Brother Adam Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 [quote name='Norseman82' post='963031' date='Apr 27 2006, 04:26 PM'] It's one thing to accept a suffering or difficult situation that cannot be changed and make the most of it spiritually. It's quite another to say to one's self "I think I'm going to cut myself or inflict some other harm on myself so that I can spring a few souls from purgatory today". [/quote] Fasting is a form of endured pain that we bring upon ourself, and we are required to fast on certian days throughout the year. How is fasting different from a cilice?
Norseman82 Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 [quote name='Brother Adam' post='963033' date='Apr 27 2006, 01:30 PM'] Fasting is a form of endured pain that we bring upon ourself, and we are required to fast on certian days throughout the year. How is fasting different from a cilice? [/quote] For one thing, fasting is required; a cilice is not. Fasting does not harm our skin with spikes. Rather, church guidelines on fasting state that we should eat what is necessary to maintain our strength. And fasting from not-so-healthy foods might be beneficial for us physically, as a side benefit. Also, fasting has biblical roots; I have yet to see any biblical roots for the everyday man wearing spiked wire on his skin as a common practice.
franciscanheart Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 [quote name='dUSt' post='962982' date='Apr 27 2006, 12:56 PM'] I don't think your assumptions would be 100% correct. "Pain for the sake of inflicting pain" would be off base. It wouldn't necessarily be for the purpose of avoiding sin either. Some people may desire physical pain so that they can share in Christ's pain in a physical way. It might help them unite themselves with Christ by following His example (Jesus [b]chose[/b] to suffer physical pain). If one enjoys pain, then that defeats the purpose of suffering. You can also look at it simply as a physical form of penance. We don't do penance for the sake of penance, or only to avoid sin, so why assume corporal mortification serves these purposes? [/quote] I agree with this post. Father Bernard talked about that this past weekend. He said that it used to be that some religious would use their ropes to hit themselves on the back. He showed us how they would do it. It wasn't even hard.. but it was annoying.
Brother Adam Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 [quote name='Norseman82' post='963036' date='Apr 27 2006, 04:35 PM'] For one thing, fasting is required; a cilice is not. Fasting does not harm our skin with spikes. Rather, church guidelines on fasting state that we should eat what is necessary to maintain our strength. And fasting from not-so-healthy foods might be beneficial for us physically, as a side benefit. Also, fasting has biblical roots; I have yet to see any biblical roots for the everyday man wearing spiked wire on his skin as a common practice. [/quote] Perhaps not, but folks did wear sack cloth as a penance, which wasn't no fun. From what I understand, the cilice does not cause any kind of permanent disfigurement or inhibit one from carrying out normal tasks.
morostheos Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 It seems like a lot of you didn't read the post that explained this in length on the first page. Usually a cilice doesn't inflict any physical harm but is uncomfortable. I'm sure there are times when they may slip and scatch someone, etc. but then I think we should give serious second thoughts to women wearing high-heeled shoes because they cause their feet to bleed on occasion.
Brother Adam Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 (edited) [quote name='morostheos' post='963054' date='Apr 27 2006, 04:51 PM'] It seems like a lot of you didn't read the post that explained this in length on the first page. Usually a cilice doesn't inflict any physical harm but is uncomfortable. I'm sure there are times when they may slip and scatch someone, etc. but then I think we should give serious second thoughts to women wearing high-heeled shoes because they cause their feet to bleed on occasion. [/quote] I think women who wear high heels that hurt their feet are nuts. Teresa is one of few women I know who don't wear makeup and I couldn't be prouder of her for it. It may be just me, but makeup makes women look fake and unnatural. Even "well done" makeup. Ick. Sorry for the Edited April 27, 2006 by Brother Adam
Norseman82 Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 [quote name='Brother Adam' post='963052' date='Apr 27 2006, 01:48 PM'] Perhaps not, but folks did wear sack cloth as a penance, which wasn't no fun. From what I understand, the cilice does not cause any kind of permanent disfigurement or inhibit one from carrying out normal tasks. [/quote] Maybe I'm just unknowledgeable about the effects of sackcloth and the cilice, but anything that is made of wire and has spikes that can dig into the skin just strikes me as a medieval torture device. Sorry.
Brother Adam Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 [img]http://www.odan.org/images/cilice.jpg[/img]
Norseman82 Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 [quote name='Brother Adam' post='963058' date='Apr 27 2006, 01:54 PM'] I think women who wear high heels that hurt their feet are nuts. [/quote] But...............what if they use it as a form of penance or mortification? Or to deny themselves a comfort so they can detach themselves from the world? Or to stop themselves from sinning? No need to be sorry for a highjack, as it helps to show a point.
Brother Adam Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 Are they wearing them under the watchfulness of a spiritual director for that reason? I don't think anyone would advocate any form of physical penance without the guidance of the Church.
philothea Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 Yeah, I assume anyone doing any sort of physical penance are doing so because their spiritual director explicitly told them to, and that specific directions have been provided. Any good spiritual director isn't going to give that kind of discipline to someone who is going to get jollies from it...
ruso Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 It is a practice dissuaded by the VaticanII, for my own experience, the way of being closer to God is the oration and to try to live according to the gospel. Not all the persons use it in the opus dei, certain hypocrisy exists, they say to you that you should use more time or that you should press it more as atonement of your sins. St. Thomas More wore one shirt-cilice of rough cloth. St Josemaria the big collector of relics obtained a piece of this one. ruso, exnumerary of opus Dei
Guest Melamori Posted May 10, 2006 Posted May 10, 2006 [quote name='ruso' post='963097' date='Apr 27 2006, 09:48 PM'] It is a practice dissuaded by the VaticanII[/quote] Oh, really? What about a quote, then?
prose Posted May 10, 2006 Posted May 10, 2006 [quote name='crusader1234' post='408040' date='Nov 4 2004, 05:41 PM'] I personally think the idea of corporal mortification isn't for me [/quote] me neither! [quote name='Brother Adam' post='962722' date='Apr 27 2006, 09:47 AM'] Old thread. Personally, I find the pain I face every day to be enough. I don't need to go looking for it. [/quote] Yep. I can't help but wonder if God wants us to harm ourselves. I am sure this is probably something that I just don't understand.
Luigi Posted April 17, 2020 Posted April 17, 2020 8 minutes ago, chrysostom said: What's with the weird necroposting The operative word here is "weird."
truthfinder Posted April 17, 2020 Posted April 17, 2020 He had posted even weirder stuff in vocation station. Maybe should just be banned?
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