One of a series of long prayers that express sorrow and regret. They take longer to say than a brief Hail Mary and are used to atone for more serious sins.
Penitential Psalm Quotes in First Confession
The First Confession quotes below are all either spoken by Penitential Psalm or refer to Penitential Psalm. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
First Confession
Quotes
“Oh,” he said respectfully, “a big hefty fellow like you must have terrible sins…”
It only stood to reason that a fellow confessing after seven years would have more to tell than people that went every week…It was only what he expected, and the rest was the cackle of old women and girls with their talk of Hell, the Bishop and penitential psalms.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire First Confession LitChart as a printable PDF.
Penitential Psalm Term Timeline in First Confession
The timeline below shows where the term Penitential Psalm appears in First Confession. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
First Confession
...the raging malicious devil she really was” and says, “I hope he’ll give you the penitential psalms .”
(full context)
...you hit the child like that, you little vixen?” Nora says she can’t say her penitential prayers while caring for Jackie, and the priest tells her to go away lest he give...
(full context)
...business with my grandmother”) seem so bad. He decides that the stories of Hell and penitential psalms are only “the cackle of old women and girls.”
(full context)
