Eclipse of the Soul: Chastity and Humility
We have heard so much about it: Everywhere, everybody is ready for it. The beauty of creation: the love of the Creator for his creatures, like a wink of the Creator to us. Yes, the great day has almost arrived. A few more hours and the incredible spectacle of the eclipse will rejoice our senses and will amaze our intelligence!
This is a great time to remind ourselves of the continuous eclipse that should take place in our soul daily, when two of the most important virtues in our moral life come to a perfect superposition. The first one, as a shining sun in the soul and body, is the virtue of chastity. The second, silent as the moon, dim and shadowy, as this intriguing astronomical body, is the virtue of humility. What relation then between the moon and the sun, between chastity and humility? What kind of relation between the eclipse and these virtues? Well, the answer is quite simple. Chastity gives to the soul a new light, a new splendor, and a new radiance. “There is no beauty without purity, and human purity is chastity” says St Francis de Sales. And the highest degree of chastity, that is virginity, according to St. Cyprian and St. Ambrose, gives the Church a particular splendor and contributes in giving it the luster of the mark of sanctity. To distinguish it from the sects which have renounced the evangelical counsels. Now, the analogy of the virtue of chastity and the sun seems to make sense. However, as we know, humility is the guardian of chastity. Humility doesn’t shine, humility is much more hidden… discrete… almost imperceptible in those who truly practice it. Saint Francis de Sales even says that the word humility itself should not be mentioned by those who want to acquire it. We have therefore our two astronomical beings. Let us now connect these two virtues to make, not a partial eclipse, but the beauty of a total eclipse in us.
As we said, humility is the guardian of chastity. If chastity is not protected by a sincere and deep humility, then chastity will have no value whatsoever. Even a pagan can practice this chastity its highest form, virginity, and, without humility, it is probable that the fall is near.
Saint Paul has warned us already: he who thinks he stands firmly should beware of a fall. We have the great example of the Abbey of Port Royal, during the Jansenist heresy in France in the XVIII century. These perfectly chaste nuns, whose virtue in this domain was a source of admiration to all, kept their chastity and virginity as pure as the purest lily: but their humility was totally absent. Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues; hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist, there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance, declared the great Saint Augustine. The end result of this lack of humility, was the complete destruction of their Abbey by King Louis XIV due to their grave lack of submission to the ecclesiastical authority. The archbishop of Paris, who asked them to reject their Jansenist heresies, finally declared them “far-off and disobedient to the apostolic constitutions and incapable of participating in the sacraments of the Church.” Since then literature and history has always described them as: Pure as angels, but proud as devils.
We should constantly be on our guard and hold firm these two virtues: Chastity and humility. To do so, spiritual authors give three main recommendations, so has to persevere in chastity and purity: Distrust of self and confidence in God, flight from dangerous occasions, and sincerity in the sacrament of penance.
First: Distrust of self and confidence in God
“My God, beware of Philip, otherwise he will betray You”, says Saint Philip. Distrust of self implies the virtue of humility. It implies a true knowledge of one’s own misery and nothingness; and if God allows us to fall into sins, it is because we started to rely too much on our own strength instead of relying entirely on God’s grace. It is, unfortunately, only when man experiences his failures that he also becomes aware of his misery and turns his eyes towards the only one who can save him from the abyss.
Second: Flight from dangerous occasions
“Humility is the safeguard of chastity. In the matter of purity,” explains Saint Philip Neri, “there is no greater danger than not fearing the danger. For my part, when I find a man secure of himself and without fear, I give him up for lost. I am less alarmed for one who is tempted and who resists by avoiding the occasions, than for one who is not tempted and is not careful to avoid occasions. When a person puts himself in an occasion, saying, ‘I shall not fall’, it is an almost infallible sign that he will fall, and with great injury to his soul.” And regarding particularly the virtue of purity Saint Francis is clear: “Be exceedingly quick in turning aside from the slightest thing leading to impurity, for it is an evil which approaches stealthily, and in which the very smallest beginnings are apt to grow rapidly. It is always easier to fly from such evils than to cure them. Human bodies are like glasses, which cannot come into collision without risk of breaking.” So many rules of prudence are well known to past generations and totally forgotten today: rules regarding modesty, regarding readings, movies or shows… regarding parties, regarding the way one should behave with the opposite sex. While we are not puritans, we are not liberals either. We are simply Catholic and a right balance of prudence is necessary. In medio stat virtus. Virtue stands in the middle. And here is another good advice on how to fight temptation against purity which ought not to be fought the same way as other temptations. In temptations against chastity, the spiritual masters advise us, not so much to contend with the bad thought, but instead to turn the mind to some spiritual, or, at least, indifferent object. It is useful to combat other bad thoughts face to face, but not thoughts of impurity.
Third: Sincerity in the sacrament of penance
Deus non iridetur. Make no mistake about it: You cannot cheat God. God sees and knows everything. This is the basis of what we teach to our children in catechism. Let us apply this to ourselves, and go confidently to the confessional being assured that Christ is the one listening to our sins and purifying our soul with his Precious Blood.
One perfect model has been offered to the human race, one pure Lily that radiates because of her chastity and purity and that attracts all men because of her humility.
O Mary, Mother most pure, inflame our heart and strengthen our intelligence with a constant desire to become more and more, day after day, a pure receptacle of the grace of Your Beloved Son.
Sermon for the Sunday preceding the 2017 Eclipse
Canon Jean-Baptiste Commins
