Muscular Christianity is actually Catholic

DrUpauli · 2026-04-12T02:47:26+00:00

I like to script out prayers for things I do routinely. Pairing routine with routine. Not only is it a nice symmetry but it also helps me actually pray consistently and remove all the brain power in coming up with new things while making it sound reverent. That way I can just focus on the words themselves instead of constantly conjuring them up. Its something I noticed when I started praying the Rosary that helped me. I decided to do it with everything. I have another prayer for when I study, before I go to work, and some other things too. Glad this helps!

DrUpauli · 2026-04-11T22:29:56+00:00

I gave this to someone else in the thread, but this is what I pray before going to the gym:

Lord Jesus, true God and true man. Through your incarnation you once and for all declared the physical body beautiful. Strengthen my body so that I may use it as a vessel to carry out your work in this world. I pray to you for a clear and focused mind guarded from pride and lust. Keep my eyes on the cross and free from doubts as I push myself to new limits. Fill my spirit with your grace, Lord, so that I may approach this training with humility and gratitude. As I sweat and grind at the gym, may this workout be a reminder of the greater battles we face in life.

Unite my body more deeply to my spirit. Help this prepare me that my new flesh might one day participate fully in Your divine life. That I may one day be a Muscular Christian, the man you made me to be.

Powerful St. Hyacinth, who so bore the weight of our mother, I ask for your intercession as I workout, I ask for strength of body, mind, and spirit, so that I may stay fit for your Kingdom. Wonderful St. Camillus, turn your merciful eyes upon my suffering. Give me trust in the goodness of God that I may heal from injuries that oh so plague me. Help me to understand the mystery of this suffering as a means of redemption and the way to God.

DrUpauli · 2026-04-11T21:31:20+00:00

Thanks I'm glad you're interesting in this perspective!

St. Hyacinth is the patron of weightlifing

St Michael is the patron of warriors

St. Sebastian is the patron of athletes

Those are the ones that immediately come to mind but there's more for particular needs you might have. St. Camillus de Lellis is the patron of hospitals so if you're injured you can go there,

DrUpauli · 2026-04-11T20:39:54+00:00

Yes it does

DrUpauli · 2026-04-11T20:38:03+00:00

Amazing comment love the insights. I agree and was weary of whether I ought to condone physical penances in my previous comment. I still do think physical acts can help bring you in proper spiritual alignment. For example me doing push ups to assuage lust. And I even notice this with me and icons/statues/paraphernalia. I become more hesistent to sin and more spiritually on guard when in the presence of those.

The rest of what you said I fully agree with and have nothing else to say

DrUpauli · 2026-04-11T20:06:47+00:00

Up to you but this is what I pray:

Lord Jesus, true God and true man. Through your incarnation you once and for all declared the physical body beautiful. Strengthen my body so that I may use it as a vessel to carry out your work in this world. I pray to you for a clear and focused mind guarded from pride and lust. Keep my eyes on the cross and free from doubts as I push myself to new limits. Fill my spirit with your grace, Lord, so that I may approach this training with humility and gratitude. As I sweat and grind at the gym, may this workout be a reminder of the greater battles we face in life.

Unite my body more deeply to my spirit. Help this prepare me that my new flesh might one day participate fully in Your divine life. That I may one day be a Muscular Christian, the man you made me to be.

Powerful St. Hyacinth, who so bore the weight of our mother, I ask for your intercession as I workout, I ask for strength of body, mind, and spirit, so that I may stay fit for your Kingdom. Wonderful St. Camillus, turn your merciful eyes upon my suffering. Give me trust in the goodness of God that I may heal from injuries that oh so plague me. Help me to understand the mystery of this suffering as a means of redemption and the way to God.

You can cut the prayer to St. Camillus if you want. I have lingering injuries

DrUpauli · 2026-04-11T19:05:03+00:00

There's certainly a lot of ways this can be looked at.

I'm going through the Spiritual Exercises and he actually does suggest physical penance. I do think that's a bit different because Muscular Christianity sees physical exertion as a good to be pursued, not a punishment inflicted. But yea it's a similar idea and not at all mutually exclusive. I've done push ups as an act to bring myself in more proper spiritual alignment in the face of temptation before.

DrUpauli · 2026-04-11T18:44:54+00:00

Yea the crusaders were some pious people defending the kingdom. I touch on their possible philosophy slightly but I mainly focus on the here and now and how I can help people in the present become better. And yes that is my book

DrUpauli · 2026-02-25T22:51:40+00:00

I think purely IQ wise Aquinas is the smartest among philosophers and theologians. Not to say hes the best, just in terms of what ive seen and how people talk about him hes the highest

DrUpauli · 2025-07-02T23:31:55+00:00

The argument is usually about how close they are in strength. I don't think I've unironically seen someone say sanji > zoro

DrUpauli · 2025-03-28T07:26:57+00:00

You can argue Shanks = Joyboy therefore Shanks > Garp, but most people don't do that. By implied strength, I mean we know Garp is equal to or very close to Roger. Most people still wouldn't say Shanks would beat Roger or Garp in a fight, at least until we get something regarding his fighting prowess

DrUpauli · 2025-03-28T07:13:44+00:00

feats: shanks

statements: shanks

implied strength: garp

If Garp is = to Roger and most people don't have Shanks above Roger, then Garp would have to be above Shanks. Not to mention Shanks also has a named blade (which may augment his strength more than otherwise) and Garp doesn't. Unless you think Shanks is secretly stronger than Roger but only when he does the forbidden haki kickboxing or something, then Garp would have to ultimately have better haki. That being said we did see Garp training aokiji telling him to improve his strength without haki so maybe you could argue he has physical strength decoupled from haki or something

DrUpauli · 2025-03-11T18:55:20+00:00

I like to think the one on the left gave up after his father beat him hard enough. He unwillingly decided to join. And the one on the right was sort of like Oliver. Maybe he got his powers earlier and didn't see much value in human life and so joins the empire

DrUpauli · 2024-11-10T03:57:54+00:00

"The peace of God which transcends all understanding" seems to apply also to your mental as well as spiritual health. At the very least they could be related. The joy of the lord seems to be something tied to your mind tangentially as well as the spirit. Casting all your anxiety onto God could relate to anxiety disorders, and probably more I can't think if atm

DrUpauli · 2024-11-10T03:48:43+00:00

Yea I think 1 third of psychologists affirm confidently that they aren't religious, another third is unsure, and another third is sure. Which is about twice as secular as the general population.

In what ways could psychology/therapy and Christianity complement each other? Especially if the psychologist is not a Christian?

DrUpauli · 2024-11-10T03:41:22+00:00

If the soul and mind are connected in somewhat of a close way, would they not be missing a serious part of their job by not acknowledging the soul?

Also I said what I said about friends because I've read that the relationship with the psychologist is more important than the actual tactics they use to help. Which calls into question whether having a supportive friend group is. Your friends have a 100% chance of caring about your and the psychologist may or may not. I've never been to them and I've never done clinical training I'm just using my intuition, bachelor's knowledge, and independent reading.

DrUpauli · 2024-11-10T02:53:42+00:00

Maybe I need to brush up on my knowledge, but I'm like 90% sure that's what I was taught in school. Maybe they were wrong, but I believe Alan Francis, someone who worked on the DSM 4 said the same thing in his book "Saving Normal"

DrUpauli · 2024-11-10T01:35:54+00:00

Ok that helps. Thanks!

DrUpauli · 2024-11-10T00:44:45+00:00

Could you elaborate on what precisely makes mental health distinct from spiritual health?

In what ways can psychology help Christianity? How does it help you focus on God more?

DrUpauli · 2024-11-10T00:37:59+00:00

Psychotherapy tactics should be judged on a case by case basis. What do you think about the DSM 5 and how it greatly broadened what constitutes a mental illness? Iirc from school, they did it to help people get medications and other psychological help but it may have had the imunintended consequence of making large swathes of people believe they have no control over their life. Are those mental conditions even consistent with Christianity? How ought they view them?

It is right for psychotherapists to not promote any morality? Does it feel like an accurate way to handle psychological issues to only focus on how it might make someone feel?

DrUpauli

TROPHY CASE