The Scandal of Immodesty

Divine Appeal Reflection - 268

Today, consider in Divine Appeal 268: "They go along the streets like animals without shame and they are blind because of the mire, their souls are possessed by Lucifer’s spirits."

Immodesty is not a superficial issue of taste, but a profound rebellion against the divine order, a spiritual sickness rooted in pride. The cry of the age—“my dress, my choice”—is a Luciferian echo of “I will not serve,” denying that the body is a consecrated vessel redeemed by Our Adorable Jesus at the price of His Precious Blood (cf. 1 Cor 6:20). The world teaches that freedom is exposing the body, yet Sacred Scripture reveals that after sin Adam and Eve instinctively clothed themselves (cf. Gen 3:7). To discard modesty is not liberty but blindness, surrender to the “mire” where souls walk like animals, as the Divine Appeal warns. Modesty is the protector of purity, as the Catechism teaches us (cf. CCC 2521–2523). Because it elevates body over spirit, desecrates what is sacred, and elevates self over God, immodest clothing is therefore not neutral. A culture parading shamelessness is not enlightened but enslaved, for the body becomes a tool of temptation rather than a temple of the Holy Spirit. True liberty is found not in flaunting the body, but in veiling it with reverence as a living offering to Christ.

Another excuse often whispered—“you don’t buy me clothes”—betrays not a lack of fabric but a famine of virtue. Modesty is not purchased in boutiques; it springs from reverence. Our Adorable Jesus crowned the widow’s two coins with eternity (cf. Mk 12:42), proving that heaven values the offering of purity above outward show. The saints—Francis, Clare, and Maria Goretti—radiated a splendor far surpassing earthly silk, for their very humility became their crown before God. Their witness proves that sanctity is not clothed in fashion but in purity of heart. Even the poorest garment, worn with reverence, shines eternally before Our Adorable Jesus. What is truly lacking is not fabric but formation: parents too distracted to guard innocence, mentors too timid to correct, formators too hesitant to thunder. The family is entrusted not merely with feeding bodies but with clothing souls in virtue; the Church is called to instruct, not to conform. When guardians fall silent, fashion becomes catechism, and Lucifer enthrones himself as teacher of youth. Silence breeds betrayal; only correction breathes protection.

Still others defend, “this is modern fashion,” or “to enjoy life,” or “we only live once.” But these phrases are snares of the tempter. Fashion, when corrupted, becomes Lucifer’s catechism, mocking shame and normalizing sin. To claim “we only live once” is to deny eternity, forgetting that every soul must stand before the tribunal of Christ (cf. Heb 9:27). “Enjoy life” without holiness is not joy but poison disguised as sweetness, a fleeting thrill that leaves the heart emptier. Our Adorable Jesus reveals the true blessedness: the pure of heart shall see God (cf. Mt 5:8). Joy without purity is illusion, love without reverence is lust, and fashion without modesty is regression to Eden’s fall, when the serpent whispered that nakedness meant freedom. Shame, however, was the very thing that served as humanity's defence, a curtain that indicated the necessity of salvation. Hence, immodesty is not innocuous; rather, it is an outright defiance of grace and nature. We are reminded by the saints that holiness endures, not style. Robes bathed in the Blood of the Lamb, rather than fashionable styles, are the clothes that last (cf. Rev 7:14).

A most dangerous deceit whispers: “I dress this way to find a soulmate.” Yet love won by immodesty is not covenant but conquest, not reverence but appetite. True spousal love reflects the union of Christ and His Church (cf. Eph 5:25). Our Adorable Jesus clothes His Bride in radiant garments of purity (cf. Rev 19:8), showing that authentic love arises from interior holiness, not exterior provocation. A spouse lured by indecency may admire the body but will not venerate the soul. Only modesty inspires covenantal reverence, safeguarding fidelity and permanence. Here, too, the Church and family bear grave responsibility: to teach that attraction rooted in lust leads to ruin, but love rooted in purity endures unto eternity. Parents must not remain silent, and formators must not shrink back, for false love breeds false unions, but purity forms holy marriages that mirror the divine covenant.

Even more alarming is the scandal of immodesty within holy places themselves, where reverence should burn most brightly. To approach the Eucharistic altar dressed as though entering a spectacle is to forget that one stands before the Living God, hidden yet truly present. To receive Our Adorable Jesus in such indecency is not mere carelessness but sacrilege, for the body itself becomes an instrument of irreverence. This offense wounds not only the Eucharistic Lord but also strikes at His priests and consecrated souls, whose purity is daily assaulted by fashions paraded within sanctuaries. Such displays are not neutral; they are Lucifer’s calculated strategy to profane what is most sacred, to desecrate the altar through the very bodies called to glorify God. The scandal reveals more than a lapse of decorum—it exposes a collapse of faith in the Real Presence and a growing blindness to the dignity of the priesthood. At its root, the crisis of immodesty is a crisis of adoration: when Christ is no longer loved as God, the holy is treated as common, and worship is emptied of awe. Only the restoration of purity, born of faith, can restore to our sanctuaries the radiant reverence due to the Eucharistic King.

Prayer

Our Adorable Jesus, Divine Bridegroom of pure souls, clothe us in the garment of modesty, that we may resist vanity and fashion’s deceit. Purify hearts enslaved by immodesty, heal those seeking love in error, and grant us the courage to mirror Your holiness in body and soul. Amen.

Sr. Anna Ali of the Most Holy Eucharist, intercede for us.