Q. 802.  Is the slight penance the priest gives us sufficient to satisfy for all the sins confessed?  A. The slight penance the priest gives us is not sufficient to satisfy for all the sins confessed:  (1) Because there is no real equality between the slight penance given and the punishment deserved for sin; (2) Because we are all obliged to do penance for sins committed, and this would not be necessary if the penance given in confession satisfied for all.  The penance is given and accepted in confession chiefly to show our willingness to do penance and make amends for our sins.

Q. 803. {219} Does not the Sacrament of Penance remit all punishment due to sin?  A. The Sacrament of Penance remits the eternal punishment due to sin, but it does not always remit the temporal punishment which God requires as satisfaction for our sins.

Q. 804. {220} Why does God require a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for sin?  A. God requires a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for sin to teach us the great evil of sin and to prevent us from falling again.

Q. 805. {221} Which are the chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin?  A. The chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin are:  Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving; all spiritual and corporal works of mercy, and the patient suffering of the ills of life.

Q. 806.  What fasting has the greatest merit?  A. The fasting imposed by the Church on certain days of the year, and particularly during Lent, has the greatest merit.

Q. 807.  What is Lent?  A. Lent is the forty days before Easter Sunday, during which we do penance, fast and pray to prepare ourselves for the resurrection of Our Lord; and also to remind us of His own fast of forty days before His Passion.

Q. 808.  What do we mean by “almsgiving”?  A. By almsgiving we mean money, goods, or assistance given to the poor or to charitable purposes.  The law of God requires all persons to give alms in proportion to their means.

Q. 809.  What “ills of life” help to satisfy God for sin?  A. The ills of life that help to satisfy God for sin are sickness, poverty, misfortune, trial, affliction, &c., especially, when we have not brought them upon ourselves by sin.

Q. 810.  How did the Christians in the first ages of the Church do Penance?  A. The Christians in the first ages of the Church did public penance, especially for the sins of which they were publicly known to be guilty.  Penitents were excluded for a certain time from Mass or the Sacrament, and some were obliged to stand at the door of the Church begging the prayers of those who entered.

Q. 811.  What were these severe Penances of the First Ages of the Church called?  A. These severe penances of the first ages of the Church were called canonical penances, because their kind and duration were regulated by the Canons or laws of the Church.