Corporal mortification

[paul11b]

Hello, I have a question about corporal mortification. I struggle against very strong temptations to commit sins of the flesh and I noticed that one of the ways that I am able to resist these temptations is through mortifying my body with a leather belt when they come to me. I was thinking of buying an actual discipline or cilice and using it to help resist my temptations. I found some places online that sell them but I don’t know if this practice is still approved by the Church. I know that many of the saints in the past practiced corporal mortification. I would fast but I have a very physically demanding job that requires me to eat otherwise I may not be able to perform at work. If someone could tell me what the Church’s standing on this practice is I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

You should really talk to a spiritual director about this before undertaking any type of physical mortification.

 

[LilyM]

You should really talk to a spiritual director about this before undertaking any type of physical mortification.

Second this. For people who are not properly spiritually prepared, practices of extreme physical mortification can do harm rather than good.

Surely there are other less extreme mortifications you can undertake rather than beating yourself? Perhaps eat or drink something unpleasant (non-harmful but foul tasting) rather than fasting, for example.

I do agree that mortifications, big and small, can help with sins of the flesh. The biggest help though, I find, is simple prayer. The moment you find a sinful thought popping into your head, stop and say an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. Concentrate on the words of the prayers. That, I find, is enough to at least temporarily distract me.

And then repeat as often as needed. Doesn’t matter if it starts off as being every other minute - the thoughts will lessen and subside after a while.

 

[GRATEFULONEjim]

Why don’t you try logging onto some sites that have a prayer library and copy some prayers into a journal. This takes some time and turns your thoughts back to God. When you finish the journal, you will have a beautiful prayerbook to use. I am starting my 2nd one soon. This practice helped me through a similar situation. God Bless.

 

[valentino]

Corporal punishment’s ok if you don’t actually do some permanent damage to your body.If its like sleeping on the floor instead of the bed it would be alright or sleeping without a pillow.

 

[PJM]

=paul11b;7852930]Hello, I have a question about corporal mortification. I struggle against very strong temptations to commit sins of the flesh and I noticed that one of the ways that I am able to resist these temptations is through mortifying my body with a leather belt when they come to me. I was thinking of buying an actual discipline or cilice and using it to help resist my temptations. I found some places online that sell them but I don’t know if this practice is still approved by the Church. I know that many of the saints in the past practiced corporal mortification. I would fast but I have a very physically demanding job that requires me to eat otherwise I may not be able to perform at work. If someone could tell me what the Church’s standing on this practice is I would greatly appreciate it.

NO!

ONLY with PRIOR approval from your Spiritual Director or PASTOR may one do this.

WHY? Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit NOT our to keep; but ONLY to use. Therefore abuse [even for a good reason] cannot be condoned without specific permission.

John.2: 21 “But he spoke of the temple of his body”.

1Cor.6: 19 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own”

FRIEND THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER, PLEASE SEE A PRIEST ASAP AS A PRIORITY

God Bless, Pat

 

[FromTheAshes777]

I agree with the above posts, seek the counsel of your parish Priest and also see if he can direct you to a good spiritual director/adviser before acting further.

 

[markomalley]

Hello, I have a question about corporal mortification. I struggle against very strong temptations to commit sins of the flesh and I noticed that one of the ways that I am able to resist these temptations is through mortifying my body with a leather belt when they come to me. I was thinking of buying an actual discipline or cilice and using it to help resist my temptations. I found some places online that sell them but I don’t know if this practice is still approved by the Church. I know that many of the saints in the past practiced corporal mortification. I would fast but I have a very physically demanding job that requires me to eat otherwise I may not be able to perform at work. If someone could tell me what the Church’s standing on this practice is I would greatly appreciate it.

I agree with the other posters, you need to be under spiritual direction prior to consider using a cilice or discipline.

The key question, as far as I can see, is how to locate a good spiritual director.

In the meantime, I would suggest that you should work on your prayer life. The daily Rosary, the Liturgy of the Hours (said as close as possible to the recommended times), coupled with trying to go to daily Mass as much as possible will help a lot. Don’t be afraid to turn to God immediately as soon as a temptation strikes. Ejaculatory prayers said in the moment, along with a general strengthening of your prayer life as stated above, will help you.

This is not to say that corporal mortification is not of value, but only under close spiritual direction. And I would wager that any spiritual director worth his salt is going to want you to massively ramp up your prayer life before even considering the possibility of concurring with the use of a discipline or cilice.

 

[Monica4316]

Hello, I have a question about corporal mortification. I struggle against very strong temptations to commit sins of the flesh and I noticed that one of the ways that I am able to resist these temptations is through mortifying my body with a leather belt when they come to me. I was thinking of buying an actual discipline or cilice and using it to help resist my temptations. I found some places online that sell them but I don’t know if this practice is still approved by the Church. I know that many of the saints in the past practiced corporal mortification. I would fast but I have a very physically demanding job that requires me to eat otherwise I may not be able to perform at work. If someone could tell me what the Church’s standing on this practice is I would greatly appreciate it.

yes it’s still approved by the Church BUT the teaching on this has ALWAYS been to only practice corporal mortification under the guidance of a spiritual director/confessor. Please do not do this on your own, that could be *spiritually *dangerous. It should only be done in obedience, to prevent any pride…or temptations even worse than those you are describing. Also, it’s important to be guided so the person doesn’t do mortification excessively. Do you attend a traditional parish? Traditional priests might be more familiar with this sort of thing. Maybe you could describe your situation to a priest and ask him how you can fight these temptations, and if it’s God’s will for you to do corporal mortification, then the priest would tell you himself

Other ideas are: to have a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother, to wear St Philomena’s cord… actually wearing the cord is VERY powerful you might want to look into that this is the website where I got mine: rosescapular.net/Cord-of-St-Philomena-4001.htm

God bless!

 

[Monica4316]

I agree with the other posters, you need to be under spiritual direction prior to consider using a cilice or discipline.

The key question, as far as I can see, is how to locate a good spiritual director.

pray pray pray for one… lol

God would need to bring you to him