亚洲教会就教宗方济各有关“同性恋”的表述作出回应
近日,于10月21日在罗马电影展中首映的纪录片《方济各》(Francesco)在网络上引起轩然大波。其中,最主要的一个原因即为该纪录片所展示的,教宗方济各关于“同性民事结合法”的观点。有媒体错误地将此报导为教宗支持同性婚姻,引发了人们的种种争议。为此,亚洲教会纷纷对此发表看法。
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与此同时,本台台湾节目部就记录片《方济各》中所呈现的观点,采访了台湾地区主教团秘书长陈科神父。陈科神父解释道,教宗在记录片中强调,同性恋者也是天主的子女,他们有权利在家庭中生活。因此,应该给他们一种与众人共同生活的法律保护。同时,教宗关心、爱护每一个人,认为没有一个人应该被排除在人类大家庭之外。为了使所有弟兄姊妹和平共处,需要一些法律上的规划。
此外,陈科神父指出,教宗常常提到“共议精神”,这表示任何有关教义、
我很奇怪,这位神父,为什么不引用圣经和要理来告诉教友同性恋是否是罪?
同性恋是否需要悔改?
同性恋不悔改的后果是什么?
他一句也没有提到这些,但是不断地强调这是民事结合,是“共议精神”,请问民事结合是什么意思?“共议精神”是什么意思?那意思是不是指要组成一个家庭,将来还会用法律来保护吗?
我们都知道,同性恋者在一起的性生活是对天主制定的男女性行为规律的败坏!他们自已不能生育儿女,他们要领养孩子,那些孩子将来会不会是下一个同性恋的牺牲品?二男生活在一起,哪个是他们的爸爸,哪个是他们的妈妈?二女生活在一起,哪个是他们妈妈,哪个是他们的爸爸?
我们看到,同性恋行为是“严重堕落的行为”,并且“本质上是无序的,违背自然法则,违背天主。”因此,天主教会教导人们“在任何情况下都不能支持同性恋。
圣经的规定不能随便突破,因为一突破,人类就可以实践无数的,想象得出的变态行为。同性恋合法,民事结合,这已经是完全与圣经,基督教教义背道而驰了。
圣经和特伦多要理清楚地告诉我们:天主的旨意就是要你们成圣,要你们戒绝邪淫(得撒洛尼前书4:3);你们务要远离邪淫(格前6:18);我先前在信上给你们写过:不可与淫荡的人交结(格前5:9);至于邪淫,一切不洁和贪婪之事,在你们中间,连提也不要提:如此才合乎圣徒的身分(厄佛所5:9);无论是淫荡的、或拜偶像的、犯奸淫的、作
Peter Damian (圣伯铎达弥昂)说:
“同性恋这种罪恶是身体的死亡,灵魂的毁灭,肉体的污染,熄灭了智慧之光,将天主圣神驱逐出了人类心灵的殿堂,反引入了邪恶的魔鬼,将人投入混乱的毁灭之中。并且欺骗人类的大脑,掩盖事实真相.....同性恋开辟了通往地狱的道路,关闭了天堂之门......同性恋切断了天主教徒的成圣之路,反而将其引入永恒的地狱之火中。”
我们应该告诉同性恋者圣经上的教导,天主造了我们是按他的肖像,亚洲教会这样解释是帮方济各告诉同性恋,再也不需要悔改,是把他们往地狱里推,而不是拉他们上天堂,这是假慈悲!
所以我们想请即将或已经加入教会的同性恋者思考:
是天主的心意重要呢?或者我们所爱慕的人或事物重要呢?是短暂的几十年重要呢?还是永恒的天堂重要呢?
主耶稣为你倒空自己,放弃了一切来到地上受死,能不能你也倒空自己,舍弃一切旧有的人事?
福音带给人的不是世界的好处,而是永活的生命。耶稣说:人纵然赚得了全世界,却赔上了自己的灵魂,为他有什么益处?或者,人还能拿什么作为自己灵魂的代价?
天堂中没有不洁!
最后,我邀请大家和我们一起来读特伦多教理,读完这章教理,大家就应该明白:亚洲教会就教宗方济各有关“同性恋”的表述作出的回应是否违背圣经和教理了!
HE SIXTH COMMANDMENT : "Thou shalt not commit adultery"
第六诫命:不可奸淫
The Position Of This Commandment In The Decalogue Is Most Suitable
本诫命在十诫中的位置是最合适的
The bond between man and wife is one of the closest, and nothing can be more gratifying to both than to knowthat they are objects of mutual and special affection. On the other hand, nothing inflicts deeper anguish than tofeel that the legitimate love which one owes the other has been transferred elsewhere. Rightly, then, and in itsnatural order, is the Commandment which protects human life against the hand of the murderer, followed bythat which forbids adultery and which aims to prevent anyone from injuring or destroying by such a crime theholy and honourable union of marriage -- a union which is generally the source of ardent affection and love.
丈夫和妻子之间的联结是一种最亲密的关系,夫妻懂得自己是能相互且特别施加影响的对象,没有什么比这更愉快的了。另外一方面,没有什么能比感受到对方把这相互的合法爱情移情别恋更痛苦的了。以非常自然的顺序,保护人类生命免于谋杀者的诫命紧接着就是禁止奸淫的诫命,为了保护任何人免受破坏神圣光荣的婚姻盟约之罪行的伤害,这婚姻盟约是普遍的人类热情热爱之根源。
Importance Of Careful Instruction On This Commandment
对本诫命仔细训导的重要性
In the explanation of this Commandment, however, the pastor has need of great caution and prudence, andshould treat with great delicacy a subject which requires brevity rather than copiousness of exposition. For it isto be feared that if he explained in too great detail or at length the ways in which this Commandment is violated,he might unintentionally speak of subjects which, instead of extinguishing, usually serve rather to inflamecorrupt passion.
在解释本诫命时,牧者需要极大的注意和谨慎,精细的处理这个主题,训导做到简洁,不能陷入到冗余细节中。这是为了避免解释本诫命的细节过度反而会点燃信友的腐败激情之火而不是扑灭。
As, however, the precept contains many things which cannot be passed over in silence, the pastor shouldexplain them in their proper order and place.
然而,本诫命包含的许多内容也不能在沉默中传达,牧者应在恰当的时机解释。
Two Parts Of This Commandment
本诫命的两个部分
This Commandment, then, resolves itself into two heads; the one expressed, which prohibits adultery; the otherimplied, which inculcates purity of mind and body.
本诫命解决两个主题,第一个已经说过了,禁止奸淫,另一个是隐含的主题,就是重申肉体和思想的纯洁。
What this Commandment Prohibits
本诫命的禁止
Adultery Forbidden
禁止奸淫
To begin with the prohibitory part (of the Commandment), adultery is the defilement of the marriage bed,whether it be one's own or another's. If a married man have intercourse with an unmarried woman, he violatesthe integrity of his marriage bed; and if an unmarried man have intercourse with a married woman, he defilesthe sanctity of the marriage bed of another.
从本诫命的禁令部分开始讲起,奸淫是玷污婚床,无论是自己的或者是他人的。如果已婚男人与未婚女人发生关系,他玷污了他自己的婚床;如果未婚男人与已婚女人发生关系,他玷污了别人的婚床。
Other Sins Against Chastity Are Forbidden
其他违反洁德的罪也被禁止
But that every species of immodesty and impurity are included in this prohibition of adultery, is proved by thetestimonies of St. Augustine and St. Ambrose; and that such is the meaning of the Commandment is borne outby the Old, as well as the New Testament. In the writings of Moses, besides adultery, other sins against chastityare said to have been punished. Thus the book of Genesis records the judgment of Judah against his daughter-in-law. In Deuteronomy is found the excellent law of Moses, that there should be no harlot amongst thedaughters of Israel. Take heed to keep thyself, my son, from all fornication, is the exhortation of Tobias to hisson; and in Ecclesiasticus we read: Be ashamed of looking upon a harlot.
不仅如此,每一类不端正和不纯洁都被纳入到禁止奸淫的诫命中,圣奥斯定和圣盎博罗削提供了证明,这正是旧法律和信法律关于本诫命的真正含义。在梅瑟的法律中,除了奸淫,其他任何违反洁德的罪要接受惩罚。在创世纪中记录了犹大与他儿媳妇之事的惩罚。在
In the Gospel, too, Christ the Lord says: From the heart come forth adulteries and fornications, which defile aman. The Apostle Paul expresses his detestation of this crime frequently, and in the strongest terms: This is thewill of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication; Fly fornication; Keep not companywith fornicators; Fornication, and an uncleanness and covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you;" Neither fornicators nor adulterers, nor the effeminate nor sodomites shall possess the kingdom of God.
在福音中,基督我主说:由心里发出来的是恶念、奸淫、邪淫,使人污秽。(玛窦15:19)保禄宗徒经常频繁的对这种罪表达他的憎恶,并使用了最强的语气:天主的旨意就是要你们成圣,要你们戒绝邪淫(得撒洛尼前书4:3);你们务要远离邪淫(格前6:18);我先前在信上给你们写过:不可与淫荡的人交结(格前5:9);至于邪淫,一切不洁和贪婪之事,在你们中间,连提也不要提:如此才合乎圣徒的身分(厄佛所5:9);无论是淫荡的、或拜偶像的、犯奸淫的、作娈童的、好男色的,都不能承继天主的国(格前6:10)。
Why Adultery Is Expressly Mentioned
为什么要特别论奸淫
But the reason why adultery is expressly forbidden isbecause in addition to the turpitude which it shares withother kinds of incontinence, it adds the sin of injustice, not only against our neighbour, but also against civilsociety.
关于十诫中为何要强调禁止奸淫,除了与其他放荡行为都一样败坏外,奸淫还附加有不正义之罪,不仅危害邻人,而且危害公民社会。
Again it is certain that he who abstains not from other sins against chastity, will easily fall into the crime ofadultery. By the prohibition of adultery, therefore, we at once see that every sort of immodesty and impurity bywhich the body is defiled is prohibited. Nay, that every inward thought against chastity is forbidden by thisCommandment is clear, as well from the very force of the law, which is evidently spiritual, as also from thesewords of Christ the Lord: You have heard that it was said to them of old: "Thou shalt not commit adultery." ButI say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her inhis heart.
可以肯定,一个人如果不克制其他违反洁德的罪,他会很容易的跌入奸淫罪中。由于禁止奸淫,我们立刻就能看出身体的每一种不端庄和不纯洁行为都是禁止的。本诫命甚至清楚的禁止每一个内在的违反洁德的念头,这一点明显的从旧约法律的精神也能看出,从基督我主的话语中也能看出:你们一向听说过:『不可奸淫!』我却对你们说:凡注视妇女,有意贪恋她的,他已在心里奸淫了她(玛窦5:27)。
These are the points which we have deemed proper matter for public instruction of the faithful. The pastor,however, should add the decrees of the Council of Trent against adulterers, and those who keep harlots andconcubines, omitting many other species of immodesty and lust, of which each individual is to be admonishedprivately, as circumstances of time and person may require.
以上是我们认为可以在公共场合下对信友进行训导的内容。牧者对奸淫者,以及嫖娼和有情妇之人,应该进行非公开的训导,教导他们特伦多大公会议的法令,对其他类型的不端庄和欲情之人除外。
What this Commandment Prescribes
本诫命要求了什么
Purity Enjoined
享受纯洁
We now come to explain the positive part of the precept. The faithful are to be taught and earnestly exhorted tocultivate continence and chastity with all care, to cleanse themselves from all defilement of the flesh and of thespirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God.
我们现在来解释本诫命要求主动的部分。信友应被教导,并诚恳的劝导去做到节制和洁德,洁净自我,远离肉体和精神的不洁,在对天主的敬畏中进一步完美
First of all they should be taught that although the virtue of chastity shines with a brighter lustre in those whomake the holy and religious vow of virginity, nevertheless it is a virtue which belongs also to those who lead alife of celibacy; or who, in the married state, preserve themselves pure and undefiled from unlawful desire.
首先应知,那些发了神圣虔诚的童贞誓愿的人身上闪烁着更明亮的洁德之光,但是这是属于那些度独身生活之人的美德,对已婚之人,要保持纯洁,免受不合法情欲的玷污。
Reflections which Help one to Practice Purity
能够帮助人保持纯洁的思考
The holy Fathers have taught us many means whereby to subdue the passions and to restrain sinful pleasure.
教会圣父们教导了许多办法来压制激情,遏制罪恶的快感。
The pastor, therefore, should make it his study to explain these accurately to the faithful, and should use theutmost diligence in their exposition. Of these means some are reflections, others are active measures.
牧者应对信友精确的,用最大的勤勉来解释。这些办法中,一部分是思考的办法,其他的是行动的办法。
Impurity Excludes From Heaven
天堂中没有不洁
The first kind consists chiefly in our forming a just conception of the filthiness and evil of this sin; for suchknowledge will lead one more easily to detest it. Now the evil of this crime we may learn from the fact that, onaccount of it, man is banished and excluded from the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all evils.
第一种办法,首先我们对此罪的邪恶和污秽要有正确的认识。因为这样的认识会更容易的憎恶此罪。由于此罪,人被禁止进入天主的国,这是一切邪恶中最邪恶的。
Impurity Is A Filthy Sin
不洁是一种肮脏的罪
The above-mentioned calamity is indeed common to every mortal sin. But what is peculiar to this sin is thatfornicators are said to sin against their own bodies, according to the words of the Apostle: Fly fornication.Every-sin that a man doth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body.
以上所说的悲惨状况,是每一个死罪都共同的。但是此罪的专属特点是通奸者是对自己身体犯罪,根据宗徒的话说:你们务要远离邪淫。人无论犯的是什么罪,都是在身体以外;但是,那犯邪淫的,却是冒犯自己的身体(格前6:18)。
The reason is that such a one does an injury to his own body violating its sanctity. Hence St. Paul, writing to theThessalonians, says: This is the will of God, your sanctification; that you should abstain from fornication, thatevery one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the passion of lust,like the Gentiles that know not God.
其原因就是,这人在冒犯自己身体的神圣性。因此,圣保禄给得撒洛尼教会写信说:天主的旨意就是要你们成圣,要你们戒绝邪淫,要你们每一个人明了,应以圣洁和敬意持守自己的肉体,不要放纵邪淫之情,像那些不认识天主的外邦人一样(得撒洛尼前4:3-5)。
Furthermore, what is still more criminal, the Christian who shamefully sins with a harlot makes the members ofChrist the members of an harlot, according to these words of St. Paul: Know you not that your bodies are themembers of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? Godforbid. Or know you not, that he who is joined to a harlot is made one body? Moreover, a Christian, as St. Paultestifies is the temple of the Holy Ghost ; and to violate this temple is nothing else than to expel the Holy Ghost.
进一步的,基督徒如果可耻的与妓女犯罪,罪行会更严重,因为他使基督的肢体变成了妓女的肢体,根据圣保禄的话:你们不知道你们的身体是基督的肢体吗?我岂可拿基督的肢体作为娼妓的肢体?断乎不可!你们岂不知道那与娼妓结合的,便是与她成为一体吗(格前6:15-16)?接下来,圣保禄论证了基督徒是圣神的宫殿,违反了宫殿就是驱逐了圣神。
Adultery Is A Grave Injustice
奸淫是极严重的不义
But the crime of adultery involves that of grievous injustice. If, as the Apostle says, they who are joined inwedlock are so subject to each other that neither has power or right over his or her body, but both are bound, asit were, by a mutual bond of subjection, the husband to accommodate himself to the will of the wife, the wife tothe will of the husband; most certainly if either dissociate his or her person, which is the right of the other, fromhim or her to whom it is bound, the offender is guilty of an act of great injustice and wickedness.
而且,奸淫的罪行涉及到极为严重的不义。就像宗徒所说,夫妻双方各自对自己的身体没有权力,都交给对方,这是一个共同的相互服从的联接,丈夫要听从妻子的意愿,妻子也要听从丈夫的。如果一方一旦解除了本属于对方的权力,过犯者就做了一件极大的不义和邪恶之事。
Adultery Is Disgraceful
奸淫是耻辱的
As dread of disgrace strongly stimulates to the performance of duty and deters from the commission of crime,the pastor should also teach that adultery brands its guilty perpetrators with an unusual stigma. He that is anadulterer, says Scripture, for the folly of his heart shall destroy his own soul: he gathereth to himself shame anddishonour, and his reproach shall not be blotted out.
畏惧耻辱可以强烈的激励职责的履行,阻止罪行的实施。牧者应该教导,奸淫罪给犯罪者烙下了一个不同寻常的印记。圣经说:与妇人通奸的人,实属
Impurity Severely Punished
严厉惩罚的不洁
The grievousness of the sin of adultery may be easily inferred from the severity of its punishment. According tothe law promulgated by God in the Old Testament, the adulterer was stoned to death. Nay more, because of thecriminal passion of one man, not only the perpetrator of the crime, but a whole city was destroyed, as we readwith regard to the Sichemites. The Sacred Scriptures abound with examples of the divine vengeance, such as thedestruction of Sodom and of the neighbouring cities,' the punishment of the Israelites who committedfornication in the wilderness with the daughters of Moab, and the slaughter of the Benjamites. These examplesthe pastor can easily make use of to deter men from shameful lust.
奸淫罪的严重程度可以很容易的从其惩罚的严厉程度中推导出来。根据天主在旧约中推行的法律,奸淫者要用石头砸死。不仅如此,由于一个人的犯罪激情,不仅犯罪者,而且整个城市都被毁灭,这是我们在圣经中读到的关于希威人的故事(创世纪34)。圣经中充满了神的复仇例子,如索多玛的毁灭;如以色列人在旷野中与摩阿布女子行淫的惩罚;如对本雅明支派的屠杀。牧者用这些例子可以很容易的阻止这可耻的欲望。
Impurity Blinds The Mind And Hardens The Heart
不洁可以致瞎思想,使心变硬
But even though the adulterer may escape the punishment of death, he does not escape the great pains andtorments that often overtake such sins as his. He becomes afflicted with blindness of mind a most severepunishment; he is lost to all regard for God, for reputation, for honour, for family, and even for life; and thus,utterly abandoned and worthless, he is undeserving of confidence in any matter of moment, and becomesunfitted to discharge any kind of duty.
但是,就算奸淫者逃过了死亡的惩罚,他还是逃不过他罪行经常施加的痛苦和折磨。他的思想变得盲目,这是最严厉的惩罚。他在天主面前失去了一切关注,名誉,荣耀,家庭,甚至生命。并且,全然被抛弃,毫无价值,他在一切事上失去了自信,对任何职务都不再适合承担。
Of this we find examples in the persons of David and of Solomon. David had no sooner fallen into the crime ofadultery than he degenerated into a character the very reverse of what he had been before; from the mildest ofmen he became so cruel as to consign to death Urias, one of his most deserving subjects. Solomon, havingabandoned himself to the lust of women, gave up the true religion to follow strange gods. This sin, therefore, asOsee observes, takes away man's heart and often blinds his understanding.
关于这一点,我们从达味和撒落满身上可以看到例子。达味在犯了奸淫罪后,堕落成完全与他之前相反的一个人;从最温和的人,他变得如此残暴,设计害死了乌黎雅,他最忠诚得意的臣民之一。撒落满把自己放纵于女人的身体,放弃了唯一的真信仰而去拜假神。因此,先知欧瑟亚说,这个罪,取走了人的心,使他的思想变成瞎的。
Means of practicing purity
实践洁德的方法
Avoidance Of Idleness
避免游手好闲
We now come to the remedies which consist in action. The first is studiously to avoid idleness; for, according toEzechiel, it was by yielding to the enervating influence of idleness that the Sodomites plunged into the mostshameful crime of criminal lust.
我们现在来讲如何用行为来治疗此罪。首先就是努力避免空闲虚度。因为,根据厄则
Temperance
节制
In the next place, intemperance is carefully to be avoided. I fed them to the full, says the Prophet, and theycommitted adultery. An overloaded stomach begets impurity. This our Lord intimates in these words: Take heedto yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness. Be not drunk with wine,says the Apostle, wherein is luxury.
接下来,要小心的避免不节制。先知说:我使他们饱食,他们却去行淫,群集在妓院里(耶肋米亚5:7)。被撑满的胃会生出不洁。我们的主在这些话里提示:你们应当谨慎,免得你们的心为宴饮沉醉(路加21:34)。宗徒说:也不要醉酒,醉酒使人淫乱;(厄弗所5:18)
Custody Of The Eyes
管好眼睛
But the eyes, in particular, are the inlets to criminal passion, and to this refer these words of our Lord: If thineeye scandalise thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. The Prophets, also, frequently speak to the same effect. Imade a covenant with mine eyes, says Job, that I would not so much as think upon a virgin. Finally, there are onrecord innumerable examples of the evils which have their origin in the indulgence of the eyes. It was thus thatDavid sinned, thus that the king of Sichem fell, and thus also that the elders sinned who calumniated Susanna.
特别眼睛这个器官,是犯罪激情的入口,我们的主这样说:若是你的右眼使你跌倒,剜出它来,从你身上扔掉(玛窦5:29)。先知也经常论起眼睛。约伯说:我同我的眼立了约,决不注视处女(约伯31:1)。最后,还有数不清的邪恶例子是从沉溺于眼中开始的,如达味的犯罪,如舍根之王的跌倒,以及诽谤苏撒纳的长老们。
Avoidance Of Immodest Dress
避免不端庄的衣着
Too much display in dress, which especially attracts the eye, is but too frequently an occasion of sin. Hence theadmonition of Ecclesiasticus: Turn away thy face from a woman dressed up. As women are given to excessivefondness for dress, it will not be unseasonable in the pastor to give some attention to the subject, and sometimesto admonish and reprove them in the impressive words of the Apostle Peter: Whose adorning let it not be theoutward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold, or the putting on of apparel. St. Paul likewise says: Not withplaited hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly attire. Many women adorned with gold and precious stones, have lostthe only true ornament of their soul and body.
过度展示穿着,特别是吸引眼球的衣着,频繁的造成犯罪的机会。当转移眼目,不看美丽的妇女(德训篇9:8)。如果妇女过度喜欢穿着,牧者应合理的关注此事,有时应引用宗徒之长的话来轻责和劝诫她们:你们的装饰不应是外面的发型、金饰或衣服的装束(伯前3:3)。圣保禄也说:又愿意女人们服装端正,以廉耻和庄重装饰自己,不要用
Avoidance Of Impure Conversation, Reading, Pictures
避免不洁的谈话,阅读和图片
Next to the sexual excitement, usually provoked by too studied an elegance of dress, follows another, which isindecent and obscene conversation. Obscene language is a torch which lights up the worst passions of the youngmind; and the Apostle has said, that evil communications corrupt good manners. Immodest and passionatesongs and dances are most productive of this same effect and are, therefore, cautiously to be avoided.
接下来是对性感的刺激,通常由对服饰精美的过分钻研引起,跟随着不得体和猥亵的对话。淫猥的用词是能燃起年轻人激情的火种。宗徒说过:交结恶友必败坏善行(格前15:33)。不得体的激情歌舞也能产生同样的效果,因此要谨慎的避免。
In the same class are to be numbered soft and obscene books which must be avoided no less than indecentpictures. All such things possess a fatal influence in exciting to unlawful attractions, and in inflaming the mindof youth. In these matters the pastor should take special pains to see that the faithful most carefully observe thepious and prudent regulations of the Council of Trent.
还有那些暧昧
Frequentation Of The Sacraments
勤领圣事
If the occasions of sin which we have just enumerated be carefully avoided, almost every excitement to lust willbe removed. But the most efficacious means for subduing its violence are frequent use of confession andCommunion, as also unceasing and devout prayer to God, accompanied by fasting and almsdeeds. Chastity is agift of God. To those who ask it aright He does not deny it; nor does He suffer us to be tempted beyond ourstrength.
如果以上所列的所有犯罪机会,我们都小心的避免了,那几乎所有的肉欲刺激就会移除。但是最有效制服其猛烈肉欲的办法是勤领告解和圣体圣事,同时不停止的虔诚祈祷,辅以大斋和哀矜。爱德是天主的礼物。祂从不拒绝恳求爱德之人的祈祷;祂也不会使我们受到超过我们力量之外的诱惑。
Mortification
禁欲
But the body is to be mortified and the sensual appetites to be repressed not only by fasting, and particularly, bythe fasts instituted by the Church, but also by watching, pious pilgrimages, and other works of austerity. Bythese and similar observances is the virtue of temperance chiefly manifested. In connection with this subject, St.Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says: Every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things;and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one. A little after he says: Ichastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest, perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself shouldbecome a castaway. And in another place he says: Make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscence.
除了通过斋戒,特别是教会设立的大斋,来抑制身体和感官欲望,还可以通过观察,虔诚的朝圣和其他苦修工作来抑制。节制的美德就通过这些服从表现出来。圣保禄对格林多教会的关于本主题写道:凡比武竞赛的,在一切事上都有节制;他们只是为得到可朽坏的花冠,而我们却是为得到不朽坏的花冠。我痛击我身,使它为奴,免得我给别人报捷,自己反而落选(格前9:27)。他还说道:不应只挂念肉性的事,以满足私欲。(罗马13:14)