Some more on Opus Dei and Penitential, umm, Discomforts

Last month when I wrote this, I noted that the article was written by an Opus Dei priest. In the coming months as this movie comes out and this book comes out, you may start hearing more and more about Opus Dei (and for kicks you can google Opus Dei and see what kind of whacked out conspiracy trackers that accuse them of being subversives for the overthrow of democracy). I mean in the real world, not just the Catholic or Christian blogging worlds.
Catholic and Enjoying It! linked to this great "FAQ" written by a former Opus Dei supernumary. When I hear supernumary, I immediately think of the guys who just play trees and laughing party guests to fill teh stage in a play or at teh Opera, but in Opus Dei there is a lot more to being a supernummary than pretending to laugh drunkenly at imagined jokes. The FAQ gives a pretty good overview, including this further description of some of what I discussed in my Sack Cloth and Ashes post. With Opus Dei, mortifcation is only for the celibate members. Yeah, I know; why do the celibate kids get to have all the fun. But seriously, like I touched on in my previous post, and this guy also talks about below, when we suffer pain for vanity or to be cool, it is seen as sane and understandable. How many women do you know spent an entire evening in agony because they insisted on wearing a particularly painful pair of shoes? Or, as even joked about in Sex in the City, how many New York women (or women who just want to look like New Yorkers) spend day in and day out in shoes that pinch their toes, but insist on doing so because they are Marc Jacobs, dammit! Or think of any article of clothing that itches, pinches, or digs irritatingly, but you insist on wearing (or have to wear for whatever reason) anyway. Yeah, a cilice is more than that, but for a lot of us, it is something we do anyway, but for our own vanity. But all that being said, I am pretty happy being unsuitable for Opus Dei and not celibate, so none of this would apply to me anyway. Whew.

34. What are the cilice and discipline? What are
they for? Who uses them?
The cilice is a chain or strap with small
spikes in it. Numeraries and associates wear it around their thigh for 2 hours a
day. It has also been described as a wire mesh, with the ends of the wires
pointing inward. Sometimes the points are filed down.
The discipline is a
cord with knots in it. Once a week numeraries and associates use it to strike
themselves with.
Jesus invites all Christians to help him carry the cross.
It's true that for most of us there are plenty of crosses in our daily lives,
and we don't need to invent new ones. Nevertheless, it's a good and longstanding
Christian practice to deny ourselves some simple pleasures in order to fortify
our will, remind ourselves of the passing nature of this world's goods, unite
ourselves to the sufferings of the Lord in his passion, and to offer atonement
for our sins. This is the purpose of the ancient practice of fasting and
abstaining from meat, for example.
It's interesting that many people
understand the need to deny themselves sweets and excessive amounts of food and
to get up early in the morning, regardless of the weather, to run miles and
miles, enduring great physical pain. They will submit to painful operations and
medical treatments, even to the point of injecting poisons (chemotherapy, botox)
into their bodies. They do all these things to preserve or restore their
physical health, or even just their beauty. Yet they recoil at the idea of doing
things that cause far less physical discomfort if the motivation is spiritual in
nature. These are the people who don't understand and are horrified at the
practice of corporal mortification.
It seems to me that the controversy over
the use of these means of mortification arises from the fact that they're
intended to fortify the soul rather than the body, and they don't involve the
use of Spandex® or a membership in a health spa. However, these are traditional
means used by many saints in the church's history, and even if they aren't used
quite so much today, that doesn't diminish their value.
It's true that these
types of corporal mortifications are not for everyone. In Opus Dei, only
numeraries and associates use them and they must ask permission to do so more
frequently than prescribed. It is my understanding that supernumeraries are not
allowed to use them.
It has been reported that the cilice causes severe
pain, and can even draw blood. It seems to me that would depend on how tightly
you wear it. It has also been reported that numeraries whip themselves with the
discipline to the point where blood splatters the walls. While I've never seen
either a cilice or a discipline, I find it preposterous to believe that. The
best I can tell, this lie is based on a true story about St. Josemaría in which
he did use the discipline to the point of drawing quite a bit of blood. But he
tried to hide this from others and even forbade his sons and daughters from
imitating him in this matter. He believed that his unique role as founder
required this sacrifice from him, but not from others.
Like I said, I have
never seen either the cilice or the discipline, much less used them, but this
answer has been read both by a former numerary who is now opposed to the Work
and by a current numerary, and they agree it is accurate.