NSFW - How do you think people cope with celibacy?

I think the less you get it, the less you want it. I was even told by my gynecologist that if you don’t use it you will lose it. So of course I use it at every opportunity loll.

Other than that, I reckon they wear those long robes for a reason you know.

Run, exercise, pray, play basketball, and according to the book, The Lives of the Saints, flagellate themselves or hurt themselves in other ways.

Masturbation isn’t sex, or is it?

I don’t think they do. I think they raise a bunch of guilty priests who feel like they are constantly sinning because they masturbate. A second possibility is that the priests have naturally low libido, and really don’t have a need to relieve themselves, sexually. Finally, we know a higher percentage of priests are gay, and they are getting satisfaction from each other in some cases, and from choir boys, in other cases. This is, I believe a small proportion of priests, although it is a larger proportion than we would see in the general population.

“How do they handle themselves…”

Just so.

“How do they handle themselves”

It’s probably a toss up between a few things

Ok, I should have said conduct themselves. I realize that now. : )

Maybe they ask God to satiate their need.

I wonder if some volunteer for the role of eunuch.

I’m getting good at it.

@zensky Aw, need some pics? Then you can say it happened?

Sure,

Not every one has the kind of urges you are talking about, so there’s nothing to cope with.

If we have to have pics, it seems to me we should have pics of @zensky not masturbating.

I explored the possibility of becoming a priest many years ago. For the two years I spent in discernment, I was completely celibate (that includes no masturbation). The only orgasms I had during this period came during wet dreams.

I learned that there is a big difference between voluntary and involuntary celibacy. The frustration that accompanies involuntary celibacy goes beyond horniness—it’s wrapped up in feelings of rejection, inadequacy, and other social stuff, and the horniness itself is exacerbated by exposure to stimuli that excites it, which those who are celibate by choice can avoid.

I learned some things about my own body too. I learned to expect that feelings of randiness would wax and wane to some extent even if I was not exposed to anything exciting, and that if I could just contain myself during the peak periods, the arousal would eventually subside on its own. This probably has something to do with hormonal cycles (men have them too).

Two years is not a lifetime, and unlike those who take their vows as virgins, I did not have to wonder what I was missing, but my experience leads me to believe that celibacy is not an unbearable burden for those who are called to it.