Chastity is the virtue that moderates the desire for sexual pleasure according to the principles of faith. For married people, chastity moderates the desire in conformity with their life. For those who resolve not to marry, the desire is totally sacrificed. Chastity and purity, modesty and decency are comparable in that they have the basic meaning of freedom from whatever is lewd or salacious. Yet they also differ.
Chastity implies an opposition to the immoral in the sense of lustful or licentious.
It implies refraining from all acts or thoughts that are not in accordance with the Church's teaching about the use of one's reproductive powers. It particularly emphasizes an avoidance of anything that might defile or make the soul unclean because the body has not been controlled in the exercise of its most imperious passion. The Obedience of Saint Joseph Joseph's obedience covers every aspect of his life. He was obedient in entering into a marriage with the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was obedient when he went to Bethlehem to be registered with Mary, and accepted the humiliation of having Jesus born in a stable cave.