What is the life of chastity?

St. Augustine says, “Not everyone who controls himself or denies himself from satisfying his lusts or seeks chastity is ‘chaste,’ for many have searched for chastity but found something other than chastity.” Chastity is the gift of God, who wants you to be holy as He is holy (1 Pet. 1:16). Knowing your weakness and insufficiency, He does not ask you to solve the problem on your own. Rather, He wants to grant you the chastity that comes from Him. You are the bride of the Lord Jesus, and as the loving Bridegroom of humanity, He desires your holiness, and cares for you more than you care for yourself. The Lord Jesus is your holiness: “We were buried with Him through baptism into death … knowing this, that our

807 St. John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent , trans., Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell (Paulist Press, 1982) 15.1: p. 146.

808 St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions 8.7.17 (FOTC 21:213–214).

old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Rom. 6:4–6).

Knowing that you are incapable by yourself of sanctifying your soul and body, He granted you the Mystery of Chrismation, of the fiery Holy Spirit who is capable of burning away the thorns of sin. The life of chastity is the work of the Holy Spirit, who guides the hearts of those who strive. He rebukes your heart, holds your hand, and walks with you in the way of the crucified Lord who rose from death. O child of God, have no fear of the fires of sin, for He changed the nature of fire around the three youths who trusted Him, and the Son of God walked with them in the midst of the furnace as if in a pleasant paradise (Dan. 3:25) — He himself dwells in you and consumes the fires of lust.