A. The Traditional Teaching

The word asceticism was taken into Christian usage from the Greek by Clement of Alexandria and Origenes, since ἅσϰησις and άσϰέω had never passed into Latin; since the word became common in the theological language of the 17th century and was contrasted with mysticism in the 18, it has generally meant in Catholic writings the deliberate and persevering endeavour of the Christian to…