Comments on: Life of St. Hildegard Hits the Silver Screen

By: kd

kd — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:42:11 +0000

You are right, Andrew, cinematic productions about the lives of Catholic saints are pretty rare.

A good one (I think) is France’s “Monsieur Vincent” from 1947. I’m also very fond of Rossellini’s “The Flowers of Saint Francis” as well. “Into Great Silence”, a documentary about the Grande Chartreuse in the Alps, is stunning.

But the trailer for “Vision” makes it look like an overblown Hollywood production with feminist overtones.

By: Adam M. B. Bond

Adam M. B. Bond — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:24:50 +0000

Apparently the slightest controversial aside quickly devolves into something wholly other than what was intended, rather than a civil (and hopefully critical)discussion concerning the merits of the film; I will abstain from any more musings on the legitimacy of flagellation. It is not a question of the essence. I must admit that if the stills are any indication then it might be admitted that should the film be anything less than orthodox, at the very least it will be a couple of hours of eye candy.

By: Liz S.

Liz S. — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:58:23 +0000

I think there is a big difference between moderate acts of self-mortification, as are normal for many Catholics, and the extreme forms of self-flagellation which produce physical harm and draw blood. The latter are surely a sin defiling the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Cusack seems to be talking of Flagellants proper, not self-mortification.

By: Geoffrey

Geoffrey — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:59:33 +0000

Self-flagellation is still a form of corporal mortification used in the Church, and had never been condemned, whereas “public” flagellants have. Mr. Donald Attwater’s 1958 “A Catholic Dictionary” gives the following definition for the “discipline”:

“A small whip or scourge of cords variously arranged, used for self-inflicted mortification. Its use is prescribed in the more austere religious orders and congregations; among the Cistercians, for example, it is self-administered on most Fridays of the year after the night-office for the space of a Miserere. Its voluntary use should be submitted to the advice of a prudent director.”

Using the discipline is just one form of corporal mortification. Other forms include wearing a hair shirt (Pope Paul VI did this), wearing the cilice (a modern form of the hair shirt which was worn by St. Josemaria for one), and of course, fasting. St. “Padre” Pio and Blessed Theresa of Calcutta also used the discipline. Sadly, many modern novels and films have given corporal mortification a bad name (The DaVinci Code, etc.)