[11] The reputed first Scriptural use of this exact term is in the Vulgate (Latin) translation of Psalm 35:13, "Ego autem, cum mihi molesti essent, induebar cilicio."

[12] There is some evidence, based on analyses of both clothing represented in art and preserved skin imprint patterns at Çatalhöyük in Turkey, that the usage of the cilice predates written history.

[18][17] As such, adherents of many Christian denominations have worn sackcloth to repent, mortify the flesh or as a penance, especially for sins relating to lavishly adorning oneself (cf.

[23] In the Discalced Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Livorno, Italy, members of Opus Dei who are celibate (about 30% of the membership), and the Franciscan Brothers and Sisters of the Immaculate Conception continue an ascetic use of the cilice.

[26] In Thomas Pynchon’s 1997 postmodern historical novel Mason & Dixon, upon arriving at a Jesuit college in Quebec the character Eliza Fields is dressed in a cilice by nuns as a sadomasochistic punishment after having admitted to feelings of sexual arousal during her prior capture by a group of Native Americans.

[28]α In Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, one of the antagonists, an albino numerary named Silas associated with the religious organization Opus Dei, wears a cilice in the form of a spiked belt around his thigh.

"[23][29] The goat hair of Thomas More, presented for safe keeping by Margaret Clement,[30] was long in the custody of the community of Augustinian canonesses who until 1983 lived at the convent at Abbotskerswell Priory, Devon.