What do you guys think of self-flagellation? For anyone reading this who may not be familiar with this term, self-flagellation is the practice of flogging oneself with whips or other instruments that inflict pain, as a form of mortification/penance. Here is a list of some saints who practiced this discipline;"Saint Peter Damian taught that spirituality should manifest itself in physical discipline; he admonished those who sought to follow Christ to practice self-flagellation for the duration of the time it takes one to recite forty Psalms, increasing the number of flagellations on holy days of the Christian calendar."
Although the sect was later condemned by the Church, the Flagellants publicly practiced self-flagellation as an attempt to repel the Black Death plague (self-flagellation itself was not condemned).
"St. Bridget of Sweden dripped burning candle wax onto her arms until they blistered to remind her of Christ's wounds, scratched open the wounds again before they healed, and took to chewing bitter gentian root at all times as a punishment for moments when she had taken pleasure in food and drink."
St. Francis of Assisi is said to have practiced self-flagellation for the disciplining of the body, which he called "brother donkey."
(St. Catherine of Siena) "Her zealous use of "the discipline"—a leather thong used to flagellate oneself in the monastic tradition—caused much pain."
"St. Ignatius Loyola used the discipline (a whip of cords) on his back as well as a rope around his waist and twine around his knee as daily reminders to let the spirit rule the flesh."
Not that these men are to be imitated in much of anything, but even the likes of Martin Luther and JPII were said to have practiced self-flagellation. (They were feeling what they were doing to Christ with their sins against the faith
) Members of the neo-conservative Opus Dei are said to do this as well.
The Fatima children would poke themselves with pins and tie tight ropes around their wastes as penance. I believe that the Blessed Virgin even told them that Jesus wanted them to stop wearing the rope at night but continue wearing it during the day. Are Jesus and Mary directly approving this practice in at least some circuмstances and moderated?
What do you guys think of self-flagellation? Does anyone here practice it or has anyone in the past? Is this something traditional Catholics should practice? I've read that one should only do this under the guidance of a spiritual director to avoid falling into pride. What if you don't have a spiritual director? Personally, I have tried this in the past and was thinking about reviving this practice for Advent. Good idea? Bad idea? What do you guys think about this?
Topic: Self-Flagellation (Read 1360 times)