St John Chrysostom examines more closely the reasons why Chastity is to be held in higher esteem in man than in the Angels. "The Angels," he says, "are not made up, as we are, of flesh and blood; they are incapable of marriage; they are not living, as we are, on this filthy earth, nor are they liable to the upheavings of passion; they have no need of food or drink, which so often add fuel to the flames of lust; their nature is not affected by a sweet sound, a dulcet song, or a beauteous form: they are impervious to all these allurements.
What wonder, then, that they should be chaste? But that man, so far inferior by nature to these blessed spirits, with so many drawbacks, should yet strive to be like unto them in purity, this is indeed a height of virtue worthy of all admiration. And, in plain truth, wherein did an Elias, an Eliseus, a John Baptist, those faithful lovers of the virtue of Chastity, differ from the Angels? In nothing but that they were mortal by nature, while the Angels are without a body, and immortal: in all besides they equalled the angelic host. But this very fact, that, being beneath the blessed spirits by their condition, they equalled them in purity, must ever redound to their praise and glory."
— Fr. Scaramelli, SJ, Guide to the Spiritual Life, 1870, volume 3
Topic: The Saints on Purity (Read 20500 times)