Painting: Christ Crucified (1632) by Diego Velázquez. Pauline mortification part one, part two/three. A fourth reason obliging us to mortification or abnegation is the necessity of imitating Jesus crucified. He Himself tells us: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily” (Lk. 9:23). St. Paul adds: For…
Read the first part of Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange’s reflections on Pauline mortification. The Consequences of Our Personal Sins A second motive that renders mortification necessary is found in the consequences of our personal sins. St. Paul insists on this point in the Epistle to the Galatians, by noting especially the effects of sins against charity:…
The doctrine of the Gospel on the necessity of mortification is explained at considerable length by St. Paul in his epistles. Frequent quotation is made of his words: “I chastise my body and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway” (I Cor. 9:27). Likewise…
To see the true spirit of Christian mortification, we must consider what our Lord says about it in the Gospel and how the saints understood it and lived it. The Savior did not come upon earth to carry out a human work of philanthropy, but a divine work of charity. He accomplished it by speaking…
