We must be pure. I do not speak merely of the purity of the senses. We must observe great purity in our will, in our intentions, in all our actions.'
--St. Peter Julian Eymard
God desires from you the least degree of purity of conscience more than all the works you can perform.
--St. John of the Cross
Those whose hearts are pure are the temples of the Holy Spirit.
--St. Lucy
God demands great purity of certain souls, and so He gives them a deeper knowledge of their own misery. Illuminated by light from on high, the soul can better know what pleases God and what does not. (112)
--St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in my Soul
"Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable of true love."
--Pope John Paul II
"Holy Purity is granted by God when it is asked for with humility."
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"Chastity is a difficult, long term matter; one must wait patiently for it to bear fruit, for the happiness of loving kindness which it must bring. But at the same time, chastity is the sure way to happiness."
--Pope John Paul II
"In the realm of evil thoughts none induces to sin as much as do thoughts that concern the pleasure of the flesh."
--St. Thomas Aquinas
"In temptations against chastity, the spiritual masters advise us, not so much to contend with the bad thought, as 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."
--St. Alphonsus Liguori
"Deep within yourself, listen to your conscience which calls you to be pure . . . a home is not warmed by the fire of pleasure which burns quickly like a pile of withered grass. Passing encounters are only a caricature of love; they injure hearts and mock God's plan."
--Pope John Paul II
"[God] has assigned as a duty to every man the dignity of every woman."
--Pope John Paul II
"To be pure, to remain pure, can only come at a price, the price of knowing God and loving him enough to do his will. He will always give us the strength we need to keep purity as something as beautiful for him."
--Blessed Mother Teresa
"'Purity?' they ask. And they smile. They are the ones who go on to marriage with worn-out bodies and disillusioned souls."
- St. Josemaria Escriva
'Blessed the one who loves holiness like the light and has not defiled his body with dark deeds of the Evil One in the sight of the Lord.'
--St. Ephrem of Syria
"Lust indulged became habit, and habit unresisted became necessity."
- St. Augustine
"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."
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"Many live like angels in the middle of the world. You, … why not you?"
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"When you decide firmly to lead a clean life, chastity will not be a burden on you: it will be a crown of triumph."
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"When you have sought the company of a sensual satisfaction, what loneliness afterward!"
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"To defend his purity, Saint Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow, Saint Benedict threw himself into a thornbush, Saint Bernard plunged into an icy pond . . . You . . . what have you done?"
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"Don't say, 'That's the way I am—its my character.' It's your lack of character. Esto vir!—Be a man!"
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"Purity is the fruit of prayer."
--Blessed Mother Teresa
"Purity prepares the soul for love, and love confirms the soul in purity."
--John Henry Cardinal Newman
"Holy Purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh."
--St. John Bosco
"As soon as you willfully allow a dialogue with temptation to begin, the soul is robbed of peace, just as consent to impurity destroys grace."
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"Temptation is necessary to make us realize that we are nothing in ourselves."
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"More souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason."
--Our Lady of Fatima
"Filthy talk makes us feel comfortable with filthy action. But the one who knows how to control the tongue is prepared to resist the attacks of lust."
--St. Clement of Alexandria
"Never talk of impure things or events, 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."
--St. Josemaria Escriva
The man of impure speech is a "person whose lips are but an opening and a supply pipe which hell uses to vomit its impurities upon the earth."
--St. John Vianney
"That conversation . . . was as dirty as a sewer! It is not enough for you to take no part in it. You must show your repugnance to it strongly!"
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"I have never talked about impurity. . . . But I have spoken many times, as I have to do, about chastity, purity, and the joyful affirmation of love."
--St. Josemaria Escriva
"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
We take vows of chastity to love Christ with undivided love;
--Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
“A clean heart is a free heart. A free heart can love Christ with an undivided love in chastity, convinced that nothing and nobody will separate it from his love. Purity, chastity, and virginity created a special beauty in Mary that attracted God’s attention. He showed his great love for the world by giving Jesus to her.”
--Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
”A pure soul is like a fine pearl. As long as it is hidden in the shell, at the bottom of the sea, no one thinks of admiring it. But if you bring it into the sunshine, this pearl will shine and attract all eyes. Thus the pure soul, which is hidden from the eyes of the world, will one day shine before the Angels in the sunshine of eternity.”
--Saint John Marie Vianney
”The pure soul is a beautiful rose, and the Three Divine Persons descend from Heaven to inhale its fragrance.”
--Saint John Marie Vianney
”Like a beautiful white dove rising from the midst of the waters, and coming to shake her wings over the earth, the Holy Spirit issues from the infinite ocean of the Divine perfections, and hovers over pure souls, to pour into them the balm of love. The Holy Spirit reposes in a pure soul as in a bed of roses. There comes forth from a soul in which the Holy Spirit resides a sweet odor, like that of the vine when it is in flower.”
--Saint John Marie Vianney
”Chastity is the lily of virtues, and makes men almost equal to Angels. Everything is beautiful in accordance with its purity. Now the purity of man is chastity, which is called honesty, and the observance of it, honor and also integrity; and its contrary is called corruption; in short, it has this peculiar excellence above the other virtues, that it preserves both soul and body fair and unspotted.”
--Saint Francis of Sales, Doctor of the Church
”What is more comely than chastity, which makes one generated from impure seed pure; an enemy, a friend; and a man, an Angel? There is a difference, indeed, between a chaste man and an Angel, but in happiness, not in virtue; the Angel's chastity is more happy; but man's is more proved.”
--Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church
”Chastity, or cleanness of heart, holds a glorious and distinguished place among the virtues, because she, alone, enables man to see God; hence Truth itself said, ‘Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.’”
--Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church
”There is no remedy so powerful against the heat of concupiscence as the remembrance of our Savior’s Passion. In all my difficulties I never found anything so efficacious as the wounds of Christ: In them I sleep secure; from them I derive new life.”
--Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church
”If you desire to be chaste, be retired, be modest, be mortified.”
--Saint Leonard of Port Maurice
”Humility is the safeguard of chastity. In the matter of purity, 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.”
--Saint Philip Neri
”I tremble when I think of so many great men, who after their virtues had placed them among the stars, and almost fixed their habitation in Heaven, have miserably fallen into most grievous sins and died impenitent. We have seen, Lord, the great lights of Thy Church fall from Heaven, being pulled from thence by the infernal dragon; and, on the contrary, some that lay, as it were groveling on the ground, have been wonderfully elevated all at once by Thy almighty hand.”
--Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church
”Your good resolutions must not make you proud, but humble and diffident; you carry a large sum of gold about you, take care not to meet any highwaymen. In this life there is nothing certain: we are in a continual warfare, and, therefore, ought to be on our guard day and night. We sail in a tempestuous sea that threatens us on every side, and in a poor leaky vessel: the devil, who aims at nothing less than our destruction, never ceases to increase the storm, to overwhelm us thereby, if he can; hence it was that the Apostle gave this precaution, even to the virtuous: ‘Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall’ (1 Cor. x.12)”
--Saint Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church, Epistle to Saint Eustochium.
”Some complain that mankind will fail if so many are consecrated virgins. I desire to know who ever wanted a wife and could not find one? The killing of an adulterer, the pursuing or waging war against a ravisher, are the consequences of marriage. The number of people is greatest where virginity is most esteemed. Enquire how many virgins are consecrated every year at Alexandria, all over the East and in Africa, where there are more virgins than men in the country.”
--Saint Ambrose, Father and Doctor of the Church
The state of grace is nothing other than purity, and it gives heaven to those who clothe themselves in it. Holiness, therefore, is simply the state of grace purified, illuminated, beautified by the most perfect purity, exempt not only from mortal sin but also from the smallest faults; purity will make saints of you! Everything lies in this!
--St. Peter Eymard
God bestows more consideration on the purity of the intention with which our actions are performed than on the actions themselves.
--St. Augustine
Far be it from Christians that to do such deeds [as our done by pagan sinners] should enter their mind; for temperance dwells with them, self-restraint is practiced, monogamy is observed, chastity is guarded, injustice is exterminated, sin is rooted out, righteousness is exercised, law is ministered, reverence is preserved, God is acknowledged: truth controls, grace guards, peace protects, the holy word guides, wisdom teaches, life directs, God reigns.
--Saint Theophilus of Antioch
He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor.
--Saint Bede the Venerable
'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
"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."
--Saint John Chrysostom
