Penance - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition penance

Definition :

Penance [fr. p'nitentia, Lat.], an ecclesiastical punishment used in the discipline of the primitive church, which affected the body of the penitent, by which he was obliged to give a public satisfaction to the church for the scandal he had given by his evil example. See the still unrepealed Articuli Cleri, 9 Edw. 2, st. 1, c. 2; Statutes Revised vol. i, at p. 66; also the Introduction to the Commination Service in the Prayer Book.