“Our own most severe judges”: The Power of Penance in the Eusebius Gallicanus Sermons

Late antique Christians generally agreed that penance was powerful. They did not always agree, however, on who had control over that power: the clergy, the laity or God alone. The sermons of the Eusebius Gallicanus collection offer a fresh perspective on the difficulties pastors faced when exhorting their congregants to do penance and reveal the variety of ways in which they responded to the challenge.