Controversial saints should they be emulated

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Please note that it depends on how much lye was used as to how painful it is.

St Rose of Lima was one for much mortification, even since she was a child she undertook great mortification.
 
This bond with with our friends…
It is a gift to have good friends really.
Thanks again for your story ,Little Lady.
 
I’ll focus of the beauty of her life rather than her some of the bizarre practices
 
kptrs said:
I don’t see it as idolizing virginity to the point of allowing a rapist to murder you instead of just going along with it to save your life.
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I’m not saying Maria was the one idolizing virginity - it’s Catholics who think it’s so great that an 11-year old died rather than submit to being raped. They act like that’s why she’s a saint, when it isn’t. She’s a saint because she forgave her attacker. It honestly makes me a little uncomfortable when people praise Maria for preserving her virginity, as if she were an adult woman who had a fully formed understanding of sex. The kid was 11 - at that age, nothing sexual that Alessandro might have involved her in could be counted against her.
 
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TheAmazingGrace said:
The kid was 11
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An 11 year old in the 19th century was far less sheltered from biology than the suburban 11 year old of today.

In fact, there was not a big “sit the kid down and tell them the facts of life” session. Think of the marriage customs of the time, unless you were wealthy, homes did not have vast numbers of bedrooms with soundproof walls, kids knew what intercourse was.

Reproduction and sex was not hidden. Pets were not a fixed tabby cat from the rescue, one had a barn cat that would have a litter of kittens. Chickens, cows, sheep, even in town animals were everywhere doing what animals do. Thus, the 11 year old knew what her attacker wanted, and she knew that it was wrong for him, that he would sin by forcing her.

Maria Goretti was canonized as a martyr. Forgiveness of the martyr’s killers is often demonstrated because those who will die for the Faith have such great love that they are able to forgive even in that terror. Her beatification is because she willingly died to protect moral virtue. Homily of Pious XII for the canonization of Saint Maria Goretti
 
TheLittleLady said:
Some of the more recent investigations about this saint say that she suffered from mental illness.
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We can’t know that for certain though, as she lived hundreds of years ago and there are limited medical records to go on.

Is that study a Cathoic source or secular? You could probably surmise that many of the Saints had mental illlness. St. Dominic is reputed to have had visions of the Blessed Virgin…St. Francis rolled in the snow to avoid temptation…St. Paul would rather be beaten and tortureed than deny Christ. Were they all mentally ill?
 
They don’t give any source for their information though. They just state that she had mental ailments.
 
www.scielo.br

Santa Rosa de Lima: uma santa anoréxica na América Latina?

A literatura especializada tem nos mostrado que é grande a semelhança entre o comportamento...
www.scielo.br www.scielo.br

"“No, in my opinion this trouble is not spiritual but mental. You have overstrained yourself; too much fasting and excessive penances have ruined your health.” “Then, Father, what should I do?” “I cannot say for sure. Perhaps, you might consult someone else. Try Father Fernandez.” "

Saint Rose of Lima, Patroness of the Americas by Sister Mary Alphonsus (O.SS.R.) pg 219

The article on SQPN referenced Butler’s Lives of Saints

books.google.com

Butler's Lives of the Saints: August

For more than two centuries, "Butler's" has been one of the best known, most widely consulted hagiographies. In its brief and authoritative entries, readers can find a wealth of knowledge on the lives and deeds of the saints, as well as their ecclesiastical and historical importance since...
books.google.com

It is not uncommon for modern scholars to examine historic figures in an attempt to answer some questions through modern lenses.
 
My confirmation saint is St Francis of Assisi, as much as I love him I don’t think I am going to strip naked if there is a temptation and then proceed to jump into freezing snow if I am ever tempted to sin. I also don’t see myself being able to talk to animals as well. I could go through a litany but won’t, however I found The Little Way of St Therese the easiest to emulate however even then I fail many times in terms of love, humility, prayer and childlike.
 
Well, Maria was exceptionally mature for her age. Her father died when she was nine years old, and Maria was left to parent her younger siblings and take on all the housework while her mother went out to earn a living for the family. I imagine that would make a child mature more quickly than in other circumstances. Her mother was very pious and took great care to educate her children about Faith and morals, so Maria probably had a fairly good understanding of sex and that it is to be reserved for marriage. It still wouldn’t have been a sin on her part to go along with Alessandro to save her life, but I don’t think Maria was exactly a “child” given the circumstances.
 
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I wonder why nowadays we shelter our children from sex so much
 
AdamPeter said:
It’s only now that we look at this with disgust because we are used to the comfortable life.
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I myself don’t “look on it with disgust because I am used to the comfortable life.” Wearing a hairshirt is going to be uncomfortable, but it’s not going to kill you or make you get a weird high from not eating or inflicting pain on yourself. Hairshirt is pretty mild, as is other forms of discomfort like giving up your coffee.

However, in today’s society we are more aware of people inflicting self-harm as a manifestation of inward disturbance, even if they claim it is for some spiritual purpose. I’ve read of a priest in the 19th century who secretly wore spiked bracelets that injured and punctured his skin. Someone doing that now would be sent to a counsellor, and rightly so - it’s about on the same level as cutting.

And, as I stated on the other thread, if you decide to go without food for long periods of time, you may well feel all spiritual and even see visions (as in, hallucinate) but you may also end up with heart failure from nutrient loss, pass out and hit your head, or kill youself and maybe others when you crash your car driving on no food.
 
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Hm, a healthy person can go without food for a long time, longer than you’d think. About day 5 is when one is very tired. It takes a lot of precaution though.

Note that I have not fasted for very long, just speaking from what I have gleaned from others.
 
I’ve actually gone without food for a couple of days when much younger and it’s not something to play with.

Every time I post about this, somebody disagrees and tells me it’s perfectly fine and one can do it no problem. Have at it then if you think it’s so great, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Catherine of Siena also died at age 33, having become unable to eat or drink, lost the use of her legs, and suffered a stroke.
 
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