In the early Christian Church, several bishops were
gathered outside a Cathedral in Antioch, when a beautiful prostitute passed by
on the street. Upon noticing her, the crowd of bishops looked away to avoid
being seduced.Bishop Nonnus, however, stared intently at her, and then
said to his fellow bishops, "Did not the wonderful beauty of that woman delight
you?" The bishops remained silent. Nonnus insisted, "Indeed it delighted me,"
but he wept for her.
When the prostitute saw how the bishop looked at her with such purity, she was caught off guard.
No man had ever looked at her with such purity. He was not lusting after her, but rather saw something in her that she did not even see in herself. The simple purity of that one bishops's glance marked the beginning of her conversion to Christ. She soon returned to find him, and today, we know this former prostitute as St. Pelagia.
There is a great power in the way a man looks at a woman. He was not afraid that the sight of her body would force him to lust. Rather, her body revealed his call to love her properly. He didn't see a prostitute walking toward him--he saw a potential sister in Christ.
"God has assigned the dignity of every woman as a duty to every man"
- Pope John Paul 2
When the prostitute saw how the bishop looked at her with such purity, she was caught off guard.
No man had ever looked at her with such purity. He was not lusting after her, but rather saw something in her that she did not even see in herself. The simple purity of that one bishops's glance marked the beginning of her conversion to Christ. She soon returned to find him, and today, we know this former prostitute as St. Pelagia.
There is a great power in the way a man looks at a woman. He was not afraid that the sight of her body would force him to lust. Rather, her body revealed his call to love her properly. He didn't see a prostitute walking toward him--he saw a potential sister in Christ.
"God has assigned the dignity of every woman as a duty to every man"
- Pope John Paul 2
