Ch. III. The sense of sight as an obstacle to perfection

The Unguarded Sense of Sight is an Obstacle to Perfection—Temptations Arising from it—Reasons Why We Should Mortify Our Sight—Modesty in One's Conduct and Movements—Modesty of the Eyes—Faults to be Corrected.

I. THE sense of sight is the most excellent of all man's senses, because it is the most faithful instrument of the soul to acquire correct knowledge of all material things; but in its very perfection lies its danger, for its influence on the soul, for good or evil, is commensurate to the extent of its power of perfection, which far exceeds that of all the other senses combined. The nature of the sight is to carry to the soul the images of the objects it perceives; but the imagination often distorts those images, combining them with others previously perceived and even with those of other senses. The imagination can also form new combinations, with the aid of the intellect or helped thereto by the intellectual passions or sensual appetites, or by the phenomenon of association; for, as the Angelic Doctor says, a thing can recall another thing by their similarity, their contrast or by simple association. True, the other senses also send their perceptions to the soul, but the fact remains that the sight is the most perfect of all the senses, and its sphere of action extends far and wide, and therefore, the sense of sight brings more images to the imagination than all the other senses united. What is still more worthy of our notice, is that the images begotten of sight, are more vivid and direct than those of any other sense, and hence excite more violently the sensual and intellectual appetites, and these appetites in their turn make a tool of the imagination, which thus readily becomes their slave. How well Job understood the influence of the sight on the imagination, when he said: "I have made a covenant with my eyes that I would not so much as think upon a virgin." Thus the perception of sight may send to the mind an image of an object, capable of making diverse impressions on the soul. The mind considers it and reflects on it; the appetites of the soul and of the body enter into the counsels of the mind, and if the first impressions be evil, unless they be quickly resisted, they are apt to cloud the intellect and to make the will hesitate, and thus they influence man's reason to take pleasure in evil thoughts and desires, and if occasion presents itself, they may succeed in forcing the will to carry out their evil inclinations. Furthermore, the images produced by the perception of sight are not lost, but they are stored away in the memory to be recalled by the imagination in obedience to intellectual and sensual appetites. Can we imagine the evil consequences of one unguarded look? Therefore, we are seriously warned by these inspired words: "Look not around about thee in the ways of the city nor wander up and down the streets thereof. Turn thy face away from a woman dressed up and gaze not upon another's beauty, for many have perished by the beauty of a woman, and hereby lust is enkindled as a fire." Holy Writ gives many examples of crimes caused by an unguarded look: the sin of David, which after his conversion filled his heart with much compunction and made him shed so many tears; the temptation of the chaste Joseph by the wife of Putiphar, whose glance on Joseph's comeliness stirred up the fire of concupiscence in her breast; the story of the chaste Susanna and the lecherous old men who imprudently watched her walking in her garden, etc.

Imprudent looks may not always lead to such dreadful consequences, but they are undoubtedly always dangerous to the peace and tranquillity of the soul, which is at least disturbed by them, even if no full consent be given to the evil thoughts they awake. Therefore St. Gregory gives the following warning: "So that we may not allow ourselves to be attacked by impure thoughts, we must provide a sure guard for that sense, which is so active; for it is not permitted to regard what we are forbidden to covet."

Let us note here how just and opportune the warning of the saint is, for whilst we are awake, the exercise of the sight, requisite for the conservation of the body and indispensable to averting all danger from it, is nearly continual, whether the soul is conscious of its movements and ramblings or not. This continual exercise makes the soul more independent of the control of the will, and although its movements often escape the soul's attention, the soul promptly awakes to consciousness when any object stirs up the evil appetite of our sinful nature. How necessary to keep watch over our eyes, and how difficult to remain sufficiently recollected to guide their movements!

II. One of the principal means by which we are enabled to keep a strict guard over the sight, is to preserve modesty, not only in looks, but also in our words, in our laughter and in our gait; in one word in our whole behavior. Modesty is a virtue by which man's exterior actions and the adornment of the body are so well moderated as not to offend anyone. It is founded on humility reduced to practice, and in that sense we must understand the advice of the Apostle: "Let your modesty be known to all men." Man's exterior behavior is as it were a mirror, in which the sentiments of his soul are reflected and his inward feelings are disclosed to the gaze of others. True, humility may not always be sincere, and unless exterior modesty correspond to the interior sentiments of the soul, it is but a mere sham, plain hypocrisy.

1. Modesty in looks. We have seen the danger of unguarded sight and therefore, curiosity or the dissipation of the mind that prompts us to see all that happens around us, should be checked, especially by those who aspire after perfection. It is not forbidden to use our eyes for the sake of an honest recreation or to acquire useful knowledge, nor does modesty demand that we should always look upon the ground before us, without raising our eyes: such affectation denotes bad breeding, especially so, when we address anyone or some one addresses us. If the person spoken to is of another sex, prudence and modesty require that we should not fix our regards upon such a person and that we should lower the eyes or divert them to either side after the first look of recognition, which is imposed by courtesy and urbanity, according to the teaching of St. Gregory: "The eyes ought to be depressed, as they are ravishers intent upon vice."

2. Even in our laughter modesty should be observed. "Those that give themselves up to piety," says St. Basil, "should take care not to laugh to excess: excessive hilarity is the mark of a want of moderation in the soul, and proves that the interior movements are not at all regulated. Notwithstanding, to laugh moderately in order to manifest one's joy is not against civility." What needs especially to be avoided is loud laughter, for this is opposed to modesty of behavior.

3. Modesty in our gait. Of this St. Basil says: "Let your gait not be indolent, for that denotes a dissolute mind, nor again violent or excessively precipitate, for that is a mark of an impetuous and insolent mind." As to our attitude as well as to our gait, we should avoid anything that attracts attention, such as inordinate gesticulations, a swinging of the body to and fro or of the arms, a continual nodding and shaking of the head, etc.

4. To this we should add modesty in dress and avoid on one side, slovenliness in attire, and on the other, an excessive elegance in dress. Somber garments are suitable to all people, but especially to a Christian, whose life should be given up to penance and mortification. Vanity in dress is a great obstacle to a pious life, and luxury together with a beautiful face has been the ruin of thousands of thousands of young women. "Christian virgins who are dressed in silk and purple," says St. Cyprian, "cannot perfectly put on Jesus Christ; and if they are adorned with gold and precious stones, they lose the ornament of their soul and body." St. Paul praises "women adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety, not with plaited hair or gold or pearls, or costly attire, but as it becometh women professing godliness with good works." As to Christian wives, St. Peter is far from advising them to gain the confidence of their husbands by luxury in dress, for he warns them saying: "Whose adorning let it not be the outward plaiting of the hair or the wearing of gold or the putting on of apparel."

5. Modesty in words and conversation. St. Ambrose lays down the following rule: "Do not exceed the manner of speaking, (i. e., do not talk too much,) for fear that your discourse may sound indecorous, for the mirror of the mind usually shines in our words; modesty weighs even the sound of the voice, so that an over loud voice may not offend any one's ear."

Thus modesty demands that we should not speak oftener nor longer than urbanity demands. We should never interrupt the conversations of others and we should above all, not be so fond of talking, as to give no one else an opportunity of saying a word. Reserve in speaking is better than loquacity, but the absolute taciturnity of those, from whom only a cold yes or no can be drawn, is equally blamable. Let us seek in conversation the good pleasure of others and not our own, and preserve sufficient recollection, so as not to utter a word that may shock the sensibility of delicate souls or may in the least offend God, Who hears every word that is spoken. Those who aim at perfection should particularly avoid frivolous and worldly topics of conversation, for they cause dissipation of the mind, if they have no more serious consequences. Religious and devout souls choose for their conversation, useful or pious subjects tending to enlightening the mind and to elevating it to things heavenly. If we were always conscious of God's presence, worldly things would find no place in our familiar colloquies.

Modesty in speech must be particularly observed, for it is the ordinary channel, by which our thoughts and the sentiments of our soul are directly made manifest, and communicated to our fellow-men; but whereas the tongue is popularly credited with being the principal organ of speech, and is identified with it, and whereas an untamed tongue is likewise a great obstacle to perfection, we will devote to it a whole chapter after we have given due consideration to the organs of hearing and smell, in so far as they are in opposition to our advancement in spiritual life.

6. All that we have said about modesty and looks and conduct in general, applies more forcibly to priests and religious, who are supposed, according to the expression of the Apostle, to have put on Christ, that is, who have earnestly determined to walk in His footsteps and to follow not only His laws, but His counsels as well. Priests and religious are, as it were, the leaders of Christian society and their example attracts the largest majority of the faithful either towards good or evil. "You are the light of the world," says the Savior, "...So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven." Modesty is thus above all necessary to ecclesiastics and religious as the people of the world judge from their exterior conduct the intimate sentiments and affections of their heart. According to St. Basil the bare lack or want of modesty is more apt to cause scandal than more grievous faults among the laity. Here are his words: "The faults of obscure persons are not noticed as much as those of high rank. Truly, when a man of the people gives way to hilarity, to unreasonable gaity, or to any other immodesty, not much notice is taken of it, because everyone thinks that those actions correspond to the habitual life of that man; but if he, who professes a state of perfection, is wanting publicly to his duty in anything, all notice it immediately and make a crime of it, and, as Holy Scripture says, they turn against him and tear his reputation to pieces." Therefore we should conclude with St. Jerome, who writes to Rusticus that priests and religious should observe such modesty in all their exterior, "That their dress, their gait, their countenance, their whole person be a sermon that incites to virtue."