Abstinence, Devotional Practices, and Social Control

Abstract

Abstinence from earthly pleasures – such as fasting, using a hair shirt, and ascetic sleeping conditions – as well as devotional practices were vital aspects of a holy life. They were frequently reported in canonization testimonies and other hagiographic texts. An important feature in this was discretion; a holy person was supposed to exceed the limits of common human endurance but not practice excessive self-harm. This chapter discusses infirmity as a delineating factor that allowed and required discretion in asceticism and devotional practices. At the same time, various members of a saint’s community were presented as taking part in delineating their ascetic practices as well as interpreting and even emotionally partaking in it.