My dear Sisters in Jesus and
Mary,
I write this letter to you
because of the deep brotherly charity I have for you in my heart. I am not writing to condemn or to blame, but
rather to enlighten you to what, until now, I suspect the vast majority of you
were simply unaware. This topic is a
rather delicate one, but one which must be spoken about for your sake and for
mine and for the rest of your brothers in Jesus and Mary.
I have been pondering writing something
of this sort for quite some time, and the ideas that I hope to express in it
have been in my thoughts and prayers for many more years before that. I have hesitated until now because I have had
some difficulty forming in my mind what I would say and how best to say it to
you. But finally I have been so deeply
moved that I felt I could wait no longer but must write this whether or not I
can do it well.
What prompted me to end my
procrastination was a story I most unwittingly stumbled across that deeply
saddened me. This story dealt with the
clear loss of innocence of a famous young actress who my youngest sister grew
up watching on a children’s TV show. Now
having “come of age” she has now apparently on several occasions appeared at
big media events dressed, or should I say undressed, to a most scandalous
degree, for any woman, let alone a girl of her age.
Now, I have read and even seen
many instances of the loss of innocence and the horrible abuse of the young,
and especially of young girls, in our modern culture and especially in the
media. I suppose I have long been very
sensitive to this subject because I have two younger sisters, and I believe
also that our Lady has put some of her own tenderness in my heart for such
things. And I suppose one might ask why
does this one instance matter so much as opposed to the others (many of which
were much worse)? And I say not that I
am wounded in my heart for this one young girl alone who has been sucked away
into the modern culture, but rather for all women and what has been done to
you, is being done to you, and sadly I fear will continue unless Godly men
stand up to defend you.
What is this I am saying has been
done to you? You who share the same sex
as the all spotless and highly honored ever Blessed Virgin Mary have been made
objects of lust for godless men and a stumbling block for men trying to live
chastity in their state in life. You
have been fed the lies of Feminists which were founded upon the thinking of
none other than Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and his Communist Philosophy, which has
no other origin than from the deepest depths of hell.
Many, if not most, good Catholic
women are aware of the errors of Feminism in general, but far fewer are aware
of these errors in the specifics. While
they reject Feminism as an ideology they yet are so enveloped in the culture
that was produced by it that they are yet unwitting victims to it.
One of the greatest tragedies, in
my opinion, is the nearly total and complete loss of true feminine modesty in
dress and behavior. This then is what I
want to speak to you about and to ask you to please read what I have to say and
do so with an open mind and heart and in a prayerful spirit. And again please remember that I am writing
this out of charity for you my sisters and for our brothers in Jesus and Mary.
I would like to begin with the
words of the glorious Apostle Saint Paul:
“Let your
modesty be known to all men.” (Philippians 4:5)
How I wish these words were
heeded today! For we live in a time that
I dare say is more awash in perversion and immodesty than any other time in
history with the possible exception of the city of Rome during the reign of the
Emperor Nero. The state we find
ourselves in today was prophesied by our Lady at Fatima to the children and is
recounted by little Blessed Jacinta Marto as follows:
"Wars are a
punishment from God for sin...Certain fashions will be introduced that will
offend Our Lord very much...More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh
than for any other reason."
Our Lady also said that if people
did not stop offending our Lord a more terrible war than WWI, which was just
ending, would break out during the reign of Pope Pius XI. This was in 1917 and what followed was the
“Roaring 20s” and the introduction of new immodest fashions for women and the rise
of the Feminist movement. True to our
Lady’s word because we not only continued, but even increased, our offending
God the world was scourged with the most terrible war the world has ever
known. And still we did not repent. Just a little over a decade after the end of
the war came one of the most destructive decades to western civilizations in
its entire history.
The sexual revolution of the
1960s accompanied by an unbelievable increase in the distribution of dangerous
mind altering drugs and the introduction of Rock and Roll have shaped the world
we live in today. Unfortunately, it was
just at this time that the Catholic Church itself began to fall into a most
dire crisis that prompted Pope Paul VI to say the following disturbing words
in an Address to the Lombard Seminary in Rome on the 7th of December
1968:
“The Church
finds herself in an hour of anxiety, a disturbed period of self-criticism, or
what would even better be called self-destruction. It is an interior upheaval,
acute and complicated, which nobody expected after the Council. It is almost as
if the Church were attacking itself. We looked forward to a flowering, a serene
expansion of conceptions which matured in the great sessions of the Council.
But one must notice above all the sorrowful aspect. It is as if the Church were
destroying herself.”
One wonders if this comment was
not in direct reference to the complete rejection, in some cases of entire
Bishop’s conferences, around the world to his infallible teaching on morality
contained in his Encyclical Humanae Vitae, which was published earlier that
year.
It was just then at the critical
moment when the unchanging teaching of the Catholic Church on modesty and
chastity was so very needed that it ceased being preached by her Bishops and
Priests. We then have been wallowing in
darkness for more than four decades, and we are a generation born of a
generation of Catholics who did not receive the Catholic faith, or at least not
without great adulteration. Certainly
the devil knew what he was doing when he hit us as hard as he could at our
lowest point.
It is then no wonder that young
Catholic women do not know what true modesty is, and nor for that matter do
young Catholic men know what true custody of the eyes is, and neither know what
it takes to live out true Catholic chastity according to their state of life in
today’s day and age?
Why is this so important? Because life is at stake, and not this
passing one but eternal life! While it
is true that men must pay the penalty for their sins of impurity, it is just as
true that women too must pay for the sins committed by men that they lead into
sin because of their immodest dress and/or behavior. And so many young women today, even many
Catholic women, are simply unaware that they are leading many young men into
sin because of their immodesty. And
worse this often happens even in Church at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! The great Doctor of the Church and Patriarch
of Constantinople Saint John Chrysostom did not mince words when it came to
this very thing:
"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.
When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent?
Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges punish? Those who drink
poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have
prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death dealing drink, and you
are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body
but the soul. And it is not to enemies you do this, nor are you urged on by any
imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and
pride."
Indeed, as our Lord said:
“And fear ye not
them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him
that can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28)
Again, I will say that I do not
condemn for I believe there are very few who knowingly perpetrate this terrible
evil, but there are innumerable young women totally ignorant of the illicitness
of their dress and actions which are so dangerous to the purity of young men. And though because of their ignorance their
culpability will be less there will yet be a price to pay.
Catholic women today must not
allow themselves to be ignorant any longer.
You have a strict duty in charity to be your “brother’s keeper” and
always dress and act in a manner befitting your dignity as daughters of Jesus
and Mary. Just as men have a strict duty
in charity to protect their sisters in Christ from any dishonor or evil men who
seek to ensnare them.
And before you begin to attack
what I am saying as merely my own opinion please read what one of our Holy
Fathers had to say on this very subject:
"One cannot
sufficiently deplore the blindness of so many women of every age and condition;
made foolish by desire to please, they do not see to what a degree the indecency of their clothing shocks every honest man, and offends God. Most of
them would formerly have blushed for those toilettes as for a grave fault
against Christian modesty; now it does not suffice for them to exhibit them on
the public thoroughfares; they do not fear to cross the threshold of the
churches, to assist at the Holy sacrifice of the Mass, and even to bear the
seducing food of shameful passions to the Eucharistic Table where one receives
the heavenly Author of purity. And We speak not of those exotic and barbarous
dances recently imported into fashionable circles, one more shocking than the
other; one cannot imagine anything more suitable for banishing all that remains
of modesty."
These are the words of Pope
Benedict XV in his Encyclical: Sacra Propediem, which was written in 1921! And have things gotten any better in the
intervening time? I believe decidedly
not. And why has this been so? Why has modestly been universally abandoned
by even the majority of good Catholic women?
The Venerable Pope Pius XII explains how this has come to pass:
"Numbers of
believing and pious women in accepting to follow certain bold fashions, break
down, by their example, the resistance of many other women to such fashions,
which may become for them the cause of spiritual ruin. As long as these
provocative styles remain identified with women of doubtful virtue, good women
do not dare to follow them; but once these styles have been accepted by women
of good reputation, decent women soon follow their example, and are carried
along by the tide into possible disaster." (May 22, 1941)
"The good
of our soul is more important than that of our body; and we have to prefer the
spiritual welfare of our neighbor to our bodily comforts. If a certain kind of
dress constitutes a grave and proximate occasion of sin, and endangers the
salvation of your soul and others, it is your duty to give it up. O Christian mothers, if you knew what a
future of anxieties and perils, of ill-guarded shame you prepare for your sons
and daughters, imprudently getting them accustomed to live scantily dressed and
making them lose the sense of modesty, you would be ashamed of yourselves and
you would dread the harm you are making of yourselves, the harm which you are
causing these children, whom Heaven has entrusted to you to be brought up as
Christians…Now many girls do not see anything wrong with following certain
shameless styles (fashions) like so many sheep. They would surely blush if they
could only guess the impressions they make and the feelings they evoke (arouse)
in those who see them." (Speech given to Catholic Young Women's Group in
Italy 17 July 1954)
Believe me when I say that I have
tears in my eyes as I read these words of a successor of Saint Peter. It is an indescribable tragedy what has happened
to western civilization, which was founded upon the great Catholic culture that
once permeated it. All I can think of is
little Jacinta weeping and doing penance, more terrible than what many grown
men could endure, for these offenses being perpetrated against the Sacred and
Immaculate Hearts, and I weep with her.
Most fitting words on this
subject can be found written by the glorious and amazing Saint Anthony Mary
Claret (1807-70) whose miracles and holiness are of the highest order, and
whose purity was so great that for the last years of his life the Blessed
Sacrament remained constantly present within him between communions each day:
"Now,
observe, my daughter, the contrast between the luxurious dress of many women,
and the raiment and adornments of Jesus. Tell me: what relation do their fine
shoes bear to the spikes in Jesus' Feet? The rings on their hands to the nails
which perforated His? The fashionable coiffure to the Crown of Thorns? The
painted face to That covered with bruises? Shoulders exposed by the low-cut
gown to His, all striped with Blood? Ah, but there is a marked likeness between
these worldly women and the Jews who, incited by the Devil, scourged Our Lord!
At the hour of such a women's death, I think Jesus will be heard saying: 'Cujus
est imago haec... of whom is she the image?' And the reply will be: 'Demonii...
of the Devil!' Then He will say: 'Let her who has followed the Devil's fashions
be handed over to him; and to God, those who have imitated the modesty of Jesus
and Mary'."
What then is this modesty of
Jesus and Mary?! It is my great desire
to tell you this! And I pray always that you may truly live it, and that we all
might live chastity according to our state in life.
In the Marian Year of 1954
Venerable Pope Pius XII directed the Bishops throughout the world to "take
action against this most serious plague of immodest fashions". He even went so far as to asked the Sacred Congregation of the Council
to make a forceful appeal to all Catholics, but especially those in authority,
to "leave no stone unturned which can help remedy the situation."
He then republished the
Instruction on Modesty in Dress previously published by his predecessor, Pius
XI, who had asked this same Sacred Congregation to publish a standard of
modesty in dress in 1930:
By virtue of the
supreme apostolate which he wields over the Universal Church by Divine Will,
our Most Holy Father Pope Pius XI has never ceased to inculcate, both verbally
and by his writings, the words of St. Paul (1 Tim. xi,9-10), namely,
"Women ... adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety ... and
professing godliness with good works."
Very often, when
occasion arose, the same Supreme Pontiff condemned emphatically the immodest
fashion of dress adopted by Catholic women and girls -- which fashion not only
offends the dignity of women and against her adornment, but conduces to the
temporal ruin of the women and girls, and, what is still worse, to their
eternal ruin, miserably dragging down others in their fall. It is not
surprising, therefore, that all Bishops and other ordinaries, as is the duty of
ministers of Christ, should in their own dioceses have unanimously opposed
their depraved licentiousness and promiscuity of manners, often bearing with
fortitude the derision and mockery leveled against them for this cause.
Therefore this
Sacred Council, which watches over the discipline of clergy and people, while
cordially commending the action of the Venerable Bishops, most emphatically
exhorts them to persevere in their attitude and increase their activities
insofar as their strength permits, in order that this unwholesome disease be
definitely uprooted from human society.
In order to
facilitate the desired effect, this Sacred Congregation, by the mandate of the
Most Holy Father, has decreed as follows:
Exhortation to
Those in Authority
1. The parish
priest, and especially the preacher, when occasion arises, should, according to
the words of the Apostle Paul (2 Tim. iv, 2), insist, argue exhort and command
that feminine garb be based on modesty and womanly ornament be a defense of
virtue. Let them likewise admonish parents to cause their daughters to cease
wearing indecorous dress.
2. Parents,
conscious of their grave obligations toward the education, especially religious
and moral, to their offspring, should see to it that their daughters are
solidly instructed, from earliest childhood, in Christian doctrine; and they
themselves should assiduously inculcate in their souls, by word and example,
love for the virtues of modesty and chastity; and since their family should
follow the example of the Holy Family, they must rule in such a manner that all
its members, reared within the walls of the home, should find reason and
incentive to love and preserve modesty.
3. Let parents
keep their daughters away from public gymnastic games and contests; but if
their daughters are compelled to attend such exhibitions, let them see that
they are fully and modestly dressed. Let them never permit their daughters to
don immodest garb.
4. Superioresses
and teachers in schools for girls must do their utmost to instill love of
modesty in the hearts of maidens confided to their care and urge them to dress
modestly.
5. Said
Superioresses and teachers must not receive in their colleges and schools
immodestly dressed girls, and should not even make an exception in the case of
mothers of pupils. If, after being admitted, girls persist in dressing
immodestly, such pupils should be dismissed.
6. Nuns, in
compliance with the Letter dated August 23, 1928, by the Sacred Congregation of
Religious, must not receive in their colleges, schools, oratories or recreation
grounds, or, if once admitted, tolerate girls who are not dressed with
Christian modesty; said Nuns, in addition, should do their utmost so that love
for holy chastity and Christian modesty may become deeply rooted in the hearts
of their pupils.
7. It is
desirable that pious organizations of women be founded, which by their counsel,
example and propaganda should combat the wearing of apparel unsuited to
Christian modesty, and should promote purity of customs and modesty of dress.
8. In the pious
associations of women those who dress immodestly should not be admitted to
membership; but if, perchance, they are received, and after having been
admitted, fall again into their error, they should be dismissed forthwith.
9. Maidens and
women dressed immodestly are to be debarred from Holy Communion and from acting
as sponsors at the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation; further, if the
offense be extreme, they may even be forbidden to enter the church.
Donato Cardinal
Sbaretti, Prefect
Congregation of
the Council
Rome, January
12, 1930
The standard for modest in dress,
which was then put rather succinctly by the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation in
1956, Pietro Cardinal Ciriaci, is this:
"A dress cannot be called decent which
is cut deeper than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat; which does
not cover the arms at least to the elbows; and scarcely reaches a bit beyond
the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparent materials are improper."
(Imprimatur, 24 September 1956)
On 21 August 1954 the Prefect had
already said the following in a letter:
"Everyone
knows that during the summer months particularly, things are seen here and
there, which are certain to prove offensive to anyone who has retained some
respect and regard for Christian modesty. On the beaches, in country resorts,
almost everywhere, on the streets of cities and towns, in public and private
places, and, indeed, often even in buildings dedicated to God, an unworthy and
indecent mode of dress has prevailed. Because
of this, the young particularly, whose minds are easily bent towards vice, are
exposed to the extreme danger of losing their innocence, which is, by far, the
most beautiful adornment of mind and body. Feminine adornment, if it can be
called adornment, feminine clothing, if that can be called clothing which
contains nothing to protect either the body or modesty, are at times of such a
nature, that they seem to serve lewdness rather than modesty . . . Well did the
ancient poet say of this matter, 'Vice necessarily follows upon public nudity.'
"
This point of going to the beach
is one that is hotly contested by many young women I have spoken with, even of
many Catholics. They will even agree
with these rules set by the Church about modestly in dress, but will then
completely illogically say something like: “…well except at the beach of
course”. But if they really stopped and
thought about what they were saying they would realize how ludicrous what they
just said sounded. If certain dress is
not modest… then it is not modest anywhere or at any time. The thought experiment I have attempted to work
my little sister through in this regard goes as follows:
Q: “You wouldn’t
walk down the street in your underwear would you?”
R: “No, of
course not.”
Q: “How really
different is a bikini than your underwear?
It covers the same amount of you body?”
R: “…well…it’s
not the same…”
Ah, but it is the same. If it is immodest and indecent to walk down
the street in your underwear then it is immodest and indecent to do so in a
bathing suit. I don’t see how anyone can
argue this except that they have become so accustomed to this terrible evil
that they don’t see it for what it really is.
Ultimately, I think the best
guide for women to live true Catholic modesty is to imitate the modesty of our
Lady. The following list of principles
for “Marylike” dress I think are a good rule to follow since they are not in
the spirit of doing as much as one can get away with and still “technically being
modest”, but rather truly seeking to live in the spirit of “Marylike” modesty:
1.
"Marylike" means modesty without compromise -- "like Mary,"
Christ's pure and spotless Mother.
2. Marylike
dresses have sleeves extending to the wrists; and skirts reaching the ankles.
3. Marylike
dresses require full and loose coverage for the bodice, chest, shoulders, and
back; the cut-out about the neck must not exceed "two fingers breadth
under the pit of the throat" and a similar breadth around the back of the
neck.
4. Marylike
dresses also do not admit as modest coverage transparent fabrics -- laces,
nets, organdy, nylons, etc. -- unless sufficient backing is added. Fabrics such
as laces, nets, organdy may be moderately used as trimmings only.
5. Marylike
dresses avoid the improper use of flesh-colored fabrics.
6. Marylike
dresses conceal rather than reveal the figure of the wearer; they do not
emphasize, unduly, parts of the body.
7. Marylike
dresses provide full coverage, even after jacket, cape or stole are removed.
8. Marylike
fashions are designed to conceal as much of the body as possible, rather than
reveal. This would automatically eliminate such fashions as slacks, jeans,
shorts, culottes, tight sweaters, sheer blouses, and sleeveless dresses; etc.
The Marylike standards are a guide to instill a "sense of modesty." A
girl or woman who follows these, and looks up to Mary as her ideal and model,
will have no problem with modesty in dress. She will not be an occasion of sin
or source of embarrassment or shame to others.
I understand that all of this
might very well be nearly impossible for you to accept. Believe me I understand where you are coming
from living in the culture we live in today.
But please prayerfully consider what I have said. And I also understand those who accept what I
have said, but still cannot go out tomorrow and buy an entire new wardrobe of
modest clothes, because even if you had the money where would you buy them? But if anyone is in this position I put you
in contact with a company where you actually can buy quality modest clothing.
Also I would like to address
those, like my little sister, who are terrified that if they do not dress in a
certain (immodest) way they will not be attractive to young men. But please let me tell you on behalf of many
good Catholic young men I know that this is not true. You must believe me that if you dress as I
have suggested above with irreproachable modesty that you will be very
attractive, that is, to all the right young men who are the good and virtuous
ones. These are the men who are more
interested in learning about you and your family and loving your beautiful soul
and not lusting after you body. These
are the men who will be devoted husbands and fathers and who will defend you
with their lives. These are the men who
will do their very best to be true help mates that will struggle alongside you
unto the salvation of your soul, his own, and your children. Do not settle for less than you deserve as
blessed daughters of Jesus and Mary!
There are good men out there, and trust me that just as modesty will
attract all the right men, immodesty will repulse the very same men.
I pray for you all from the
bottom of my heart filled with brotherly charity for you.
I would then like to conclude
this letter to you my dear Sisters in Jesus and Mary with a short work by Saint
Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, the Doctor of Moral Theology, on the Chastity of
our Lady, which is wonderful material for mediation.
The Virtues of the Blessed Virgin
by St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Mary's Chastity
After the fall of Adam, man's
senses became rebellious to reason. As a consequence, chastity is the most
difficult of all the virtues to practice. Saint Augustine says: "Of all
inner conflicts the most arduous are concerned with chastity. These battles are
of daily occurrence, but victory is rare." May God be praised eternally,
however, because in Mary he has given us such a shining example of this virtue.
"Mary is with good reason called the Virgin of virgins," says Saint
Albert the Great. "Without the advice or example of others, she was the
first to consecrate her virginity to God." In this way, she led to God all
who imitated her virginity, as David had foretold: After her shall virgins be
brought...into the temple of the king (Ps 44:15). Without advice and without
any example! Saint Bernard says: "O Virgin, who taught you to please God
by your virginity and to lead an angel's life on earth?" Saint Sophronius
replies: "God chose a pure virgin for his mother, that she might be an
example of chastity to everybody." That is why Saint Ambrose calls Mary
"the standard-bearer of virginity."
Because of Mary's purity the Holy
Spirit declared that she is as beautiful as the turtledove: Your cheeks are
beautiful as the turtledove's (Cant 1:9). "A most pure turtledove" is
what Aponius calls her. For the same reason, Mary is also called a lily: As the
lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters (Cant 2:2). On this
passage Denis the Carthusian remarks: "Mary was compared to a lily among
thorns because all other virgins were thorns, either to themselves or to
others; but the Blessed Virgin was not so, either to herself or to
others." She inspired everybody who saw her with chaste thoughts. Saint
Thomas confirms this when he says that the beauty of the Blessed Virgin incited
to chastity all who looked at her. Saint Jerome maintains that Saint Joseph
remained a virgin as a result of living with Mary. Writing against the heretic
Helvidius who denied Mary's virginity, Saint Jerome said: "You say that
Mary did not remain a virgin. I say that not only did she remain a virgin, but
that even Joseph preserved his virginity through Mary." Saint Gregory of
Nyssa says that the Blessed Virgin loved chastity so much, that to preserve it
she would have been willing to renounce even the dignity of Mother of God. This
seems evident from her reply to the archangel: How shall this happen, since I
do not know man? (Lk 1:34). And from the words she added then: Be it done to me
according to your word (Lk 1:38), signifying that she gave her consent on the
condition that, as the angel had assured her, she should become a mother only
by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.
Saint Ambrose says that
"anyone who preserves chastity is an angel; anyone who loses it is a
devil." Our Lord assures us that those who are chaste become angels:
They...shall be as the angels of God in heaven (Mt 22:30). But the unchaste
become hateful to God, like devils. Saint Remigius used to say that the
majority of adults are lost by this vice.
We have quoted Saint Augustine as
saying that a victory is very seldom gained in this combat. Why is this?
Because the means by which the victory may be gained are very seldom used.
These means are threefold, according to Bellarmine and the masters of the spiritual
life: fasting, the avoidance of dangerous occasions of sin, and prayer. 1. By
fasting we mean especially mortification of the eyes and the appetite. Although
our Blessed Lady was filled with divine grace, she nevertheless practiced
mortification of the eyes, according to Saint Epiphanius and Saint John
Damascene. Her glances were always modest and she never gazed fixedly at
anyone. She was so unassuming, even from childhood, that everyone who saw her
was charmed by her reserve. Saint Luke remarks that when she went to visit
Elizabeth, she went with haste (Lk 1:39), in order to avoid the public gaze.
Philibert relates that it was revealed to a hermit named Felix that as far as
her food was concerned, when she was a baby she took milk only once a day.
Saint Gregory of Tours maintains that she fasted throughout her life. Saint
Bonaventure explains this: "Mary would never have found so much grace if
she had not been moderate in her meals, for grace and gluttony do not go
together." In short, Mary was mortified in everything, so that it was true
to say of her: My hands dripped with myrrh (Cant 5:5).
2. The second means is avoidance
of the occasions of sin: He that is aware of the snares shall be secure (Prov
11:15). Saint Philip Neri coined the expression: "In the war of the
senses, cowards conquer." By cowards he means those who flee from
dangerous occasions. Mary fled as much as possible from the gaze of men.
Remember Saint Luke's remark that, in going to visit Elizabeth, Mary went with
haste into the hill country. One author calls attention to the fact that Our
Lady left Elizabeth before Saint John was born: And Mary remained with her
about three months and returned to her own house. Now Elizabeth's time was
fulfilled that she should be delivered, and she brought forth a son (Lk
1:56-57). Why did Mary not wait for Saint John's birth? Because she wanted to
avoid the hubbub and excitement that usually accompany such an event.
3. The third means is prayer. The
Wise Man said: And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent except God
gave it...I went to the Lord and besought him (Wis 8:21). Mary revealed to
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary that she did not acquire any virtue without effort
and without continual prayer. Saint John Damascene calls our Immaculate Mother
"a lover of purity." She cannot endure those who are content to be
unchaste. And if anybody appeals to her to be delivered from unchastity she
will certainly help him. All he has to do is call upon her confidently. The
Venerable John of Ávila used to say that many have conquered impure temptations
merely through devotion to Mary Immaculate.
O Mary, most pure dove, how many
are now in hell on account of impurity! Most gracious Lady, obtain for us the
grace always to fly to you in our temptations, and always to invoke your name,
pleading: "Mary, Mary, help us!" Amen.
