The forty days of Lent are intended to prepare Catholics for the Resurrection of Christ as celebrated at Easter. This preparation is centered on three ancient practices designed to allow the follower of Christ to die to the self so as to be reborn with Christ in the Resurrection.
These three practices of charity, mortification, and penance form the foundation of the Lenten Season. Before commencing, it should be noted that the three practices of charity, penance, and mortification are cumulative and interactive. They ought not be viewed in isolation, but as parts of a greater whole.
Charity
There is no shortage of ambiguity when considering the word charity. At least part of this ambiguity is caused by the translation of the word into different languages.
In modern English, charity is generally considered synonymous with generosity or liberality. However, as a theological virtue, charity has a deeper meaning, encompassing the concept of love as understood theologically.
Love, in this context, is not a fleeting emotion, but an act of the will. Drawing on Thomistic theology, love is a movement of the soul to will the good of another. The English word charity is a Latin translation of caritas, which denotes the concept of love. Therefore, in modern English, “charity” does not always clearly convey the Gospel call to love.
The Gospels depict Jesus continually asking His followers not only to give alms (that is, to be charitable), but to love. (Matthew 22:39). Even though the term charity has drifted from its original Latin meaning, it may be said that love is the foundational principle upon which our modern translation of charity depends.
Thus, even when Christians engage in acts of philanthropy, it is done not so much “out of charity” (i.e., generosity) in the common sense, as it is from the command of Jesus that his followers love (that is, will the good of the other).
Mortification
Mortification has rather harsh connotations. Derived from the Latin mortificare, mortification means “to put to death.” Within Catholic theology, mortification refers to the practice of disciplining the body, so as to bring it under control. This entails some unpacking.
If virtue is the proper ordering of the soul, then sin is a corruption or disordering of it. A proper ordering would involve the body (desires and appetites) being subordinated to reason, and the reason being subordinated to God.
Owing to the effects of original sin, however, this proper ordering has been inverted and damaged. Much of what can be considered sinful is due to the bodily passions ruling over reason.
One of the most frequently cited examples of this is within the realm of sexuality. However, this inversion of reason by passions can extend to things like anger or gluttony. The purpose of mortification, therefore, is to discipline the body (i.e., passions) and bring them back under the control of reason (1 Corinthians 9:27).
The process of mortification should not be understood as puritanical. Rather, it is nothing more than an effort to bring the whole of the human person back into the right order of God-soul-body. This holistic position exemplifies much of Catholic theology.
In this context, one should view mortification as spiritual training. That is, a tempering of the willpower to govern our passions and instincts better.
Penance
The term penance is likely quite familiar to Catholics due to its connection to the sacrament of confession. One is given penance to make restitution for an evil confessed to in the sacrament.
Within the broader context of Catholic theology, penance refers to an act of reparation for sins. Moreover, penance is done with the intention of restoring our relationship with God and our neighbor. Penance, therefore, is done as a way to show God that one is sorrowful for one’s sins, or for the sins of others, and to make up for them.
In a very real sense, penance, as a response to grace, is restitution that allows for the satisfaction of God’s justice. Additionally, and as it relates to Lent, penance turns the mind’s eye away from oneself and toward God. In this light, it can be viewed as a practice that brings one into greater communion with God. This point is significant.
The only way that penance advances a person’s spiritual life is if it is united to Christ. As such, penance should be performed with the goal of sharing in Christ’s suffering on the Cross. Furthermore, to share in Christ’s suffering is to participate in the redemptive work of the Savior.
It is of critical importance to state, however, that penance as a form of redemptive suffering does not add to Christ’s atonement, which is complete, but allows believers to partake in His saving purpose.
Charity, Mortification, and Penance comprise the internal categories, which are traditionally expressed through the external pillars of Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.
By fasting, the individual shares in God’s hunger for souls. Moreover, fasting aids in becoming cognizant of one’s dependence on God for one’s very existence.
Prayer enables one to join in the perfect union of the Trinity. Through the sacraments, especially through the Eucharist and Confession, one is drawn more closely into that union, and one obtains grace to overcome sin.
Finally, through giving away material goods, we empty ourselves in a small way as Jesus emptied himself totally on the Cross. All of these things make clear to us how desperately we need God’s redeeming grace.
Nothing that has been said thus far should be understood as having an auto-salvation component. Catholic theology firmly asserts that we cannot save ourselves by ourselves; we cannot grow in holiness apart from the source of holiness: “for cut off from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Properly understood, where the Sacrament of Confession absolves the individual from the guilt of sin, penance acts to satisfy God’s justice.
At this stage, one may reasonably ask how penance and mortification are differentiated.
Making A Distinction
The distinction between mortification (synonymous in most spiritual writers with self-denial, abnegation, self-renunciation, and a dying to self) and penance (synonymous with penitence, self-sacrifice, and “reparation”) has to do with the interior motive behind the action.
Said differently, the exterior action (fasting, for example, or taking a cold shower on a cold morning) can be the same. However, depending on the purpose of the action, the spiritual act may be either mortification or penance.
Since the distinction between mortification and penance is in the spiritual intention, not the physical action, the same physical action can serve simultaneously as both an act of mortification and of penance.
Conclusion
To the modern mind, these three practices (charity, penance, and mortification) may seem examples of extreme asceticism. Certainly, they stand in stark contrast to our rather sensuous lifestyles. Of course, that is, in part, the point.
To paraphrase Saint Francis, it is by dying to oneself (and this is done through charity, mortification, and penance) that one is born into eternal life (the fruit of Easter).
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