Posted on 01/27/2010 10:18:09 AM PST by T Minus Four
The late Pope John Paul II, who has been put on the fast track to sainthood by the Vatican, regularly whipped himself as an act of penance to feel closer to God, and signed a secret document saying that he would step down as pontiff if he became incurably ill, according to a new book.
"Why a Saint?" by Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Vatican "postulator" in charge of the canonization process, says the Polish-born Pope performed self flagellation as a bishop in Krakow and continued to do so in the Vatican after being elected Pope in 1978.
"In his wardrobe, among his vestments, there hung on a clothes hanger a special belt for trousers which he used as a whip," Monsignor Oder says. He said self flagellation was "an instrument of Christian perfection" emulating the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
He added that in Poland the former Bishop Karol Wojtyla often slept on the bare floor to practice self-denial and asceticism, often disturbing his bed in the morning to pretend he had slept in it and so avoid drawing attention to his act of penitence.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
What instrument do you use?
Guess they never heard of fasting or abstainence or wearing sackcloth or sitting in ashes???
And they claim the Bible as their basis for faith?
Why don’t they quote all of it?
I used to flagelate until my mother told me I would go blind.
Will all of the infallible interpreters of scripture and infallible teachers of doctrine here present on this thread please identify themselves?
Yeah, I know: I'm "cherry-picking" and "out of context".
It's the usual throwaway lines you guys use when we demonstrate that the Bible rejects your teaching.
Hupopiadzo is the "punch under the eye" used as a knockout blow in boxing. It's not a pretty word. "Punish my body" does not mean anything other than "punish my body".
Based upon your own personal interpretation of Scripture.
"As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction." 2 Peter 3:16
What? That would be cherry-picking! /s
Ever heard of genuflecting, kneeling, fasting, prayer, etc.
These are all common examples of reparation for others’ sins.
I don't think so. Jesus is the only one who can (and did) make reparation for anyone's sins.
((snort))
As an athelete who has wrestled and played high-level college and men’s club rugby football for over 20 years I know something about training, discipline and keeping your body healthy to perform and stay good at it for a long time. Rugby and wrestling are among some of the most brutal and physical sports to compete in and the training (extremely rigorous and physical) involved to be competative in these sports is very punishing to the body as is the competition itself. The key to the whole discipline is self-control to properly diet, weight training, sleep, running and stretching etc. The key to whole thing about enslavement is “Self Control”. My sucess in these endeavors is greatly linked to my discipline as a Christian. Pope JP II was a great godly man and also a world-class skier and could have been an Olympian. But I still find beating yourself with a whip is both an extreme and strange practice as Paul said as imposing a severity on the body which did little to check self-indulgence. Self-control which comes from the Holy Spirit is more than capable of disciplining the body.
Yawn and crickets chirping!!
Where the heck did this practice begin? Christ never so much as hinted that people should whip themselves in his name. This is right up there with juggling copperheads.
Somewhere,, Christ is shaking his head in amazement at the nutty things we do in his name.
Lay off the poor late Pope!
If you guys wanna make Christians look like kooks, you’ve still got Pat Robertson hangin’ around...
It's anything but sick. Christian asceticism has a huge and comprehensive history. Mortification, self-denial and penance are firmly rooted in the Gospel. It begins with John the Baptist living on locusts and wild honey in the wilderness and continues with Jesus going into the desert and fasting for 40 days prior to the commencement of his public ministry.
Jesus told his disciples that those who wished to come after him must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him. Following Jesus means following in His footsteps, which means suffering!!
This theme is taken up by St. Paul when he says "I chastise my body" referring to self-inflicted discipline (1 Corinthians 9:27). The apostle also says "If you live after the flesh you shall die, but if through the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live" (Romans 8:13; cf. also Colossians 3:5, and Galatians 5:24).
See? Mortification of the flesh!
Why? St. Paul is at pains to emphasize that the flesh is at war with the spirit. Every saint, mystic and holy soul in history realized that too and as a result attempted to subdue the flesh through works of mortification. Mortification overcomes temptations to sin by inducing the will to accept hardships, which are essential if one is not to yield to the temptations. To this extent, mortification is obligatory on all, but those who wish to be more thorough in the service of Christ, carry it further, and strive with its aid to subdue, so far as is possible in this life, that "rebellion" of the flesh against the spirit which is the internal incentive to sin.
This is gibberish to the world, addicted as it is to pleasure and comfort, so I'm entirely unsurprised that you think that it "is sick". It's also gibberish to those schooled on a facile, superficial understanding of the Christian life and our relationship to Christ and His Church. The "I have my ticket punched" theology of many of the evangelicals is latter day heresy. Do yourself a favor and do some reading up on this practice, starting with apostolic tradition and teaching from the time of Christ.
See post #35.
And what if the top down does not believe such?
The word "atone" does not appear in the story. Do you have evidence that Ven. Pope John Paul the Great believed he was atoning?
Isn’t it interesting how “tolerant” people are of Catholics on this thread.
Christ must be shaking his head at people who rely soley on the scriptures.
Right behind that, would all of the subscribers to the cult of Rome's practice of self-flagellation please leave the country?
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