A penitential is a book or set of church rules concerning the Christian sacrament of penance, a "new manner of reconciliation with God" that was first...

The Penitential Act (capitalized in the Roman Missal) is a Christian form of general confession of sinfulness that normally takes place at the beginning...

The Penitential Psalms or Psalms of Confession, so named in Cassiodorus's commentary of the 6th century AD, are the Psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and...

century saw the development in Ireland of Penitentials, handbooks for confessors in assigning penance. The Penitential of Cummean counseled a priest to take...

The Penitential of Finnian is a sixth-century penitential believed to have been written by either Finnian of Clonard or Finnian of Movilla. It contains...

Penitential canons are religious rules laid down by councils or bishops concerning the penances to be done for various sins. These canons, collected,...

The Ermenfrid Penitential is an ordinance composed by the Bishops of Normandy following the Battle of Hastings (1066) calling for atonement to be completed...

that a believer imposes on themselves, acts that are called penances. Penitential activity is particularly common during the season of Lent and Holy Week...

The Penitential of Cummean is an Irish penitential, presumably composed c. 650 by an Irish monk named Cummean (or Cominianus). It served as a type of handbook...

monasteries, a penitential tax or private penance was developed which was less strenuous than the public penances. This was the beginning of penitential commutation...