There are laity and clergy who hit themselves with little whips.
It makes me feel sad for them.
The flagrum is a traditional instrument of self-mortification. Some use the flagrum, some use hair shirts, some put pebbles in their shoes... Whatever they are capable of, and under the advisement of their spiritual directors.
Why on earth does that make you sad?
Why not feel sorrow for the worldly clerics, religious, and laymen who never mortify their flesh, and as a result spend an eternity in Hell, or, at best, a near-eternity in Purgatory?