AUGUST – CHASTITY

Chastity is the moral virtue by which, with the help of God’s grace attained by prayer and the Sacraments, human beings are enabled to refrain from all misuse of their sexual faculties. Chastity is called the angelic virtue, and the Sixth Commandment forbids sins against Chastity.

“Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and integrality of the gift.” (C.C.C. 2337)

SCRIPTURES FOR THE MONTH

Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God. You are not your own property; you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the glory of God. (1Corinthians 6:18-20)

For all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life, which is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 St. John 2:16)

The sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. 2:14)

ASPIRATION FOR THE MONTH

O Mary, through thy Immaculate Conception, keep my body pure and my soul holy.

PRAYER FOR THE MONTH

O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast said: “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see god,” grant me the grace of spotless chastity. Thou didst favor St. John with a special mark of Thy friendship because of Thy great love for the holy virtue; let me practice this virtue according to my state that I, too, may be Thy special friend. I am sorry for every fault committed against purity in the past, for every undisciplined thought, for every evil word, for every sensual or impure action. For the future I promise that I shall call upon Thy name and the name of Thy Immaculate Mother in every temptation that assails me; I shall avoid every occasion of sin that might lead me to seek for sinful gratification; I shall insist on chastity in word and deed from those around me; and I shall mortify my body in order that it may be strengthened against the assaults of evil desire. Moreover, I shall try to make some atonement for all the sins that are committed against chastity in the world, which made Thy physical pain so great in Thy bitter passion. I dedicate my life to the defense of this virtue, that the Christian home may be defended and protected and that many souls may be saved from the terrible condemnation that impurity must receive. O Mary, Immaculate Mother, inspire in my heart thy own great love of the virtue of purity.
(Rev. Donald Miller, C.SS.R.)