PENITENTS
892
PENITENTS
allowable at other times, were proliibited. In the spirit of tluse r('i;iil;ili(>iis, marriage was also forbidtlen. G. But tlic iiiDsi ciiiiuent act of penance was the exomolo- gesis, or confession of sins, which was a public ac- knowledgment of offences, and a declared resolution of never relapsing into the like (Bingham, Orujiiics Eccles. bk. xviii, cli. i-xiii). 7. Besides these restrictions and rules of a negative character, there were certain posi- tive re(|uiremcnts with which the penitents were ex- pected to comply. They were obliged to be present, and to perform their part, at every religious assembly, whether public or private, a regulation which neither believers nor catechumens were required to observe. They were expected to abound in deeds of charity and benevolence, and particularly in almsgiving to the poor. Especially were they to perform the duties of thep«/<(- bolani ((j. v.) in giving attendance upon the sick, and in taking care of them. These offices of kindness they were expected particularly to bestow upon such as were affected with contagious diseases. It was also their duty to assist at the burial of the dead. The regula- tions last mentioned are supposed to have been peculiar to the Church of Africa. These duties and regulations collectively were sometimes included under the general term t'^ofioXoyiimg, confession. Hy this was under- stood not only words, but works, both, in connection, being the appropriate means of manifesting sorrow for sin and the purpose of amendment. The ftentes, or mourners, were rather candidates for penance than pen- itents strictly so called. Their station was in the church porch, where, according to TertuIUan {be Pcenit. c. ix), they lay prostrate, imploring the prayers of the faithful as they went in, and desiring to be admitted to the pub- lic penance of the church. The amUenles, or hearers, were those who, being admitted to penance, had the privilege of entering into the church, in the narthex, or lowest part of which they were allowed to stay, and hear tlie Scriptures read and the sermon preached, but they v.ere obliged to tlepart before any of the common prayers began. In this station they were to continue one, two, or three years, according to the magnitude of their offence. The siibstrall, or kneelers, were permit- ted to remain in the church after the hearers had been dismissed, and join in certain prayers which were spe- cially offered up for them while they were kneeling, and to receive the bishop's benediction. Their station was within the nave or body of the church, near to the ambo, or reading-desk. Tlie consistenies, or co-stand- ers, had the liberty, after the other penitents were dis- missed, to stand with the faithful at the altar, and join in the common prayers, and see the oblations offered ; but they were not allowed to make their own oblations, nor to partake of the Lord's Supper with the other com- municants. At length, when they had passed through these several degrees of penance, they were admitted to the Eucharist, and were then said to attain to perfec- tion, the participation of the Eucharist being deemed the highest state, or consummation and perfection, of a Christian.
When a penitent desired to be admitted to do pidj- lic penance, and his petition was accepted, the first step was to grant liim penance by imposition of hands; at which time he was obliged to appear in sackcloth. and with ashes upon his head. Some think that this was always done precisely on Ash -Wednesday, the first day of Lent, which was thence called dies rinenim. or the day of sprinkling ashes. But of this practice there is no certainty. Tlic time to be spent in each of these grades at first differed very mucli according to times and circumstances, l)ut was afterwards regidated by elaborate laws, called penitential canons. Still it was in the power of the bishop to abridge or to prolong it; a power the exercise of which is connected witli the historical origin of the practice of indulgence (q.v.). The penitent, in ordinary cases, could only be rcsidrcd to comniuiiion l)y tlie bisho|i who had excluded liitn, 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 con- dition, 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, or Passion Week; hence also called J/ebdomas I ml illy entice, or Indulgence ^\'^eek. It was publicly per- formed by the bishop in tlie church, with prayer and imposition of hands. It was followed by the adminis- tration of commimion. Of the four grades of penitents, 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, i-oluniarih/ enrolled themselves among the ])enitents. If any of the clergy were guilty of a crime to which public penance was annexed, they were first deposed from the raidv of the clergy, and then subjected to the ordeal, like the laity themselves. This public discipline continued in force with greater or less exact- ness in the 5th, Gth, and 7th centuries, gradually, how- ever, being replaced by semi-public, and ultimately by private penance. In the 11th and r2th centuries the public penance had entirely disappeared. For litera- ture, see the art. Penance, to which add Augusti, Denkiciirdifjktiten der Cliristl. Archdok{'/ie.