Corporal Mortification?

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Luvtosew said:
We are talking self imposed pushishment , (not giving up milk in coffee) and anyone thinking of or doing it needs help asap not a spirtual advisor to tell them how to do it.
Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, we shouldn’t even get tatoos.

No different than teen girls who cut themselves (who also need professional help) . If one thinks they may get to heaven or even get a blessing from God for doing it they are not.
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So then were all the Saints that practiced mortification mentally ill? 🙂

I agree that one should get permission from a qualified spiritual advisor to look at one’s intent. Aside from mental illness, the desire to engage in more rigorous forms of mortification can come from a place of pride or a misunderstanding of what it means to serve God. But I believe there is a place for it, for some people.
 
Corporal mortification runs the gamut from giving up milk in coffee to the kinds of physical punishment you are thinking of. The church understands this and no spiritual director will allow a mental unstable person to take on an excessive level of mortification, let alone tell them how to do it.

Yes, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot discipline our flesh. It also doesn’t mean that a tatoo (not sinful) and cutting (mentally ill behavior) are at all the same thing.

We all need to consult our own priest or spiritual director about taking on reparation for sin (in whatever form) and not worry so much about what everyone else is doing.
 
Luvtosew said:
We are talking self imposed pushishment , (not giving up milk in coffee) and anyone thinking of or doing it needs help asap not a spirtual advisor to tell them how to do it.
Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, we shouldn’t even get tatoos.

No different than teen girls who cut themselves (who also need professional help) . If one thinks they may get to heaven or even get a blessing from God for doing it they are not.
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Quite different.

Also your understanding here as to the nature and purpose of mortification is not really on target.

Christians have been making use of mortification in its various legit forms for centuries and centuries…all the way back to the first centuries
 
Snugglebugmom said:
A word of warning, perhaps unnecessary, but you never know… Don’t start rigorous self-mortification without talking to your spiritual director. Not everyone is cut out to do these things, and for some people they may pose a grave risk. Especially those who tend toward scrupulosity. You can do a lot of damage if you start carrying self-imposed crosses. 🙂
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When I discuss corporal mortification with people, it reminds me of when I talk to cutters, and those who mutilate themselves because they can’t cope with their anxiety and stress. I agree with talking to your spiritual director about it, and perhaps a good Catholic counselor. I’m sure the diocese has them available, try calling them.
 
Peggy_in_Burien said:
. The next step is to eliminate the milk in the coffee, but I haven’t gotten that bold, yet.
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I’m with you, when you’re ready to give up the coffee, let me know, we can give each other moral support, but I’m not there yet.
Mrs_Sally said:
The church also teaches that we can only under take corporal mortification or out of the ordinary observences under the direction of a spiritual director. That is a real spiritual director and not what we read about, or what someone said, or what folks at CAF are doing.

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what she says
 
Great line from Father:

“The postmodern world readily endorses the practice of voluntary pain regarding sports and physical fitness. Many admire those who adhere to long and rigorous diet and exercise regimens. Others endure painful, costly surgeries to add a few years to their lives. Some also find value in fasting and long days of labor to promote noble social causes, like solidarity with disenfranchised groups. Yet we’ve become strangely blinded to the great spiritual benefit of mortification and sacrifice for the sake of God and one’s own soul.”

Once one thinks about such… it can clear away some misunderstandings…

holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/guests/michaelgiesler/corporalmortification.asp
 
Bookcat said:
Great line from Father:

“The postmodern world readily endorses the practice of voluntary pain regarding sports and physical fitness. Many admire those who adhere to long and rigorous diet and exercise regimens. Others endure painful, costly surgeries to add a few years to their lives. Some also find value in fasting and long days of labor to promote noble social causes, like solidarity with disenfranchised groups. Yet we’ve become strangely blinded to the great spiritual benefit of mortification and sacrifice for the sake of God and one’s own soul.”

Once one thinks about such… it can clear away some misunderstandings…

holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/guests/michaelgiesler/corporalmortification.asp
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👍
 
puzzleannie said:
I’m with you, when you’re ready to give up the coffee, let me know, we can give each other moral support, but I’m not there yet.

what she says
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Our good Irish Sisters of Charity used to tell us about the men in Ireland, drinking their morning tea not only black, but cold, during Lent. Sounds miserable to me. Oh, and they took their bread dry and no butter, either.

I think the worst I can do to myself, beverage-wise, would to force myself to drink hot, Lipton’s black pekoe tea, no sugar, no milk!!!

I’ll let you know.😉
 
Peggy_in_Burien said:
Lately I have been drinking my coffee without sugar or sweeteners as a means of fasting, which is a corporal mortification. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I am on a limited food budget (unemployed), so I am already not eating in a fancy way. I’m also have diabetes, which limits what I can do about fasting. So, this, in a small way, is a mortification to me. The next step is to eliminate the milk in the coffee, but I haven’t gotten that bold, yet.
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puzzleannie said:
I’m with you, when you’re ready to give up the coffee, let me know, we can give each other moral support, but I’m not there yet.
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I am “Queen of the Coffee Snobs” 😉
When you 2 are ready let me know, we can start “Coffee-Drinkers Anonymous”! 😛
 
If we are not speaking of drinking our coffee black or walking 1 mile to Mass in the cold by leaving the car home, I have my doubts on the use of corporal mortification for a Catechumen, aside from those small sacrifices that we should all be doing anyway.

Since the OP did not describe the corporal mortification we cannot know what they mean by the term.

.
 
Just a thought from my punk rock days, in reply to luvtosew’s bit about tattoos:

Tattoos can be a form of mortification of the flesh, a very permanent one in fact.
A lot of the “Christian” punk rock scene will get very religious tattoos as a means of remembering certain things, including the idea that when we see them, or think about them, we will remember to live purely for Christ. This is also why the sXe (Straight-Edge) crowd decries practically any chemical additive (including caffeine for many extreme practitioners), as it prohibits us from pure living.

Now, in regard to Leviticus 19:28, that verse is about mortification (cutting and tattooing), for reasons of the worship (adoratio) of the dead in the form of idols, and not worship of God; though, the use of tattoos in worshiping God is never prescribed specifically in contrast.

A dissimilar example of the situation as basically described in Lev 19:28 would be someone getting a “praying hands” tattoo, or other religious symbols or iconography. The litmus test in that situation is that the person is not actually worshiping (adoratio) the thing or concept portrayed, but can actually use the tattoo as a sort of double purpose medium: mortification during receipt and healing, and as a sacramental device once healed. Heck, you could even take the priest along to do some blessings on for such a permanent sacramental! 🙂 Also, in the case of tattoos commemorating the dead, and not engaging in their worship, this is also acceptable.

Why? Because if the argument is in relation to Lev 19:28, it’s a very illogical step from what it says to what it’s become in non-Jewish, Christian circles. Socially, I understand the prior resistance to tattoos as a normal thing. Now, it’s not a social issue, and it’s never really been a spiritual one outside of prescribed perimeters.

If the argument is in regard to the idea of the body being a literal temple and not a figurative temple for the Holy Spirit, perhaps all these people holding that view should provide the Holy Spirit with a menu to choose from for your daily meals, ask the Holy Spirit if He too finds that shirt to be His favorite, and how He truly feels about Coca-Cola vs Pepsi.
 
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