Dude

Sarah’s fellow Opus Dei member, Eileen Cole, tells the Daily Mail that the apparently masochistic practice is actually ‘less painful than a bikini wax’.

‘The mortification helps you to keep your passions under control and channel your energy,’ she explains.

‘We live in such a materialistic, hedonistic society that people can’t understand you’d actually make yourself a little uncomfortable to help you be more mindful of God.