Dictionary
A modern dictionary of Catholic terms, both common and obscure. Find accurate definitions of words and phrases.
PENITENTS
The members of a confraternity whose statutes prescribed penance and mercy. They flourished in Italy, France, and Spain from about the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Their contributions, mostly social, were visiting the sick, dowering poor girls, assisting prisoners, and burying the dead.
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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