I don't know if this has ever been posted here or not, but I came across it today and I thought it worth sharing:


Obtain for me a deep sense of modesty, which will be reflected in my external conduct. Protect my eyes, the windows of my soul, from anything that might dim the luster of a heart that must mirror only Christ-like purity. And when the Bread of Angels becomes my food in Holy Communion, seal my heart forever against the suggestion of sinful pleasures.

May I be among the number of those of whom Jesus spoke: "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God."

Amen

Nice prayer. And my favorite line of the beatitudes.


Maybe someone can make this into a sticky?

Done.

Thanks for posting this prayer I'm going to write it down in a notebook I've dedicated to Our Father so I can turn to it when its needed

Here is another one, by St. Thomas Aquinas:

O good Jesus, I know that every perfect gift
And, above all others, that of chastity, depends
On the powerful action of your divine Providence;
I know that without You a creature can do nothing.
This is why I beseech You to defend, by Your
Grace, the purity of my soul and of my body.
And if I have ever received any impression
Whatsoever of a sentiment capable of soiling this
Ineffable virtue, O supreme Master of my faculties,
Blot it out from my soul, that with a clean heart
I may advance in Your love and in Your service,
Offering myself chaste all the days of my life
On the most pure altar of Your divinity.
It is the Cross that I adore. The Cross of the
Lord is with me. The Cross is my refuge. AMEN

Beautiful.

And here is one to St. Thomas:

Chosen lily of innocence, pure St. Thomas,
who kept chaste the robe of baptism
and became an angel in the flesh after being girded by two angels,
I implore you to commend me to Jesus, the Spotless Lamb,
and to Mary, the Queen of Virgins.
Gentle protector of my purity, ask them that I,
who wear the holy sign of your victory over the flesh,
may also share your purity,
and after imitating you on earth
may at last come to be crowned with you among the angels. Amen.

Wonderful additions, Puppi and Ivar.

"Love not the world, neither the things which are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the concupiscence of the eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh, and the pride of life comes not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away, and the lusts thereof, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

How well we do to remember that so many of the inclinations and temptations we struggle against now will be NO MORE after this short, brief burden-laden life is over! My goodness, what joy should fill our hearts when we realize that all this stuff that seems so good and so pleasurable here below will not even exist in heaven, which has such pleasure that the highest enjoyment in this life is like a pile of dung! I love how C.S. Lewis put it - he wrote in one of his books that all the temptations and pleasures we can be tempted with in this life will seem like the "half-nauseous attractions of a raddled harlot would seem to a man who hears that his true-beloved whom he has loved all of his life and whom he had believed to be dead is alive and even now at his door." This life is short - let us keep perspective - even if we were denied every conceivable pleasure that God gives in this life, and we were to go through life lonely, isolated, and neglected, never being married, never having sexual relations - if we were to go through every kind of loss and suffering in this life - it is not "worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us." Sex won't exist in heaven. Marriage will be between the soul and the Lord, and we shall all be united in Him in a love, a joy, and a glory that makes the most rapturous love in this life appear a shadow by comparison. Though we may enjoy and be thankful for the gifts we recieve here, let us not place too high of a value on them, for they are swiftly passing, and will give way to that which is eternal. Thanks be to God!

What great prayers. I want to achive purity but am so easily distracted. This world is so loud and filled with so many shiny things that draw me away from Who loves me and the sounds drowned out His voice that tells me where He wants me. What touched me most was what Desales wrote. Its exactly as written what I saw and felt and I KNOW this to be how it is. Yet I find each day I fail being like Christ to mortal sin of self impurity. I do know I have to take an active stance on defending myself from sin. I have to be willing to surrender as a lost sheep that needs His strength. I need to be covered by Him. I thought after my conversion it was a clear calling to follow the path of those that lived out their lives in seclusion and in prayer, meditation and contemplation. Praying for those in need. Asking for intercession for those in purgatory who are not aware that they are there and no one to pray for them. That is not where I ended up though, at least not yet. Thank you for the prayers and I will be writting them down as I know they will help.

Bill

Bill also said he is easily distracted and I find myself in the same boat and I know I am not pure yet I pray and ask for strength and find my eyes wandering and catch myself in thinking things I should not think. These saints are on such a different level than I find myself and I know I should not use that as an excuse not to try although it is difficult when life hits you and you get distracted. May God bless all of us that strive to do right...

Just saw this, thought perhaps it may have been my signature...

Obviously, it is a difficult thing to keep a chaste mind. Especially in this day and age where vice seems like virtue and virtue like vice. I wish the best to anyone trying to lead a chaste life, it is not an easy thing by any stretch (and I know this all too well), unless you already are predisposed in some sense to keep chaste, I think.

Prayer of the Prologue--The Cloud of Unknowing

God, unto whom all hearts are open,
and unto whom every will speaks,
and from whom no secret thing is hidden,
I pray Thee to cleanse the intent of my heart
with the ineffable Gift of Thy Grace,
that I may perfectly love Thee
and worthily praise Thee.

Amen

Lord, inflame our hearts and our inmost beings with the fire of Your Holy Spirit, that we may serve You with chaste bodies and pure minds. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

And more at http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/praye ... urity.html

Such beautiful prayers! I should try learning some of them.

i think my fave is

the part that says Blessed are the persecuted... because I have been through a lot of that..