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Chapter 33. Ninth Commandment: Practice Purity of Heart • 441
THE MORALITY OF THE HEART
The heart is the seat of moral personality: “Out of the
heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication”
(Mt 15:19). The struggle against carnal covetousness
entails purifying the heart and practicing temperance.
—CCC, no. 2517
We experience tensions between spiritual and physical desires. This
struggle belongs to the heritage of sin. This does not mean that we are to
despise the body and emotions that, with the soul, constitute our nature.
It does make us realize that we will face a daily spiritual struggle to
acquire virtues that help us obey the saving action of the Holy Spirit and
overcome vices that cause us to resist him.
The grace of Baptism purifies us from sins, but a certain tendency
to sin remains. We must struggle against disordered desires by practic-
ing purity of mind, heart, and body with daily vigilance. To do this, we
need to examine our motives as well as our deeds, so that we always
seek God’s will. This will cause us to discipline our feelings and imagina-
tion. Finally, since purity is a gift of God, we need to pray for it, as St.
Augustine did:
I thought that continence arose from one’s own powers, which
I did not recognize in myself. I was foolish enough not to know
. . . that no one can be continent unless you grant it. For you
surely would have granted it if my inner groaning had reached
your ears and I with firm faith had cast my cares on you. (
The
Confessions
, bk. 6, chap. 11, no. 20)
MODESTY
Modesty is a virtue necessary for purity. It flows out of the virtues of
temperance, chastity, and self-control. A modest person dresses, speaks,
and acts in a manner that supports and encourages purity and chas-
tity, and not in as manner that would tempt or encourage sinful sexual
behavior. Modesty protects the mystery of the person in order to avoid