Thursday, February 5, 2009

avoid using words that may suggest evil thoughts

St. Vincent de Paul

He even refrained from the use of any expression which, though proper and becoming, might yet inspire the slightest evil thought. The word chastity was too expressive for his sensitiveness, because it suggested the thought of the contrary vice, and he preferred the more comprehensive term of purity. If he had occasion to speak of any fallen creature he designated her crime only by the vague expressions of weakness and misfortune, in order to remove all impure imagination, and herself he never termed other than fallen creature.

Pure as an angel, and so confirmed in grace that he no longer felt the sting of the flesh, he, nevertheless, made use of all the precautions of a man still subject to the assault of corrupt nature. We have told of his mortification. Who will describe his subjugation of the senses, particularly of his eyes, which he never fixed on any woman?

St. Charles Borromeo:

he kept himself so far from every stain that he could not bear to hear anything like an impure word uttered, in order to avoid the risk of any taint. If he was obliged to speak upon such subjects, he never allowed an impure word to pass his lips, but used circumlocution where he could, or Latin words, and would have others do the same. On one occasion when a religious who was employed in some office about him, in explaining a certain case not only mentioned persons but also the sins in common terms without any respect whatever, he reproved his want of delicacy, and dismissed him from the office he held, and desired his superiors to admonish him.

Sacred and Immaculate Hearts

Sacred and Immaculate Hearts

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Pillar of Scourging of Our Lord JESUS

Pillar of Scourging of Our Lord JESUS

Shroud of Turin

Shroud of Turin