Abbey-Roads2

Bosch: “Temptation of St. Anthony”

Temptations against chastity

Summer is upon us, and already the navel gazing starts.  Tight, low, low rise shorts, jeans, bare midriffs, low cut tops - but enough about what I’m wearing.  Nevertheless, it’s a distracting time of year, living in a pagan culture not unlike ancient Rome or Greece.  “Body, body…”  “Shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah…”  We are surrounded by all of that nudity, no longer just on the beach either.

Tanquerey on continence:

“Absolute continence is a duty of those who are not united in the bonds of lawful wedlock.”  (Now there’s a term you don’t hear very often these days - “lawful wedlock”.)  “Chastity is a frail and delicate virtue that cannot be preserved unless it be protected by other virtues.  It is, as it were, a citadel that requires for its defence the raising of outward ramparts.  These are four in number:

1)  Humility, which produces mistrust of self and prompts one to flee from dangerous occasions.

2)  Mortification, which by means of waging war against the love of pleasure, reaches the evil at its roots.

3)  Devotion to the duties of one’s state in life, which protects one from the perils created by idleness. 

4)  Love for God, which by filling the heart, prevents it from giving itself over to dangerous affections.

Within these four ramparts the soul is not only ready and able to repulse the onslaughts of the enemy, but also to grow in purity.” - The Spiritual Life 

Humility

Tanquerey goes on to discuss how humility is the guardian of chastity.  Now that I am older, I can tell you how lacking in humility I was as a young man, and even more so now.  Humility is so necessary in the spiritual life, the foundation of it.  The author of “The Spiritual Life’ explains that the virtue produces in us three dispositions;distrust in self and confidence in God, avoiding dangerous occasions of sin, and candid sincerity in the Sacrament of Penance.  Tanquerey quotes from another author in connection with his own statement, “Many a soul falls into impurity through pride and presumption.”

“Father Olier thus explains; ‘God, who cannot suffer pride in the soul, humbles it to the very depths; and, desiring to show the soul its weakness, and that it has no power of itself to resist evil and persevere in well doing…allows it to be tormented by those terrible temptations, and at times, even to fall, because such temptations are the most shameful and leave behind them the greater confusion.” -ibid

Distrust self - have confidence in God

Tanquerey warns, “This distrust must be universal.  It is necessary to those who have sinned grievously, for the temptation will return, and without the help of grace they will be exposed to a fresh fall.”  -ibid 

So fellas, pray, keep custody of the eyes - and ears - music is pretty titillating as well - pray some more, and when you feel that tickle - run like hell.  Get thee to Church, get back to work, run a marathon, whatever.

Even though we’d like to say, “The devil made me do it!” it is always our own fault.  Remember, we are tempted by the world, the flesh and the devil - and the first two usually save the devil a lot of work.