THE BEAUTY OF VIRGINITY

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE BEAUTY OF VIRGINITY
By Saint Stephan of Fileika

The Loftiness of Virginity

It is known that "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit" [Galatians 5:17]; but when the lust of the flesh is mortified, then, the spirit is pacified, and peace of established in the heart. The satisfaction of evil lust darkens the mind, hardens the heart, plunges the soul into despair, and makes a man crass and senseless. The fulfillment of lusts is the beginning of sorrows, afflictions, and sighs, from here flows the source of that evil in which the entire world lies. (cf 1 John 5:19]. Therefore, blessed is he who loves the virginal life: He will see the blessings of the Lord on Earth, and in this vale of tears he will find grace from God.

Virginity serves as a blessing for virgins, delivering them from the need to be subordinate to a husband and to bring forth children in pain. [cf. Genesis 3:16]. The Apostle Paul advises whoever seeks the ascetic life to preserve his virginity, as the best barrier from the evils of this world: "I would have you be without cares… For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that" [1 Corinthians 7:32, 7].

The Lord does not drive anyone away from Himself by presenting virginity as a high gift not obtainable for all, but rather thereby attracts lovers of Divine gifts to Him all the more. Unblemished virginity is nothing other than the Angelic state, according to the Lord: "The children of this world merr, and are given in marriage. But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor given in marriage. Neither can they die any more for they are equal unto the Angels" [Luke 20:34-36].

Virgins begin already here to be what the righteous will be in the Kingdom of Christ. They have many advantages over those who enter into marriage: They are free from worldly cares; they can always be about the one thing needful [cf. Luek 10:42]. Because their hearts have nothing to enjoy on Earth, they begin to love God more and to desire Heavenly blessings more fervently. Just as Angels, who mighty in power, easily fulfill the will of the Lord, so virgins, endowed with spiritual strength, do not fear the labors of the spiritual life, sorrows, or deprevations. Therefore, Saint John Chrysostom says: "Virginity can plant a good root in us from which grows all the blessings: FREEDOM, COURAGE, ARDENT ZEAL, FIERY LOVE FOR Heavenly things, and contempt for all things earthly."

Virginity in this life also distinguishes those who love it form all others in body and soul: Virginal purity is manifested in them both by the quietness of their gazes and the modesty of their words; and a feeling of virginal modesty is manifested in all their eternal conduct. Whoever preserves his virginity intact, has a face that becomes fairer and a voice more pleasant.

True Preservation of Virginity

"Blessed are the blameless in the way who walk in the law of the Lord… For they that work iniquity have not walked in His ways" [Psalm 118:1, 3]. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1)–they do not fulfill carnal lusts, but keep in their hearts the words of the Lord, which are spirit and life" (cf. John 6:63). Those who live according to the spirit contemplate spiritual things and thereby mortify carnal desires–they become vigilant in spirit, fearless, fully trusting in the Lord…"If anyone keeps his body from fornication, says Saint Macarios the Great, "but commits fornication mentally" (by the desire of his heart), "he receives no benefit (from his external virginity). And Saint Efthymios the Great, pointing to such a one, sasys: "He is a fornicator, and the devil possesses him." According to Saint John Chrysostom, "It is not celibacy alone that makes a virgin, but purity of heart, separation from women, and abiding in divine contemplation."

The lust of the flesh is very seductive: It easily snares the unwary and makes the soul a prisoner of the devil. According to the word of the Lord, "whosoever looketh a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" [Matthew 5:28]. That means you can defile yourself without touching anyone, through the eyes ("the lust of the eyes"), through the imagination and the desires of the heart. A man is already defiled once thoughts of fornication enter the heart, (cf. Matthew 15:19-20). Therefore, Holy Scripture says, more than anything, "Keep thy heart with all diligence" (Proverbs 4:23)…Of all the external senses, sight serves as the most convenient conduit for temptations, and therefore, it must be especially preserved for the purity of virginity. The lust of the eyes, observing tempting things, easily and quickly unites them with the lust of the flesh and the "hidden man of the heart" (1 Peter 3:4), regardless of time or place, and fornicates with anyone it wants.

The Battle of Spirit and Flesh

Let us try to find a way to deliver ourselves from the captivity of sin, to overcome the evil lust hiding within us. Who has not noticed within himself the struggle of the spirit with the flesh, the enmity between good and evil? And who does not sigh under the yoke that the Lord has imposed on all the sons of Adam? The Apostle Paul says: "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? {Romans 7:23-24]–from the law of the flesh, which injures and causes death to the soul? The soul is struck and confounded by the lawless gratification of excessive carnal desires, negligence, and complete cooling towards virtue. From this comes the continual forgetfulness of God, which is the death of the soul, its languor and sorrow–first temporary, the Eternal. Whoever wants to avoid this death should learn as much as possible about the law of the Lord and callon His help. The revelation of the Lord is A SPIRITUAL LIGHT THAT ENLIGHTENS THE MIND AND BRINGS THE SOUL OUT OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH (cf. Matthew 4:16]; and the remembrance of the Lord IS THE LIFE OF THE SOUL, OR, WHAT’S THE SAME, UNCEASING JOY IN THE LORD.

Hope in God’s Help and the Destruction of Pride

Nothing makes the soul so weak and negligent in the work of salvation as self-love and self-will–the forbears and feeders of carnal passions; therefore, you must reject them and force yourself to do good. Labor and humility are necessary for those who want to be free from the captivity of sin…God restores a contrite heart in hope and raises one who is conscious of the poverty and watchfulness of his soul from the festering passions; therefore, you must not despair when you see yourself in spiritual misery, dying from sinful wounds. Or as Saint Philaret, the Metropolitan of Moscow says, "Use the feeling of weakness NOT unto despair, but to reject in yourself and hope in God by prayerfully entreating His help." For the Lord always shows His saving power in our impotence and weakness. "My strength," He says, "is made perfect in weakness" [2 Corinthians 12:9].

Refraining from Evil

An excellent means of adhering to virginity is to point to the vice of sensuality, committed in various ways–not only by copulation with the flesh of another, but also without it. It is not only the soul of such a wicked man that perishes, but his body is also deprived of vigor and strength; he loses his memory and good sense–even his vision and hearing are damaged by such actions, which are an abomination before God and man. Nothing so delights the God-deying spirit as this most painful and grave sin for the soul. And the Spirit of God does not depart from anyone so much as from a fornicator and indulger in self-pleasure.

CONCLUSION

We must know that without God’s grace, no one can preserve the purity of virginity; and it is not given to the negligent: We have to have fervent love for studying God’s wisdom, for eating and drinking in moderation, and for placing labors of vigil and prayer upon the body. Without this, there will inevitably be a battle with the lust of the flesh, being overcome by and falling into sinful impurity. The Saints observed that for pride and the condemnation of others, man is allowed to suffer an attack from a thorn in the flesh; and that for the preservation of purity, frequent Confession and Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ are very useful. [Source: Orthodox Heritage]

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysotomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George