>>...the emphasis was generally on self-imposed mortifications as a
substitute
>for martyrdom, not as a penance for sin.
>
>
>but surely the original raison for "mortifications" was neither, but rather
as
>a part of spiritual "discipline" ? the hindoo sadhu is interested in
neither
>martyrdom nor penance for "sin".
>
>christopher
>
That is highly probable but many people undertook ascetic practices and very
few of them won the attention of hagiographers and a reputation for sanctity
after death.
I was not really trying to read their minds but to pass on the arguments
that the writers of the Vitae made. What seemed to concern a lot of them in
the post-persecution period was the idea that people could be recognized as
saints even when the age of martyrdom had passed.
Jo Ann
>
>
>
>
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