| PLEASING GOD: The Requirements of Modesty in Dress |
| Bl. Jacinta Marto one of the three children to whom the blessed mother to at Fatima said, �Fashions will much offend Our Lord. People who serve God should not follow fashions. The Church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same.� Taken from �Suffer with Joy� -Blue Army Publication St. Padre Pio the stigmatist priest, who bore the bleeding wounds of Christ on his own body from 1918 until his death in 1968, refused to grant absolution to any woman who did not wear her skirt well below the knee. He also insisted that women do not wear slacks. Verified by mail at Padre Pio�s monastery �address- Rev. J. P. Martin � San Giovanni Rotondo 71013 FG Italy St. John Chrysostom said about women who dress immodestly, �You carry your snare everywhere and spread your net in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not indeed by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment. And much more effectively than you could by your voice. When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me whom does this world condemn? Whom do the judges in court punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup. You have given the death-dealing drink. You are more criminal than those who poison the body. You murder not the body but the soul, and it is not to enemies do you do this nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity nor provoked by injury. But you do it out of foolish vanity and pride.� The Cardinal-Vicar of Pope Pius XI: �A dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers� breadth under the pit of the throat, which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparent materials are improper.� (Note: due to impossible market conditions, quarter length sleeves are temporarily tolerated with ecclesiastical approval.) Taken from �The Mary-like Standards of Modesty in Dress� Imprimatur: The Most Rev. Albert R. Zuroweste, Bishop of Belleville, IL Our Lady at Fatima: �Certain fashions will be introduced which will offend my Son very much. More people go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.� Taken from �Suffer with Joy� Imprimatur: The Most Rev. Geo. W. Ahr, Bishop of Trenton �The good of our soul is more important than that of our body; and we have to prefer the spiritual welfare of our neighbor to our bodily comforts� If a certain kind of dress constitutes a grave and proximate occasion of sin, and endangers the salvation of your soul and others, it is your duty to give it up� O Christian mothers, if you knew what a future of anxieties and perils, of ill-guarded shame you prepare for your sons and daughters, imprudently getting them accustomed to live scantily dressed and making them lose the sense of modesty, you would be ashamed of yourselves and you would dread the harm you are making of yourselves, the harm which you are causing these children, whom Heaven has entrusted to you to be brought up as Christians.� Pius XII to Catholic Young Women�s Groups of Italy THIS LEAFLET DISTRIBUTED BY: THE LEAGUE FOR MODESTY IN DRESS, NY The Mary-Like Apostolate Fr. Bernard Kunkel, for many years until his death in 1969 was director of the Mary-like Crusade of the diocese of Belleville, IL and his bishop was its President. Followers of the Crusade pledged themselves to observe the norms contained in A Girl�s Modesty Guide, which we here print: IN RESPONSE TO THE PLEA OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA FOR ABSOLUTE MODESTY IN DRESS AND TO HELP PREVENT THE COUNTLESS SINS CAUSED BY IMMODEST DRESS, ESPECIALLY IN THE SUMMER TIME, I SHALL EARNESTLY STRIVE TO CARRY OUT THIS PROGRAM: 1. To refrain entirely from wearing �shorts� of any type, whether at home or in public. 2. To refuse to wear other types of scanty wear, including such things as sun-suits, and such outfits that expose the shoulders, breast, back, or midriff; like-wise to avoid sheer or transparent outfits, tight dresses, tight sweaters, and tight slacks; and to wear only such skirts that go sufficiently below the knees to safeguard modesty in all normal postures and movements. 3. To limit my necessary recreational or work garb only to such pants-type garments that reach below the knees and are not tight- preferably full length ample slacks. 4. To be particularly careful to dress modestly and respectfully for church, including parish grounds; to encourage others always to dress with Mary-like modesty, without fear of being �unpopular�; to follow the wishes of Our Immaculate Lady rather than the decrees of pagan fashion dictators. REMEMBER: Modesty in dress helps safeguard the virtue of purity and is demanded by the moral law of God. The above norms are based on this unchangeable moral law and on Christian tradition. Immodest dress is immoral and sinful, and is a matter of confession. We have reason to believe that many souls are now in hell because of the thoughtlessness of girls who dress immodestly. [Some good men will so successfully resist any woman�s provocativeness that they will not sin in the least, but will gain merit. However, some others, being weak, will consent to what is forbidden; and according to the Scriptures, you will share in their sin for unnecessarily giving them a lure to it. (Matt. 18:7)]Out of love for Christ and His Immaculate Mother, and for the sake of others who are struggling to be pure, PLEASE DRESS MODESTLY! �Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction: and many there are who go in there. How narrow is the gate and straight is the way that leads to life: and few there are that find it! (Matt. 7:13-14) Let a sense of responsibility and uprightness distinguish us from the herd. Seeing that we have the freedom, privilege, and duty to pursue virtue and heaven, would you unthinkingly follow the herd like sheep do? Many good souls bear the heat willingly in order to offer it as a penance to God. But- said to say- some women in hot weather go scantily clad to Mass and other church gatherings who dress modestly when they must work in an office where they receive all kinds of clients, or when they must teach school, or when they must work as salesclerks where they have to satisfy all kinds of customers.-Fr. Bruno Pelagia, Dr. of Sacred Theology. Theologian who studied for more than 20 yrs the moral theology of St. Alphonsus Ligouri, proclaimed Dr. of the Church in Moral Theology by the Magisterium. Quotes from Bl. Jacinta Regarding Our Lady�s Fatima Message �My dear Mother (Mother Godinho), the sins that bring most souls to Hell are the sins of the flesh. Certain fashions are going to be introduced which will offend Our Lord very much.. Those who serve God should not follow fashions; Our Lord is always the same. The sins of the world are too great. If only people knew what eternity is they would do everything to change their lives. People lose their souls because they do not think about the death of Our Lord and do not do penance. �Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord and are not of God. �Pray a great deal for governments. Pity those governments which persecute the religion of Our Lord. If governments left the Church in peace and gave liberty to the Holy Religion, they would be blessed by God. �My good Mother, do not give yourself to immodest clothes. Run away from riches. Love holy poverty and silence very much. Be very charitable even with those who are unkind. Never criticize others and avoid those who do. Be very patient, for patience brings us to Heaven. Mortifications and sacrifices please Our Lord a great deal. �To be pure in body means to preserve chastity. To be pure in soul means to avoid sin, not to look at what would be sinful, not to steal, never lie and always tell the truth even when it is hard. Whoever does not fulfil promises made to Our Lady will not be blessed in life. Some days, Jacinta while in the hospital, was very saddened by the worldliness of the visitors, the women dressed in fashionable clothes, often with low-cut dresses. �What is it all for?� she asked Mother Godinho (guardian ). �If they only knew what eternity is.� �Many doctors came to examine her, their only thought was of science and medicine. They discounted the influence God might have on the condition of a patient. The little girl did not hesitate to set them straight on the matter, pointing out the cause of their frequent failures. �Pity doctors. They have no ideas what awaits them. Doctors do not know how to treat their patients with success because they have no love for God.� One day, a doctor requested her prayers for a special intention. �I will pray for you,� she assured him, �but just remember that you are going to be taken away, and soon.� She told another doctor the same thing about himself and his daughter. Taken from: Mother of Christ Crusade Nihil Obstat: Fr. Francis J. Maloney, S.T.L. Imprimatur: Most Rev. James E. Cassidy. Bishop of Fall River, MA |
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