Chastity

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

Peace be with you all in Jesus sweet and Holy name.

Not boasting but i am Chaste in action and all other areas except thought (edit actually there was one lapse a week ago so really i guess i'm not but i was for a long time). I don't watch moving pictures except the odd christian music video and no porn, i don't read any material except church official stuff including no nudie mags, and i don't listen to any music except Christian music, i dress Modest and have just started to try my best not to double take on passers by that tickle my sexual desire. So i have removed all causes of sin except of course my own mind and also i rebuke and pray sometimes when sexual fantasies enter my mind, most of the time in private but only sometimes in public. This is all honest to the best of my ability at present and without editing, full freestyle. 

My question is will this die out overtime the thought of sex while practicing chastity in all other areas and how long does it take to die out and does anyone have some ways that they have tamed the beast in there minds. I think the whole reason i ever go back to my old lifestyle in the case of Lust is the persistent thoughts of Lust in my when out in public and seeing woman that i like the look of. St Francis said " God created beauty for us to admire." How do we admire a woman or man(for our woman folks sake) that tickles our fancy Just as we would admire a beautiful sunset, flower or cloud pattern. Will this die in time, i was chaste for 2 years when i converted but it came back and the longest i have been chaste for in the last 11 years was a period of 16 months which was still full of sexual fantasy in my mind. A priest sufggested i become a hermit and only go out in public to do shopping. I tried it but am unsure i can achieve that, though i will try and try again such an endevour to become a hermit if these thoughts persist and i continue to fall back into Lust.

 

Like has anyone been chaste in all other areas except thought for long periods of time like a year or 2 and suddenly the thoughts dissapear or something, coz i think i would be more willing to fight tooth and nail if indeed 2 years of fighting is required but i am in need of the hope that yes it does dissappear or become rare, because at present i am rather hopeless in this regards.

[Luigi]

I highly recommend the Angelic Warfare Confraternity: http://www.angelicwarfareconfraternity.org/history/ This page tells the history of the Confraternity. Near the top of the page and on the right, you'll see a link that says "Information." Click on that; from the drop-down menu, click on "Catechesis." Read that, then go back to the "Information" menu and click on "Prayers."

Notice that there are 17 prayers: one to Jesus; then 15 Hail Mary's (one each for society, modesty, intellect, power of estimation, senses, imagination, memory, sensuality, affectivity, conscience, will, surrender, relationships, heart, and love) - and before each Hail Mary there's a short introductory prayer based on a Biblical verse; then the final prayer is to St. Thomas Aquinas.

Actions are the result of thoughts, so the real battle is to learn how to monitor-change-control our thoughts and feelings, and these prayers help us understand what we're thinking and feeling. Peace is more than just the absence of war, and chastity is more than just the absence of sin - it's a mind set that involves all of our mental and spiritual faculties/abilities.

I doubt that there will ever be a sudden stop to troublesome thoughts and urges. Rather, you will probably experience gradual improvement as you learn to let the troublesome thoughts & urges pass - and they will pass if you don't feed the beast in your mind by imagining, remembering, and so forth.