Chastity. Chastity is a virtue related to temperance, one of the seven Christian virtues and it is defined as refraining from any sexual conduct or romantic relationships. Chastity is usually defined within the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization or religion. The term is closely associated with sexual abstinence, especially in the context of premarital and extramarital sex. The words chaste and chastity stem from the Latin adjective castus. The words entered the English language around the middle of the 13th century. At that time, they meant slightly different things. Chaste meant virtuous or pure from unlawful sexual intercourse,while chastity meant virginity. Not until the late 16th century did the two words come to have the same basic meaning as a related adjective and noun. For many Jews, Muslims, and Christians, acts of sexual nature are restricted to marriage. For unmarried persons, chastity is identified with sexual abstinence. Sexual acts outside or apart from marriage, such as adultery, fornication, and prostitution, are considered immoral due to lust. Vow of chastity redirects here. For vows of Catholic Religious, see Evangelical counsels. For vows of chastity in other Christian Churches, see Religious vows. In many Christian traditions, chastity is synonymous with sexual purity. Chastity means not having any sexual relations outside marriage. It also means fidelity to husband or wife during marriage. In Catholic morality, chastity is placed opposite the deadly sin of lust, and is classified as one of seven virtues. The moderation of sexual desires is required to be virtuous. Reason, will, and desire can harmoniously work together to do what is good. In marriage, the spouses commit to a lifelong relationship that excludes sexual intimacy with other persons. A third form of chastity, often called vidual chastity, is expected of a woman for a period after her husband dies. For example, Anglican Bishop Jeremy Taylor defined 5 rules in Holy Living, including abstaining from marrying so long as she is with child by her former husband and within the year of mourning. The particular ethical system may not prescribe each of these. For example, Roman Catholics view sex within marriage as chaste, but prohibit the use of artificial contraception as an offense against chastity, seeing contraception as unnatural, contrary to God's will and design of human sexuality. Many Anglican communities allow for artificial contraception, seeing the restriction of family size by artificial contraception as possibly not contrary to God's will. A stricter view is held by the Shakers, who prohibit marriage as a violation of chastity. The Catholic Church has set up various rules regarding clerical celibacy, while most Protestant communities allow clergy to marry. Celibacy is required of monastics, monks, nuns and friars, even in a rare system of double cloisters, in which husbands could enter the monastery while their wives entered a sister monastery. Required celibacy among the clergy is a relatively recent practice: it became Church policy at the Second Lateran Council in 1139. It was not uniformly enforced among the clergy until 200 years later. Eastern Catholic priests are permitted to marry, provided they do so before ordination and outside monastic life. Vows of chastity can also be taken by laypersons, either as part of an organised religious life or on an individual basis: as a voluntary act of devotion, or as part of an ascetic lifestyle, or both. Some protestant religious communities, such as the Bruderhof, take vows of chastity as part of the church membership process. The voluntary aspect has led it to being included among the main counsels of perfection. Chastity is a central and pivotal concept in Roman Catholic praxis. Chastity's importance in traditional Roman Catholic teaching stems from the fact that it is regarded as essential in maintaining and cultivating the unity of body with spirit and thus the integrity of the human being. It is also regarded as fundamental to the practise of the Catholic life because it involves an apprenticeship in self-mastery. By attaining mastery over one's passions, reason, will, and desire can harmoniously work together to do what is good. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, chastity is very important, quoting: Physical intimacy between husband and wife is a beautiful and sacred part of God's plan for His children. It is an expression of love within marriage and allows husband and wife to participate in the creation of life. God has commanded that this sacred power be expressed only between a man and a woman who are legally married. The law of chastity applies to both men and women.