CATENELLE.
As an instrument of penance, catenelle (Lat. *catenulae*) are used by Christian ascetics either to flagellate themselves (v. DISCIPLINA) or to gird their waist, arms, or legs (v. CILICIO).
In the latter case, the singular form is used: *catenella* (ancient *catenusza*), which generally consists of a belt made of rings or links of iron wire with protruding points. Segneri (*Manna dell’anima*, IV, 19 Nov.) writes: “To bear this cross is not merely the work of a few days in the week, as is the case with some who wear the cilicio, the *catenusza*, or other such penitential instruments.”
Examples of both uses of catenelle or chains are found in St. Dominic, of whom the biographer Fra Teodorio writes: “He always wore an iron chain at his sides... every night he scourged himself three times with an iron chain” (L. Surius, vol. IV, pp. 355, 363). The same is recorded of St. Catherine of Siena (L. Surius, vol. II, p. 1034).