countries, and were relayed at the time by bishops around the world. They have never been revoked. Furthermore, they simply express the requirements of dress in fallen human nature, which is the same in every clime, and as such, by their very nature are universally valid. People base their whole lives on norms in one form or another. Norms guide the way we build our houses and drive our cars, the space we have to work in and the way we take our money out of the bank. There are standard colours and sizes, trademarks which establish standards of quality. We have standards of manners and of politeness directing us in the most minute details. At every turn one is confronted with standards. Why would the virtue of modesty be denied the right to be regulated and protected by objective and verifiable standards? The Vessel of Life You may be wondering why the “two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat”. Well, Amanda, first of all, it is not helpful for any man to see a woman’s decolletage. Secondly, God has made woman in such a wonderful way that when she becomes a mother she can nurse her own children with her own milk. This is proper to woman and a sign of her unique capacity to give and nurture infant life. It is therefore a sign of her dignity. But you need to know also that this area of the female body is a source of great attraction and curiosity for men. This attraction can sometimes become perverse as the following example shows. The annals of the martyrdom of St Agatha tell us that the cruel tyrant ordered her breasts to be amputated. It is not a unique episode, to be true. This horrendous torture was inflicted on numerous holy women martyrs. But the amputation of a woman’s breasts is not just an act of unspeakable cruelty, it is also an act of sacrilege, for it is to attack a woman precisely in her most noble capacity of motherhood. It is to profane the vessel of life. St Agatha’s scathing reproach to the tyrant says it all. “Are you not ashamed to amputate in a woman what you yourself sucked in your own mother?” Her words are a remonstrance to any man who profanes the female body by trying to see what should remain hidden. So keep in mind that to highlight that part of the body can precisely arouse in men an urge to see more. There is a story about Pope St John XXIII in the days when he was still a cardinal. He was invited to a banquet and was sitting next to a woman who was wearing a low-cut dress. At the time of the dessert, he took an apple and offered it 65
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