Mortification: A Dying to Selfishness
Through the spirit of sacrifice … [one] must live perfectly dead to the world and to himself, so that he may possess those spiritual dispositions which make him say: “The life I now live is not my own, it is Christ living in me.” (OOCC, II, p. 547)
St. Vincent Pallotti considered mortification as death to selfishness in the life of a Christian. For him, dying to himself was necessary for authentic Christian living. By the phrase “dying to oneself,” St. Vincent meant that a person was totally and completely mortified, i.e., he was completely free from all forms of selfishness. According to St. Vincent, death to a person’s selfishness was brought about through external mortification which consisted of performing external acts of penance. But the value of external mortification consisted in the internal mortification, which St. Vincent referred to as ‘the mortification of the spirit.’ The practice of internal and external mortification, i.e., by dying to selfishness, a person was able to cultivate the spiritual dispositions of Christ which would make him experience the life of Christ. When this happened, a person felt that the life he lived was no longer his own, but Christ himself was living in him and acting through him. Living a life of true mortification, i.e., dying to his selfishness, St. Vincent often expressed his inner yearning that God would destroy his life and would make Christ’s life to be his life.
Am I ready to die to my selfishness? Do I practice both external and internal mortification? Do I attempt to cultivate the spiritual dispositions of Jesus in my life? Do I allow Christ to take hold of my life and live it in and through me?
He [Christ] indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (II Cor. 5: 15)