Saturday, September 7 (August 25), 2024
1Cor. 1;3-9; Mt. 19:3-12

The Lord said that God Himself had originally blessed marriage and made it a part of the human nature; further, speaking of those who refrain from marriage, he said: “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it” [Mt. 19:12].  Thus, He acknowledged that marital union is a natural law; yet this law is not absolute, and chastity is also possible.

Allowing chastity, the Lord sets a condition which brings it under the natural law.  There are people who are physically incapable of marital life: they are naturally chaste.  If, however, someone decides, by an act of his own will, to refrain from marriage, he becomes subject to the same law concerning the demands of his body. Therefore, both kinds of chastity are equally natural, only the former is based upon the nature of the body, while the latter ─ upon the free will, that is, the nature of the spirit. 

Yet some would claim that willful chastity is unnatural. Their arguments, however, result from misunderstanding of nature: they limit natural to material, or bodily realm.  They forget about the nature of the spirit, about the natural changes which occur in the body under the spiritual influence.  Such short-sightedness would not be a surprise for a materialist, but, unfortunately, it is common among quite reasonable people as well.

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