Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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PAIN

The experience of suffering. Pain can be physical, when the suffering is in the deprivation of some bodily want; or mental, when the mind is oppressed by uncertainty or doubt; or emotional, when the feelings are disturbed by anxiety and fear; or volitional, when desires are frustrated; or social, when a person is rejected or at least not accepted by others; and spiritual, when the soul is mysteriously tried by desolation and even a sense of abandonment by God. (Etym. Latin peona, punishment, penalty, pain.)