Modesty

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Jesus, Spouse of Virgins, teach me how a soul consecrated to You should live.

MEDITATION

1. Perfect chastity presupposes an absolute dominion of spirit over matter. However, there is in us a disordered tendency toward sensible pleasure which is opposed to this dominion; even souls consecrated. to God bear the treasure of chastity in earthen vessels (2 Cor 4,1), in the fragile vessel of flesh, which is attracted by satisfactions of the senses. The vow of chastity does not remove these tendencies; consequently, it does not dispense us from continual vigilance. “One who makes a vow to God of perfect chastity must struggle by prayer and penance, in order to preserve its integrity ” (Pope Pius XII)—by prayer because no one can be chaste unless God grants it to him, by penance and mortification because the body must be subject to the spirit.

It is modesty which moderates and regulates all our actions, both interior and exterior, according to our vocation. St. Paul recommends this virtue to all Christians: “Let your modesty be known to all men” (Phil 4,5). Souls consecrated to God are obliged to observe modesty more strictly, because they are called by their state in life to preserve the treasure of absolute chastity intact; therefore, they need to practice mortification of the senses more assiduously and delicately. They must be like men who, possessing material treasures of great value, take all necessary measures and precautions to protect them from thieves. “Brethren, be sober and watch,” says St. Peter (1 Pt 5,8), for the enemy is always lying in wait. The vow of chastity, by consecrating the body to God, also consecrates the senses. For this reason they must be freed from the base things of earth in order to be wholly employed in the service of God.

2. The more a soul aspires to the total gift of self and intimate union with God, the more its conduct must be imbued with perfect modesty—modesty of countenance, gait, gesture, and manner. “Be modest in every action or conversation” (M, 4), St. Teresa of Avila instructs her daughters. St. Teresa Margaret of the Heart of Jesus “kept such a perfect restraint and guard over her faculties and senses that she refused herself every glance and every word which did not in some way have reference to God ” (T.M. Sp). The golden rule of St. John of the Cross was to use the senses solely for the service and glory of God and to raise the heart to Him (cf. AS I, 13,4), which, in practice, means using them only as they are required for the accomplishment of one’s duties or for an honorable and just purpose; “with this exception all must be left free for God” (SM H, 38). Therefore the soul must carefully guard its sight and hearing from vain curiosity, images, and news; for these encumber it uselessly and give entrance to impressions which are not entirely pure and holy.

One who without necessity desires to see, hear, and taste everything is like a man who leaves the door of his house open to any intruder. The senses are the doors of the soul; we must guard them and not endanger the treasure of chastity.

Modesty, however, is not only a weapon of defense for chastity; it is the bulwark of the interior life. Only a soul who knows how to guard the senses is capable of recollecting itself interiorly in order to live in intimacy with God. By detaching the senses from earthly things, modesty concentrates and fixes them on God. “We put to death the curiosity of our eyes when, turning them away from all useless things, we fix them on ourselves, on the movements of our heart, and on the heart of Jesus” (T.M. Sp). This is the positive value of modesty. Only one who loves God very much can impose such a discipline on himself.

COLLOQUY

“If I could only love You more ardently, O my God, my Help, my Defense, my sweet Hope! Let me embrace You, O Sovereign Good, without whom nothing good exists for me; let me find all my delight in You, the source of perfection, without whom nothing is perfect!

“Open my ears to Your words, more penetrating than a two-edged sword, that I may hear Your voice. So illumine my eyes, O incomparable light, that they will never again turn toward earthly vanities, but may seek You alone, O invisible Good! Draw me, O sweetest perfume of my life, so that I may run in the fragrance of Your ointments! Purify my sense of taste, that I may know and savor Your great sweetness, O Lord, that sweetness which You have reserved for those who are filled with Your holy love. By Your sweetness, dissipate and destroy my concupiscence, so that I may desire nothing but You, and not be seduced and deceived by worldly vanities, so as to regard what is bitter as sweet and what is sweet as bitter, darkness as light and light as darkness. Let me escape the snares set by the enemy of our souls, who fills the world with his deceits.

“O my sweet Lord, the world is filled with the snares of concupiscence. Who can avoid them all? Only he from whom You remove the pride of life, the concupiscence of the flesh, irreverence, and obstinacy of soul. Oh! how happy is the soul to whom You give this grace, for he will pass unharmed through the midst of so many enemies!” (St. Augustine).

O my sweet Lord, I renew with all my heart the consecration of my senses to You. I consecrate to You my eyes, that they may seek only Your Face and the things that lead to You; I consecrate to You my tongue, that it may be worthy to sing Your praises and may never utter a word displeasing to You; I consecrate to You my ears, that they may listen to Your voice alone and hear only what is necessary for Your service; I consecrate to You my sense of smell, of taste, of touch, that they may take delight in You alone, O Spouse of virgins! I repeat with St. Agnes, “ In loving You, O Christ, I am chaste; in touching You, I am pure; in possessing You, I am a virgin!” (RB).