Since man’s life on earth is a time of trial, and all who would live devotedly in Christ must undergo persecution, and the devil your foe is on the prowl like a roaring lion looking for prey to devour, you must use every care to clothe yourselves in God’s armor so that you may be ready to withstand the enemy’s ambush.
Your loins are to be girt with chastity, your breast fortified by holy meditations, for as Scripture has it, holy meditation will save you. Put on holiness as your breastplate, and it will enable you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. Faith must be your shield on all occasions, and with it you will be able to quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked one: there can be no pleasing God without faith; and the victory lies in this — your faith. On your head set the helmet of salvation, and so be sure of deliverance by our only Saviour, who sets his own free from their sins. The sword of the spirit, the word of God, must abound in your mouths and hearts. Let all you do have the Lord’s word for accompaniment.
(Rule of St. Albert)
In the Rule it says we are to have our loins girded with chastity. What does it mean to gird our loins with chastity? To gird one’s loins means to prepare for something that will be difficult or challenging.
In Medieval times, when a man was to be knighted, he was encircled with a belt or band around his waist. The purpose was to gather up his garments and to have a place for his sword. There are three ways according to Kees Waaijman in his commentary on the Rule of St. Albert (The Mystical Space of Carmel) that Carmelites are to put on the cincture of God’s chastity. Clothed in this cincture reminds us that we are to protect, bind, and purge.
First, we are to protect all that is vulnerable in us. In this regard we will have an attitude that will keep us from violating the intimate, tender, and vulnerable parts in ourselves and in others. This will require strength and the ability to fight in order to protect. Balance and respect will also be needed and the ability to restrain and abstain in order to keep from violating the vulnerable, intimate and tender parts. Chastity protects.
Secondly, the cincture of God’s chastity gathers up or binds by keeping us from dissipating. We so often get lost with impulses of the moment or are led astray by some diversion. Chastity helps to gain control over ourselves. Chastity brings with it concentration and order. It helps to regulate and moderate our activity and aids recollection.
Finally, chastity removes all that is not real. By all that is not real, we mean all that is superficial in our conduct, feelings that are all confused and bewildered, all our prejudices, all our selfish needs, all the trivial things we impose on others and other such things that estrange us from who we really are in God’s eyes.
Chastity is a gift from God and we make this gift our own when we practice it. With sensitivity and patience we can, with God’s grace, make chastity part of our daily clothing. God’s chastity should abound in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Chastity in our words will be reflected in the respect and esteem that we give to others. With integrity permeating our thoughts, we will think honestly of ourselves and others. Daily doing deeds of love express the love that has entered into our new life with God.
As Secular Carmelites with the Discalced Order the promise of chastity that we make “reinforces the commitment to love God above all else, and to love others with the love God has for them”. By making this promise we seek “the freedom to love God and neighbor unselfishly”. (Constitutions. #13). Each day let us put on chastity as part of the armor of God.
a solitary bird 