How to Use penitence in a Sentence

penitence

noun

• My penitence froze me in place, scared to make a move for fear of ruining something else.
  — Lisa Richardson, Longreads, 8 Apr. 2020
• In 2011, Karadima was found guilty by a church tribunal and sentenced to spend the remainder of his life in prayer and penitence.
  — Kristin E. Holmes, Philly.com, 25 May 2018
• After putting in the hard work of patience and penitence, the month is finished off with optimism.
  — Manal Aman, Woman's Day, 18 Apr. 2022
• The civic leaders believed that, at their cores, all men had good hearts and that they would be redeemed through penitence, hence the name of the world’s first penitentiary.
  — Jay Jones, chicagotribune.com, 25 Sep. 2017
• When the Leominster stool was moved to its new position in the priory in 2004, locals held a service of penitence.
  — Katie Dancey-Downs, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 July 2022
• The apology that Francis made on Indigeneous lands on Monday, long in coming and held back along the way, put the Church on the path of penitence once and for all.
  — Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 26 July 2022
• Amazing Grace: Lent, the Christian season of penitence and fasting in preparation for the Paschal feast, is upon us.
  — Catherine Bigelow, SFChronicle.com, 3 Mar. 2020
• Rosh Hashana is marked by the blowing of the shofar in synagogue and begins the 10 days of penitence culminating in Yom Kippur.
  — Sherry Greenfield, Baltimore Sun, 4 Oct. 2022
• The early penitentiaries in America, built in the 1820s, took their name from the term penitence: to reflect on and atone for wrongdoing.
  — Deborah Sullivan Brennan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 May 2021
• Lavender for the remembrance and penitence of Lent, in addition to plastic eggs.
  — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 3 Apr. 2020
• The trip broke the norms of papal travel because it was overtly aimed at penitence, not evangelization.
  — Chico Harlan, Washington Post, 30 July 2022
• In 2011, a Vatican tribunal convicted Karadima and sentenced him to a life of prayer and penitence.
  — Elisabetta Povoledo, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Apr. 2018
• There are, no doubt, references to art historical tropes, perhaps to images that remind of us of the brevity of life, or even penitence.
  — Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2021
• Ashes and dust—Catholic symbols of penitence and mortality—were familiar to the author from the faith that restored meaning to his life.
  — Brenda Cronin, WSJ, 8 Oct. 2021
• These devotions are an act of penitence to raise awareness of Jesus’s self-sacrifice and love, says Morrill.
  — Arricca Elin Sansone, Country Living, 1 Mar. 2019
• The Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist may have been raised in the birthplace of Calvinism, with its reputation for austerity and penitence.
  — Randy Kennedy, New York Times, 21 Oct. 2016
• Another popular ritual is to walk to a river or stream and recite special prayers of penitence.
  — CNN, 26 Aug. 2021
• Rosh Hashanah begins a 10-day period of penitence culminating in Yom Kippur, which was marked on Oct. 4 and 5, with candle-lighting services.
  — Steve Smith, Hartford Courant, 5 Oct. 2022
• Her figures are to the fore: mainly barefoot women in simple, timeless dresses whose staring Iberian eyes contribute to an aura of both power and penitence.
  — Roberta Smith, Holland Cotter and Martha Schwendener, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2017
• In Strahovski’s case, that’s a penitence that’s still shaded with Serena Joy’s pride and near-total inability to truly concede wrong.
  — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 8 Sep. 2022
• The trial broke new ground for the church, where abuse accusations have generally been dealt with behind closed doors or in canonical trials, where offenders can be defrocked or ordered to a life of prayer and penitence.
  — Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2021
• Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a period of 40 days, plus Sundays, leading up to Easter, characterized by an attitude of penitence.
  — Greg Garrison, AL.com, 14 Feb. 2018
• At the time, commentators suggested that the color was an acknowledgement of the shade’s ties to the suffrage movement or its significance in Methodist tradition as a sign of royalty and penitence, since Clinton is Methodist.
  — Claire Zillman, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2018
• Ireland, however, seems to have a lockdown perfectly calibrated to be a marathon of penitence, anxiety, and misery.
  — Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 7 Apr. 2021
• The libretto, an amalgam of biblical texts, moves from a dark depiction of apocalypse, through sections of penitence and prophesy, to an evocation of spiritual solace.
  — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 30 July 2017
• But its decision to use this mistreatment to build a general indictment of American society and demand a confession of white sins and public penitence only played into the hands of the Republican right.
  — Mark Lilla, WSJ, 11 Aug. 2017
• Thomas Bell Atlanta Christians admit their shortcomings, practice penitence and repent.
  — WSJ, 15 Jan. 2020
• Initially jarring, Vendafreddo’s approach allows Tommy to convey skepticism, penitence and revulsion in ways that add surprising depth to the character.
  — Bill Brownlee, kansascity.com, 10 June 2017
• Some of his actions have given the impression that America does not intend to enforce its immigration laws and will prioritise penitence for Donald Trump’s nativist policies over border security.
  — The Economist, 16 Mar. 2021
• The church has tended to emphasize spiritual penitence instead of penitentiaries.
  — Washington Post, 15 Oct. 2021

Last Updated: 13 Dec 2024