In this episode we commence our study of the sacrament of penance. The Catechism first explains the various meanings of the word penance, and then explains that penance is, first of all, a virtue. IN addition we read an article from the Summa Theologica in which St Thomas Aquinas justifies the saying of St Jerome that “penance is a second plank.” (ST. IIIa. Q. 84, a. 6)