Bible Encyclopedias
Confalon

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

a fraternity of seculars in the Church of Rome called penitents, established originally by some Roman citizens. Henry III commenced a similar fraternity in Paris in 1583, and, dressed in the habit of a penitent, assisted at a procession wherein the cardinal of Guise carried the cross, and his brother, the duke of Mayence, was master of the ceremonies. Hook, Church Dictionary, s.v.