He who wishes to prevent sins of impurity from entering his heart must surround it with a thorny hedge of mortification; I mean that he must by severe self-discipline bring his body Into subjection to the spirit.
In order to overcome their bodies, the saints ate sparingly, slept but little, wore rough penitential garments, dwelt in caves, sometimes even beneath the vault of heaven, and practised various corporal austerities. In order to vanquish his rebellious flesh, St. Aloysius scourged himself unto blood, St. Francis of Assisi rolled in thorns, St. Bernard immersed himself in a half-frozen pond, even the Apostle chastised his body.
3. Extraordinary severities are not required of you, not even advisable for you; but without some practice of self-denial and mortification of the senses you will fall into effeminacy and vicious habits.
H There is no alternative," writes St. Alphonsus Liguori, "we must either fight or perish. If the soul does not subdue the body, the flesh will conquer the spirit."
In reference to sensualists who deride the mortification of the flesh, St. Bernard says: u If we are cruel in crucifying the flesh, they, by sparing it, are far more cruel; for by their inordinate love of the flesh and the pleasures of the body in this life, they shall merit for soul and body inexpressible torments in the next." St. Philip says: " The perfection of a Christian consists in mortifying himself for the love of Christ. Where there is no great mortification, there is no great sanctity." And St. Francis de Sales admonishes us: " Prayer without mortification is like a soul with out a body. Be assured that the mortification of the senses in seeing, hearing, and speaking, is
