Virtue

A Virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. We develop virtues or good habits through education, good acts frequently done, and perseverance in struggle. There are four virtues that are considered pivotal to human persons: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. These virtues are stable dispositions of the intellect and will that govern human actions, order human passions and guide human conduct in accordance with reason and faith.

Chastity

The virtue of chastity is a habitual and firm disposition to do what is right and good in the area of sexuality. Chastity is the spiritual power, which frees love from selfishness and aggression. (Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality #16) It is the successful integration of sexuality within the person which results in the unity of one’s body and soul. Chastity means successful control over the passions/desires of the mind and will.

Chastity is necessary to ensure that sexual desires result in generous self-giving love and friendship. It can best be described as a virtue that disciplines the feelings, passions and emotions related to sexual desires. Through chastity, we become capable of self-possession, which is the ability to control rather than be controlled by sexual desires. When we master our sexual urges, we become free to live out God’s beautiful plan for sexual expression perfectly and completely within our chosen vocation.

Chastity is developed over time. It is developed and flows from temperance, which is the cardinal virtue that moderates the attraction to pleasure and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the mastery of the will over the instinct, and keeps natural desires within proper limits. (CCC 1809)

Chastity is not about denial or repression of the sexual desires. This negative approach to chastity denies the enormous value of human sexuality which is one’s capacity to give and receive love. To reject one’s sexuality and sexual desires as something wrong or perverse is to deny God’s creative plan for human existence. Through formation in chastity, we understand the importance and sacredness of marital sexual relations and respect for its link to human life. Thus, chastity is about the intelligent shaping of our passions and affections according to God’s wonderful plan of salvation.

Chastity in all states of life elevates sexual desires from the level of instinct to “choices of conscience” or “conscious choice.” It moves us past impulsive responses of the sexual desire that result in the “use” of another to the freedom to love with kindness and tenderness. Chastity allows us to see others as gifts from God and to recognize the two goods of marriage; the unity of the spouses and the procreation and education of children. Outside of marriage, chastity requires self-possession and honor of one’s sexual powers. The unmarried person will deny impulsive behaviors, refuse to depersonalize the human body for emotional gratification, and work towards authentic friendships and tenderness. Within marriage, the practice of chastity leads the spouses to honor and partake of the goods of the conjugal (genital) act and to be open to life. Chastity allows both the married and unmarried to faithfully revere life and love, which are the chosen goods of sexual desires.

Temperance

Temperance is the virtue or acquired habit which regulates, according to reason and faith, the attraction of pleasure toward the senses, particularly the attraction toward food and sexual pleasure. The senses of taste, touch, sight, hearing, and smell are in accord with God’s good order of creation and involve pleasure. However, we frequently desire sense-pleasure in excess. Therefore, there is need of this virtue to moderate or order our desires involving the senses. The natural virtue of temperance is the practice of moderation, restraint, self-discipline, self-control and self-mastery in all things. The ultimate goal of temperance is a good, joy-filled, decent life in this world. The supernatural virtue of temperance enables us, through the grace of the Holy Spirit and our cooperation through the power of our will to use all things in moderation and to direct even the pleasurable things in life toward our salvation and the salvation of others. This virtue sometimes leads us to forego even permissible pleasures (mortification) in order to gain godly, joy-filled pleasure in every area of our life. There is a higher purpose to life than simply pleasure for pleasure’s sake. We are to use pleasure in moderation; otherwise it can control us and become an “idol” or “god”. Overindulgence in any area leads to loss of freedom, loss of joy, and loss of ultimate satisfaction. Our ultimate satisfaction is knowing and loving God, Who is the fulfillment of all our desires.

Modesty

Modesty – Modesty is the protection of the mystery of the person through decency in dress, action, thought and speech. It requires that a person avoid hairstyles, clothing, and grooming techniques as well as words and behaviors that call undue attention and distract others to one’s body.

Modesty is decency and is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, which becomes essential when one realizes that he or she is a person to be loved and not a thing to be used. The practice of modesty curbs behaviors that lower the perception of one’s own dignity and the dignity of others. Sometimes called discretion, modesty allows one to reserve his or her complete self for total giving to God within his or her vocation. (CCC 2521 – 2524)

Purity

Purity is attuning our intellect and will to the demands of God’s holiness in three chief areas; charity, chastity and love of Truth. The Truth is found in the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church given to the Apostles by Jesus Christ.

To be pure in heart involves a continual process of enlightenment by the Holy Spirit that allows us to see according to God’s will. Those who are pure in heart accept others as “neighbors,” perceive the human body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, and love the teachings of the Church. To be pure of heart requires prayer, discipline of our senses, feelings, and imagination, the practice of chastity, seeking the truth and the refusal to turn away from the path of God’s commandments.

In regard to sexuality, purity in thought, word and deed is a pre-condition to chastity. “Purity requires modesty”. (CCC 2518, 2519, 2521)