Spoken English Audio
Saint Thorlac: Champion of Families and Holy Matrimony
St. Thorlac had obvious reasons for focusing his efforts on curbing immorality between men and women. One, of course, was his being a representative of the Church, whose teachings were not widely accepted when it came to chastity. Promiscuity was a cultural norm; married political leaders rarely hid their mistresses. (9) Clergy also disregarded the Church rules on celibacy. Secondly, St. Thorlac was a Canon Regular of St. Augustine, meaning that he was voluntarily bound by the honor of continence in all areas, so that even gazing upon members of the opposite sex was discouraged for potentially leading one’s mind toward temptation. (10)
Above all else, St. Thorlac personally believed that the relations between a man and woman were a sacred gift from God, to be used to the glory of God alone. It was highly offensive to him that this gift, "the greatest enjoyment of this world," might be "wretchedly insulted and wrongly violated" by means of lust and promiscuity. (11) St. Thorlac was well aware of the value of an intact family, having experienced his parents’ difficult choice to break up their household when they could no longer support each other and their children. Those who persisted in sins of the flesh were routinely assigned monetary fines as their penances. This income, however, did not fund the church. Instead, this money was immediately distributed to faithfully married but destitute couples with children. In this way, Thorlac helped struggling families stay together – and made acts of penance more personally meaningful to those repeatedly committing sins against Holy Matrimony.
St. Thorlac, Champion of Families and Holy Matrimony: Pray For Us!