Voice of the Family

A LAY INITIATIVE FORMED TO DEFEND

CATHOLIC TEACHING ON THE FAMILY

A Catechism of Purity

By Voice of the Family   |   13 May 2026

Drawn from the teaching of Pius XII.

What is the great crusade to which every Christian is called today?

It is a crusade against the dangers of powerful waves of immorality, overflowing in the streets of the world and reaching every condition of life.1 The great “crusade of purity” is for that purity of which modesty is the guardian.2

What is modesty?

Modesty “is the companion of shame, by the presence of which, chastity itself is rendered more secure”.3

What is shame?

“We are all the temple of God, with the Holy Ghost brought and consecrated within us, and the guardian and master of this temple is shame, which will allow nothing unclean or profane to be brought into it, lest God, Who dwells therein, take offence and abandon the polluted house.”4

What are the effects of modesty?

Just as nature places an instinct in every creature, which moves it to defend its life and the integrity of its members; so do conscience and grace (which do not destroy but rather perfect nature), endue the soul with a sense that puts her on vigilant guard … against the dangers which undermine her purity.5

What are the effects of shame?

The sense of shame, almost without being consulted … gives immediate warning as to where immodesty and seduction, idolatry of matter and luxury (or simple frivolity) might be lurking.6

Is it then desirable to feel shame?

Greater sensitivity to this warning against the snares of evil, far from being grounds for criticising those who possess it, as though it were a sign of interior depravity, is actually a mark of the upright soul and of watchfulness over the passions.7

What justification is given to the false belief that shame should be resisted?

The most insidious of sophisms are usually repeated to justify immodesty, and appear to be the same everywhere. One of these resurrects the ancient saying, ab assuetis non fit passio (“the passions are not aroused by things we are accustomed to”) in an attempt to brand as old-fashioned the resistance of honest people…8

How should one foster the sense of shame?

Before putting on an outfit, you must ask your conscience how Jesus Christ will judge it, and before accepting an invitation, you must ask whether your invisible guardian angel will be able to accompany you to such a meeting without veiling his face with his wings; your conscience will tell you which performances, which meeting places, which beaches you should avoid; it will show you how to be modern, cultured, lively; full of grace, natural elegance and distinction, without bowing to the vulgarities of an unhealthy fashion; preserving a face which ignores artifices (like the soul of which it is the reflection), a gaze without interior or exterior shadows but — at the same time — reserved, sincere and frank in the defence of your courageously active purity.9

What does purity mean?

Purity means never to forget that you yourselves carry God within you with the grace that clothes your soul; and that this divine presence makes a holy temple, not only of your soul, but also of your body. “Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ? … Or know you not, that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own?” (1 Cor 6:15,19).10

What are the effects of purity?

The conscious thought of this divine dwelling has, over the centuries, produced and developed in those docile to the Gospel a religious respect for the body, which is expressed in the combination of a person’s dress, manners and bearing; in words wisely regulated and measured; expressed, that is, in all modesty.11

What attitude, then, must I take towards purity?

Beautiful is the virtue of purity, and sweet is the grace which shines, not only in acts, but also in words, which never oversteps the measure of decorum and courtesy; so that warning and admonition are seasoned with love. And equally shining by grace, before God and men, is that chaste generation which — in our days of trials, sufferings, sacrifices, and austere duties — does not fear to rise with all its power to the heights of the grave responsibilities imposed on it by providence.12

What could be the duties imposed on me by providence?

The Church has to work on souls; your action is at her service: in close union with, and under the direction of, the ecclesiastical hierarchy, entering into the fight against the dangers of bad morals, fighting them in all fields open to you: in the field of fashion, clothing and apparel, in the field of personal care and sport, in the field of social relations and entertainment.13

Can I then take an interest in fashion?

The angelic Saint Thomas affirms, there is no vice in the outward apparel, but vice comes from using it immoderately. And the same holy doctor even goes so far as to say that there can be a meritorious act of virtue in feminine adornment, when it conforms to the manner, measure and good intention of the person; and that when women who wear decent clothing are moderate in what they do, even their vesture will be an act of that virtue of modesty, which includes the way of walking, acting, dressing and all external movements. Even in conforming to fashion, virtue lies in moderation. What God asks of you is to always remember that fashion is not, nor can it be, the supreme rule of your conduct.14

How should one conform virtuously to fashion?

Fashion and modesty should walk together like two sisters, because both words have the same etymology, from the Latin modus — that is, the right measure, beyond which one cannot find the right way. But modesty is no longer in fashion. Similar to those poor alienated people who, having lost the instinct for self-preservation, along with the notion of danger, throw themselves either into the fire or into the river; not a few female souls, made oblivious to Christian modesty by ambitious vanity, woefully face dangers in which their purity may face death. They give in to the tyranny of fashion, even when it is immodest, and in such a way as not even to suspect that it is unbecoming. They have lost the very concept of danger: they have lost the instinct of modesty. Helping these unhappy ones to regain awareness of their duties will be your apostolate, your crusade in the midst of the world. Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus — “Let your modesty be known to all men” (Phil 4:5).15

How can purity be promoted in society?

By the strong, industrious and constant attitude of … young Catholics against publications and productions in whose development there is nothing but audacious sensuality, an intertwining of violations of marital fidelity, equivocal language, and even openly impudent scenes.16

What is the best way to do this?

There is always one powerful weapon to oppose such manifestations: absolute abstention! Therefore educate Catholics in that high and holy dignity in which there is such a frank and valid defence of physical and spiritual integrity. This virtuous pride and indomitable magnanimity are a great virtue of the spirit, which does not allow itself to be reduced to servitude.17

How can I assure the success of the defence of purity?

In the defence of your courageously active purity, We particularly recommend prayer and devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist and to the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin, to Whom you are consecrated in a special way.18

Why should I nurture a special devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist?

In the Eucharist you find God, Who is purity itself, because He is infinite perfection. When He gives Himself to you as … “the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins” (Zach 9:17), Our Lord, “the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror” (Wis 7:26), purifies your soul and its faculties, your body and its senses. The more a creature approaches God and unites itself with Him, the purer it is; the more it yearns for purity, the more it tends towards Pure Being.19

Why should I nurture a special devotion to the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary?

When it pleased the Word to become incarnate and to be born of a woman, He turned His gaze on the most perfect creature: a girl in the grace of her virginity. After adding to this grace the singular miracle of the divine maternity, she appeared of such sublime beauty that artists, poets, and saints have ardently tried, but always in vain, to portray her image. The Church and the angels greet her with the titles of Queen and Mother, whilst those with which the piety of the faithful have encircled her brow, like a diadem of a thousand facets, are innumerable. But among all these titles of glory, there is one which is particularly dear to her and is enough to set Her apart: the Virgin! May Mary, this Virgin of virgins, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, be your model and your strength, throughout your life as young Catholics, and especially in your crusade of purity!20

Why is Mary, above all the other saints, the best model for us?

Pure, incomparably purer than all the angels of whom she is Queen, the Immaculate Conception is also a strong, industrious woman: faithful in all her duties, ready and equal to their fulfilment in all circumstances, however harsh and terrifying they may be.21

How should I take Mary as my model?

Contemplate the Handmaid of the Lord, look carefully at the lofty dignity and the high office to which she is called: glorious Mother of Christ, at the foot of the Cross, Sorrowful Mother of the Redeemer, Mother of suffering and miserable humanity, help of Christians, refuge of sinners, consoler of the afflicted. As soon as the angel Gabriel brought her the divine message, conscious of its immensity and gravity, the Virgin, without hesitation, replies “yes”. Enclosed, as she had been until then, in the recollection of the temple, in the solitude of her girlhood in Nazareth, behold her now: walking at great pace along mountain paths, eager to visit and assist her relative Elizabeth; watching over the wedding at Cana at the beginning of Christ’s public life, so that nothing may be lacking to the joy of the spouses and guests; mixed with the crowd, patiently awaiting the moment to speak to Jesus; standing upright at the foot of the gibbet of her Divine Son, her Heart pierced by a sword; in the midst of the Apostles, praying and preparing them to receive the same strength from above, for the spread of the Good News.22

But how do I model my own behaviour on Mary?

Mary was not immediately ready to say her Fiat; her strength as well as her purity had to be prepared for it. You too must look to the future. Form your purity and strength and make yourselves frank; ready for the holy, joyful but nevertheless arduous life of Christians, with the external activity which requires of you an energetic and joyful dedication to the fulfilment of the your duties of state; forgetting yourselves in the fruitful undertakings of charity.

Like Mary Immaculate, you must walk — if not through mountains, then at least through public streets and squares — agilely, easily, but as cautious as on mountainous terrain. Go there where your occupations call you. In your social life, among relatives, friends, acquaintances, bring with you the easy grace and honest pleasantness of an amiable and caring courtesy. You must simply and prudently mingle among such a diverse crowd: afflicted or frivolous, indifferent or hostile. Standing at the foot of the Cross, you have to dominate your impressions of pain or discouragement, to remain steadfast in the trials of life in order to sympathise with the misfortunes of others, to comfort and strengthen others. Do you not see how much purity and strength all this requires?23

But how can I model myself on Mary, who was conceived without sin?

Your Immaculate Mother only knows temptation — and with incomparable acuteness — outside of herself: in the hearts of her poor children who are tempted. But your second patron, St Agnes, experienced it within herself, taking from it no damage or shadow, but a new and more dazzling splendour. For her purity was not a lily sprung from ignorant and quiet innocence; it was the flame of a burning, heroic love which is stronger than death. Remember what St Maximus says of her in the eulogy of your amiable patroness: “She looks at the face that flatters her, and rejects him who threatens her, and despises him … She loves her purity so much, that neither mockery, nor flames, nor torments, nor executioners can frighten her.”24

But what if I don’t love purity that much?

Do not think that this strength of soul suddenly manifests itself in the face of temptation or assault unless it has already been gathered in the heart for some time. “Agnes,” writes St Gregory the Great, “could not have sustained the death of the body for the Lord if her soul had not first died to earthly desires.” She was a heroine of love for Christ: she died first to herself and to the world — in order to live in Christ.25

How must I fight “the great crusade of purity”?

Your crusade today is not by the sword or by blood or by martyrdom, but by example, word and exhortation. Against your energies and your intentions, the demon of impurity and of moral licence stands as the principal enemy: lift your heads high to Heaven, whence Christ and His Immaculate Virgin Mother look down on you; be strong and inflexible in fulfilling your duty as a Christian; move against corruption which discourages youth in the defence of purity; work effectively and cooperating to spread purity and candour, which can make souls more prudent, more vigilant, more upright, more forceful, more generous.26

What are our weapons in this crusade?

Your weapons will be your words and your example, your courtesy and your demeanour, which also speak to others and make both possible and commendable such behaviour as honours you and your activity.27

Is that all? But isn’t a crusade supposed to be a great struggle?

Well, it is a struggle! The purity of souls, living in supernatural grace, is never preserved nor will it ever be preserved without a fight.28

The sound consistency of your principles will be put to the test by the so-called “modern spirit”, which cannot bear hindrance. And you will be tested by the indifference of many towards moral considerations.29

The war between the spirit and the flesh, so openly attested to by Divine Revelation, is such that — with the exception of the Most Blessed Virgin — any thought of being able to lead a pure life without vigilance and combat is vain.30

May the Queen of Angels, victrix over the threatening serpent, all pure, all strong in her purity, sustain and direct your efforts in this crusade to which she has inspired you! May she bless your banner and crown it with the pure-white trophies of your victories! We beseech her for this, while in the name of Her Divine Son we heartily grant you Our apostolic blessing.31

This article first appeared in Calx Mariae magainze (no. 17, summer 2022).

Notes

  1. Pius XII, Address to the young women of Catholic Action (22 May 1941) ↩︎
  2. Pius XII, Address to the young women of Catholic Action (6 October 1940) ↩︎
  3. Letter of the Sacred Congregation of the Council to the bishops of the entire world (15 August 1954), citing Saint Ambrose, On The Duties of the Clergy, Book II, Chapter 18, No. 69 (Migne, Patrologia Latina, Book XVI, 48) ↩︎
  4. Ibid., citing Tertullian, On Female Fashion, Book II, 1 (Migne, Patrologia Latina, Book I, 1316) ↩︎
  5. Supra. (6 October 1940) ↩︎
  6. Pius XII, Address to the participants of the first International Congress of Haute Couture (8 November 1957) ↩︎
  7. Ibid. ↩︎
  8. Ibid. ↩︎
  9. Supra. (6 October 1940) ↩︎
  10. Ibid. ↩︎
  11. Ibid. ↩︎
  12. Supra. (22 May 1941) ↩︎
  13. Ibid. ↩︎
  14. Ibid. ↩︎
  15. Supra. (6 October 1940) ↩︎
  16. Pius XII, Address to the young women of Catholic Action (April 24 1943) ↩︎
  17. Ibid. ↩︎
  18. Supra (6 October 1940) ↩︎
  19. Ibid. ↩︎
  20. Ibid. ↩︎
  21. Pius XII, Address to the Daughters of Mary (25 October 1942) ↩︎
  22. Ibid. ↩︎
  23. Ibid. ↩︎
  24. Ibid. ↩︎
  25. Ibid. ↩︎
  26. Supra. (22 May 1941) ↩︎
  27. Ibid. ↩︎
  28. Ibid. ↩︎
  29. Supra (8 November 1957) ↩︎
  30. Supra (22 May 1941) ↩︎
  31. Ibid. ↩︎

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