PENITENTIAL PSALMS. - A group of psalms (Ps. 6; 31; 37; 50; 101; 129; 142 [Vulg.]) that express trust in God's infinite mercy toward the sinner and toward the persecuted. They formed a liturgical collection from the earliest centuries of the Church; already in use in the time of St. Augustine, it is mentioned by Cassiodorus; it was commented on, it seems, by St. Gregory the Great. The series of the penitential psalms was recited on the Fridays of Lent after Lauds, on Ash Wednesday for the expulsion of penitents, and on Holy Thursday for their reconciliation. It is part of the prayers for Extreme Unction, for the consecration of churches, the blessing of cemeteries, the blessing of an abbot. It is given as a penance to clerics promoted to the tonsure and to the minor orders.

Considered in itself, the series of the penitential psalms is not a homogeneous group. It in fact comprises strictly penitential psalms (6; 37; 50; 129), psalms of lamentation (101; 142), and a wisdom psalm (31). Yet the character that unites them explains the function they received in the Christian liturgy.

Giorgio Castellino

@incollection{ec9_penitenziali_salmi, author = {Castellino, Giorgio}, title = {Penitenziali, salmi}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {1133}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/penitenziali-salmi} }

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Penitential Psalms

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