Much can be said about the virtue of modesty.
But a recent sermon I heard from my pastor on the virtue of modesty helped me gain a new appreciation for it.
Here are a few pointers he brought up that I will pass along to you, my readers, because I thought they were worth sharing.
THE VIRTUE OF MODESTY
Imagine yourself a grown man who has been invited to a ball at a large estate. You hear it normally costs $200 just to get in the door. But you have been invited as a special guest for free by the hostess. Many dignitaries will be there, like the governor and congressmen and judges from your state.
Thinking ahead to this evening with these guests, you may go buy yourself a new suit and shoes, get shaved up, and wear your best tie.
What you are unlikely to do is show up in a pair of jeans and a wife beater. You may have the best abs and pectoral muscles in your county. But an evening like this is not an occasion to show off your body.
What’s more, this is not the environment for you to be cussing or cracking crude jokes. No, this is a time for you to show respect for those around you. This is a time for you to blend in and not to stand out.
An occasion like this is one in which I think we can all agree requires us to moderate our behavior. Thus proving we all know the value of the virtue of modesty—even if we don’t all practice it.
THE VIRTUE OF MODESTY REMAINS AN ACT OF CHARITY
The virtue of modesty means to practice moderation in all the internal and external acts and appearance of a person. The person’s endowments, possessions, and state in life help determine how one is to behave.
Modesty in speech, as in our example of your visit to a ball, involves a certain decorum out of respect for others.
Likewise, the virtue of modesty in dress also considers others. Particularly, wearing modest attire serves as a consideration for the weakness of others.
Men, especially, are drawn to what they see with their eyes. This means their faculty of sight can also lead them into great sin. Men must be careful for who and what they lay their eyes on.
Virtuous women take this weakness in men into consideration and do not allow themselves to be a cause of sin to men.
St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, writes about modesty in his Summa Theologiae, “…a woman’s apparel may incite men to lust, according to Proverbs 7:10, ‘Behold a woman meeteth him in harlot’s attire, prepared to deceive souls’” (II-II, Q. 169, A. 2, co.).
In that same section, St. Thomas continues, “But those women who have no husband nor wish to have one, or who are in a state of life inconsistent with marriage, cannot without sin desire to give lustful pleasure to those men who see them, because this is to incite them to sin.
“And if indeed they adorn themselves with this intention of provoking others to lust, they sin mortally; whereas if they do so from frivolity, or from vanity for the sake of ostentation, it is not always mortal, but sometimes venial. And the same applies to men in this respect” (emphasis added).
So, there you have it.
THE VIRTUE OF MODESTY TEMPERS THE DESIRE FOR CONTROL AND POWER
To attack someone at a known weakness serves as a means to not only harm them, but even to gain control over them.
For example, if you know someone is susceptible to overdrinking, then you can gain control over him by taking him to the bar. He may not want to divulge information to you that you feel you must have. But once he knocks a few back, you know he’ll be forthcoming on any information you seek from him.
Similarly, the devil knows he can control most men by inciting in them vices of lust and intemperance. All he has to do is distract men with impure images, thoughts, and so forth. Once he gains control this way, he can enslave the man to sin.
A woman who dresses immodestly in public, thus, gains the attention of men around her. If her motivations are impure, she can sin gravely by being a cause of scandal to others, as St. Thomas points out.
Virtuous women take this weakness in men into consideration and do not allow themselves to be a cause of sin to men.
In contrast, women who practice the virtue of modesty do not seek to cause men around them to be incited to sin. They are not seeking to incite lustful responses.
Instead, they dress attractively so as to bring honor to their feminine beauty. Yet, they do not reveal that which is reserved for their husband. They know they don’t need to how off their most attractive parts in order to be considered beautiful.
A man who looks upon a beautiful woman who is modestly dressed is drawn upward to the beauty of God. He can gives thanks for the beauty of this woman.
Whereas, a man who finds an attractive woman in scantily-clad clothing, is reduced downward, to his animal instinct to give into lust.
Words of wisdom and food for thought.
YOUR TURN
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