Examples of “penance” in a Sentence

noun A voluntary act of self-punishment or atonement carried out to make up for wrongdoing.

• He did penance for years, quietly trying to make amends.
• As penance for lying, she spent the whole weekend helping her neighbor.
• He saw the long walk home as penance for forgetting the keys.

noun In some Christian traditions, a religious ritual of confession, repentance, and reparation.

• The priest assigned her a set of prayers as penance.
• After confession, the man was told to say three prayers as penance.
• In the church, the sacrament of penance begins with an honest confession.