Repentance is a Sacrament in which the one who confesses his sins, with a visible expression of forgiveness from the priest, is invisibly released from sins by Jesus Christ Himself.

Saint Theophan the Recluse (17th century) defines the rite and order of repentance as follows:

1) awareness of your sin before God;
2) reproaching oneself in this sin with full confession of one’s guilt, without shifting responsibility onto other people or circumstances;
3) determination to leave sin, to hate it, not to return to it, not to give it a place in oneself;
4) prayer to God for the forgiveness of sin, until the spirit is at peace.

1) Awareness of sin before God, i.e. not just a statement of sin, but a sin before God. This presupposes, firstly, faith, and secondly, a personal relationship with God, communication with Him, and communion with God. And this awareness is not a record of some formal violation, but a living feeling that sin has separated me from God, that what I have done is unpleasant to my God, I have grieved, offended, insulted God. Repentance is not digging into oneself and not cold self-report, but a living feeling that sin has separated me from God. He who does not have such a feeling is in danger of formalizing his inner life.
2) Reproach yourself, i.e. imputation of responsibility for sin. Very often we tend to shift responsibility to circumstances, to other people, to demons, and to justify ourselves; but it is important to realize that we are the ones who are wrong before God.
3) We need to make a decision to resist sin, not to return to it, no matter what it costs us. Without this, repentance will not be repentance, but will simply turn into some kind of hypocritical statement of fact. It is imperative to set yourself up to resist sin.
4) Pray to God for forgiveness, because on our own we can do nothing, but only the Lord forgives us, calms our heart, returns Himself to us and comforts us.

Repentant feelings should bring a person not despondency and despair, but the grace of the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Holy Spirit is testified in the soul by a subtle, peaceful, joyful, humble, quiet, cool, truly spiritual feeling that gives a person peace, love and freedom – and, as it were, “gathering” a person into an integral and harmonious being, into what he should be according to the plan of God. And this, as St. Macarius the Great writes, is the criterion for the correctness of any spiritual work: obedience, prayer, reading, going to church, good deeds, etc. If what we consider to be repentance brings to our souls not the grace of the Holy Spirit, but confusion, heaviness, a sense of guilt, then we misunderstand repentance.

Moreover, it must be said that repentance does not cover the entire inner work, it is a part of it, albeit the most important, constant, never ceasing; but not complete. Repentance is impossible without a living faith in God, without thanksgiving to God and without much more. It is sometimes said that repentance is the goal of spiritual life. True, repentance should dissolve, according to the word of Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), all our spiritual work, especially prayer. And the whole inner life, as an integral part, as a certain prerequisite, must include repentance. But repentance is not the goal of spiritual life, but, albeit the most important, but a means. The goal of spiritual life is communion with God, and it, as St. Theophan the Recluse, must be evidenced by feeling. “Not on wings or on legs, but by feeling we draw close to God” (blessed Augustine). Repentance, in fact, restores this feeling of communion with God: this is the main thing that takes place in this Sacrament and this is its place in spiritual life.