Volume 10, 2005
Rev. Michael E. Giesler
Pages 149-172
The Enduring Value of Corporal Mortification
Recently, the practice of corporal mortification has become somewhat of a “cause celebre” as a result of the anti-Catholic novel The Da Vinci Code. In it, an Opus Dei monk beats himself in gruesome bloody rituals which caricature and sensationalize the Church’s traditional practices of penance and love for the cross. (By the way, in Opus Dei there are no monks, only lay people and secular priests.) On the other hand the Mel Gibson film, The Passion of the Christ, confronts
viewers of all religious traditions with the reality of suffering as an integral aspect of love and union with God. The purpose of this essay is to explore the biblical, spiritual, and historical roots of corporal mortification, and to show its continued pertinence to men and women of today’s world.