Chastity according to one's state in life.
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"...that mutual familiar intercourse between the spouses themselves, if the blessing of conjugal faith is to shine with becoming splendor, must be distinguished by chastity so that husband and wife bear themselves in all things with the law of God and of nature, and endeavor always to follow the will of their most wise and holy Creator with the greatest reverence toward the work of God.
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This conjugal faith, however, which is most aptly called by St. Augustine the "faith of chastity" blooms more freely, more beautifully and more nobly, when it is rooted in that more excellent soil, the love of husband and wife which pervades all the duties of married life and holds pride of place in Christian marriage. For matrimonial faith demands that husband and wife be joined in an especially holy and pure love, not as adulterers love each other, but as Christ loved the Church. This precept the Apostle laid down when he said: "Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the Church,"[24] that Church which of a truth He embraced with a boundless love not for the sake of His own advantage, but seeking only the good of His Spouse.[25] The love, then, of which We are speaking is not that based on the passing lust of the moment nor does it consist in pleasing words only, but in the deep attachment of the heart which is expressed in action, since love is proved by deeds.[26] This outward expression of love in the home demands not only mutual help but must go further; must have as its primary purpose that man and wife help each other day by day in forming and perfecting themselves in the interior life, so that through their partnership in life they may advance ever more and more in virtue, and above all that they may grow in true love toward God and their neighbor, on which indeed "dependeth the whole Law and the Prophets."[27] For all men of every condition, in whatever honorable walk of life they may be, can and ought to imitate that most perfect example of holiness placed before man by God, namely Christ Our Lord, and by God's grace to arrive at the summit of perfection, as is proved by the example set us of many saints. - Casti Connubii, Pio XI, 31 December 1930
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I wonder if Encyclicals are meant to be ignored?
"Encyclicalus,-i" Latin for Just One Opinion Among Many.
ReplyDeleteOr so many Catholics would have us believe, right?
Nice, Terry, very nice.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if people who attend Christopher West's conferences on TOB actually know that we have encyclicals on mariage, on chastity, on true love... Just wondering.
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ReplyDeleteThanks Terry _ all this TOB nonsense and Christopher West. West seems to think that the bedroom is all there is to marriage when in fact husbands are expected to imitate the sacrifice Christ, to offer themselves for their wives in imitation of Christ for His Bride the Church. This handing over of self is more than mere ejaculation and it seems West fails to understand this. The seminal (pun intended)scripture on this matter is Ephesians chapter 5 for those with a mind for the Bible. The husband is charged with making his Bride holy and pure. West is a fad, just like so many fads in the Church of late. People with itching ears rund to listen to them.
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