ntance has had in religion certain fixed outward
forms. If sin had been committed, merely inward spiritual
realization was not sufficient, penance must be done. Penance
in the early days of the Christian Church was public.
Later penance became a private matter (public penance was
suppressed by an ordinance of Pope Leo I in 461 A.D.).

Private penance took various familiar forms, such as scourgings,
fastings on bread and water, reciting a given number
of psalms, prayers, and the like. Later penalties could be
redeemed by alms. A penitent would be excused from the
prescribed works of penance at the cost, _e. g._, of equipping a
soldier for the crusade, of building a bridge or road. Gradually
in the history of the Christian religion, penances have
been lightened. In the Protestant Church, with the enunciation
of the principle of justification through faith alone
there could be no sacrament of penance.

One form in which the penitential mood receives expression
is in confession in which the penitent acknowledges his sins.
There is no space here to trace the development of this practice
in religion. It must suffice to point out that psychologically
it is a cleansing or purgation. It clears the moral atmosphere.
It is a relief to the tormented and remorseful
soul to say "Peccavi," and to confide either directly or indirectly
to the divine the burden of his sins. It is for many
people the necessary pre-condition, as it is in the Catholic
Church, to penitence and the actual performance of penance.

The psychological value of confession varies with individual
temperaments; for many it is high. There are few so self-contained
and self-sufficient that they do not seek to express their
emotions to others. It is not surprising that the gregarious
human creature should find confession a restorative and a
solace. Human beings are not only natively responsive to
the emotions of others, but by nature tend to express their
own emotions and to be gratified by a sympathetic response.
Emotions of any sort, joyous or sorrowful, find some articulation.
The oppressive consciousness of sin particularly must
find an outlet in expression. And the expression of sin must
somewhere be received. The wrong done rankles heavily in
the private bosom. The crucified soul demands a sympathetic
spirit to receive its painful and personal revelation.
He that would confess his sins requires a listener of a large
and understanding heart. Just such a merc