The ecclesiastical court's penalties were intended to reform and determined on a case-by-case basis. The canon law of Christendom was followed, without much change by the English church or nation. A penitent who was sincerely contrite was first expected to confess his sin to a priest, who gave him God's forgiveness. This removed the guilt of the sin and eternal punishment in hell. But then justice required a "satisfaction", which could be met in this world or in the next. Accordingly, the priest or ecclesiastical court then imposed a "penance", i.e. some act of a religious nature. Penance could include confession and public repentance of the sin before the parish, making apologies and reparation to persons affected, public embarrassment such as being dunked in water (e.g. for women scolds), walking a route barefoot and clad only in one's underwear, whippings, extra work, fasting, vigils, prayers for help to live righteously, reading, meditation, solitary life, a diet of bread and water for a specified time, fines, gifts to the church, alms to the poor, various kinds of good deeds, and imprisonment in a "penitentiary". For more serious sins, there could be a long fast, a diet of bread and water for a number of years, or a distant pilgrimage, for instance to Rome or Jerusalem. For those whose penance was incomplete at the time of their death, there was a temporary state of purgatory wherein some sort of suffering fulflled the remaining debt. Souls in purgatory could be aided by the prayers of the faithful on earth. The truly penitent could hope for the remission of all or part of their purgation by obtaining an indulgence from a higher authority than the priest.