The prophet Habakkuk gives this title to his canticle: “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet for ignorance.” For he had spoken in a bold manner to the Lord and had said, “How long, O Lord, shall I cry, and you will not hear? Shall I cry to you ‘suffering violence,’ and you will not save? Why have you shown me iniquity and grievance, to see rapine and injustice before me? Judgment is done against me and opposition is more powerful. Therefore the law is torn to pieces, and judgment comes not to the end, because the wicked prevails against the just; therefore, wrong judgment goes forth.” As a reproof to himself for having spoken these words through ignorance, he writes the Canticle of Penance. If ignorance were no sin, it was a futile effort on his part to compose a book of penance, and his desire to express sorrow over an act that was not a sin was an empty gesture.
