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SEVEN DEADLY SINS

Around the arch of the south-west window our conservators, working to stabilise the damage caused by resident bats, discovered a single Latin word : 'Gula'. This means 'gluttony', perhaps the only Deadly Sin which Llancarfan parishioners would rarely have the means of committing. However, where one sin appears, six others surely follow. We are greedy to see if future conservation can reveal Pride [Superbia], Avarice [Avaritia], Envy [Invidia], Wrath [Ira], Lust [Fornicatio], and Laziness [Socordia or Acedia]. Meanwhile, this is a reminder of innocence before sin from the Brancacci Chapel, Florence.

Even today we need no tuition into what each sin involved. However, the church's response to sins committed would range from private confession to public punishment. If Wrath led to murder, there was civil reparation, but also many cases of the wronged parties taking the law into their own hands.

But ecclesiastical and monastic courts wielded considerable power (though sadly no ecclesiastical court records survive for the mediaeval Welsh dioceses). Even committing the lesser sins could result in the humiliation of walking barefoot in procession, dressed in a penitent gown, and carrying a penny candle to deliver to the priest after the gospel.