ABSTRACT
Classical literature about celibacy is fraught with presuppositions about the achievement of the ideal. The assumption that the ideal achieved is the ordinary state is the starting point of most presentations. The reality of this assumption is not so easily taken for granted by the serious practitioner of celibacy. “How is it possible?” was a question posed by many students in their last years of training for the priesthood. The majority of our informants are witness to a stretch for the ideal rather than a firm grasp on it.
