More on Dying to Self from Saint Louis de Montfort

"...in order to empty ourselves of self, we must die daily to ourselves.

This involves our renouncing what the powers of the soul and the senses of the body incline us to do. We must see as if we did not see, hear as if we did not hear and use the things of this world as if we did not use them.

This is what St. Paul calls 'dying daily'.

Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain and does not bear any good fruit.

If we do not die to self and if our holiest devotions do not lead us to this necessary and fruitful death, we shall not bear fruit of any worth and our devotions will cease to be profitable. All our good works will be tainted by self-love and self-will so that our greatest sacrifices and our best actions will be unacceptable to God.

Consequently when we come to die we shall find ourselves devoid of virtue and merit and discover that we do not possess even one spark of that pure love which God shares with only those who have died to themselves and whose life is hidden with Jesus Christ in him."

- True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Prayer to the Blessed Mother of God: for Dying to Self

Hail, white lily of the bright and ever-peaceful Trinity! Hail, blossoming rose of everlasting beauty! Hail, illustrious Queen of heaven, flowing with unspeakable delights, O Virgin Mary.

Of you, O blessed one, did Jesus Christ, King of heaven, brightness of his Father's glory, will to be born, and by your milk to be fed. You did wrap him in swaddling bands; carry him in your arms; cherish him in your bosom; cover him with embraces and kisses. May he vouchsafe, by your intercession, to feed my soul with his inflowing graces.

O my special Advocate, turn your merciful eyes upon me. Obtain for me by your prayers the full remission of my sins, perfect self-denial and mortification. Obtain for me a heart pure, meek, full of kindness for others, and wounded by the love of your most sweet Son. Obtain for me true freedom and detachment of spirit, that my Lord Jesus Christ himself may find in me peace of joy.

I venerate you; I call upon you; I offer to you, to increase your joy, the Heart of your son only Son, and I beg of you lovingly to help and comfort me during the whole time of my exile here below, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.

- Blosius the Venerable - Magnificat 2009 December issue.

How To Be Miserable

Bold emphasis is mine.

How To Be Miserable
by Fr. Pius Sammut, OCD.

The smallest package in the world is a person wrapped up in himself! "I gave a small party this afternoon. It was very small, just three guests - that's all. Me, myself, and I. Myself ate all the cookies while me drank all the soda. It was also I who ate the pie and passed the cake to me."

Narcissism is repulsive. The Russian born Vladimir Nabokov, well known author of rather notorious novels, was a collector of butterflies and moths. One evening he returned from his day's excursion announcing that during a hot pursuit of butterflies near Bear Gulch he had heard someone groaning distressingly down by the stream. When asked the obvious question "Did you stop?" he answered "No, I had to get the butterfly!" The next day the corpse of an aged surveyor was discovered in what has been renamed, in Nabokov's (dis)honor, "Dead Man's Gulch."

And arrogant. Upon losing a game at the 1925 Baden-Baden tournament, Aaron Nimzowitsch, the great chess theoretician, knocked the pieces off the board, jumped on the table and screamed, "How can I lose to this idiot?" Another chess player had the nerve to say, "When I am white, I win because I am white - white moves first and so has a distinct advantage - when I am black, I win because I am Bogoljubov.".

The truth is that all of us are infected by this sickness. As someone put it, "There are two kinds of egotists: Those who admit it, and the rest of us." The Irish dramatist Oscar Wilde was expressing a feeling we all have, when he uttered, "Come over here and sit next to me, I'm dying to tell you all about myself". It is always about me!

At a social gathering, a woman was rather frank stating, "My husband and I have managed to be happy together for 20 years. I guess this is because we're both in love with the same man."

When British actor Michael Wilding was once asked if actors had any traits which set them apart from others, his answer was revealing, "Without a doubt," he replied. "You can pick out actors by the glazed look that comes into their eyes when the conversation wanders away from themselves." This happens not only to actors!

Going through a sports magazine, once I read an observation that a football player once made on his coach, the legendary Vince Lombardi winner of the NFL championships many times! "When you entered Vince's office, you could not help noticing a huge mahogany desk with an impressive organization chart behind it on the wall. The chart had a small block at the top in which was printed: "Vince Lombardi, Head Coach and General Manager." A line came down from it to a very large block in which was printed: "Everybody Else!"

If you want to be miserable, this article claims, just "Think about yourself. Talk about yourself. Use 'I' as often as possible. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. Listen greedily to what people say about you. Expect to be appreciated. Be suspicious. Be jealous and envious. Be sensitive to slights. Never forgive a criticism. Trust nobody but yourself. Insist on consideration and respect. Demand agreement with your own views on everything. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them. Never forget a service you have rendered. Shirk your duties if you can. Do as little as possible for others."

English author, C. S. Lewis, pointed out once that when people become Christians, if they are not careful, their sinning often shifts from the overt, outward, visible sins of lying, cheating, stealing, cursing and swearing, to the more inward, hidden, non-apparent invisible ones ... and among them he lists "a critical spirit" ... a spirit of being judgmental, a censorious attitude. So prevalent is it in churchly circles, that it is sometimes labeled "Christian cruelty". All this comes from this me-attitude, this persistent self-absorption.

This is why Jesus Christ therapy is so healthy. "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." And again, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

When Mother Teresa was passing through a crowd in Detroit a woman remarked, "Her secret is that she is free to be nothing. Therefore God can use her for anything." Gosh, what an insight!


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