[Sparticus]

To paraphrase St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica, "Lust blinds the intelligence."

Agreed. And nothing like abstinence to fan the flames of lust. :-)

[Pyro7480]

Without grace, and without discipline, lust will indeed be enflamed.

[agrarianlady]

From St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:

Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.


Not . one . mention . of . procreation.

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I'm not going to win God's battle with Islam by having more children than I can safely care for. It took one St. Patrick to evangelize an island, and he was a former slave to boot. Taking time out to pray will probably do more good than taking the time to raise five more children. My single friend is a computer whiz. He works long hours for the DoD on defense issues. I envy his ability to do so while I am home breaking up fights with my school-aged children and mopping up spills from the toddler. (Not that children aren't a tremendous blessing from the Lord!!)

"Be glad, O barren woman,
who bears no children;
break forth and cry aloud,
you who have no labor pains;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband."