Penitence

Penitence

Act of Contrition

prayer of atonement said after making one’s confession. [Christianity: Misc.]

Agnes, Sister

former Lady Laurentini; a penitent nun. [Br. Lit.: The Mysteries of Udolpho, Freeman, 4]

Ancient Mariner

telling his tale is penance for his guilt. [Br. Poetry: Coleridge “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”]

Canossa

site of Henry IV’s submission to Pope Gregory VII (1077). [Eur. Hist.: Grun, 140]

Dimmesdale, Arthur

Puritan minister publicly atones for sin of adultery. [Am. Lit.: The Scarlet Letter]

Dismas (Dysmas)

in the Apocryphal gospels, the penitent thief. [Christianity: Benét, 274]

Elul

sixth month of Jewish year; month of repentance. [Judaism: Wigoder, 174]

Flagellants

groups of Christians who practised public flagellation as penance. [Christian Hist.: NCE, 959]

Henry IV (1050–1106)

Holy Roman Emperor who begged forgiveness from the Pope at Canossa. [Eur. Hist.: Benét, 456]

Julian, St., the Hospitaler

for having mistakenly killed his parents, atones by becoming a beggar and helping the wretched. [Christ. Leg.: Attwater]

Mary Magdalene

abjectly cleans Jesus’s feet with tears; dries them with her hair. [N.T.: Luke 7:37–50]

Nineveh

townspeople repented for wickedness by fasting and donning sackcloth. [O.T.: Jonah 3:5–10]

Pelagius the Repentant, St.

dancing-girl converts to solitary, saintly ways. [Christian Hagiog.: Attwater, 272]

penance

Catholic sacrament, whereby the penitent is absolved of sins by the confessor. [Christianity: NCE, 2096]

sable

black fur represents repentance. [Heraldry: Halberts, 37]

sackcloth and ashes

traditional garb of contrition. [O.T.: Jonah 3:6; Esther 4:1–3; N.T.: Matthew 11:21]

scapegoat

sent into wilderness bearing sins of Israelites. [O.T.: Leviticus 16:8–22]

Scarlet Sister Mary

seeks divine forgiveness in night of wild prayer. [Am. Lit.: Scarlet Sister Mary]

skull

always present in pictures of Mary Magdalene repenting. [Christian Art: de Bles, 29]

Tannhäuser

seeking salvation, takes pilgrimage to Rome. [Ger. Opera: Wagner, Tannhauser, Westerman, 211]

Tenorio, Don Juan

after sinful lifetime, eleventh-hour repentance saves his soul. [Span. Lit.: Don Juan Tenorio]

Theodosius (346–395) Roman Emperor;

did public penance before St. Ambrose. [Rom. Hist.: EB, 18:272–273]

Twelve Labors of Hercules

undertaken as penance for slaying his children. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: Hall, 148]

violet

Christian liturgical color; worn during Lent and Advent. [Color Symbolism: Jobes, 357]

Yom Kippur

most sacred Hebrew holy day; the day of atonement. [Judaism: NCE, 182]