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More on Modesty: What is Permissible vs. What is Best

I received an email from a good friend a couple of weeks after the publication of my essay on three Doctors of the Church and their explanations of modesty. He raised a number of good points, which lead me to desire to explain a little more about my understanding of the virtue of modesty in dress.

First, I will sum up the views of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis de Sales and St. Alphonsus Liguori from the previous essay, though I recommend to get the full picture to head over and read it. When considering whether an act is moral one must evaluate the act itself, the circumstances in which it is performed, and the person’s intention in performing the act. Dressing to fit with one’s state in life, the activity one is participating in, the fashions of one’s society, and with a pure intention are all essential aspects of being modest. Simplicity and cleanliness in dress are also important parts of virtuous dress since they are part of humility, temperance and respect for others.

I ended my essay explaining that our society’s fashions made certain forms of dress morally acceptable, which have not always been understood to be so. Modest dress changes according to fashion. For example, St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote about a particular fashion of his time where women “uncovered their breasts.” Since it was an already established fashion, he said that if a woman dressed that way without any impure intention, without forming lust within herself or intending to lead others to lust after her, then it was morally permissible. He also explained that while it was permissible for her to dress revealingly with pure intentions, the person who invented the trend of uncovering breasts was culpable for instituting a fashion that could lead people into sin—though this too changes with the creators intentions.

Similarly, in our society, there are many fashions that might be more revealing than what was once considered morally acceptable. For example, because it has become normative, one cannot look at a woman in a bikini and presume that she is acting immodestly. She may have no lustful intentions whatsoever. She is simply going for a swim or working on her tan wearing what is fashionable.

That being said, there is a difference between what is permissible, and therefore not sinful, and what is best for a person truly desiring to grow in virtue. Dietrich von Hildebrand, a 20th-century Catholic philosopher, talks about the morally conscious person in his essay “Responsibility” in the book The Art of Living. The morally conscious person is aware of his or her responsibility to the world around him or her. This person sees the beauty and value of those he or she encounters and of all of creation. When a person is awakened to this responsibility of responding to all with seriousness and gravity, not in a scrupulous manner, but in confidence certain of one’s call, while always recognizing that there is a higher being.

Read more on the National Catholic Register…

Rise Up–A Devotional on Virtue for Kids!

Over a year ago my eldest daughter mentioned to me that she was interested in having a new prayer book for devotional reading. This lead to my idea of collaborating with Blessed is She to create a beautiful prayer book for children rich in the Catholic tradition of becoming holy through growth in virtue. Further, I wanted to have a book for my children that taught them how to pray by learning to place themselves in God’s presence, make an an examination of their daily lives, and then received inspiration from the Holy Spirit. 

After a lot of writing and editing and waiting, this book has finally come together. I am pleased to introduce Rise Up:Shining With Virtue. It has 15 chapters broken down in seven days–with Scripture or a saint quote and a reflection for every day. Each chapter is written by a different Blessed is She writer and covers a different virtue.

My role in Rise Up was to choose the virtues and then explain them to the reader. The book begins with my introduction, which explains what virtue is and how to grow in virtue in general. Each chapter focuses on an individual virtue. I based the introduction for each chapter on St. Thomas Aquinas’ explanation of the virtue in his Summa Theologiae taking the language down to the level of a child. 

It starts with the three Theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. These are followed by the four main Cardinal virtues prudence, justice, courage/fortitude, and temperance. The other virtues are parts or subvirtues of the Cardinal virtues: gratitude, generosity, obedience, perseverance, patience, humility, studiousness, and honesty. The book is written in such a way that children can unpack and apply growing in virtue to their daily lives, but also decode the more abstract ones that are more difficult to understand.

Then comes my favorite part in each chapter: a passage from one of the Gospels which demonstrates this virtue and a reflection on that Scripture leading the reader into imaginative prayer. Fifteen different Blessed is She writers wrote the five middle days of the week for each chapter based on a short Scripture selection or Saint quotation. On the final day of the week, the reader is encouraged to reflect, pray, and make resolutions on how to live this virtue out.  

We were super excited to get an Imprimatur for this book. The Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat means that a Church official has read over the book at the bishop’s request and has declared that nothing in the book contradicts or is opposed to the defined body of Church doctrine or goes against the moral law. As a parent, I look for this on Catholic books for my children. It helps me to know they are reading the truth.

It is so, so beautiful. If you have a kid in your life ready to grow in holiness or who has just received a Sacrament and needs a great gift. Check out this book. I can’t wait for my kids to pray with it. 

*This post contains affiliate links. 

NCRegister: It’s Time to Exercise the “Mom Brain”

…The process of growing another human being makes a mother very tired; even the thought of exerting mental effort is often exhausting. Then the baby is born and we are not any less tired. We are just trying to get the basic things of life taken care of. But I have learned that taking care of my mind is just as important as taking care of my body. In some ways it is more important. God made us to subject our passions and will to our reason. We have a duty to form our reason in truth so that we can guide our lower parts in right action. If I challenge myself to regular exercise and healthy eating, why should I not challenge myself to regular prayer and continual study?…

Read the rest at the National Catholic Register…

Life in the New Covenant–BIS Devotion

I had the privilege of writing the devotion on today’s daily Mass readings at Blessed is She. I even dug into my theology degree for this one!
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http://blessedisshe.net/life-in-the-new-covenant/

When I was in graduate school studying theology, one of my favorite topics was how Church doctrine developed. In the reading from Acts for today, we see an early example of development of doctrine in the conclusion of a council in Jerusalem of the Apostles and first bishops.

They are considering whether Gentiles should be required to fulfill all of the Jewish laws, such as the circumcision of males and other external practices. The Church leaders, directed by the Holy Spirit, realize that certain of the Jewish laws have moral grounds, such as the idolatry of eating animals sacrificed to false gods or unchastity, while other laws pertain to practices symbolic of the Old Covenant before the coming of Christ. The Church was able to step back and see what was really required to be a follower of Christ and began to develop from the traditions of Judaism with freedom from the old law...

Find the Scripture readings and the rest at Blessed is She!

Our New Pet: Sac Spider

Last week I caught a brown crab spider in our dining room. Today I had M capture what appears to be a sac spider on the ceiling of the kitchen. These guys bite, just ask M! It is a great “home school” opportunity for us!

He is a hunting spider which means he won’t make a web, but waits and bites his prey. I am not sure about releasing him anywhere near the house.

Seven Quicktakes-Dec. 14

1. Today is trying to recover from the stomach flu day. Hopefully it will just be G and L who are victims. I am not sure about the baby, but she sure did spit up more than usual yesterday. The older girls had an overnight illness with a hiatus from 1-7am so we could all get a little sleep. Now we are at nap/quiet time after a small lunch of toast and applesauce. We will see how the rest of the day goes. 

2. The baby had her first five hour stretch on Wednesday night. However, it was from 9:30pm-2:30am; I was only in bed for three and a half of those hours. Too bad, but it was followed by a three hour stretch. Yay!

3. In honor of The Hobbit coming out today, I will share this: Hitler and the Hobbit.

4. I thought L was taking the new baby really well, that was until she started hitting us all this week. I think maybe she needs more attention and is seeking it by being crabby and violent. Oh children, there is enough love for you all. Balancing time for all three children is a little difficult. We have been taking G on little one on one parent dates about once a month, maybe it is time for L to have her own as well. Plus, I need to remember how to parent a two year old. She is also asking to potty train, and I think we are not quite ready. Our plan is to start on that after Christmas.

5. How many people can say that they are still using diapers on their second and third children that were given to them for a baby shower for their first child? We can! The best thing about cloth diapers is that they are lasting us for four years and three children. The only thing we are needing to replace is the larger size cover for F once she gets to the size L is currently in, unless I can revamp them for a second time and fix the snaps I put in (to replace velcro) that did not quite take. Diaper fixing projects take two hands and I do not often have two hands for projects.

6. We are going to put up our tree with its lights this weekend. Gaudete Sunday! Ornaments will be hung at a later date. I would normally wait until the fourth Sunday, but we will be doing that at my parents home and I want to come home to a treed home after our travels.

7. I am praying for all those effected by the shooting at CT elementary school. The killing of children is one of the worst evils in the world (born and unborn).

Hand Painted Bible People and Saints!

Last week was birthday week for half of this household. We also had visitors all week. So, maybe that is why I have not posted for two weeks? Anyway, I have been really excited to show online what I made for G. and her cousin who is my Goddaughter for their birthdays (which are three days apart).  They both turned three. I first got this idea a couple of years ago. The idea comes from this blog post. The story goes back to G. loving to listen to these Bible stories and then act them out. I decided to make her Bible characters and saint dolls to act out the stories and play with. My niece got her own set which I forgot to photograph.

These are all painted with acrylic paint and finished with a spray finish that claims to be non toxic when dry. 

 I went to Jo Ann’s and discovered that they have an awesome variety of wooden boxes with latches. Then I glued the felt in as lining to protect the dolls from the unfinished wood. I was thinking G. would want to paint the box herself, but so far she is happy with it unpainted.