{"id":153404,"date":"2022-05-17T09:30:11","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T13:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-is-mortification-necessary\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:00:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:00:26","slug":"ask-a-priest-is-mortification-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-is-mortification-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Ask a Priest: Is Mortification Necessary?&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<address>Q: For repentance, is mortification necessary to be a saint? Many saints do mortification, and I would like to know the Church\u2019s positions on that. Can you mention some mortification practices for repentance? And could you recommend some good books on the subject? \u2013 Alex<\/p>\n<p class=\"m-4021602221989404838ydp69645e4cyiv5078300124ydpfd2d5a57yiv0421283852ydp3cd5237dmsonormal\" style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: 115%;\">\n<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A:\u00a0In the wide sense, every Catholic should practice some form of mortification. It&#8217;s not just something for saints.<\/p>\n<p>We should do some kind of bodily penance, including occasional fasting or abstinence from certain foods.<\/p>\n<p>This kind of mortification helps us to make reparation for our sins and for the temporal punishment linked to them.<\/p>\n<p>When you mention the mortification practiced by the saints, you might be referring to extreme cases, such as St. Simeon the Stylite, who lived atop a pillar for decades, or St. Kevin, who would stand in the cold waters at Glendalough in Ireland, reciting the psalms.<\/p>\n<p>Many spiritual writers, however, dissuade people from extremes in mortification, for two basic reasons.<\/p>\n<p>One, there is a very human tendency for us to &#8220;compensate&#8221; later for extreme mortification. We fast one day, then binge on junk food the next. The pendulum swings wildly.<\/p>\n<p>A second reason is that extreme mortification can inflate our egos. We feel proud of our accomplishments, and might even look down on those who can\u2019t measure up to the same degree of self-denial. Moments of spiritual pride are golden opportunities for the devil to tempt us into a big fall.<\/p>\n<p>Two quick suggestions for balanced mortification would be these:<\/p>\n<p>First, make a little sacrifice at each meal. If you can cultivate this habit, you could go a long way in overcoming other problems.<\/p>\n<p>Second, learn to embrace the trials and struggles of everyday life with patience and humility. Rather than standing in icy waters reciting 150 psalms, it might be more meritorious to deal kindly with a difficult co-worker or neighbor.<\/p>\n<p>Good spiritual books usually deal with the topic of mortification within the whole context of the Christian life.<\/p>\n<p>Some weighty suggestions are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Spiritual-Life-Treatise-Ascetical-Mystical\/dp\/1626540888\"><em>The Spiritual Life<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em>by Adolphe Tanquerey, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Theology-Christian-Perfection-Antonio-Mar%C3%ADn\/dp\/1620322773\"><em>The Theology of Christian Perfection<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em>by Antonio Royo Mar\u00edn and Jordan Aumann.<\/p>\n<p>More-accessible books include <a href=\"https:\/\/rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com\/book\/60-days-to-becoming-a-missionary-disciple\/\"><em>60 Days to Becoming a Missionary Disciple<\/em><\/a><em>,<\/em> by John Bartunek, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Back-Virtue-Peter-Kreeft-ebook\/dp\/B002UZ5JZY\"><em>Back to Virtue<\/em><\/a>, by Peter Kreeft.<\/p>\n<p>If ever you feel drawn to extreme forms of mortification, it would be good to check first with your confessor or spiritual director. Sometimes less is more.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 1.125rem;\">Keep learning more with <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1.125rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com\/ask-a-priest\/\">Ask a Priest<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n<p>Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&amp;A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question <a href=\"https:\/\/rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com\/ask-a-priest-question\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a>\u00a0and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q: For repentance, is mortification necessary to be a saint? Many saints do mortification, and I would like to know the Church\u2019s positions on that. Can you mention some mortification [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":362,"featured_media":145952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3718],"tags":[5853,5395,4799,3877],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-153404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-a-priest","tag-extreme","tag-mcilmail","tag-mortification","tag-penance"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.8 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&quot;Ask a Priest: Is Mortification Necessary?&quot; - Regnum Christi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-is-mortification-necessary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;Ask a Priest: Is Mortification Necessary?&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q: For repentance, is mortification necessary to be a saint? 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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith &amp; Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153404"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}