Sacrificing One’s Own Life

29. Are persons who are disillusioned  with life, but who do not want to commit suicide, guilty for seeking death on the battlefield with the intention  of making their death useful?

Whether persons kill themselves or have someone else do it, their purpose is always to shorten their life, and consequently there is suicide by intent if not in fact. The thought that their death will be useful for something is delusional; it is only a pretext for coloring their act and rendering it excusable in their own eyes. If they seriously wanted to serve their country, they would seek to stay alive, defending it in everything and not seeking to die, because once dead they can no longer serve it for anything. True devotion consists in not fearing death when it might be useful, in braving peril, and in sacrificing their lives beforehand  and without regret if that is necessary. However, premeditated intent in seeking death by exposing oneself to danger, even if to render service, annuls the merit of the act.

St. Louis (Paris, 1860)