Article — Prümmer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis
Article II. On the Virtue of Penance
Definition. The virtue of penance is a supernatural habit whereby a man is rendered prompt to grieve over a sin committed insofar as it is an offense against God, with a purpose of amendment.4
4 Cf. St. Thomas, S. theol. 3, q. 85, aa. 1-3. St. Alphonsus (Theol. mor. l. 6, n. 434) gives the following definition: "Penance is a virtue tending toward the destruction of sin, insofar as it is an offense against God, by means of sorrow and satisfaction."
307. Explanation. It is said, first: penance is a supernatural habit, because, although a man even by natural powers and on account of natural motives can repent of sins committed, nevertheless such penance is neither a perfect virtue nor does it destroy the stain of sin. Hence the Council of Trent5 defined: "If anyone says that without the prevenient inspiration of the Holy Spirit and His assistance a man can ... repent as he ought, so that the grace of justification may be conferred upon him, let him be anathema." The same Council6 and, after it, the Roman Catechism7 teach that a man arrives at the true virtue of penance through five supernatural movements or degrees, namely, there is required:
a) An act of divine mercy moving and illuminating us, according to that saying: "Convert us, O Lord, to Thee, and we shall be converted."8
b) An act of faith. For a man moved and illuminated by the merciful God must tend toward God through faith. For whoever wishes to approach God must believe that God exists and rewards human works.9
c) An act of fear. For a man, believing God to be the just avenger of crimes, is necessarily struck by fear of God angered and punishing.
d) An act of hope. For the sinner cannot approach God unless the hope of obtaining divine mercy and the remission of sins shines upon him.
e) An act of initial love. For a man believing in a God equally just and merciful is necessarily induced to love such a God. Moreover, no justification is possible for an adult man unless he wills to turn himself toward God and to be united with Him. Now such conversion and union include at least an imperfect act of love.
A man prepared by these five movements or degrees can elicit an act of true penance and thus be justified, his sins having been blotted out. Certainly it is not always required that these five movements or degrees be really distinct or separated before the act of true penance; but sometimes a man moved by divine grace elicits one formal act of penance which nevertheless virtually contains all the other requisites.
It is said, second: whereby a man is rendered prompt to grieve over a sin insofar as it is an offense against God. Therefore not every sorrow over sins committed is an act of the true virtue of penance, but only when sin is held in hatred as an offense against God; and therefore the formal object of penance is the offense or injury against God to be repaired. For example, sorrow over sins arising from the natural turpitude of sin or from its evil natural effects is not an act of true penance. It is not indeed necessary that the motive of penance be perfect love of God, but it is required that it be referred to God in some manner; for example, temporal or eternal punishments are a sufficient motive, not indeed as they are in themselves, but as they are to be inflicted by divine justice.
Finally it is said, third: with a purpose of amendment, because true sorrow for sin includes detestation of the past and a purpose of amendment for the future.
5 Session 6, can. 3, On Justification (Denz., n. 813).
6 Ibid., c. 6 (Denz., n. 798).
7 Part 2, c. 5, q. 7.
8 Lam. 5:21.
9 Cf. Heb. 11:6.
308. Acts of penance. From what has been said, it follows that several acts are contained in the virtue of penance, namely: a) hatred and detestation of sin; b) sorrow over the offense inflicted upon God; c) the will to destroy sin in us; d) the will to make satisfaction to God who has been injured; e) the will to avoid future sin. Commonly, however, only three acts included in penance are assigned: sorrow, detestation, and purpose.
309. The proximate subject of penance is the will.
For penance is a potential part of justice, which resides in the will, as was stated above, II, n. 70. Although other faculties of the soul concur in the act of penance, for example, memory represents the sin committed and its malice, and sorrow is sometimes felt in the body, nevertheless it belongs to the will to elicit and command the act of penance; and therefore the faithful are not to be disturbed if, when eliciting contrition, they do not sensibly perceive sorrow, as they say; for acts of the will are not always felt in the body.
310. The remote subject of penance is every man guilty of sin or at least capable of it.
Since penance is an infused virtue, it is in all who are in the state of sanctifying grace and who have sinned or at least can sin. Therefore it is also in baptized infants. In Gehenna there is no true penance, because true virtue does not exist there; but in heaven the virtue of penance remains in the blessed, insofar as they have displeasure over sins formerly committed and joy over the satisfaction rendered. Neither Christ nor probably the Blessed Virgin has the virtue of penance properly so called, since they were not capable of any sin.10
10 Cf. Billuart, De poenit., diss. 2, a. 2. Hence the Holy Office on July 5, 1893, deservedly proscribed the following formulas: "Penitent Heart of Jesus, penitent Jesus, Jesus doing penance for us."
311. The material object of penance is any actual personal sin insofar as it injures divine justice and accordingly demands satisfaction.
Hence penance properly concerns neither original sin nor the sins of others, because no one can retract anything except that which was done by his own personal will. In a broader sense, however, insofar as penance signifies detestation, someone can repent of all sins, just as Christ Himself also detested all sins. In this broader sense Christ can be said to have had the virtue of penance.
312. The formal object of penance is an expiable offense against God, or the divine right injured and reparable through satisfaction.
Penance therefore does not regard God as He is the supreme lovable good or as He is worthy of the highest worship, but as He is the supreme lord over all human actions, which therefore must be done according to His good pleasure. The sinner injures this right. The penitent repairs the same right. If these things are kept before the eyes, it is easily understood why St. Thomas and theologians commonly teach that penance is a special virtue, and not something intrinsically composite or a quality annexed to every virtue. For since penance has a special material and formal object, it must be a special virtue. St. Thomas11 writes most rightly: "Penance, although it is directly a species of justice, nevertheless in some manner comprehends those things which pertain to all the virtues." Perhaps in no other virtue does the connection of all the virtues shine forth as it does in perfect penance. A truly penitent man exercises all the other virtues. Wherefore it is also easily understood why many truly penitent sinners, both men and women, arrived at great sanctity. The Angelic Doctor treats excellently of the virtue of penance in several articles of the Summa theologica, 3, q. 85.
11 S. theol. 3, q. 85, a. 3 ad 4.
313. Necessity of the virtue of penance. Penance, either within or outside the sacrament, is necessary for all sinners by a necessity both of means and of precept.
a) Necessity of means. St. Thomas12 says: "It is impossible for an actual mortal sin to be remitted without penance, speaking of penance which is a virtue"; and the Council of Trent13 defined: "Penance was necessary at every time for all men who had defiled themselves with some mortal sin in order to attain grace and justice." The Savior said: "Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish."14 The reason, however, is that mortal sin is essentially an aversion from God. Now this aversion must be destroyed through conversion to God or through detestation of sin, which is certainly penance. Cf., however, below, n. 346.
b) Necessity of precept. Penance is commanded by natural law, divine law, and ecclesiastical law alike. Natural law requires that injured justice be repaired. But sin injures justice by violating the honor due to God. The reparation of justice injured in this manner is made through penance. That penance is also necessary by a necessity of divine precept is evident from several texts of Sacred Scripture, for example: "Do penance, and be baptized every one of you.... Be penitent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out."15 "Do penance therefore for this thy wickedness, and pray to God, that perhaps this thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee."16 Ecclesiastical law prescribing annual confession also commands penance.
12 Ibid., q. 86, a. 2.
13 Session 14, c. 1, On Penance (Denz., n. 894).
14 Luke 13:5.
15 Acts 2:38 and 3:19.
16 Acts 8:22.
314. You will ask: When does the precept of penance oblige?
Theologians do not agree. The following things seem to be admitted: The precept of penance obliges per se and per accidens.
It obliges per accidens whenever some precept urges which cannot be fulfilled without true penance, for example, if a priest existing in the state of mortal sin must administer some sacrament, or if someone cannot otherwise overcome a grave temptation.
The precept of penance obliges per se at the moment of death or in grave danger of death, because then a sinful man must obtain the remission of sin; but it does not oblige immediately after sin has been committed. For although it is greatly to be counseled that a man repent as quickly as possible after sin has been committed, nevertheless neither natural law nor positive law contains a clear precept of this kind. Hence St. Thomas17 says: "It is not of the necessity of bodily salvation that medicine be sought immediately, except when the necessity of a cure presses; and it is similar with spiritual illness." The reason, however, is that the precept of penance is an affirmative precept which does not oblige at every time, but at a determinate time. Moreover, if someone were held under grave sin to repent immediately, then he would sin gravely as often as, while thinking about an obligation of this kind, he deferred penance, which certainly is asserted gratuitously and is taught by no one in practice.
Nevertheless, a notable delay of penance is a special and mortal sin. Thus holds the truer opinion against Cajetan, Durandus, and a few others. It seems at least that penance cannot be deferred beyond a year, since the precept of the Church concerning annual confession does not seem to anticipate the natural and divine obligation of penance. St. Alphonsus18 does not altogether acquiesce in this opinion, saying: "For the space of a year seems sufficiently notable to me that one who remains in mortal sin for so long a time could avoid the danger of easily relapsing into other sins. Nor is it valid to say that the Church determined the period of a year indiscriminately for all; for the Church determined this period only for the obligation of confession, but not of penance. I do not deny, however, that sinners, especially the uneducated, can for the most part, indeed almost always, be excused from this sin of delayed penance because of inadvertence." Since, therefore, the Holy Doctor almost always excuses sinners from the grave special obligation of doing penance within a year, let the confessor indeed strongly counsel frequent penance, but let him not condemn for a special mortal sin those who have deferred penance until annual confession.
17 In IV Sent., dist. 17, q. 3, a. 1, sol. 4 ad 2.
18 Theol. mor. l. 6, n. 437.
315. Scholion. On resipiscence insufficient for penance. Luther taught that true penance is nothing other than resipiscence toward a good life. Against this error the Council of Trent19 declares "that this contrition contains not only cessation from sin and the purpose and beginning of a new life, but also hatred of the old life." And in truth, he who considers the cries of the penitent Psalmist and the Prophet, for example: "I have labored in my groaning; every night I will wash my bed,"20 and: "I will recount to Thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul,"21 easily understands that they flowed from a certain vehement hatred of the life previously led and an immense detestation of sins. Wherefore St. Gregory aptly says: "To do penance is both to bewail the evils committed and not to commit the things that must be bewailed."22
19 Session 14, c. 4, On Penance (Denz., n. 897).
20 Ps. 6:7.
21 Isa. 38:15.
22 Book 2, Homily 34 on the Gospels, n. 15 (Migne, Patr. lat. 76, 1256).