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The Evangelical Counsel of Chastity
Following the chaste Christ
19. It is Jesus who gives meaning and value to celibacy lived for the sake of the kingdom. He willed to be born of the Virgin Mary and to be consecrated to His Father's affairs. In this way, He sets forth clearly His total self-gift to God and the universality of His redeeming love.
In His relations with men and women, which broke through the traditional confines imposed by the society of His times1, Jesus is seen as both perfectly chaste and totally human.
We see in Him a sensitivity to every kind of distress, a respect for each person. We find in Him simplicity and goodness, and the ability to awaken what was most noble in the hearts of those He met.
The Vow of Chastity
20.By the evangelical counsel of chastity, Jesus calls us to live, as He did, a life wholly given to God and to people. Our accepting to be celibate "for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven"1 is our response to His call, and a witness to this Kingdom. This acceptance brings into being a union with God that does not involve a human partner, and establishes us as brothers to all people2.
In professing the vow of chastity, we accept the gift of the Father3, and we give ourselves to a love relationship with Christ and with Him alone, holding nothing back. We set aside married love and fatherhood, and we live out perfect continence in celibacy4.
In Mary's Footsteps
21.We look to Mary, as Father Champagnat did, as guide and support in our learning to live the chaste life1. She is the woman who was the first to live a life of virginity because of Christ2. She became life-giving through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In making a place for her in our home3, we learn how people are to be loved, and we, in turn, become living signs of the Father's tenderness. We make young people welcome, our hearts open to receive them and ready to serve them. Mary inspires us to have constant concern for their welfare, and to respond with selfless love to their appeals for help.
Within the Mystery of the Church
22.Our vow of chastity admits us to deeper levels of the mystery of the Church.
Married Christians are signs of the spousal bond between Christ and His Church1. By our celibacy, we testify to the reality of this espousal and proclaim the coming of a new world where everyone will find in God their perfect love2.
The faithfulness shown by married couples is a stimulus to our loving the Lord with all our being; and our celibacy, joyously lived, encourages them to remain together until death. It can enlighten those who, by the circumstances of life, remain unmarried. Celibacy urges those whom the Lord has called to the consecrated life to give themselves to Him without reserve.
In the Community
23.The members of our community are the first to share in that love of everyone to which we are committed. This love also finds expression in the welcome we give to those who visit us.
Our love for our Brothers should be simple and whole-hearted. We should be sympathetic enough to sense their difficulties, humble enough to share their joys, and generous enough to give ourselves to each one of them.
Living together as Brothers is of great assistance in the maturing of our chastity1. In times when the loneliness of celibacy weighs heavily on us, each of us ought to feel that he can rely on the sympathetic support of his Brothers. Their friendship helps us to keep our balance amid tensions. Mutual trust and the spirit of faith help us to be open, to share, and, when need be, to challenge.
23.1 In community, we come to agreement on the manner of welcoming people in a simple and prudent way. Times must be reserved for prayer, work, and rest, as these are indispensable for community life. (cf 62)
Chastity and Friendship
24.Chastity that is lived truly, opens our hearts to friendship, which is a gift of God, who reveals His love in a human person1. As consecrated men, we love those whom we meet as brothers and sisters in Christ. We gladly receive their love as an expression of the love of the Lord, always aware that He alone can fully satisfy the yearnings of our hearts.
Knowing our frailty, we recognise the need for reserve and prudence in our relationships with people. We avoid any friendship that is exclusive or possessive.
24.1 In our life of chastity, we must avoid a double danger - forgetting that this vow, is a call to love, and losing sight of the special quality of consecrated love.
On the one hand, therefore, we must resist the tendency to withdraw from friendship with others, and, especially, to withdraw from the friendship of our Brothers. On the other hand, we must exercise prudence, which must guide our relationships so that our friendships are consistent with our consecrated chastity, and do not distance us from prayer, from the apostolate, or from community. If the need arises, we notify the Superior of a situation that is becoming a problem for us.
Chastity, Prayer, Sacraments
25.To foster our love relationship with the Lord, we need to be faithful to meeting Him in prayer, especially in meditation. This makes it possible for us to be at peace with the solitude inherent in chastity.
Receiving the Body of the Lord gives us strength to go on our way through difficulties, which vary with each culture, each temperament, and the different stages of life.
In temptations and struggles, we open ourselves to the touch of Christ, who heals our wounds, delivers us from egoistic longings, and makes us children of the resurrection1. Moreover, we take advantage of spiritual direction and that source of revitalised love, the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Chastity and Asceticism
26.Christian asceticism, by the renunciation inherent in it1, helps us to mature in love.
We are attentive to all that promotes physical and psychological well-being2. We make an enlightened and prudent use of leisure activities and of the mass media3. We shape our conduct to the dictates of a delicate conscience. We accept life's trials, uniting ourselves to Christ in His Passion. So that we can be wholly His and free to love those sent to us, we work to purify our hearts.
26.1 So that we can achieve a mastery of our senses and heart, and live our vow of chastity in a balanced way, we take the necessary means, especially:
- an education and formation in the psychology of sexuality, affectivity, and human relationships;
- an open and balanced community life.
The Witness of our Lives
27. The chastity we live in consecrated celibacy is a sign of contradiction to the world. We proclaim gospel values in treating one another with respect, in living purely, and in compassionately loving those whom society refuses to accept.
A chastity that is generously lived leads us on towards self-fulfilment and acts as a special life-giving force for all people1. It frees us to be of greater service and gives the widest possible dimension to our love.
Knowing that chastity is a gift of the Holy Spirit, we pray that all consecrated men and women may receive the grace to be faithful to it, so that they may experience the joy promised to the undivided heart2.
27.1 Each Saturday, or on some other day chosen by the Province, we fast orrecite a special prayer, or perform an act of charity, so as to obtain, with Mary's help, the gift of chastity.
We keep alive among us the practices dear toour Founder, such as devotion to the Immaculate Conception and Consecration to Mary.
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