Receiving the Eucharist Fruitfully
Chastity is necessary in spiritual life. Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing.” Without chastity, you cannot be in a state of grace. Without chastity, you can do nothing. In the 18th century, the Doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus de Liquori, held that impurity was “hell’s widest gate.” Our Lady confirmed this at Fatima when she told little Saint Jacinta as she lay dying that most souls who go to hell go for sins of the flesh. Pope Saint John Paul II, an expert on the issue in recent times, wrote: “Chastity is a difficult long-term matter; one must wait patiently for it to bear fruit….” The New Catechism echoes John Paul II: Self-mastery is a long and exacting work (CCC 2342).
Purity is necessary for all, but many are not winning the battle in our culture. 40% of all births today are to unwed mothers. 30% of all high schoolers have had sexual experience (an improvement over previous decades), and a 2022 government study claimed that 94% of all college students are sexually active. Pornography is rampant on the internet. Catholics are using birth control at an alarming rate. And the public seems clueless about this virtue and its necessity in spiritual life. Many people do not know about the battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Christ is our model for chastity (CCC 2394). Chastity is part of the cardinal virtue of temperance (CCC 2341). It is a moral virtue and a gift of the Holy Spirit. At the same time, it is the fruit of spiritual effort (CCC 2345). However, one can never consider it as acquired once and for all. It presupposes a renewed effort at all stages of life (CCC 2342). Still, the reward is great. Chastity is a promise of immortality (CCC 2347).
Chastity has laws of growth that progress through stages marked by imperfection and sin (CCC 2343). Therefore, the Sacrament of Penance is essential to acquiring the virtue. So also is the Eucharist. In a 1979 Homily, Pope Saint John Paul II spoke of the need for the Eucharist in the spiritual life:” You must always be Eucharistic souls to be authentic Christians…..only through the Eucharist is it possible to live the heroic virtues of Christianity [including] chastity in every age of life.”
Prayer is vital to chastity. “Nothing equals prayer: for what is impossible, it makes possible, and what is difficult, easy” (CCC 2744). Prayer and the Christian life are inseparable (CCC 2745). The Fathers of the Church also recommend fasting for chastity.
The Dominicans have a confraternity that prays for chastity: “The Angelic Warfare Confraternity is a supernatural fellowship of men and women bound to one another in love and dedicated to pursuing and promoting chastity together under the powerful patronage of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The world, the flesh, and the devil all work together to destroy chastity. The Holy Spirit, the good angels, and the Confraternity work together to build virtue. The prayers of thousands of other members of the Confraternity come to the aid of all the other members every day. People often say they no longer feel isolated in pursuing purity but tied to others in the same pursuit. They often say they feel stronger and more equipped for the struggle. Many people testify to a noticeable and sometimes great difference in their lives after joining” (AWC website 12/29/23).
To become a member of this Confraternity, you must be enrolled, wear a medal or a cord, and say 15 Hail Marys daily, plus two other short prayers. You can visit their website at https://www.angelicwarfareconfraternity.org/.
The struggle for the virtue of chastity entails first recognizing the problem, then a patient and enduring battle using the Sacraments and regular Prayer and fasting. Discouragement is the enemy of all virtue; one cannot yield to it here. No matter how many times you might fall, you must continue in regular prayer and fasting and return to the Sacraments. The Lord is patient and merciful, and I do not believe Our Lady would have pointed out the problem if she were not going to help her children with the solution. Be sincere with her, and she will undoubtedly come to your assistance.
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