The fourth Vincentian value that St. Vincent endorsed for his followers is “mortification.” The word comes from the Latin term “mors/mortis” [death, to die to oneself]. This is not very attractive to the contemporary mind. No one among us wants to die. We want to live.
It has become so disgusting to contemporary taste that the great German Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner calls mortification “the forgotten virtue.” In order for this value not to be forgotten, and to make the word more understandable, I propose a modern equivalent — “letting go” — which is more acceptable to modern sensibilities.
Lovers need a lot of letting go to express their love. Students need to let go of “good times” in order to pass the exams. Parents need to let go of many things for the love of their children. We all need to sacrifice something in order to achieve the best of ourselves.
How do we understand the value of mortification?
First, repugnant as “mortification” is to present generations, this Vincentian value is, in fact, a necessary human virtue, a natural value.
I look at the life of our student athletes. They need to abstain from the food they like in order not to gain too much weight. They need to sleep early to wake up energized for their games or exercises the next day. They need to exert physical energy in their practices and hone their talents and skills.
Contemporary language expresses this value so well: “no pain, no gain”; “no guts, no glory”; “no risk, no reward”; “no cross, no crown”; “kung may itinanim, may aanihin,” etc.
Letting go is not a negative virtue; it is a positive one. It is there to make us achieve something good, something better. Self-discipline does not intend to kill us. It makes us live, to win an imperishable wreath of God’s abundant life, to borrow the words of St. Paul.
Second, beyond a human value, mortification is also a biblical virtue. Letting go is the main lifeblood of Christian life. The other name of mortification is asceticism. Spiritual life calls for self-control and sacrifice. We practice an ascetic life to achieve spiritual growth. The Bible uses the athlete’s discipline as the ideal of Christian life. St. Paul told the Corinthians: “Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we, an imperishable one” (1 Cor 9:25).
Third, sacrifice is crucial to the mission of Jesus. Jesus’ saving act is not possible without letting go.
The Gospel of Mark writes: “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again” (Mk 8:31). When Peter objected to this prediction, Jesus was angry with him and called his idea “the work of the devil.”
And if the Son of Man had to die, so must we. Jesus said: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt 16:24; Lk 9:23).
Many images in the Bible refer to this reality: the mustard seed that has to die in order to live; the vine that has to be pruned in order to bear fruit; we have to be buried with Christ in baptism in order to have a new life.
Theology has one word for this process: “paschal mystery.” It is only in dying that we gain eternal life. “If we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him” (Rom 6:8).
Fourth, mortification has an apostolic value. It is not a passive virtue but an active one. It is crucial to the life of missionaries like all of us.
St. Vincent told his followers: “Each one, therefore, should be most conscientious in accepting the overruling of his personal wishes and opinions, and in disciplining the gratification of each of his senses” (CR II, 8).
Because St. Vincent spoke the language of his times, he spoke of the denial of our exterior senses (sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing). Missionaries should not look at people straight in the eyes but keep their eyes downcast; should endure the bad smell of poor people; should moderate their meals and appetite; should not listen to gossip, etc.
Missionaries should also mortify their interior senses, like their feelings and memories. They should not be too attached to their families and loved ones in order to dispose themselves for the missions. St. Vincent confessed that he was struggling with this himself, that is, with his relationship with his family. We have to remember that he was attached to their welfare earlier in his priesthood.
Letting go of these natural feelings is the way of mortification. And the value of mortification is “for the mission.” My old Spanish novice master said that a life of mortification — letting go of our own desires and will — is expressed in this: “When my superior gives me a new pastoral assignment, I can pack up my things in one hour and immediately go in joy!” What a challenge!
What are the present forms of mortification in our everyday life? What simple and practical steps shall we follow? What does “letting go” mean for us today?
The first practical step is to live a life of moderation and self-discipline. Following a healthy life schedule, eating a simple meal (not overeating and drinking), maintaining work-life balance, moderate use of cell phones and access to social media, time management, emotional patience when someone irritates or insults us — all these are expressions of a life of restraint and self-control.
The second practical step is to be aware of and process one’s addictions. All of us have addictive behaviors — some quite problematic, some others under control. We need to be aware of, accept and understand the depth of our own addictions. We need to ask for professional help or seek support and resolve to recover from weights that bog us down. We also need to take care of ourselves on our way to recovery — get enough sleep, do some exercise and eat nutritious food. Letting go of our addictions makes us free to serve others in a healthy way.
The third practical step is the practice of delayed gratification. Delayed gratification is the capacity to resist immediate reward in favor of long-term fulfillment. A person’s ability to defer immediate satisfaction is an expression of one’s patience, self-control, willpower and self-discipline. It is also a product of age and maturity. Young children can hardly control their immediate desires.
We have heard about the “marshmallow experiment” done at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s. The four-year-old children who could control their desires to eat the marshmallow beyond the 15-minute rule grew up to be less aggressive, less impulsive, more mature, with high self-esteem and more adaptive skills as teenagers and adults. In short, delayed self-gratification can lead us to a more mature lifestyle.
Pope Francis recognizes the role of mortification in present times and suggests that “letting go” be integrated into our own Lenten practices and our everyday life.
- Fast from hurtful words and replace them with kind words.
- Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
- Fast from anger and cultivate patience.
- Fast from pessimism and embrace hope.
- Fast from worries and trust in God.
- Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
Father Daniel Franklin Pilario, C.M., is the President of Adamson University in Manila. He is a theologian, professor, and pastor of an urban poor community on the outskirts of the Philippine capital. He is also the Vincentian Chair for Social Justice at St. John’s University in New York.
