spiritual diseases is a sin. A change for the better a person’s inner state means liberation from sin

That is why the holy fathers, and indicate that the meaning of Lent -. Repentance. When we repent before God frankly, when we receive the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of Confession and the Eucharist, we are freed from their sins, and there comes a real change for the better. But there is an indispensable repentance effectiveness condition, and in today’s Gospel reading, which the Church offers us in the morning during the Divine Liturgy, contains the amazing power of words: «For if ye forgive men their trespasses, forgive you your Father in heaven; if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father will not forgive your trespasses » (Matthew 6: 14-15.). In other words, repentance is a prerequisite for forgiveness, we are asking other people.

An indispensable condition of repentance is also our ability to forgive the other person. Everyone knows from experience that it’s not easy. Just as there is no real conflict, when it is not affected by the mind and senses, when not excited by negative emotions – then it looks like the exchange of greetings and courtesies. We tell each other: “I’m sorry for Christ’s sake” and easy answer: “God will forgive” But quite a different feeling embraces us when we meet with someone who really hurt us or those we have offended. That’s when you need to perform the spiritual feat, stepping over their pride through their understanding of the truth, often false, execute is what we now call the gospel Word of the Lord himself.

Chin forgiveness after the evening worship on the Sunday Cheesefare and is a wonderful appeal to all people of the Church to forgive the offender, and to ask for forgiveness from the one offended. But it is not bad that we deal with such words of forgiveness to those with whom we do not have an explicit conflict. That’s good, because nobody knows what is happening in the mind of the man, whom we did not believe his opponent, the enemy, to whom do not experience negative feelings. It may be that the other person, unknown to us, experienced such feelings. Therefore, asking for forgiveness from the people with whom we like are not in a quarrel or a conflict, we help them to get rid of these thoughts.

The Church attaches great importance to rank forgiveness and calls to that forgiveness was not formal, so it really was a conscious act of our free will, directed to ensure that the will of God, and to forgive another – so that the Lord has forgiven us.

I I would like to ask all of you to forgive me, because maybe some of my words and actions of someone perceived as inflicting a wound and sorrow. I have never been, and never will be thoughts consciously cause someone injury or affliction, but maybe, just so accepted my words and actions. So I have each of you and the whole Church now seeks forgiveness. Forgive me, a sinner!

The press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia