“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.”
God decides how we are to use all things created. It is thus with our soul and body. God wants us to use them for His service here on earth. Both our body and our soul are destined for eternal life with God. So we must keep them pure and holy on earth. It is this that God tells us in the Sixth and Ninth Commandments. We must control our bodily appetites and we must avoid illicit desires.
Tell me, children, about the things around us. Tell me how we get food, and clothing, and all that we need in this world. Who tells us how to use all these things ? What does God intend that we should use these things for? Tell me the good that comes to us from fire, water, and things to eat. Tell me some of the evils that come to people when they do not use fire properly. Then tell me what happens sometimes when people are not careful about water. What happens if people eat or drink too much? What happens if people take poison?
Perhaps you would like to talk about your soul and body. Tell me where they come from. Who gave you your mind? What can you do with your mind? How does it happen that you can read, write, and talk? How does it happen that you can choose and wish for things? How does it happen that you can remember things? Who tells you how to use your mind? How do we know all that God wants us to do? What Church teaches us? Why did God give you your parents? What does your guardian angel put in your mind? When is the feast of our Guardian Angels? Oct. 2d. In whose honor does the priest say Mass on that day? What is the color of the vestments which he uses on that day? Yes ; he uses white vestments. On some feasts a little curtain is hung over the tabernacle door. It is always the same color as the vestments of the day. White signifies purity. White vestments are used on all feasts of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, the saints, and angels.
How do you think the angels use their minds? What kind of thoughts do you think they have? Why does the priest wear white vestments on the feast of our Guardian Angels? By what power of your soul can you know God’s holy truth? What does your mind tell you about God when you look at this beautiful world? What does God want you to think when you look at the sun, the moon, and the stars? What does God want you to think about when you see the flowers ; the plants ; the beautiful sky? How, then, does God want you to use your mind? What kind of thoughts does God want you to have? In what part of you is your mind? To whom does your soul belong? What does God want you to keep from your mind? Why does God want you to keep all evil thoughts away? Why does God want you to keep your mind pure? What is the first thing for which God made your mind? How can you use your mind to help you to get to heaven? Who puts bad thoughts into people’s mind? Why does the devil put bad thoughts into their mind? Why does the devil hate to see your mind pure?
What kind of things does God want you to wish for? Tell me some of the good things God wants you to desire. If necessary, suggest some things, such as, to be good, to love everybody, to serve God, etc.
Where will your soul be forever? Why do you always try to keep your soul pure? With whom will your soul be in heaven? Who are those that are pure now in heaven? But when will your body be with God in heaven? What will happen to your body on the last day? Why will God bring your body back to life at the end of the world? What two Commandments did God give to tell us to keep our soul and body pure? What did God tell us in the Sixth Commandment? When did God tell you to keep your body pure? What did God tell us in the Ninth Commandment? When did God tell you to keep your soul pure? What do you do to keep your soul pure? What kind of thoughts do you keep from your mind so that your soul will be pure? What kind of desires do you keep from your soul so that it will be pure? What kind of thoughts do pure people always try to have? What do pure people do when bad thoughts come to their mind? What Commandment do people break when they take pleasure in bad thoughts? Whom do they disobey when they keep bad thoughts in their mind?
What kind of sin is it to take pleasure in bad thoughts? What kind of sin sent the devils to hell? Where do people go who die in mortal sin? When will God forgive people their sins? What do they have to do if they want God to forgive them? What kind of sin is it to take pleasure in bad desires? What do pure people do when bad desires come to them? In what Commandment did God tell us to keep our body pure? Why does God want us to keep our body pure always?
Tell me again what you can do with your body ; your eyes ; your ears ; your voice ; your hands ; your feet. How can you use your eyes to keep your body pure ; ears ; voice ; hands? How does God want you to use your eyes? What does God want you to turn away your eyes from? What kind of pictures and things does He want you to turn away from? What does God want you to think when you look at this beautiful world? What does He want you to think about when you see other people? Why do boys lift their hats to ladies? Why do all women make you think of the Blessed Virgin?
How does God want you to use your ears? What do you think about when you hear sweet music? Who put these beautiful sounds into the world? What do you think about when you hear the birds singing? Who taught the little birds to sing? What kind of words does God want you to listen to? What do you hear when you go to Mass? Whose word do you hear when the priest preaches the Gospel? What does God want you to keep from listening to? What do you do when anybody tries to say bad things before you? What do you do when anybody starts to tell a vile story ? Why do you keep from listening to bad songs and bad jokes? Why does God want you to keep from listening to these things?
Tell me about your strength. Tell me why God gives it to you. How does God want you to use your hands? Why can’t people do anything they please with their body? To whom does their body belong? Which is nobler in you, your soul or your body? Which should rule the other? How do good people control the desires of their body? Why do you think the saints used to fast so much? Yes, they wanted their soul to rule their body. They wanted to control the desires and appetites of the body. St. Francis of Assisi lived most of the time on bread and water. You know he lived about seven hundred years ago.
Why do we abstain from meat on Fridays? Why do we fast during Lent? What is the first day of Lent? What does the priest bless on Ash Wednesday ? What does the priest say when he puts blessed ashes on your forehead? On Ash Wednesday and on the Sundays of Lent the priest wears purple vestments. Purple is the sign of sorrow and penance. The purple vestments remind the people that they should be sorry for their sins and do penance.
Why do you think our Lord and the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph were willing to be so poor? What did they love better than fine clothes? Why do you think purity is better than fine clothes? How long will purity last? Why do you think goodness is better than fine food? Who wants you to rule your body with your reason? Why are you able to deny your body something it craves? Why are the animals not able to deny the desires of the body? When you keep from eating meat on Friday, what does that show about your soul and body? When you get out of bed on a cold morning to go to church, which part of you is ruling? Why did God give us reason? What should guide us in all that we do? Who guides our reason? What Church teaches us all that God wants us to do?
Why does God want our soul to rule our body ? What part of us is like the angels? What part of us is made to the image of God ? What kind of being is God? What kind of beings are the angels? What Commandments tell us to rule our bodies and their desires? What part of us is ruling when we fast? How did the saints keep the appetites of their body down? The saints all fasted and did penance. They denied their bodies everything they could ; for they wanted to keep away from all bad desires. Some of them lived years and years in wild places all alone. There they would live on berries and roots. They lived only to think about God and to pray to Him and love Him. They are called hermits.
What do you think made the saints happy? Why does it make people happy to be good? What kind of people are miserable? What did God give us to guide us in this world? Why does God want us to follow our reason? What are we preparing for in this life? With whom shall we be in heaven? What are the things of this world good for? Where should they help us to go when we die? Why will not money make people really happy? How long can they have it? Why do the pleasures of this world not make people really happy? How soon do they pass away? Why does God want us to keep our soul and body pure? When will we have our body in heaven? When does our Lord come into our body? How long does our Lord remain in us after Holy Communion? What do you do during that time?
What kind of sin is it to take pleasure in bad thoughts? What Commandment says to avoid bad thoughts? What Commandment does anybody break when he looks at bad pictures ? What kind of sin is it to wish for bad things? Why does God want us to be modest in all that we do ? What do you do with your eyes to keep your soul pure? What do you turn your eyes away from? Why do you turn away when anybody begins evil talk?
Who was the purest creature that ever lived on earth? Why did God make the Blessed Virgin so pure? Who helped all the saints to be pure? What did they ask God to give them to help them be pure? For what grace will you ask God often? When do you ask God for His grace? When are little babies pure? What do they receive in Baptism? What does God’s grace do for their soul?
How can children keep as pure as they were when they were baptized? What do you have to do to keep pure all your life? From what do you have to guard your eyes? From what do you have to guard your ears? What do you have to avoid with your tongue? When does God see us? What does God know about what we do? Why does God watch over us so well? Why does God love us so much? Whose children are we? Many of the saints were as pure all their lives as they were when they were baptized. They kept their baptismal innocence. It is thought that St. Agnes and St. Aloysius kept their baptismal innocence until they died.
What Sacrament do you think helps you most to be pure? Why does the Holy Eucharist help you to be pure? When is a good time to ask our Lord to keep you pure? What Sacrament must people receive when they fall into sin? Why do they receive the Sacrament of Penance before going to Holy Communion?
God loves pure souls. Purity is the most beautiful of all the virtues. It makes people like angels. It makes them dear to God. When can you thank God for giving you the virtue of purity? What saint do you think loved purity best? It was St. Joseph. You know God gave him the grace to be very pure because he lived with our Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tell me in what town the Holy Family lived. How large was Nazareth? What happened to the home in which the Holy Family lived ? Where is it now ?
What did our Lord teach the people in the Sixth and Ninth Commandments? After our Lord died who taught the people to be pure? Why do we live here on this earth? What do people do who love God? What must we use to serve God? How can you serve God with your mind? How can you use your body to serve God? What part of you should rule your life? What makes us higher than the animals?
Why are people able to control the appetites of their body? Why did God give us a soul? Where does God want us to go when we die? Why does God want us all in heaven? Why, then, do you try to keep your soul and body pure?
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