ABNEGATION. — A disposition to sacrifice oneself for others, a disinterestedness that manifests itself in renouncing personal advantage.
1. The term does not exist in classical languages; in late Latin, *abnegatio* among rhetoricians and grammarians (Arnobius, Priscian) means negation. In ecclesiastical Latin, *abnegatio sui* (St. Jerome) is the denial of oneself, “an idea unknown to the Romans and untranslatable into classical Latin” (H. Goelzer, *Nouveau dictionnaire latin-fr.*, 5th ed., Paris n.d., p. 9).
A voice and ethical concept exclusively Christian, abnegation is grounded in the well-known words of the Saviour (Mt 16:24; Mk 8:34; Lk 9:23): “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily.” ‘Ἀπαρνησασθαι ἑαυτόν’ is the synthesis, in paradoxical form, of conversion or *metanoia*, whose end (devotion to God) is supremely positive.
On this text St. John Chrysostom observes that the Christian must be ready to suffer martyrdom rather than deny his faith, to follow Jesus Christ even unto death. St. Gregory the Great insists on spiritual mortification under three forms: renunciation of sin, renunciation of all that distances one from the perfection of charity, and spiritual conformation to Christ crucified for the salvation of souls. St. Thomas, in his commentary on Mt 16:24, shows that these various meanings of the term derive from its primordial sense. Abnegation is not precisely a special virtue; it is not found in the enumeration of virtues studied by St. Thomas (*Summa Theologiae*, II-II). It is, however, a general disposition to practice various virtues in order to combat self-love, egoism, and to attain perfect love of God and neighbour. Acts of abnegation therefore proceed from charity, which governs and inspires all acts of humility, meekness, penance, and patience that involve a sacrifice of our interests for the glory of God.
2. **Foundation.** As a creature essentially subordinate to God and to the plan of His providence, man must not make himself the centre but must esteem himself a means for the attainment of the common good, subordinating himself entirely to the interests of the whole. (St. Thomas, *Summa Theologiae*, II-II, q. 26, a. 3; cf. I, q. 60, a. 5; cf. P. Rousselot, *Pour l'histoire du problème de l'amour*, Münster 1908, p. 23; S. G. Garrigou-Lagrange, *L'amour de Dieu et la croix de Jésus*, I, Juvisy 1930, pp. 111ff.; J. de Guibert, s.V. in *Dictionnaire de Spiritualité*, I, col. 103).
Moreover, by truly loving the higher part of himself, man loves his Creator even more, and to cease willing his own perfection would be to turn away from God.
This foundation of abnegation also fixes its limits; this was not seen by the Quietists, who on the one hand reassured every mortification and on the other spoke of sacrificing eternal salvation in order to arrive at a fully disinterested pure love (v.). We cannot sacrifice our salvation, nor the means necessary to attain it, for this would mean sacrificing not only hope but also charity itself, which tends to glorify God eternally. It follows, rather, that every sacrifice made for a proportionate motive, for the love of God, will be rewarded by the graces of sanctification that God grants.
3. **Necessity.** It is necessary to distinguish abnegation, which is necessary for every Christian to avoid mortal sin and to diminish the number of venial sins, from that which is necessary to remove voluntary imperfections and effectively tend toward the perfection of charity, given the loftiness of the supreme precept of the love of God to which every Christian must aspire according to his proper condition.
Abnegation and mortification are therefore both necessary because of the effects of original sin, the consequences of our personal sins, the infinite height of the supernatural end which is God Himself to be possessed eternally, and finally the duty to imitate Jesus crucified in order to cooperate with Him in the salvation of souls. To attain perfection, one must possess, if not the practice, at least the spirit of the three evangelical counsels, that is, the spirit of detachment. Above all, one must mortify the dominant vice.
Abnegation is therefore a fruit of the love of God already strong enough to impose such sacrifices, and its generous practice is indispensable for attaining heroic love, true holiness, impossible without the holocaust. This is shown in particular by St. John of the Cross, though he sees sacrifice less under the negative aspect of destruction than under that of liberation which leads to perfect love.
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