ok@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au (Richard A. O'Keefe) (02/08/91)
Before I ask my question, I'd better issue a disclaimer:
This is not an attack on the Catholic Church nor on Opus Dei
nor on the founder of Opus Dei. This really is a genuine question.
I recently picked up a copy of
"The Secret World of Opus Dei",
Michael Walsh,
Grafton Books 1989
ISBN 0-586-20734-1.
On p36, he writes
"Despite constant washing, [the bathroom's] walls were stained
with blood from the flagellations Escriva inflicted upon
himself. He used a 'discipline', a kind of cat-o'-nine-tails,
to which he had attached bits of metal and pieces of razor blades."
It is also stated that he wore a "cilice" (apparently a spiked chain or
"bracelet")
On pp111-112, we read
"Penitential practices fall under paragraph 260 of the
1950 Constitution [of Opus Dei]:
The pious custom of chastising the body and reducing it to
servitude by wearing a small cilice for at least two hours
a day, by taking the discipline at least one a week, and by
sleeping on the groundf, will be faithfully maintained,
taking into account only a person's health.
The 'instruments of mortification' are given to members in little
brown sacks. One former member alleged they had been given to
children only fifteen years of age. The same young man was told
that the amount of mortification he undertook could be increased
with the approval of his spiritual director. He was also told how
Escriva's blood spattered the walls of the bathroom from the
ferocity with which he beat himself.
A report in the Liverpool Catholic newspaper, the "Catholic
Pictorial", for 29 November 1981 described the induction of young
girls into the organisation. They were introduced gradually to the
"mortifications" practised by Opus Dei members. They were
encouraged to kiss the floor upong rising instantly to the morning
door knock.' They had 'cold showers and long periods of silence'.
They wore the 'cilis' (sic --MW) -- a spiked chain -- around the
thigh for a two-hour period each day (not on Sundays and feast days)
`and applied a rope whip to their buttocks once a week'.
These practices still exist within Opus."
To prevent misunderstanding: I appreciate that other Catholic orders have
mostly dropped such practices, I also appreciate that Opus Dei are being
faithful to tradition, and I'm not alleging perversion or bad faith of
anyone at all. I have read in history books that the practices of
flagellation and so on came into the Church as a response to the appalling
plagues that repeatedly devastated Europe.
What puzzles me is this: In the Torah the prohibition against "gashing"
yourself is repeated three times. Evidently it was a mourning practice,
but penance is a kind of mourning, no? In one of the places in the Torah
the prohibition was applied to "priests", but Monsignor Josemaria Escriva
de Balaguer y Albas was a priest, and so have been many other flagellants.
Now, I don't want to argue that the Church is bound by all the ordinances
of the Torah. (I'm clean-shaven, and have no desire to be circumcised.)
But the prohibition of self-mutilation seems to me as though "defacing the
image of God" might not be a good thing, and the fact that the prohibition
is repeated three times suggests that it might be rather significant. At
the very least, I would be *very* wary of accepting a practice that *seems*
to be prohibited.
Again, I think I can appreciate why perfectly sane people might _want_ to
do it. There are a couple of things I've done in the past which are so
loathesomely *petty* that if beating myself till I bled could make me feel
cleansed from the shame of being the kind of creature that does things like
that I'd be _eager_ to do it. But it's _Jesus'_ blood I rely on, not my own,
and forgiveness is real even if I can still remember what needed forgiving.
Finally, the questions:
-- would some of the Catholics on the net care to comment on such penance?
-- why doesn't the prohibition against gashing yourself apply to a priest
beating himself with bits of razor blades?
-- do other Orders still do this sort of thing?
-- did Vatican II have anything to say about it?
--
The Marxists have merely _interpreted_ Marxism in various ways;
the point, however, is to _change_ it. -- R. Hochhuth.conan@purina.berkeley.edu (David Cruz-Uribe) (02/12/91)
In article <Feb.8.02.42.04.1991.15351@athos.rutgers.edu> ok@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au (Richard A. O'Keefe) writes: [ Material on Penitential practices used by members of Opus Dei ] > >Finally, the questions: > -- would some of the Catholics on the net care to comment on such penance? > -- why doesn't the prohibition against gashing yourself apply to a priest > beating himself with bits of razor blades? > -- do other Orders still do this sort of thing? > -- did Vatican II have anything to say about it? Let me try to address these questions in reverse order: Vatican II did not--to the best of my knowledge--address directly the question of penitential practices. However, it did call upon religious orders to return to the charisms of their founders and reform themselves and their practices in light of the spirit of Vatican II. It can be argued that mortification is an addition to religious practice which no longer makes sense in this day and age, and so can be abandoned. And I am not aware of any other religious order which maintains these practices--though some of the cloistered orders may. (I do know that some of these still maintain rigorous fasting regimins (sp?).) I personally find such penitential practices to be overly extreme. On the other hand, since they were practiced by none other than St. Francis of Assisi, founder and patron of my order, I am loathe to criticize them. For whatever its worth, some people might find my Lenten fasts to be overly extreme. Such practices are defended by saying that they forcefully (:-)) remind us of the ephemeral nature of physical things, and in particular of our own mortality. Driven by physical pain from the comforts of this world, we turn more fully to God. Further, such practices induce humility by reminding us of how weak and frail we are before the majesty of God. On the flip side, such practices smack of Manicheanism (sp?): they treat the spirit as good, but physical creation as evil. In particular, they are hard to reconcile with St. Paul saying that the body is the "temple of the Spirit". It would be in this light that I would interpret the Old Testament injunction against self-mutilation. Overall, mortification might have a valid role in a person's spiritual life, if done "in moderation" and under the supervision of a spiritual advisor who can restrain misplaced zeal. From the material quoted, and from other things I have heard about Opus Dei, I suspect that they lack both. Along these lines--can anyone give me any references on Ous Dei, preferably objective ones? (Living in Berkeley, I get my fill of diatribes :-)). Yours in Christ, David Cruz-Uribe, SFO