Repentance is a way of on-going transfiguration for which one must struggle continually, in which one's heart and mind continuously receive illumination by the Holy Spirit. It is a continuous pathway, a perennial striving, and all-embracing motion, and not merely an occasional emotion. Though it is a mutual, cooperative endeavor between the human being and God, ultimately repentance, like faith, is a gift, a gift that a person either accepts or rejects. If a person is open to God and desires Him above all else, the Holy Trinity will come to dwell in that person and gradually transform the "heart of stone" into a "heart of flesh".+Archdeacon John Chryssavgis, from Soul Mending: The Art of Spiritual Direction, Chapter II: Repentance and Confession, The forgotten Mystery.
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