Forgotten Truths
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Virginity Frees from
the Divided Heart that Comes with Marriage
Listing the advantages of virginity, Pope Pius XII presents it as a liberation. He compares it to marriage only to conclude that the person who is married has his heart divided and is not able to fully dedicate himself to the service of God. This has been the Catholic teaching for centuries. It is quite different from the opinion of those who pretend that marriage is higher, and that virginity is only suitable for those who are unable to find a spouse.
Pope Pius XII
And here we think it opportune, Venerable Brothers, to expose more fully and to explain more carefully why the love of Christ moves generous souls to abstain from marriage and what is the mystical connection between virginity and the perfection of Christian charity.
From Our Lord's words referred to above, it has already been implied that this complete renunciation of marriage frees men from its grave duties and obligations. Writing by divine inspiration, the Apostle of the Gentiles proposes the reason for this freedom in these words: "And I would have you to be without solicitude... But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided." (1 Cor 7:32-33)
Here, however, it must be noted that the Apostle is not reproving men because they are concerned about their wives, nor does he reprehend wives because they seek to please their husbands; rather he is asserting clearly that their hearts are divided between love of God and love of their spouse, and beset by gnawing cares, and so by reason of the duties of their married state they can hardly be free to contemplate the divine. For the duty of the married life to which they are bound clearly demands: "They shall be two in one flesh." (Gen 2:24, cf. Matt 19:5) For spouses are to be bound to each other by mutual bonds both in joy and in sorrow. (cf. 1 Cor 7:39)
It is easy to see, therefore, why persons who desire to consecrate themselves to God's service embrace the state of virginity as a liberation, in order to be more entirely at God's disposition and devoted to the good of their neighbor.
Pius XII, Encyclical Sacra Virginitas
of March 25, 1954, n. 20.
of March 25, 1954, n. 20.
Continued
Posted April 7, 2018
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