1. I do not conceive that I have exceeded any portions of my duty, in always striving as much as possible, by daily discussions of the Gospels, to aff

 2. Although, therefore, I exhort you always, as you are aware, to many things, and to the precepts of the Lord’s admonition—for what else can be desir

 3. Chastity is the dignity of the body, the ornament of morality, the sacredness of the sexes, the bond of modesty, the source of purity, the peaceful

 4. But chastity maintains the first rank in virgins, the second in those who are continent, the third in the case of wedlock. Yet in all it is gloriou

 5. The precepts of chastity, brethren, are ancient. Wherefore do I say ancient? Because they were ordained at the same time as men themselves. For bot

 6. Christ gave this judgment when, being inquired of, He said that a wife must not be put away, save for the cause of adultery such honour did He put

 7. But as laws are prescribed to matrons, who are so bound that they cannot thence be separated, while virginity and continency are beyond all law, th

 8. But since the precepts of chastity have thus briefly been set forth to us, let us now give an instance of chastity. For it is more profitable when

 9. But not less from a different direction arises to us another similar instance of chastity from the continence of women. Susanna, as we read, the da

 10. The memory of noble descent could not enervate them, although to some this is a suggestive licence to lasciviousness nor the comeliness of their

 11. Nothing so delights the faithful soul as the healthy consciousness of an unstained modesty. To have vanquished pleasure is the greatest pleasure

 12. For what is chastity but a virtuous mind added to watchfulness over the body so that modesty observed in respect of the sexual relations, atteste

 13. But to return to what I began with: chastity is ever to be cultivated by men and women it is to be kept with all watchfulness within its bounds.

 14. It must be said, moreover, that adultery is not pleasure, but mutual contempt nor can it delight, because it kills both the soul and modesty. Let

13. But to return to what I began with: chastity is ever to be cultivated by men and women; it is to be kept with all watchfulness within its bounds. The bodily nature is quickly endangered in the body, when the flesh, which is always falling, carries it away with itself. Because under the pretext of a nature which is always urging men to desires whereby the ruins of a decayed race are restored, deceiving with the enticement of pleasure, it does not lead its offspring to the continence of legitimate intercourse, but hurls them into crime. Therefore, in opposition to these fleshly snares, by which the devil both obtrudes himself as a companion and makes himself a leader, we must struggle with every kind of strength. Let the aid of Christ be appropriated, according to the apostle, and let the mind be withdrawn as much as possible from the association of the body; let consent be withheld from the body; let vices be always chastised, that they may be hated; let that misshapen and degraded shame which belongs to sin be kept before our eyes. Repentance itself, with all its struggles, is a discreditable testimony to sins committed. Let not curiosity be indulged in scanning other people’s countenances. Let one’s speech be brief, and one’s laughter moderate, for laughter is the sign of an easy and a negligent disposition; and let all contact, even that which is becoming, be avoided.15    [Laughter, vol. ii. p. 249, and contact p. 291.] Let no indulgence be permitted to the body, when bodily vice is to be avoided. Let it be considered how honourable it is to have conquered dishonour, how disgraceful to have been conquered by dishonour.

XIII. Sed ut repetam quae coeperam, colenda semper pudicitia viris et foeminis, omni custodia servanda 0826C est intra limites suos. Cito natura corporis periclitatur in corpore, dum rapit illam secum caro, quae semper in lapsu est. Sub praetextu quippe naturae quae homines semper urget ad affectus, quibus ruinae collapsi generis resarciuntur; blandimento voluptatis fallens, non ducit ad continentiam legitimae conjunctionis sobolem, sed jactat in crimen. Ergo contra has carnis insidias, quibus se diabolus et socium ingerit et ducem facit, obluctandum est omni genere virtutis. Assumatur secundum Apostolum Christi opera, et a consortio carnis quantum potest animus colligatur: separetur consensus a corpore, vitia semper castigentur ut odiantur: ante oculos observetur deformis iste atque dejectus peccati pudor. Poenitentia ipsa cum luctibus suis commissorum criminum inhonesta 0827A contestatio est. Nihil consideretur curiose in alienis vultibus? Sermo et brevis sit, et sobrius risus, signum est enim animi facilis et remissi, nam contactus recedat etiam honestus. Nihil corpori liceat, ubi vitandum est corporis vitium. Cogitetur quam honestum sit vicisse dedecus, quam inhonestum victum esse dedecore.