Penance

(pěn'ans.) [From L. pœna, punishment.) (Eccl. Law.) The infliction of some pain or bodily suffering,as fasting, flagellation, ., or an exercise of repentance for some sin, either voluntary or imposed. It relates more especially to sufferings of the body, as penitence or repentance does to the regrets and sorrows of the mind. P. is one of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. [s. 694]