Oh! how many are lost by indulging
their sight! — St. Alphonsus de Ligouri

If your eye offends you, pluck it out. — Jesus Christ.


We live in a hyper-sexualized, even pornified culture, and if you’re a man who wants to be pure, you’re going to be involved in a constant warfare against lust. Everything from toothpaste commercials to weight loss ads have some sort of sexual spin. After all, as they say, sex sells.

Then there is the rampant immodesty in women’s dress (even in church, sadly), including mini-shorts, crop tops, and leggings worn as pants. Popular TV shows are filled with graphic sex, and celebrities dress in see-through clothing—that is, when they aren’t releasing nude photos of themselves.

Now, these temptations are so powerful because they involve our sight—one of the most potent of our senses, especially for us men. What we see is indelibly etched into our memories, and we can never truly un-see anything. Additionally, our sight has a powerful connection to what we want. Radio ads will never be as effective as TV ads, because hearing simply isn’t as strong a sense as sight.

Today I want to talk about an ancient Catholic practice that can help us combat temptations to lust: Custodia occulorum, or custody of the eyes.

WHAT IS IT

At its most basic level, custody of the eyes simply means controlling what you allow yourself to see. It means guarding your sense of sight carefully, realizing that what you view will leave an indelible mark on your soul.

Many of the saints, in their zeal for purity, would never look anyone in the face. “To avoid the sight of dangerous objects, the saints were accustomed to keep their eyes almost continually fixed on the earth, and to abstain even from looking at innocent objects,” says St. Alphonsus de Liguori.

Now, staring at the floor at all times is a bit extreme for most of us, but it does demonstrate the seriousness with which the saints viewed the importance of purity. They teach us that is simply impossible to allow hundreds of immodest images into our minds, however innocently, and remain pure.

Of course, to the modern mind, this guarding of the eyes is rather quaint and even ridiculous. How prudish, many would think, to think that we should exercise any control over what we see. And yet, if we care about our souls, we have no other option.

HOW TO PRACTICE IT

The best place to begin practicing custody of the eyes is in the things which we can control, such as movies, magazines, or television shows. If your favorite TV show has a sex scene every 5 minutes, you need to cut it out of your life. It’s not worth the temptation. In short, don’t consume things that are occasions of sin. Carelessly putting yourself in spiritual danger in this way is a grave sin itself, so take it seriously.

It’s actually rather easy to edit what you consume. But what about the things we can’t control, such as the immodestly dressed woman walking past you? This takes far more prayer-fueled discipline and practice. That said, here are some suggestions.

First, if you’re struggling with the way a woman is dressed, immediately look at her face. I don’t care how beautiful a woman is, it is essentially impossible to lust after someone’s face. The face is the icon of each person’s humanity, and it is far easier to respect a woman’s dignity when you’re looking at her face and not her body.

Second, it may just be appropriate to stare at the floor sometimes, especially if there’s no other way to avoid temptation. This doesn’t have to be the norm, but if the situation warrants it, it is foolish not to do so.

Third, avoid places you know are especially problematic for you. For most men, the beach is a problem. Dozens of women in tiny bikinis is just too much. If that’s the case for you, avoid the beach.

Finally, fast and pray. This should go without saying, and yet I am always amazed that men think they can control themselves without God’s help. It simply isn’t possible. We always need grace in the battle against concupiscence, and if we trust in ourselves and our own willpower, we will do nothing but fail.

CONCLUSION

Yes, temptation is everywhere, but we are not helpless victims. We must take the need for purity seriously, and that means guarding carefully what we allow ourselves to see. Through prayer, fasting, and practice, we can learn to take control of our eyes and avoid temptation. This isn’t quaint and archaic—it’s basic to spiritual survival.

Source:www.tldm.org/News23/Custody-Of-The-Eyes-What-It-Is-And-How-To-Practice-It.htm

Beautiful article.

Some men can go to the extremes to control their eyes. I went to my lecturer's office one day. He was working on his computer when I came in. I'm a BBW, so what I wore that day must have scrambled his focus,because his reaction was immediately defensive.

I had barely taken a seat when he whipped out his sunshades and slammed them into his face. In the 45mins I sat in his office, he never once took off the shades and avoided looking at me directly.

Even though he looked very ridiculous, it is his way of practicing eye control.

Me, I simply block out nasty stuff and focus my mind on other things.

Nice write up...GOD BLESS THE AUTHOR

It's obviously a lot harder to try and be a
good guy than it is to be a bad guy. The
world is a fundamentally evil place, it
seems like. So in order to be a good
person, you have to fight temptation and
vice.

Knowledge of God's Word is a bulwark
against deception, temptation,
lost, accusation, even persecution.

hmmmm nice writeup

Ghen Gehn!!
.

For me
Temptation to virgin- Ve a life draining sex.. u will lose that tempting eruption in you.
Temptation to non virgin- pray and Ve someone you like to yourself. it decrease your temptation crithology

the more i study religions the more am convinced that man is a prisoner of his own mind.

Maybe i didn't read tru.. bt, do i need dis

lol yeah nice post..
You never can tell KonJi nah Ba$tard

All this long story on top eye control

Simplest solution is:

Just pluck out both eyes... Matthew 18:9


End of story

My Uncle Use To Say Looking Is Free

ok, noted. A man is attracted by what he sees.

[size=18pt] Read my signature [/size]

Lol. People wey go enter hell fire plenty.

Thank God I'm not controlled by what is written in the bible.

P.S- I'm not an atheist.

Interesting

True true true..if God had not created women...there wont be much sins in this world

Nice thread.

FrancisTony:
Lol. People wey go enter hell fire plenty.

Thank God I'm not controlled by what is written in the bible.

P.S- I'm not an atheist.

i dnt get u

okay, tell them...

ok

Ok! Noted

I don hear. Next!

Nice one, but I won't comment

someone told me of a story of a pastor that asked God to take his sight cos dat was his weakness *in d sense dat he lusts after women easily* ,it happened that he was preaching to his congregation without his sight,but one day he asked God to restore his sight just so he could see his congregation & how many people he'd converted & God did restore his sight just for dat sake & dat moment then he went blind again..my point is dat,just like the bible says,"if its your eyes that'll make u commit sin,pluck it off"..
most guys of today can't see a lady walk past without looking back to get a full view of her arss*bad habit i tried so hard to stop*
Although i don't want to lose my sight like that pastor but i pray it doesn't take me to hell

space booked..NEXT

Appears quite impractical...but in life, very true, practical and helpful. Personally, I've trained my eyes to consciously ignore all offensive objects especially those that scream out for attention (if you understand what I mean). And never once has the devil been glorified!!

hmm

Forget all these, even if the eyes doesn't see a big asss, the body will, I don't know how but its like the body senses when a big asss is around!

If I hear say I stope my eyes from looking, pls wat else is it meant for?