text: I am not sure who really still teaches the lay to mortify in the way you describe. It's certainly not Opus Dei.    
  
  It's so rarely mentioned, much less taught in parishes. I was taught about mortification through my association with Opus Dei, and I above communicate what/how it was taught.
  
  Passive mortifications are the best, and are "always available".  And what's more important aren't the active mortifications (e.g., fasting, the cold showers, etc) but the passive ones and the "spirit of mortification", being ever ready to deny oneself in order to love God or love someone else. 
  
  And what I lieft out (owing to typing space) is that mortification should be done joyfully because we are getting closer to Christ. 
  
  This mode is often turned into a "caricature" by people who don't understand mortification in the first place.   
  
  A properly mortified soul is a very joyful person, not a "hair-shirted dour person".
  
  Such a person has more freedom to love, no longer ensared by their senses