2-1. Pastor speaks out against immodesty of dress...
"A thorough cleansing must be made within the House of God--the Church. Women shall not receive My Son dressed as pagans, naked and without absolution! "
- The Bayside Prophecies
Our Lady of the Roses, December 31, 1974
(The following is an article written by a parish priest):
Dear Parishioners,
One of the first things I have noticed in my new assignment here in [name of town] and its missions is that some are coming to church not modestly dressed. This is a common problem throughout our society brought on and encouraged by our modern media. We are taught in our Catholic faith that we are not to conform ourselves to the world, but to be conformed to Christ. If we ignore this warning, we risk not only the eternal loss of our own souls, but the loss of others as well. Parents have the grave obligation before God to always see to it that their children are modestly dressed, especially when coming to church. Modesty does not come naturally, it is taught and cultivated, it is a virtue very pleasing to God. On the other hand, immodesty is very displeasing to Him. But what if the parents are dressed immodestly themselves, how will they be a model to their children?
It is possible that they have not been taught the virtue of "modesty." For this reason I will set down some age-old guidelines for modesty in dress. Shorts, mini-skirts, tank-tops, blouses that expose the shoulders and arms up to the shoulders, low cut necklines which expose the busts and other private parts of the body are examples of dress not appropriate for Mass. Indeed, these kinds of dress are not appropriate at any time for any who would call themselves Catholic. Skirts that do not come at least 3" - 4" below the knees (when sitting) are immodest and unacceptable. We as true Catholics must constantly call to mind the fact that we are not our own, we belong to God, and therefore are temples of the Holy Spirit. We have a grave obligation to take proper moral care of God's property. The practice of modesty in dress protects the dignity of our persons as "temples of the Holy Spirit." If we do not dress modestly we are no longer temples of the Holy Spirit, but tools of the devil roaming about as grave occasions of sin for others. This does not mean that the body is evil in itself, but we must remember that we are all under the influence of the original sin. You will remember in Genesis that the first thing God did after Adam and Eve sinned is to make them some clothes to cover their nakedness. Through their sin and the loss of grace, Adam and Eve could no longer see the goodness of the body, so it had to be covered.
Our Lady revealed to us at Fatima that, "More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than any other sin." Jesus says that, "If you even look at a woman with lust, you have committed adultery with her in your heart." A young women immodestly dressed promotes these adulterous glances, and is therefore an occasion of grave sins of the flesh to the men of the community. They are also a distraction at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, stealing the attention of the people which is strictly owed to God. This occasion of sin is in itself a grave sin for those who dress this way. The question arises, "are these girls and women 'suited' to receive the Lord?" In moral theology we would say that, objectively (what we can see on the surface), they are in mortal sin because of the grave temptation they pose, especially to the men of the community. So the answer is that they are not properly disposed to receive the Lord, and are most likely committing an even greater sin of "sacrilege" by doing so. Yet, young women do not hesitate to go to Communion in the very act of sinning by being immodestly dressed. In this way they offend God by a sacrilegious communion themselves and cause others to do the same.
If we do not dress modestly we are demonstrating our lack of respect for our own bodies and our lack of respect for others. Moreover, those who dress immodestly demonstrate that they could care less about the salvation of their own souls or the salvation of the souls of their neighbors. Immodesty in dress is a cheap form of advertising one's loose moral standards. This gross indifference to the practice of chaste moral standards is nothing new. St. John Chrysostom, who died in the year 407 wrote the following on this very same subject. Speaking to those who offend against immodesty, he says:
You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You claim that you never invited others to sin. You did not, indeed, by your word, 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 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, and you are more criminal than those who poison the body; you murder not the body but the soul (for example, cause others to commit moral sins of impurity). And all this for your foolish vanity and pride.
I, as your pastor, have a grave obligation before God to correct this problem. Because of its seriousness and inflammatory nature, in the future Father will not give communion to those not properly dressed. This applies as well to those who do the readings, play the organ, or for any other liturgical act. Those scheduled to be married must not make their wedding an occasion for immodesty of dress. As pastor, I am very serious about this problem because of the ease with which these sins are given in to, and because of the grave danger to the salvation of souls. It is my duty as pastor to guide the community in these, and all matters dealing with morality. Please cooperate with these guidelines for the moral good of the whole community. Remember, I will not hesitate to turn that person away from the reception of the Lord in communion if they come up immodestly dressed. If you have any doubt about the code for dress mentioned above regarding the length of the dress or the shortness of the sleeves, choose the longer ones. In this way, you will save yourself from two things. You will save yourself from the embarrassment from being turned way from communion, but most of all, you will save yourself from the possibility of dying in grave sin.
The Iron Law, it is an appropriate adage which applies here in terms of Doing Good and Avoiding Evil:
SENSE EXPERIENCE TENDS TO BECOME THOUGHT;
THOUGHT TENDS TO BECOME DESIRE;
DESIRE TENDS TO BECOME ACTION;
ACTION TENDS TO BECOME HABIT;
HABIT FORMS CHARACTER;
AND OUR CHARACTER DETERMINES OUR ETERNAL DESTINY. THINK ABOUT THAT!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
(signed)
Pastor
"Impress, My child, upon your world the existence of hell that man seeks to deny. There are fires of hell. These fires will be felt on those who have lost their modesty to modernization, who expose the sacred temple of God, placed when their spirit entered their body—expose them to ridicule! The flames will burn every inch of that which is exposed."
- The Bayside Prophecies
Our Lady of the Roses, November 20, 1971
"Parents, how dare you allow your daughters to be looked upon with lustful eyes! Have you no shame? What is your example? Are you pagans?"
- The Bayside Prophecies
Our Lady of the Roses, May 30, 1972
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