Beat an animal in front of a holy man (7)
I believe the answer is:
lambast
'beat' is the definition.
(I know this)
'an animal in front of a holy man' is the wordplay.
'an animal' becomes 'lamb' (lamb is a kind of animal).
'in front of' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'holy man' becomes 'st' (abbreviation for saint).
'lamb'+'a'+'st'='LAMBAST'
(Other definitions for lambast that I've seen before include "Reprimand" , "Harshly criticise" , "rubbish" , "Be harsh critic of" , "Beat severely" .)