Untitled - Saints' Books

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252 Material for Instructions. [PART n.
he lived in a cave at
Bethlehem, in constant prayer and
penitential austerities, St. Jerome was tormented by the
remembrance of the ladies whom he had long before
seen in Rome. Hence he cautioned his friend Nepotianus
to abstain not only from looking at women, but
1
from even speaking of their figure. look of
By a single
curiosity at Bethsebee, David miserably fell into the
sins of adultery, homicide, and scandal. The devil
2
only wishes us to begin," says the same St. Jerome.
The devil only requires that we begin to open the door;
he w r ill afterwards open it entirely. A deliberate, fixed
look at the countenance of
a young woman may
be an
infernal spark that will cause the ruin of the soul.
Speaking of priests, St. Jerome says that they ought to
avoid not only every unchaste act, but every glance of
the eye.
3
II. If to preserve chastity we must abstain from look
ing at women, it is far more necessary to avoid conver
sation with them. Tarry not among women* says the
Holy Ghost. The inspired writer subjoins the reason,
saying, that as the moth comes from clothes, so the
wickedness of men has its origin in conversation with
women. For from garments cometh a moth, and from a
woman the iniquity of a man? And, says Cornelius a
Lapide, as the moth comes from a garment in spite of
the owner, so from intercourse w r ith women evil desires
6
spring up, even when we will them not. He adds that
" 1
Officii tui est, non solum oculos castos custodire, sed et linguam;
numquam de formis mulierum disputes." Ep. ad Nepot.
2
Nostris tantum "
initiis (diabolus) opus habet."
3 "
Pudicitia sacerdotalis non solum ab opere se immundo abstineat,
sed etiam a jactu oculi sit libera." In Tit. i.
4 "
In medio mulierum noli commorari." Ecclus. xlii. 12.
5 " De
Ibid.
6 "
vestimentis enim procedit timea, et a muliere iniquitas
viri."
Sicut tibi nihil tale volenti nascitur in veste et e veste tinea, ita
nihil tale volenti nascitur ex femina desiderium."