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"And I beheld, and heard the voice of one eagle flying through the midst of heaven,
saying with a loud voice: Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth....
[Apocalypse (Revelation) 8:13]

Thursday, April 24, 2014

The Path to Hell: Vanity, Indecency, Immodesty & Impurity

The Path to Hell: Vanity, Indecency, Immodesty & Impurity

In a world where everyday more souls bow down to "self" we are reminded of those select quotes from the Word of God and various Saints who warned of this path leading so many souls to hell. Our Lady of Fatima warned most souls go to hell due to "sins of the flesh" but is She being listened to? Inevitably, we will be chastised to severe degree. Let us quit trying to "stand out" in a world which is at war with God. Let us dress ourselves properly. Let us speak properly. Let us act decently as if Our Lady and Lord were in our presence at all times! How many forget this and carry on without thought that their immodest dress and speech offend a God Who is ALL Good. Ave Maria!

13 Scriptures against Vanity and Immodesty(both of the world and looks/body):

Proverbs 31:30
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

Jeremiah 4:30
But when thou art spoiled what wilt thou do? though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, and paintest thy eyes with stibic stone, thou shalt dress thyself out in vain: thy lovers have despised thee, they will seek thy life.

1 Timothy 4:8
For bodily exercise is profitable to little: but godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

2 Esdras (Nehemiah) 1:7
We have been seduced by vanity, and have not kept thy commandments, and ceremonies and judgments, which thou hast commanded thy servant Moses.

Psalms 4:3
O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? why do you love vanity

Psalms 61:10
But vain are the sons of men, the sons of men are liars in the balances: that by vanity they may together deceive.

Psalms 118:37
Turn away my eyes that they may not behold vanity: quicken me in thy way.

Wisdom 4:12
For the bewitching of vanity obscureth good things, and the wandering of concupiscence overturneth the innocent mind.

Ecclesiasticus 3:26

And the suspicion of them hath deceived many, and hath detained their minds in vanity.

Ecclesiasticus 23:8
A sinner is caught in his own vanity, and the proud and the evil speakers shall fall thereby.

Isaias (Isaiah) 5:18
Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as the rope of a cart.

Ephesians 4:17
This then I say and testify in the Lord: That henceforward you walk not as also the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind

2 Peter 2:18
For, speaking proud words of vanity, they allure by the desires of fleshly riotousness, those who for a little while escape, such as converse in error:
'You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not, indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment. . . When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion?

You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body but the soul.

And it is not to enemies you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride.'

St. John Chrysostom, Father and Doctor of the Church
'Louis of Granada speaks of a young woman whose damnation had no other source than vanity and the desire to please. She led a regular life, but her passion to attract attention by the charm of her beauty was the moving cause of her whole conduct. Having fallen sick, she died, having received all the Sacraments. While her confessor was praying for her soul, she appeared to him, saying that she was damned, and that the cause of her damnation was vanity. "I sought," she added, "only to please the eyes of men. This passion caused me to commit a multitude of sins; it prevented me from receiving the Sacraments well, and it has led me to everlasting torments."'
Rev. F.X. Schouppe, S.J.

'. . . Now, observe, my daughter, the contrast between the luxurious dress of many women, and the raiment and adornments of Jesus. . . Tell me: what relation do their fine shoes bear to the spikes in Jesus' Feet? The rings on their hands to the nails which perforated His? The fashionable coiffure to the Crown of Thorns? The painted face to That covered with bruises? Shoulders exposed by the low-cut gown to His, all striped with Blood? Ah, but there is a marked likeness between these worldly women and the Jews who, incited by the Devil, scourged Our Lord! At the hour of such a woman's death, I think Jesus will be heard saying: "Cujus est imago haec et circumscripto. . . of whom is she the image?" And the reply will be: "Demonii. . . of the Devil!" Then He will say: "Let her who has followed the Devil's fashions be handed over to him; and to God, those who have imitated the modesty of Jesus and Mary."'
St. Anthony Mary Claret

 ”If you desire to be chaste, be retired, be modest, be mortified.”
Saint Leonard of Port Maurice

'We must practise modesty, not only in our looks, but also in our whole deportment, and particularly in our dress, our walk, our conversation, and all similar actions.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

"Be neat, Philothea; let nothing be negligent about you. It is a kind of contempt of those with whom we converse, to frequent their company in uncomely apparel; but, at the same time, avoid all affectation, vanity, curiosity, or levity in your dress. Keep yourself always, as much as possible, on the side of plainness and modesty, which, without doubt, is the greatest ornament of beauty, and the best excuse for the want of it." ~ St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to a Devout Life, Part Three, Ch. 25
"Lust indulged became habit, and habit unresisted became necessity."
St. Augustine
"Either we must speak as we dress, or dress as we speak. Why do we profess one thing and display another? The tongue talks of chastity, but the whole body reveals impurity."
St. Jerome


"Another weapon the devil employs is immodesty, or more frankly, impurity. My dear children, be on your guard. The devil will tempt you with bad books, bad thoughts, or the foul conversation of a companion. When any such fellow approaches you, say to yourself, This is a minister of Satan. And let these wretches who indulge in foul conversation say to himself, I am a minister of Satan because I help him ruin souls!
St. John Bosco

'In your dress permit nothing unclean or slovenly, but at the same time avoid a studied elegance, which is not free from daintiness or affectation.'
St. Ignatius of Loyola
  
'It was sin that created the need for us to dress and to cover our body with clothing. This is why, because we carry with us at all times the condition of sinners, we must never appear not only without clothing but also without being fully dressed. This is required both by decency and by the law of God.'
St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle

Pope Pius XII – May 23, 1948
"Mainly through sins of impurity, do the forces of darkness subjugate souls."



Pope Pius XII – July 17, 1954
"0 Christian mothers, if only you knew the future of distress and peril, of shame ill-restrained, that you prepare for your sons and daughters in imprudently accustoming them to live hardly clothed and in making them lose the sense of modesty, you should be ashamed of yourselves and of the harm done the little ones whom heaven entrusted to your care, to be reared in Christian dignity and culture."

Pope Pius XII – August 15, 1954 delegated Cardinal Ciriaci to issue a letter on modesty.
"Everyone knows that during the summer months particularly, things are seen here and there which are certain to prove offensive to anyone who has retained some respect and regard for Christian virtue and human modesty . On the beaches, in country resorts, almost everywhere, on the streets of cities and towns, in private and public places, and, indeed, often in buildings dedicated to God, an unworthy and indecent mode of dress has prevailed. Because of this, the young particularly, whose minds are easily bent towards vice, are exposed to the extreme danger of losing their innocence, which is, by far, the most beautiful adornment of mind and body. Feminine adornment, if it can be called adornment, feminine clothing, ‘if that can be called clothing which contains nothing to protect either the body or modesty.’ (Seneca) are at times of such a nature that they seem to serve lewdness rather than modesty . What we are discussing here is obviously most serious, since it vitally concerns not only Christian virtue but also the health and vigor of human society . Well did not the ancient poet say of this matter: ‘Vice necessarily follows upon public nudity’...

" A mortal sin of scandal is committed by women who go about with their bosom immodestly exposed, or who expose their limbs improperly. Also by actors in immodest comedies, and still more by the persons who compose such comedies; also by painters who paint obscene pictures, and by the heads of families who keep such pictures in their houses. The father who speaks obscenely, or blasphemes the saints, in presence of his children, and the mother who brings into her house to live among her daughters young men who are in love with them, or betrothed to them, or other suspected persons, are guilty of a still more grievous sin of scandal. Some mothers say: do not suspect any evil. I answer, that it is their duty to suspect; otherwise they will have to render to God an account of all the sins which may follow.
There was a woman who, even after marriage, did not cease giving scandal. This woman one day fell into a fit, and while she was in a state of unconsciousness, she saw the Lord condemning her to eternal fire. When she recovered the use of her senses, she did nothing but cry out, "Alas! I am damned, I am damned!" A confessor came to comfort her, but she answered, "What have I to do with confession? I am damned." Then her daughter approached the bed, in order to encourage her, but she cried out: "Ah, accursed child! on your account, too, I am damned: for through you I have given scandal to others." After these words the devils, in presence of all who were in the apartment, raised her up to the ceiling, and then dashed her so violently against the floor that she instantly expired.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Doctor of the Church



The educators of the young clergy would render a more valuable and useful service, if they would inculcate in youthful minds the precepts of Christian modesty, which is so important for the preservation of perfect chastity and which is truly called the prudence of chastity. 
For modesty foresees threatening danger, it forbids us to expose ourselves to risks, it demands the avoidance of those occasions which the imprudent does not shun. Modesty does not like impure or loose talk, it shrinks from the slightest immodesty, it carefully avoids suspicious familiarity with persons of the other sex, since it brings the soul to show due reverence to the body, as being a temple of the Holy Spirit. He who possesses the treasure of Christian modesty abominates every sin of impurity and instantly flees whenever he is tempted by its seductions.
(Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Sacra Virginitas of March 25, 1954 (no. 58-59), in
The Woman in the Modern World, Daughters of St. Paul, 1958, Appendix II)


A Pastoral letter of His Emminence Enrique Cardinal Pla y Daniel, Archbishop of Toledo Spain issued in 1959 this directive:
" A special danger to morals is represented by public bathing at beaches, in pools and riverbanks…Mixed bathing between men and women which nearly always is a proximate occasion of sin and a scandal must be avoided."

 Vatican Document – Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics – 12/29/75
"In this way facts are discovered [i.e. by sociological surveys], but facts do not constitute a criterion for judging the moral value of human acts. The frequency of the phenomenon in question is certainly to be linked with man’s innate weakness following original sin; but is also to be linked with the loss of a sense of God, with the corruption of morals engendered by the commercialization of vice, with the unrestrained licentiousness of so many public entertainments and publications, as well as with the neglect of modesty, which is the guardian of chastity."

Padre Pio from the book "Prophet of the People" by Dorothy Gaudiose
"Padre Pio wouldn’t tolerate low-necked dresses or short, tight skirts, and he forbade his spiritual daughters to wear transparent stockings. (nylons) Each year his severity increased. He stubbornly dismissed them from his confessional, even before they set foot inside, if he judged them to be improperly dressed…His brothers observed these drastic purges with uneasiness and…fasten(ed) a sign on the church door: ‘By Padre Pio’s explicit wish, women must enter his confessional wearing skirts at least eight inches below the knees. It is forbidden to borrow longer dresses in church and to wear them for the confessional.
Certain Fashions Will Offend God- Our Lady of Fatima



1 comment:

  1. This is a terrific article for all young Catholics! where has this article been all my life!

    ReplyDelete