to obtain good things, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
ON THE THREE FOLLOWING HOMILIES
In the third title of the Morellian Edition, it is read in Greek and Latin: *The Praise of Maximus, and what kind of wives should be taken.* Sigismund Gelenius, the interpreter, reads it in the same way. But in the Savilian edition, and in two manuscripts which we have used, this, *The Praise of Maximus*, is missing. Yet I do not think this addition should be spurned; for the title does not appear to have been added here by guessing, but he who added the title wrote it being acquainted with the matter, or perhaps Chrysostom himself concocted the title thus at the beginning. A Herman suggests that this Maximus was the Bishop of Seleucia in Isauria, who Chrysostom heard preaching in the aforementioned place in a previous assembly: it is not unlikely that this is true. Furthermore, for what he says at the beginning, "For while I am dragging the yoke," that is, *Me in trahendo jugo compar*, having recently broken the furrow, he scattered on the tongue, even the seeds—from these, I say, he argues that Chrysostom was at that time the Bishop of Constantinople. For while he was presiding at Constantinople, other bishops of diverse cities preached in this royal city with the same man assenting, which Severianus, Bishop of Gabala, did more than once, as is narrated at length in the *Life of Chrysostom*.
The Latin interpretation of the first homily is by Fronto Ducaeus; the second is by an unknown author, the third by Sigismund Gelenius. We have emended the latter two in many places.
ON THE APOSTOLIC SAYING
But on account of fornication let each man have his own wife.A 1. I wish to lead you today to the fountains of honey, to honey which never causes satiety. For such is the nature of the words of Paul, and all who fill their own hearts with them from these fountains, speak by the Holy Spirit; nay, the sweetness of the sacred oracles surpasses the virtue even of honey. And the Prophet, to indicate this, said: *How sweet are thy words to my throat, more than honey to my mouth!* (Ps. CXVIII, 103). And the pleasure of the sacred oracles is not only sweeter than honey, but also more precious than gold and any stone, and purer than silver. For the words of the Lord are chaste words, silver tried by fire, proved on the earth, purified sevenfold (Ps. XI, 7). Therefore, a certain wise man also said: *To eat much honey is not good; but one must honor glorious words* (Prov. XXV, 27). For from that honey, indeed, a sickness we do not have is often born; B but from these words, we can put aside the bodily sickness which we possess; and while honey is corrupted in the process of digestion, the sacred oracles, when they have been digested, become both more pleasant and more useful, both to those who possess them and to many others. And indeed, while someone partakes lavishly of a table subject to the senses, if he then belches after being sated, he becomes unpleasant to him who provided the feast; but if, filled with spiritual doctrine, he emits [it], he diffuses a very sweet odor to his neighbor. David, certainly, when he filled himself frequently with these feasts, said: *My heart has poured forth a good word* (Ps. XLIV, 2). For we can also belch a bad word. And just as at this sensory table we see the quality of what is belched forth appear according to the condition of the food; so, truly, in the power of words, of such things as they feed upon, such do most men...
A belch forth. For if you go up into a theater and hear wanton songs, you will certainly belch forth such words to your neighbor; but if you come to the church and partake of spiritual discourses, you will have such belchings. For this reason the Prophet also said: My heart hath uttered a good word, indicating to us the food of the table of which he always partook.
Following this, Paul also exhorted us, saying: Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good (Eph. IV, 29). And what is the corrupt, he says? If you learn what is good, then you will also know the corrupt; for he has set the one as a contrast to the other. And what then is the good, you shall have no need to learn from me; for he himself interpreted its nature for us. For saying, That which is good, he added: unto the edifying of the Church, showing that this is good which edifies one’s neighbor. As, therefore, he that edifies is good, so he that destroys is corrupt and evil.
You therefore, beloved, if you have something of this sort to say, which is able to make the hearer better, do not hold back speech in this time of salvation; but if you have nothing of this sort, but [only] evil and corrupted words, keep silent, do not accuse your neighbor. For this word is corrupt, not edifying the hearer, but also destroying him. For if he takes care of virtue, he is often lifted to conceit; and if he is neglected, he becomes more sluggish. If you are about to utter a shameful word and one full of laughter, be silent. For this word also is corrupt, making both the speaker and the listener more licentious, and kindling the evil desires in each one.
As, therefore, wood and fuel become food for fire, so do words [become food] for evil intentions. For this reason we must not utter everything that we have in our thoughts; but we must strive to banish evil desires and every shameful thought from the mind itself. And if ever we should unawares receive filthy thoughts, let us never bring them forth through the tongue, but let us stifle them through silence. B For wild beasts and creeping things falling into a pit, if they find some exit from above, become more savage when they climb out; but if they remain continuously confined below, they perish easily and are destroyed from all sides. So also evil thoughts, if they find some exit through our mouth and words, kindle the fire within; but if you shut them up through silence, they become weaker, and as if consumed by famine through silence, they quickly die away in the mind.
So even if you desire some shameful desire, if you do not utter a shameful word, you have quenched the desire itself. Do you not have a pure mind? At least have a pure mouth, and do not empty out the mire abroad, so that you do not harm another and yourself. For it is not the speakers alone, but also those who listen to others speaking shamefully who receive much stain. For this reason I exhort and advise, not only to abstain from saying such things, but also from listening when others speak, and to be nailed to the divine law continuously. For the Prophet also blesses such a man, saying: Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, and hath not sat in the seat of the pestilent: but his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night (Ps. I, 1, 2).
2. In secular gatherings, therefore, even if something good were ever said, it is only with difficulty that the many say anything wholesome amidst many bad things; but with the divine Scriptures it is the exact opposite: you will never hear an evil word, but all are full of salvation and much philosophy; such indeed are the things read to us today. And what are these? Concerning what you wrote to me, he says, it is good for a man not to touch a woman: but for fear of fornication, let every man have his own wife, and every woman her own husband (1 Cor. VII, 1, 2). Paul is giving counsel concerning marriages, and he is not ashamed, nor does he blush. And with good reason. For if his Master honored marriage, and was not ashamed, but even adorned the matter with his presence and with a gift (for indeed he brought gifts to the wedding greater than all, having changed the nature of water into wine), how would the slave have blushed to give counsel concerning marriage? For marriage is not an evil thing, but adultery is evil, fornication is evil; but marriage is a medicinal remedy against fornication. Let us not, therefore, dishonor it with diabolical pageants; but, as they did in Cana of Galilee, let those who now take wives also do: let them have Christ in their midst. And how is it possible for this to happen, you ask? Through the priests themselves. For he that receiveth you, he says, receiveth me (Matt. X, 40). C If, therefore, you drive away the devil, if you drive away the lascivious songs, and the effeminate gestures, and the disorderly dances, and the shameful words, and the diabolical pageant, and the clamor, and the unrestrained laughter, and the remaining indecency, and bring in the holy servants of Christ, Christ himself will surely be present through them with his mother and his brethren. For whosoever shall do, he says, the will of my Father, he is my brother, and sister, and mother (Matt. XII, 50).
I know that I seem to some to be burdensome and annoying, in giving this counsel and in cutting away an old custom. Yet, however, I care nothing for this; for I do not need the favor that comes from you, but the benefit that is yours; not the applause and the praises, but the profit and the philosophy. Let no one say to me that it is a custom; where sin is dared, mention not custom; but, if the things being done are evil, even if it be an old custom, break it; but if they be not evil, even if there be no custom, introduce and plant it. And that it was not an old custom for such indecency to occur, but that what is being done is a sort of innovation, remember how Isaac married Rebecca, how Jacob married Rachel. For indeed the Scripture makes mention of these marriages, and tells how these brides were led into the houses of the grooms, and it makes mention of nothing of the sort; but they made a banquet and a feast more splendid than the usual one, and called their own relatives, D
and those who were accustomed to such things—the leaping, and the rest of the indecency of our day—were far away. But the men of our time sing hymns to Aphrodite while dancing, and they sing there many adulteries, and the ruin of marriages, and unlawful loves, and forbidden unions, and many other songs full of impiety and shame; and after drunkenness and such indecency, they publicly expose the bride with obscene words. With what mind, then, do you demand chastity from her, I ask, when you school her from the very first day in such shamelessness, and take care that in her sight those things are done and said which it is not even lawful for respectable slaves to hear? For such a long time the father labored, while guarding the virgin with her mother, so that she might neither say, nor hear anyone else saying, any such word, and [196] chambers, and women’s A quarters, and guards, and doors, and bolts, and evening departures, and that she should show herself to no one, not even to any of her relatives, and many other things, and more than these, he was carefully providing; and you, coming, have poured all those away in one day, and by that dishonorable procession you have made her become shameless, and you have poured depraved words into the soul of the bride? Do not the evils that follow come from this? Do not adulteries and jealousies come from this? Do not the privation of children, and widowhoods, and premature deaths of parents come from this?
When you invite the demons through those songs, when you satisfy their desire through obscene words, when you introduce mimes and effeminates into the house and the whole theater, when you fill the house with harlots, and you cause the whole company of demons to frolic there, what sound thing, I ask, can you expect thereafter? And for what reason do you introduce priests, when you are about to do such things on the following day? Do you want to demonstrate fruitful ambition? Call choirs of the poor. But you feel shame and blush? And what is worse than this absurdity, that when you are enticing the devil into your house, you think you are doing nothing B shameful, but when you are about to introduce Christ, you blush? For as Christ arrives when the poor enter, so when the soft and the mimes carry out their dances there, the devil frolics in their midst. And from those expenses there is no profit, but even much loss; but from these expenditures you will quickly reap much reward. But has no one of those who are in the city done this? Do you then begin, and strive to be the author of this noble custom, so that your descendants may take it from you. But if anyone rivals and imitates this custom, the grandsons and the great-grandsons will be able to say to those who inquire, that such-and-such a man first introduced this excellent law. For if those in external contests, while banquets are being prepared, who have brought these useless public gifts to greater magnificence are celebrated by the crowd, much more in this public spiritual service will all praise and feel gratitude to him who introduced this noble beginning, and this will acquire for him the praise of liberality and utility. For even if this were to be done by others, he who cast the seeds first will carry off the reward for those fruits; this will also quickly make you a parent, this will be of help to your children, and it will cause the groom to grow old with the bride. C For just as God continually threatens those who sin, saying: *Your sons shall be orphans, and your wives widows* (Exod. 22:24); so to those who obey Him in all things, He promises that He will give both a blessed old age and, along with these, all good things. He threatens that premature deaths are brought about by a multitude of sins. For *therefore*, he says, *among you are many infirm and weak, and many sleep* (1 Cor. 11:30). But that, if the poor are nourished, it allows nothing of the sort to happen, but even if something happens unexpectedly, it provides a most immediate remedy, learn from that girl who was in Joppa. For even her, lying dead, the poor who were being nourished by her, surrounding her and weeping, aroused and recalled to life (Acts 9:36 sqq.). By so much is the prayer of widows and the poor more useful than any laughter and dancing. Here the delight lasts for one day, there the gain is perpetual. Consider how great a thing it is for the bride to enter the house of the groom laden with so many blessings. To which wreaths are these not more splendid? To which riches are they not more useful? Whereas, on the contrary, this modern custom is of extreme D madness. For even if no punishment or penalty were looming for those who behave so dishonorably, consider what great punishment it is to be lacerated by such curses, with the people watching, with all listening, by men drunken and depraved in mind. For the poor, indeed, when they have received something, bless and pray for infinite good things: but the others, after drunkenness, after gluttony, pour all the filth of jests upon the heads of those who are contracting the marriage, and they institute a kind of diabolical contest among themselves; and as if they were enemies who are meeting, so their relatives contend among themselves as to who shall utter more shameful and nefarious reproaches against those who are joined in marriage; and they imitate adversaries: and this contention of theirs among themselves causes the groom to be suffused with the greatest shame along with the bride.
These things are all done by the impulse of demons. Keep mimes and dancers away from marriages. Shall we therefore require, I ask, another demonstration, so that it is established that all these things are done and said by them through the impulse of demons? Who, therefore, will henceforth doubt that all these things are done and said by them, with the demons impelling their souls? No one, clearly; since such are the rewards of the devil—cavillations, drunkenness, and the delirium of the soul. But if anyone is deterred by the omen that the poor are introduced in place of these, and says that this is a sign of calamity, let him also learn this: that it is not the feeding of the poor and widows, but of the soft and the harlots, that is the sign and portent of every annoyance and of numberless evils. For often the harlot has already, from that very day, snatched the groom away as a captive from his friends, extinguished his love for the bride, craftily averted his benevolence, dissolved his affection before it could be kindled, and sowed the seeds of adultery. For this reason, fathers ought to have been afraid, if there were nothing else, and to have forbidden mimes and dancers from entering the wedding. For weddings were instituted, not so that we might play the licentious, nor...
but so that we might be temperate. A Listen, therefore, to Paul saying: "But because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband." For these are two things for which marriage has been introduced: that we might be temperate, and that we might become parents; and of these two things, the primary motive is that of temperance. For since desire has entered in, marriage has also entered in, cutting off the excess and persuading one to use one wife. For it is not marriage that causes childbearing in every case, but that word of God which says: "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth." And they are witnesses, whoever have used marriage, yet have not become parents. So that this is the primary cause, that of temperance, and especially now, because the whole inhabited world has been filled with our race. B For in the beginning, children were desirable, for the sake of each person leaving behind a memorial and remnants of his own life. For because there were not yet hopes of resurrection, but death prevailed, and they who were dying thought that they perished after the life from here, God gave the consolation from children, so that living images of those who had departed might remain, and our race might be preserved, and for those who were about to die, and for their kin, there might be the greatest consolation—their offspring. And that you may learn that for this reason children were especially desirable, listen to what the wife of Job laments to him after many wounds: "Behold," she says, "your memorial has perished from the earth, your sons and your daughters." And again, Saul to David: "Swear to me that you will not destroy my seed, and my name after me." But since the resurrection is now at the doors, and there is no notion of death, but we are traveling toward another life better than the existing one, the zeal concerning these things is superfluous. For if you desire children, you will be able to acquire much better and more useful ones now, when certain spiritual pangs have been introduced, and a better birth, and more useful caretakers for old age. So that one cause of marriage exists: not to be lewd; and for this reason this remedy has been introduced. But if you are going to use lewdness even after marriage, you have come to marriage superfluously, and in vain and to no purpose; or rather, not only in vain and to no purpose, but even to your own harm. For it is not the same thing to be lewd while not having a wife, and to do this same thing again after marriage. For such a thing is no longer lewdness, but adultery. For even if what is said is paradoxical, it is nevertheless true.
4. For we are not ignorant that many still think it is adultery only when someone corrupts a married woman; but I say that even if one who has a wife pays court wickedly and licentiously to a common prostitute, or to a maidservant, or to any other woman who does not have a husband, such a thing is adultery. For the crime of adultery consists not only C of/by those who are insulted, but also of/by those who insult. For do not speak to me now of the laws from outside [the Church], which drag women who commit adultery to court and demand an accounting, but do not demand an accounting of men who have wives and corrupt themselves with maidservants; but I shall read to you the law of God, which is indignant equally both in the case of the woman and in the case of the man, and says that the act is adultery. For after saying, "And let each woman have her own husband," he added, "Let the husband render unto the wife the affection that is due." D What in the world is he wanting to indicate by saying this? That he should preserve for her the revenues of her wealth? That he should keep her dowry intact? That he should provide her with expensive garments? That he should provide a more abundant table, or magnificent outings, or a large attendance of servants? What are you saying? What kind of affection are you seeking? For all these things indeed belong to affection. I do not say anything of the sort, he says, but temperance and modesty. The body of the husband is no longer the husband's, but the wife's. Let him therefore keep the possession intact for her, and let him not diminish, nor corrupt it; for that servant is called affectionate who, having received the master's money, destroys none of it. Since, therefore, the husband's body is the wife's possession, let the husband be affectionate concerning the deposit. Because he says this, having said, "Let him render the affection," he added, "The wife has not authority over her own body, but the husband; likewise also the husband has not authority over his own body, but the wife." When, therefore, you see an harlot entrapping, plotting, desiring your body, say to her: "The body is not mine; it belongs to my wife; I do not dare to abuse it, nor to grant this to another woman." Let the wife also do this. For there is great equality of status here; although in other things Paul gives much preeminence, by saying thus: "But you, also, each one individually, let each man so love his own wife as himself; and the wife, that she should fear her husband"; and, "The husband is the head of the wife," and, "The wife ought to be subject to the husband." And again in the Old Testament: "Towards your husband is your turning, and he shall rule over you." How, then, has he introduced an equal rendering of slavery and lordship here? For saying, "The wife has not authority over her own body, but the husband; likewise also the husband has not authority over his own body, but the wife," is to introduce a certain great equality. And just as he is lord of her body, so also she is mistress of his body. For what reason, then, did he introduce such great equality? Because here the preeminence is necessary; where there is the time for temperance and modesty, the husband has nothing more than the wife, but he is punished just like her if he violates the laws of marriage; and very reasonably. For the wife did not come to you, and leave father and mother and her whole house, so that she might be insulted, so that you might bring in a cheap maidservant to her, so that you might create countless wars; you have received a companion, and a partner of your life, and a free woman, and an equal. For how is it not absurd, while receiving her dowry, to display all affection, and to diminish nothing of it; but regarding that which is more precious than the dowry, temperance and modesty...
you render an account? If you diminish chastity, God shall exact a penalty from you, who introduced marriage and delivered a wife to you. And that this is true, you may gather from those things which Paul says concerning adulterers: "He who despises, does not despise man, but God, who has given His Holy Spirit unto you" (1 Thess. 4:8). You see how by so many words it is shown from Scripture that it is adultery, not only if one corrupts a woman joined to a husband, but even if he who is joined to a wife corrupts any harlot whatsoever? For in the same way as we say a woman is polluted by adultery, whether she sins with a servant or with any other person whatsoever; so also do we say that a man commits adultery, if, having a wife, he satisfies his lust with either a little maidservant or any common harlot whatever. Let us not, therefore, neglect our salvation, nor expose our soul to the devil through this sin. For from this arise countless overthrows of families and countless wars: from this it happens that love slips away and benevolence is withdrawn. For as it is impossible for a chaste man ever to neglect or despise his wife, so it is impossible for an intemperate and lascivious man to love his own wife, even if she be the most beautiful of all. For from chastity love arises, and from love arise countless good things. A Think, therefore, that the rest of women are as stone, knowing that if you gaze upon another woman with lascivious eyes, whether she be public or joined to a husband, you have become liable to the charge of adulterers. Daily recite these words to yourself; and if you feel the desire for another woman's wife burning within you, and then on that account your own wife pleases you less, enter your chamber, unfold this book, and taking the Apostle Paul as an intercessor, by reciting these words frequently to yourself, extinguish the flame. Nothing is more base than a man who commits fornication. Thus, too, your wife will become more beloved to you again, when no desire shakes your benevolence toward her; and not only will your wife be more beloved, but you also will appear more honest and attractive. For there is nothing, nothing at all more base than a man who, having entered into marriage, commits fornication. For he is ashamed not only before his father-in-law, and friends, and passers-by, but even before his very servants. B And not only is this evil, but also that his own house will be a more unpleasant sight than any prison, since he has the mistress placed before his eyes and ever turns the image of the harlot in his mind!
Think what sort of life those lead who hold their wives in suspicion, how unpleasant food is to them, how unpleasant drink. The table seems to teem with poisons, and they flee from their home as from destruction, because it overflows with countless evils. To them, sleep is not sweet, nor is the night, nor the meeting of friends, nor the very rays of the sun; but they think they are offended even by the light, not only when they see the wife polluted with adultery, but even when they come into any suspicion of her fault. Think that the same happens to the wife, when she has heard this from anyone, or has even suspected that you have given yourself over to a harlot. While you think these things to yourself, flee not only adulteries, but C also suspicions; and if she is suspected undeservedly, appease her and soothe her with words. For she does not do this pushed by hatred or haughtiness, but because of excessive care, and because she greatly fears for her own possession. For her possession, as I said before, is your body, and your possession of all things, most precious. Do not, therefore, harm her in the greatest matter, nor inflict a wound upon her heart. For although you may despise her, yet you ought to fear God, the avenger of such crimes, and He who threatens intolerable punishment for such transgressions. For of those who have dared to perpetrate such things, He says: "Their worm shall not die, and the fire shall not be extinguished" (Mark 9:44). But if future things do not yet sting you, let at least the present things strike fear into you. Many indeed of those who cling to harlots have surely perished miserably in this life as well, oppressed by the curious snares of harlots. For while they [the harlots] strive to alienate him from his legitimate wife and married bond, and to keep him bound entirely by their own love, they use philtres and incantations, prepare amatory poisons, and weave many fallacies of fascination; and so then, when they have cast him into a grievous disease, seized by a dire plague, consumed by long wasting, and overwhelmed by countless evils, they deprive him of the enjoyment of this life. If by chance you do not fear hell, O man, fear their sorceries. For when through this D luxury you have deprived yourself of divine protection and spoiled yourself of heavenly aid, then the harlot, boldly invading you and calling upon her own demons, by applying plates and amulets, and by her own wily snares, very easily conquers your salvation, and dishes you up a reproach and a laughingstock to all who dwell in the cities, so that they are never moved to pity for you in your calamity. "For who will pity," he says, "an enchanter struck by a serpent, and all the beasts who approach" (Eccli. 12:13)? I pass over the loss of money, and the daily suspicions, the haughtiness, the arrogance, the insults with which harlots vex fools, which are much more bitter than if one had to face death a thousand times. And the wife, indeed, you can often bear even when she has not said a single troublesome word, and yet you adore the harlot even when she strikes you with slaps. Are you not ashamed, and do you not blush, and do you not wish that the earth would open for you? How will you be able to come to the church, and extend your hands to heaven? With what mouth, then, will you call upon God, with which you have kissed a harlot? Do you not, I pray, fear, and do you not shudder, lest at some time your impudent head be struck by lightning descending from heaven? Although you may hide from your wife, whom you treat with injury, yet you will never hide from that wakeful eye; since to that adulterer who said, "Darkness surrounds me, and the walls; what do I fear?" (Eccli. 23:26), the wise man has contradicted: he saying thus: "The eyes of the Lord are a thousand times brighter than the sun, beholding the works of men" (Eccli. 23:28). Because of all these things, Paul said: "Each one should have his own wife, and each one should have her own husband: let the husband return the due benevolence to the wife, and similarly the wife to the husband" (1 Cor. 7:2, 3). "Honey drips from the lips of a harlot, which for a time fattens your throat; but afterward you will find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword" (Prov. 5:3, 4). Poison is hidd
and more sharpened than a double-edged sword. It possesses the kiss of the harlot, and it possesses the hidden and concealed [poison]. Why, therefore, do you pursue a pleasure that carries with it condemnation, that brings forth destruction, that inflicts an incurable wound, when it is possible to be happy and suffer nothing dreadful? For in the case of a free woman, there is harmony, and pleasure, and security, and relief, and honor, and adornment, and a good conscience; but there, there is much bitterness, much harm, and constant accusation. For even if no human sees you, your conscience will never cease to accuse you; but wherever you go, it will follow, accusing and crying out loudly, this accuser of yours. Hence, if anyone pursues pleasure, let such a person especially flee the company of harlots. For there is nothing more bitter than that habit, nothing more unpleasant than that intercourse, nothing more foul than those manners. A Let the deer of friendship and the foal of your favors converse with you; let your fountain of water be your own fountain. Having a pure fountain of water, why do you run to a pit full of mire, stinking of Gehenna and unspeakable punishment? What excuse will you have? What forgiveness? For if those who give themselves to fornication before marriage are punished and pay the penalty—just like that man who was clothed in filthy garments—much more so are those who do so after marriage. B For here the crime becomes double or triple, because while enjoying consolation, they have leaped into that lewdness, and because the act is considered not merely fornication, but also adultery, which is more grievous than every other sin. Let us, therefore, repeatedly say these things to ourselves and to our wives, and let us continue in this way; wherefore I also shall conclude my discourse with these words: "But because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection that is due, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband; likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife" (1 Cor. 7. 2-4). Having kept these words with precision, both in the marketplace and in the house, both by day and by evening, and at the table, and in the marriage bed, let us meditate on them everywhere, and let us instruct our wives, to speak them to us and to hear them from us, so that having lived this present life temperately, we may also attain the kingdom of heaven, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
CONCERNING THE PASSAGE
"A wife is bound by the law for as long a time as her husband lives; but if he dies, she is free to marry whom she wishes, only in the Lord. But she is happier if she remains so" (1 Cor. 7. 39, 40).1. Recently the blessed Paul gave us instruction concerning marriage and the laws of marriage, writing and saying to the Corinthians: "But concerning the things about which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman; but because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband" (1 Cor. 7. 1, 2). For this reason, we spent our entire discourse on these words. It is therefore necessary also today to discourse with you again upon the same subject, since today the same Paul is discoursing about the same things. For you heard him crying out and saying: "A wife is bound by the law for as long a time as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is free to marry whom she wishes, only in the Lord. But she is happier if she remains so, according to my opinion; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. 7. 39, 40). Let us therefore follow him today as well, and let us discourse regarding this subject; for by following Paul, we shall certainly follow Christ through him, since he too, not following himself but Him, wrote everything. C For marriage is no insignificant matter, just as it becomes a cause of countless calamities for those who do not use it as they ought. For just as the wife is a helper, so she often becomes a schemer. Just as marriage is, therefore, a harbor, so it is also a shipwreck—not because of its own nature, but because of the judgment of those who use it badly. For he who executes it according to the inherent laws finds in his home and his own wife a certain consolation and release from the evils of the marketplace and all evils everywhere; but he who handles the matter simply and haphazardly, even if he enjoys much serenity in the marketplace, will follow after rocks and crags once he enters his home. Since, therefore, the danger we face is not regarding trifling matters, it is necessary to pay attention to what is said with precision, and for the man who is about to take a wife to do so in accordance with the laws of Paul, or rather, in accordance with the laws of Christ. I know indeed that to many what is said seems new and paradoxical; nevertheless, I shall not be silent because of this, but having first read the law to you, I shall thus attempt to resolve the apparent contradiction. What then is the law that Paul has set for us? "A wife," he says, "is bound by the law." Therefore, it is not permitted to separate while the husband is alive, nor to introduce another bridegroom, nor to engage in second marriages. And see how he has used the very nature of the words with precision. For he did not say, "Let her live with her husband for as long as he lives"; but what? "A wife is bound by the law for as long a time as her husband lives"; so that even if she gives a bill of divorce, and leaves the house, and goes to another, she is bound by the law, and such a woman is an adulteress. If, therefore, the husband wishes to cast out the wife, or the wife to leave the husband, let her remember this utterance, and let her think that Paul is present and pursuing her, crying out and saying, "A wife is bound by the law." For just as runaway D servants, even if they leave their master's house, have the chain dragging along with them; so also women, even if they leave their husbands, have the law condemning them in place of...