Penance (Lat. pcnitentia) is the outward profession of sorrow, as repentance (q.v.) is the principle and inward feeling of sorrow for sin. The word is used in a negative and a positive sense. In a negative sense penance is manifested in the neglect of ordinary attention to dress, to the care of the person, to the use of food. In a positive sense the word is used to designate the performance of some acts of ecclesiastical discipline, enjoined or authoritatively imposed either as a punishment for offenses by which the party has exposed himself to the censures of that ecclesiastical body called the Church, or as an expression of his penitence. For the sake of affording a historical treatment of the subject, we shall first consider the views and practices of the early Christian Church. (A pretty full account is given by Bingham. Origines Ecclesiae, and a more concise one by Coleman, Ancient Christianity Exemplified, and upon these we shall mainly depend in the first part of this article.)
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More