Vices and Virtues: Chastity Conquers Lust
Hell’s Widest Gate - https://www.onesaint.org/uploads/1/1/9/4/11942290/alphonsushellswidestgate-impurityetc..pdf
Among the four principal gates of hell, which include Hatred, blasphemy, Theft, and Impurity, “it is by the gate of impurity that the greatest number of the damned enter.” - St Alphonsus Maria Ligouri
"St. Jerome says that this is the only sin of which we read that it caused God to repent of having made man, for all flesh had become corrupted (Gen 6.6-12). And so it is, St. Jerome says, that there is no sin which God punishes so rigorously, even upon earth, as this. He once sent fire from Heaven upon five cities, and consumed all their inhabitants for this sin (Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen 18-19). Principally on account of this sin did God destroy mankind, with the exception of eight persons, by the flood. It is a sin which God punishes, not only in the
other life, but in this also.”
(Our Lady of Fatima) - Blessed Jacinta later revealed that according to Our Lady, “The sins which cause most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh,” or sins against chastity.
Mathew 5: 8 - “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God”
“Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable to true love.” St John Paul II
“The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy.” CCC 2339
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Combat:
3 Hail Marys
Recite, morning & evening, 3 Hail Marys in honor of the 3 great privileges, with this invocation at the end: for the morning: "O my Mother, preserve me from mortal sin during this day," for the evening: "O my Mother, preserve me from mortal sin during this night.”
“One of the first to say the three Hail Marys and to recommend them to others was the illustrious St. Anthony of Padua. His special aim in this practice was to honor the spotless Virginity of Mary and to preserve a perfect purity of mind, heart, and body in the midst of the dangers of the world. Many, like him, have felt its salutary effects. St. Leonard of Port Maurice, the celebrated missionary (1675-1751), advised all his hearers to practice this devotion. It was given as a penance in confession, to obtain the grace of avoiding all mortal sins during the day or night, especially for those who were struggling with sins of impurity; moreover, he promised in a special manner, eternal salvation to all those who proved constantly faithful to this practice. He would always impose the Three Hail Marys to be said morning and evening.
After the example of those two great Franciscan Saints, St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori adopted this pious practice and gave it his most ardent and powerful support. He counseled its use, and even imposed it as a penance on those who had not adopted this good habit. He speaks of it in his beautiful, classic book The Glories of Mary:
"Each morning and each night, when arising and when going to bed, say three Hail Mary's prostrate on the ground, or at least kneeling, and to each Hail Mary add the short aspiration: 'By thy pure and Immaculate Conception, O Mary, make my body pure and my soul holy.'
Why is this short, simple, and easy devotion to Our Lady so powerful? The answer lies in the power of the Hail Mary. So many Catholics throughout the ages of history have lived and died without ever truly appreciating the priceless value of the Hail Mary. Too many people underestimate the power of the Blessed Virgin Mary before God, even today. St. Theresa of Avila wrote: "The glory due to one devout Hail Mary is worth a long life of suffering.” - https://visitationproject.org/pages/the-three-hail-marys?srsltid=AfmBOooWtYfmJ5bzNsWqeVnrGvQfa5IOEVqBtcUTRFgVNcgfLI1whc3N
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bJIIqk6XaHQySLcFfnt-snPSjdZAZjf2/view
How to pray the three Hail Marys:
Mary, my Mother, free me from falling into mortal sin.
By the power granted you by the Eternal Father,
Hail Mary…
By the wisdom granted you by the Son,
Hail Mary…
By the love granted you by the Holy Spirit,
Hail Mary…
You conclude with a Glory be … and the brief prayer,
“Mary, by your Immaculate Conception, purify my body and sanctify my soul.” (This prayer was granted an indulgence by Saint Pius X.)
- https://aleteia.org/2017/08/14/the-beautiful-devotion-of-the-three-hail-marys
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