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The Roman Catholic Church has often held mortification of the flesh (literally, "putting the flesh to death"), as a worthy spiritual discipline. The practice is rooted in the Bible: in the asceticism of the Old and New Testament saints, and in its theology, such as the remark by Saint Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, where he states: "If you live a life of nature, you are marked out for ...
Self-flagellation is the disciplinary and devotional practice of flogging oneself with whips or other instruments that inflict pain. [1] In Christianity , self-flagellation is practiced in the context of the doctrine of the mortification of the flesh and is seen as a spiritual discipline .
Mortification in Christian theology refers to the subjective process of Sanctification. It means the 'putting to death' of sin in a believer's life. ( Colossians 3:5) Reformed theologian J.I. Packer describes it in the following way: "The Christian is committed to a lifelong fight against the world, the flesh and the devil.
Mortification of the flesh is an act by which an individual or group seeks to mortify or deaden their sinful nature, as a part of the process of sanctification. [ 1 ] In Christianity , mortification of the flesh is undertaken in order to repent for sins and share in the Passion of Jesus . [ 2 ]
By the 11th century, the use of the discipline for Christians who sought to practice the mortification of the flesh became ubiquitous throughout Christendom. [11] In the Roman Catholic Church, the discipline is used by some austere Catholic religious orders. [12]
The practice peaked during the Black Death. Spontaneously Flagellant groups arose across Northern and Central Europe in 1349, including in England. [12] Initially the Catholic Church tolerated the Flagellants and individual monks, friars and priests joined in the early movements. By the 14th century, the Church was less tolerant and the rapid ...
Mortification ("dying to oneself") has had a long history within the Catholic Church, e.g. fasting on certain days with prayers, etc. Corporal mortification of the type practiced by Opus Dei celibates, however, is a rare practice for modern Catholics.
Ascetics reduces self-denial to exterior and interior mortification: exterior mortification is the mortification of sensuality and the senses; interior mortification consists in the purification of the faculties of the soul (memory, imagination, intellect, will) and the mastering of the passions. However, the term "mortification" must not be ...