Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Sacrament of Penance · Book I: On the Kind and the Parts of the Sacrament of Penance
Chapter 7: On the Name of Penance
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. III, De Sacramento Poenitentiae, Book I, the fourth general controversy on the sacraments. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
The lies and calumnies of the heretics having been set out, let us now come to the name of Penance. The adversaries begin to lay the foundations of their errors from the very name of Penance; and because Penance seems to be named from punishment (poena), and punishment can refer both to sorrow for past sins, which we call contrition, and to that penalty which is enjoined on penitents, and which is named satisfaction by Catholics, for that reason they do not willingly use this word, and in place of it almost everywhere in the Scriptures they substitute “resipiscence,” coming to one’s senses.
Lorenzo Valla, who seems to have been a kind of forerunner of the Lutheran faction, in the annotation on chapter 7 of the second letter to the Corinthians, writes that the Greek words metanoia and metameleia are more elegant than the Latin poenitentia, because poenitentia signifies sadness for what has been committed, while those signify amendment of mind; and from this he gathers that they do nothing who from that passage of Paul bring in a threefold Penance, one which is contrition, another which is confession, a third which is satisfaction, since in Paul only those two words, metanoia and metameleia, are found.
Erasmus, who can be called another forerunner of Luther, in the Annotations on the New Testament, on chapter 3 of Matthew and very often elsewhere, prefers that resipiscere and resipiscentia, rather than poenitere and poenitentia, be the rendering where we read metanoein and metanoia. “Our common people,” he says, “think that to do penance is to expiate what has been committed by some prescribed punishment; because among Christians those who had sinned publicly, being cast out of the fellowship, were openly afflicted, and that satisfaction or punishment began to be called penance. From which fact no small error has crept upon certain theologians, who twist what Augustine wrote of Penance, that is, of public satisfaction, to the sorrow of mind which they call contrition. Otherwise metanoia is named from metanoein, that is, from understanding afterwards, when one who has fallen, the deed being done, at last notices his error.” And below, he contends not only that the Greek word metanoia sounds resipiscence, which many others have done, and among others Luther, citing Erasmus himself as author in the Resolutions; but he even tries, what perhaps no one has dared, to transform poenitentia into resipiscence. For he holds, both in this place on chapter 3 of Matthew and below on chapter 7 of the second letter to the Corinthians, that poenitentia is derived not from poena but from pone tenere, holding afterwards; as if to repent were nothing else than to hold a later counsel, or, as he himself speaks, to understand after the deed, whence also among the Greeks it is called metanoia.
Theodore Beza, in the annotation on chapter 3 of Matthew, censuring the interpretation of those who translated metanoeite not “come to your senses” but “do penance,” speaks thus: “Which interpretation I reject for many reasons, but for this above all, that many unskilled persons have taken from this manner of speaking the occasion of the false opinions about satisfaction by which the Church is troubled today.” So he. Unskilled, that is, and (as Erasmus said) to be reckoned the common people, are all who hold the simplicity of the faith with the holy Fathers and the universal Church. So of old Berengarius (as Lanfranc testifies in the book On the Body of Christ) used to call the opinion of the Catholics the opinion of the common people. Moreover, Beza distinguishes the word metanoein from the word metamelesthai; and metanoein, which word occurs everywhere in the Scriptures, he says properly signifies to be wise after the deed, and that to it corresponds the Latin word resipiscere, whence is resipiscentia, and the Hebrew word shub, to be converted, whence is teshubah, conversion; which John Calvin also observed, book 3 of the Institutes, chapter 3, section 5. But the word metamelesthai, he says, properly signifies to be troubled and anxious after some deed is done; and to this word, which almost nowhere occurs in the Scriptures when the conversion of a sinner is treated, he wishes the Latin word poenitere to correspond, whence is poenitentia, and the Hebrew nacham, to repent, or to be consoled.
Martin Luther, in the letter to the vicar of his order, which he wrote in the year 1518, and which is extant in the first volume of his works printed at Wittenberg, says that by the study of most learned men he had at last learned that the word Penance does not signify hatred or sorrow for a past life, as was formerly said, but signifies love of justice and of a new life, and that this name has nothing bitter or harsh, but everything pleasant and most sweet. The same Luther indicates similar things in the sermon on Penance, and in the Resolutions of his propositions.
But in this those doctors, grammarians rather than theologians, err greatly, who derive the meanings of words from etymology rather than from the common usage of Scripture and of good authors. For if we regard not the origin and derivation but the usage of these words, we shall see that not only nacham and metamelesthai, but also shub, metanoein, and especially poenitere itself, whether Erasmus will or no, signify an external sorrow and punishment proceeding from an inward conversion; and that therefore the Latin translator used the word poenitentia better than he would have done had he chosen to use the word resipiscentia.
Let us run through the several words. Where we read in the last chapter of the book of Job, “I do penance in dust and ashes,” in the Hebrew it is nichamti. From which we understand that the verb nacham comprises not something sweet, as Luther dreams, but bitter sorrow, and that not only an inward but also an outward action; which not even Beza has dared to deny. In Joel, chapter 2, where we have, “Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning,” the word shubu cannot be referred to a change of mind alone, since the Lord so plainly bids them be converted in fasting, weeping and mourning; therefore the conversion which that Hebrew word signifies comprises an inward and an outward action together.
But let us come to the Greek word metanoia, about which the controversy chiefly is. Matthew 11 and Luke 10: “If in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the mighty works that have been wrought in you, they would long ago have done penance in sackcloth and ashes.” In both evangelists the word is metenoesan, which Beza rendered altogether absurdly, “they would have come to their senses.” For what is it to come to one’s senses sitting in sackcloth and ashes? Certainly resipiscence, if properly taken, precedes sackcloth and ashes; for no one puts on sackcloth and sits in ashes unless he has first come to his senses; but the Lord signifies a penal action, which is taken up and exercised when someone, sad and grieving, sits in sackcloth and ashes. So metenoesan in that place can signify nothing else than to turn against past sins with heart and body together, and to exact vengeance for them from oneself. A similar place is Matthew 12 and Luke 11, where the Lord praises the Ninevites for having done penance at the preaching of Jonah, and uses the same verb metenoesan; and what the Penance of the Ninevites was is written in Jonah 3, namely fasts, sackcloth, prayers to God. Add, at the end of chapter 12 of the second letter to the Corinthians: “I fear,” says the Apostle, “lest again, when I come, God humble me among you, and I mourn many of them that sinned before, and have not done penance for the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness that they have committed.” In this place also the word metanoesanton is translated by Beza, “have come to their senses,” altogether against the propriety of Greek and Latin speech. For neither in Latin is it said, to come to one’s senses upon a sin; and in Greek that epi joined with the dative, as in this place epi te akatharsia kai porneia, is accustomed to signify the cause, and to be put for “on account of” or “because of.” Now if anyone says that penance is to be done on account of a sin committed, he will speak most correctly, for the fault is the cause of the punishment, since from the fault arises the obligation to punishment; but that one must come to one’s senses on account of a fault could only be said absurdly, for a fault cannot be held the cause of resipiscence, since resipiscence arises not from a fault but from some good aspiration.
And not only the usage of divine Scripture, but authors also, both Greek and Latin, take this word metanoia not for resipiscence alone, but also for the detestation of a past fault, and the vengeance which one demands of himself on account of that fault. So Saint Basil takes it in the oration on famine and drought, where he calls the external Penance of the Ninevites metanoia; and the Latin poet Ausonius, in that epigram on Occasion and Penance, took it in the same way, when he says: “I am a goddess who exact the penalties of deeds done and undone; namely, that one may repent, I am called Metanoea.” Nor is it probable, as Beza writes in the place cited, that Ausonius for the sake of the metre put Metanoea for Metamelia. For Ausonius wished to express the proper name of that statue which was commonly called Penance; and because a Latin name was not extant in Cicero and the other approved ancient authors (“I am a goddess,” he says, “to whom not even Cicero himself gave a name”), he substituted the Greek for the Latin. And it is not credible that he who wished to render the proper name substituted a foreign one, especially since he could easily by poetic licence have said, “namely, that one may repent, I am called Metamelia,” lengthening the first syllable, as Virgil lengthened a similar one: “Italiam fato profugus,” and so on; indeed it is usual with the Greeks to lengthen the first when three shorts occur in some word. Lactantius, book 6, chapter 24, does indeed write that Metanoea can be rendered in Latin by resipiscence; but he explains that by resipiscence is not to be understood a change of mind alone: “He comes to his senses,” he says, “who is sorry for his error, and chastises himself for his folly, and strengthens himself to live more rightly.” And so much for the Greek word.
Moreover, the Latin word poenitentia is not indeed in Cicero, as neither is resipiscentia; yet the verb poenitere, whence without doubt poenitentia is named, has in Cicero not the force which Erasmus believes, but that which the ancient grammarians give, who derived poenitere and poenitentia from poena, not from pone. At the end of the fourth Tusculan: “How,” says Cicero, “if anger were natural, would one be more irascible than another; or would the lust of vengeance have an end before there was any; or would anyone repent (poeniteret) of what he had done through anger? As we see King Alexander, who, when he had killed his friend Clitus, scarcely kept his hands from himself; so great was the force of repenting.” In which place the word poenitendi signifies not the mere recognition of an error, but the detestation of the deed, with a desire of punishing. Ovid also took the verb poenitere in the same signification, in book 1 of the Letters from Pontus, when he says: “I repent, oh, if anything of the wretched is believed by anyone, I repent, and am myself tormented by my own deed. And though it is exile, my fault is more to me than my grief; and to suffer the punishment is less than to have deserved it.” Now among ecclesiastical authors it will be superfluous to show that the name of Penance is very often used not for the mere recognition of an error and change of mind, but also for the vengeance which the sinner takes on himself; so everywhere do testimonies of the Fathers occur. Certainly Tertullian, when in the book On Penance he says, “From confession Penance is born; by Penance God is appeased,” cannot take Penance for resipiscence, since resipiscence does not arise from confession, but confession from resipiscence. So he called Penance a punishment voluntarily taken up to punish sin; in which sense Saint Cyprian also wrote in sermon 5, On the Lapsed: “Let the penance not be less than the crime.” And Saint Augustine in letter 108 to Seleucianus: “There is,” he says, “a Penance which is the daily punishment of good and humble believers, in which we beat our breasts saying: Forgive us our debts.” Finally, whence would the word poenitentia have the diphthong which the word poena has, if it were derived from pone, as Erasmus wishes, and not from poena? Let it stand, therefore, that all the words for Penance, Hebrew, Greek and Latin, according to the usage of Scripture and of good authors, signify not only a change of mind or recognition of error, but also the detestation of sin and a vengeance voluntarily taken up.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPIT VII.
Dd nominc Pocnilcnliac.
Explicalis hacrclicoruin mendaciis ol calunmi-
is. minc ad noiiiiMi Poomloiiliai! voiiiiiinus. Advcr-
sarii ab ipso l*ociiilonliiio iioinino fmKlaiiioiita ja-
ccrc incipiunl crrorum suoiuin: cl quia Poeiiilon-
lia a poeiia dicla videlur. ol pocna rororre polcst
tum ad doloroin dc poccalis praoloritis. quani iios
conlrilioiiom vocauius. lum ad oaui niulclam.qnae
indiciliir Pocnilonlibus. quaoqnc satislnclio a ca-
tholiois nominalur: proplcroa itli non libenlcrliac
voce uluiilur. ol pro oa in Scripluris rorc ubi(;uo
subsliUuiiil Ilosipiscco.liam.
Loiircnlius Valla, qui vcluli praocursor (|uiilam
Lalhcranao laolioiiis viiielur fuisse. in Annolalio-
iie ad cap. 7. poslerioris ad CorinUi. soribil. elo-
iianliorcs voces cssc j7.c-dvo'.a,ol pi.c-at;.£Xctav prao-
cas, qunm Po(Miitonliam, latinam. qiiia Pocnilen-
lia signilicol Irislitiam commissi. illao meulis e-
mendati(Ui''ii): alcpio iiuh; coUigit, iiiliil ai;(jro oos,
qui ex eo Paiili looo Iripiicem inducant Poenilen-
liam. unam (piae sit c^mtrilio: alUM*ain, quao sil
confessio: UMliam (]u:h; sil salisractio, cuiii apud
Paulum diiao illac voccs [ji£Tavj>ia, el \).z-a\i.ilc\.a.
Innlum invonianiur.
Erasmus. (pii aller praocursor Luthoii diri po-
tesl . iii AiiiioUitioiiibus iiovi Toslamenli ad cap.
^. Mallli. ol alibi rroquenlissimo, mavull, rosipi-
sc(M'c ot rosipiscenliam.(|uniu Poeniierc.el Poc/iii-
/e?i/i(i/u. osse vortondum. ubi lci^imiis |;.£-av5clv,ot
•jLcTdvcr-.av. yofilrum ru/ryi/.s, inqnit, pulal essc
Pocnilenliam afiere: proescripla poena quapi-
am: luere cnmmissa : quod <tpud Clirisliauos.
qui puhlice peccassont, cjecli e consoriio propa-
lam afjliqerentur eaque salisfaclio sive poena,
pocnileniia vocari cocpla. Qua quidem ex re
non mediocris error tlicologis <juit)mdam obre-
psit, qui quod Auquslinus de Poenitcnlia. hoc
cst, publica. salisfacHone scripsil. ad animi do-
lorem. quam conlrilioncm vocant. detorquent.
Alioqui '^z-dvoia dicta est a [;.c-avoclv . Iioc esl,
a poaierius intcliigcndo, ubi quis lapsus. rc pcr-
acla ium damum aniniadvcrtit erratum suum.
Kl iiUra, non soliim vocom s^raecam acTdvoiav ro-
sipisconliam sonaro conlendit, quod muili alii fe-
cerunt. el inler alios Lutherus ipsum Erasmum
auclorom oilans in Uosolulioiiibus: sed eliam,Poe-
nitenUam, quod forle nullus esl ausus, in resipi-
scenliam IransCormare conatur. Vult enlm el hoc
loco in cap. 3. .Mallh. el infra in oap. 7. posterio-
ris ad Cor. non a poena, sed a pono tenendo,Poe-
nitiMitiam duclam; quasi niliil sil aliud poenitere,
nisi posterius consilium lenere; sive, ut ipse lo-
(piilur, intollitfore posl faclum. iindo ot (iraccis
diola (!sl Molanaoa.
Theodorus Hoza annot. ad '.\. cap. Matth. inter-
prolalionoin eorum roprolKMidens , ipii illnd ,
\j.z'T/cihz non vorl(M-iiiit, KcsipisiMlo. sod po(Mii-
l(Miliam at^Mlo: ila lotiuitur: Qunin interprciaiio-
nem niultas ob caussns repudio. red ob eani po ■
tissimum, quod mutli impcriti occnsionem ex
hoc dicoidi (jenerc (ivrinuerinl fdtsarnm opinio-
iium de satisfactionc, quibus hodic agitalur Ec-
clesia. Ilaccille. Scilicet imperili, cl (ut Erasnms
loquobatur) viilij;iis dcputandi sunl omiios. (pii fi-
doi sim|)licilalciii cum saiiclis Patribus, (!t univor-
sa Ecclcsia lonenl. Sic olim Berorii,Miriiis (Lanfran-
("0 lcslo in lib. de corpore Christi) catholicorum
sonlonliam, vulgi sonlonliam appolliibat.
Porro distiiiguil Beza voccm [jt.c-avociv a voce
\kz-a\kzkcS7a1 ac [jLctavcc/v, qujie vox in Scripluris
passim occurrit, proprio sii-iiilicaro dicil, posl fa-
clum sapcro, eiquc respon(l(M-c lalinam vocom, re-
sipiscere, un(Jc esl resipiscenlia.ol vocem hebrai-
cam ^V^iJ convorli , undo csl n3lli)n convcrsio:
quod idcm obsorvavil Joan. Calvinus lib. .3. Inslil.
cap. .3. § 5, Vocem aulcm jji.cTa;;.cXcorai, j)roprio
significare dicil, posl rem aliquam factam sollici-
luui essc ol anxium; atquc liiiic vdci, quae nus-
qiiam forc in Scripturis occurril. ciim de convor-
sione peccaloris agilur, respondere vull lalinam
vocom, pocnilcre, unde est Poenilenlia; ot hobra-
icam Qn3 poenilore, sou consolari.
MarUnus Lulhorus in cpisl. ad vicarium sni or-
dinis. quam scripsil anno i.^ilS. el cxstat in primo
loino oporufn ejus. Wirleiuborgae oxcusnruiu. di-
cit so sludio erudilissimorum virorum tandcmdidi-
cisse, Yoccm Poenitenliae non significaro odiuni,
vel dolorom de vita praeterila. ul olim dicebalur,
sod significare amorem justiliae ol novao vilae. <!l
hoc noracn niliil habere amaruni vcl acorbum. sed
omnia grata et dulcissima. Similia indical idem
Lutliorus in serm. dc Poenilcnlia, cl in Resolulio-
nibns suarum propositionum.
Sed in co muUum erranl doclores isli gramma-
tici potius quam thoologi, qiii vocum significalio-
nos ox olymologia polius ducunl. qunm ex com-
muiii Scripturao, et boiiorum auclorum usu. Nam
si non originem ac dorivationcm, sod usum spo-
ctemus hariim vocum, videbiinus non solum DH^
cl |U.s-:a!jic'Xo-2-a'. , sod oUaiii 131^, jJi-STavoclv, el ip-
sum praocipue pimitoro, voiil noiil Erasmus, o\-
tcrnum dolorem, ac pocnam ex inlerna conversio-
110 profectnm significare, et idcirco latinum inter-
preloin melius voce Poenilenliae usuni essc,quam
focisset, si voce resipisconliae uU voluisset.
Percurramus singulas voces. Ubi legimus in li-
bro Job. cap. ull. Ago Poenilentiam in favilla cl
cinerc, "'nan^ esl in hebraoo. Ex quo inlclligi-
mus, verbum Dn3 non aliquid dulce, ul Lulho-
rus somnial, sed amarum dolorem, et cum non
solnm inlernam, sed etiam externnm aclionem
comprehendere: id quod nc Bcza quidcm nogaro
ausus est.
Apud Joelem cap. 2. ubi habemus: Co?ii;or/ii?n"-
ni ad mc in loto corde vestro, injejunio etflctu,
et planclu, vox 12W non polcst ad solam animi
Lini-It PIU.MIJS
5y?
miiliilionem roforri, cum lani perspiciic Dominus
juboal eos converli in jejuiiio , flelu el pianctii:
proiiulf! convcrsio, quam vox ill,-i lichraicii si;iiiili-
cal.inleriiam el exlernam simul aclionem compre-
liondil.
Melamclia. Voluil eiiim Ausonius proprium nomeii
0)118 simulachri.quod vulgo Poenilenlia diccbaiur,
cxprimere: el quia lalinum non exlabal apiid Cice-
rooem, el alios aiiliqiios probalos auclorcs: Sum
Dcn, incpiil. cui nomcn ncc Cicero ipse dcdil.
Sed veniamus ad praecam voccm ;xcTavo'.av, de £v,ii(^cum subsliluit pro lalino. Kon esl aulem cre-
qua polissiiiium conlioversia csl. Mallli. 11. (;t Lu-
<%»e 10. Si in Tijvo el Sidonc faclae essciil Tirlu-
lcs, ({uac faclae sunl in te olim in cilicio cl ci-
ncre. Poenilcnlinm cgisscnt. Apiid iilrunKpie e-
v;int,'elislam esl vox |j.cTavoyjO-av. quam oiniiino ab-
surde P.eza reddidii: Bcsipui^scnl. Qoid enim esl,
in cilicio el cinere sedendo resipiscere? cerle re-
sipisccnlia, si proprie accipiatur, sacciim et cine-
rem praecedil, nemo enim saccum induit el in ci-
nerc sedel, nisi antea resipuerit: Dominus autem
uclionem |)oenaIem signilicat, quae lum assiimilur
el exercelur, dum quis moestus el dolens in sacco
el cinere sedel.Itaque [;.£xavd7]crav eo loco nihil a-
liud signilicare potest, nisi corde simul ct corpore
adversari peccala praelerita et vindictam de illis
a semel repetere.
Similis locus eslMaUh. 12. el Luc. 11. uhi Do-
ininiis Ninivilus laiidat. quod cgennl Poenilenliam
in pracdiciilione .Tonae , et ulilur eodem verho
jj.c-avocc;: quae fiierit aolem Poenileiilia Ninivita-
nini, scriiiitur Jonae 15. nimirum jejunia, cilicia,
preces ail Dcuin.
Adhaei^in poslerioread Coiinlh.episl. cap.l2.ex-
tremo: Metuo. inqnit Aposlolus.vie iterum cuin re-
ncro. kiimiliel me Deus aj)wl vos,el Iwjcammul-
/os cxii^. qui anlca pcccaverunt, el non cgeruni
Pocnitcnliam supcr immunditie el fornicationc
o.timpudicilia. quam qesscrunt. Iloc etiam loco
vcrhiim ;ji.c-:av'y/,'7av-iov verlilnr a Heza: Itesipue-
runl. Omnino conlra propiielalem graeci lalini-
(pie sermonis. Nam nec laline dicilur, Resipiscere
super peccalum; et graece illiid Siii coniiinctnm
dativn, iil hoc loco £T:ir/j dxarapTia xai -^pvcia,
caussam signilicai"C solel. ac pro eo poni quod est
ob vcl propter. Si quis autem dicat , Poenilentiam
esse agcndam ob peccatnm commissum. riidissi-
mi; dic(!l. esl enini culpa caiissa pocnae. (mm ex
culpa obligatio nascaliir ad |)oenam: at rcsipiscen-
dum ob culpam, non nisi absurde dicerelur, non
enim culpa resipiscenliae caussfi haberi polest ,
cum non (!X culpa, sed ex bona aliqua as|)iralione
resi[)iscentia oriatur.
IXeque solum SiTipliirae divinae usiis, serl eliam
auclorpslum graeci.liimlatini hancvocem ;jLctavoia
accipiunt non pro sola rcsipiscenlia.sed eliam pro
deteslalione praeleritae culpae et vindicla. quain
quis de se ob eam culpam expelil. Sic accipil
s.Basilins in oralione de fame et siccilale.ubi [xi-A-
vcrtav appellal exlernam Poenitentiam Kinivilarum:
et poiila lalinus Ansonius in illo epigrammate de
occasinne el poenilentia , eedein modo accepit ,
<:um ait :
Sum Dcn, quac farJinnn 1'acliquc cxiqo ■poenas :
Ncmpc ul pucnilcal sic Malanoca vocor.
Neque prohabilo est quod scribit Hcza loco cilato,
Ausonium melri caussa posuisse Metanoeam pro
UELI,AII.)nM Vol. III.
(iii)il(!, eiini,(pii proprium nomen reddere volcbal,
alieniim supposuisse.pracsertim cum facile potne-
I il poetica licenlia dicere: Ncmpe ut poenilcal .
Mclameliavocor, producendo primam syllabani
xovi^ Iflclamclia. ulsimilem prodiixit Virgilins :
Italiam fato profugus etc. iniino Graccis solemnpi
est prima producere , cum Ircs breves in aliqua
voce occurrunl.
Laclanlius lih. G. cap. 24. scribil qiiidcm Mela-
nneain latine reddi posse Resipiscentiam: sed ex-
plicat, per llcsipiscenliam non debere inlelligi so-
lam mentis mutalionem: Resipiscil aulem, inquit,
qucrn errali piget.et scipsum casligat dementiae,
ct confirmal ad rectius vivendum. Atque haec de
gracca voce.
Porro vox latina Poenilentia non est quidcm a-
pud Ciceronem, ut neqiic etiam Resipiscentia. ta-
mcn verbum Poenitendi, unde sine dubio Poeni-
tenlia dicla est.apudCiccronem non eam vim habet,
(luam credilErasmus,sed quarn veteres grammalici,
qui a Poena.non a Pone,Poenilere el Poenilenliam
derivarunl. In 4. Tuscnlana cxtrema:QMomodo, in-
quit Cicero. si naluralis cssel ira, aut alius, alia
mngis iracundus esset; aut fincm haberct prius
qaam essct ulla,ulciscendi libido:aut quemquam
pocndcrei.quod fecissei per iramhii Alexcmdrum
Tcgem vidcmus,qui cum inieremissel Clylum fa-
miliarem suum,vix a se manus aJ)stinuit: tanta,
vis fuii poenitcndi. Quo loco vox Poenitendi non
signilical solam agnitionem erroris, sed delestatio-
nem fa(;li, cuin desiderio puniendi.
Ovidius quoque in eademsignificatione verbum,
Poenilere, acc(!pit lib. 1. de Ponlo, cum ait :
Poenitel o, si quid iniseronim, credilur ulli,
Poeiiild, ei faclo torqueor ipse meo.
Cumque sil exiliuvi, maqis estinilii culpa, dolori:
Eslquepali poenam, quain inenusse, minus.
.Lim vero apud ecclesiaslicos auclores , nomen
Penitentiae non pro sola erroris agnitione ct men-
tis mntatione, sed eliain pro vindicla, quam de se
bumil peccalor, sacpenumero usurpari . superva-
caneum eril oslendere: ila passim teslimonia Pa-
Irom occnrrunt. Ccrte Tertiillianns cum in lib. dc
Poenilcnlia ail:Con/'c.ssio7ic PoenUenlia nascitur.
Poenilcniia Dcus placatur, non polesl Poeniteu-
liam pro resipisceniia accipere; cum non ex con-
fessione resipiscenlia.sed confessio ex rcsipiscen-
lia orialur. Ita^ine Poenilcnliam, poenam sponlc
assuniplam ad peccalnm puniendum vocavit : quo
sensu scripsit eliaiii s. Cyprianus in serin. 5. de
lapsis : Pocnilentia crimine minor non sil. Kl
s. Aiign^limis in episl. lOS. ad Seleiicianum: Esl,
im\m[, PoenHeniia. bonorum el liumiiium fidc-
liuin pocria iiuoiidiaiia.in (luapccloratundinius
diccnlcs: Dimillc nobis debita nostra.
7(;
SUvS
itt: ror.MTKMiA
l)cni(iuc mule vox , Po(Miitonlia , tliplillion^Miin
liaberol. iiiiani luibrl vo\ Poen;», si ;i Pone, nl \iill
Krasnins. el non .i PoiMia ilerivarelnr? Mnneal ij:i-
tiir, oinnes PoeniUMiliae voees hebraieain. pi-ecain
el l.iliiiiim. seonndum seriplurae el boiiorum an-
clorum usum, non solain meulis niulalionem, aul
erroris a^nilionem, seii eliam lieleslalionem pec-
cali el vindictam sponte assumptam si^Miificarc.