EPITIMIA AND THE WAYS OF ITS APPLICATION IN THE CHURCH
/EPITÍMIA A SPÔSOBY JEJ UPLATŇOVANIA V CIRKVI/

Vasyl KUZMYK

Press Department Secretary, Office of the Metropolitan Council of the Orthodox Church in Slovakia, Presov, Slovak Republic, Bayerova 8, 080 01 Presov, Slovakia, ocam@orthodox.sk, 00421517724736

Abstract

Epitimia is not a condition, a necessary rule, or a part of Holy Confession. It is not intended to satisfy God or to satisfy God's justice. Epitimia is meant to be primarily healing and educational. A question that is often addressed by both clergy and faithful is what is the norm of epithymia set for penitents by the canons of the Church. Epitimia assists the penitent in true repentance in the sense that the penitent, after holy confession, strives not to repeat the sins already confessed before God. The epithimia should alert the penitent to the seriousness of the sin. The cleric (confessing priest, bishop), in granting it, should take into account, above all, the spiritual state of the penitent, so that the epithymia may truly help the penitent to avoid the same sin. Such an attitude of the cleric in applying or not applying the epithimia has a firm canonical basis, resulting from the experience of the life of the Church.

Keywords

Epitimia, Church, cleric, priest, bishop, canon law

SUMMARY

The epitimia is meant to be primarily healing for the penitent. The biblical starting point for the cleric in relation to the establishment of epitimia for the penitent is the Gospel words of the Saviour Jesus Christ: 'Physician, heal thyself' (Lk 4:23), which many times in practice means that the cleric, before establishing the measure of epitimia, asks himself whether he personally would be able to fulfil it in the penitent's place. The nature of epitimia is educational. This is evidenced by the fact that epitimia is not applied literally. Its duration is not constant, but varies according to the individual case and in proportion to the penitent's penitence. According to the canon law of the Orthodox Church, it is not the time horizon that is valid in the application of epitimia, but the manifested repentance of the sinner and the making of reparation. In cases where the penitent is zealous in repentance and makes reparation of his life, it is possible to shorten the duration of the epitimia. St. Gregory of Nyssa, in his 4th and 5th Rule, says that if the penitent personally confesses the sin committed, the cleric may apply a more lenient epitimia compared to the penitent who has been convicted of the sin. Since epitimia is generally applied during Holy Confession, it is likewise subject to the confessional mystery for both the cleric and the penitent.

(Language: slovak)

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