Forgiveness Sunday 2023: from whom and how to ask for forgiveness

It comes to us every year on the eve of the first day of Lent. In 2023 – February 26. Why doesn’t Forgiveness Sunday have a specific date on the calendar? Because the beginning of Lent falls on different days of February or March, depending on the date of the Resurrection of Christ – Easter.

For a long time there has been a belief among our people (and quite rightly so) that if there is no mutual forgiveness of offenses, then fasting, reduced to a simple abstinence from food, loses its lofty meaning. No matter how long it is, Lent lasts for seven whole weeks! – asceticism and deprivation may not be counted by God as deeds of faith and repentance. Therefore, it is necessary first of all to forgive others and ask for forgiveness yourself. As a consequence of this approach – the emergence of the traditions of Forgiveness Sunday.

In the morning, at a divine service in a church, a priest or deacon reads, among others, a passage from the Gospel of Matthew: “For if you forgive people their sins, then your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive people their sins, yours will not forgive you your trespasses.”

Holiday traditions

Since Forgiveness Sunday is the last day of Shrovetide, when the people celebrate the farewell to winter and, finally, before Lent they “speak” with a hearty meal, many believers and not very believers visit each other. Or, at worst, they congratulate relatives and acquaintances by phone, in e-mails. This is where it would be nice to ask “in passing” forgiveness from your counterparts. It does not matter for what – it is not at all necessary to formulate your specific guilt. The interlocutor will understand everything. It would be nice, of course, to keep in mind your faults and promise not to commit them again.

How to ask for forgiveness and from whom

Ideally, everyone asks for forgiveness from everyone, admits their guilt to other people and vows to repeat past bad deeds. Well, first of all… The logic here is simple, worldly: first of all, the strong repent before the weak, the rich – before the poor, the healthy – before the sick, the young – before the elderly. It would be good for bosses to remember their excessive severity or tyranny in relation to subordinates and ask for forgiveness by phone. And yet – usually on this day it is easier than on other days to forgive debts – at least for those debtors who are in a difficult financial situation. And enter Great Lent with a clear conscience, light.