The Latin term is used in the first of the Ninety-Five Theses of Martin Luther, and variously translated into English as 'repent' or 'do penance'. The phrase was also used as a rallying cry by the Dulcinian movement and its predecessors, the Apostolic Brethren, two radical movements of the Medieval period.Fra Dolcino Il Grido
The term is part of the larger quotation from St. Jerome's Vulgate translation of Matthew 3:2 (as said by John the Baptist) and Matthew 4:17 (as repeated by Jesus of Nazareth): ('Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand').See the translations at and
The term is translated from the original Greek command (), which some post-Vulgate translators (including Erasmus) alternatively render in Latin as a translation that favors the connotation of changing one's internal state of mind, rather than the connotation of engaging in external penitential action. The Greek is alternatively translated within the Vulgate at Mark 1:15 as , a translation more similar in connotation to . The translational issue is often used to justify positions on the subject of sacramental penance.
In popular culture The shortened rallying cry Penitenziagite exposes two monks as former members of the Dulcinian movement in The Name of the Rose, a novel by Umberto Eco and the 1986 film of the same name by Jean-Jacques Annaud.
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