Herman Hegger's testimony?

[ResoluteSheep]

Herman Hegger self-proclaimed former Catholic priest ‘‘exposed’’ the secrets of the monastic life. Could this just be another case of Maria Monk and sister Charlotte? There is so much anti-Catholic material in this. Typical anti-Catholic statements such as ‘‘The Catholic Church does not want you to read the Bible!’’, ‘‘Jesus meant the Eucharist figuratively, not literally!’’ and ‘‘Catholics worship Mary and the Saints!’’ are strongly emphasized in his testimony. The fact that he keeps repeating the phrase ‘‘Roman Catholics do this…’’ ‘‘Roman Catholics do that…’’ like this is just an observation but why would you say ‘‘Roman Catholic’’ over and over? Why not just ‘‘Catholic’’? It sounds as if it was not an ex-Catholic who made the statement but rather just another anti-Catholic propaganda, get what I mean?

This testimony highlights some unusual things - he claimed that he (as a priest formerly, or so he said) had to endure physical body sufferings for the souls in purgatory, and it even involved physical lashes onto the body. At times he even had to lick the floor. Including also ‘‘In one of these routines a priest had to lie on the floor across a doorway so that other priests would tread on him as they went by.’’ I don’t know what kind of Monastery would make priests do this but it greatly contrasts with the daily routines of actual Catholics living in the monastery. Sure, the people in the monastery have to sacrifice and even at time suffer for other souls but nowhere is it stated that they had to physically whip themselves or do such terrible acts like licking the floor. In fact, this is probably the first testimony that actually included this kind of information, you can’t find this anywhere else.

Herman Hegger is indeed a real person but passed away in 2012. However, extra details such as the name of the monastery are not provided. I would like to hear your thoughts about this testimony, but personally I don’t feel it is a valid testimony and possibly, as stated before, anti-Catholic propaganda

 

[USMC_Convert]

You can always tell someone from NYC, they just call it “the city” while everyone else calls it either New York City or Manhattan.

You can further tell Marines apart from everyone else simply by the way we talk and in many ways just by the way we walk.

Catholics and especially Catholic priests are much the same, even if they lost faith, I’m sure their little habits, especially the little phrases and ways they talk would not change.

I put no stock in this mans stories, but I pray for his soul…

Our Father…

Hail Mary…

 

[MrsAngelala]

Isn’t this one of the stories in “Far From Rome, Near to God”? (Just looked, and yes, it is.) My Protestant husband recently finished reading a representative sample of that book, to give Evangelicalism an equal hearing after reading Surprised by Truth. I think he said something about a story where a monk talked about being literally walked on. He dismissed it without difficulty; it seemed to be written by a very troubled and confused person.

According to his notes, which he let me read, most of what he read in that book was of similarly low quality. He read eleven, and more than one story involved what you described – making a labored and pointed effort to hit popular anti-Catholic targets like they were scattered over a dartboard. The first sub-heading of the first story in the whole book is “I Whip Myself.” I will not comment on the editors intent in so placing such a heading, because 1. I think it’s perfectly obvious, and 2. I can’t do it without getting snarky.

I will refrain from going further into the book when you’re talking about a particular story, but as far as I’m concerned, any testimony included in such a collection is highly suspect.

 

[Dorothy]

My suggestion would be to look at our Lord Jesus Christ, our Blessed Mother and all the saints and holy people that lead us to the Lord.

Even if that negativity that was mentioned was true, it does not take away from our Lord, His Blessed Mother, and all the saints. There are so many holy and wonderful priests available to us to focus on.

Detraction from the Catholic Church started from day one, and will continue.