virtue of mortification as taught by st. vincent de paul

8/9/2019 Virtue of Mortification as Taught by St. Vincent de Paul

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Saint Vincent de Paulexpressed his spirituality in

five virtues drawn from his

way of looking at Christ,

namely: simplicity, humility,gentleness, mortification,

and zeal for souls.

Here we will take a closer

look at the virtue of

mortification.


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When St. Vincent invites us

to practice mortification, heis talking about self-

discipline in a spirit of

penance.

He urges us to let go of

any worldly inclinations that

rob us of our freedom to

follow Jesus, and to workfor the establishment of His

Kingdom.


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Of the thousands whofollowed Jesus to hear his

words, the majority

abandoned him and

deserted him. They did not

have the dispositions

which our Lord said were

necessary. They chose not

to overcome themselves,

not to deny themselves,

not to bear their cross.


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For St. Vincent,

mortification was always

necessary in life. He

explained this to us using

the parable of the vine-

dresser:


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“May it please God to grant

us the grace of becoming

like the good vine-dresser,who always carries his

knife in his pocket to cut

away whatever he sees as

injurious to his vine [...]So we too, with the knife of

mortification, should

unceasingly cut away the

evil branches in ourselvesthat our fallen nature

constantly tries to put

forth.”

“On Mortification,” May 12, 1659, O.C., xi, 522-523


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“A good vine-dresserlabors long in the vineyard.

We, too, will be good

disciples of Jesus Christ, if

we constantly mortify oursenses, if we labor to

repress our passions, if we

work to submit our

judgment and regulate our

will.”

“On Mortification,” May 12, 1659, O.C., xi, 522-523


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With enthusiasm St.

Vincent encouraged hismissionaries to mortify

themselves:

“Courage! Pleasure followspain, and the more

obstacles the faithful have

to surmount, the more joy

they feel in having mortifiedthemselves: their reward is

as great as their labor.”

“On Mortification,” May 12, 1659, O.C., xi, 523


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“Let us labor, my brothers,

so that no day may pass in

which we have not

performed at least three or

four acts of mortification

and then we can truly say

that we follow our Lord.”



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“We shall walk in the

narrow way which leads to

life and Jesus Christ willreign with us in this mortal

life, and we with Him in

eternal life.”



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My Lord, what were you doing during your whole life but

fighting continually against the world, the flesh and the devil?

Did you ever do your own will? Did you ever give priority to

your own judgment? Did you ever listen to sensuality? No,never. There were in you only constant mortification and

absolute renunciation of all things.

Grant us, Lord, the strength to carry the cross of

mortification, to follow you closely and to live your life nowand in eternity. We pray in your name Lord Jesus, who live

and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for

ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer


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text adapted from “The Way of St. Vincent Is Our Way.

28. Mortification in Body and Spirit ”, Authors: Miguel PérezFlores, C.M. & Antonino Orcajo, C.M.

Images: Depaul Image Archive

virtue of mortification as taught by st. vincent de paul

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