Immodesty Satan's Virtue

[Pax Vobiscum]

 If you would like to purchase a hard copy of this book, this link is where you can find it. It is the latest addition and it is the latest addition of the one I'm posting, with even more content. https://www.littleflowersfamilypress.com/immodestybook/                                                                          

Immodesty – Satan’s Virtue

Rita Davidson

 

Table of Contents
 
Preface to the Second Edition
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Introduction
 
Part One: A Look at Traditional Catholic Modesty
Chapter One: What Does the Church Have to Say?
Chapter Two: A Conspiracy, Really?
Chapter Three: Nakedness and the Purpose of Clothing
Chapter Four: The Disappearance of True Womanhood and Femininity
Chapter Five: Church Attire
Chapter Six: Headcoverings
Chapter Seven: What Else Does It Include?
Chapter Eight: Modesty is For Men Also
Part One: Conclusion; Reparation
 
Part Two: Questions, Concerns and Practical Tips
Chapter One: What Me Sew?
Chapter Two: Adjusting to Temperatures
Chapter Three: How to Work and Play in Dresses, Some Tips
Chapter Four: Final Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendix One: Catholic Resources
Appendix Two: Quotes to Remember; A Handy Reference
Appendix Three: Men’s Dress Worn by Women by Cardinal
Appendix Four: A Crusade & League for Modesty in Dress

Preface to the Second Edition

     As I sit here and try to decide just what to write in this Preface, my mind wanders back to all those letters we have received over the last seven months since this book has been in print.

     My heart goes out to all of you, and I want to particularly thank all those of you who have read this book and have written or called. All your kind comments have helped us to see how necessary our book is today and we are so grateful and humbled that Our Lady was able to do so much good through this book.

     With this new edition you will hopefully note an improvement in grammatical errors that we must especially thank the tremendous help, support and editing of Mrs. Colleen Drippe. Without whom we may never have been ourselves clear of all our own errors! Thank you so much!
     I would also like to thank the generous supporters and benefactors who helped us to see this book get back into print once again. Without their help we surely would be at loss for seeing these new books.

     Satan had a fine time trying to dampen our sales on the first edition with limiting the amount of publications that would review this book. But, the sales of the first edition still managed to be brisk considering that we had nearly no budget for advertising. I would very much like to thank those publications truly deserve the support of Traditional Catholics.

     We sincerely hope that this edition will be just as welcome as the first and invite bookstores, church’s or individuals who would like to help get this book into people’s hands to write or call us for information.

     May this New Year bring us all a new chance at peace and a break in the tide of sin that is enveloping the world at such an alarming rate…Our Lady of Fatima, ora pro nobis!
 
R. Davidson,
Lanark, Ont.
January 2003

Dedication

     I dedicate this work to the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of Fatima, who always pure and modest, came from Heaven to warn us of the sins of immodesty that were about to envelope the world.

     And to Jacinta, the little soul who received Our Lady’s message about Fashions that would be introduced.

     Also to St. Maria Goretti who gave up her life to be a ‘Martyr of Purity’. May we all be as brave in our everyday life and love Christ as much as she did.

     And last, but not least, Padre Pio, who bravely defended modesty in women even at the expense of offending people.
 
 
 
 
 

“How beautiful then is modesty and what a gem among virtues it is.”

Saint Bernard, Confessor and Doctor of the Church

 

Acknowledgments:

Ave Maria!

     I want to thank my dearest Sister in Christ, Jennie Lou, who was the one to introduce the issue of modest dress to me and inspire me in my practice of this virtue. Also, to my dear husband, who loves me despite all my weaknesses, and who often did my ‘dishes’ so that I could write this. Thank you also to my dearest blessings, my children, especially our eldest Sierra who graciously was the perfect example for many areas of this book, and is often an inspiration to me of womanly femininity and modesty as she becomes a young lady, (all too quickly I might add!). To Kenna, Hannah, and August who sat on my knee, nursing, much of the time I was writing this book, until his new little brother Andrew decided to join him on my lap too. Thank you to all of my children for helping me to learn how to love with the heart of Christ.

     I cannot forget to thank the priests and sisters who supported me and helped me with research, editing, typesetting and printing of this book; especially, Fr. Gavigan, Fr. Skierka, Sr. Mary Josephine and Sr. Mary Agnes.

      Last, but not least, is the immense support, input, advice and editing that I received from some dear friends, especially; Mr. Dick Lloyd and Miss Marjorie Schmidt. Without their help this book would have never been accomplished. You will remain forever in our prayers….

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Introduction:

My Story

     “I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray to the Lord our God for me.” Raccolta 691.

     With this book in your hands you have made an important step in following God’s holy will. I say this because I do not feel that modesty is for the few, but for many! Yes, even you! If you are reading this may I ask you to join me in saying a Hail Mary to our Blessed Mother, in honor of her modesty?

     “Hail Mary, full of Grace the Lord is with Thee, Blessed art Thou among women, and Blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

      It seems the time has come to address the issue of modesty. I am very glad that I can share with you what I feel God is guiding me to say during a time when it is always the “Season of undressing.” I hope with this book to be able to introduce you to a long-forgotten topic. If this book leads even one woman to fully embrace modesty in dress then I will have accomplished what I set out to do.

     I humble admit my own inadequacy in writing this book. Though I must confess I felt compelled to begin it. The more I wrote, the more I recognize my own past faults, and I only hope that for that reason I may have some particular insight that will be helpful to those who will be reading this book.

     God has sent me many lifeboats in my lifetime, trying to get me back on track. I am sure He has many more planned too. The first real lifeboat that He sent that saved my Faith and brought me back to the Church was our first daughter. I am one of many who grew up thinking that what was really immodest was just normal. That, coupled with a mediocre Catholic upbringing, led me to become a mother at the age of 18. What a deceptive world we live in! To be led into committing such sins without even being aware of it, is the great evil of immodesty. It enlists the most unaware. Those who should know better are enlisted through pride by refusing to believe and then refusing to act. I am so grateful that we have a merciful God, and that He thought I was worthy enough to save me from my path toward hell. Perhaps, this is why I felt such a great need to write this book. Knowing that if I had this information myself I may have been lead down a much different path, I only hope that you will learn from the great wealth of information that I am presenting here. God sent the great ‘lifeboat’ to me – a baby. That baby changed the path of my life forever and I will be forever humbly grateful, to God, for sending her, our eldest baby….for becoming the greatest inspiration of my life, and this book.

     So, next on this new ‘path’ was homeschooling. It was my great love for our first daughter that made me want to homeschool and naturally want to give her a Catholic education (as I thought I was given!). So, with the recommendations of those wiser in the faith than I, I used all the traditional texts for her First Communion and First Holy Communion then found myself in the confessional after a 15-year absence! Deo Gracias!

     There were many other small lifeboats that God has sent me and I know that I need so many more. But one of the next greatest things that came into my life was my dear friend, J.L. It was by her example that I was lead to consider a deeper understanding of my Faith. It was by her outer example of modesty that I was inspired to follow her manner of dressing too. I questioned her about it extensively and her answers slowly melted away the many obstacles that were making me hesitate to make the move.

     By this time we had just moved from the city to the country and our eldest girl was nine years of age. We had two other girls by then, aged five and two so a few girls’ wardrobes had to change! I knew as a Catholic wife and mother, it was important for me to be an example for my children in many ways, one of them being modesty. The fashions of today are much of the time outrageous for a Catholic have not realised the importance of modest dress. The virtue of modesty is all but forgotten everywhere from the media, magazines, and on the street. And frequently I saw this as I withdrew from the city and mainstream society and could see the world from a new perspective based on my faith. As a Catholic I thought it shouldn’t be too difficult for us to embrace this virtue and make it part of our lifestyle. When we have young children growing up, it is a good to be able to have them in an atmosphere where modesty is the norm rather than the exception. It is an absolute must if they are to have any chance of acquiring this virtue.

     I realized that our Faith is much more than just a list of virtues and commandments and Church. It is a way of thinking, acting and living. It should be so much a part of us that it shapes the way we think, the way we live and the choices we make.

      It is very important for the young children that God has entrusted to us, that, we regain as much of our Catholic culture as we can by incorporating modest dress and living into onto our daily life. My husband did not completely agree when he saw me packing away all of our daughter’s and my pants. I was little nervous too! But I persevered and prayed and it was not very long before he totally agreed that he much prefers me in dresses than in pants, that I am much more feminine that way. I then realized that it can be difficult at first making such a drastic change, especially when there are few to help you to see the reason for it. It was a friend who inspired me to change, and another that inspired me to write this book. The world is Satan’s mouth piece, and every one of these ‘mouths’ deceives us by telling us many lies – lies we have heard for all of our lives. Many of us did not know any better, and some because we  were afraid to change. It was over six years ago when I made this change in my life and I now realize that all hesitations can be overcome if we pray because our Blessed Mother will ensure that we receive all the graces necessary to make the changes successfully.

     Why would our Blessed Mother care what we wear? Why would She concern Herself with such inconsequential things when there are so many more important things to be done? I believe that this issue is much more important than we thought or Our Lady would not have mentioned it at Fatima. Modesty is one of the foundation stones of our spiritual life. Immodesty is the issue that underlies much of the sinfulness of our world which is growing every day. Satan has used every opportunity to make us believe that this issue is a non-issue. Every day the world is more blinded by its own sins, the sins of impurity, which promote the sins of immodesty which damages purity even more. We face the result of these sins, every day, with all the thousands of babies that end up in dumpsters at abortion clinics, suicide rates and increasing rates of crimes of a sexual nature. Can you see the connection? All sin begins with a thought. A sin must be first thought of and then consented to…If Satan can succeed in breaking down the natural barriers of modesty in children, then he can succeed in opening a door for those children to choose impurity in their adolescent years. Without this natural barrier to turn them away from the first hints of impure thoughts or attractions they feel comfortable with them instead. So, you see, Satan is very clever. He plans well head. If he can get at the children earlier, he can affect a whole generation in the future. With a whole generation of people living lives of impurity, abortion now, becomes a possible choice when an unexpected pregnancy is the result. And we all know the horrific abortion rates in both Canada and the U.S….Would you not agree then that all these poor aborted babies are just sacrifices on Satan’s unholy altar?

     I began to write this book after realizing what a dark world we live in and seeing many faithful Catholics following the lead of the world because there is no other voice in this great wilderness from which we are striving for heaven. No on wishes to speak of something like modesty. It is out of style, old-fashioned, un-important. But I tell you IT IS NOT! I hope I have managed to put together an argument of defense of modesty that will convince you.

     There was a distinct change in me when I began to wear dresses and skirts. Yes, I looked different but more than that I thought differently. I felt different inside and this made all the difference in my spiritual life. Dressing femininely has a way of putting you a little closer to our Creator, which is a humbling experience. It helps us develop reverence, not just in Church, but always. It helps us to live reverently, with a great respect for God and His loving Omnipresence everywhere, which is the goal of our spiritual lives; to develop holiness, becoming holy, and attaining heaven. This is one of those external practices that can help us develop our interior life which is what spiritual directors have been telling us for centuries. Venerable Louis of Granada in the Sinner’s Guide tells us, “that a true servant of God must not be content to seek interior virtues only…but must also add the practice of exterior virtues, both to preserve the first and perfectly fulfil the obligations of justice.” He goes on to explain to us the importance of our external practices just as a vine supports the fruit, saying, “He who would become a perfect Christian must remember that the interior and exterior virtues are as inseparable as soul and body…” and goes on to warn us that we must have exterior practices if we are to derive profit from our interior virtues. Our exterior works of piety protect our interior virtues. In other words our spirituality is manifested and protected by our exterior practices. For the perfection of our natural and spiritual life both external and internal practices must be used. Both are dependent on each other.

     You might be saying, “Well that’s okay for her but I have work to do, wood to bring in and gardening to do.” Fine! I say, why can’t you do these things in a dress? I do, although at first I doubted that I could. I can carry wood, garden, bake, clean the house and have done so in a dress for the last six years. I never even think of wearing anything else now. But, when a woman wears a long flowing dress and then has to do the gardening, it’s funny how it begins to influence her movements too. Now suddenly she is actin modest. She is learning to pick up her skirt when moving around, and how wonderful a feeling it is to be free to be feminine! What a gift. Skirts are a blessing in disguise to women. We are the ones who have to carry all the children and then carry all the extra pounds and scars to match! Dresses thoughtfully cover these areas so that we can still feel pretty rather than old and worn out (even when we are!).

     Just because we are women on the homestead and have a lot to do does not mean that we have to dress and act like our husbands (even if we can carry more wood than they can!). Many activities that women do today are really something that, 60 years ago, were done by a man. When we come upon an activity like, wood-working, using a chainsaw, we should ask ourselves if this is something that we should really be doing. We know that we CAN do these things, but we need to ask ourselves, SHOULD we be doing these things? This is a question we don’t ask ourselves too much today since we women are told that we can do everything now. But, would St. Joseph have let Our Lady lift heavy amounts of wood or do other manly activities? Never! He would have offered to do it for Her and, I assume, She would never have considered doing it Herself without asking for his help.

     And this brings us to the crux of modesty: how it is deeply tied to femininity for women and honour and obligation for men. Men are truly men when they feel obligated to offer to help a women with a heavy task and that obligation comes to them from our practicing of feminine modesty. There are limitations on the activities that we should do as a woman. I hope this book will help with that. There are many other areas to be touched on concerning this issue too, as it is not simply a ‘dress’ issue. I have attempted to cover many other areas concerned with this topic as well. I would encourage both men and women to read this since all men are in contact with women. Their mothers, daughters, cousins, friends and perhaps they too, can speak up and defend this issue to the women in their life and introduce this book to them. Surely, they can guide their daughters! Mothers use this book as a guide to help inspire your girls to the beauty of feminine modesty and purity perfectly shown to us in our Blessed Mother. Be an example for your sons, so that they may grow up knowing the charms of this virtue too.

     Finally, I pray that Our Lady has guide me correctly in the writing of this book and that through me, She has told you all that She would like to have said if She had written it Herself. Please pray for me…

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PART ONE: A Look at Traditional Catholic Modesty

Everyone argues in favor of the virtue he practices easily, and exaggerates the difficulties of the virtues which are contrary to it.” St. Francis de Sales

 

CHAPTER ONE (Part 1)

What does the Church have to say?

Let’s take a look through history.

 

     “Everyone argues in favor of the virtue he practices easily, and exaggerates the difficulties of the virtues which are contrary to it.” Says St. Francis de Sales.

     And I have seen many women complain about the difficulties of always wearing dresses or skirts. But as St. Francis says here, a new virtue is often difficult to practice and if the difficulties seem exaggerated, we are less apt to begin its practice. But to keep in mind that this was a common practice not so long ago, that of dressing modestly all the time, (except among those of ill repute). The Church has always been very clear about its position on the subject of modesty and heaven has given us divine warnings about it as well.

     “If men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the Deluge such as one will never have been seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priest nor faithful.” This was Our Lady’s warning at Akita, Japan in 1973.

     Now looking from where you are sitting right now…the world is, from some perspectives, quite normal looking. But, as Catholics, we all are aware of the terrible evils that lie just underneath the surface, it is a false peace. Secular humanistic materialism has overtaken society and the world and shows itself in the killing of human life, especially the unborn but perhaps soon, the elderly and disabled. Just recently there was the attack on the World Trade Center in the U.S., where a plane described as “an orange fire-ball” crashed into one of the Twin Towers. “Orange fire-ball” really reminded me of Our Lady of Akita’s prophecy. I could go on and on. The above warning from Akita, similar to what was said at Fatima earlier in 1917, should be no surprise to us. Why? Because you and I are very aware that this world is in great need of some punishment for all the evil that it is allowing to happen. And we simply cannot wait any longer to fulfill Our Lady’s request.

     The prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success from the late 17th century, which are only now becoming known, describe for us with wonderful accuracy what the end of the 20th century would be like. Speaking to Mother Mariana de Jesus She said, “…that impurity would inundate the streets like filthy ocean waters so that ‘there would be almost no virgin souls’.” Also, “Innocence will almost no longer be found in children, nor modesty in women. In this supreme moment of need of the Church, those who should speak will fall silent.” Then, “…The vices of impurity, blasphemy and sacrilege will dominate in this time…” Lastly, in one of Her apparitions She saw swords above the head of Christ that read “I shall punish heresy, blasphemy and impurity.” Does this not perfectly describe the state of our society today?

     Our Lady appeared to two young people at LaSalette. At Lourdes, She appeared to the sweet innocent Bernadette, at Fatima he appeared to three young peasant children and changed their lives forever. At Akita, She appeared to a young nun. Just look at yourself right now. What are you wearing? If Our Lady came to see you right now, would you be comfortable with what you are wearing? Would you wish you had a chance to change first? Your response to that thought is very important for you and for your soul. If you answered that you would rather have changed then I hope you would take the contents of this book seriously enough, so that if our heavenly friends should decide to choose you for a visit you may be properly prepared. More than that, we must realize that as Temples of the Holy Ghost, we are in the presence of God at every moment and that is the real reason we should take modesty in dress seriously: because our bodies hide within them a beautiful secret that is God. Our clothing should act as the curtain which covers the tabernacle which hides our Hidden Lord within.

     Now you may be wondering just why the Church would be so interested in modesty and modest dress. They have been speaking about it for centuries, in fact, ever since the Church began! Our Lady has been concerned about it as well. Like Her warning above, She warns us in every apparition to change our ways, to convert, repent, sacrifice for sinners, pray, pray and pray more. Sin is rampant, and immodesty is one of those sins. This book wishes to show you what it is, what the Church has said about it and how you can practice it effectively in your own life thereby, doing what Our Lady has asked at Fatima and helping to secure the salvation of your own soul and perhaps others.

     Immodesty is one of those sins that I have rarely heard spoken about in its proper perspective although we see the fruit of immodesty everywhere! Impurity! It is a cancer in society that is eating away at the souls of young and old alike. Yes, there are greater evils in the world, and that may be true. But a lesser evil is still an evil and if we are to expose this immodesty for what it truly is then we must begin talking about it. Only when we truly understand, can we combat it.

     But rather than just taking my word for it, I would like to present you with some ‘evidence’, so to speak, that will help explain this position which is also the position of the Church. By what standards do we judge what is and what isn’t modest? Has the Church spoken directly on this topic? Let us look at the earliest and first authority, the Bible.

     In Ecclesiasticus 19:27 we read, “The attire of the body, laughter of the teeth, and the gait of the man, shew what he is.” Clearly, this says that what we wear very much shows just who we are. And also, how we laugh and carry ourselves. What overall image are we portraying to others? Sexually attractive or respectful and modest? Modesty is concerned with the entire person. We are stressing the importance of modesty in dress but, it is by no means the most important thing. This book emphasizes it because it needs the emphasis. There are no voices today that are telling us the true path to follow. The voice of the world has become Satan’s mouthpiece and is full of lies by which he deceives us.

    Next, is the most controversial verse in the Old Testament: “A woman shall not be clothed with man’s apparel; neither shall a man use woman’s apparel; for he that doeth these things is abominable before God.” Deut. 22:5. Here we read not only about modest, but more importantly about the issue of men’s vs. women’s clothing. This distinctly says that women should not dress with men’s apparel and vice versa. This would explain why cross dressing is such an abomination, not just in our sight, but in God’s as well. In our Western culture trousers have always been predominately men’s clothing. This simple Bible quote, all by itself, tells us that it is improper or “abominable” for woman to wear men’s trousers. Even in cultures other than ours, there was always a distinct difference in the way women and men dressed. It has been a slow and even suspicious change that our fashion industry has made it fashionable for women to dress like men. Remember the in-style women’s pant suit? What about today’s sloppy look, with manly looking stripes and trousers for girls? We will stop here for now, but we will discuss this further later.

      The third quotation I want to look at is 1 Tim. 2:9-10. We are told, “In like manner I wish women to be decently dressed, adorning themselves with modesty and dignity, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but with good works, such as become women professing Godliness.” God gave us these serious statements through the Bible. Remember now, the Old Testament was written over 2000 ears ago when all women wore robes to the ground. Imagine how much more these, and other statements, apply to us today! Are women adorning themselves with ‘modesty and dignity’ today? The wisdom of the Bible never becomes outdated! It even surprises us with its truth always ‘fitting’ even in our day!

[Pax Vobiscum]

  Chapter 1 (Part 2)

     Most would stop right here and be satisfied that clearly stated in the Bible how women should adorn themselves and say the subject is simply not open to debate. This is so very true, and many Protestant sects without the authority of the Church, have done simply that. But living in an age of more than just plain Faith, our reason demands to be appeased. So, we will show that there is so much more that has been said about this subject.

     The above Bible quotes and the following quote from St. John Chrysostom tells us that immodesty is not a new sin. It is as old as the Church itself!

     In the late 3rd Century, St. John Chrysostom is quoted as saying, “the beauty of women is the greatest snare. Or rather, not the beauty of woman, but unchastened gazing.” Also, “You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not indeed, by your words, but you have done so by you dress and your deportment and much more effectively than you could by your voice. When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges in court punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death-dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body, you murder not the body but the soul. And it is not to enemies you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but our of foolish vanity and pride.” Strong words for something that goes unnoticed today!

     In the fifth century, St. Nilus gave us this disturbing prophecy that is all too true today. “After the year 1900, toward the middle of the 20th century, the people of that time will become unrecognizable….People’s appearances will change, and it will be impossible to distinguish men from women due to their shamelessness in dress and style of hair.” Doesn’t just reading this give you goosebumps?

     Quoting from A Tour of the Summa St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that St. Ambrose says “that the body should be clad and adorned appropriately, unaffectedly, simply, not in an overnice fashion, nor with costly or dazzling apparel. Modesty has a place in regulating the attire. In dress, as in all outward things, there is a reasonable and decent norm. Dress should not conflict too gaudily with established custom, provided the custom itself is decent. Nor should dress too largely absorb a person’s interest and attention, for excessive pleasure in dress is vainglory…On the other hand…slovenliness in dress (or negligence) offends against modesty.”

     Many Saints have spoken out against immodesty. For example, the Cure of Ars who is quoted as saying, “There is not a commandment of God which dancing does not cause men to break…Mothers may indeed say: ‘Oh, I keep an eye on my daughters.’ You keep an eye on their dress; you cannot keep guard over their heart. Go, you wicked parents, go down to hell where the wrath of God awaits you, because of your conduct when you gave free scope to your children; go! It will not be long before they join you, seeing that you show them the way so well…Then you will see whether your pastor was right in forbidding those hellish amusements…My God, is it possible to be purblind believing that there is not harm in dance, whereas it is the rope by which the devil drags the greatest number of souls into the abyss of hell.” These are harsh words for us mothers and we would be wise to heed them, considering where we are headed otherwise!

     The second point that is made here is that, “Modesty in dress is particularly important for women.” It goes on to explain how woman’s dress is more likely to incite a man to lust whereas the reverse is less likely. And that neither man nor woman should dress for frivolity, vanity or display.

     St. John Bosco is well known for his many ‘dreams’. But first I would like to share with you this one story that I found in a book called Smiling Don Bosco.

     One day Don Bosco noticed that two ladies were dressed immodestly but he did not wish to insult them, so he began to speak to the young girl that was with them. “I should like you to explain something to me.” He began. He asked her why she had so much contempt for her arms. She answered to him that she did not and when he insisted the mother said, “On the contrary, often I must scold her for her vanity. Besides washing them she even perfumes them with eau de Cologne.” He continued to talk to the girl saying this is exactly why he said that she had contempt for her arms. “Because when you die, your arms shall be burned in the fires of Hell.” She became alarmed and he went on to say that she would probably end up in purgatory and only the Lord knew for what length of time. He told her the flames would creep up her arms and burn her neck. After this the mother understood her duty to instruct her daughter better and when Don Bosco saw them on another visit, they were always modestly dressed.

     In another instance we read of one of his dreams where he witnessed two young maidens in a garden, discussing how beautiful an adornment it is to be pure and modest saying, “What a brilliance, what a glory, what splendor of virtue to live among the wicked and yet to preserve the purity of innocence and the integrity of morals!” They continue to discuss what can be lost, “What a pity that every day so many lose their innocence! When a boy falls into sin, Paradise is closed; the Most Holy Virgin and his Angel Guardian disappear; the music ceases; the light is put out; God is no longer in his heart; the starry road which he had trodden vanishes; he falls and remains on one point like an island in the middle of the sea, a sea of fire, which extends to the furthermost horizon of eternity and goes down to the depths of chaos. Above is head, in the darkened sky, the lightening of the Divine Justice flashes threateningly. Satan has rushed upon him and loaded him with chains, has placed his foot upon his neck, and raising his horribly ugly snout, has cried out: ‘I have conquered! Your son is my slave; he belongs to you no more!’ Joy is over for him. If, at that moment, the justice of God takes away that one point that supports him, he is lost forever.” They go on to discuss how he can rise again, how God’s mercy is infinite, but that once the innocence is lost it can never be recovered saying, “…he will feel the enormous debt which he has contracted with the Divine Justice; in spiritual combats he will be weaker.”

     What an enormous statement of truth! Having been stung by this sin it will forever remain with him as his weakness. They go on to describe the means for preserving innocence saying, “Therefore, without penance, innocence cannot be preserved…innocence crowned with penance is the queen of virtues.” They continue to discuss mortification of the heart, hearing, speech and intellect saying, “In short mortify oneself in all that happens throughout the day: cold and heat, and never seeking our personal satisfaction: ‘Mortify your earthly limbs.’” Here is the perfect example of how necessary it is for us to rediscover the importance of penance. It can be a penance to dress modestly, especially when it is quite warm or very cold. But it is times such as these that we can make use of our inconvenience and offer up our discomforts for the Holy Souls, or another worthy intention.

     In another vision of St. John Bosco where he visits Hell he discovers some of the many traps that catch people, in this case his boys, and sends them to Hell. Seeing traps of Pride, Disobedience and sins against the sixth commandment, he looks closer to discover that the most dangerous of those were sins of impurity, disobedience and pride. He also finds that these three were linked together. He goes on to discover the biggest weapons against these were prayer, spiritual reading well done, frequent Holy Communion and Confession and devotion to various Saints. His guide tells him, “Always preach against Immodesty.” Yes, always preach against immodesty! Truly this is the source of our difficulties today and how wonderful to know that the above spiritual practices can be our weapons in our battle!

[Pax Vobiscum]

Chapter 1 (Part 3)

     The Catechism of the Council of Trent details for us how the sins of impurity are filthy and gives us the means of practicing purity including Mortification, Temperance, Custody of the eyes and Modesty in Dress, “Too much display in dress, which especially attracts the eye, is but too frequently an occasion of sin. …As women are given to excessive fondness for dress, it will not be unseasonable for the pastor to give some attention to the subject, and sometimes to admonish or reprove them in the impressive words of the Apostle Peter: Whose adorning let it not be the outward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold, or the putting on of apparel. 1 Pet. 3:3..Many women are adorned with gold and precious stones, have lost the only true ornamentation of their soul and body.”

     Now, if we look to Our Blessed Mother, we see that She is our model for purity. She is forever modest in Her dress. In all approved apparitions She always presents Herself as fully clothed from the neck to the feet. Her dress does not ever show Her elbows nor do they even show Her calves of ankles but continue on down to cover Her completely with only Her feet showing. As women, we look to Mary as our model in motherhood and we strive to imitate Her virtues. Why should we not imitate Her in dress? Surely, if we focus on Her, She will never lead us wrong and we could be more assured of our salvation.

     As the centuries rolled past, immodesty continued to grow in popularity and in the last century has greatly risen. At a time when the world was literally on the brink of worldwide immodesty, our Lady of Fatima appeared to try to save us from where we were heading. Through three young innocent children She pleaded with us, showing them, even, an image of hell and the souls that are suffering there because of sins of the flesh. She asked for prayers and sacrifices for sinners telling us that, “many souls go to hell because they have nobody to pray and make sacrifices for them.”

     She gave them a vision of hell so real that it changed the lives of the three seers forever. Little Jacinta, who was known to be like all other little children, became greatly inspired to save souls after this. In Lucia’s memoirs we read, “Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issues from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by the terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent.”

     Then Our Lady looked at them sadly and said, “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.”

     Lucia goes on to tell us that this vision of Hell filled Jacinta with such horror that every penance and mortification was nothing in her eyes if it could save a soul from Hell. Many of us refrain from teaching our children about Hell because we are afraid of frightening them. If only we had seen this vision ourselves, we would understand the importance of modesty and of saving souls. But perhaps, God wished for us to learn form this little seer. For it was she who was so frightened by this vision and we who are only affected by the story of it now. Perhaps this is why the vison has not been taken seriously since then. Little Jacinta, Lucia says, would shudder at the thought of all those lost souls and kneeling, recite for hours the prayer Our Lady had taught them, which we say at the end of every decade of the Rosary, “O my Jesus! Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need of Thy mercy.”

     Those ‘most in need’ refers to those who are in greatest danger of damnation. What a humble example. She made many sacrifices and offered them all for poor sinners. We can learn very much from her and make penance a part of our everyday life and the lives of our children. When we have taught a whole generation the benefits of penance will we begin to see a change in this world we live in.

     The world was awed by Our Lady’s visit at Fatima and the great ‘Miracle of the Sun’ for all to see so that they may believe but how many have responded? When Our Lady of Fatima later appeared to ten-year-old Jacinta in 1920 she revealed that “Certain fashions will be introduced which will offend Our Divine Lord very much. Those who serve God ought not to follow these fashions. The Church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same.” Then, “More people go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.” Being one of the most famous, recent and approved apparitions of Our Lady, the main focus of its message then was sins; sins of the flesh. Have these sins increased and not lessened since 1917? It is these sins of the flesh that continue to cause wars. “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. In order to save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If you do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.” Since it is the sins of the flesh that send most souls to hell, we can presume that they are the most prolific kind of sin. If they are the most common types of sins, then when Our Lady asked for people to pray and make sacrifices for sinners, She meant that these most predominant sins largely contribute to strife and wars. Our Lady was quite serious, Her peace plan begins with a modest lifestyle along with a prayerful and penitential one.

     The Saints knew penance only too well and we read of the rigorous penances that they inflicted upon themselves for their own sins, for the Holy Souls, and to crucify their flesh for others. I myself had the blessing of knowing a fervent religious who, only under the direction of his spiritual director, undertook heroic penances. Why are we so afraid of a little penance when Our Lady always asks it for the conversion of sinners?

     The Church has looked seriously at this subject and in the last 100 years has made more pronouncements against immodesty than have ever been made at any other time in the history of the Church. Within five years of Our Lady’s appearance at Fatima, in 1921, Pope Benedict XV wrote an encyclical called Sacra Propediem in which he stated, “One cannot sufficiently deplore the blindness of so many women of every age and station. Many foolish by a desire to please, they do not see to what degree the indecency of their clothing shocks every honest man and offends God. Most of them would formerly have blushed for such apparel as for a grave fault against Christian modesty. Now it does not suffice to exhibit themselves on public thoroughfares; they do not fear to cross the threshold of churches to assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and even to bear the seducing food of shameful passions to the Eucharistic Table, where one receives the Heavenly Author of Purity.”

      As far back as 1921, Pope Benedict XV was appalled at the immodesty not only in Churches at that time but also in public places. How much more does this apply today when such shameful inventions called fashions are much worse than ever. It is obviously quite clear that immodest dress has been denounced by the Church, and repeatedly as we will see, all without success; the majority of the people have taken no heed of her good advice. It is almost as if there has been a conspiracy of silence, as most of the pronouncements made by the Church were ignored. It was as if the Church hadn’t said anything! In fact, Fr. Kunkel relates to us in his Handbook, how modest standards were released in 1928 but were ignored by the liberal press for 35 years! A real silence of the Church’s voice in the world!

     In 1926 Father Dolan, Director of the Little Flower Society, visited Liseaux and spoke to Pauline, now Mother Agnes and asked her to speak to the ladies of the Society. Her message to them said, “…that if they would please the Little Flower and win her favor, they must not follow the fashion when fashion demands immodest dress.”

     By 1928 Cardinal vicar of Pope Pius XI, Cardinal Pompili ordered a “Crusade Against Immodest Fashions, especially in schools Directed by Religious.” The letter stated “that a dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat, which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparent materials are improper.” Obviously, there was a growing problem with women’s fashions, if the Church found it necessary to establish such a Crusade in 1928. Back then, skirts had just taken a big leap up the leg, so the Church felt it necessary to counteract the direction fashions were going. They took a serious step toward trying to stem with tide of the immodest fashions that were slowly becoming commonplace, not only among non-Catholics but among the Catholic population as well.

     Again in 1930, Cardinal Sbaretti, in a letter from the Sacred Congregation of the Council issued by direction of Pope Pius XII imposed the obligation of combating immodest fashions and promoting modest, on all persons in authority – Bishops all the way through to parish priests. It stated, “…condemn emphatically the immodest fashion of dress adopted by Catholic women and girls, which fashion not only offends the dignity of women, but conduces to the temporal ruin, miserably dragging down others in their fall.” He went on to make the following decrees. “The parish priest should command feminine garb be based on modesty, and womanly ornament be a defense of virtue. Let them likewise admonish parents to cause their daughters to cease wearing indecorous dress.” “Let parents never permit their daughters to don immodest garb.” And lastly, “Maidens and women dressed immodestly are to be barred from Holy Communion…Further, if the offense be extreme, they may even be forbidden to enter the Church.” Can you imagine in this day and age someone being barred from Holy Communion or even entrance to the Church? The fuss that would be kicked up would be unbelievable! I can just see how it become a ‘human rights issue’ and some women even getting the government involved. There was a time when the Church had a voice and when it spoke people obeyed, but today that voice is but a whisper. We can only guess at all of the reasons, but we can presume that had the Priests and Bishops continued to be outspoken on the issue of immodesty we should see a little less immodesty today. But even though our bishops have not spoken, there still stands the statement that says that we should be barred from Holy Communion for immodesty. This should be enough, for those of us trying to practice, to the best of our ability, our Faith. We should take these words seriously enough to realize the importance of what we wear every time we attend Mass, regardless of whether our Pastor enforces the issue of modesty or not. It is our individual souls that is before God and we are the ones who need to do what is right, perhaps your example might give your Pastor courage to speak up on this issue.

[Pax Vobiscum]

 Chapter 1 (Part 4)

      One holy priest who was brave enough to stand up for what the Church taught us about modesty was Padre Pio. This holy stigmatist priest bore the bleeding wounds of Christ in his own body from 1918 until his death in 1968.

     Born May 25, 1887 in Petrelcina, Italy, he was ordained to the Priesthood on August 10, 1910. Shortly after on September 7th, that same year, he received the invisible stigmata which would appear and disappear until September 20, 1918 when he received the visible wounds of Christ. So many people testify to his immense holiness and humility. One of his spiritual daughters, whom I know, relates how when she first saw him, she was awed by the tremendous holiness that emanated from him as he hobbled on his stigmatized feet toward the altar to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He was loved by so many and was popular even in his own lifetime for his wisdom, kindness and his spiritual ‘gifts’. He was also very strict in the confessional and he refused to grant absolution to any woman who did not wear her skirt well below the knee. He also insisted that women do not wear slacks (pants).

     He would not “tolerate low-necked dresses or short, tight skirts, and he forbade his spiritual daughters to wear transparent stockings (nylons). Each year his severity increased. He stubbornly dismissed them from his confessional, even before they set foot inside, if he judged them to be improperly dressed.” He sent so many away, that sometimes he heard very few confessions! His explicit wish was for women to wear their skirts at least eight inches below the knees upon entering the confessional. His brothers observing these dismissals with great unease decided to fasten a sign on the Church door which read, “By Padre Pio’s explicit wish, women must enter the confessional wearing skirts at least eight inches below the knees. It is forbidden to borrow longer dresses in church and to wear them for the confessional.” With his many gifts, one that was most popular was his ability to ‘read’ souls. No one could fool this holy priest with a borrowed skirt! Often the skirts were many inches below the knees but not sufficiently long for his moral severity. He would send them away saying, “Go and get dressed.”

     What better message do we need than these very specific words of this most holy Priest! How very timely that God saw fit to give us this holy priest during an age of outright immodest fashions. His guidance speaks to us even today! May God give us other holy priests this courageous!

     Men were not excluded from the requirements of modest dress, they were not allowed to enter Church without long sleeves and long trousers. This, at one time, was the standard rule of dress for men attending Mass. There is no reason why these simple guidelines cannot be adopted by the Faithful, especially coming from this Priest who was known as a living Crucifix and a true example for priests and lay people everywhere.

     This is a dark world we now live in and our priests are only human, so we must pray for them! Those who do speak out against immodesty are to be commended, therefore, do not neglect to than your Pastor for doing this issue such justice. Our former Parish Priest made mention of it last summer and put a small notice in the bulletin as well. Another parish, who priest made mention of it, actually had parishioners walk out! This Faith of ours, is not for our picking and choosing, we must stop saying, “I will not serve!”

     In 1946 the Canadian Bishops directed their comments to men by saying, “Man himself does not escape from the inclination of exhibiting his flesh: some go in public, stripped to the waist, or in very tight pants or in very scanty bathing suits. They thus commit offences against the virtue of modesty. They may also be an occasion of sin (in thought or desire) for our neighbour.” Often, we think that modesty is simply for girls or women, but clearly it is for men also as we can see from this statement. It is true though, that the larger part of the responsibility of adhering to modesty is in a woman’s hands simply because of the difference between women and men. Men are much more likely to fall into temptations by simply seeing a woman scantily clad, whereas, women sometimes take no notice of a scantily clad man. But in this highly visual age in which we live, there is a higher chance of women responding the same way and so it is imperative, that men also obey the rules of modesty and preserve, as best they can, the standards of modesty in society.

     In 1940, Pope Pius XII, addressing a ground of Catholic Action girls, stated, “Many women…give in to the tyranny of fashion, be it even immodest, in such a way as to appear not even to suspect that it is unbecoming. They have lost the very concept of danger; they have lost the instinct of modesty.” Later, during the 1950’s, this same Pope, when speaking to Catholic Young Women’s Groups of Italy stated, “The good of our soul is more important than that of our body; and we have to prefer the spiritual welfare of our neighbour to our bodily comforts..If a certain kind of dress constitutes a grave and proximate occasion of sin, and endangers the salvation of your soul and others, it is your duty to give it up…O, Christian mothers, if you knew what a future of anxieties and perils, of ill-guarded shame you prepare for your sons and daughters, imprudently getting them accustomed to live scantily dressed and making them lose the sense of modesty, you would be ashamed of yourselves, the harm which you are causing these children, whom Heaven has entrusted to you to be brought up as Christians.”

     He also often stated that, “The greatest sin of our modern generation is that it has lost all sense of sin.” This statement was made back in the 1940’s and 50’s, and it is more relevant today than it was then. We should be so grateful that God has blessed us with Popes who have had such insight! Children are born with a natural disposition toward modesty, which is especially noticeable as they grow and change. But take these same children and put them from birth in scantily clad “bikinis”, “speedos” and all other related clothing and you will see these same children will grow up with no shame about being partly nude, regardless of the company. Even in our own country here in Canada, I am ashamed to say, we have had ‘topless’ women up at our Parliament Hill demanding the right to go topless in public! What insanity! And even more insanity is that our Government gave them the right. A sure sign that our country is on a downward spiral of its own.

     It is imperative that children be dressed properly from a young age, so as to instill in them the simple habit of being covered. This will guarantee them a chance of growing up with the natural modesty that God instilled in them as a sure protection for their purity later in life. Imagine living in a world where you must protect your children from people on the street who do not have the common decency to cover themselves? It is bad enough to have to shield them from immodest and even impure advertising billboards but I’d hate to live in a world where walking down a street could cause me, my husband and children to see nudity, which in some areas is possible already. What a sad place this world is becoming and it is getting worse every day.

     In 1948, Pope Pius XII made this very clear statement, “Mainly through sins of impurity do the forces of darkness subjugate souls.” And this was in 1948! Imagine the immodesty today compared to 1948; it makes you want to shiver! Sins of impurity are so common that their sinfulness, in the Catholic sense, has been diluted. But these sins, like others, darken the soul and make us slaves to our appetites.

     When Our Lady appeared at Fatima in 1917 she showed the three children a vision of hell saying “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go.” Imagine the many souls falling to hell every day from these sings of immodesty! “Sacrifice yourself for sinners” Our Lady of Fatima told the children. Even if all of the Church are not able to convince you surely Our Lady’s words can! This is one of the main reasons why F. Kunkel, found it necessary to emphasize modesty in his Crusade. He states, in his Marylike Handbook, “It is like a spiritual cancer slowly eating away the spiritual life in souls. It has brought the world to the brink of another Sodom and Gomorrah, this time on a worldwide scale.” Pope Pius XII sums it up when he says, ‘We are facing the threat of the greatest catastrophe since the deluge.’”

     Is there a country that we can visit today, which has not been overtaken by immodest fashions? Sin as widespread as this surely has outraged God so much that we are facing a great chastisement of His holy justice.

[Pax Vobiscum]

                                                              Chapter 1 (Part 5)

         

       There is such a large collection of statements made, especially by this holy Pope Pius XII, that we could not begin to include them all but we will include those that we feel most important here for your consideration. In 1952, speaking to the women of Belgium, Pope Pius XII said, “You live in a world that attacks your faith and purity in a thousand ways. You must fight vigorously against a hostile world penetrated by paganism.” It is an absolute necessity that we fight against this tide and overcome the evil that has seduced the world into lukewarmness. Jesus warned us about lukewarmness! We must become martyrs. Martyrs of Purity! We must be willing to ‘go to war’ and as insignificant as we think we are, God will make use of us if we let Him. Our lives touch more people than we are aware. Only in heaven will we see the good that we have done, and the people’s lives we have touched.

     One of the places where we have the ability to affect someone’s life significantly is among children. As parents, we play a great role when it comes to preserving their modesty and purity. Pope Pius XII tells us, “O Christian mothers (and fathers), if only you knew the future of distress and peril, of shame ill-restrained, that you prepare for your sons and daughters in imprudently accustoming them to live hardly clothed and in making them lose the sense of modesty, you would be ashamed of yourselves and of the harm you have done the little ones whom Heaven has entrusted to your care, to be reared in Christian dignity and culture.” This is a frightening statement if we consider the heavy responsibility this places on us in the eyes of God. We have been duped into thinking that scantily clad infants are okay. It is customary to see semi-nude attired on infants but we, as Catholic parents, should rethink this issue. It should not be the norm. Is it any wonder that there is so much skin cancer in society today? A lifetime of semi-nude attire could be cause of this, I am sure. But, more than that, children remember so well. How can we expect them to dress modestly as teenagers if they see pictures and remember wearing little infant bikinis? The pull of society and their peers is great. We will help them to resist if we teach our children as infants to dress properly, no matter the weather. If they grow up this way, it will not be so difficult for them to turn down the ridiculous fashions that present themselves today as normal. You will reap the rewards of modest living by starting your children out on the right foot, instilling in them a reverence for their bodies, which are temples of the Holy Ghost. This will help them grow into pure and chaste adults. The world today will tell parents differently. Recently, in the Sept/Oct. 99’ edition of Mothering magazine is an article entitled ‘Touch Taboos’ which goes on to state that nudity is a good thing saying, “..the more something is forbidden, the more piqued a child’s curiosity will be..” The article continues like this with explicit language, that I will not repeat. The conclusion of the article is that there should be no fear of nudity..that is it is all our ‘covering up’ that has caused much of the molestation, etc…that we are only now finding out about. How absolutely ludicrous! Can you imagine how upside-down Satan has turned our world to think that families being nude together would solve such a problem? This is a simple example of how deeply Satan has infected our completely blinded society!

     In 1956, Archbishop Albert G. Meyer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin stated in a Pastoral Letter, “…Everyone knows that during the summer months particularly, things are seen here and there which are certain to prove offensive to anyone who has retained some respect and regard for Christian virtue and human modesty…often even in buildings dedicated to God, an unworthy and indecent mode of dress has prevailed..Feminine clothing, if that can be called clothing which contains nothing to protect either the body or modesty, is at times of such a nature that it seems to serve lewdness rather than modesty.” We live in a rural area here, thank God, and are largely protected from the immodesty of the cities. But no sooner do we enter the limits of the city, than we are bombarded with lewd advertisements on billboards, or if we dare go into a shopping mall, we must pass lingerie shops, or stores with embarrassing items at the counter or these items even discarded on our very sidewalks! It is not safe for children to be exposed to these places! We keep away from them at all costs since society has simply gone insane with sexuality. Its virus is spread everywhere waiting to snare the least expected and especially the innocent ones!

     By 1957, Pope Pius XII summed up the problem by saying, “there exists an absolute norm to be preserved in modesty in dress.” This norm, then, should not be affected by style or custom since both style and custom has been known to go wrong! If modesty is out of style it must still be practiced!

     A holy priest who devoted his life to combating immodesty and from whom I take most of my inspiration is the late Rev. Bernard A. Kunkel. As late as 1969 Fr. Kunkel fought against immodest dress. He wrote, “One of strange phenomena of history is the fact that the devil has succeeded so well in keeping concealed the existence of the corrupting body of Satan with its long-range program for the destruction of the Church…The corrupting body of Satan still exists in our time and is very well organized in its efforts to use the modern fashions, filthy literature, indecent movies, pagan TV shows, drugs, drink, (and may I add filthy music. Ed.) etc. to break down morality among Catholics in order eventually to destroy the Church and Christianity…But the Devil could not hope to corrupt completely Christ’s Mystical Body, the Catholic Church, unless he could first succeed in dethroning Mary, the Mother Most Chaste, from the hearts of Catholics.” In 1944, Fr. Kunkel founded the Purity Crusade of Mary Immaculate with the Episcopal Blessing of the late Bishop Henry Althoff. Pope Pius XII imparted his Apostolic Blessing I 1954 and again in 1955. Using the dress guides from Pope Pius XI he developed the following guidelines; “Marylike dresses have sleeves extending at least to the elbows, and skirts reaching below the knees (eight inches)…Marylike dresses require full coverage for the bodice, chest, shoulders, and back, except for a cut-out about the neck not exceeding two inches below the neckline in front and in back, and a corresponding two inches on the shoulders…they do not admit as modest coverage, transparent fabrics – laces, nets, organdy, nylons, etc. – unless sufficient backing is added..avoid the improper use of flesh coloured fabrics…dresses should conceal rather than reveal the figure of the wearer, they do not emphasize, unduly, parts of the body.”

     “The world, the flesh and the devil have teamed up in an all-out attempt to undermine the virtue of purity by battering down its safeguard which is modesty in dress. Mothers must again become mirrors of modesty if the victory over the devil’s scheming is to be won.” How many mothers, unknowingly, have encouraged their young daughters in immodesty? By themselves wearing tight fitting mini skirts for work or seeking to be in style they have silently told their daughters that this type of wear is “okay”. When a child argues, “Well my mother wears this.” Or worse, “Well my mother bought this for me.” We can see that these children have been misled by their own mothers. Please, dear mothers, inform yourselves on this issue, teach it to your children, especially your daughters. Help them to understand it too. Help them to love modesty and to seek to grow in it. If you have already misled them, confess your wrong and begin to make these changes in your own life, explaining to your own children why you are doing this, perhaps giving them this book if they are old enough. But do not accept defeat, because Satan will try his best to interfere with any progress one makes for modesty since he knows it is the key to the salvation of man. Call upon Our Lady to guide you!

     Pope John XXIII, when he was Papal Legate to France found himself at a scrumptious banquet seated beside a woman with a very low-cut dress. Everyone watched to see what he would do. When apples were passed around, he graciously offered one to the woman next to him, but she refused. But he insisted, “But you must eat it for it was only after Eve ate the apple that she realized that she was naked.” Imagine the shock, but moreso, what more perfect words for such a situation!

     In 1960, Cardinal Siri, thought it necessary to explain the dangers of men’s dress worn by women and released a document of the same title that same year. We think this is one of the most important documents and so we have included it in full in Appendix Two. In it he went on to explain in side and clear reasons why this is so wrong and such a danger to society. He cited three basic reasons which we will look on in our chapter on the Disappearance of True Womanhood and Femininity.

[Pax Vobiscum]

Chapter 1 (Part 6 - Final Part)

     
More recently in 1980, Fr. Robert J. Fox, in an article titled, ‘Where Did Modesty Go?’ states, “Together with the loss of the sense of sin-which popes for decades have been warning us was happening-has come the loss of the sense of modesty. I’ve discovered that teenagers and young adults have been exposed to so much nudity…that they are often not conscious of what is even meant by the word ‘modesty’.” Is this not so very true? Even though some may be aware of what modesty is, is there a desire to conform? Is there even a recognition of the importance of modesty and the necessity of it? There is no longer anyone for young people to look up to in society to imitate their modesty. Although we have Our Lady and the saints, especially St. Maria Goretti, who died to defend her purity and practiced modesty, they often cannot compete with the stunning singers, and glittery Hollywood stars. Even the toys today give a poor example of modesty. The first to come to mind here is the ever famous ‘Barbie’. If you allow barbies in your home do not be surprised when you find it impossible for them to remain clothed. A friend of mine related that, “(her) mother used to get very upset when she saw our babies in a state of undress.” They simply cannot seem to keep their clothes on! What could have been concocted in the mind of Satan than toys that resemble small naked women that can lie about a home so that to look upon them is considered so normal that adult nakedness these with wholesome toys that will inspire creativity and good morals.

     The impact of the Media is so strong that we can barely ‘hear’ the truth over all the ‘noise’. Unless we can eliminate these harmful influences from the lives of our children, we have little chance of influencing them against the pull of humanistic society. For those who are able, homeschooling will help protect the children from much of the glare of society. In this day of videos and such, you should full your children’s hearts with the old movies that were made of the Saints and religious life. If your children are used to the highly visual media of TV these will do wonders in influencing them and raising their hearts toward God. Save them from the snares of the devil any way that you can! Many new companies have begun to produce Catholic movies as well. Some can be rented, otherwise they can be purchased. See appendix for addresses.

     Sister Lucia, one of the seers at Fatima, who is still living, while speaking with an American couple sometime before 1969 said, “When I think of the United States, I think of this: One of the things Our Lady especially asked for was modesty in dress. There seems to me to be not much modesty in the life of the women of your country. But modesty would be a good sacrifice to offer to Our Lady, and it would please her. If the Catholics in your country could make a league for modesty in dress…it would greatly please Our Lady.” It is sad that our country is recognized as immodest by foreigners. That ‘freedom’ is equated with ‘moral freedom’ as well. But one cannot remain free if one doesn’t adhere to the restraints of modesty, unless one wishes to become a slave to his passions, which is not freedom at all. But since a league for modesty in dress is what will please Our Lady we have done just that! Our Lady’s League of the ‘Martyrs of Purity’ Crusade is dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima and under the patronage of St. Maria Goretti. We have placed it completely in the hands of Our Lady and wish that her ‘Crusade’ will spread far and wide, to every corner of the earth to proclaim the virtue of modesty! You can help us spread and grow with Our Lady’s message too. See Appendix. 7

    Even Pope John Paul II’s New Catechism of the Catholic Church lists “modesty” as one of the fruits of the Holy Ghost. 1832 it also states, “Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity.” 2521. Later in 2422 it states, “Modesty is decency. It inspires one’s choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.” Lastly it states; “Purity of heart requires the modesty which is patience, decency and discretion.” 2533

      There are even more statements that have been made, many by various saints and religious. What is surprising is that these statements have not been disseminated down to the everyday Catholic. We have lost our beautiful Catholic culture. All of us are aware of what secular and pagan countries we live in. But long ago, Catholics could be recognized by their dress. We stood out in the crowd as examples of purity and modesty, “like shining torches in the darkness” and this is what attracted and converted so many pagans in the early years. But that is all but gone now, one cannot pick out a Catholic on the street from anyone else. Catholics shop in the same stores, read the same books and look the same as non-believers. This should not be so!

     If we look to many of the Protestant sects we see that many have adopted modesty and take it quite seriously. These are people who do not have the Magisterium to look to for counsel. After reading many books and articles I have seen that these people have taken one or two statements from the Bible, and by alone, they take modesty very seriously. Where have we gone wrong? Why do we, as Catholics, not take modesty seriously?

     We have seen in this chapter, from the very beginning God had in mind to lay some basic rules for us concerning this issue. As time went on God choose various Saints to remind us of one aspect or another of this subject. Often they showed us the consequences of our actions. AS the centuries went on and immodesty and impurity accelerated to the degree it has taken on today, the Church itself began to release statements and comments about the situation. These statements are very specific, and make it quite clear what is expected of us and that what was developing in the fashion industry was not heaven’s approval. As many of these statements were ignored and never taken seriously, Our Lady began appearing herself, first at LaSalette, then Lourdes then Fatima and Akita and told us directly that what was opening up in front of us carried with it a stench from hell. The more society progressed and advanced to become ‘civilized’ the more we needed direction from the Church and heaven to guide us in modesty in dress which would safeguard the purity of the world.

      In all Our Lady’s appearances she appealed to us as the beautiful Mother of God, adorned modestly with a countenance that heaven shone upon. Her fashions never changed, but were never outdated, and so remained the same. She calls us to follow her example of modesty and purity and adopt a modest wardrobe that follows Heaven, which ‘has no fashions, but always remains the same.’

     We can see that as this sin escalated in the world, so did the intervention of the Church and heaven in attempting to redirect us back on the path of sanity. Still today our society is so steeped in this sin that we continue to ignore the demands of heaven.

     We all belong to this beautiful Faith in which we have the direction of the Magisterium that has guided us century after century. We have a whole list of statements that have been made in the last 100 years by our Church to show us the way. Heaven has even sent us Our Lady to point out the evils in our time. Why are we no longer listening? Why do we not take their advice seriously? Is it perhaps a small voice inside of us, saying, “I will not serve”? Perhaps this is so, but what a mistake it is since the devil takes immodesty very seriously, very seriously indeed.

     “The judgement of God upon your sex endures even today; and with it inevitably endures your position of criminal at the bar of justice. You are the gateway of the devil.” Tertullian on Women’s Dress.

[Pax Vobiscum]

“The judgement of God upon your sex endures even today; and with it inevitably endures your position of criminal at the bar of justice. You are the gateway of the devil.”

- Tertullian on Women’s Dress

 

CHAPTER TWO

A Conspiracy, REALLY?

 

     Yes, so much so that even Fr. Krunkel wrote articles discussing the fact that there is a evil conspiracy keeping this information from the people. If you still find it hard to believe that Satan is behind the entire downward slide to impurity we must look to some very real and documented events.

     The most important and significant of these occurred in 1793 on November 10th. During the French Revolution, a mob forced its way into the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and toppled the statue of the Virgin Mother from Her altar to replace Her with a nude statue of “the Goddess of Reason”. As the revolution spread during the next century, we saw the diabolical results. France, once known as the, “Eldest Daughter of the Church” became corrupted and morally empty and has suffered many wars as a punishment from God. 7

     Its program of destruction was later revealed by a French paper, “The French Woman”, in the words, “Our children must realize the ideal of nakedness…Thus the mentality of the Child is rapidly transformed. To escape opposition, progress must be methodically graduated; first, feet and legs naked; then. Upturned sleeves; the back;…in summer the children will go around almost naked in all weathers.”

     In recent years here in Canada, feminists lobbied and won the right to go topless in public claiming, if men can do it why can’t we? Can you just hear the devil laughing with that victory! It can hardly be denied that the slow slide toward more and more nudity and general immodesty was a planned program of Satan himself. When one looks at the last 100 years how could we imagine it was all just a coincidence!

      Later in 1846, the Pontifical Government of Italy, under Pope Gregory XVI, seized secret documents from the communists. They were eventually published in French in 1875 with the approval of Pope Pius IX. Just to read some of that document is frightening, “It has been decided in our councils that we must get rid of Catholics, but we do not want to make martyrs, so let us strive to popularize vice among the people. It must enter by their five senses: Let them drink it in and be saturated with it…make men’s hearts corrupt and you will have no more Catholics. Keep the priests away from their work, the altar and the practice of perfection. Aim skilfully at occupying his thoughts and his time elsewhere…I recently heard one of our friends making fun of our projects saying, ‘To overthrow Catholics, you must begin by suppressing the female sex.’ The saying is, in a certain sense, true, but since we cannot suppress woman, let us corrupt her along with the Church…The best dagger with which to wound the Church to death, is corruption.” Satan’s plan for nakedness is also his plan for our ruin!

     “Where virtue is, there are many snares.” Said St. John Chrysostom and it is no wonder since the practice of modesty contains within it such great treasure. Is it not surprising that the devil uses this issue to divide people into picking or taking sides or feeling the issue is simply unimportant? 7

     It should not have been surprising when in 1930, Pope Pius XI warned against this in his encyclical, “Caritate Christi Compulsi”. Here he reminds us that the Red Atheism is organized in its anti-religion program; that “it works its way even into the common (elementary) schools; it appears in theaters; in order to spread it makes use of its own cinema films, of the gramophone and the radio; with its own printing presses it prints booklets (comic) in every language; it promotes special exhibitions and public parades (bathing contests, etc.) “If I didn’t know it, I would say this Pope was speaking to us today! Not much has changed! 7

     The late Alfred Cardinal Shuster of Milan, Italy made this statement about the communists that should have alerted everyone, but it must have fallen on deaf ears when he said that, the communist party had “a thoroughly diabolical campaign to ruin Italy and send his children to Hell through the demon of impurity.” He went on to state that “the Pioneers of Italy, a communist organization, stages parties and dances at which boys and girls between seven and fourteen are urged to indulge in petting and kissing.” 7. These dances are already going on in elementary schools, in fact, I remember going to dances in my own Catholic school when I was barely in 4th and 5th grade! What possible purpose did these dances serve? There were perhaps one or two teachers “on duty” and the lights were turned down low and modern music was played. I can remember these so vividly and now find it utterly amazing that they could have allowed such things to go on in a Catholic School!

     What possible purpose could there be in having these kinds of dances for young innocent children? Is this the way to make saints? Will this prepare them spiritually, for the tumultuous adolescence that will soon follow? Or will these dances simply be another “nail in the coffin” in which their faith is buried, perhaps forever! Satan is well aware of this fact and has fooled the schools into thinking that this activity is necessary for the children’s entertainment. Could they not organize other activities that would instead lift their hearts and minds towards God?

     “History is again repeating itself.” Wrote Father Kunkel in a 1957 issue of Divine Love magazine. “As the powers of darkness finally succeeded in capturing the physical Body of Christ, so today, these same forces are striving feverishly to capture the Mystical Body of Christ-the Church.” The Church today can say in the words of Christ, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Father Kunkel goes on to explain. “Never before in the Christion era have these powers of darkness has such a strangle-hold on the Church and its individual members. This is so, because they are reaching the climax of their conspiracy against Christ-the crucifixion of His Church.” Truly this is even more true today than when it was written in 1957! How much more fearful we should be of the wrath of God upon mankind when babies are killed by the thousands every year and fashions are beyond immodest but bordering more on nudity.

     “One of the strange phenomena of history is the fact that the devil has succeeded so well in keeping concealed the existence of the corrupting Body of Satan, with its long-range program for the destruction of the Church. Catholics just do not seem to be aware that, as soon as Christ instituted His Church-His Mystical Body-the devil likewise organized his anti-church, his corrupting body.” As many Saints and Pope Leo XIII have said, “The corrupting body of Satan still exists in our time and is very well organized. It is preparing to strike (what it believes will be) the last blow needed to lay the Church in its tomb. One of its most deadly weapons is impurity and concupiscence of the flesh to wreck ‘the human temples of the Holy Ghost.’”

     Father Kunkel tells us how since the fall of Adam and Eve, Satan has very cleverly used impurity to destroy entre nations as in the time of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Deluge, or the Roman Empire. In this way they were destroyed from within just as the Church today is being destroyed from within.

     A conspiracy is not so hard to believe when we understand how truly revolting the sin of impurity is to God. Impurity is one sin that we do against ourselves. This body that we inhabit, will one day be destined to be in the presence of God, and impurity is the one sin that will stain it and be carried with it like a banner telling what we have done. My daughter loves reading and relating what she has read. Lately, she has had a great interest in Purgatory and Hell and tells us in a book she is reading called Purgatory, that a nun had a vision of souls in purgatory who must sit in the most vile and filthy environment until their debt from impurity is paid. This environment was so awful it made the poor nun who had seen the vision, nauseous and sick. 21

     Despite the Church’s obvious pleas, we can all agree that this last century has brought us into a continual slide into nakedness. As each decade has passed, the Church’s influence has become less and less and its voice in society has all but disappeared. We can see that there really must have been some kind of planned attack. We’ve seen how the growing humanism exploded during the French Revolution. Later Communist documents revealed the true intentions of the communists and how very plainly their directives have been slowly put into place around the world.

     Impurity is so enmeshed in our society that it will take heaven’s intervention to uproot it now. It is now commonplace to see bare arms, legs, midriffs and all this without ever going to a beach! One can even see this splendid display in Church! God Forbid! The smoke of Satan has truly entered the Church when immodesty is not only seen on the streets, but even in our own churches today! “The judgements of God upon your sex endures even today; and with it inevitably endures your position of criminal at the bar of justice. You are the gateway of the devil,” said Tertullian on Women’s Dress. We can be the gateway of the devil or the gateway to heaven. If we are to see a change in society it must start with us. Women having more of a sense of modesty makes us Satan’s target. If he can destroy a woman’s femininity, he can destroy her modesty and it is women who maintain the chastity in the world. Our choice for modesty alone can be the starting point for many other women we will meet during our everyday lives. We must set an example of Our Lady’s modesty and the Churches teaching on it. It all starts or ends with us.

[Pax Vobiscum]

“Where virtue is, there are many snares.”

St. John Chrysostom

 

CHAPTER THREE:

Nakedness and the Purpose of Clothing

 

     What is most interesting is just how the bible views this nakedness. Adam and Eve were naked in the garden and when they discovered their nakedness “they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.” Gen. 3:7. Later when God found out what they had done, it was evident that their new knowledge had tripped them of ‘original grace’ and so He now clothed them to cover up their ‘original sin’.

     The devil had first corrupted Eve and through her was able to make Adam fall. And so, it is with society today. The devil lures women by their vanity into immodest fashions, which in turn makes men fall and become beasts incapable of attaining heaven. Throughout history we can see it is a woman’s fate to bring out the best or worst in a man. The fate of the world very much depends on the response of women!

     We are all decedents of Adam and Eve and consequently of their original sin as well. Before their fall they were ‘Pure of Heart’ and clothed in God’s grace and therefore, not in need of clothing. But after the fall, they were afraid. They had lost the grace of God and this lack of grace weakened them and made it necessary for God to clothe them to protect their dignity, perhaps, even to save them from the occasion of sin in their new weakened state.

     The dignity of the person is protected by clothing. Its purpose being both protection and adornment. It is what covers for all the minor imperfections that naturally come with life and aging. So when a person is stripped of their clothing, it is a humiliation.

     This is why it is done to prisoners of war and we read about this in the accounts of the concentration camps in World War II. In a talk given by the late Dr. Marra, he tells how Cardinal Mindszenty was chased around the room naked when he was being interrogated. And we are all aware of the ultimate humiliation caused Our Lord Jesus Christ when He was stripped and made to hang upon a cross. This act of humiliation strips the last shred of dignity from the human form.

     Nakedness, in itself, was seen wherever there was idolatry and sin. It was sinful men who stripped Jesus. In the New Testament, we see that it is the demon possessed man who is naked. Luke 8:27. “there met him a certain man who had a devil now a very long time, and he wore no clothes.” Later, after Jesus drove out the legion of devils, “found the man, out of whom the devils had departed, sitting at his feet, clothed, and in his right mind…” Luke 8:35 and in Exodus 32:2-25 we read of Moses being delayed up the mount and when he returned he discovered the people worshipping a golden calf in their nakedness. God severely punished them for this and removed their names from His book. Clearly then, nakedness is associated with evil and sin and it was by the influence of the devil that the people became naked. The people themselves in nakedness, were also practicing idolatry and this cost them their lives.

     In this day and age, does it surprise us to see so much nakedness? A poet of ancient pagan Rome wrote: “Vice necessarily follows upon public nudity.” In a society that thinks the rights of women are above committing murder on a defenseless child, where one is bombarded with bare flesh at movies, from magazine covers sitting on shelves, from billboard advertisements and even on the street, can you ask: is this a Godless society? You bet it is! As the level of nakedness in society has increased so has the level of promiscuity, abortion and crimes of a sexual nature. Every day we hear of all the crimes of this type. The media never shrinks from giving us all the horrible details of these crimes perhaps thinking the details will be of interest to a society with an infinite curiosity about morbid things. Who do we believe is master of this world right now?

     Satan has deceived humanity into falling for his hedonistic materialism thinking they will find great happiness. Little do they know they are simply helping to increase the amount of evil in the world, thereby adding to the wars and strife. Immodesty is one of the greatest sins of our age. Our Lady of Fatima told us that “If you do what I tell you, many souls will be saved, and there will be PEACE.” 14. Would you ever have thought that the wars and persecution of this age are greatly a result of the sins of immodesty in society? Many would be astounded at this thought. But this is what Our Lady has said. Adopting a modest wardrobe and lifestyle will not only do a woman some good, but in a small way it can help bring about peace. This is no small issue as you can see. The whole world is waiting for our response!

[Pax Vobiscum]

                                                             “A man’s good work is affected by doing what he does; a woman’s by being what she is.”       

GK. Chesterton

Chapter Four (Part 1):

The Disappearance of True Womanhood;

A look at the secular history of dress…

 

A Note on Customs…

     It is necessary to mention that custom can never determine modesty. As we know, custom is not necessarily guided by the True Faith as is evidenced by the people of primitive cultures who, by our standards, live in nakedness. As missionaries spread the Gospel and primitive people became converted, there were naturally taught and encouraged to dress modestly. This was only natural.

     Custom also varies with the country and therefore, with the belief of the people. As it is not fixed on the True Faith it cannot be looked to for guidance, though we can learn something from it. The people of India who are Hindu in their belief have a custom by which women wear a trouser like garment under a long slitted tunic. Some would argue then that trousers are acceptable for women. My first response is that since these are people whose Faith is not the True Faith; we should not look to them for guidance in this matter. But it is interesting to note that in India there is still a noticeable difference between the dress of men and women. While women often have richly colored clothes, men have plain colors. So, the difference between men and women is maintained in these cultures. As in the case of biblical clothing it seems at first that the men and women both wore the same. But this is not so. It is known, that in the Bible times, the men’s clothing was but narrower and was shorter. They also wore a pair of short trousers under their robes and women did not. So, when men had some laborious type work, they would pull up their robe and tuck it into their short trousers, this was called in the bible, ‘girding up your loins’. Women’s robes, were fuller and of more vibrant colors compared to the simpler colors of the men’s. Again, the distinct difference between the men and women was maintained. And it is still maintained today in eastern cultures.

     But here, in the West, there was a distinct difference in men’s and women’s clothing up until just the last 40 years or so. Our public bathrooms today still note this difference. The men’s bathroom has a figure in pants while the women’s have a figure in a skirt/dress. Trousers in the West have always been solely men’s attire. Proper clothing for women consisted of dresses which varied in style but were always dresses. You could easily determine the difference. So, in Deut. 22:5 where we are told not to wear the clothes of the opposite sex, we take this to mean that trousers are appropriately, men’s attire, as I will attempt to show you.

     It is interesting to take note of women’s dress throughout history. Throughout our history we can see only one mode of dress for women: dresses or skirts. There simply was no other proper attire. The styles changed from slim to quite large, especially among the richer classes. Among the pioneers the style changes were less severe due to lack of money and so varied only somewhat. The women wore anywhere from 2 to 15 petticoats at a time to get the fullness needed for the style of the day. These petticoats were quite heavy and were also dangerous to the women for if they ever fell into water they would surely drown just from the weight. Also, the bulk of the fabric was quite flammable and many a woman died tending a fire when a spark got on her dress. This did not deter women from dressing this way, as thy continued to dress this way until the 1830-40’s or so when the hoop was introduced. With the introduction of the hoop, the weight of the bulky clothing was gone, but they still were femininely dressed.

     One can see through all these decades one thing that did not change and that was the length of the dress. Never did it ever pass above the ankle. 23. It went through many variations in style, some admittedly quite ridiculous, but it was unheard of for it to ever rise above the ankle. Never would a woman ever consider wearing pants as this was solely for men. Even the rugged and hardworking pioneer women who had to struggle to do much hard work went through great trouble to continue to work in their dresses. Europe was much the same. Most of us are too young to remember the age when women strictly wore dresses, and as Hillaire Belloc says in “How the Reformation Happened” that what does not happen in our lifetimes is soon forgotten.

     We are all aware of the roaring twenties, which began very shortly after Our Lady of Fatima’s prediction in 1917, that “Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much.” Here we see the introduction of the mini skirt after centuries of women having their legs covered. Mary Quant of London, the dress designer who designed the mini-skirt was quoted in Newsweek, “Mini-skirts are symbolic of those girls who do not want to wait until dark to seduce a man into bed.” The intentions of the designer are sadly obvious in the mini-skirt. How long will it take us to respond to Our Lady who is still waiting for us to hear her request? 26.

     World War II, brought the women out to help the war effort in the factories and out of necessity they began to wear men’s pants for safety. And they were just that, MEN’S PANTS. Back then it would have been considered indecent for a woman to wear pants and she would have been considered of ‘ill repute’. Any decent man would not consider going out with a girl who wore them. But they soon became a habit liberating women, or so they thought, of their confining dresses. It is interesting to note that shortly after trousers became commonplace, women also began to leave their places at home and infiltrated the work force. So, in reality, trousers liberated women to be in the work force. The 1940’s soon turned into the 1950’s and pants quickly became the mainstay as each decade passed. The time of feminine women in dresses was slowly fading and soon forgotten. Ironically, the idea of the working mom became commonplace by the late 1950’s and today is still believed to be a necessity.

     If we look at the past 50 years, can we honestly say that the world is in a better state? Has the liberation of women into the work force helped out families to become stronger? As Bishop Williamson said to me during a phone conversation, “When you take away the mothers, where are the children?” We see more broken families, abortion and illegitimate children today than ever. Rampant promiscuity, homosexuality and impurity are the sins of this age and we cannot dispute this fact. Trousers having cause the defeminization of women also led to a loss of their sense of modesty. Growing up without this natural protection of modest femininity there is a sense of ‘freedom’. This ‘freedom’ is the case of many a girl’s promiscuity, when she is too young to use her sense of reason. Dresses protect, nurture and help develop this natural modest femininity that girls need and that trousers steal from them. Is it any wonder how these young unknowing girls, manage to find themselves teenage mothers having to face the issues of abortion or early motherhood?

     When the heart of a mother has been defeminized, we see the destruction of the family. “If the man is the head of the family, the woman is the heart, as he occupies the chief place in ruling, so she may go and claim for herself the chief place in love.” Pope Pius XI. With the heart of the home missing, the family simply falls apart. The center of love is gone. Women are the glue that holds families together and the embodiment of true womanhood is what distinguishes a woman from a man – her feminine character. Her gentleness, humility, gracefulness and femininity are all the jewels that make a woman truly shine and be what she should be. She is known for her compassion, “She bears the sins of the world in her heart.” 13 and by doing so she becomes the instrument by which God bestows the graces of conversion on mankind. What a beautiful duty we have in being a woman! 13.

[Pax Vobiscum]

Chapter 4 (Part 2)

      What is really wrong today is that this sense of femininity is no longer there. As women put on men’s pants and went out into the work force so their femininity went out the door. They lost their true identity, their dignity. Modesty for women is intimately tied to their femininity. As these women became mothers – working mothers – they had no femininity to pass on to their children. It was lost. Generations of girls grew into women never knowing what femininity was or is. This is the greatest loss that pants and working women have caused to society. Modesty is not simply the wearing of dresses but also the femininity that the wearing of dresses helps to bring out in a woman. What do we think of when we think of our mothers but warmth, comfort and safety? Women cannot give that same comfort if they think and act like men. The intention of this book is not to get women to wear dresses, so that they are obeying the “letter of the law” – but that they will stop the wearing of pants so that they may lift their hearts toward the beauty of the femininity that is buried deep within them!

     Is it not strange how in such a short period of time, the 2000+ years of feminine dressing for women has changed – that pants have become so commonplace today when they were all but unheard of just sixty or so years ago? This change to pants for women has caused a very quick slide into tight jeans, leggings and “hot pants,” not to mention all the mini and micro skirts and string bikinis. Once the floodgates were opened, all the rest simply followed. Just read the wonderful wisdom of Giuseppe Cardinal Siri in Genoa, Italy in 1960 addressing Men’s Dress Worn by Women. (See this important document in Appendix Three). He writes, “The wearing of men’s dress by women affects firstly, the woman herself, by changing the feminine psychology proper to women….show(ing) clearly that male dress is the visible aid to bringing about a mental attitude of being ‘like a man.’….since ever since men have been men the clothing a person wears, demands, imposes and modifies that person’s gesture’s attitudes and behavior, such that from merely being worn on the outside, clothing comes to imposes a particular frame of mind inside…….add(ing) that man’s dress always more or less indicates her reacting to her femininity as though it is inferiority when in fact it is only diversity. The perversion of her psychology is clear to be seen.” Is this not thought provoking coming from a member of the Church on the subject of women wearing men’s pants? His insight, was so clear and he hit the subject from an angle that we cannot dispute. Everywhere we look today we see the results of this loss of femininity in society. Femininity and motherhood go hand in hand and with the loss of femininity the natural instincts of motherhood all but disappeared too. Girls growing up in a defeminized culture have not developed the protective instincts natural to a mother and this has helped to endanger the life of the unborn. This diabolical anti-life mentality causes mothers to invade their own wombs and kill the life God placed within them! Regaining femininity may help to stem the tide of the high rate of abortions by helping women to see the beauty in motherhood and revive the protective instinct that most women would have had naturally. I’m not saying it will stop every abortion, but if it stops even one, is that one life not worth the small price?

     Let us read some more… “Second, it (wearing of pants) affects the woman as wife of her husband, by tending to vitiate relationships between the sexes…The essential basis of this attraction…between the sexes…is a diversity…If then this ‘diversity’ becomes less obvious because one of its major external signs is eliminated and the normal psychological structure is weakened, what results is the alteration of a fundamental factor in the relationship.” As we know external signs are taken very seriously in the Church and have always been used to express our inner convictions and to help form our interior disposition. 9.

     “The problem goes further still. Mutual attraction between the sexes is precedent naturally, and in order of time, by that sense of shame which holds the rising instincts in check, imposes upon them, and tends to lift to a higher level of mutual esteem and healthy fear everything that those instincts would push onwards to uncontrolled acts. To change that clothing which by its diversity reveals and upholds nature’s limits and defense works, is to flatten out the distinctions and to help pull down the vital defense-works of the sense of shame.” 9.

     As we know, today shame has been turned inside out. Society is no longer ashamed of public nudity, promiscuity or scandalous clothing. What is shameful now are people who abuse animals, are over-religious, have too many children or live-in dire poverty. Should we be ashamed of living a visible faith shown in our practice of modesty, or ashamed of the public displays which are sending more souls to Hell than ever before?

      “Thirdly, it affects the woman as mother of her children by harming her dignity in her children’s eyes…All children have the instinct for the sense of dignity and decorum of their mother…we would do well to recall the mind (to) the severe demands that children instinctively make of their own mother, and the deep and even terrible reactions roused in them by observation of their mother’s misbehavior. Many lines of later life are here traced out – and not for good – in these early inner dramas of infancy and childhood. The child may not know the definition of exposure, frivolity or infidelity, but he possesses an instinctive sixth sense to recognize them when they occur, to suffer from them, and be bitterly wounded in his soul….Changing the feminine psychology does fundamental and, in the long run, irreparable damage to the family, to conjugal fidelity, to human affections and to human society…To sum up, wherever women wear men’s dress, it is to be considered a factor in the long run tearing apart human order.” While working women don their pants each morning and head off to work, is it any wonder now that divorce rates are the highest they have ever been and common-law marriage is the norm? 9.

     What eye opening ideas. This gives us a clue to the chaos of the world in which we live. Bishop de Castro Mayer said that trousers are worse than mini skirts because, “while the mini-skirt is sensual and attacks the senses, the trousers are ideological and attack man’s highest spiritual faculty, the mind…For indeed women’s trousers, as worn today, short or long, modest or immodest, tight or loose, open or disguised (like culottes), are an assault upon women’s womanhood and so they represent a deep lying revolt against the order willed by God…of course not every woman putting on a pair of shorts is consciously thinking of defying God or defying her menfolk. She is, however, conscious of something. She is clearly aware that divided shorts are not like an undivided skirt, and the difference is that abandoning the skirt gives her a vague feeling – surely of unease, or emancipation, or both…What is that feeling based on?” 9B.

     I can say that I can personally relate to this statement and when I read it, it caused me to see things more clearly than I had before. Looking back now, I can clearly see the difference in my attitude. Most women would probably agree with me when I say that I accomplished more work in a day when I wore pants. Although, I never believed in the feminist movement, per se, I had a vague feeling of ‘control’ when I wore pants. A greater sense of self confidence, I would venture to say, a kind of pride. Some people may say that is good. But, this self confidence was from the world and not from God and so like a house of cards it could come tumbling down at any moment. For even the Bible tells us, “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence thereof: but he that doth the will of God, abideth forever.” 1 John 2:15, 17. But more than that, when one feels on top of the world, full of himself, where is there room for God? It is only when we are humbled and needy that we seek Him out and reach out to Him. And wearing long dresses is one of the best acts of humility that a woman could practice. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to be humbled in an age of pride! I could firmly see this as I began to wear skirts and for the first time felt a sense of peace about me. Wearing pants may have helped me accomplish more work, but that work was done as a man would have done it. As I walked about the garden and felt the skirt around my legs I felt a great and overwhelming reverence for God, a great sense of gratitude for my life, for my womanhood. This feeling has never left me and my changing to dresses has done more to my spiritual life than all the years I spent in pants. I eventually learned to accomplish just as much in a skirt, but in a more feminine way, as perhaps Our Blessed Lady would have done, contemplatively. It is not something that is easy to put into words, so when I read Cardinal Siri’s writing I was amazed at how he managed to say it for me.

     External practices in the Church are important and the many that we, as Catholics, practice such as, genuflecting, making the sign of the cross, or praying the rosary are all ways that we engage ourselves in an action that is supposed to be engaging our wills. Is it any wonder then that the wearing of long dresses as an external sign of our modesty will, in fact, benefit our interior life, our spiritual growth? You only need commit to the wearing of long dresses for, say, a month, all the while saying the rosary and wearing the brown scapular. You will soon learn that what you thought was a hindrance, was really a blessing in disguise!