compunction, remorse, self-reproach - a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed)

remission of sin, absolution, remittal, remission - the act of absolving or remitting; formal redemption as pronounced by a priest in the sacrament of penance

sacrament - a formal religious act conferring a specific grace on those who receive it; the Protestant sacraments are baptism and the Lord's Supper; in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church there are seven traditional rites accepted as instituted by Jesus: baptism and confirmation and Holy Eucharist and penance and holy orders and matrimony and extreme unction

confession - (Roman Catholic Church) the act of a penitent disclosing his sinfulness before a priest in the sacrament of penance in the hope of absolution

penalisation, penalization, penalty, punishment - the act of punishing