{"id":2746,"date":"2007-04-24T08:57:45","date_gmt":"2007-04-24T08:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2007\/04\/no-peace-without-chastity\/"},"modified":"2017-12-30T17:23:36","modified_gmt":"2017-12-30T17:23:36","slug":"no-peace-without-chastity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2007\/04\/no-peace-without-chastity\/","title":{"rendered":"No Peace Without Chastity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"0424S%20Franca%20.jpg\"A Holy Abbess<\/strong>
\nThe Benedictine\u2013Cistercian calendar commemorates today Saint Franca of Piacenza, virgin (1173\u20131218). Franca was an intrepid monastic reformer. After enduring sufferings and persecutions as abbess of the Benedictines of San Siro, she became abbess of the Cistercian monastery of Plectoli, ruling her monastic family with maternal love. Franca was accustomed to spending entire nights in prayer to God in the oratory of the monastery. She died on the feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist, 25 April 1218.<\/p>\n

The Collect of the Day<\/strong>
\nOnly recently did I discover the beauty of the Collect given for the feast of Saint Franca. I don’t how it escaped my notice until now.<\/p>\n

Tua nos, omnipotens Deus, protectione custodi,
\net castimoniae pacem mentibus nostris atque corporibus,
\nintercedente beata Francha virgine tua, propitiatus indulge,
\nut veniente sponso Filio tuo Unigenito,
\naccensis lampadibus, eius digne praestolemur occursum.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is my translation:<\/p>\n

Keep us safe, almighty God, by thy protection
\nand through the intercession of Saint Franca, virgin,
\ngrant to our minds and to our bodies
\nthe peace of a life that is chaste,
\nso that at the advent of the Bridegroom,
\nthine only\u2013begotten Son,
\nwe may hasten forth to meet Him
\nwith lighted lamps.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chastity Produces Serenity<\/strong>
\nThe Collect makes us ask, “for mind and body the peace of a life that is chaste.” One might also translate the phrase as “for mind and body the peace that comes from living chastely.” Serenity, or peace of mind and body, is one of the benefits of chastity.<\/p>\n

That Terrible Itch<\/strong>
\nThose who have lived in unchastity \u2014 I am thinking, in particular, of Saint Augustine<\/a> these days, but one might also allude to Mary of Egypt<\/a>, to Charles de Foucauld<\/a>, and to Julien Green<\/a> \u2014 know the “itch” of restlessness that torments the mind and body. If you would know peace of mind and body, be chaste.<\/p>\n

The Chaste Person: An Instrument of Peace<\/strong>
\nRarely in our culture is chastity presented as a positive virtue. It is almost always mocked or disdained as the appanage of the inhibited personality when, in fact, the chaste person is wonderfully free and, therefore, at peace in mind and in body. Serenity is a fruit of chastity. The chaste person becomes an instrument of peace at home, in the Church, and in society. The unchaste person sows trouble wherever he goes. How many readers of Vultus Christi<\/em> have seen those bumperstickers in the U.S. that read, No peace without justice<\/em>? Wouldn’t it be splendidly subversive to have them read No peace without chastity<\/em>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Holy Abbess The Benedictine\u2013Cistercian calendar commemorates today Saint Franca of Piacenza, virgin (1173\u20131218). Franca was an intrepid monastic reformer. After enduring sufferings and persecutions as abbess of the Benedictines of San Siro, she became abbess of the Cistercian monastery of Plectoli, ruling her monastic family with maternal love. Franca was accustomed to spending entire <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-monastic","category-saints"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-Ii","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2746"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2746"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16830,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2746\/revisions\/16830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}