Penitential

By Crusader1307

A fixture of early Medieval Christian beliefs, the ideology of One being ''Penitent'' was the Act of becoming ''regretful and repentant'' to a Deity (God). As such, a series of related acts to ''appease'' a Deity (make amends), came into being. Depending on the Religion, these acts could be physical depravations ''prayerful'' actions. In time, Religious (Orders - Monks), developed a standardized listing of ''how'' One could make such amends. These written tomes were called ''Penitential'' (s). As One can imagine however, such Penitentials could also serve as a means of ''control'' within a Group. Additionally, great excess and graft were also associated with some forms of Penitentials. Such ''Simony'' (or the Act to assess monies to remove various religious transgressions, etc), would unfortunately become normal. Most Penitentials and their adherence to (in a written form) ceased by the 19th Century AD. One such surviving exemplar is from Ireland around the 7th Century AD, which ''spells out'' such Penitent Acts as ''starvation'' (fasting) and physical injuries (self-harm), to ''remit One's Sins''.