We have continued our discussion of the farhers’ writing on fornication and the effects that it has upon the soul. Purity of heart is the foundation of the spiritual life and the immediate goal. We are called to remove every impediment that prevents us from not only receiving the grace of God but from offering him our hearts and our love fully. 

In fact, our hearts can be divided, and this is exactly what the demons seek to accomplish. They know they have a strong bodily appetite and desire that they can stir up through our thoughts and images, words and the actions, and the presence of others. Even memories of conversations and the images of people from the past can be used against us in more vulnerable moments to lead us astray.

Holiness and purity is not something that one can judge from external realities. Even the most holy individual who seems to be most endowed with gifts from God can have a heart that is radically divided and even wholly given over to the spirit of fornication. To lack watchfulness in this regard opens one up to the experience of obsession. It does not take more than one instance of infidelity to open the door to taking another step in that direction where obsession can become oppression. Fornication can take hold of the mind and the heart with a fierce grip. Finally oppression can give way to possession where the demon of fornication takes hold of one’s life and darkens their heart completely. 

Disconnected from the wisdom of the father’s we find the counsel of our day much akin to self-help.  Such counsel sad leads a person more deeply into the obsession that wounds them. Under the false guise of prudence and wisdom there’s often deep foolishness that leads an individual to put himself and God to the test. The discipline and watchfulness the father‘s put forward would often be dismissed in our day as scrupulosity or unhealthy. Yet the Saints knew and understood what is precious and what must be protected. Unless one loves virtue and has tasted the sweetness that it brings to one’s life one will easily walk away from it.

I might hazard to say that very few of our generation know the kind of purity of heart of which the fathers speak and to which we are called. Our culture has become so permeated with disordered sensuality that our love for the virtue of purity has been compromised as well as our capacity to pursue it. Only radical humility and clinging to the grace of God can aid us.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:04:28 Sr. Charista Maria: Fr. what community?

00:05:24 ANDREW ADAMS: Replying to "Fr. what community?"

https://www.monksofmttabor.com

00:41:37 Rachel: I think this is very important. fwiw not scrupulous at all

00:42:23 Myles Davidson: Replying to "I think this is very..."

I agree

00:44:16 Mary Clare Wax: Very well said! Thank you!

00:44:33 Forrest Cavalier: Attributed to St Alphonsus: “To avoid the sight of dangerous objects, the saints were accustomed to keep their eyes almost continually fixed on the earth, and to abstain even from looking at innocent objects,” says St. Alphonsus de Liguori.

00:45:35 Forrest Cavalier: There are many times I need to do this, in Sheetz. Or Walmart. Or wherever

00:53:34 Una: What exactly does she mean by prudent? Is there another word?

00:55:21 Forrest Cavalier: Greek is σωφροσύνην

00:55:37 Forrest Cavalier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophrosyne

00:58:16 Una: What would the nuns have been leaving the convent for? Shopping? Visiting?

01:00:42 Una: One priest told me that in seminary he was advised to visit his family regularly to protect temptations against chastity

01:00:56 Una: To avoid too much lonliness

01:01:31 Sr. Charista Maria: Father I would like your thoughts if you are familiar with the story of Bishop Nonnis in the book: Harlots of the Desert, by Benedicta Ward? She shares of the beauty of the Harlot Pelagia, and Bishop Nonnis was so struck by her beauty that it led him to pray for her, and she converted. I happened to just read this on the Feast of St. Anthony.

01:03:07 Mary Clare Wax: Reacted to "Father I would like ..." with 👍

01:03:43 Una: I'm reading Harlots of the Desert too!

01:03:52 Una: One potato chip, yeah

01:04:25 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "I'm reading Harlots ..." with 👏

01:05:01 Una: Today's gospel was about not dividing the Kingdom. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand

01:06:19 Mary Clare Wax: The other clergy turned their eyes away from Pelagia, but Bishop Nonnis looked at her with love.

01:07:24 Anna Lalonde: Seeking prayers... Incense is gravely affecting my health after BioLab chemical fire exposure in September.

01:13:09 Sr. Charista Maria: Father I love your sharing on "oh I just want to watch a movie" or the like. It is so important to recognize the weaknesses of the flesh in order to be on guard against them when they surface.

01:14:46 Una: Or going to movies often

01:14:58 Sr. Charista Maria: Agreed regarding not escaping into family visits. It is such a grace to invite Jesus into the loneliness

01:15:43 Mary Clare Wax: Such jewels from the desert Fathers!

01:15:49 santiagobua: Thank you Father!!

01:15:51 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!

01:15:52 Rachel: Thank you

01:15:52 Josh: Thanks father

01:16:16 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father