Interior Mortification
1. In the spiritual life, as in the physical order, death is the
beginning of life. “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and
dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. He
who loves his life, loses it; and he who hates his life in this world,
keeps it unto life everlasting.” (John 12: 24-25)
This passage of the Gospel epitomises
the doctrine of Christian mortification - it is necessary to die to
ourselves in order to live in God. Anyone who is full of himself and of
worldly matters has no room in his heart for God. It is not possible, as
St. Alphonsus points out, to fill a vase with earth and then to fill it
with water. There is no room left for the water, and if a little of it
enters the vase it is no longer pure water, but muddy.
We must
empty ourselves of ourselves and of worldly things in order to fill
ourselves with God. Jesus told us this quite clearly. “If anyone wishes
to come after me, let him deny himself.” (Mt. 16:24)
If anyone
denies himself in order to do God's will in all things, he has achieved
real interior mortification. Moreover, he has perfect peace, which
consists in being established in the love of God.
This does not
mean that all self-love is wrong. In fact, there are two kinds of
self-love. We can love our own true good, which is God, and therefore
desire to live in harmony with this supreme good in this life in order
to enjoy it as our eternal reward. This kind of self love is founded on
the love of God, Who is the main reason why we love ourselves. But if we
prefer our own pleasure and satisfaction to God, then our self-love is
disproportionate and wrong and leads us into sin.
The first
thing we must do, therefore, is to mortify our inordinate self-love. In
other words, we must deny ourselves in matters where self-love is
keeping us apart from God, Whom we should love more than anything else
in life.
2. In the process of mortifying self-love, we mortify
our other passions also, because it is the origin of them all. It is as
well to bear in mind, however, that no matter how much we curb our
passions, they never die. We need to be always on our guard for fear
that they may reassert themselves too strongly.
It is necessary
for us to increase our love for God because, as St. Augustine points
out, it is divine charity which conquers our passions. Constant prayer
and union with God also help us to achieve interior mortification.
Prayer without mortification is an illusion which does not last long, so
that it is necessary to combine fervent prayer with self-denial.
We may not be capable of the extraordinary mortification which the
Saints practised, because our health or the obligations of our state in
life may make these impossible for us. But if we deny ourselves often in
small matters, these will be so many steps in the ladder which will
help us to reach Christian perfection.
3. Principles:
If you desire to love God and to become holy, mortification will be a source of joy.
Resist your evil inclinations at once so that they cannot grow in
strength. Readily accept from God any difficulties which you encounter.
Abandon yourself entirely to His will.
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