Title XXXVIII: On Penances and Remissions

Latin source headnote: Public penance ought to be imposed for a manifest sin.

Pope Alexander.

Manifest sins are not to be purged by a hidden correction.

Latin source headnote: It sets down the penance of one who kills a priest.

From the Council of Mainz.

Upon one who kills a priest let a penance of twelve years be imposed according to the canons; or, if he denies it, if he is free, let him swear with seventy-two, but if he is a serf, let him purge himself upon twelve glowing plowshares. One convicted of the offense shall lack the military belt until the final time of his life and shall remain without hope of marriage.

Latin source headnote: After the circumstances have been considered, a discretionary penance is to be adjudged to one who exceeded the measure in defending himself.

Alexander III, to the Archbishop of Milan and his Suffragans.

The nobleman P. signified to us that, when F., called emperor, once returned from the City, he denied him the castle of Vernica. (And below:) Hence it happened that, after four castles had been destroyed, more than two thousand houses were destroyed, and many men killed, and other evils are said to have been committed there, which it would be long to recount individually. Therefore, because the aforesaid P. desires to be reconciled to God on this account and to undertake a worthy penance, we command your fraternity by apostolic writings that you give him counsel concerning this and mercifully impose a penance upon him according to what shall seem good, attending to the fact that he did this for his liberty and for devotion to the Church. Wherefore in these things you ought to have such discretion that both others and he are in no way held back from the service of the Church by the austerity of the penance, nor ought they deservedly to fear any danger to salvation.

Latin source headnote: Indulgences granted by prelates to those not subject to them do not benefit them unless their own judges grant this.

The same, to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

But concerning your consultation whether remissions that are made at dedications of churches or to those contributing to the building of bridges benefit others than those who are subject to the persons granting the remissions, we wish your fraternity to hold [firmly] that, since no one can be bound or absolved by one who is not his judge, we judge that the aforesaid remissions benefit only those to whom their own judges specially granted that they should benefit them. And in this understand resolved the question in which it is asked whether one who communicates with an excommunicated person ought to implore the grace of absolution from his own bishop or from the bishop of the excommunicated person.

Latin source headnote: One who does not lay aside the intention of sinning is not truly penitent; nevertheless, his confession is received.

The same, to the Bishop of Beauvais.

As to the fact that certain persons, as you assert, come to confession concerning crimes and, although they wish to confess, nevertheless assert that they cannot abstain, we respond to your consultation in this way: you ought to receive their confession and furnish them counsel concerning their crimes, because, although penance of this kind is not true, nevertheless their confession is to be admitted, and penance is to be imposed by frequent and salutary admonitions.

Latin source headnote: One who by way of penance ought to fast on bread and water on a certain day can, when bread is lacking, use other foods.

The same, to the Archbishop of Tribur.

Although the page of both the Old and New Testaments (And below: [cf. c. 3, On Feasts, II. 9.]) But if those who are bound by penance imposed upon them to pass certain days on bread and water do not have bread upon which to feed, let them be refreshed with legumes or fish or other foods if necessity demands it, discretion nevertheless being applied, so that they use these things not for delights but for necessary sustenance alone.

Latin source headnote: Public penance is not imposed upon a Greek priest who procures, or deliberately neglects to prevent, the smothering of his children; but he ought to abstain from the office of the altar and otherwise do penance in secret. But if the offense is public, he ought to do penance publicly.

Clement III.

It has been asked of us whether public penance is to be imposed upon Greek priests, to whom it is permitted to make use of lawful marriage, if they request that it be imposed upon them for children who have been smothered. Therefore, we respond to your consultation in this manner: if, through their procuring or deliberate negligence, children are found smothered in beds, they ought perpetually to abstain from the office of the altar, and a penance graver than for laymen, but nevertheless not public unless the matter becomes public, ought to be imposed upon them; they, however, shall not only cease from the execution of sacred orders, but, if they are below those orders, they shall in no way be assumed to them. But also, if through their carelessness the children are found dead in cradles, and that matter was hidden, let penance be imposed upon them according to the judgment of the penitentiary, and, for the terror of others, let them abstain from the celebration of Masses for a time. [Given at the Lateran.]

Latin source headnote: A priest ought to determine penance according to the magnitude of the excess, the penitent's contrition, and other circumstances. This is what it says with respect to the title.

Innocent III, to the Bishop of Livonia and to the Brothers who are with him.

God, who his Church (And below: [cf. c. 11, On the Life and Honesty of Clerics, III. 1.]) But, since penance is to be moderated by the judgment of a discreet priest not so much according to the magnitude of the excess as according to the penitent's contrition, having weighed the quality of the person and considered all the circumstances concerning fornication, adultery, homicide, perjury, and other crimes, and especially the newness of the Church of Livonia, you shall impose a fitting penance upon offenders as you shall see to be expedient for their salvation. But, adhering to the footsteps of the Apostle, who says, as we said before, “I gave you milk to drink, not meat,” you shall instruct them gradually in the faith, carefully teaching them the form of confession, the Lord's Prayer, and the Creed. In the meantime, nevertheless, you shall grant the sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord to those reborn in the font of baptism on the customary feast days and at the point of death. [Given on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of May, in the fourth year, 1201.]

Latin source headnote: The confession of a woman who substituted another's child for herself, or conceived her own by adultery, and does not wish to disclose it to her husband, is heard.

The same, to the Cardinal Priest of Saint Lawrence in Lucina, Legate of the Apostolic See.

Of the office (And below: [cf. c. 38, On Election, I. 6.]) You signified moreover that a certain woman confessed to you in penance that, fearing lest her husband's possession devolve upon others, induced by the counsel of a certain sorceress, she drank the juice of certain herbs daily, and thus her belly swelled; and, thereby showing herself to be pregnant, at last she substituted another's child for herself. Fearing her husband, she does not wish to disclose the crime to him, and he believes without any doubt that the offspring is his own. Therefore, because through our letters you ask to be instructed whether penance is to be imposed upon her while this fraud continues, we respond to your inquiry in this manner: just as penance is not to be denied to a woman who, while her husband was ignorant, conceived offspring from adultery, although she fears to confess it to her husband, so penance ought not to be denied to this woman either, especially if by “others” you understand strangers to whom she fears her husband's possession would devolve; but fitting satisfaction ought to be imposed upon her by a discreet priest. Finally, etc. (cf. c. 42, On the Sentence of Excommunication, V. 39.)

Latin source headnote: An abbess cannot bless nuns, hear confessions, or preach publicly.

The same, to the Bishops of Valencia and Burgos, and to the Abbot of N. of the Cistercian Order.

Certain new things have recently been brought to our ears, at which we marvel not a little: namely, that abbesses established in the dioceses of Burgos and Palencia bless their own nuns, also hear their confessions concerning crimes, and, reading the Gospel, presume to preach publicly. Therefore, since this is equally discordant and absurd [and is in no way to be tolerated by us], we command your discretion by apostolic writings that, lest this be done henceforth, you take care firmly to prohibit it by apostolic authority, because, although the most blessed Virgin Mary was worthier and more excellent than all the Apostles, nevertheless the Lord committed the keys of the kingdom of heaven not to her but to them. [Given at the Lateran, on the third day before the Ides of December, in the thirteenth year, 1210.]

Latin source headnote: During a general interdict, penance and viaticum are granted to the dying. This is the first point. Clerics who observed the interdict can be buried silently in a cemetery. This is the second. In conventual churches, clerics in twos or threes can say the hours in a subdued voice. This is the third. During an interdict, penance can be granted to those signed with the cross and to pilgrims. This is the fourth.

The same.

As regards you (And below:) But because we have understood that some doubt whether, when viaticum is to be given to clerics or laymen at the end of life, anointing also is to be bestowed, and whether burial together with the other sacraments is to be granted to the dying; whether also in conventual churches divine offices can be celebrated in a subdued voice, with doors closed and those under interdict excluded; and likewise whether penance is to be imposed upon those receiving the sign of the cross and those visiting the shrines of the saints, we wish to cut away an uncertainty of this kind from the hearts of those who doubt. For in that word by which we do not deny penance to the dying, we wish viaticum also, which is furnished to those who are truly penitent, to be understood, so that it also is not denied to the dying. But although through a general interdict both anointing and ecclesiastical burial are denied to all, nevertheless we grant by grace that clerics who die, provided that they observed the interdict, may be buried with silence in the cemetery of the church, without the ringing of bells and with all solemnities ceasing. And in conventual churches, two and two, or three together, may read the canonical hours but not sing them, with doors closed, those under interdict and those excommunicated excluded, and in a voice so subdued that it cannot be heard outside; since it has also been granted to regulars according to a privilege of the Apostolic See that, when a general interdict of a land occurs, it is lawful for them, with doors closed, excommunicated persons and those under interdict excluded, without bells being rung, to celebrate divine rites in a suppressed voice. But we do not deny to those receiving the sign of the cross that penance be imposed upon them, when they request it, out of reverence for the Crucified; and this can mercifully be granted to other pilgrims also.

Latin source headnote: It is famous and very frequently alleged, and says this: Every person capable of fraud is bound at least once a year to confess to his own priest, or to another with his permission, and to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least at Easter. And a priest who reveals a confession is to be deposed and thrust into a monastery to do perpetual penance.

The same, in the general council.

Every faithful person of either sex, after reaching the years of discretion, shall faithfully confess all his sins by himself at least once a year to his own priest, and shall endeavor to fulfill according to his own strength the penance imposed upon him, reverently receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist at least at Easter, unless perhaps, on the counsel of his own priest, for some reasonable cause he judges that he should abstain from a reception of this kind for a time; otherwise, while living, let him be kept from entrance into the church, and, when dying, let him lack Christian burial. Hence, let this salutary statute be published frequently in churches, lest anyone assume a veil of excuse through the blindness of ignorance. But if anyone wishes for just cause to confess his sins to another priest, let him first seek and obtain permission from his own priest, since otherwise that priest cannot absolve or bind him. But let the priest be discerning and cautious, so that, in the manner of a skilled physician, he pours wine and oil over the wounds of the injured man, diligently inquiring into the circumstances both of the sinner and of the sin, through which he may prudently understand what counsel he ought to furnish him and what kind of remedy to apply, using different trials to save the sick man. But let him take care altogether that by word, sign, or any other manner he does not in any way betray the sinner. Yet, if he needs more prudent counsel, let him seek it cautiously without any expression of the person, because we decree that one who presumes to reveal a sin disclosed to him in the penitential judgment is not only to be deposed from the priestly office but also to be thrust into a strict monastery to do perpetual penance.

Latin source headnote: Physicians called to the sick ought before all things to induce the sick person to confession, and not to persuade him of anything for bodily health that tends toward danger to souls.

The same, in the same council.

Since bodily infirmity sometimes proceeds from sin, the Lord saying to the sick man whom he had healed, “Go, and sin no more, lest something worse happen to you,” by the present decree we enact, and strictly command physicians of bodies, that, when it happens that they are called to the sick, before all things they admonish and induce them to call physicians of souls, so that, after provision has been made for the sick person's spiritual salvation, they may proceed more salutarily to the remedy of bodily medicine, since, when the cause ceases, the effect ceases. Indeed, among other things, what gave cause for this edict was that certain persons, lying upon a bed of sickness, when they are advised by physicians to make provision concerning the salvation of their souls, fall into a condition of despair, whence they more easily incur danger of death. But if any physician, after this constitution of ours has been published by the prelates of the places, is found a transgressor of it, let him be kept from entrance into the church until he has competently made satisfaction for a transgression of this kind. Furthermore, since the soul is much more precious than the body, under threat of anathema we prohibit any physician from advising a sick person, for bodily health, to do anything that is turned to the peril of the soul.

Latin source headnote: Collectors of alms ought not to be admitted without letters of the Apostolic See or of the diocesan bishops; and even then they are not to propose anything beyond what is contained in those letters. This is the first point. And they ought to be modest and abstain from unsuitable lodging places and expenses. This is the second. At the dedication of a basilica, remission ought not to exceed one year, and at the anniversary of the dedication, and in letters of indulgence granted by someone other than the Pope, it ought not to exceed forty days. This is what it says to the end.

The same, in the same council.

Since from this (And below: [cf. c. 2, On Relics and the Veneration of Saints, III. 45.]) We also prohibit collectors of alms—some of whom, falsely representing themselves as others, propose certain abuses in their preaching—from being admitted unless they exhibit genuine letters of the Apostolic See or of the diocesan bishop; and even then let them not be permitted to propose anything to the people beyond what shall be contained in those letters. We have thought that the form that the Apostolic See commonly grants to such persons should be expressed, so that diocesan bishops may moderate their letters according to it. It is as follows: “Since, as the Apostle says, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive according to what we have done in the body, whether it was good or evil, we ought to anticipate the day of the final harvest with works of mercy, and, with a view to eternal things, to sow on earth what, when the Lord renders it, we ought to gather in heaven with multiplied fruit, holding a firm hope and a right confidence, because one who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and one who sows in blessings shall also reap eternal life from blessings. Therefore, since the resources of the hospital itself do not suffice for the support of the brothers and needy persons resorting to such a hospital, we admonish and exhort all of you in the Lord, and enjoin upon you for the remission of sins, that from the goods bestowed upon you by God you furnish them pious alms and welcome aids of charity, so that through your assistance provision may be made for their poverty, and through these good things and [through] others that you shall do by the Lord's inspiration, you may be able to attain eternal joys.” But let those who are sent to seek alms be modest and discerning, and let them not lodge in taverns or other unsuitable places, nor make useless or costly expenditures, taking every care lest they wear the habit of a false religious profession. In addition, because through indiscreet and excessive indulgences, which certain prelates of churches do not fear to grant, both the keys of the Church are contemned and penitential satisfaction is enervated, we decree that, when a basilica is dedicated, the indulgence shall not be extended beyond one year, whether it is dedicated by one bishop alone or by several; and thereafter, at the time of the anniversary of the dedication, the remission granted from imposed penances shall not exceed forty days. (And below:) We command that this number of days also regulate letters of indulgence that are sometimes granted for any cases, since the Roman Pontiff, who possesses the fullness of power, has been accustomed to observe this moderation in such matters.

Latin source headnote: An archbishop can grant indulgences within his province according to the form of the general council. This is what it says. And it speaks concerning the preceding chapter at the end.

Honorius III.

You sought to be made certain by our response whether you can grant general letters of remission throughout your province. We therefore respond briefly to your fraternity that you can freely grant letters of this kind throughout your province, yet in such manner that you do not exceed the statute of the general council.

Latin source headnote: A bishop and the others concerning whom the letter speaks can choose a provident confessor for themselves without the permission of their superiors.

Gregory IX.

Lest danger to souls threaten because of a delay of penance, we permit bishops and other superiors, as well as lesser exempt prelates, to choose for themselves a provident and discreet confessor even without the permission of their superior.