Repentance, my brethren, is not only for those beginning their life with God, but is for everyone, even the saints. 

It is part of our daily prayers. Every person needs repentance, no matter how great his position or his spiritual level. We are all in need of repentance, in need of it every day, since we sin every day. For there is no person without sin, even if his life was one day on earth. With repentance, we prepare our hearts for the dwelling of God, and with purity, we will see God (Matt 5:8). Repentance is the beginning of the path towards God, it is a friend along the path till the end.

Repentance was therefore one of the fundamental topics, on which I lectured frequently since the beginning of my work as a Bishop of Christian Education approximately twenty years ago. I delivered many lectures on repentance in St. Mark's Hall in the Monastery of Anba Rewais, in the youth meetings and in university groups. Also, I presented other concentrated lectures at the Angel Church in Damanhour, at St. George's Church in Al-Mahala Al-Kobra and in other cities, especially between the years 1965 and 1969.

It was my wish for many years to publish a book on the life of repentance. I actually collated the lectures for it and presented them to the printers in August 1971 and three parts of it were published. But responsibilities of the Patriarchate preoccupied me from the book and from publishing any other book for a long time, in which the workload was great and did not give me a chance to write during these years. The time then came finally after 12 years when God willed for the book to be published.

As sin is separation from God, repentance then is returning to God.* God says: "Return to me, and I will return to you" (Mal 3:7). When the prodigal son repented, he returned to his father (Luke 15:18-20). True repentance is a human longing to the origin from which it was taken. It is the desire of a heart that stayed away from God, and felt that it cannot go any further away.

·For as sin is disputing with God, so repentance is reconciliation with God. * This is what our teacher Saint Paul stated about his apostolic work, saying: "Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading by us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" but through it God returns and dwells in the human heart transforming it to a heaven. As for those non-repentant, how can God dwell in their hearts while the sin is dwelling therein? The Bible says, "What communion has light with darkness?" (2 Cor 6:14).

The Life of Repentance and Purity
BY His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
Published by C.O.P.T
Copyright © 1990 by. C.O.P.T