“The sacrament of confession is metanoia or transformation more than penitentia. Confession is understood as a ‘clinic,’ that is, a place of healing. That prayer before confession says: ‘You have come to the physician, may you not return without being healed.’ The epitimia or penance corrects, it is not a punishment. Once again, it is not so much the juridicial principal of ‘satisfaction’ as it is the fact of healing. St. John Chrysostom describes this quite precisely: ‘Time is of no matter. We do not ask if the wound has been treated often but if the treatment has been successful. The state of the wounded one indicates when the disease has been removed.’ ” (Paul Evdokimov, In the World, Of the Church, pgs. 12-13)
Fraternized 