Cilice

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willrb21

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I know this is a bit of a controversial thing, but I am wondering where does one obtain a cilice? I have searched and searched but am unable to find them.

My intention would be to put it to proper use (under the supervision of a priest).
 
If you find a spiritual director who advocates the use of a cilice, that will be when you should start to look for one. Be prepared to argue with humility and conviction about why you feel drawn to this practice; you will not find much sympathy for it. The suggestion of Opus Dei is a good one but it is my understanding that even in Opus Dei the use of the cilice is highly restricted.
 
A cilice is not a hairshirt. It is a device that is attached to the leg. Maybe you could look it up on the internet. There are some pictures available.
 
Hmmmm, most of the “impartial” or dictionary entries list a “cilice” as a haircloth or coarse cloth, said to derive from the hair of a species of goat.

HOWEVER, on the ODAN network–which is actively hostile to Opus Dei, a “cilice” is listed–with picture, no less–as an instrument of “torture” to be worn around the leg.

I am VERY hesitant about taking the words of a group which was formed as, at best, a “watchdog” to an organization which has the approval of Pope John Paul II.

Thus, I must pump for the “haircloth” explanation which is given by unbiased and impartial sources.

Even the ODAN group says that use of a cilice–or what THEY consider a cilice–should NOT be done by a layperson. . .so I would caution the OP to discuss his wishes with a competent and educated priest or bishop.
 
Surly a matter of semantics. I do agree that ODAN is an Anti-Opus Dei organisation and any information taken from there should be scrutinised highly.
 
Not semantics at all. Either a cilice is a hairshirt or coarse cloth, or it is an intricate piece of wire studded with sharp points worn around the thigh. The first definition is held by the majority of sources, the second by the ODANS people. And, (this should be a red flag), by Dan Brown, in his “The DaVinci Code”.
 
Tantum ergo:
Not semantics at all. Either a cilice is a hairshirt or coarse cloth, or it is an intricate piece of wire studded with sharp points worn around the thigh. The first definition is held by the majority of sources, the second by the ODANS people. And, (this should be a red flag), by Dan Brown, in his “The DaVinci Code”.
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Oxford English Dictionary:

Hair-cloth; a rough garment made of hair-cloth, generally worn as a penitential robe. Also attrib.

c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xi. 21 In cilic & in asca hreow~nisse dydon. 1599 Life Sir T. More in Wordsworth Eccl. Biog. (1853) II. 53 In his youth or tender years he used to weare a cilice or hair-shirt. c1610 Female Saints (E.E.T.S.) 186 After that she had layd the childe on her hayre cloth or cilice…she restored the infant whole to the mother. 1794 MRS. PIOZZI Synon. II. 250 Nuns of some religious orders wear a hair cloth or cilice next their skin. 1812 SOUTHEY Omniana II. 277 A cilice bandage across the eyes. 1843 CARLYLE Past & Pr. II. i, Monks…with their shaven crowns, hair-cilices, and vows of poverty.
 
“in order to increase the discomfort caused by its use it was sometimes even made of fine wire.”

Hairshirt - Catholic Encyclopedia

Given its consistent description, even by non-ODAN members, as being of that nature, I think it can be accepted that it has the form suggested.

Many years,

Neil
 
Thanks for the info.

But to be honest, there have been crosses in my life that have caused me more suffering than this Cilice ever could. Unlike the cilice, you can’t take it off when you’ve had enough. So for me at least, accepting the crosses that God sends me, is enough.
Mary
 
Mary's Lamb:
Thanks for the info.

But to be honest, there have been crosses in my life that have caused me more suffering than this Cilice ever could. Unlike the cilice, you can’t take it off when you’ve had enough. So for me at least, accepting the crosses that God sends me, is enough.
Mary
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Amen to that.:bowdown:

Become a Good friend to God and you will not need an exterior device to find pain.

AMDG,
Mamamull
 
Do you mean to say that there are no crosses in your life that might be borne with more love than you are doing now?

No? Ok… forget the hair shirt. Go find a lonely neurotic who needs a friend, someone who needs you to sign on to be there every day, through thick and thin. Then you’ll know what it means to love in spite of a little irritation, and you’ll actually be doing someone some good. (Someday you may even find that you were their blessed cilice, too!)
 
You seem to be in the happy position of not having enough suffering in your life to aid you in contemplating and uniting yourself to Christ’s suffering, which is why, I assume, you would wish to undertake a devotional practice of self-induced artificial suffering. I devoutly hope you never learn physical bodily suffering by any other means, but truth compels me to remind you that life will inevitably bestow such sufferings on you without your having to do anything about it.

For now, look for someone else who is suffering from lack of basic needs and find ways to ease their suffering. Instead of focusing on your own body, why not find ways to serve the Body of Christ?

Every spiritual writer warns against self-imposed physical penance. Do not even attempt to be wiser than your spiritual director, that is arrogance, not humility which should be the true basis of all penance.
 
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