The Blessed Virgin's Guide To Modesty

[EmilyAnn]

For the longest time I have struggled with lust. It isn't something that is usually talked about in the women's sessions or things like that. Many speakers focus on modesty. It ends up destroying the dignity of the woman because she is seen more as an occasion of sin than as a beautiful child of God. This is truly a tragedy.

Too true. It's sad. 

[Debra Little]

Proping is when you "like" a post.  Right now you're bearing a "physhy" tag so I can't prop what you say, nor can you prop what I say.  It's rather rotter, but it's the rules.

 

 

Can you contact the St. Vinnie's or local Salvation army?  They usually give away clothes to people in need.  I have the opposite problem...I can't afford to wash my clothes.  A load at the laundramat can cost upwards of $10 PER load. (and a small one at that) At that price I'm almost better off buying cheap new clothes, especially undergarments.

thank the Lord i don't have to pay that to do my laundry.  i live in subsidized housing.  i am grateful to God for finding

me this place.  i can do my laundry here.  i can afford cheap clothing, depends on how the month goes and what bills

i have to pay.  or if something extra comes up.  i shouldn't have said i can't afford to buy clothing at all.  forgive me for

not being clear in this in the first place.   sometimes i am given clothing.  that is nice. 

[Debra Little]

And this would be why I do not like legalistic religion. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man."

 

i remind myself of this verse.  and it really helps.  God's Word always helps.

You spoke with clarity and assertiveness. This is your right in Christ and you and my sister Empress Marie have made me mindful of something I've never really thought about. "your urge shall be for your husband"

 

i didn't work that way for me.  i wanted none of it.  but then he was abusive. no wonder. 

Are you a woman? No. So don't try tell us what we think. 

 

yea

[Evangetholic]

Very few men do think about it. Men are expected to struggle with lust. Women are expected to "lie back and think of England". 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XPHL4Q86t4
 

[Debra Little]

I'm just gonna leave this here...

 

and i always make sure i am covered appropriately.  i can't stand clothing that shows off to much body

anyway.  it makes me very uncomfortable.

:) me too.

 

yeah!

i remind myself of this verse.  and it really helps.  God's Word always helps.

 

i didn't work that way for me.  i wanted none of it.  but then he was abusive. no wonder. 

 

yea

 

my name is Debra.  am i a woman?  i really hope so. lol
 

[Evangetholic]

The woman's urge being for her husband is not to suggest that all women will desire their husbands (the hebrew word means "man"). But that woman will desire to unite with man sexually and spiritually in both holy and unholy ways. (No accounting for human variation however.)

Edited February 20, 2013 by Evangetholic

[Lil Red]

For the longest time I have struggled with lust. It isn't something that is usually talked about in the women's sessions or things like that. Many speakers focus on modesty. It ends up destroying the dignity of the woman because she is seen more as an occasion of sin than as a beautiful child of God. This is truly a tragedy.

 

gol'dang, out of props.
 

OMG WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT THAT IS SO RUDE TOTALLY DIRECTED TOWARDS ME OMG WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT

 

dude. i just said, I'm out of props!!

[Evangetholic]

GREAT article:

http://www.catholic.com/blog/michelle-arnold/the-blessed-virgins-guide-to-catholic-modesty

 

And who is the authority who is pressed into service to dictate modesty for Catholic women? The Blessed Virgin Mary. Google "Marian modesty" and you will get nearly ten million results, in which people purport to speak for the Blessed Virgin on what Catholic women these days should wear. The most well-known page on the subject modestly styles itself "The Marylike Standards for Modesty in Dress (as set down by the Vatican)." In this Guide to Modesty, our Blessed Mother, previously unknown to be a fashionista, speaks through an anonymous "cardinal vicar" during the reign of Pope Pius XI to declare among other things:

• "Marylike dresses have sleeves extending to the wrists; and skirts reaching the ankles."
• "Marylike dresses require full and loose coverage for the bodice, chest, shoulders, and back; the cut-out about the neck must not exceed 'two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat' and a similar breadth around the back of the neck."
• "Marylike dresses also do not admit as modest coverage transparent fabrics—laces, nets, organdy, nylons, etc.—unless sufficient backing is added. Fabrics such as laces, nets, organdy may be moderately used as trimmings only."

Don't bother looking for guidelines for modest pants for women because "the Blessed Virgin Mary will never approve of these pagan styles which are so contrary to Christian tradition on modesty."

But what might the real Blessed Virgin—as distinguished from the straw woman some Catholics have created in their own image—have to say about modesty? At Fatima, an apparition approved by the Church, our Lady is reported to have said, "Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend our Lord very much." Curiously, she is not very specific. She does not even distinguish between men's and women's fashions. Going on this dictum alone, she might have in mind men's saggy jeans, and not be commenting upon women's fashions at all.

 

.................

 

When it comes to Catholic modesty, especially when the Blessed Mother is pulled forward for her opinion and example, there often is a conflation of two different concepts: imitation and mimicry. Imitation is using someone or something as a model for one's own actions; mimicry is to attempt to create an external, superficial resemblance to something or someone else.

 

Too often in discussions of modesty, it seems that those advocating for using the Blessed Mother as a role model confuse mimicry with imitation. Perhaps that is why you sometimes hear then of Catholic women who don't cover their heads in church or elsewhere, or who choose to wear pants, or who do not cover every square inch from neck to toes, denounced as "immodest" for not following some perceived "Marian code of dress for Catholic women."

We are not called to be mimics of the Blessed Mother, dressing as would be appropriate for a first-century Palestinian peasant woman (e.g., long veils, skirts to the floor, sandals). We are called to imitate the Blessed Mother in her virtues. In terms of modesty, that might mean dressing in a way that is appropriate to one's culture and circumstances, not drawing undue attention to oneself either in one's dress or undress, remaining circumspect about one's own choices, and not denouncing the reasonable choices of others.

============================================

Yes, I know.... modesty - Blessed Virgin Mary - pants - makeup discussion on phatmass tends to get out of control, but I thought this was a really great article. I've only quoted a part here, so go read the rest. :)

 

God works grace in some very strange ways. I clicked on the link to that Traditionalist site. I found the modesty statements irritating--and based on the false idea that you (ladies) can protect yourself from the power of my lust. I clicked on "home." I saw "Refuge of Sinners" and I read the article listed under that. It says "But, though hating sin, She loves the sinner, for She sees in him the possible saint; so loving him, as every mother loves the wayward child, She pursues him, weeps over him, as Monica wept over Augustine, and pleads with him to come back home." And I recognized myself, for all my love of Jesus and the Bible, as a REBEL against Jesus Christ, the Successor of Peter, and the Church of God. I will go to confession tomorrow. I will be like Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Therese of Lisieux--a saint. I disown my right to exist as some kind of monster half in the Church and half out of it.

[Evangetholic]

Do I smell a conversion?

 

You do. It's scary out here when for all of your confusion and doubt you know you're supposed to be in there (where most of your brothers are and where your Mother wants you).

[GeorgiiMichael]

Welcome home, brother. Get all up in 'dem RCIA classes for next year!!

 

He's already confirmed, just fallen away. Although RCIA can be just as good for those who have already received their sacraments as it is for those who are seeking them.

[FutureCarmeliteClaire]

Wow. I was off PM for a few hours and I finally come back and THIS HAPPENS. You people are just so dysfunctional without me.

[Basilisa Marie]

WhoooO!!!!!    :bounce:  :bananarap: :bounce: :bananarap:  :bounce:  :bananarap:  

[AnneLine]

We're praying for you, Evangetholic.   hard....

[Evangetholic]

Well thanks for the prayers and well wishes. Let's not make a very big deal of it though. If I can ask for one particular intention from anyone (AnneLine) it would be that I develop the inner humility to take the Church, and Sacred Tradition as deeply into my heart as I have taken my (flawed) understanding of Scripture. (This is important as a protection against the danger of apostasy.)

[AnneLine]

Of course I will pray... and I bet so will others.   One step at a time and let the Holy Spirit guide you....