Flagellation.

Many years ago in Bustos, Bulacan,  I saw up close how flagellants drew out blood from their bodies.

This was during a Holy Thursday "penitencia," or mortification of the flesh as a religious practise.

Flagellants struck and whipped their bare backs with small bladed weapons such as shreds of glass or wooden/bamboo pieces tied up in  a bundle and attached to a long rope or elastic band.

They were shirtless and had their faces covered except for their eyes.

The flagellants roamed the streets in an organized fashion continuously hitting their bodies in a rhythmic fashion without any word of agony coming out from their mouths. The spectators were the ones who cried as if in pain and disgust at the show of public remorse, and as blood squirted, sometimes, hitting the people lined up in the streets.

There were foreign tourists, too, in awe of the scene before them.

In many parts of the Philippines, "penitencia," is widely seen during the Holy Week season.  In Bustos, Bulacan, particularly, the event draws many participants and both their kababayans or townsmates, and visitors, consider the lenten custom, as part of their observance of the Holy Week.

We cannot judge these "flagellants," on the merit or demerit of what they're doing.  The Catholic Church does not condone nor belittle this type of penance.

I heard from a native Bustonian how the flagellants, after the "penitencia," took a quick dip in the river and miraculously, healed their wounds from the self-beatings.