Saints' Discussion Forums

'I hold that not only virgins and widows, but also wives and all women without exception, should be admonished that nowise should they deface God's work and fabric, the clay that He has fashioned, with the aid of yellow pigments, black powders or rouge, or by applying any dye that alters the natural features. . . They lay hands on God, when they strive to reform what He has formed. This is an assault on the Divine handiwork, a distortion of the truth. Thou shalt not be able to see God, having no longer the eyes that God made, but those the devil has unmade; with him shalt thou burn on whose account thou art bedecked.'

St. Cyprian of Carthage, Father of the Church

'What does God think of spurious beauty, rejecting utterly as He does all falsehood?'

St. Clement of Alexandria, Father of the Church

'Moreover, know that just as all mortal sins are very serious, so too a venial sin is made mortal if a human being delights in it with the intention of persevering.

Wherefore, know that two sins, which I now name to you, are being practiced and that they draw after them other sins that all seem as if venial.

But because the people delight in them with the intention of persevering, they are therefore made mortal. . .

The first of the two sins is that the faces of rational human creatures are being painted with the various colors with which insensible images and statues of idols are colored so that to others, these faces may seem more beautiful than I made them.

The second sin is that the bodies of men and women are being deformed from their natural state by the unseemly forms of clothing that the people are using.'

Our Lord Jesus Christ, 'The Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden'

'To dye oneself with paints in order to have a rosier or a paler complexion is a lying counterfeit.'

St. Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church

'Therefore, know for very certain that as often as they daub their faces with antimony and other extraneous coloring, some of the infusion of the Holy Spirit is diminished in them and the devil draws nearer to them. In fact, as often as they adorn themselves in disorderly and indecent clothing and so deform their bodies, the adornment of their souls is diminished and the devil's power is increased.

O my enemies, who do such things and with effrontery commit other sins contrary to my will, why have you neglected my passion; and why do you not attend in your hearts to how I stood naked at the pillar, bound and cruelly scourged with hard whips, and to how I stood naked on the cross and cried out, full of wounds and clothed in blood?

And when you paint and anoint your faces, why do you not look at my face and see how it was full of blood?

You are not even attentive to my eyes and how they grew dark and were covered with blood and tears, and how my eyelids turned blue. Why too do you, not look at my mouth or gaze at my ears and my beard and see how they were aggrieved and were stained with blood? You do not look at the rest of my limbs, monstrously wounded by various punishments, and see how I hung black and blue on the cross and dead for your sake.

And there, derided and rejected, I was despised by all in order that, by recalling these things and attentively remembering them, you might love me, your God, and thus escape the devil's snares, in which you have been horribly bound.'

Our Lord Jesus Christ, 'The Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden'

'Similarly, women should adorn themselves with proper conduct, with modesty and sobriety, not with braided hairstyles and gold ornaments, or pearls, or expensive clothes, but rather, as befits women who profess reverence for God, with good deeds.'

1 Tim. 2: 9-10

'. . . Now, observe, my daughter, the contrast between the luxurious dress of many women, and the raiment and adornments of Jesus. . . Tell me: what relation do their fine shoes bear to the spikes in Jesus' Feet? The rings on their hands to the nails which perforated His? The fashionable coiffure to the Crown of Thorns? The painted face to That covered with bruises? Shoulders exposed by the low-cut gown to His, all striped with Blood?

Ah, but there is a marked likeness between these worldly women and the Jews who, incited by the Devil, scourged Our Lord! At the hour of such a woman's death, I think Jesus will be heard saying: "Cujus est imago haec et circumscripto. . . of whom is she the image?" And the reply will be: "Demonii. . . of the Devil!" Then He will say: "Let her who has followed the Devil's fashions be handed over to him; and to God, those who have imitated the modesty of Jesus and Mary."'

St. Anthony Mary Claret

'Go to one who hath both knowledge and conscience, one of those who know excellently how to discern that which ought to be done. . . Choose one who is good, not anyone, whatever he may be, no! For sometimes thou wilt go to one who hath a carnal mind, and is not instructed, and who will say to thee; it is permitted thee for the sake of pleasure to thy husband to beautify thyself and to deck thyself out with ornaments. Out upon him! for he is a beast; do as I say to thee: go to a man of conscience and learning, and who is good.'

St. Bernardine of Siena

'"Now Susannah was a very delicate woman." This does not mean that she had flashy adornments on herself or eyes painted with various colors — as Jezebel had. Rather, it means she had the adornment of faith, chastity, and sanctity.'

St. Hippolytus, Father of the Church

'I must disfigure the face which contrary to God's commandment I have painted with rouge, white lead, and antimony. I must mortify that body which has been given up to many pleasures. I must make up for my long laughter by constant weeping. I must exchange my soft linen and costly silks for rough goat's hair. I who have pleased my husband and the world in the past, desire now to please Christ.'

St. Paula

'We are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.'

1 Corinthians 4:9