THE SPIRITUAL LIFE A TREATISE ON ASCETICAL AND MYSTICAL THEOLOGY by the Very Reverend Adolphe Tanquerey, S.S., D.D. ************************************************************************** CHAPTER III Mortification1 #751. Like penance, mortification has a part in the cleansing from past faults, but its chief purpose is to safeguard us against sin in the present and in the future, by weakening in us the love of pleasure, the source of our sins. We shall, therefore, explain the nature, the necessity and the practice of mortification. Nature: Various names, Definition Necessity: For salvation, For perfection Practice: General Principles, Mortification of the exterior senses, Mortification of the interior senses, Mortification of the passions, Mortification of the higher faculties n1. ST. THOMAS, whose principal texts are quoted by TH. DE VALLGORNERA, op, cit., q. II, disp. I V; PHILIP. A S. TRINITATE, op. cit., Ia P,, Tr. II, disc. I-IV, ALVAREZ DE PAZ, t. II, lib. II, "De mortificatione:" SCARAMELLI, "Guide ascetique," Tr. II, a 1-6; RODRIGUEZ, "Practice of Christian Perfection," Part II, Tr. I and II: TRONSON, "Exam. part.," CXXIX-CLXIX; MGR GAY, "Christian Life and Virtues," Tr. VII, MEYNARD, "Tr. de la vie interieure,", L I, ch. II-IV; A. CHEVRIER, "Le Veritable disciple," IIe P., p. 119-323; ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, Devout Life," Part. III, C. 23-28, 34; MEYER, "Science of the Saints," C. 5-7, MATURIN "Self-Knowledge and Self- Discipline;" MESCHLER, "Three Fundamental Principals of the Spiritual Life," P. II. ART. I. THE NATURE OF MORTIFICATION After explaining the scriptural and the modern terms whereby mortification is designated, we shall give its definition. #752. I. Scriptural terms used to designate mortification. In Holy Writ we find seven principal expressions that describe mortification in its different aspects. (1) The word renouncement: "Everyone of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth cannot be my disciple." 1 This presents mortification as a giving up of external goods in order to follow Christ as the Apostles did: "Leaving all things they followed him."2 (2) Mortification is likewise an act of abnegation or self- renunciation: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself."3 (3) But mortification also has a positive aspect: it is an act that maims and cripples the inordinate inclinations of nature: "Mortify therefore your members...4 But if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live."5 (4) Nay more, mortification is a crucifixion of the flesh and its lusts, whereby we attach, as it were, our faculties to the law of the Gospel by devoting them to prayer and labor: "They that are Christ's have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences..."6 (5) This crucifixion, if it persists, produces a sort of death and burial whereby we seem to die completely to self and to be buried with Christ, to live with Him a new life: "For you are dead: and your life is hid with Christ in God...7 For we are buried together with him by baptism into death."8 (6) To indicate this death, St. Paul makes use of another expression. Since in Baptism a new life is given us, supernatural life, the while our own natural life subsists with the threefold concupiscence, the Apostle, calling the latter the old man and the former regenerated man, declares that we must put off the old man and put on the new: "Stripping yourselves of the old man...and putting on the new." 9 (7) And since this is not done without a struggle, he says that life is a fight: "I have fought the good fight",10 and that Christians are the athletes who chastise their body and bring it into subjection. From all these and similar phrases it follows that mortification comprises a twofold element: one negative--detachment, renunciation, despoilment; the other positive--the struggle against the evil tendencies of nature, the effort to curb and deaden them, a crucifixion, a death of the old man and his lusts, in order to live Christ' s own life. n1. Luke, XIV, 33. n2. Luke, V, II. n3. Luke, IX, 23. n4. Coloss., III, 5. n5. Rom. VIII, 13. n6. Galat., V, 24. n7. Coloss., III, 3. n8. Rom., VI, 4. n9. Coloss., III, 9-10. n10. II Tim., IV, 7. #753. II. Modern expressions designating mortification. Today milder expressions are preferred which indicate rather the object to be attained than the effort to be undergone. It is said, for instance, that we must reform ourselves, exercise self-control, train the will, practice self-discipline, turn our soul towards God. These expressions are exact, provided it is kept in mind that we cannot work out our reform nor master ourselves except by fighting against and mortifying the inordinate tendencies of our nature; that the training of the will is not accomplished without thwarting and curbing our lower faculties; that we cannot direct the course of our life towards God but by detaching ourselves from creatures and stripping ourselves of our vices. In other words, the two aspects of mortification must be duly combined, as is done in Holy Writ: the end to be attained must be kept in view in order to give us courage, but we should not lose sight of the effort necessary to the attainment of this end. #754. III. Definition. Mortification, then, may be defined as the struggle against our evil inclinations in order to subject them to the will, and the will to God. It is not so much a virtue as an ensemble of virtues--the first degree of all the virtues--which consists in overcoming the obstacles that stand in the way so as to restore to our faculties their lost balance and reestablish among them their right order. Thus it is easily seen that mortification is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. We mortify ourselves only to live a higher life; we despoil ourselves of external goods only the better to lay hold of spiritual goods; we renounce self but to possess God; we struggle but to obtain peace; we die to ourselves but to live the life of Christ, the life of God. Hence, the end of mortification is union with God. ART. II. THE NECESSITY OF MORTIFICATION We may consider this necessity from a twofold point of view, that of salvation and that of perfection. I. The Necessity of Mortification for Salvation There is a kind of mortification which is necessary for salvation in this sense, that if we fail to practice it, we run the risk of falling into mortal sin. #755. (1) Our Lord speaks of it in a very clear way concerning faults against chastity: "Whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart."1 There are looks, then, that are gravely sinful, such as are prompted by evil desire. In this case mortification of the eyes is imperative under pain of mortal sin. Our Lord says so in no uncertain language: "And if thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than thy whole body be cast into hell."2 It is not question here of putting out one' s eyes, but of turning them away from such sights as are a cause of sin. St. Paul gives us the reason for these serious injunctions: "For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die; but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live."3 As we have said, (n. 193-227) the threefold concupiscence that remains with us, spurred on by the world and the devil, often inclines us to evil and endangers our salvation, unless we take heed to mortify it. Hence, the absolute necessity of waging a constant warfare against our evil tendencies; of fleeing from the proximate occasions of sin, that is, from such things or such persons as, given our past experience, are to us a serious and a probable danger of sin; of renouncing thereby a great many pleasures towards which our nature draws us.4 There are then certain practices of mortification which are imperative; without them we should fall into mortal sin. n1. Matth., V, 28. n2. Matth., V, 29. n3. Rom., VIII, 13. n4. We treated more at length of these occasions of sin in our "Synopsis Theologia moralis," De paenitentia, n. 524-536. #756. (2) Other practices of mortification there are which the Church prescribes in order to determine the general obligation so often repeated in the Gospel. Such are: abstinence from flesh- meats on Fridays, the fast of Lent, the Ember Days and the Vigils. These laws bind under pain of grievous sin all those who are not legitimately excused. Here we must make a remark that is of importance. There are persons who for good reasons are dispensed from these positive laws; but they are not thereby exempt from the natural, divine law of mortification, and hence must comply with it in some form or other. Should they fail in this, they will ere long experience the rebellion of the flesh. #757. (3) Besides these practices of mortification enjoined by divine and by ecclesiastical law, there are others which, when temptations grow more severe, individuals must undertake with the advice of their spiritual director. What these mortifications are shall be indicated in n. 767 and following. II. Necessity of Mortification for Perfection #758. This necessity follows from what we have said of the nature of perfection, which consists in the love of God unto sacrifice and the immolation of self (n. 321-327). This is so true, that, according to the "Imitation", the measure of our spiritual growth depends upon the measure of violence we do to ourselves: "In proportion as thou dost violence to thyself the greater progress wilt thou make."1 It will suffice, then to recall briefly a few of the motives that may aid the will in the discharge of this duty; they are drawn from the point of view of our relation to God, to Jesus Christ, and from that of our personal sanctification. 2 n1. "The following of Christ," Bk. 1, C. 25. n2. These motives are similar to those we explained with regard to penance, n. 736 and foll. Penance is in reality but mortification that repairs past faults. (1) MORTIFICATION IS NECESSARY FOR OUR UNION WITH GOD #759. A) We cannot attain to union with God without mortification, without detaching ourselves from the inordinate love of creatures. St. John of the Cross says: "A soul will become like unto the creature to which it cleaves, as the attachment grows, the identification asserts itself; for love establishes the equal adjustment of the lover to the thing beloved... Therefore, he who loves a creature stoops down to its level--nay, even lower, since love is not content with equality, but descends to slavery. This is why a soul under subjection to anything apart from God becomes incapable of entering into that pure union with Him and of being assimilated to Him, for the utter nothingness of the creature is farther from the sovereignty of the Creator than darkness is from light. "Now, the unmortified soul soon clings to creatures in an inordinate way; for since the Fall, the soul of man feels itself drawn to them, captivated by their charms, and delights in them as if they were ends in themselves, instead of making them stepping stones unto God. To break this charm, to escape this snare, it is absolutely necessary that we detach ourselves from whatever is not God, or at least, from whatever cannot be looked upon as a means leading us to Him. This is why Father Olier, in comparing the condition of Christians to that of Adam in the state of innocence, sees a vast difference between the two: "Adam sought God, served Him, and adored Him in His creatures; Christians, on the contrary, are forced to seek God through faith, to serve Him and adore Him in the inaccessible heights of His own Being and of His holiness."1 For this we have the grace of baptism. n1. "Cat. for an Int. Life,", P. I, Lesson IV. #760. B) By Baptism a real contract is concluded between God and ourselves. a) God on His part cleanses us from the stain of original sin, adopts us as His children, and admits us to share in His life, engaging Himself to bestow upon us all the graces necessary to the preservation and development of that life. We know the liberality wherewith He has fulfilled His promises. b) On our part, we bind ourselves to live like true children of God, to strive to become perfect as Our Heavenly Father is perfect. This, however, we can do only if we practice mortification; for, on the one side, the Holy Ghost, given us in Baptism, "urges us to embrace contempt, poverty, suffering; and, on the other, our flesh longs for honor, pleasure, riches."1 Within us, therefore, rages a conflict, an incessant struggle; nor can we be faithful to God unless we renounce the inordinate love of honor, pleasure, and riches. Thus in the rite of Baptism, the priest marks us with two Crosses, one upon the heart to stamp thereon the love of the Cross, the other upon our shoulders to give us the strength to carry it. We should be untrue to our baptismal vows, if we did not carry our cross by waging war against the lust for honor through humility, against the lust for pleasure through mortification against the lust for riches through poverty. n1. OLIER, "Cat. for an Int. Life," Part I, Lesson VII. (2) MORTIFICATION NECESSARY FOR OUR CONFORMITY TO CHRIST #761. A) Through Baptism we have been incorporated into Christ, we have become His members, and as such, it is from Him we are to receive life, and motion, and inspiration, and thereby be made conformable to Him. But the "Imitation" tells us that "The whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyrdom."1 Ours, then, cannot be a life of pleasure and honors, but it must be a life of mortification. This is what our divine Head clearly tells us: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."2 If there is any one who must follow Jesus, it is he who seeks after perfection. But how can a lover of pleasure, of honors, of riches follow Jesus? How can one follow Christ, if one is unwilling to carry his cross daily--the cross that God Himself has chosen for him and sent to him? How can such a one follow Him Who from His very entry into the world embraced the Cross, Who throughout His entire life sighed for sufferings and humiliations, Who was wedded to poverty at the Crib and Whom poverty followed unto Calvary? "It is shameful," says St. Bernard,3 "that we appear as delicate members, shrinking at the least smart of pain, under a Head that is crowned with thorns." Therefore, if we wish to become like unto Jesus Christ and reflect His perfection, we must like Him carry our Cross. n1. "Following of Christ," Bk. II, C. XII, v. 7. n2. Luke IX, 23. Read the beautiful commentary on this text in the "Circular Letter to the Friends of the Cross" by the Blessed L. GRIGNION DE MONTFORT. n3. "Sermo V in festo omnium Sanctorum, n. 9. #762. B) If we aspire to a life of apostolic service, we find therein a new motive for the crucifixion of our flesh. It is through the Cross that Jesus saved the world; it is likewise through the Cross that we shall co-operate with Him in the salvation of our brethren; and the fruitfulness of our zeal will grow in proportion as we share in the Savior's sufferings. This was what compelled St. Paul to fill up in his flesh that which was wanting of the passion of His Master in order to obtain graces for the Church.1 This is the motive that in the past sustained and even now sustains so many souls who consent to be victims, that God may be glorified and that souls may be saved. No doubt, suffering is hard to bear, but when we look upon Jesus walking before us with His Cross borne for our own salvation and that of our brethren; when we contemplate His agony; when we see Him unjustly condemned, scourged, tormented with a crown of thorns; when we hearken to the jeers, the insults, the calumnies He silently endured--how dare we complain! "Ye have not yet resisted unto the shedding of blood."2 If we prize at their worth our souls and the souls of our brethren, can we make so much of a few fleeting pangs of suffering endured for the sake of a glory that will have no end, endured in union with Our Lord and Master, as our share in His work of saving souls for whom He shed the last drop of His Blood? These motives, high as they are, are entered into by some generous souls from the very moment of their turning to God. By proposing such motives to them, a spiritual director will further their purification and sanctification. n1. Coloss., I, 24. n2. Heb., XII, 4. (3) MORTIFICATION NECESSARY FOR OUR OWN SANCTIFICATION #763. A) We must secure our perseverance in good, and mortification offers without doubt one of the best means we have to keep free from sin. What causes us to surrender to temptation is the love of pleasure or the horror of hardship, the hardships of the struggle. Mortification combats this twofold tendency, which is really but one; for by having us break with some few legitimate pleasures, it arms our Will against those that are unlawful, thus giving us an easier victory over sensuality and the love of self; "inveighing against sensuality and self-love", as St. Ignatius puts it. If, on the contrary, we yield to pleasure, allowing ourselves all lawful joys, how shall we be able to resist when our sensuality, hankering after new delights, dangerous or wrong, feels itself as if overpowered by the force of habit? The bias is so strong, that where our sensuous nature is concerned, it is easy to fall into the abyss, by a sort of vertigo. Even when it is question of pride, the downward plunge is far more rapid than we think: we lie about a trifle to cover up a fault, to escape humiliation; and then when we approach the tribunal of penance we run the risk of failing in sincerity through the dread of a mortifying avowal. Our safety demands, therefore, a warfare against self- love as well as against sensuality and greed. #764. B) To avoid sin is not sufficient; we must grow in perfection. Here again, what is the great stumbling-block, if not the love of pleasure and a dread of the cross? How many would wish to be better than they are, to aim at perfection, were it not that they shrink from the effort required, from the trials sent by God to His best friends? Such persons must be frequently reminded of what St. Paul said time and again to the first Christians, that is to say, that life is a struggle; that we should blush for shame if we show less courage than those who strive for an earthly reward and who in order to assure victory deprive themselves of sundry pleasures, willingly submitting to a stern and arduous discipline: "And they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown: but we an incorruptible one."1 Do we dread pain? Let us ponder the terrible sufferings of Purgatory (n. 734) which will be our lot for years should we persist in living heedless of mortification and ready to indulge in all those things that delight us. How much wiser are the children of this world! Many a one undergoes hard labor and at times endures harsh treatment that he may earn a living and secure decent comfort in his declining years; and we would be loath to impose a hardship on ourselves for the sake of an eternal abode in the Kingdom of Heaven! Is this rational? We must, then, realize that there is no perfection, no possible attainment of virtue without the practice of mortification. How can we be chaste without deadening that sensuality that urges us so strongly toward evil and dangerous pleasures? How can we be temperate unless we curb our greediness? How practice poverty, nay justice, if we do not combat our greed? How be humble, meek, kind, if we exercise no control over the passions of pride, anger, envy, jealousy, that lurk in the recesses of every human heart. There is not one virtue which, in our fallen condition, we can practice for any length of time without effort, without a struggle and, hence, without the practice of mortification. We can, therefore, say with Father Tronson that "just as a lack of mortification is the cause of all our vices, mortification is the foundation and the source of all our virtues."2 n1. I Cor., IX, 25. n2. "Examens part.," Ier Ex. de la Mortification. #765 . C) We can go further and add that mortification, notwithstanding the privations and sufferings it imposes, is even here on earth rich in goods of the highest order. The mortified Christian is as a rule more truly happy than the worldling who abandons himself to every pleasure. This is what Our Lord Himself teaches when He says: "Every one that hath left house or brethren... shall receive an hundredfold and shall possess life everlasting."1 St. Paul speaks the same language. After having spoken of modesty, that is, of moderation in all things, he adds: "And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."2 Of this he was himself the living example. In truth he had much to suffer. He recounts at length not only his own inner conflict, but also the terrible ordeals he had to undergo for the preaching of the Gospel. He adds however: "I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation."3 And so it was with all the Saints. Undoubtedly, they had to endure long and painful trials, but the martyrs mid their tortures gave testimony that "They have never been so happy." Reading the lives of the Saints we meet two striking facts: the dreadful ordeals they sustained, the mortifications they willingly embraced; and then their patience, their joy, their peace in these sufferings. They came to love the cross, to lose all fear thereof, nay, to sigh after it, to count as lost the day wherein they had but little to suffer. This is a psychological phenomenon which puzzles the worldly, but which is a comfort to men of good-will. No doubt, one could not ask of beginners such love of the cross- but one can, showing them the example of the Saints, make them understand that the love of God soothes the pain of mortification, and, if they consent to enter whole-heartedly into the practice of offering small sacrifices within their strength, that they will come themselves to love the cross, to long for it and to find in it true spiritual comfort. n1. Matth., XIX, 29; Mark, X, 29-30, where it is said: "An hundred times as much, now in this time." n2. Philip., IV, 7. n3. II Cor., VII, 4. #766. The author of the "Imitation" expresses this in a text which briefly sums up the advantages of mortification: "In the cross is salvation; In the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection from enemies. In the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the cross is joy of spirit. In the Cross is height of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of sanctity."1 The love of the Cross is but the love of God unto the immolation of self. And this love, as we have said, is the embodiment of all the virtues, the very essence of perfection and therefore the strongest defense against our spiritual enemies, the fountain-spring of consolation, the best means of growing in the spiritual life and of assuring our salvation. n1. "The following of Christ," Bk. II, c. 12. ART. III. THE PRACTICE OF MORTIFICATION2 #767. Principles. (1) Mortification must include the whole man, body and soul; for each of our faculties unless well-disciplined may be the cause of sin. It is true indeed, that the will alone sins, but it has for accomplices and instruments our body with its exterior senses and our soul with all its faculties. Hence, it is the whole man that must be disciplined, that is, mortified. n1. Since mortification is defined as the struggle against our evil inclinations, it must be practiced first of all in resisting temptations. This aspect of mortification will be treated in nos 900 and following. It is next practiced in overcoming our evil inclinations, our vices. This will be seen in nos 818 and following. Here we speak only of the mortification of our faculties, or rather of their inordinate tendencies. It must be noted that the word mortification is not used in exactly the same sense when we speak of the mortification of our sins and vices as when we speak of the mortification of our faculties. In the former case it means destroying, putting to death; In the latter it means correcting, training, disciplining. #768. (2) Mortification is the enemy of pleasure. True, pleasure of itself is not an evil; rather, it is a good when subordinated to its God-given end. God has willed to attach a certain pleasure to the fulfillment of duty in order to facilitate its accomplishment. Thus, we find a certain enjoyment in eating and drinking, in our work, and in other duties. In the divine plan, therefore, pleasure is not an end, but the means to an end. Hence, the enjoyment of pleasure in view of a more perfect acquittal of duty is not proscribed; it is rather in accordance with the order established by God. But to seek pleasure as an end in itself without any relation to duty, is at least dangerous, since it exposes one to slip from lawful to unlawful pleasure. To enjoy pleasure to the exclusion of duty is a sin more or less serious, because it is a violation of the order established by God. Mortification, therefore, consists in foregoing evil pleasures, pleasures contrary to God's providential plan, or to His Law, or to the law of the Church; in renouncing dangerous pleasures, so as not to run the risk of sin; in abstaining from certain licit pleasures, so as to insure the dominion of the will over our sensuous nature. With this same end in view we not only forego some pleasures, but likewise impose upon ourselves some positive practices of mortification; for it is a matter of experience that nothing is so effective in breaking down the lure to pleasure as the voluntary undertaking of some additional labor, the shouldering of some additional burden. #769. (3) Mortification, however, must be practiced with prudence and discretion. It must be properly fitted to the physical and moral strength of each, and must be in keeping with the accomplishment of one's duties of state. 1) We must spare our physical strength, for according to St. Francis de Sales, "We are exposed to great temptations both when the body is overfed and when it is too enfeebled."1 In the latter case one becomes an easy prey to neurasthenia, which subsequently demands a letting down that may prove dangerous. 2) We must take into account our moral strength, that is to say, we must refrain from imposing upon ourselves from the outset excessive privations which we could not long sustain, and the giving up of which may lead us to laxness. 3) Above all, our mortifications must be such as would be compatible with the duties of our state, for the latter are obligatory and take precedence over practices of supererogation. Thus it would be wrong for a mother to practice such austerities as would prevent her from fulfilling her duties towards her husband and her children. n1. "Devout Life," Part III, c. XXIII. #770. (4) There is a hierarchy in the practices of mortification. Those that mortify our interior faculties have a greater worth than those that mortify our exterior senses, because the former attack more directly the root of the evil; yet we must not lose sight of the fact that the latter aid in a great measure the exercise of the former. Whoever would attempt to mortify the imagination without mortifying the eyes will hardly succeed, for the very reason that these furnish our fancy with sensible images whereon it thrives. To jeer at the austerities of former Christian days is a baneful error of modern times. As a matter of fact the Saints of all ages, those that have been beatified in these latter days as well as those of old, have severely chastised their bodies and their exterior senses, well aware that man's whole being must be brought into subjection, that in the state of fallen nature, man's whole being must be crucified if he is to belong wholly to God. We shall therefore examine in succession the entire range of mortifications beginning with those that are exterior in character, finally arriving at those of a more interior nature. This is the logical order; in actual practice we must learn how to combine them, and make proper use of them. I. The Mortification of the Body and the Exterior Senses #771. (1) Its motives. a) Our Lord recommended to His disciples the moderate practice of fasting and of abstinence, the mortification of sight and of touch. St. Paul was so alive to the necessity of mortifying the flesh that he punished it severely in order to escape sin and final reprobation: "But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection .lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway."1 The Church herself prescribes for the faithful certain days of fast and of abstinence. b) Why this? No doubt the body, well held in check, is a profitable servant, nay, an indispensable one, whose strength must be preserved to place it at the soul's service. But in the state of fallen nature, the body seeks after the joys of the flesh regardless of what is licit or illicit; it has a special tendency towards forbidden pleasures, and at times rebels against the higher faculties when these stand in the way. This enemy is so much the more dangerous, because it is ever with us, at table, in our room, abroad; and because it often meets with abettors ready to excite its sensuality and lust. The senses are but so many openings for forbidden pleasure. We are obliged therefore to keep an ever- watchful guard over our body, to overpower it and bring it into subjection. If we fail in this it will betray us. n1. I Cor., IX, 27. #772. (2) The Modesty of the Body. If we wish to mortify the body, we must begin by a faithful observance of the prescriptions of modesty and good deportment. Here we find an extensive field for mortification. The rule we must follow is the principle of St. Paul: "Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ... that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost?"1 A) We must, then, hold our body in reverence, as a holy temple, as a member of Christ. Let there be nothing about us savoring of those fads, more or less indecent, designed to excite the unwholesome curiosity of lust. Let our dress be in harmony with our condition in life, plain and modest, ever becoming, ever decent. The wisest recommendations on this subject are those of St. Francis de Sales: "Be neat, Philothea; let nothing be negligent about you; but at the same time, avoid all affectation, vanity, curiosity, or levity in your dress. Keep yourself always, as much as possible, on the side of plainness and modesty, which, doubt not, is the greatest ornament of beauty, and the best excuse for the want of it... Women who are vain, are esteemed to be very weak in their chastity; at least, if they are chaste, it is not to be discovered amid so many toys and fopperies..."2 St. Louis briefly says, "that one should dress in accordance to one's condition in life, so that the wise and the good might not say: 'you are too fastidious,' nor the young remark, 'you are too negligent.'" As regards religious and priests, they have rules that prescribe the form and quality of their dress, and they should conform to those directions. It is needless to say that worldliness and affectation would be out of place in them and could not but shock worldlings themselves. n1. I Cor., VI, 15, 19. n2. "Devout Life," Part III, c. XXV. #773. B) Good deportment likewise furnishes everyone with ample opportunity for the practice of mortification, an excellent way of mortifying the flesh without endangering our health or attracting undue attention, and of gaining a wonderful control over the body. Examples of good deportment are: the avoidance of anything like lack of poise or of any bodily pose that smacks of primness or softness; an erect, easy and natural carriage of the body; holding the same even posture for a considerable space of time; not to lounge when sitting or lean when kneeling; to avoid all brusqueness of movement or manner and ill-regulated gestures. #774. C) There are other positive means of mortification which penitent souls inspired by generosity delight to employ in order to subdue their bodies, to temper the importunities of the flesh and give vent to their holy desires. The more customary ones are small iron bracelets clasped to the arms, chains worn about the loins, hairshirts, or a few strokes of the discipline when this last can be done without attracting any notice.1 As to all such practices one must faithfully follow the advice of one's spiritual director, shun whatever tends to evince any singularity or to flatter vanity not to speak of whatever would be against the rules of hygiene and personal cleanliness. The spiritual director should not give his sanction to any of these extraordinary practices except with the greatest discretion, only for a time, and on trial. Should it come to his notice that any inconveniences arise therefrom, he must bring them to a halt. n1. To resume the practice of corporal mortification is one of the most effective means of regaining lost joy of spirit and fervor of soul let us go back to our bodily mortifications. Let us bruise our flesh and draw a little of our blood, and we shall be happy as the day is long. If the Saints are such gay spirits, and monks and nuns such unaccountably cheerful creatures, it is simply because their bodies, like St. Paul's, are chastised and kept under with an unflinching sharpness and a vigorous discretion." (FABER, "The Blessed Sacrament," Book II, Section VII). #775. (3) Modesty of the Eyes. A) There are looks which are grievously sinful, that offend not only against modesty, but against chastity itself; from such we must evidently abstain.1 Others there are which are dangerous; for instance, to fasten our eyes on persons or things which would of themselves be apt to bring on temptations. Thus Holy Scripture warns us: "Gaze not upon a maiden lest her beauty be a stumbling-block to thee."2 Today when indecency in dress, exhibitions of the stage and of certain types of drawing-room entertainment create so many dangers, what great care must we not exercise so as not to expose ourselves to sin! n1. Matth., V, 28. n2. Eccli., IX, 5. #776. B) The earnest Christian who wants to save his soul at all costs goes even further so as to make the danger more remote. He mortifies the sense of sight by repressing idle, curious glances and by duly controlling his eyes in all simplicity without any show of affectation. He takes the opportunity whenever offered of directing his looks towards those things that tend to raise his heart towards God and the Saints, such as holy pictures, statues, churches and crosses. #777. (4) Mortification of the Ear and the Tongue A) The mortification of these senses demands that we speak no word nor lend a willing ear to utterances that hurt brotherly love, purity, humility and the other Christian virtues; for, says St. Paul, "Evil communications corrupt good manners."1 How many souls have been turned from their godly ways by giving ear to impure conversations or to words against their neighbor. Obscene words induce a morbid curiosity, excite the passions, kindle desire and incite to sin; whilst unkind words stir up strife and divisions even in the home, give rise to suspicion, enmity and rancor. We must, therefore, watch over the least of our words and we must know how to close our ears to whatever may sully purity, hurt charity or disturb peace. n1. I Cor., XV, 33. #778. B) The better to succeed in this, we shall at times mortify our curiosity, refraining from asking questions that would satisfy it, or repressing that itch for gossip that draws us into idle conversations not altogether devoid of danger: "In the multitude of words there shall not want sin."1 C) Since negative means do not suffice. We should take care to direct our conversation to subjects not merely harmless, but good, elevating and edifying, without however growing burdensome to others by too serious remarks that do not naturally suggest themselves. n1. Proverbs, X 19. #779. (5) The Mortification of our other senses. What we have said with regard to sight hearing and speech, is applicable to the other senses as well. We shall return to the sense of taste when we speak of gluttony, and to the sense of touch when we treat of chastity. As to the sense of smell, suffice it to say that the immoderate use of perfumes is often but a pretext for satisfying sensuality, and at times a ruse to excite lust. Earnest Christians should use them with moderation; clerics and religious should never use them. II. Mortification of the Interior Senses The two interior senses to be mortified are the imagination and the memory, which generally act in accord, memory-activities being accompanied by sense-images. #780. (1) Principle. These are two valuable faculties, which not only furnish the mind with the necessary material whereon to work, but enable it to explain the truth with the aid of images and facts in such a manner as to make it easier to grasp, and render it more vital and more interesting. The bare, colorless and cold statement of truth would not engage the interest of most men. It is not question, then, of atrophying these faculties, but of schooling them, of subjecting their activity to the control of reason and will. Otherwise, left to themselves, they literally crowd the soul with a host of memories and images that distract the spirit, waste its energies, cause it to lose priceless time while at prayer and work, and constitute the source of a thousand temptations against purity, charity, humility and other virtues. Hence, of necessity they must be disciplined and made to minister to the higher faculties of the soul. #781. (2) Rules to be followed. A) In order to check the wanderings of the memory and the imagination, we must, first of all, strive to expel from the outset, that is, from the very moment we are aware of them, all dangerous fancies and recollections; for such, by conjuring up some crisis of the past, or by carrying us along midst the seductive allurements of the present, or on to those of the future, would constitute for us a source of temptation. Furthermore, since frequent day-dreaming by a kind of psychological necessity leads us into dangerous musings, we should take heed to provide against idle thoughts, by mortifying ourselves as regards useless fancies, which constitute a waste of time and pave the way to others of an even more perilous nature. Mortifying idle thoughts, the Saints tell us, is dealing death to evil ones. #782. B) The best means to attain this end is to apply ourselves whole-heartedly to the performance of the duties of the moment, to our work, to our studies, to our ordinary occupations. Besides, this is likewise the best means of doing well what we are about, by making all our activities converge towards the production of the one action: "Do well whatever you do." Let young men remember that in order to succeed either in studies or in their profession, they must give more play to the mind and the will than to the lower faculties. Thus, whilst making provision for the future, they should avoid all dangerous flights of the imagination. #783. C) Lastly, the memory and the imagination will prove most helpful if they are employed to nourish our piety by searching in the Scriptures, in the Liturgy, and in spiritual writers the choicest texts, the most beautiful similes, the richest imagery, and if the imagination is used to enter into God's presence, to picture in their details the mysteries of Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin. Thus, far from stunting this faculty, we shall fill it with devout representations which will displace dangerous fancies and enable us the better to grasp and present to our hearers the beauty of the Gospel-scenes. III. The Mortification Or the Passions1 #784. The passions in the philosophical sense of the term are not necessarily nor wholly evil. They are active forces, often impetuous, that may be used for good as well as for evil, provided we learn to control them and direct them towards a high purpose. In popular parlance, however, and with certain spiritual writers, the word is used to designate evil passions. We shall, then--(1) recall the principal psychological notions concerning the passions; (2) indicate their good and their bad effects; (3) give rules for their right use. n1. ST THOM., Ia. IIae, q. 22-48; SUAREZ, disp. III, SENAULT "De l'usage des passions;" DESCURET, "La medecine des passions;" BELOUINO, "Des passions;" TH. RIBOT, "La pschologie des sentiments; La logique des sentiments; PAYOT, "The Education of the Will; Cursus Asceticus," I, P. 157-236, MEYER, "The Science of the Saints," II-IV; MESCHLER, "Three Fundamental Principles of the Spiritual Life," P., II, C. X-XV; P. JANVIER, "Careme 1905;" H . D. NOBLE, "L'education des passions." I. The Psychology of the Passions Here we but recall briefly what is explained at length in Psychology. #785. (1) Notion. Passions are vehement movements of the sensitive appetite toward sensible good, reacting more or less strongly on the bodily organism. a) At the bottom of passion, therefore, there is a certain knowledge, at least a sense-knowledge, of a good hoped for or already possessed, or of an evil opposed to the said good. From this knowledge spring the movements of the sensitive appetite. b) These movements are vehement and thus differ from affective conditions, pleasant or unpleasant, which are calm, peaceful, and free from the eagerness and the violence found in passion. C) It is precisely because they are vehement and act strongly upon the sensitive appetite that they have their reaction upon the physical organism. This is due to the close union that exists between body and soul. Thus, anger causes blood to rush to the brain and strains the nerves, fear causes us to turn pale; love dilates the heart and fear contracts it. These physiological effects do not reach the same degree in all subjects; they depend upon the individual temperament and the intensity of passion itself, as well as upon the measure of control acquired over self. #786. Passions differ from sentiments, which are movements of the will, and which presuppose, therefore, an intellectual knowledge; although they are strong, they lack the violence of passions. Thus there is a passion of love and a sentiment of love, a passionate fear and an intellectual fear. We may add that in man, a rational animal, the passions and the sentiments almost invariably blend in varying proportions, and that it is through the will aided by grace that we transform the most ardent passions into lofty sentiments by bringing the former under the sway of the latter. #787. (2) Their Number. Eleven are generally enumerated, all of which proceed from love, as Bossuet1 lucidly shows: "Our other passions refer but to love, love which embodies or stimulates them. " 1) Love is a yearning for union with a person or thing that pleases us; we thereby crave possession of it. 2) Hatred is an eagerness to rid ourselves of what displeases us it is born of love in the sense that we hate that which militates against what we love. We hate disease only because we love health; we hate no one, except those who place an obstacle to our possessing what we love. 3) Desire is a quest for an absent good and proceeds from the fact that we love that good. 4) Aversion (or flight) makes us shun or repel approaching evil. 5) Joy is the satisfaction arising from a present good. 6) Sadness, on the other hand, makes us grieve over and shrink from a present evil 7) Courage (daring) makes us strive after union with the object loved, the acquisition of which is difficult. 8) Fear prompts us to shrink from an evil difficult to avoid. 9) Hope eagerly bears us toward the thing loved, the acquisition of which is possible, though difficult. 10) Despair arises in the soul when the acquisition of the object loved seems impossible. 11) Anger violently repels what hurts us, and incites the desire of revenge. The first six passions which take rise in what is called the concupiscible appetite, are generally known to modern psychologist as pleasure-passions; the other five, proceeding from what is termed the irascible appetite, go by the name of aggressive passions. n1. "De la connaissance de Dieu et de soi-meme," C. I, n. 6. II. The Effects of the Passions #788. The Stoics assumed that the passions were radically evil and must be annihilated. The Epicureans deified the passions and loudly proclaimed the necessity of obeying them; modern Epicureans re-echo their cry in saying that life must be lived. Christianity shuns these two extremes. Nothing, it holds, that God has bestowed on our nature is evil. Our Lord Himself had well- ordered passions. He loved not only with His will, but with His heart; He wept over dead Lazarus and over faithless Jerusalem; He let Himself be roused to righteous indignation; He felt fear, underwent sadness and weariness; yet He knew how to keep these passions under the control of the will and subordinate them to God. When, on the contrary, passions are ill-ordered they are productive of the most harmful results. Hence, they must be mortified and disciplined. #789. The Effects of ill-ordered Passions. Passions are said to be ill-ordered when directed towards some sensible good which is forbidden, or even towards a good which is lawful, but is pursued with too much eagerness and without any reference to God. Such ill-regulated passions have the following effects: a) They produce blindness of soul, for heedless of reason, they move headlong toward their object, led on by attraction or by pleasure. This constitutes a disturbing factor which tends to unbalance our judgment and becloud right reason. The sensitive appetite is by nature blind; and should the soul allow itself to be guided by it, it will likewise become blind. The soul then, instead of being guided by duty, allows itself to be fascinated by the pleasure of the moment; it is as if a cloud stood between it and the truth. Blinded by the passions, the soul no longer sees clearly the will of God, the duty to be fulfilled; it is no longer competent to form a sane judgment. #790. b) Ill-ordered passions weary and torture the soul. 1) The passions, says St. John of the Cross,1 "are as impatient little children that can never be pleased, that ask their mother now for this, now for that, and are never satisfied. A miser tires of digging in vain for a treasure; likewise the soul wearies of seeking what its appetites demand. If one of these appetites is satisfied, others arise and wear us out, because they cannot all be satisfied... Appetites afflict the soul, enervate it and trouble it as the wind agitates the sea." 2) Hence, a suffering all the more intense, the more ardent the passions, for they torture the soul until they are satisfied, and just as the appetite for food is whetted by eating, so the passions ever crave for more. If conscience offers resistance, they lose patience, they fret, they importune the will to yield to their ever- recurring desires. This is an unspeakable torture. n1. "The Ascent of Carmel," Bk. I, c. VI; see chapters VI-XII of the same book, wherein the Saint explains in a wonderful way the hurtful effects of the appetites, that is of the passions. We but briefly sum up his thought. #791. e) Ill-ordered passions also weaken the will. Drawn hither and thither by these rebellious passions, the will is forced to scatter its efforts in every direction and by so doing to lessen its strength. Every concession it makes to the passions increases their demands and diminishes its own energies. Like the useless, rapacious, parasitic shoots that sprout round the trunk of a tree, uncontrolled appetites grow and sap the strength of the soul. A time comes when the weakened soul becomes the prey of laxness and lukewarmness and is ready to make any surrender. #792. d) Ill-ordered passions, lastly, blemish the soul. When the soul, yielding to the passions, joins itself to creatures it lowers itself to their level. Instead of being the faithful image of God it takes on the likeness of the things to which it clings; specks of dust, blots of grime sully its beauty and impede a perfect union with God. "I do not hesitate to affirm," says St. John of the Cross1 "that one single disordered passion, even if it lead not to mortal sin, is enough to cause the soul such a state of darkness, ugliness and uncleanness that it becomes incapable of intimate union with God so long as it remains a slave of this passion. What then shall we say of the soul that is marred by the ugliness of all its passions, that is a prey to all its appetites? At what infinite distance will it not be from divine purity? Neither words nor arguments can make us understand the divers stains which all these appetites create in the soul. Each one of them in its own way places its share of filth and ugliness in the soul." n1. "Ascent of Carmel," Bk. I, C. XI. #793. Conclusion. If we wish, then, to attain to union with God, we must repress all inordinate movements of the passions, even the most trifling; for perfect union with God presupposes that there be nothing in us contrary to the divine will, no willful attachment to creatures or to self. The moment we deliberately allow any passion to lead us astray, this perfect union no longer exists. This is especially true of habitual attachments. These paralyze the will even if they be in themselves trivial. St. John of the Cross1 says that "it makes little difference whether a bird be tied by a thin thread or a heavy cord; it cannot fly until either be broken." n1. "Ascent of Carmel," Bk. I, C. XI. #794. Advantages of well-ordered passions. Passions are helpful when they are well-ordered, that is, when they are directed towards good, when they are controlled and made subservient to the will of God. They are live, powerful forces that stir our mind and will to action and thus render them signal help. a) They act upon the mind by stimulating our ambition to work, our desire to know the truth. When we are passionately interested in any object, we are on the alert to know all about it; our minds grasp the truth more readily; the impression made upon our memory is more lasting. An inventor, for instance, burning with love for his country works with greater zest, perseverance and insight because of the very fact that he wants to serve his country. In like manner a student inspired by the high purpose of putting his knowledge at the service of his countrymen makes greater efforts and obtains greater results. But above all, he who passionately loves Jesus Christ, will study the Gospel with greater zeal, understand it better and relish it more; the words of the Master are for him so many oracles that shed upon his soul a glowing light. #795. b) Well-ordered passions, likewise, exert their influence upon the will, grouping and multiplying its energies. Whatever is done out of love, is done more thoroughly, more whole-heartedly, pursued more perseveringly and attended by greater success. What does not a loving mother do to save her child? What acts of heroism does not patriotism inspire? A Saint in whom love for God and for souls is a passion balks at no effort, at no sacrifice, at no humiliation if he can but save his brethren. Undoubtedly, it is the will which dictates such acts of zeal, but it is a will inspired, stimulated, and sustained by a hallowed passion. When both the sensitive and intellectual appetites, that is to say, when the heart and the will join forces and work along the same lines, the attendant results are evidently of far greater import and much more lasting. Hence, the importance of knowing how to put the passions to good use. III. The Good Use of the Passions After recalling the psychological principles that will make our task easier, we shall show how evil passions are resisted, how passions are directed towards good, and how they are controlled. (1) PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES TO BE APPLIED1 #796. To attain mastery over the passions, we must first of all, count on the grace of God and, therefore, on prayer and the Sacraments; but we must also employ the sound tactics furnished by psychology. a) Every idea tends to evoke a corresponding act, especially if the idea is attended by live emotions and associated with strong convictions. Thus the thought of sensual pleasure, vividly depicted by the imagination, provokes a sensual desire, often a sensual act. On the other hand, the thought of noble deeds and their happy results excites the desire of performing such acts. This is especially true of the idea that does not remain cold, colorless, abstract, but, accompanied by sensitive images, becomes concrete, real and thereby captivating. It is in this sense that we can say that thought is power, a dynamic force, the beginning of action. If then, we are, to master our ill-ordered passions, we must cautiously banish every thought, every fancy that presents evil pleasure in an attractive guise; and, if we want to foster well- ordered passions or good sentiments, we must welcome the thoughts and the images that picture the beautiful side of duty, of virtue, and we must make these as vivid and as concrete as possible. n1. EYMIEU, "Le gouvernement de soi-meme, t. I, 3e Principe. #797. b) The influence of an idea abides as long as that idea is not obliterated and supplanted by a stronger one. Thus sensual desire continues to make itself felt so long as it is not driven out by some nobler thought which takes possession of the soul. Hence, if we would be rid of such desires we must through some reading or engaging study apply ourselves to an entirely different or to an absolutely contrary trend of thought; and should we wish to strengthen some good desire, we must dwell on it and think of such things as will tend to feed it. c) The influence of an idea grows by being associated with correlative ones that enrich and broaden it. Thus the thought and the desire of saving our soul grow more intense and more active if associated with the idea of working for the salvation of our brethren. The life of St. Francis Xavier is a striking example of this. #798. d) Lastly, an idea attains its maximum power, when it becomes habitual, absorbing, a sort of fixed idea, the motive- power of action. This is exemplified in the sphere of the natural by the single-mindedness of those who hold but one purpose in view, for instance, that of bringing about some particular discovery; in the realm of the supernatural it is illustrated by those who are deeply impressed by some Gospel-truth which becomes the ruling principle of their life, for example: "Sell what thou hast and give to the poor. What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul? For to me, to live is Christ." We must, therefore, aim at burying deep into our souls some directing thoughts, and then embody them in a maxim that makes them real and keeps them ever before our mind, such as: "My God and my all! To the greater glory of God! God alone suffices! He who possesses Jesus, possesses all things! To be with Jesus is a sweet paradise!" With a motto of this kind, we shall more easily triumph over ill-ordered passions and make a right use of well-ordered ones. (2) HOW TO WAGE WAR AGAINST ILL.-ORDERED PASSIONS #799. As soon as we are aware of any ill-ordered movement of the soul, we must have recourse to every natural and supernatural means to stay and curb it. a) From the outset, we should with the help of grace avail ourselves of the power of inhibition wielded by the will to thwart such motion We should avoid exterior acts and gestures which would but stimulate or intensify passion. Thus, if we feel roused to anger, we should avoid excited gestures, and words, holding our peace until calm is restored; if it be question of a too ardent attachment to some person, we should avoid any meeting, any conversation with that person, and above all we should refrain from showing, even in an indirect way, the affection we feel. In this wise, passion gradually subsides. 800. b) If it be question of some pleasure-passion one must strive to forget the object of that passion. In order to accomplish this: 1) one must apply the mind and the imagination to any wholesome activity apt to divert attention from the object of passion; one must seek to engage all the powers of the mind on some absorbing subject of study, on the solution of some question or problem, or find distraction in play, social intercourse, conversation, walks, etc... 2) Then, when calm ensues one should have recourse to such moral considerations as may strengthen the will against the allurement of pleasure: considerations of the natural order, such as the untoward consequences, for the present and the future, with which a dangerous attachment, a too sentimental friendship may be fraught (n. 603), but above all, one should appeal to supernatural considerations, for instance, that it is impossible to advance in the way of perfection so long as we cling to such attachments, that these are but chains we forge for ourselves, that we thereby risk our salvation, that through our fault scandal may be given, etc. If it be some aggressive passion with which we have to deal, anger for example, we must first of all, through instant flight, allow the passion time to cool; then we can take the offensive, face the difficulty, convince ourselves through rational considerations and chiefly through motives of faith that it is unworthy of man, unworthy of a Christian to yield himself a willing prey to anger or to hatred; that serenity, self-control is the highest, the noblest course to follow, the one most consistent with the Gospel. #801. c) Lastly, positive acts directly opposed to the harassing passion must be elicited. If we experience dislike for any one we must act as if we wished to gain his good graces, strive to serve him, be amiable towards him and above all pray for him. Nothing so empties the heart of all bitterness as an earnest prayer offered for an enemy. If on the contrary, we feel a too ardent affection for any one we shall avoid his company or, if this be impossible, treat him with that cold formality, that sort of courteous indifference wherewith we treat the rank and file of human beings. These contrary acts finally succeed in weakening passion. (3) THE DIRECTION OF PASSIONS TOWARDS GOOD #802. We have said that the passions are not in themselves evil; all can without exception be turned to good. a) Love and joy can be directed towards pure and lawful family-affection, towards good and supernatural friendship, but chiefly towards Our Lord, Who is the most tender, the most generous, the most devoted of friends. This, then, is what matters most, that we center our hearts on Him by reading, meditation, and by actually carrying out in our lives the teachings contained in the two chapters of the "Following of Christ," "On the love of Jesus above all things," and "On familiar friendship with Jesus", two chapters which have proved a potent source of inspiration to many souls. b) Hatred and aversion can be turned against sin, against vice, and against whatever leads to them, in order that we may loathe them and fly from them: "I have hated iniquity."1 e) Desire is transformed into lawful ambition; into the natural ambition of doing honor to one's family, one's country, and into the supernatural ambition of becoming a saint, an apostle. d) Sadness, instead of degenerating into melancholy, becomes a sweet resignation under trials, which are for the Christian soul a seed of glory; or it is changed into tender compassion for the suffering Christ, loaded down with insults; or it is turned towards afflicted souls. e) Hope becomes a Christian virtue of unfailing trust in God and multiplies our energies for good. f) Despair takes the form of a rightful mistrust of self, based upon our own insufficiency and our sins, but tempered by trust in God. g) Fear is no longer that sense of depression which weakens the soul; but in the Christian it is a source of power. The Christian fears sin, he fears hell; but this righteous fear inspires him with courage in the struggle against evil. He fears God above all, he dreads to offend his Maker and treads under foot human respect. h) Anger instead of causing us to lose self-control, is but a just and holy indignation that strengthens us against evil. i) Boldness becomes prowess in the face of obstacles and dangers the greater the difficulty we encounter, the more eager we are to make efforts to overcome It. n1. Ps. CXVIII, 163. #803. To attain these happy results, there is nothing like meditation, accompanied by devout actions and generous resolutions. Thereby, we conceive an ideal, and form deep-seated convictions that help us daily to approach that ideal. The purpose in view is to evoke and nurture in the soul such thoughts and feelings as are in harmony with the virtues we want to practice, and to remove images and impressions allied to the vices we want to shun. These results cannot be better realized than by the practice of daily meditation after the manner noted in no. 679 and following. In this intimate converse with God, infinite Truth and infinite Goodness, virtue becomes every day more attractive and vice more loathsome, whilst the will strengthened by convictions draws the passions towards good instead of allowing itself to be drawn by these towards evil. (4) HOW TO MODERATE THE PASSIONS #804. a) Even when the passions are directed towards good, one must know how to temper them, that is to say, one must know how to make them obey the dictates of reason and the control of the will, both reason and will being guided in turn by the light of faith and by grace. Without this restraining influence, the passions would at times run to excess, for they are by nature too impetuous. Thus, the desire to pray fervently may become a strain; love for Jesus may manifest itself in forced emotions which wear out both body and soul, untimely zeal results in overstrain, indignation degenerates into anger, and joy into dissipation of mind. We are particularly exposed to such excesses in this age in which the feverish activity of our fellow-men readily becomes contagious. Even when these vehement impulses are directed towards good, they weary both mind and body and cannot, in any event, be of lasting duration, for violence is short lived, whereas it is sustained effort that best secures spiritual progress. #805. b) We must, therefore, submit our activity to the control of a wise director, and follow the dictates of Christian prudence. 1) In the training of our desires and of our passions there must be a certain habitual moderation, a kind of calm tranquillity, and we must avoid being constantly under a strain. We have a long journey ahead and it is important that we save our strength, since our poor human machine cannot be forever under pressure without danger of collapse. 2) Before a great expenditure of effort, prudence demands that we enforce a certain rest, that we put a certain curb upon our ambitions, even the most legitimate and upon our zeal, even the most ardent and the purest. Our Lord Himself gave us the example in this. From time to time He invited His disciples to rest: "Come apart into a desert place and rest a little."1 Thus directed and tempered, the passions, far from constituting an obstacle to perfection, will be effective means of daily growth in holiness. n1. Mark,, VI, 31. IV. The Discipline of the Higher Faculties The higher faculties, the intellect and the will, which make man what he is, need likewise to be disciplined, for they also have been affected by original sin, n. 75. I. The Discipline of the Intellect1 #806. We have been endowed with understanding, that we may know truth, and above all that we may know God and things divine. It is God Who is the true light of the mind. He illumines us with a twofold light, that of reason and that of faith. In our present state, we cannot come to the fullness of truth, without the joint help of these two lights. To scorn either of them is to blindfold our eyes. The discipline of the intellect is all the more important, since it is the intellect that enlightens the will and enables it to direct its course towards good. It is the intellect which, under the name of conscience, is the guide of our moral and our supernatural life. That it may rightly fulfill its office, its defects must be corrected. The chief of these are ignorance, curiosity, hastiness, pride and obstinacy. n1. "Cursus Asceticus," I. P., 94-102, MATURIN, "Self-Knowledge and Self-Discipline," P. 141-179; PAYOT, "The Education of the Will," Bk. II, C. I, III. #807. (1) Ignorance is overcome by a constant and systematic application to study, above all, to the study of whatever refers to our last end, and to the means of attaining it. It would be irrational to concern ourselves with all sciences and neglect the science of salvation. Indeed, each one must study those branches of human knowledge that relate to his duties of state; but the foremost duty being that of knowing God in order to love Him, to neglect this would be inexcusable. Yet, how many Christians there are, who, though well versed in some branch or other of learning, have but a very imperfect acquaintance with Christian truths, Christian doctrines, Christian morals, and Christian asceticism! #808. (2) Curiosity is a disease of the mind, which is one of the causes of religious ignorance, for it leads us to seek too eagerly the knowledge of things that delight us rather than of things that are profitable to us, and thus to lose precious time. In order to overcome curiosity we must: 1) study before all else, not what is pleasing, but what is profitable, especially what is necessary. "What is more necessary comes first", said St. Bernard, and we must not be occupied with the rest except by way of recreation. Hence, books that feed the imagination rather than the mind should be read sparingly; such are, for the most part, novels, newspapers and reviews of a worldly character. 2) In reading, we must avoid any undue eagerness, the desire to rush through a volume. It is especially when we read serious works that it is important to go slowly, the better to understand and to relish what we read (n. 582). 3) This will be all the easier, if we study, not from curiosity, not merely for the sake of knowledge, but from a supernatural motive, to improve ourselves and to enlighten others: "That they edify others, and this is charity...that they be edified themselves, and this is prudence."1 For, as St. Augustine tells us, knowledge should be put to the service of love: "Let knowledge be used in order to erect the structure of charity."2 This holds true even in the study of things spiritual. Some there are who seek in the pursuit of such studies satisfaction for their curiosity and their pride rather than the purification of their heart and the practice of mortification. 3 n1. S. BERNARD, "In Cant.,"., sermon XXXVI, n. 3, n2. Epist., LV, C. 22, n. 39, P. L., XXXIII, 223. n3. SCUPOLI, "Spiritual Combat," C. IX. #809. (3) Pride is to be avoided, that pride of intellect which is more dangerous and more difficult to overcome than the pride of will, as Scupoli,1 says. This is the pride that renders faith and obedience to superiors difficult. One wants to be self-sufficient; the more confidence one has in one's own judgment the more reluctantly does one accept the teachings of faith, or the more readily does one submit these to criticism and to personal interpretation. In like manner, one so trusts to one's own wisdom, that it is with repugnance that others are consulted, especially superiors. Hence, regrettable mistakes occur. Hence comes also obstinacy of judgment, resulting in the final and sweeping condemnation of such opinions as differ from our own. Herein lies one of the most common causes of strife between Christian and Christian, at times even between Catholic writers. St. Augustine calls those who cause unfortunate dissensions, destructive of peace and of the bond of charity, "Dividers of unity, enemies of peace, without charity, puffed up with vanity, well pleased with themselves and great in their own eyes."2 n1. Loc. cit. n2. "Sermo III" Paschae, n. 4. #810. To heal this intellectual pride: 1) we must first of all submit ourselves with childlike docility to the teachings of faith. We are undoubtedly allowed to seek that understanding of our dogmas which is obtained by a patient and laborious quest with the aid of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, especially St. Augustine and St. Thomas; but as the Vatican Council1 says, this must be done with piety and with discretion, following the maxim of St. Anselm: "Faith, seeking understanding." Thus we avoid that hypercritical attitude that attenuates and minimizes our dogmas under pretense of explaining them. We submit our judgment not only to the truths of faith but to the directions of the Holy See. With regard to such questions as are open to discussion, we give others the same freedom as we claim for ourselves and refrain from taking an attitude of contempt for the opinions of others. Thus, minds are at peace. 2) In the discussions we hold with others, we must seek, not the satisfaction of our pride and the triumph of our ideas, but the truth. It seldom happens that there is not in the contrary opinions a kernel of truth that has so far escaped our notice. The best means of drawing close to the truth, as well as of observing the laws of humility and charity, is to listen attentively and without prejudice to the reasons adduced by our opponents and to admit whatever is true in their remarks. To sum up, in order to discipline the mind we must study what is most necessary and pursue this study with method, with perseverance and with supernatural motives, that is to say, with the desire to know and to love the truth and to live by it. n1. DINZING., n. 1796. II. The Training of the Will #811. (1) Necessity. The will is in man the governing faculty. Being free, the will imparts its freedom, not only to the acts it performs itself, but to those acts it bids the other faculties perform; it gives them their merit or their demerit. The discipline of the will means the discipline of the entire man, and a well- disciplined will is one that is strong enough to govern the lower faculties and docile enough to submit itself to God. These are the two functions of the will. Both are difficult. Ofttimes the lower faculties rebel against the will and submit only when one has learned to add tact to firmness; for the will does not exercise an absolute power over our sense faculties, but a kind of moral influence, a power of persuasion that leads them to compliance (n. 56). Hence, it is only with difficulty and through oft-renewed efforts that we succeed in bringing the sense faculties and the passions under the sway of the will. Likewise, it is not easy to yield full submission of the will to God, because we aspire to a certain independence, and because God's will, in order to sanctify us, often demands sacrifices from which we naturally shrink. We often prefer our own tastes, our own whims, to the holy will of God. Here again, mortification becomes a necessity. #812. (2) Practical means. In order to effect the right education of the will, we must render it supple enough to obey God in all things and strong enough to control the body and the sensitive appetites. To attain this end, obstacles must be removed and positive means employed. A) The chief obstacles are: a) from within: 1) lack of reflection: we do not reflect before acting and follow the impulse of the moment, passion, routine, caprice. We must take thought before acting and ask ourselves what God demands of us. 2) Overeagerness, which, producing too great a strain, depletes the energies of body and soul to no purpose, and often causes us to stray in the direction of evil. We need self-possession and self- restraint even in doing good, so that we may start up a lasting fire rather than a darting flame. 3) Indifference, indecision, sloth, lack of moral stamina, which paralyze or atrophy our will-power. We must, then, strengthen our convictions and build up our energies. 4) The fear of failure, or lack of confidence, an attitude which notably weakens our power. We must, therefore, remind ourselves that, with God's help, we are sure of attaining good results. #813. b) To these interior obstacles are added others coming from without: 1) human respect, which makes us slaves of other men and causes us to stand in fear of their criticisms or their mockery. This is combated by realizing that what matters is not man's judgment, always liable to error, but the ever-wise and infallible judgment of God, 2) bad example, which draws us all the more easily as it is in accord with the tendency of our nature. We must remember that the only model we are to imitate is Jesus Christ, Our Master and Our Head (n. 136 and foll.), and that the ways of the Christian must go counter to the ways of the world (n. 214). #814. B) The positive means consist in a harmonious combination of the work of the mind, the will and grace. a) It is the province of the mind to furnish those deep-seated convictions that are at once a guide and a stimulus to the will. These convictions are those calculated to determine the will in the choice of what is in conformity with the will of God. They are thus summed up: God is my one end and Jesus Christ is the way which I must take to reach Him; I must, then, do all things for God, in union with Jesus Christ. Only one obstacle sin, can come in the way of the attainment of my end. I must, then, flee from sin and should I have the misfortune of falling into it I must immediately atone for it. Only one means is necessary and suffices to avoid sin, always to do the will of God. I must, then, ever strive to know His will and conform my conduct to it. In order to succeed in this, I shall frequently repeat the words of St. Paul at the moment of his conversion: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"1 In the evening, in my examination of conscience, I shall reproach myself for the least failing. n1. Acts, IX, 6. #815. b) Such convictions exert a powerful influence upon the will, which, in turn, must act with decision, firmness, and constancy. 1) Decision is necessary. Once we have reflected and prayed, according to the importance of the action we are about to perform, we must make an immediate decision, in spite of the amount of hesitation we may feel. Life is too short to lose time in such long deliberations. We take sides with what seems to be more in accordance with the divine will, and God Who sees our good dispositions will bless our action. 2) We must be firm in this decision. It is not enough to say: I should like, I wish; these are but yearnings. We must say: I will, and I will at all costs, and then set ourselves to the task without waiting for the morrow or for some grand opportunity. It is firmness in small things that secures fidelity in the greater. 3) This firmness, however, is not synonymous with violence; it is calm, for it must endure; and in order to give it constancy, we must often renew our efforts without ever allowing ourselves to be discouraged by failure; we are never vanquished except when we give up. In spite of a few failures, in spite even of a few wounds, we must consider ourselves the victors, because supported by God's grace, we are in reality invincible. If we have the misfortune of falling, we rise immediately. For the Divine Healer of souls there is no incurable wound, no incurable illness. #816. c) In the last analysis it is upon the grace of God that we must learn to rely. If we beg for it with humility and confidence, it will never be refused to us, and with it we are invincible. We must, then, often renew, especially before every important action, our convictions regarding the absolute necessity of grace; we must ask for it with insistence, in union with Our Lord so as to make its bestowal more certain. We must remind ourselves that Jesus Christ is not only our model but our co-worker, and lean confidently upon Him, assured that in Him we are powerful to undertake and to bring to completion all things pertaining to salvation: "I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me."1 Then, our will is strong, since it shares in the very strength of God: "The Lord is my strength;"2 It is free, for true liberty does not consist in yielding to our passions, but in securing the triumph of reason and will over instinct and sensuality. n1. Phil., IV, 13. n2. Ps. CXVII, 14. #817. Conclusion. Thus will be accomplished the purpose we have assigned to mortification--to bring our senses and our lower faculties under subjection to the will and the will to God. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The electronic form of this document is copyrighted. Copyright (c) Trinity Communications 1995. Provided courtesy of: The Catholic Resource Network Trinity Communications PO Box 3610 Manassas, VA 22110 Voice: 703-791-2576 Fax: 703-791-4250 Data: 703-791-4336 The Catholic Resource Network is a Catholic online information and service system. To browse CRNET or join, set your modem to 8 data bits, 1 stop bit and no parity, and call 1-703-791-4336. ------------------------------------------------------------------- .