ምሥጢረ ንስሐ
፩. ብሂል፦
ንስሐ ማለት ነሰሐ ተጸጸተ፥ ተመለሰ ካለው ከግእዝ ቃል የወጣ ነው፥ ይኸም ምሥጢር ከጥምቀት በኋላ የተሠራውን ማንኛውንም ኃጢአት ለማስተሠርይ የሚፈጸም ምሥጢር ነው:: ከኃጢአት ንጹሕ የሚሆን የሰው ወገን በምድር ሊኖር አይችልም፥ የሰው ልጅ በምድር ላይ ዕድሜው አንድ ቀን ቢሆንም እንኳን በዚያኑ ጊዜ ብዙ እንደሚበድል ኃጢ አትም እንደሚሠራ የታወቀ ነው:: ስለዚህ ማንኛውም ሰው በየጊዜው ንስሐ መግባት ከክፉ ሥራው መጸጸት መመለስ በግድ አለበት፥ በዚህም በምሥጢረ ንስሐ አማካይነት ሰው ሁሉ ከራሱ ከአምላክ የኃጢአትን ይቅርታ ያገኛል ጸጋውን በረከቱንም ይታደላል፡፡
፪. የምሥጢረ ንስሐ አመሠራረት:-
ምሥጢረ ንስሐን የመሠረተ፥ ያዘዘ፥ ያስተማረ መድኃኒታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ነው፥ ከሁሉ በፊት "ንስሐ ግቡ መንግሥተ ሰማያት ቀርባለችና" እያለ ማስተማርን ጀመረ'፡፡ ኃጢአትን ማስተሥረይ ይቅርታን ማድረግ ሥልጣን ያለው ሰው የሆነው አምላክ ብቻ ነው፥ ስለዚህ እርሱ ሁሉን ይቅር ለማለት ወደ ምድር መጣ፥ ስለዚህም ሁሉን ይቅር አለ:: ከዚህ በኋላ ግን ሥልጣኑን ለደቀመዛሙርቱ ሰጣቸውና እናንተ ይቅር ያላችሁትን እኔም ይቅር እለዋለሁ፥ እናንተ በደሉን የያዛችሁበትን ግን እኔም እይዝበታለሁ እያለ ሐዋርያትን የሥልጣን ባለቤት አደረጋቸው:: ጴጥሮስ የእምነት ኑዛዜ ወይም ምስክርነት ቃል አድርጎ "አንተ ክርስቶስ የሕያው የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ ነህ" ብሎ በተናገረ ጊዜ ከተሰጠው የብፅዕና ቃል ጋር ኃጢአትን የማስተሥርይ ሥልጣንም አብሮ ሰጥቶታል፡፡ እንዲሁም ለሌሎች ሐዋርያት እኩል የሆነ ሥልጣን እንደሰጣቸው ኃጢአትንም ለማስተሠርይ እንደሚችሉ ለማጠየቅ "እውነት እላችኋለሁ በምድር ያሠራችሁት በሰማይ የታሠረ ይሆናል፤ በምድርም የፈታችሁት በሰማይ የተፈታ ይሆናል"፥ ሲል ሰማያዊ ሥልጣኑን ለተከታዮቹ ሁሉ እኩል ሰጥቷቸዋልʻ:: በዚህ መልክ ክርስቶስ በሚያስተምርበት ጊዜ በተለያዩ አጋጣሚዎች ሁሉ ሲናገር የቆየውን ከሙታን ተለይቶ እንደተነሣ ለሐዋርያት የሰላምን ቃል ካስተላለፈላቸው በኋላ የሰጣቸው የተስፋ ቃል ኃጢአት ለማስተሥርይ ሥልጣን እንደተሰጣቸው ነው:: እርሱንም እንዲህ ሲል ተናግሮታል "ይኸንንም ብሎ እፍ አለባቸው፥ አላቸውም መንፈስ ቅዱስን ተቀበሉ ኃጢአቱን የተዋችሁለት ቀረችለት፥ ያየዛችሁበትም ሰው ተያዘችበት":: በዚህ መልክ ምሥጢረ ንስሐን መድኃኒታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ መሠረተው አስፈላጊነቱንም አፈጻጸሙንም እርሱው ገለጠው::
፫. የምሥጢረ ንስሐ አፈጻጸም:-
የሚፈጸመው የክርስቶስ ወኪል በሆነው በኤጲስ ቆጶሱና በካህኑም ነው፥ ሥልጣኑን የሰጣቸው ለነዚህ ነውና። ከላይ እንደተመለከተው ይቅር ባይና ይቅርታ ገንዘቡ የሆነው አምላክ ምሥጢረ ንስሐ ብቻ ቢሆንም ሥልጣኑን ለሐዋርያት ሲሰጥ እናንተ በምድር የፈታችሁት በሰማይ የተፈታ ይሆናል እናንተ በምድር ያሠራችሁት በሰማይ የታሠረ ይሆናል ሲል መላልሶ ተናግሯል፡፡ ብኦሪትም ጊዜ ቢሆን ስለ ኃጢአት ይጸልዩና ያስተሠርዩም ዘንድ ሥልጣን የነበራቸው ካህናተ ኦሪት ነበሩ፥ በዚህ መሠረት ክርስቶስ ሲያስተምር ለምጽ የያዘውን ሰው ከፈወሰው በኋላ ራሱን ለካህን እንዲያስመረምር "ሂድ ራስህን ለካህን አስመርምር" ሲል አዞታል'፡፡ በዚህን ጊዜ ራሱ እንደፈወሰው ራሱም ይቅር እንዳለው የታወቀ ሲሆን በዚያው ሊበቃና ሊቀር ይችል ነበር፤ ነገር ግን ኦሪታዊው ሕግ ለአዲሱ ሕግ ምሳሌ ስለሆነ ራስህን ለካህን አስመርምር በማለት ቀዋሚ ትእዛዝን ሰጠ፡፡ ለመላእክት ያልተሰጠው ሥልጣን ለካህናት ተሰጥቷል፥ ` ምድራዊ ካህን የወሰነውን ሰማያዊ ንጉሥ ያጸናዋልና፡፡
፬. ንስሐና ኑዛዜ:-
ንስሐ ማለት አንድ ሰው በሠራው ኃጢ ኣት በአደረገውም ስሕተት ሁሉ መጸጸት ማዘን ነው፡፡ እንዲሁም ይኸን የሚጸጸትበትንና ሌላም እርሱን የመሰለ በደል እንደ ማይሠራ ሐሳቡን ቆርጦ መጣል፥ ወደ ኃጢአት ያዘነበለው ስሜቱን መግታት ማለት ነው:፡ በጠቅላላም የክርስቶስ ወገን ሆንኩኝ፥ ሥጋውን ከሥጋዬ፥ ደሙን ከደሜ አዋሃድኩኝ እርሱን ተዋሃድኩኝ ካልኩኝ በኋላ እንዴት እንደዚህ ያለ በደል በድዬ አምላኬን አሳዘንኩኝ፥ እኔስ እንዴት ከተስፋው ውጭ ሆንኩኝ እያሉ ማልቀስ ወደፊት ግን ከኃጢአት ፈጽሞ ለመራቅ ቆርጦ መነሣት ነው፡፡ ኑዛዜ ማለት¸ ደግሞ በካህኑ ፊት ቀርቦ ራስን እየከሰሱና እየወቀሱ ሲሠራ ያላፈረውን ኃጢአት ለካህኑ ሲናገርና ሲናዘዝ ሳያፍር ኃጢአቱንም ከነመነሻ ምክንያቱ ከነአፈጻጸሙም መናገር መለፍለፍ ማለት ነው:: በዚህም ጊዜ ማመን ያለበት ካህኑና ተነሣሂው ሰውየ በመካነ ኑዛዜው ተገኝተው እንዲሁም ተነሣሒውን ይቅር ለማለት አምላክ ፫ኛ ሆኖ በመካከላቸው እንዳለና ተነሣሂው ለካህኑ ሲናገር አምላክ እንደሚሰማና እንደሚመለከት ይቅርም እንዲለው አምኖ መናዘዝ አለበት፡፡ አንድ ሰው ንስሐ ሲገባ እንደዚህ ባለው መንገድ መሆን አለበት፥ ማለት በደሉ የሚሠረይለት በበደሉ ተጸጽቶ አዝኖ ወደፊት እንደዚህ ያለውንና የመሰለውን በደል ሁሉ እንደማይሠራ አምኖ ሲቀርብ ብቻ ነው፡፡ እንዲሁም እርሱ በሰው ላይ ያለውን ቅሬታ ሁሉ ትቶ የበደለውን ይቅር ብሎ ይቅር ወደሚለው አምላክ መቅረብ አለበት፥ በዚህን ጊዜ
፩ኛ እርሱ ይቅር ብሎ ስለ ቀረበ አምላክም እርሱን ይቅር ይለዋል፡፡
፪ኛ. ለካህናት በመናዘዙ በመጸጸቱ ክርስቶስ በሰጠው ቃል ኪዳን መሠረት ካህኑ ጸልዮ እግዚአብሔር ይቅር ይበልህ፥ እግዚአብሔር ይፍታህ ሲል ከረቀቀውና ከጎላው ሲታወቀው በድፍረት፥ ሳይታወቀውም በስሕተት ከሠራው ኃጢአት ማሠሪያ ሁሉ ይፈታል፥ ፍጹም ይቅርታን ከእግዚአብሔር ያገኛል፡፡ ንስሐ ዘማዊውን እንደ ድንግል፥ ኃጢአተኛውን እንደ ጻድቅ፥ በደለኛውን እንዳልበደለ ያደርጋል፡፡ ስለዚህ ክርስቲያን ሁሉ በየጊዜው ኃጢአቱን ለካህኑ መናዘዝ ተገቢ ነው፡፡ ንስሐ መግባት ማዘን፥ ማልቀስ ስለአለበት እንባውን ባፈሰሰ ቁጥር ውሃ እንደመታጠብ፥ ከዕድፍም እንደ መጥራት ይሆናል፥ የነፍስን ጽርየት ያገኛል፥ ስለዚህ ለሁሉም ንስሐ መግባት መናዘዝ በግድ ያስፈልጋል፡፡
፭. የንስሐ ምሥጢርነት:-
ንስሐ የገባው ሰው እንዴት ይቅርታን እንደሚያገኝ ኃጢአቱ እንደሚሠረይለት አይታይም አይመረመርም፥ ምሥጢር ነውና፡፡ በእግዚአብሔር ቃል በካህኑ ሥልጣን በጸሎት እንደሚሠረይ ብቻ እናምናለን፥ ስለዚህም ንስሐ እንገባለን፡፡ በዚህም ምሥጢር አፈጻጸም የሚታይ አገልግሎት የማይታይ ጸጋ ይገኝበታል፥ ይኸውም ተነሣሒው ሰውየ በካህኑ ፊት ቀርቦ ራሱን ሲከስና ሲያለቅስ፥ ከእግዚአብሔር ምሕረትን ደጅ ሲጠና ካህኑም ልብሰ ተክህኖውን ለብሶ በመካነ ንስሐው ላይ ተገኝቶ የተነሣሒውን ኑዛዜ ሰምቶ ንስሐውን ተመልክቶ የኃጢአቱን ሥርየት ለመስጠት ሲጸልይለት ይታያል፥ ነገር ግን ከበደሉ ሲነፃ፥ ሥርየትን ሲያገኝ፥ የጠፋው` ጸጋው ሲመለስለት፥ ልጅነቱ ሲታደስለት አይታይም፡፡ ሆኖም በዚህ በሚታየው የምሥጢር አገልግሎት የማይታይ ጸጋው እንደሚገኝ እናምናለን፡፡
፮. ቀኖና እና ንስሐ:-
ቀኖና ማለት ተነሳሒውን ሰው ሕጋዊ መንገድን ማስያዝ ማለት ነው:: ሰውየው ወዶም ወይም ሳይወድም ከእውነተኛው መንገድ ተናውጦ፥ ከሕገ እግዚአብሔር ወጥቶ ይቆይና በንስሐ አማካይነት ወደ ቀደመው ክርስቲያናዊ እውነተኛ መንገድ ሲገባ የሚሰጠው ቅጣት ቀኖና ይባላል፡፡ ለመታረምና እውነተኛ ክርስቲያን እንደቀደመው ለመሆን የተለያዩ ቅጣቶች በጥንት ቤተ ክርስቲያን ይሰጡ ነበር፡፡ እነዚህም ቅጣቶች በቤተ ክርስቲያን ልሳን ቀኖና ተብለዋል፥ ዛሬም በየቤተ ክርስቲያኑ እንደ ተጠበቁ ይገኛሉ፡፡ ቀኖና ከጥንት ከሐዋርያት ጊዜ ጀምሮ የነበረ፥ ጥንታዊትና ሐዋርያዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያን ትፈጽመው የነበረ የቤተ ክርስቲያን ሥነ ሥርዓት ነበር፡፡ ይኽንንም ቅዱስ ጳውሎስ እንዲህ ሲል ሲያስተምር እናገኘዋለን "እላንት ከዚህ ጋር ተጓደዳችሁ አልወቀሳችሁም እንደሚገባችሁ መጠን፥ ይኸን ሥራ የሠራ ሰው ከላንተ ይርቅ ዘንድ እኔ ግን ከላንት በሥጋ ብርቅ በመንፈስ ከላንት ጋር ነኝ፡፡ አሁንም ፈርጃለሁ ከላንት ጋር እንደነበርሁ ይኸንንም እንዲሁ በሠራው ላይ…"⁹:: እንግዲህ ከማኅበረ ክርስቲያን የተለየ ክፉ ሥራ የሠራ ሰው ሁሉ ከማኅበረ ክርስቲያን እንዲለይ ለጊዜያዊ ለዘለዓለምም ይቀጣ ነበር፡፡ ይኸን የመሰለው ቅጣት በቀጥታ አሁን የሚፈጸም ሳይሆን ለተነሣሒው መታረሚያ እንዲሆን ብቻ ለጊዜው ለእርሱ የሚጠቅሙ ቀኖናዎች ይሰጣሉ፥ ለምሳሌ፥ ለተወሰኑ ዕለታት ቅዱስ መጽሐፍን ማንበብ፥ የተወሰኑ አብያተ ክርስቲያናትን መሳለም እንደ አክሱም፥ ግሼን፥ ዋልድባ፥ ደብረ ሊባኖስ፥ ዝቋላ ይኸንም የመሳሰሉትን፡፡ ከንብረቱ ምጽዋት እንዲሰጥ፥ ጾም እንዲጾም ማድረግ ለተወሰነ ጊዜም ከቅዱሱ ነገር ሁሉ እንዲርቅ ይወሰንበታል፡፡ ይኸን የመሰለውን የቀኖና ጊዜና የቀኖና ዓይነት ተነሣሒው እንደፈጸመ ተከልክሎትም ከነበረው ቅዱስ ነገር ሁሉ ተሳታፊ ይሆናል፥ ፍጹም ክርስቲያን ሆኖ እንደሌላው ሁሉ በቤተ ክርስቲያን ዓባልነቱ የምሥጢራት ሁሉ ተካፋይ ይሆናል፡
፯. የንስሐ ጥቅም
ንስሐ ከጥምቀት በኋላ ከተሠራው ኃጢአት ሁሉ ያነጻል፥ ንስሐ ያረጀውን አካለ ነፍስ ያድሳል፥ የቆሸሸውን አካለ ነፍስ ያነጻል፡፡ ንስሐ በሰውና በእግዚአብሔር መካከል የነበረውን የኃጢአት ግድግዳ ያፈርሳል፡፡ ሰውንና እግዚአብሔርን ያስተያያል ልቦናቸው የነፃ እግዚአብሔርን ያዩታልና፡፡ ነፍሳቸው የጸራላቸው ምእመናን ሁሉ የማይታየውን አምላክ እንደ ሚያዩ ራሱ ክርስቶስ ተናግሯልº::
እንግዲህ ማንኛውም ሰው በምሥጢረ ንስሐ ለመታደስ፥ በምሥጢረ ንስሐ ጸጋን ለማግኘት መጣጣር አለበት:: የምሥጢራት ሁሉ ተካፋይ ለመሆን ምሥጢረ ንስሐን መፈጸም አለበት፥ ንስሐ ገብቶ ኃጢአቱን ለካህኑ ከተናዘዘ ለማንኛውም- ምሥጢራተ ቤተ ክርስቲያን የቀረበ እንደሆነ እንደ ዓላማው ለመፈጸም ይቻላል::
The Sacrament of Repentance (Penance)
1. Definition
Repentance is derived from the Ge'ez word 'nessihā(ነሰሐ)', which means to regret, be sorry, and turn back. This is a Sacrament performed to remit any sin committed after Baptism. It is impossible for any human being to live on earth without sin. It is known that even if a person's life on earth is but one day, they will sin and commit many transgressions during that time. Therefore, every person must confess and repent from their evil deeds regularly and return from them. Through this Sacrament of Repentance, everyone receives the forgiveness of sin from God and is renewed in His grace and blessing.
2. The Establishment of the Sacrament of Repentance
Our Savior Jesus Christ is the one who founded, commanded, and taught the Sacrament of Repentance. First and foremost, He began to teach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." The only one with the authority to forgive and remit sin is God, who became human. Therefore, He came to earth to forgive all, and thus He forgave all.
After this, He gave His authority to His disciples, saying, "I will forgive those you forgive, and I will hold to their sin those you hold to," thus making the Apostles possessors of the authority. When Peter made the confession or testimony of faith, saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," the authority to remit sins was given along with the declaration of blessedness he received. To show that He gave equal authority to the other Apostles and that they can also forgive sins, He gave His heavenly authority equally to all His followers, saying, "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." The promise He gave to the Apostles after delivering the word of peace to them upon His resurrection from the dead, which He had often spoken of while teaching on various occasions, was that they had been given the authority to remit sin. He spoke it to them in this manner: "When he had said this, he breathed on them and said, '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.'" In this way, our Savior Jesus Christ established the Sacrament of Repentance, and He Himself revealed its necessity and its performance.
3. The Performance of the Sacrament of Repentance
It is performed by the Bishop and the priest, who are the agents of Christ, for it is to them that He gave the authority. As seen above, even though God is the only one whose nature is forgiveness and who owns forgiveness, when He gave the authority to the Apostles, He repeatedly said, "whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven." Even during the time of the Old Covenant (Torah/Orit), the priests of Orit (Levitical priests) had the authority to pray for and remit sins. Based on this, when Christ was teaching, after He healed a man with leprosy, He commanded him to go and show himself to the priest, saying, "Go, show yourself to the priest." At that time, it was known that He had healed him and forgiven him, and that could have been enough and final. However, because the Old Covenant law was a type (example) for the New Law, He gave a permanent commandment by saying, "Go, show yourself to the priest." The authority that was not given to the angels was given to the priests, for the heavenly King confirms what the earthly priest decides.
4. Repentance and Confession
Repentance means to be sorry and grieve for all the sins a person has committed and the mistakes they have made. It also means deciding not to commit the sin they are repenting for, or any similar transgression, and restraining the passion that inclines them towards sin. Generally, it means crying out, "After I became a member of Christ, having united His flesh to my flesh and His blood to my blood, and being united with Him, how could I sin like this and displease my God? How did I become excluded from His promise?" and then resolving to completely refrain from sin in the future.
Confession (Nuzaaze) means appearing before the priest, accusing and blaming oneself, and speaking or babbling out the sin, along with its initial cause and manner of execution, which one was not ashamed to commit, without being ashamed to tell the priest. At this time, the confessor must believe that the priest and the penitent person are present in the place of confession, and that God is present as the third party between them to forgive the penitent. The confessor must confess believing that God hears and sees when the penitent speaks to the priest, and that He will forgive him. A person must repent in this way, meaning their transgression will only be remitted when they appear, regretting and grieving their sin, and believing that they will not commit such or similar transgressions in the future. Also, they must leave all their grievances against others, forgive those who wronged them, and come before the God who forgives. At that time, firstly, because they have forgiven and come, God will also forgive them.
Through confession to the priests and repentance, according to the covenant Christ gave, when the priest prays, saying, "May God forgive you, May God loose you," the person is freed from all the bonds of sin, whether committed knowingly in clear or subtle ways, or unknowingly through error, and receives complete forgiveness from God. Repentance makes a harlot like a virgin, a sinner like a righteous person, and an offender as if they had not offended. Therefore, it is appropriate for every Christian to confess their sin to the priest regularly. Since repentance involves grieving and weeping, every time one sheds tears, it is like being washed with water and cleansed from defilement, and one receives the purity of the soul. Therefore, repentance and confession are absolutely necessary for everyone.
5. The Mystical Nature of Repentance
How a person who repents receives forgiveness and how their sin is remitted is neither seen nor examined, for it is a mystery (sacrament). We only believe that it is remitted by the word of God, by the authority of the priest, and through prayer, and that is why we repent. In the performance of this Sacrament, there is a visible ministry and an invisible grace. That is, the penitent person is seen appearing before the priest, accusing and weeping, and seeking God's mercy; and the priest is seen wearing his vestments and being present in the place of repentance, hearing the penitent's confession, observing their repentance, and praying for the remission of their sin. However, the moment they are cleansed from their sin, receive remission, their lost grace is restored, and their sonship is renewed, is not seen. Nevertheless, we believe that through this visible ministry of the Sacrament, the invisible grace is obtained.
6. Canon (Qänoona) and Repentance
Canon means to put the penitent person on the lawful path. When a person, willingly or unwillingly, deviates from the true path and the law of God, and then returns to the former Christian true path through repentance, the penalty given is called Canon (Qänoona). In the ancient Church, various penalties were given for correction and to become a true Christian as before. These penalties were called Canon in the language of the Church and are still kept in the churches today. Canon was a Church discipline that existed since the time of the Apostles and was practiced by the ancient and Apostolic Church. We find that St. Paul taught this, saying, "And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the man who did such a thing..." Therefore, every person who committed an evil deed that separated them from the Christian community was punished temporarily and eternally to be separated from the Christian community. Punishment of this kind is not directly performed now, but rather, for the correction of the penitent, temporary Canons that are beneficial to them are given. For example, reading the Holy Book for a specific number of days, making pilgrimages to certain churches such as Axum, Gishen, Waldiba, Däbrä Libanos, Ziquala, and the like. It may be determined that they should give alms from their property, fast, and refrain from all holy things for a certain period. Once the penitent fulfills this determined time and type of Canon, they become a participant in all the holy things from which they were restricted, and as a complete Christian, they become a partaker of all the Sacraments, like everyone else in the Church membership.
7. The Benefit of Repentance
Repentance cleanses from all sin committed after Baptism. Repentance renews the aged inner self (soul) and cleanses the stained inner self (soul). Repentance tears down the wall of sin that was between man and God. It makes man and God see each other, for those with a pure heart shall see God. Christ Himself said that all the faithful whose souls are cleansed shall see the invisible God. Therefore, every person must strive to be renewed through the Sacrament of Repentance and to receive grace through the Sacrament of Repentance. To partake in all the Sacraments, one must perform the Sacrament of Repentance. If one repents and confesses their sin to the priest, they can proceed to perform any of the Church's Sacraments according to their purpose.