Another example of chastity in the Old Testament is found in The First Book of Kings (also called First Samuel) where the future King David, being on the run from King Saul, asks the priest Achimelech for some food to alleviate his and his friends’ hunger.
1
Kings 21:2-5: “And David said to Achimelech the priest: ‘…Now
therefore if thou have any thing at hand, though it were but five
loaves, give me, or whatsoever thou canst find.’
And the priest answered David, saying: ‘I
have no common bread at hand, but only holy bread, if
the young
men be clean,
especially from women?’
And David answered the priest,
and said to him: ‘Truly,
as to what concerneth women, we have refrained
ourselves from yesterday and the day before, when we came out, and
the
vessels
of the young men were holy.
Now this way is
defiled,
but it shall also be
sanctified
this day in the vessels.’”
Haydock
Commentary explains
some very noteworthy and interesting things about these remarkable
verses: “Verse
4. If the
young men be clean,
&c. If this cleanness
was required of them that were to eat that bread, which was but a
figure of the bread of life which we receive in the blessed sacrament
[the Eucharist]; how clean ought Christians be when they approach to
our tremendous mysteries? And what reason hath the Church of God to
admit none to be her ministers, to consecrate and daily receive this
most pure sacrament, but such as devote themselves to a life of
perpetual purity. (Challoner) --- Verse
5. Vessels,
i.e., the bodies, have been holy;
that is, have been kept from impurity (Challoner)…
Septuagint, "my men are all purified." (Calmet) ---
Defiled.
Is liable to expose us to dangers of uncleanness, (Challoner) as we
shall perhaps have to fight. (Haydock) --- Sanctified.
That is, we shall take care, notwithstanding these dangerous
circumstances, to keep our vessels
holy;
that is, keep our bodies from every thing that may defile us.
(Challoner)”Just like in the case of The Book of Exodus where God demanded the people to be chaste for three days before receiving His Holy Word, so the figure and sign of the most Holy Eucharist in the Old Testament time also refers to the three days of chastity before receiving it. We see the three day standard of practicing chastity before receiving the Holy Eucharist in these words: “Truly, as to what concerneth women, we have refrained ourselves from yesterday and the day before, when we came out, and the vessels of the young men were holy.” (1 Kings 21:5)
Likewise, the reception of the Word of God by the people of Israel in The Book of Exodus after three days of chastity signifies that there is a necessity for all to be chaste for three days in order to receive the Word of God (Our Lord Jesus Christ) made flesh in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Old Testament could not be more clear on the beneficial nature of chastity, and that it is necessary for a person to practice it for three days before receiving the Most Holy Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Old Law and the Old Testament, every time God commanded the people to “sanctify” themselves this meant that they were to be chaste for a period of time as evidenced from The Book of Exodus, as we saw above. The commandment to the people to “sanctify” themselves that were given by God and His Prophets and Priests in the Old Testament are quite often used in the Old Testament, but most people who read the Old Testament do not understand that the Jewish sanctification actually meant to practice the virtue of chastity for a certain amount of time. “The Lord knoweth the days of undefiled; and their inheritance shall be for ever.” (Psalms 36:18)
The Jews of the Old Testament time also understood how the practice of chastity would benefit them both spiritually and physically and that is also why the common practice of many of the Jews who entered into military life (as we saw in the case of King David and his men) were to remain chaste and sanctify their life in order to receive the grace of God to become victorious in battle. Indeed, God Himself directly commanded the Jews to always be pure and chaste when they were to engage in a war or a battle: “When thou goest out to war against thy enemies, thou shalt keep thyself from every evil thing. If there be among you any man, that is defiled in a dream by night, he shall go forth out of the camp. And shall not return, before he be washed with water in the evening: and after sunset he shall return into the camp.” (Deuteronomy 23:9-11)
When one remembers that God commanded the Jews to always practice chastity in both war and peace time, it is not hard to understand why in the cases when they lost their wars, their lack of chastity was a main reason (if not the greatest reason) why they lost their battles and their independence.
The Christian Crusaders also practiced chastity like the Jews and did penance in order to become victorious in battles against the heathen. Many times God also revealed through supernatural revelations to the Christian combatants just like He did to the Jews that unless they were virtues and pure, they would lose future battles. The order of the Knights Templar was one of these virtuous orders who solemnly took vows of chastity and perfect purity, constantly waring against the Devil, the flesh and the world on one side, and the Heretic, Saracen, Muslim or Infidel on the other. They were a kind of warrior monk; a new breed indeed in the Christian world; and because of their spectacular purity, a few numbers of the Crusaders could miraculously defeat a multitude of infidels, who were much more numerous and stronger than they were themselves. These pure servants of Christ also wore a white dress which signified their inner purity. In The History of the Knights Templar, by Charles G. Addison, we read the following words concerning this: “To all the professed knights, both in winter and summer, we give, if they can be procured, white garments, that those who have cast behind them a dark life may know that they are to commend themselves to their Creator by a pure and white life. For what is whiteness but perfect chastity, and chastity is the security of the soul and the health of the body. And unless every knight shall continue chaste, he shall not come to perpetual rest, nor see God, as the apostle Paul witnesseth: Follow after peace with all men, and chastity, without which no man shall see God...”
Indeed, the necessity for us all to “sanctify” ourselves is crucially important, and especially so when we are to receive Our Lord’s Holy Body and Blood. Speaking about the reception of the Holy Eucharist, St. Jerome expresses himself in the following terms in his Commentary on The Gospel of Matthew: “If the loaves of Proposition might not be eaten by them who had known their wives carnally, how much less may this Bread [the Eucharist] which has come down from heaven be defiled and touched by them who shortly before have been in conjugal embraces? It is not that we condemn marriages, but that at the time when we are going to eat the flesh of the Lamb, we ought not to indulge in carnal acts.” (Epist. xxviii, among St. Jerome’s works)
For the same reason, in the year 1679 A.D., Pope Innocent XI addressed all priests in an encyclical, teaching them how married people are to be instructed and disposed in order to be able to receive the Most Holy Body, Blood and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist: “In the case of married persons, however, let them seriously consider this, since the blessed Apostle does not wish them to "defraud one another, except perhaps by consent for a time, that they may give themselves to prayer" [cf. 1 Cor. 7:5], let them advise these seriously that they should give themselves more to continence because of reverence for the most holy Eucharist, and that they should come together for Communion in the heavenly banquet with a purer mind.” (Pope Innocent XI (1676-1689), From the Decree C. S. Conc., Feb. 12. 1679, Denzinger #1147)
Pope Innocent XI also added additional instructions on how both the married as well as all others are to be instructed and disposed for the reception of Our Lord’s Body and Blood in the following words: “It will be of benefit, too, besides the diligence of priests and confessors, to make use also of the services of preachers and to have an agreement with them, that, when the faithful have become used to frequenting the most holy Sacrament (which they should do), they preach a sermon on the great preparation for undertaking that, and show in general that those who by devout zeal are stirred to a more frequent or daily partaking of the health bringing Food, whether lay tradesmen, or married people, or any others, ought to understand their own weakness, so that because of the dignity of the Sacrament and the fear of the divine judgment they may learn to revere the celestial table on which is Christ; and if at any time they should feel themselves not prepared, to abstain from it and to gird themselves for a greater preparation. … Furthermore, let bishops and priests or confessors refute those who hold that daily communion is of divine right...” (Pope Innocent XI (1676-1689), From the Decree C. S. Conc., Feb. 12. 1679, Denzinger #1149-1150)
So a good advice to pious persons is that they remain chaste for three days before receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist in the same way as the Jewish people were commanded by God to practice chastity for three days before they received the Word of God in the Old Covenant; and just like David and his men had to be chaste and pure for three days before they received the figure and sign of the Body of Christ in the Old Law. The honor that a chaste and virtuous person gives to Christ and the Holy Eucharist by practicing the virtue of chastity for three days before receiving the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist is, simply said, inestimable. The biblical Commentary of First Kings also teaches us this fact, mentioning that “If this cleanness was required of them that were to eat that bread, which was but a figure of the bread of life which we receive in the blessed sacrament [the Eucharist]; how clean ought Christians be when they approach to our tremendous mysteries?”
In fact, the Catholic Church has always admonished and taught spouses that there is a necessity to abstain from the marriage debt for at least three days before receiving the Most Holy Eucharist of the Mass in order to obtain blessings from God, while also recognizing and admonishing spouses that “The dignity of so great a Sacrament [of the Eucharist] also demands that married persons abstain from the marriage debt for some days previous to Communion”.
The Catechism of the Council of Trent speaks much of the necessity of purity and preparation before receiving the Holy Eucharist. In the section “On the Sacrament of Matrimony” it teaches that the three days standard of observing chastity before receiving Communion was taught by their predecessors, thus indicating that the Tradition of the Church always taught this truth: “But as every blessing is to be obtained from God by holy prayer, the faithful are also to be taught sometimes to abstain from the marriage debt, in order to devote themselves to prayer. Let the faithful understand that (this religious continence), according to the proper and holy injunction of our predecessors, is particularly to be observed for at least three days before Communion, and oftener during the solemn fast of Lent. Thus will they find the blessings of marriage to be daily increased by an abundance of divine grace; and living in the pursuit of piety, they will not only spend this life in peace and tranquility, but will also repose in the true and firm hope, which confoundeth not, of arriving, through the divine goodness, at the possession of that life which is eternal.”
In the section “On the sacrament of the Eucharist, Preparation Of Body” The Catechism of Trent corroborates the fact that the story of David in the Bible shows us that we must both fast and be chaste before receiving the Holy Eucharist: “Our preparation should not, however, be confined [only] to the soul; it should also extend to the body. We are to approach the Holy Table fasting, having neither eaten nor drunk anything at least from the preceding midnight until the moment of Communion. The dignity of so great a Sacrament also demands that married persons abstain from the marriage debt for some days previous to Communion. This observance is recommended by the example of David, who, when about to receive the showbread from the hands of the priest, declared that he and his servants had been clean from women for three days. The above are the principal things to be done by the faithful preparatory to receiving the sacred mysteries with profit; and to these heads may be reduced whatever other things may seem desirable by way of preparation.”
Indeed, there is a “great necessity of this previous preparation” for all who presume to receive the Most Holy Body of Our Lord: “We now come to point out the manner in which the faithful should be previously prepared for sacramental Communion. To demonstrate the great necessity of this previous preparation, the example of the Savior should be adduced. Before He gave to His Apostles the Sacrament of His precious Body and Blood, although they were already clean, He washed their feet to show that we must use extreme diligence before Holy Communion in order to approach it with the greatest purity and innocence of soul.” (The Catechism of Trent, On the sacrament of the Eucharist, Necessity Of Previous Preparation For Communion)
Considering all of the above, it is clear why The Catechism of Trent, in the Chapter about the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and the Necessity Of Previous Preparation For Communion, rightly declared that he who dares to approach the Holy Eucharist “without this preparation [of purity] not only derives from it no advantage, but even incurs the greatest misfortune and loss,” which directly contradicts the lustful and depraved world who teaches that God does not require any kind of special purity in order to receive Him: “In the next place, the faithful are to understand that as he who approaches thus prepared and disposed is adorned with the most ample gifts of heavenly grace; so, on the contrary, he who approaches without this preparation not only derives from it no advantage, but even incurs the greatest misfortune and loss. It is characteristic of the best and most salutary things that, if seasonably made use of, they are productive of the greatest benefit; but if employed out of time, they prove most pernicious and destructive. It cannot, therefore, excite out surprise that the great and exalted gifts of God; when received into a soul properly disposed, are of the greatest assistance towards the attainment of salvation; while to those who receive them unworthily, they bring with them eternal death. Of this the Ark of the Lord affords a convincing illustration. The people of Israel possessed nothing more precious and it was to them the source of innumerable blessings from God; but when the Philistines carried it away, it brought on them a most destructive plague and the heaviest calamities, together with eternal disgrace. Thus also food when received from the mouth into a healthy stomach nourishes and supports the body; but when received into an indisposed stomach, causes grave disorders.” (The Catechism of Trent, On the Sacrament of the Eucharist; and the Necessity Of Previous Preparation For Communion)
Indeed, in The Revelations of St. Bridget, Jesus also tells us that we will be punished if we receive Him in the Eucharist with a wicked or impure heart. Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke to St. Bridget, saying, “When the words ‘This is my body’ are spoken, the bread becomes the Body of Christ that people receive, both the good and the wicked, one person as much as one thousand, according to the same truth but not with the same effect, for the good receive it unto life, while the wicked receive it unto judgment.” (The Revelations of St. Bridget, Book 4, Chapter 61) And so, “as the sacred feasts approach, observe chastity with your wives for several days preceding, so that you may approach the Lord’s altar with a peaceful conscience.” (St. Caesarius of Arles, Sermon 19:3)
Before the apostasy of the 20th and the 21st century, it was commonly known by the faithful of the Church that the Church taught married spouses to abstain for at least three days from marital relations as well as that all people (except the sick or weak) were to fast from the preceding midnight until the moment of Communion in order for the servants of Christ to be pure and better disposed to receive the Holy Eucharist. Nowadays, however, since people are worldly and lustful, they either reject or ignore this ancient Church teaching. It is indeed obvious that Christians who receive the true Body of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist rather than just a figure or shell of it as the Jews did in the Old Law, should minimally practice as much chastity or even more purity than those in the Old Law did, since this is only reasonable and just. The true Body of Christ is of infinitely more value and deserving of honor than the figure of it, and yet most so-called Christians of today do not even practice as much virtue as the Jews in the Old Law did.
Already in the 6th century, Pope St. Gregory the Great, in his Epistle to Augustine, Bishop of the English, rightly declared that God demands from us purity and chastity when we are to receive Him in the Most Holy Eucharist of the Mass, since this was even required in the Old Law which was only a sign of the Eucharist. He said,
“Furthermore
it is to be attentively considered that the Lord in mount Sinai, when
about to speak to the people, first charged the same people to
abstain from women. And if there, where the Lord spoke to men through
a subject creature, purity
of body was required with such careful provision that they who were
to hear the words of God might not have intercourse with
women, how much more ought those who receive the Body of the Almighty
Lord to keep purity of the flesh in themselves, lest they be weighed
down by the greatness of the inestimable mystery! Hence also it is
said through the priest to David concerning his servants, that if
they were pure from women they might eat the shew bread; which they
might not receive at all unless David first declared them to be pure
from women.” (Selected Epistles of St. Gregory, in "Nicene
and Post-Nicene Fathers", Volume XIII, Book XII, Epistle LXIV)
It
is a sad fact to have to relate, but carnal Christians who reject
purity and holiness before receiving the Most Holy Eucharist of the
Mass show a lack of estimation and appreciation for the Body of
Christ by their worldly and pleasure seeking lifestyle, showing
themselves to be lovers of the flesh and of the world rather than of
Our Lord. It is an utter disgrace and blemish on every Christian (who
have received countless of more graces than the Jews of the Old Law)
to practice less virtue than the Jews in the Old Law did. This lack
of virtue is undoubtedly also one of the main reasons of why the
Church’s members have been decreased drastically during the
20th century and why so many of them were allowed to fall into
immorality and apostasy from God. The Holy Bible is crystal clear
when it says that: “whosoever
shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily,
shall be guilty of the Body and of the Blood of the Lord. But let a
man prove himself: and so let him eat of that Bread, and drink of the
chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and
drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord.
Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep.”
(1 Corinthians 11:27-30)
Our
Lord Himself tells us in The Revelations of St. Bridget that
there is an absolute necessity for all to receive Him in purity and
chastity. Our Lord spoke to St. Bridget in a revelation, saying:
“I am like a ruler who fought faithfully in the land of
his pilgrimage, and returned with joy to the land of his birth. This
ruler had a very precious treasure [the most Holy Eucharist]. At its
sight, the bleary-eyed became clear-sighted, the sad were consoled,
the sick regained their strength, the dead were raised. For the
purpose of the safe and honest protection of this treasure, a
splendid and magnificent house of suitable height was built and
finished with seven steps leading up to it and the treasure. The
ruler entrusted the treasure to his servants for them to watch over,
manage, and protect faithfully and purely. This was in order that the
ruler’s love for his servants might be shown and that the
servants’ faithfulness toward the ruler might be seen.
“As
time went on, the treasure began to be despised and its house rarely
visited, while the guardians grew lukewarm, and the love of the ruler
was neglected. Then the ruler consulted his intimate advisers
concerning what was to be done about such ingratitude, and one of
them said in answer: ‘It is written that the neglectful judges
and guardians of the people were ordered to be hanged in the sun.
However, mercy and judgment are your nature; you are lenient toward
all, for all things are yours and you are merciful toward all.’
“I
am the ruler in the parable. I appeared like a pilgrim on earth by
virtue of my humanity, although I was mighty in heaven and on earth
by virtue of my divinity. I fought so hard on earth that all the
muscles of my hands and feet were ruptured out of zeal for the
salvation of souls. As I was about to leave the world and ascend into
heaven, I left it a most worthy memorial, my most Holy Body, in order
that, in the same way that the Old Law could glory in the ark, the
manna, and the tablets of the covenant, and in other ceremonies, so
the new man could rejoice in the New Law—not, as before, in a
shadow but in the truth, indeed, in my crucified body that had been
foreshadowed in the law. In order that my body might be given honor
and glory, I established the house of the Holy Church, where it was
to be kept and preserved, as well as priests to be its special
guardians, who in a certain way are above the angels by reason of
their ministry. The one whom angels fear to touch due to a reverent
fear, priests handle with their hands and mouth.
“I
honored the priests with a sevenfold honor, as it were, on seven
steps. On the first step, they should be my standard-bearers and
special friends by reason of the purity of their mind and body, for
purity is the first position near to God, whom nothing foul can touch
nor adorn. It was not strange that marital relation was permitted to
the priests of the law during the time in which they were not
offering sacrifice, for they were carrying the shell, not the nut
itself. Now, however, with the coming of the truth and the
disappearance of the figure, one must strive all the more fully for
purity by as much as the nut is sweeter than the shell. As a sign of
this kind of continence, first the hair is tonsured, so that desire
for pleasure does not rule over spirit or flesh.
“…
My grievance now, however, is
that these steps have fallen apart. Pride is loved more than
humility, impurity is practiced instead of purity, the divine lessons
are not read but the book of the world, negligence is to be seen at
the altars, God’s wisdom is regarded as foolishness, the
salvation of souls is not a concern. As if this were not enough, they
even throw away my vestments and scorn my weapons. On the mountain, I
showed Moses the vestments that the priests of the law were to use.
It is not as though there were anything material in God’s
heavenly dwelling, but it is because spiritual things cannot be
understood except by means of physical symbols. Thus, I revealed a
spiritual truth by means of something physical in order that people
might realize how much reverence and purity are needful for those who
have the truth itself—my Body—given that those who were
wearing but a shadow and a figure had so much purity and reverence.
“Why
did I reveal such magnificence in material vestments to Moses? It
was, of course, in order to use them to teach and symbolize the
magnificence and beauty of the soul. As the vestments of the
priests were seven in number, so too the soul that approaches the
Body of God shall have seven virtues without which there is no
salvation. The first vestment of the soul, then, is
contrition and confession. These cover the head. The second is desire
for God and desire for chastity. The third is work in honor of God as
well as patience in adversity. The fourth is caring neither for human
praise nor reproach but for the honor of God alone. The fifth is
abstinence of the flesh along with true humility. The sixth is
consideration of the favors of God as well as fear of his judgments.
The seventh is love of God above all things and
perseverance in good undertakings.
“These
vestments, however, have been changed and are now despised. People
love to make excuses and smooth over their guilt instead of going to
confession. They love constant
lasciviousness instead of chastity.
They love work for the benefit of the body instead of work for the
salvation of the soul. They love worldly ambition and pride instead
of the honor and love of God. They love all kinds of redundancy
instead of praiseworthy thrift, presumption and criticizing God’s
judgments instead of the fear of God, and the clergy’s
thanklessness toward everyone instead of God’s love toward all.
Therefore, as I said through the prophet, I shall come in
indignation, and tribulation shall give them understanding… My
mercy shows pardon to them all and endures them all. However, my
justice calls for retribution, for I cry out each day and you see
well enough how many answer me. Nevertheless, I will still send out
the words of my mouth. Those who listen will complete the days of
their lives in that joy that can neither be expressed nor imagined
because of its sweetness. To those, however, who do not listen, there
will come, as it is written, seven plagues in the soul and seven
plagues in the body. They will find this out, if they think and read
about what has been done. Otherwise, they will quake and quail when
they do experience it.” (The
Revelations of St. Bridget, Book 4,
Chapter 58)
Again,
God’s holy word is clear that there is “A
time to embrace, and
a time to be far from embraces.”
(Ecclesiastes 3:5)
But most people, however, refuse to obey these words of Our Lord
which says that one must practice chastity from time to time.
Instead, they choose to act in a gluttonous way in the marital act by
overindulging in it even though it is contrary to reason to have more
marital relations than what is necessary.The infinite value of the many and great graces and special friendship of God that lustful people lose because of their inordinate love of this fleshly act is, simply said, impossible to estimate, since a single Grace is truly of more worth than the whole of the universe combined. “He that loveth cleanness of heart, for the grace of his lips shall have the King [of Heaven] for his friend.” (Proverbs 22:11)
Many Popes and Saints, as we have seen, tried to get all Christians to practice chastity before they received the Eucharist. It is clear that this is an Apostolic Tradition, since the Church, from the beginning, tried to admonish and teach Her children to always abstain from the sexual act before receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. For example, in the year 866, Pope St. Nicholas the Great wrote a letter to Boris, prince of Bulgaria, and explained the reason for abstaining from marital relations on Sundays and holy days, saying that: “If we must abstain from worldly labor on Sundays, how much the more must we be on our guard against fleshly lust and every bodily defilement.” And so, it is certain that the Church always have taught that Christians are to remain chaste before receiving the Eucharist. St. Caesarius of Arles (c. 470-543 A.D.), who was a fierce promoter of chastity before receiving the Most Holy Eucharist, wrote concerning “a good Christian” in the following way: “That man is a good Christian who, as often as the sacred feasts come around, in order that he may receive Holy Communion more serenely, observes chastity with his wife during the few preceding days, that he may presume to approach the Lord’s altar with a free and serene conscience because of his chaste body and pure heart.” (Sermon 16:2)
Jonas, Bishop of Orleans from 818 to 843, scolded married folk for “irreverently coming” to church after engaging in marital relations. Not only were these married folk “so indiscreet as to come up as far as the altar,” lamented Jonas, but they also received “the Body and Blood of Christ.” Jonas warned those soiled with the “uncleanness” of their marital activity: “Let them understand that they should only enter Christ’s Church and receive His Body and Blood with a clean body and a pure heart.” (Jonas of Orleans, De Institutione Laicorum) St. Caesarius of Arles adds: “Who is unable to advise that, as often as the sacred solemnities approach, chastity with one’s own wife should be observed several days preceding, so that the altar of the Lord may be approached with an upright and pure conscience. Indeed, if a man communicated without chastity, he will receive judgment where he might have had a remedy.” (Sermon 1:12)
Origen (c. 182-254 A.D.) in his Treatise on the Passover, Exegesis of Exodus 12, explains that the Holy Bible teaches us that we must receive the Holy Eucharist with: “Your loins girded.” He then goes on to explain what this means: “We are ordered, when we eat the Passover [the Eucharist], to be pure of bodily sexual union, for this is what the girding of the loins means [in the Holy Scripture]. Thus Scripture teaches us to bind up the bodily source of seed and to repress inclinations to sexual relations when we partake of the flesh of Christ.”
The amount of Popes, Fathers and Saints that could be quoted concerning the absolute necessity to be chaste before the reception of the Holy Eucharist and the Body and Blood of Christ is almost endless. Gratian, in his Marriage Canons From “The Decretum”, which is based largely on the authority of the Church Fathers (written in the 12th century), clearly shows us how this Apostolic Tradition of observing a period of chastity before receiving the Holy Eucharist was firmly established and believed by the faithful in the Early Church. However, these quotations and Early Church Canons also clearly shows us the necessity of abstaining from marital relations not only before Receiving the Sacraments of the Holy Mass, but also on all Holy Days. Gratian writes,
“That
spouses may not lawfully render each other the debt during times of
prayer, St. Jerome writes in a certain sermon, saying: "A man
should abstain from the Flesh of the Lamb when he renders the debt to
his wife. You know, most dear brothers, that one who renders the debt
to his wife cannot devote himself to prayer, nor can he eat the Flesh
of the Lamb." Also: "If those who touched women could not
eat the Showbread [that was the mere sign of the future Eucharist
described in the biblical book of 1st Sam. 21:4], how much more
should those who have not refrained from matrimonial embrace refrain
from touching and violating the Bread Come Down from Heaven? Now, we
do not condemn marriage, but when we are to eat the Flesh of the
Lamb, we ought to forego carnal works."
“Also, [Saint] Augustine,
[in Sermon ii of the Temporal Cycle, that is, for the Second Sunday
of Advent]: "One should abstain from conjugal union on the
solemnities of the saints. On Christmas and other festivals we ought
to abstain, not only from the company of unbelieving concubines, but
also from our own wives." Also, [Saint] Ambrose, in his sermon
on the Lord’s Coming: "On fast days one ought also to
abstain from one’s wife. Brethren, you should abstain, not only
from every impurity, but you should also carefully hold yourself back
from your own wives. Let no one have relations with his wife. The
same, on the First Letter to the Corinthians [Chapter 7]: If a wife
is taken for procreating children, not much attention needs to be
dedicated to that. What is necessary for conception and childbirth
shows that one can abstain from works of the flesh on feast days and
rogation days, as the law demands at those times."
“Also, Augustine, in his
book Questions on the Old and New Testaments, [Question cxxvii],
says: "One must refrain from one’s wife on certain days.
Sometimes a Christian may lawfully approach his wife, at other times
he may not. On the rogation days and fast days, one may not lawfully
approach her, because one should then abstain even from lawful
things, in order to entreat and pray more easily. Hence the Apostle
[1 Cor. 7:5] says that spouses should abstain for a time by mutual
consent, to devote time to prayer. For according to the law [cf. Is.
58:4], one may not sue and fight during fasts, although one might
afterwards." Also, [Saint] John Chrysostom: "Without
continence, one does not truly do penance. One who claims to do
penance and master himself by self-denial speaks in vain if he does
not abandon the bed-chamber [cf. Joel 2:16] and add continence to his
fasting."
“Also, [Pope Saint]
Gregory, [to the Questions of Augustine, Bishop of the English, Reply
10]: "A man should refrain from entering a church after sleeping
with his wife… We do not suggest that marriage is wrong, but
because lawful conjugal relations cannot occur without lust, one
should abstain from entering a sacred place… Lawful union of
the flesh must be for the sake of offspring, not for lust, and
fleshly intercourse for having children, not for satisfying vice…
But since, in the act of union, men are dominated, not by desire to
procreate offspring, but by lust, spouses do have something to regret
in their union."
“Gratian: The following
forbid the celebration of marriage on days of abstinence. Hence in
the Council of Laodicea, [A.D. 363-364, canon 52]: "Marriages or
feasts may not be celebrated during lent." Also, from the
Council [Lateran Council of 649] of Pope [Saint] Martin, [canon 48]:
"The feasts of the martyrs may not be celebrated during Lent,
but the offering may be made in their memory on Saturdays and
Sundays. Neither feasts nor weddings may be celebrated during Lent."
Also, from the Council of Lerida [A.D. 546]: "Weddings may not
be celebrated from Septuagesima until the Octave of Easter, during
the three weeks before the feast of St. John, and from Advent until
Epiphany. If any do so, let them be separated [excommunicated]."
Also, [Pope Saint] Nicholas, to the questions of the Bulgarians,
[A.D. 866, Letter 99]: "I
think it no way possible to take a wife or have any celebrations
during the season of Lent."” (Gratian,
Marriage Canons From The
Decretum (Vulgate
Edition), Case Thirty-Three, Question IV, Part 1 and 2)
Thus,
“As often as you come to church and wish to receive the
sacraments of Christ on a feast, observe chastity several days before
it, so that you may be able to approach the Lord’s altar with a
peaceful conscience. Devoutly practice this also throughout Lent,
even to the end of the Pasch, so that the Easter solemnity may find
you pure and chaste. In fact, a good Christian should not only
observe chastity for a few days before he communicates, [that is,
before he receives the Holy Eucharist] but he should never know his
wife except from the desire for children. A man takes a wife for the
procreation of children, not for the sake of lust. Even the marriage
rite mentions this: ‘For the procreation of children,’ it
says. Notice that it does not say for the sake of lust, but ‘for
the procreation of children.’
“… So,
too, we read in the Old Testament that, when the Jewish people were
about to approach Mount Sinai, it was said to them in the Lord’s
teaching: ‘Be sanctified, and be ready against the third day,
and come not near your wives,’ [Exodus 19:15] and: ‘if
any man be defiled in a dream by night, let him not eat of the flesh
of the sacrifice of salvation, lest his soul be cut off from his
people.’ [Deut. 23:10; Lev. 7:20] If after defilement which
happens to us even unwillingly we may not communicate [receive the
Eucharist] unless compunction and almsgiving come first, and fasting,
too, if infirmity does not prevent it, who can say that there is no
sin if we do such things intentionally when we are wide awake?
“…
Since
no man wants to come to church with his tunic covered with dirt, I do
not know with what kind of a conscience he dares to approach the
altar with his soul defiled by dissipation. Evidently, he does not
fear what the Apostle said:
‘Whoever partakes of the Body and Blood of the Lord unworthily
will be guilty of the Body and the Blood of the Lord.’ [1 Cor.
11:27] If we blush and fear to touch the Eucharist with dirty hands,
we should fear much more to receive the same Eucharist within a
polluted soul. As I mentioned, we have been
created in our soul according to God’s image. Now, if you put
your image on
a tablet of wood or stone, and someone impudently wanted to shatter
that image
with stones or to stain it with dirt, I wonder whether you would not
take up
arms against him, I ask you, if you are so jealous of your image that
was painted on a lifeless tablet, what kind of an injury do you
suppose God suffers when
His living image in us is defiled by dissipation? Therefore, if we do
not restrain
ourselves for our own sake, let us do so for the sake of God’s
image according to which we have been made.
“Above
all, no one should know his wife when Sunday or other feasts come
around. Similar precautions should be taken as often as women
menstruate, for the Prophet says: ‘Do not come near to a
menstruous woman.’ [Ezech. 18:6] If a man is aware that his
wife is in this condition but refuses to control himself on a Sunday
or feast, the children who are then conceived will be born as lepers,
or epileptics, or perhaps even demoniacs. Lepers are commonly born,
not
of wise men who observe chastity on feasts and other days, but
especially of farmers who do not know how to control themselves.
Truly, brethren, if animals without intellect do not touch each other
except at a fixed and
proper time, how much more should men who have been created according
to
God’s image observe this? What is worse, there are some
dissolute or drunken men who sometimes do not even spare their wives
when they are pregnant. Therefore, if they do not amend their lives,
we are to consider them worse than animals. Such men the Apostle
addresses when he says: ‘Every one of you learn how to possess
his vessel in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the
Gentiles who have no hope.’ [1 Thess. 4:4,5] Because what is
worse, many do not observe proper chastity with their own wives, they
should give abundant alms, as I said above, and forgive all their
enemies. Thus, as we mentioned, what has become defiled by
dissipation may be cleansed by constant alms giving.”
(St.
Caesarius of Arles, Sermon
44)
Now, then, when exactly must one start to observe chastity and purity if one wants to receive the Eucharist in accordance to the ordinances of the Church? The Bible is clear on this point in The First Book of Kings: “And the priest answered David, saying: ‘I have no common bread at hand, but only holy bread, if the young men be clean, especially from women?’ And David answered the priest, and said to him: ‘Truly, as to what concerneth women, we have refrained ourselves from yesterday and the day before [that is, three days in total when adding the same day he received the bread], when we came out, and the vessels of the young men were holy. Now this way is defiled, but it shall also be sanctified this [third] day in the vessels.’” (1 Kings 21:3-5) This biblical text shows us that spouses must be chaste on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, if they are to receive the Most Holy Eucharist on a Sunday. This means that they must be chaste for two whole days before the reception of the Eucharist, as well as completely chaste on the whole day they also received the Holy Eucharist.
These three days also correspond perfectly to Our Lord’s suffering, death and resurrection, which is the mold that all Christians must form themselves after if they want to be saved. “Know you not that all we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death? For we are buried together with him by baptism into death; that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no longer. For he that is dead is justified from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ: Knowing that Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him. For in that he died to sin, he died once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God: So do you also reckon, that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let no sin therefore reign in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of iniquity unto sin; but present yourselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of justice unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are whom you obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or of obedience unto justice. But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but have obeyed from the heart, unto that form of doctrine, into which you have been delivered.” (Romans 6:3-17) Douay Rheims Bible Commentary explains the verses in Romans 6:6 in this way: “Our old man: Our corrupt state, subject to sin and concupiscence, coming to us from Adam, is called our old man, as our state, reformed in and by Christ, is called the new man. --- Body of sin: The vices and sins, which then ruled in us, are named the body of sin.”
In truth, if we are dead to the world, we shall live forever with Christ. Therefore, every time we will receive the Holy Eucharist, we must be chaste for two days before we receive it, as well as on the day we receive it. For example, if we want to also receive it on a Friday apart from the normal time on the Sunday, we must be chaste on the days of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Then, if we also decide to receive it on the Sunday, we must continue to be chaste on Saturday and Sunday. Those, however, who choose to perform the marital act on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, are obliged to abstain from the Eucharist that Sunday so that the next week, they may receive it in a state of perfect purity.
It must be said, however, that no one that is married should perform the marital act on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, since these days signify Our Lord’s suffering, death, and resurrection which is what we all must conform to if we wish to be saved, by putting to death our old sinful, fleshly and sensual nature and man, and by being resurrected in Christ, rising to heaven in purity and chastity as a new spiritual man that has been freed from our former Body of sin: “Therefore, if you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above; where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: Mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. For you are dead; and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ shall appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is the service of idols.” (Colossians 3:1-5)
