Penance
Doing penance usually refers to an act of self-punishment or self-humiliation to demonstrate that one is sorry for a committed wrong. This can be anything as long as it is in some way painful. The penance can be imposed by oneself or by another person (such as a guardian or Confessor). It can be done in privacy or in the presence of others.
Penance, even when a second person helps to impose it (as in the picture to the right), is different from punishment in that the person is fully compliant and not only accepts, but asks for it to wipe the guilt from their soul. The process and result is also called catharsis ("purification").
Religious penance
Penance, in a religious sense, is the "desire to be forgiven". It means the repentance of sins in general, as well as the Catholic Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession.
In a sacramental understanding of the term, "penance" applies to the whole activity from confession to satisfaction to absolution. Satisfaction thus is only a part of it, but it is a necessary part, and the priest can withhold absolution until satisfaction is done. Satisfaction is what most people have in mind when they use the term "penance".
Satisfaction is where the principle of punishment comes in. Modern ecclesiastic interpretation avoids calling it punishment, but traditionally, penance has been viewed as punishment. The root of the term penance is the Latin word poena which means "punishment".
History
In the feudal era, doing penance often involved severe and/or public discipline, which could be both harsh and humiliating but was considered edifying. Public penances have, however, long been abolished. Traditional forms still include prayers, while corporal punishments such as the wearing of a cilice and public humiliations have become rare, even in monastic practice. More recently, taking in account the insights of pastoral theology and psychology, penances have tended to move towards acts that positively or negatively reinforce the penitent's behaviour.
Penance in parenting
The concept of penance can also be used in parenting, although this is rare. A child who has done a misdeed can be given the choice of either getting a punishment for it (such as a spanking), or doing a penance - a task to show that they are sorry for what they have done. The idea is that self-punishment is psychologically more effective than punishment imposed by someone else because it requires full and conscious cooperation. For the same reason, a penance can also be more humbling than a punishment.
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Penance ]
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:Root