The Roman Catholic Church has often held mortification of the flesh, as a worthy spiritual discipline. The practice is rooted in the Bible: in the asceticism of the Old and New Testament saints, and i
St. Francis: he asked pardon from his "Brother Ass" (as he referred to his body), for his severe penances.
St. Teresa of Ávila: her motto was "Lord, either let me suffer or let me die".
St. Ignatius: he is praised in his litany for being "constant in the practice of corporal penance".
Venerable Matt Talbot (1856–1925) was an Irish worker whose life would have gone unnoticed were it not for the cords and chains discovered on his body when he died.
John Vianney
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John Vianney was a French Catholic priest and member of the Third Order of Mary who is often referred to as the Curé d'Ars. Canonized a saint in 1925, he is known for his priestly and pastoral work in
Mortification in Catholic theology
…in Alta California, was known for his love for mortification, self-denial and absolute trust in God. A notable saint in the nineteenth century was St. Jean Vianney who converted hundreds of people in laicist France. Pope John XXIII said of him: "You cannot begin to speak of St. John Mary Vianney without automatically…
A statue of Saint John Vianney was installed in the newly renovated sanctuary at St. Catherine of Siena Parish Church, Trumbull, Connecticut, on 24 March 2019.
The body of Saint John Mary Vianney, entombed above the main altar in the Basilica at Ars, France. The face is covered with a wax mask.
Statue of Jean-Marie Vianney in the church of a small village in France
A statue of Saint John Vianney is visible on the left side of the photo.