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Religious Chastity
THE VOW AND VIRTUE OF CHASTITY
By the Vow of Chastity a Religious binds herself:
1. To renounce marriage;
2. To avoid every exterior and interior act already forbidden by the sixth and ninth
Commandments of God.
The Vow of Chastity adds a new obligation to
that of the two Commandments; and if the Religious violates her Vow, she commits a second
sin, a sacrilege, which she must also declare in
Confession, unless the Confessor is already aware
that she has taken the Vow.
Besides, there is often in the exterior fault a
third sin, of scandal, which hurts religion and charity by covering
the whole Religious Community with the infamy attached to these sins.
Every infraction of the virtue is also a violation of the Vow, and here there is no distinction,
as there is in Poverty and Obedience.
Every sin against Chastity is a mortal sin,
when the Religious fully consents to an act directly forbidden by
the sixth or ninth Commandment. In this there is no lightness of matter.
Not only exterior acts, but even interior complacency and bad desires, when they are fully deliberate and voluntary, are mortal sins against
both virtue and Vow.
But that a bad thought or impression may be
blamable, attention of mind and consent of will
are necessary.
There are two kinds of bad thoughts. One
comes from our own will, produced by us or entertained freely through an affection for evil. The
other comes from the enemy, or from the bad inclination which exists in us in spite of ourselves.
The first is our own, and we are responsible for it
before Him who reads the inmost recesses of our
souls. The second does not belong to us, nor are
we responsible for it, as long as we do not wish
it. Nay, more; if we resist the bad thought, far
from offending God, we have the merit of victory,
and this merit is the greater the more obstinate
the temptation. The same must be said of the
bad impressions which affect the senses. We are
answerable only for those of which we have been
the cause, or in which our will has taken part.
But those we disavow with all our heart cannot
at all render us guilty. They are even an exercise of virtue by the horror they excite and the
eagerness with which they make us have recourse
to God.
Besides the sins directly contrary to Chastity
there are others which hurt it also, at least indirectly, namely, exterior or interior acts which
prepare for these sins and expose us to them, by
reason of our frailty. Such are the liberties we
give our thoughts or senses, and which become
sins more or less grievous, according as they create a more or less
proximate danger of consenting to an impure sin. Thus:
1. For the eyes, immodest gazing or too free
looks and dangerous readings;
2. For the ears, complacency in listening to
what is improper, admitting flattery, suspicious
compliments, and expressions of too lively and
tender a character;
3. For the tongue; equivocal words, unbecoming, affectionate expressions, either expressed
by word of mouth or in writing; worldly and profane songs, much more reprehensible from lips
consecrated to God.
4. For the touch, familiarities, pressing of
hands and other signs of sensual affection. These
things are always dangerous, and especially if
they come from an irregular attachment.
5. For interior acts, recollections, or the seductive representations of the imagination, even
when there is no direct complacency of the will in
the evil itself;
6. On the part of the heart, too tender affections and sensual friendships. A Religious
should hold all this in aversion, as full of danger,
and already more or less compromising the angelic virtue.
An act which would appear less culpable in a
worldly person may become a grievous sin in a
Religious, by reason of the scandal which a person
consecrated to God can easily give; for example,
this would very often be the case in doubtful or
suspected intercourse with persons of a different
sex. MEANS OF PRESERVING UNSULLIED RELIGIOUS
CHASTITY
In exterior temptations, it is indispensable to
fly from the occasion, and even it is often a grave
duty to inform Superiors.
Guard your senses, and especially restrain your
sight, for the Holy Ghost tells us our senses are
the windows of our soul, through which death
enters very easily.
Avoid idleness: be not slothful nor a dreamer;
let the enemy always find you occupied, and his
temptations will be rare and impotent.
Avoid occasions; for the Wise Man says: He
that loves danger shall perish in it. For a Religious it is a duty to avoid all contact with the
world, unless in case of true necessity. She would
be more exposed and perhaps more vulnerable
even than seculars.
For a stronger reason, she should be faithful to
the precautions commanded by her Rule, especially in all conversations with persons of a
different sex.
Be prompt in stopping the temptation in the
beginning. A coal of fire is shaken off as soon as it is felt; if
not, it burns, and produces a conflagration. Besides, it is much easier to rid one's
self of a first impression than of one which has
already penetrated into the soul.
Keep the heart free from too human affections,
and avoid all sensual friendships. Even those
in which no evil is perceived begin by softening
the soul, and soon enkindle in it the fire of concupiscence.
Avoid all intemperance, especially in drinking.
Be always open and candid with your spiritual
guide.
Other efficacious means may also be proposed
as a guard for purity.
1. Humility, making you fear praise and avoid
all affectation in clothes and behavior; keeping
your soul in distrust of itself, and thus attracting
the Divine assistance, without which we cannot
be chaste as it is written: God resisteth the proud
and giveth His grace to the humble;
2. The love of mortification and prayer; 3. The exact practice of the rules of modesty;
4. Fidelity to all the other rules and to the
least duties of your state. By this your soul preserves its energy, and according to the word
of our Lord: He who is faithful in little things
will be faithful also in greater;
5. A great devotion to Mary, the Queen and
special protectress of virgins.
ADVANTAGES OF RELIGIOUS CHASTITY
The advantages of Religious Chastity are these:
By Chastity, according to St. Paul, the Religious is freed from the solicitudes of the world
and of a family. She has but one earthly care
left—that of pleasing God—and her heart is no
longer divided in its affections.
By Chastity, she lives in this place of exile
as the Angels live in Heaven. She enjoys the beatitude promised to
pure hearts, that of seeing God and of enjoying His sweetness in Communion and prayer. Her soul possesses liberty
and a peace that exceeds all sense, instead of that
tyranny, remorse and trouble to which hearts that
are corrupt or unfaithful are a prey.
By Chastity, the Religious soul has the inestimable honor of being the Spouse of Jesus
Christ, the King of kings.
By Chastity, the Religious soul becomes, like
Mary, the mother, according to the spirit, of a
numerous offspring. God blesses its zeal superabundantly, and the authority of its virtue
gives a special efficacy to its words and deeds.
By Chastity, Religious honor in a particular
manner the Holy Catholic Church, our mother,
of which this celestial virtue is the ornament and
glory in them. |
