MORSE
578
MORTIFICATION
early as the thirtcpnth century inventories mention
clasps which formed distinct ornaments in themselves.
Many cliurdios had a laiKc niitubor of such morses.
They were generally iiKule of silver covered with gold,
and were ornameiiled with [jcurls, precious stones,
enamel, niello-work, architectural designs, small
figiu-es of saints, ornamental work in flowers and
vines, and similar designs. Such chisps were fre-
quently the finest products of the goldsmith's art;
they were generally either round, square, quatrefoil,
or like a rosette in form; yet there were also more
elaborate and at times peculiar shapes. Abundant
proof of the desire for costly clasps for the cope is
shown by the old inventories and by the numerous
medieval morses preserved (especially in Germany) in
churches and museums. According to present Ro-
man usage the morse is reserved to cardinals and
bishops (Ca?r. epifec", I, c. vii, n. 1; S. R. C., 15
September, 1753).
Bock, Gesch. der Ulmg. GewSnder des M. A., II (Bonn, 1860). 304 aq.; Braux, Die lUurg. Gewandung im Occident u. Oriejit (Freiburg, 1907), 321 sqq. JoSEPH BraUN.
Morse, Henry, Venerable, martyr; b. 1595 in Norfolk; d. at Tyburn, 1 February, 1644. He was re- ceived into the (Shurch at Douai, 5 June, 1614, after various journeys was ordained at Rome, and left for the mission, 19 June, 1624. He was admitted to the Society of Jesus at Heaton; then he was arrested, and imprisoned for three years in York Castle, where he made his novitiate under his fellow-prisoner Father John Robinson, S.J., and took simple vows. After- wards he was a missionary to the English regiments in the Low Countries. Returning to England at the end of 1633 he laboured in London, and in 1636 he is re- ported to have received about ninety Protestant families into the Church. He himself contracted the plague but recovered. Arrested 27 February, 1636, he was imprisoned in Newgate. On 22 April he was brought to the bar charged with being a priest and with having withdrawn the king's subjects from their faith and allegiance. He was found guilty on the first count, not guilty on the second, and sentence was deferred. On 23 April he made his solemn profession of the three vows to Fr. Edward Lusher. He was re- leased on bail for 10,000 florins, 20 June, 1637, at the instance of (^ueen Henrietta Maria. In order to free his sureties he voluntarily went into exile when the royal proclamation was issued ordering all priests to leave the countrj' before 7 April, 1641, and became chaplain to Gage's English regiment in the service of Spain. In 1643 he returned to England; arrested after about a year and a half, he was imprisoned at Durham and Newcastle, and sent by sea to London. On 30 January he was again brought to the bar and condemned on his previous conviction. On the day of his execution his hurdle was drawn by four horses, and the French Ambassador attended with all his suite, as also did the Count of Egmont and the Por- tuguese Ambassador. The martyr was allowed to hang until he was dead. At the quartering the foot- men of the French Ambassador and of the Count of Egmont dipped their handkerchiefs in the martyr's blood. In 1647 many persons possessed by evil spirits were relieved through the application of his relics.
Foley, Records of the English Province S. J. (London, 1877- 1883). I, 566-611; VI. 288-9; VII, 528, 658. 1198, 1200; Chai.- LO.NEB, .\fcmoirs of Missionary Priests, II (Manchester, 1803), 151-5; Ta.vner, Societas Jesu (Prague, 1675). 126-131; Hamiu- TOK, Calendar Slate Papers Domestic 1640-1 (London, 1882), 292.
John B. Wainewright.
Mortdficatdon, one of the methods which Christian asceticism employs in training the soul to virtuous and holy living. The term originated with St. Paul, who traces an instructive analogy between Christ dying to a mortal and rising to an immortal life, and His fol- lowers who renounce their past life of sin and rise through grace to a new life of holiness. "If you live
after the flesh", says the apostle, "you shall die, but
if tlirough the spirit you murlify the deeds of the flesh,
you shall live" (Rom., viii, 13; cf. also Col., iii, 5, and
Gal., v, 24). From this original u.sc of the term wc see
that mortification, (hough under one aspect it is a law
of death, under another and nion' fuiidamenlal aspect
it is a law of life,:nn! so does not destroy but elevates
nature. What it sla.ys is the disease of the soul, and
by slaying this it restores and invigorates the soul's
true life.
Of the diseases it sets itself to slay, sin, the one mortal disease of the soul, holds the first place. Sin committed it destroj's, by impelling to true penitence and to the use of those means of forgiveness and resto- ration which our Lord has confided to His Church. Temptations to sin it overcomes by inchieirig the will to accept hardships, however grave, rather than yield to the temptations. To this extent, mortification is obligatory on all, h\it those who wish to be more thor- ough in the service of Clu'ist, carry it further, and strive with its aid to subdue, so far as is possible in this life, that "rebellion" of the flesh against the spirit which is the internal incentive to sin. What is needed to achieve this victory is that the passions and sensual concupiscences, which when freely in- dulged exercise so pernicious an influence on human conduct, should be trained by judicious repression to subordinate and conform their desires to the rule of reason and faith, as discerned by the mind. But for this training to be effectual it is not sufficient to re- strain these desires of the flesh only when their de- mands are unlawful. They represent a twist in the nature, and must be treated as one treats a twisted wire when endeavouring to straighten it, namely, by twisting it the opposite way. 'Thus in the various departments of ascetic observance, earnest Catholics are constantly found denying themselves even in mat- ters which in themselves are confessedly lawful.
Mortification, viewed thus as a means of curing bad habits and implanting good ones, has its recognized place in the methods even of those who are engaged in jjursuing purely natural ends. What is peculiar to Cliristian mortification is, that it relies for the attain- ment of its spiritual objects, not merely on this natural efficacy of its methods, but still more on the aids of divine grace, for which, by its earnestness in self-disci- pline and the Christian motive which inspires it, it can plead so powerfully with God. And here, as further contributing to increase its spiritual efficacy, another motive for which it is practised comes in. It is prac- tised likewise as an expiation for past sins and short- comings, for it is the belief of the Catholic Church that, although only the Atonement of Christ can offer ade- quate expiation for the sins of men, men ought not to make that an excuse for doing nothing themselves, but should rather take it as an incentive to adil their own expiations to the extent of their power, and should regard such personal expiations as very pleasing to God. This explains why many of the mortifications practised by devout persons are not directly curative of evil propensities, but take the form of painful exer- cises or privations self-inflicted because they are pain- ful, e. g., fastings, hard beds, abstention from lawful pleasures, etc. Not that these external mortifications are of themselves available, for spiritual writers never tire of insisting that the internal mortification of pride and self-love in their various forms are essential, but that external penances are good only so far as they spring from this internal spirit, and react by promot- ing it (see Asceticism).
.Alvarez de Paz, De mortificatione virium animas in Opera, t. Ill (Paris, 1875), I. II; Baker, Holy Wisdom, ed. Sweeny (London, 1905); Rodriguez, Christian and Religious Perfection; Le Gaudier, De perfectione vitae spiritualis (Paris, 1856); Scara- MELLi. Direetorium A sceticum (London, 1897); Matdrin, Srf/- knowledge and Self-discipline (London, 1905); CJhabot, La mor- tification chretienne et la vie in Science et Religion series (Paris, 1903).
Sydney F. Smith.
