118. Holy Purity is granted by God when it is asked for with humility.
119. How beautiful is holy Purity! but it is not holy, not pleasing to God, if we separate it from charity. Charity is the seed that will grow and yield savoury fruit when it is moistened with the waters of purity. Without charity, purity is fruitless and its sterile waters turn the soul into swamp, a stagnant marsh, from which rises the stench of pride.
120. "Purity?" they ask. And they smile. They are the ones who go on to marriage with worn-out bodies and disillusioned souls.
I promise you a book - God willing - that could be entitled : Clibacy, matrimony and Purity.
121. There is need for a crusade of manliness and purity to counteract and nullify the savage work of those who think man is a beast.
And that crusade is your work.
122. many live like angels in the middle of the world. You....why not you?
123. when you decide firmly to lead a clean life, chastity will not be a burden on you: it will be a crown of triumph.
124. You, a doctor-apostle, wrote to me: "we all know from experience that we can be chaste, living vigilantly, frequenting the sacraments and stamping out the first sparks of passion before the fire gets started."
"And it is precisely among the chaste where the most clean-cut men from every point of view are found. And among the impure abound the timid, the selfish, the hypocritical, and the cruel- all characters of little manliness."
125. I wish -(you told me)- that John, the young Apostle, would take me into his confidence and give me advice, and would encourage me to acquire purity of heart.
If you really want it, tell him so: you'll feel encouraged, and you'll receive advice.
126. Gluttony is the forerunner of impurity.
127. Don't try to reason with concupiscence. Scorn it.
128. Decency and modesty are "Little brothers" of purity.
129. Without holy purity you can't persevere in the apostolate.
130. O Jesus, remove that unclean scab of sensual corruption that covers my heart, so that I can feel and readily follow the breath of the Paraclete in my soul.
131. never talk of impure things or event, not even to deplore them. Look, it's a subject that sticks more than tar. Change the conversation, or if that's not possible, continue, but speaking of the need and beauty of holy purity - a virtue of the men who know what their souls are worth.
132. Don't be such a coward as to be "brave". Flee!
133. saints are not abnormal cases to be studied by a modernistic doctor.
They were- they are - normal, with flesh like yours. And they conquered.
134. "even if flesh is dressed in silk...."That's what I'll tell you when I see you waver in a temptation that hides its impurity under the name of art, science ... or charity!
with the words of an old proverb I'll tell you, "even if flesh is dressed in silk, it is still flesh"
135. if you only knew what you are worth! It is Saint Paul who tells you: YOu have been bought "at a great price"
And he adds: "Glorify God and bear Him in your body"
136. When you have sought the company of sensual satisfaction, what lonliness afterwards!
137. And to think that for the satisfaction of a moment, which left bitter dregs within you, you've lost "the way"!
138. "Unhappy man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?" Thus cried St. Paul. Courage! He too had to fight.
139. At the time of temptation think of the love that awaits you in Heaven: foster the virtue of hope - it's not a lack of generosity.
140. No matter what happens, don't worry as long as you don't consent. For only the will can open the door of the heart and let that corruption in.
141. You seem to hear a voice within you saying, "That religious prejudice...1" And then the eloquent defense of all the weaknesses of our poor fallen flesh: "Its rights"
When this happens to you, tell the enemy that there is a natural law, and a law of God and God!.. and also hell.
142. "Lord, if you will you can make me clean."
What a beautiful prayer for you to say often, with the faith of the poor leper, when there happens to you what God and you and I know may happen. YOu wont have to wait long to hear the Master's reply "I will, Be made clean"
143. To defend his purity, St Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow, St Benedict threw himself in a thornbush, St Bernard plunged into and icy pond....
You...What have you done
144. The spotless purity of John's whole life makes him strong facing the cross. The rest of the Apostles flee from Golgotha. He, with the Mother of Christ remains.
Don't forget that purity strengthens and invigorates your character.
145. The battlefront in Madrid. A score of officers in noble and cheerful camaraderie. A song is heard, the another and another...
That young lieutenant with the brown moustache heard only the first one:
I do not like
divided hearts;
I give mine whole,
and not in parts.
"Whatstruggle to give my whole heart!" And a prayer flowed forth in a calm, broad stream.
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