Make amends for a firmness of body (5)
I believe the answer is:
atone
'make amends for' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a firmness of body' is the wordplay.
'firmness of body' becomes 'tone' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a'+'tone'='ATONE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for atone that I've seen before include "In agreement - sounds singular" , "Turn away from sin and do penance" , "Make reparation for a misdeed" , "Make amends, being at one" , "Make amends (for something)" .)