PURITY
See also Modesty Saints Advise in Overcoming Lust
Purity
The Blessed Mother is the only creature conceived without sin, but all are called to grow in holiness and be like her by renouncing sin and growing in purity.
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.
1 Jn 3:2-3
Once we know we are God's children we treasure our identity and we do not want to jeopardize it in any way. We strive for purity, aware of the inheritance that will be revealed when we see Him as He is. We know that impurity keeps us away from God who is all pure.
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Mt 5:8
Purity in dress
Fr. Jordi Rivero
God created our bodies to be an integral part of our person, to share and reflect the holiness of our souls. We can not separate our bodies from our soul withouth dying.
Though we have sinned and are impure, with Mary's help we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, to be purified. We can recognize and overcome our tendency to sin (concupiscence) which works against us along with the current of the world. There are ways of dressing that help promote purity. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to renew our minds and hearts so that our thoughts, acts, speech, dress, gestures and demeanor reflect His beauty, love and truth. The saints are witnesses of this.
We need to avoid three wrong views of the body and the resulting effects on the way we dress:
1- The view of the body as dirty or evil. Holders of this view would cover their bodies as much as possible. Showing an elbow or a knee would be considered sinful.
2- The view of the body as an end in itself without regard for the soul. Holders of the view would wear provocative dress and fall into vanity. The body becomes an obsession.
3-The view of the body as meaningless. This would lead to abuse of the body and carelessness in dress.
To be pure is to be like Mary. She and Christ are of one heart. That is why we call her "Immaculate", that is without stain. The Holy Spirit works in her without resistance. Her entire being proclaims the greatness of the Lord. How beautiful she is, crowned with all the virtues!
Here is how to be pure:
1-Desire to be like Mary, completely given to the Holy Spirit, of one heart with Christ. Dress not according to the world but as you believe that will please Jesus and Mary. Be honest. Are you pleasing Jesus and Mary? Allow the Spirit to guide you.
2-Believe that you can be pure and be transformed by grace by the renewal of your mind. The devil will tempt you to give up, to make purity of heart seem impossible.
3-Use the means that God provides to be pure:
a- Frequent and devout reception of the sacraments
b- Meditation of the Word
c- Devotion to Mary and the saints.
d- Fellowship with others who are faithful to the Lord.
e- Engage the mind in what pleases the Lord and avoid what is impure.
f- Avoid the occasion of sin. Beware of TV, Internet, certain places. Be honest as you discern before God.
Quotations on Purity
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." -- Matthew 5:8
"Holy Purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh."-- Saint John Bosco.
"We must be pure. I do not speak merely of the purity of the senses. We must observe great purity in our will, in our intentions, in all our actions." -- Saint Peter Julian Eymard
"Those whose hearts are pure are the temples of the Holy Spirit."-- Saint Lucy
"We must practice modesty, not only in our looks, but also in our whole deportment, and particularly in our dress, our walk, our conversation, and all similar actions."-- Saint Alphonsus Liguori.
"In the realm of evil thoughts none induces to sin as much as do thoughts that concern the pleasure of the flesh."-- Saint Thomas Aquinas
"In temptations against chastity, the spiritual masters advise us, not so much to contend with the bad thought, as to turn the mind to some spiritual, or, at least, indifferent object. It is useful to combat other bad thoughts face to face, but not thoughts of impurity."-- Saint Alphonsus Liguori"
"Lust indulged became habit, and habit unresisted became necessity."-- Saint Augustine
"More souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason." -- Our Lady of Fatima.
"Filthy talk makes us feel comfortable with filthy action. But the one who knows how to control the tongue is prepared to resist the attacks of lust." -- Saint Clement of Alexandria.
"The man of impure speech is a person whose lips are but an opening and a supply pipe which hell uses to vomit its impurities upon the earth." -- Saint John Vianney.
"Either we must speak as we dress, or dress as we speak. Why do we profess one thing and display another? The tongue talks of chastity, but the whole body reveals impurity." -- Saint Jerome
"A pure soul is like a fine pearl. As long as it is hidden in the shell, at the bottom of the sea, no one thinks of admiring it. But if you bring it into the sunshine, this pearl will shine and attract all eyes. Thus the pure soul, which is hidden from the eyes of the world, will one day shine before the Angels in the sunshine of eternity." -- Saint John Vianney.
"The pure soul is a beautiful rose, and the Three Divine Persons descend from Heaven to inhale its fragrance." -- Saint John Vianney
"Chastity is the lily of virtues, and makes men almost equal to Angels. Everything is beautiful in accordance with its purity. Now the purity of man is chastity, which is called honesty, and the observance of it, honor and also integrity; and its contrary is called corruption; in short, it has this peculiar excellence above the other virtues, that it preserves both soul and body fair and unspotted." -- Saint Francis de Sales.
"Humility is the safeguard of chastity. In the matter of purity, there is no greater danger than not fearing the danger. For my part, when I find a man secure of himself and without fear, I give him up for lost. I am less alarmed for one who is tempted and who resists by avoiding the occasions, than for one who is not tempted and is not careful to avoid occasions. When a person puts himself in an occasion, saying, I shall not fall, it is an almost infallible sign that he will fall, and with great injury to his soul."-- Saint Philip Neri.
"Your good resolutions must not make you proud, but humble and diffident; you carry a large sum of gold about you, take care not to meet any highwaymen. In this life there is nothing certain: we are in a continual warfare, and, therefore, ought to be on our guard day and night. We sail in a tempestuous sea that threatens us on every side, and in a poor leaky vessel: the devil, who aims at nothing less than our destruction, never ceases to increase the storm, to overwhelm us thereby, if he can; hence it was that the Apostle gave this precaution, even to the virtuous: ‘Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall’ (1 Cor. x.12)." -- Saint Jerome, Epistle to Saint Eustochium
"The state of grace is nothing other than purity, and it gives heaven to those who clothe themselves in it. Holiness, therefore, is simply the state of grace purified, illuminated, beautified by the most perfect purity, exempt not only from mortal sin but also from the smallest faults; purity will make saints of you! Everything lies in this!" -- Saint Peter Julian Eymard.
"Chastity, or cleanness of heart, holds a glorious and distinguished place among the virtues, because she, alone, enables man to see God; hence Truth itself said, ‘Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.’" -- Saint Augustine.
"There is no remedy so powerful against the heat of concupiscence as the remembrance of our Savior’s Passion. In all my difficulties I never found anything so efficacious as the wounds of Christ: In them I sleep secure; from them I derive new life." -- Saint Augustine.
"God bestows more consideration on the purity of the intention with which our actions are performed than on the actions themselves." -- Saint Augustine.
"He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor." -- Saint Bede the Venerable.
"You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment." -- Saint John Chrysostom.
"Let your modesty be a sufficient incitement, yea, an exhortation to everyone to be at peace on their merely looking at you."-- Saint Ignatius of Loyola
St. Maria Goretti
(1890-1902), Feast, July 6
Martyr of purity
St. Maria couldn’t wait to make her First Communion. She wanted to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist so that she could become more beautiful and pure like Him; she wanted Him to live close to her heart. After she received Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament for the first time, she stayed in Church for a long time after Mass to talk to Him.
Maria’s family lived with and worked for a farmer. His son Alessandro kept trying to make Maria sin against purity. One day, when everyone else was working, Alessandro grabbed Maria and tried to make her sin. Maria kept crying out for him to stop, and each time she did he stabbed her. Courageously, Maria resisted him and was stabbed fourteen times. Before dying the next day, St. Maria forgave Alessandro. He later converted through her intercession.
Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for Purity
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Virgin Most Pure, mindful of the terrible moral dangers threatening on all sides, and aware of my own human weakness, I place myself, body and soul, this day and always, under thy loving maternal care and protection. I consecrate to thee my body asking thee to help me never to use it as an occasion of sin.
Help me to remember that my body is the "Temple of the Holy Spirit" and to use it according to God's Holy Will for my own personal salvation, and the salvation of others.
I consecrate to thee my soul, asking thee to watch over it, and to bring it home safe to thee and to Jesus in Heaven for all eternity.
O Mary, my Mother, all that I am, all that I have is thine. Keep me and guard me under thy mantle of mercy, as thy personal property and possession. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love Thee; save souls! O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.
