Understanding the Sacrament of Penance
The Author of the Sacrament of Confession is Jesus Christ himself, who said to His Apostles and all His successors: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them." (Jn.20:23)
About the word “penance,” some say that it derives from the Latin poenam tenere (to bear a penalty), because the penitent receives or imposes on himself a penalty in order to satisfy God. Others affirm its origin is the term penitus (deep within) that is, something intimate, deep, that afflicts the heart.
tradcatknight.blogspot.ro/…/understanding-s…