ated from the people of the Lord, with
whom he had been joined by baptism, and
was reduced to his former condition as a
heathen man, subject to the power of Sa-
tan, and of evil spirits. This is, perhaps,



PENANCE.

the true import of delivering such an one
up to Satan.

A similar act of excommunication is
described briefly in 1 Cor. xvi. 22, " If
any man love not the Lord Jksus Christ,
let him be anathema maranatha." The
/iapdv (i6a corres])onds, in sense, with the
Hebrew nnn, and denotes a thing devoted
to utter destruction ; (which, however, is
by some supposed to be the Syro-Chaldaic
nnK NJ-iD, ex])ressed in the Greek charac-
ter, meaning, '* The Lord cometh.") (See
3Iaranatha.) The whole sentence im])lies
that the Church leaves the subject of it to
the Lord, who cometh to execute judg-
ment upon him. All that the apostle re-
quires of the Corinthians is, that they
should exclude him from their communion
and fellowship ; so that he should no longer
be regarded as one of their body. He
pronounces no further judgment u])on the
offender, but leaves him to the judgment
of God. " What have I to do to judge
them that are without?" (ver. 12,) i. e.
those Mho are not Christians, to which class
the excommunicated j^erson would belong.
" Do not ye judge them that are within P"
i. e. full members of the Church. But
them that are without GoD judgeth ; or
rather ^cill judge, kqivh, as the reading
should be. It appears from 2 Cor. li. 1 — 11,
that the Church had not restored such to
the privileges of communion, but were
willing to do so ; and that the apostle very
gladly authorized the measure.

It is important to remark that, in the
primitive Church, penance related only to
such as had been excluded from the com-
munion of the Church. Its immediate
object was, not the forgiveness of the
offender by the Lord God, but his recon-
ciliation with the Church. It could, there-
fore, relate only to open and scandalous
offences. De occultis noti jiiclicat ecclcsia
— the Church takes no cognizance of secret
sins — was an ancient maxim of the Church.
The early Feathers say expressly, that the
Church offers pardon only for offences
committed against her. The forgiveness
of all sin she refers to God himself. Om-
nia autcm, says Cyprian, Ep. 55, renu'smiis
Deo omnipotent i, in cujus potestatc sunt
omnia reservala. Such are the concurring
sentiments of most of the early writers on
this subject. It was reserved for a later
age to confound these Important distinc-
tions, and to arrogate to the Church the
prerogative of forgiving sins.

The readmlsslon of penitents into the
Church was the subject of frequent con-
troversy with the early Fathers, and an-
cient religious sects. Some contended



PENANCE, THE SACRAMENT OF. 575

that those who had once been excUuK-d
from the Church for their crimes, ,ni.rht
never agam to be received to iicr fellow-
ship and communion. JJut the Church
generally were dIsj)osed to exercise a more
charitable and forgiving sj)irit.

PEXA.NX'E. In the law of England,
penance is an ecclesiastical i)unishment
or penalty, used in the discii)line of the
Church of luigland, by which an of-
fender is obliged to give a pu])llc satis-
faction to the Church for scandal done
by his evil exam])le. For small oll'cnces
and scandals, a jjubllc satisfaction or pen-
ance Is required to be made before the
minister, churchwardens, and some of the
parishioners, as the ecclesiastical judge
shall think fit to decree. These penances
may be moderated at the discretion of the
judge, or commuted for monev to be de-
voted to ])Ious uses. In the case of incest
or Incontinency the offender Is sometimes
enjoined to do public penance in the ca-
thedral, the parish church, or the market-
place, bare-legged, bare-headed, and in a
white sheet, and to make open confession
of his crime in a form of words j)rescribed
by the judge. This sort of punisliment,
however, being contrary to the spirit of
the age, and the j)rolligate being found to
make j)artles to abet the offender, it has
fallen into desuetude.

PENANCE, THi: SACIIAMENT OF.
Tlie llomanists define penance a sacra-
ment, wherein a person, who has the
requisite dispositions, receives absolution
at the hands of the priest, of all sins com-
mitted since baptism. (See Auricular Con-
fession, Satisfaction, Purgatory, Absolution.)
The Council of Trent (sess. 14, can. 1)
has expressly decreed, that every one is
accursed who shall affirm that ])enance is
not truly and properly a sacrament insti-
tuted by Christ in the universal Church,
for reconciling those Christians to the Di-
vine majesty who have fallen Into sin after
baptism; and this sacrament, it is declared,
consists of two ])arts — the matter and the
form : the matter Is the act of tiie ])enitent,
IncludiDg contrition, confession, and satis-
faction ; the form of it is the act of a))solu-
tion on the ])art of the priest. Accordingly
it is enjoined, that it is the duty of every
man, who hath fallen after bai)tism, to
confess his sins once a year, at least, to a
priest; that this confession is to be secret;
for public confession is neither conmianded
nor expedient ; and that it must be exact
and paiticular, including every kind and
act of sin, M'ith all the circumstances at-
tending it. When the penitent ha.s so
done, the priest pronounces an absolution,



576 PENANCE, THE SACRAMENT OF.



PENITENTIARIES.



which is not conditional or declarative only,
but absolute and judicial. This secret or
auricular confession ■svas first decreed and
established in the fourth Council of Late-
ran, under Innocent III., in 1215 (cap. 21).
And the decree of this council was after-
wards confirmed and enlarged in the Coun-
cil of Florence, and in that of Trent, which
ordains that confession was instituted by
Christ; that, by the law of God, it is
necessary to salvation, and that it has
ahvays been practised in the Christian
Church. As for the penances imposed on
the penitent by way of satisfaction, they
have been commonly the repetition of cer-
tain forms of devotion, as Paternosters or
Ave-Marias, the payment of stipulated
sums, pilgrimages, fasts, or various species
of corporeal discipline. But the most for-
midable penance, in the estimation of many
who have belonged to the Koman com-
munion, has been the temporary pains of
purgatory. But, under all the penalties
which are inflicted or threatened in the
llomish Church, it has provided relief by
its indulgences, and by its prayers or
masses for the dead, performed professedly
for relieving and rescuing the souls that
are detained in purgatory.

The reader need scarcely be reminded
how entirely opposed all this is to the
doctrine of the Church of England. The
Church of Rome affirms "penance "to be
a " sacrament," instituted by Christ him-
self, and secret "confession" to be one of
its constituent parts, instituted by the
Divine law; and she anathematizes those
who contradict her: — the Church of Eng-
land denies " penance " to be a sacrament
of the gospel ; afiirms it to have " grown
of the corrupt following of the apostles ; "
and " not to have " the proper " nature of
a sacrament," as " not having any visible
sign or ceremony ordained of GoD ; " and
of course denies the sacramental character
of " confession." The Church of Home
pronounces, that, by the Divine law, " all
persons " must confess their sins to the
priest : — the Church of England limits her
provisions for confession to " sick persons."
The Church of Rome pronounces that all
persons are " bound " to confess : — the
Church of England directs, that the sick
" be moved " to make confession. The
Church of Rome insists upon a confession
of " all sins Avhatsoever :" — the Church of
England recommends "a special confession
of sins," if the sick person " feel his con-
science troubled with any weighty matter."
The Church of Rome represents penance
as instituted for reconciling penitents to
God " as often as they fall into sin after



baptism ; " and imposes confession " once a
year : " — the Church of England advises it
on a peculiar occasion. And the purpose
of the Church of England in so advising it
evidently is the special relief of a troubled
conscience : w^hereas the Church of Rome
pronounces it to be " necessary to forgive-
ness of sin and to salvation ; " and de-
nounces with an anathema " any one who
shall say, that confession is only useful for
the instruction and consolation of the
penitent." And let it be observed, in the
first place, that as the Church of England, in
her Commination Service, speaks of the
ancient ordinance of ojjen j^enance as " a
discipline " the restoration of which is
" much to be wished," she hereby recog-
nises the ancient systems essentially dif-
ferent from that of Rome : namely, ajnihlic
expression of sorrow and repentance, to
satisfy the congregation, scandalized by
the offence ; not as a private purchase of
indemnity to the individual : and, in the
next place, when she uses the \;0Y(\.2^enance,
in the second exhortation in the same
service, " Seeking to bring forth worthy
fruits of penance," she but quotes the words
of John the Baptist, (St. Luke iii. 8,) and
thus identifies penance with repentance,
HiTi'ivoia, that is, change of mind or heart.
So that the outM-ard penance is the mere
outward s}Tnbol of the inward repentance.
PENITENTIAL. A collection of canons
in the Romish Church, which appointed
the time and manner of penance to be
regularly imposed for every sin, and forms
of prayer that were to be used for the re-
ceiving of those who entered into penance,
and reconciling penitents by solemn abso-
lution ; a method chiefly introduced in the
time of the degeneracy of the Church.

PENITENTIAL PSALMS. (See
Psahns.)

PENITENTIARIES, in the ancient
Christian Church, were certain presbyters,
or priests, appointed in every church, to
receive the private confessions of the peo-
ple ; not in prejudice to the public dis-
cipline, nor with a power of granting ab-
solution before any penance was perform-
ed, but to facilitate the exercise of public
discipline, by acquainting men what sins
the laws of the Church required to be
expiated by public penance, and by direct-
ing them in the performance of it ; and
only to appoint private penance for such
private crimes as were not proper to be
publicly censured, either for fear of doing
harm to the penitent himself, or giving
scandal to the Church.

The office of penitentiary priests was
abrogated by Nectarius, bishop of Con-



TENITENTS.



577



stantinople, in the reign of Theodosius,
upon a certain accident that ha])pcned in
the church. A gentlewoman, coming to
the penitentiary, made a confession of the
sins she had committed since her ha])tism.
The penitentiary enjoined her to fiist and
pray. Soon after she came again, and
confessed that, during the course of her
penance, one of the deacons of the Church
had defiled her. This occasioned the
deacon to be cast out of the Church, and
gave great offence to the people. AVhcre-
upon the bishop, by the advice of a presby-
ter named Eudtemon, took away the peni-
tentiary's office, leaving every one to his
own conscience ; this being the only way
to free the Church from reproach. —
Binfiham.

Nectarius's example was followed by all
the bishops of the East, who took away
their penitentiaries. However, the office
continued in use in the Western Churches,
and chiefly at Home. A dignitary in many
of the foreign cathedrals is so called.

PENITENTS. (See Penayice.) Penance
in the primitive Church, as Coleman from
Augusti remarks, was wholly a voluntary
act on the part of those who were subject
to it. The Church not only would not
enforce it, but they refused even to urge
or invite any to submit to this discipline.
It was to be sought as a favour, not in-
flicted as a penalty. But the offending
person had no authority or permission to
prescribe his own duties as a penitent.
When once he had resolved to seek the for-
giveness and reconciliation of the Church,
it was exclusively the prerogative of that
body to prescribe the conditions on which
this was to be effijcted. No one could even
be received as a candidate for penance,
without permission first obtained of the
bishop, or presiding elder.

The duties required of penitents consist-
ed essentially in the following particulars :

1. Penitents of the first three classes
were required to kneel in worship, whilst
the faithful were permitted to stand.

2. All were required to make kno\Mi
their penitential sorrow by an open and
public confession of their sin. This con-
fession was to be made, not before the
bishop or the priesthood, but in the pre-
sence of the whole Church, with sighs, and
tears, and lamentations. These expressions
of grief they were to renew and continue
so long as they remained in the first or
lowest class of jjcnitents, entreating at the
same time, in their behalf, the prayers and
intercessions of the faithful. Some idea of
the nature of these demonstrations of peni-
tence may be formed from a record of them

2 V



contained in tlie works of Cyprian. Al-
most all the canons lay mucli stress upon
the sighs and tears accompanying these
effusions.

3. Throughout the whole term of pen-
ance, all expressions of joy were to be re-
strained, and all ornaments of dress to be
laid aside. 'J'he ])enitents were recjuircd,
literally, to wear sackcloth, and to cover
their heads with ashes. Nor were these
acts of humiliation restricted to Ash A\'ed-
nesday merely, but then especially they
were required.

4. The men were required to cut short
their hair, and to shave their beards, in
token of sorrow. The women were to
appear with dishevelled hair, and wearing
a peculiar kind of veil.

o. During the whole term of ])enance,
bathing, feasting, and sensual gratifications,
alloMable at other times, were prohibited.
In the spirit of these regulations, marriage
was also forbidden.

6. Besides these restrictions and rules
of a negative character, there were certain
positive requirements with which the peni-
tents were expected to comply.

They Avere obliged to be i)rcsent, and to
perform their part, at every religious as-
sembly, whether ])ul:»lic or i)rivate ; a regu-
lation which neither believers nor catechu-
mens were required to ol^serve.

They were expected to abound in deeds
of charity and benevolence, particularly in
almsgiving to the ])Oor.

Especially were they to ])erform the du-
ties of the jHirahoIinii, in giving attendance
upon the sick, and in taking care of them.
These offices of kindness they were ex-
pected 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 regulations last
mentioned are supposed to have been
peculiar to the Church of Africa.

These duties and regulations collectively
were sometimes included under tlie general
term iKofioXoyijmg, confession. By this was
understood not only words, but works;
both, in connexion, being the appropriate
means of manifesting sorrow for sin, and
the i>ur])ose of amendment.

PKNITIONTS IN I'OPISir COUN-
T1{II<:S. There are, in Poi)ish countries,
])articularlv in Italy, several fraternities
(as thev are called) of penitents, distin-
guislied by the different shape and colour
of their habits. These are secular so-
cieties, who have their rules, statutes, and
churches; and make pul)lic processions
under their particular cross or banner.
Of these there arc more than a hundred ;



578



PENITENTS.



TERAMBULATION.



the most considerable of which are as
follows : —

I. White Penitents. These are of dif-
ferent sorts at Home. The most ancient
is that of Gonfalon, instituted in 12(54, in
the church of St. Mary Major : in imita-
tion of which four others were established
in the church of Ara-Cceli ; the first under
the title of the Nativity of our Lord ; the
second under the invocation of the Holy
Virgin ; the third under the protection of
the Holy Innocents ; and the fourth under
the patronage of St. Helena. The brethren
of this fraternity, every year, give portions
to a certain number of young girls, in
order to their being married. Their habit
is a kind of Avhite sackcloth, and on the
shoulder is a circle, in the middle of which
is a red and wliite cross.

U. Black Penitents. The most con-
siderable of these are the Brethren of
Mercy, or St. John Baptist. This fra-
ternity was instituted in 1488, by some
Florentines, in order to assist criminals at
the time of their death, and during their
imprisonment. On the day of execution,
they walk in procession before them, sing-
ing the seven Penitential Psalms, and the
Litanies ; and, after they are dead, they
take them down from the gibbet, and bury
them. Their habit is black sackcloth.
There are others whose business is to bury
such persons as are found dead in the
streets. They wear a death's head on one
side of their habit.

III. Blue Penitents. "| All these are

IV. Grey Penitents. remarkable only

V. lied Penitents. > for the different

VI. Green Penitents, colours of their

VII. Violet Penitents. J habits.

The Church of Home wrongly renders
our word repentcmce by penance, penance
being an attendant on repentance : and
she has erred in making penance a sacra-
ment in the same sense as baptism and
the Lord's supper. This our Church
condemns, but she speaks of the ancient
discipline of the Church in a manner
which greatly shocks ultra-Protestants.
"We allude to the following address in the
Commination Service : — " Brethren, in the
])rimitive Church there was a godly dis-
cipline, and, at the beginning of Lent,
such persons as stood convicted of noto-
rious sin tceve put to open penance, and
punished in this world, that their souls
mkfht he saved in the day of the Lord ;
and that others, admonished by their ex-
ample, might be the more afraid to offend.
Instead whereof (until the said discipline
may be restored again, which is much to
be wished) it is thought good, that at



this time (in the presence of you all)
should be read the general sentences of
God's cursing against impenitent sinners,
gathered out of the seven and twentieth
chapter of Deuteronomy, and other places
of Scripture ; and that ye should answer
to every sentence. Amen: to the intent
that, being admonished of the great in-
dignation of God against sinners, ye may
the rather be moved to earnest and true
repentance, and may walk more Avarily
in these dangerous days, fleeing from such
vices, for which ye affirm with your own
mouths the curse of God to be due. (See
Penance.)

^ PENTATEUCH, from two Greek words,
signifying _/??•<; hooks. It is the general or
collective designation of the five books of
Moses. The Samaritan Pentateuch, dis-
covered and brought to England in the
17th century, by the instrumentality of
Archbishop Usher and others, is the He-
brew Pentateuch written in the ancient
Hebrew letters. It is supposed by many
learned men to be the actual text of the
Scriptures used by the Samaritans, when
at their petition, Shalmaneser, king of As-
syria, appointed one of the Jewish priests
to dwell at Bethel and teach them how
they should fear the Lord. (2 Kings xvii.
28.) The copy of the Scriptures then said
to be brought by this priest, contained the
canon of Scripture, as it then existed ; and
the Samaritans never recognised any other.
By several critics the text is supposed
more correct than the Hebrew ; and as an
element of biblical criticism it is invalu-
able.

PENTECOST. (From UevrnKoark, the
fiftieth.) A solemn festival of the Jcavs,
so called because it was celebrated fifty
days after the feast of the Passover. (Lev.
xxiii. 15, 16.) It corresponds with the
Christian Whitsuntide, which is sometimes
called by the same name.

PENTECOSTALS. These were obla-
tions made by the parishioners to their
priest at the feast of Pentecost, which are
sometimes called Whitsun-farthings ; but
they were not at first off"ered to their
priests, but to the mother-church ; and this
may be the reason that the deans and pre-
bendaries in some cathedrals are entitled
to receive these oblations, and in some
places the bishop and archdeacons, as at
Gloucester.

PERAMBULATION. Perambulations,
for ascertaining the boundaries of parishes,
are to be made by the minister, church-
wardens, and parishioners, by going round
the same once a year, in or about Ascen-
sion week. The parishioners may justify



PERNOCTATIONS.

going over any man's land in their per-
ambulations, according to usage ; and it is
said may abate all nuisances in their way.
There is a homily appointed to be used be-
fore this ceremony, and Queen l^lizabeth's
injunctions appointed the lO^rd and 10 1th
Psalms to be said in the course of the per-
ambulation. (Sec liof/ation Dai/s.) The
perambulations are still kci)t u]) in several
parishes ; but have lost their religious cha-
racter. However, they have been observed
religiously within the memory of some old
persons in distant parts of England.

PERNOCTATIONS, watchingall night,
— long a custom Avith the more pious
Christians, especially before the greater

I PSf"! Vfl 1 ^

PERPENDICULAR. The last style
of pure Gothic architecture, which suc-
ceeded the Decorated about 1360. It is
most readily distinguished by its window
tracery (see I'racenj) ; but the use of the
four-centred arch (see Arch) is a more
important character, though by no means
invariably found in this style. Other cha-
racteristics will be found under Capital,
Pillar, VauUiiKi, Mouhliiu].

PERPETUAL CURATE. The incum-
bent of a church, chapel, or district, which
is within the boundaries of a rectory or
vicarage ; so called from a curate assistant,
whose office expires with the incumbency
of the person who em])lovs him.

PERPETUALS. Twenty ministers of
the choir at Lyons, so called from being
bound to perpetual service there : — like
our vicars-choral.

PERSECUTION. The sufferings which
are inflicted by the world upon the Church
in all ages, the most striking of which were
those which are designated in history the
Ten Persecutions, and which raged from
the time of Nero, A. D. 64, to the accession
of Constantine, under the successive Roman
emperors, Domitian, (a. d. 81 — 86,) Trajan,
Adrian, Aurelius, Antoninus, Severus,
Maximus, Decius, Valerian, Diocletian,
and Maximian, under the last of whose
rule the persecution raged against the
Church in East and "West for the space of
ten years. Each of these periods swelled
the hst of the nol)lc army of martjTS.
Under Nero, the apostles St. Peter and
St. Paul suffered. St. Clement, bishop of
Rome ; Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem ; and
Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, were put to
death in the reign of Trajan. In the
persecution of Aurelius, Justin Martyr,
Athenagoras, Ajiollinaris, and Tatian pre-
sented their apologies, as did Tcrtuliian in
the next persecution under Sevenis ('JOOV
Nicephorus, an ecclesiastical historian, tells
2 r 2



PERSEVERANCE, FINAL.



70



us that it were easier to count tlie sands
upon the seashore tlum to number tlie mar-
tyrdoms in tlie persecution under Decius
(2J0). The great St. Cyprian. l)isho]) of
Carthage, suliered under Valerian (1 1th of
September, 2.38).

Though the above ten are the most
memorable of the jiersecutions of the cross
of Christ, the Church has ever been op-
l)oscd by the world. Thus in our country,
during the Rebellion, the king aiul prinuito
underwent martyrdom, Mhile thousaiuls of
faithful men suffered the loss of all things
for tlie name of Christ. And, even in
this day, though ])hysical ])ersecution is
forbidden by the law, moral persecution is
more or less endured by every self-deny-
ing Christian, who has to bear taunts and
nicknames from ungodlv men.

PERSEVERANCE, EINAL. Accord-
ing to the Calvinistic system, the elect re-
ceive the grace of perseverance, so that
when grace has once been received, they
cannot finally fall from it. This follows
from their view of election. But, according
to the Catholic view of grace and of c-lec-
tion, men may fall, and fall finally, from
the grace they have once received. The
reader is requested to refer to the article
on Election ; this may be considered a
continuation. Since the reformed Church
of England (with the primitive and Ca-
tholic) regards election as an admission
into the pale of the visi])le Church Ca-
tholic, not a necessary and infallible ad-
mission into eternal glory, she obviously