PENANCE (Lat. prnitentia), in Roman Catholic theology, means the voluntary or accepted self-inflicted punishment by which a repentant sinner manifests his sorrow for sin, and 'seeks to atone for the sin, and to avert the punishment which, even after the guilt has been remitted, may still remain due to the offense. Penance is believed in the Roman Catholic church to be one of the sacraments of the uew law. It will he nec essary to explain it briefly both under its relations as a sacrament, and as a private per sonal exercise.
Penance must be carefully distinguished from repentance, which is simply sorrow for evil-doihg, accompanied with a purpose of amendment. Penance is the fruit or the manifestation of this sorrow, and it is commonly accompanied or expressed by some of those external acts which are the natural manifestations of any deep sorrow, either nega tive, as the neglect of ordinary attention to dress, to the care of the person, to the use of food; or positive, as the direct acts of personal mortification and self-inflicted pain, such as fasting, wearing hair-cloth, strewing the head with ashes, watching of nights, sleeping hard, etc. Such manifestations of sorrow, whether from motives•of religion or from merely natural causes, are common among the eastern races. and are frequently alluded to in the Scripture. In the personal practice of the early Christians, penance found a prominent place, and the chief and acknowledged object of the stated fasts (q.v.), and other works of mortification which prevailed, was that of penitential correction, or of the manifestation of sorrow for sin.
A still more striking use of penance, in the early church, was the disciplin ary one; and this, in the Roman Catholic view, is connected with the sacramental char acter of penance. Any discussion of this purely theological question would be out of place here, and it will be enough to state briefly that Roman Catholics number penance among the seven sacraments (q.v.), and believe it to be of direct divine institution (Matt. xvi. 19, xviii. 18; John xx. 21). The matter of this sacrament consists, in their view, of the three acts of the penitent—contrition, or heartfelt sorrow for sin, as being an offense against God; confession, or detailed accusation of one's self to a priest approved for the purpose; and satisfaction, or the acceptance of certain penitential works, in atonement of the sin confessed; and the form of the sacrament is the sentence of absolution from sin pronounced by the priest who has received the confession, and has been satisfied of the penitential disposition of the self-accusing sinner. In all these points, of course, they are at issue with Protestants. Even in the apostolic times, the practice prevailed of excluding persons of scandalous life from the spiritual fellowship of the Christian community (see EXCOMMUNICATION); and without attempting to fix the date, it may be stated as certain, from the authority of TertnIlinn and other writers, that front a very early time the persons so excluded were subjected to certain penitential refc bilious. The class of offenders so treated were those who had been notoriously guilty of the grievous crimes of idolatry or apostasy, murder, adultery, and other scandalous offenses. The period of penitential probation differed in different times and places, but in general was graduated according to the enormity of the sin, sonic going so far in their rigor (sec NovA'rtAt) as, contrary to the clearly-expressed sense of the to carry it even beyond the grave. In the earlier ages, much depended hpon the spirit of each particular church or country; but about the 4th c. the public penitential discipline assumed a settled form, which, especially as established in the Greek church, is so curi ous teat it deserves to be briefly described. Sinners of the classes already referred to had their names enrolled, and were (in some churches, after having made a preliminary con fession to a priest appointed for the purpose) admitted, with a blessing and other cere monial, by the bishop to the rank of penitents. This enrollment appears to have coin
moldy taken place on the first day of Lent. The penitents so enrolled were arranged in four grades, called-1. (Gr. prosklaiontes, Let. flentes) "Weepers;" 2. (Gr. akroomenoi, Lat. audientes) 8. (Gr. hypopiptontes, Let. prosternente3) "Prostrators;" 4. (Gr. systantes, Lat. conststentes) " Standers." Of these classes, the first were obliged to remain outside of the church at the time of public worship, and to ask the prayers of the faithful as they entered. The second were permitted to enter and to remain in the and during the time appointed for the catechumens (q.v.); but, like them, were required to depart before the commencement of the solemn part of the liturgy (q.v.). The third were p&xmitted to pray with the rest, but kneeling or prostrate, and for them were pre scribed ninny other acts of mortification. The fourth were permitted to pray with the rest in a standing posture, although apparently in a distinct part of the church; but they were excluded from making offerings with the rest, and still more from receiving the communion. The time to be spent in each of these grades at first differed very much according to times and circumstances, but was afterwards regulated by elaborate .laws, called penitential canons. Still it was in the power of the bishop to abridge or to pro iong it, a power, the exercise of which is connected with the historical origin of the practice of indulgence (q.v.). Of these four grades, the first two hardly appear in the western church. It is a subject of controversy whether, and how far, this discipline was extended to other than public sinners; but it seems certain that individuals, not publicly known as sinners, voluntarily enrolled themselves among the penitents. All four grades wore a distinguishing penitential dress, in which they appeared on all occasions of pub lic worship, and were obliged to observe certain rules of life, to renounce certain indul gences and luxuries, and to practice certain austerities. In some churches they were employed in the care of the sick, the burial of the dead, and other of the more laborious works of charity. The penitent, in ordinary cases, could only be restored to communion by the bishop who had excluded him, and this only at the expiration of the appointed time, unless the bishop himself had shortened it; but, in case of dangerous illness, he might be restored, with the condition, however, that, if he recovered from the illness, the whole course of penance should be completed. The reconciliation of penitents took place commonly in Holy Week, and was publicly performed by the bishop in the church, with prayer and hnposition of hands. It was followed by the administration of commun ion. If any of the clergy were guilty of a crime to which public penance was annexed, they were first deposed from the rank of the clergy, and then subjected to the ordeal, like the laity themselves. This public discipline continued in force with greater or less exactness in the 5th, Gth, and 7th centuries, gradually, however, being replaced by semi public, and ultimately by private penance. In the 11th and 12th centuries the public penance had entirely disappeared. The nature and origin of private penance is a subject oVeontroversy between Catholics and Protestants; the former contending that it had existed from the first, and that it held the same place even in the ages of public penance for secret sins which the public penance did for public offenses. At all events, from the date of the cessation of the public discipline, it has existed universally in the Roman church. The priest, in absolving the penitent, imposes upon him the obligation of recit inf.: certain prayers, undergoing certain works of mortification, or performing certain devotional exercises. These acts of the penitent are held to form an integral part of the sacrament of penance.