A great movement for this restoration is already beginning. Remember that Our Lord converted the world with just twelve men. Twelve good women are enough to convert the world to modesty if they truly set out to do it, with the grace of God. Recall too yet another word of G.K. Chesterton speaking of the “democracy of the dead”, meaning that when we take polls to find out how many are on our side, we need to count the generations that have gone before us. When we do this, we notice right away that those in favour of modesty by far outnumber those who have caved in to modern quasi-nude fashions. We have all of history on our side! You also have many saintly models to look up to and turn your attention with particular devotion, placing yourself under their patronage. I mentioned earlier St Agatha. Let’s consider a few others. In the acts of the martyrdom of St Agnes, there is a moving page that tells how, in an attempt to break her resolve of fidelity to Christ, the tyrant ordered her to be stripped, her virginal body exposed and violated. Sadly, it was not an uncommon tactic among the pagan persecutors towards virtuous young Christian women; they understood better than most Christians today the link between purity of faith and purity of morals. If they could take away chastity, they thought, the faith would fall likewise. It was then that took place a stupendous miracle: her beautiful hair, which was of normal length for a girl of twelve, instantly grew down to her feet, covering her entire body, sheltering her from the lustful gaze of the mob. This astounding miracle shows us how God watches over His saints. It also shows us His love for purity, His love for virginity and the importance He attaches to its first safeguard, namely modest clothing. It will encourage you to have recourse to St Agnes in your efforts to reconvert the world to sanity. Consider also the example of St Lucy. Like Agnes, her torturers wanted to deprive her not only of her faith but also of her virginity. To this end, the wicked judge ordered her to be taken to an execrable place where she would lose her virginity, in other words, to a brothel. Here too, an amazing miracle took place: Lucy, the slender young woman, became immobile – she could not be budged! To pull her, the torturers had recourse to every means at their disposal, including the strongest men they could find and even several yoke of oxen. Nothing availed. She remained firm like a pillar, the Holy Spirit Himself giving her superhuman strength. The example of St Lucy will help you when others try to persuade you to go along with the crowd, or to give up because no one is following you. No, 94
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