do these monks exist?
March 21, 2008 7:03 PM Subscribe
I have been reading Curzio Malaparte's Kaput. In it, he describes an Orthodox order of monks who raise families and then enter servitude to be castrated and then become penitents. I can't find any information online about this group though, even a name, any help?
Best answer: I don't think they were exactly monks, but there was a weird Russian Orthodox sect called the Skoptzy that practiced castration for men and removal of the breasts for women, and they would often wait until after they had a child or two. I'm not a church history expert, but such stories tend to stand out, and that's the only one I can remember that essentially fits.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:00 PM on March 21, 2008
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:00 PM on March 21, 2008
Best answer: Additional details here. (Including pics.)
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:07 PM on March 21, 2008
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:07 PM on March 21, 2008
If you want to read a novel that feature this sect, I highly recommend James Meek's The People's Act of Love.
posted by leesh at 6:48 AM on March 22, 2008
posted by leesh at 6:48 AM on March 22, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ormondsacker at 8:00 PM on March 21, 2008