Purity the hallmark, glory the reward

Sydney
8 Dec 2002

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Purity the hallmark, glory the reward

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Purity the hallmark, glory the reward

By Lucy O'Connell

The prevalent attitude towards virginity is that virginity is something only negative; that is, the virgin is someone who does not have sex, and the choice to remain a virgin is a choice against sex, and that is all.

But this view is inadequate, reducing sex as it does to a purely biological function like eating or sleeping, and concluding thereby that virginity is a sort of enforced starvation or insomnia, an unnatural and unhealthy state.

In reality, there are two positive options available to us, and they are not simply sex-within-marriage or no-sex.

The options available to us are conjugal fidelity or virginal fidelity, both of which involve the positive choice of an other, and both of which involve the development and perfection of the spiritual and intellectual powers of the whole person.

The choice before us is not merely "What am I going to do with my body?" but "To whom shall I be faithful?"

To choose virginity is to choose God; it is to declare oneself to be his vessel, and the receptacle of his power. Thus, two virgins who are espoused in marriage become a personal messageto one another from God, while the consecrated virgin declares to the world the sufficiency and supremacy of God.

Virginity is a charism; it is a gift that, lived well, enables us to deepen and enrich the lives of those around us. A consideration of the prophetic, evangelical, and missionary dimensions of virginity reveals to us some of the powers that are the virgin's privilege.

The prophetic dimension is revealed most fully in those who have chosen the consecrated life. They remind us that, however good and holy the legitimate joys of this world are, they are not our final joys.

Conjugal love, fruitful and holy, is a path to Heaven, but is not Heaven itself.

The consecrated virgin prophesies by living, with his or her whole being, the truth that God is our final end, our greatest lover, and preeminent among our heart's desires. The virgin begins now that Kingdom in which there is neither marriage nor giving in marriage.

The evangelical dimension of virginity is that way in which virginity proclaims several truths to the world.

First, there is a God to whom I belong.

Second, the laws of God and of the Church are not oppressive, but a source of joy.

Third, I - and my ability to love - am imbued with a transcendent value that will not be channelled into anything less than a vocation.

Preaching by living rather than by words, virginity rebukes every 'philosophy' that declares happiness impossible without the physical 'liberation' and gratification that is stamped with the denial of spiritual realities.

This is the missionary dimension of virginity.

It is obvious that those who are unmarried have a wider scope for apostolic activity than do those whose first responsibility is to spouse and children.

However, it is not just a practical consideration, in which one's desire for social justice outweighs a desire for a family, so that one chooses accordingly.

Rather, true missionary works flow from the prophetic and evangelical dimensions of virginity, in which the love of God results in a corresponding desire to serve him and to imitate him, which in turn leads the soul to seek out prayer and works of mercy.

Mercy springs from charity; sacrifice is the daughter of love.

Virginal fidelity, being a commitment to a supreme Other, prepares the virgin for increasing grace through her obedience and love.

It is the sign of a life lived for a transcendent purpose, of which purity is the hallmark and glory the reward.

Lucy O'Connell, a recent graduate of Sydney University, is a member of the university chaplaincy team.