Penance
The Catholic sacrament of reconciliation (also known as penance) has three elements: conversion, confession and celebration. By undertaking this sacrament, Catholic Christians find God’s forgiveness. In turn, Catholic Christians are called to forgive others.
The sacrament of reconciliation is a sacrament of healing. The word reconciliation means ‘to be at peace again’. Catholic Christians believe in four stages of forgiveness:
Contrition - the state of feeling remorseful.
Confession - the priest helps Catholic Christians to confess. They must say sorry and promise to change their ways.
Satisfaction - the priest sets a task or suggests prayers to be said in order to achieve forgiveness. This is sometimes called 'penance'.
Absolution - release from the feeling of guilt.
You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:19
Penance requires the sinner to endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction. The priest then speaks the words of absolution in the name of Jesus and the bond between the confessor and God is rebuilt.