That Religious Women Should Not Cohabit with Men

^A If you also, should you so wish, were to bring forth this same judgment—a judgment even more sublime—concerning this untimely pleasure, if you would separate yourselves but a little from this evil habit. And yet, Solomon, living in the ages of old, was not required to possess such great precision of philosophy; for neither did the Old Law forbid luxury, nor did it declare it a superfluous and vain thing to enjoy other pleasures. Nevertheless, even in that state of affairs, he was able to perceive the unprofitableness in them, and to condemn their great vanity. But we are called to a greater way of life, and we ascend to a higher summit, and we have stripped ourselves for greater contests. And what else are we commanded to do but to live according to those supernal powers, those intellectual and incorporeal beings? How then is it not shameful and deserving of great punishment to appear far inferior to him, and not only to fail to become higher than what is permitted, as he did, but even to lay hold of things that are forbidden and bring intolerable punishment? For to nourish an evil love in the soul, and to look upon a woman for the sake of desire, and to contemplate another’s beauty, and thereby to disgrace oneself, to harm the weaker, to provide many pretexts to the Greeks and the Jews, to trip up both one’s own people and those who are strangers, to cause much blasphemy against the glory of God, to accept servile ministries, to thrust ourselves into the din of worldly affairs, to pledge the freedom granted to us to the devil, and for it to exchange a most grievous tyranny, to become a laughingstock to friends and a reproach to enemies, to cast a wicked reputation upon the community of the Church, to disgrace the dignity of honorable virginity, and to provide many pretexts to those wishing to live wantonly, and to procure other evils more than these (for it is impossible either to perceive or to express in words all the things they endure through the deeds themselves)—this is among the things most strictly forbidden and which carry an intolerable punishment.

So if the pleasure is even a small thing, by weighing all these things ^B against it—laughter, shame, the suspicion of the multitude, accusations, taunts, insults, the worm that dies not, the outer darkness, the fire that is unquenchable, the tribulation, the distress, the gnashing of teeth, the indissoluble bonds—and by placing them as it were upon a balance and setting them against it, let us leap away, even if late, from this most grievous and soul-destroying disease, that we may depart for there with bright crowns, and be able with free lips to say to Christ that: "For Your sake and for the sake of Your glory we have despised habit, and mastered pleasure, and afflicted our own soul, and casting out all friendship and prejudice, we have preferred You and the desire for You above all things." For thus we shall gain ourselves, and we shall gain those wretched women, and we shall gain those who are scandalized, and we shall take our stand beside the martyrs themselves, and we shall receive the first rank. For I do not consider a man who is held by an ancient desire, and who is captivated by some most sweet and ancient habit, and who then for the sake of the fear of God breaks those bonds and turns back toward what is pleasing to God, to be any less than those who have fought that greatest of battles and endured the most steadfast pains. For it is one of the most difficult things to cast out an ancient sympathy and affection, and to cut through the complex entanglements, and to grow wings, and to run up to the heavenly arches. And just as the toil is sharp for them, so for these is the sorrow more enduring. Wherefore the crowns are likewise equal, since the contests also are set before them in parallel. For if he who leads a precious soul from an unworthy state shall be as the mouth of God, think of how great a reward he shall receive who has both liberated himself and delivered countless others from accusation, and, lightened by the hope of the prizes, despise evil habit, that having run through the present life according to what is pleasing to God, you may behold her there with a pure conscience, and enjoy her most holy fellowship. For, the bodily passions being loosened, and the tyrannical desire being extinguished, there is nothing to prevent men together with women from being there, with all evil suspicion put out of the way, but only the angelic way of life, and the ability of those intellectual powers to be preserved, of all who are brought into the kingdom of the heavens, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, honor, and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.

THAT REGULAR VIRGINS OUGHT NOT TO COHABIT WITH MEN

^C 4. Woe is me, O soul! For with the prophet it is timely for me also to say this now, and once and twice and oftentimes, "Woe is me, O soul!" What a matter, and how full of philosophy! Virginity has been insulted, and the veil that separated it from marriage has been taken away, torn down by shameless hands, and the holy of holies has been trodden underfoot, and the venerable things, full of awe, have become profane and accessible to all; and what is more venerable than marriage has been dragged down and brought so low, that married women are rather to be called blessed. For always indeed virginity, when ranked with marriage, held the first place and all the presidency; but now it has not been able to remain even in the second rank, but has been driven off far and to the very last rank; ^D and what is more grievous is that it is not some enemies or foes, but those who are thought most to nurture it who have disposed it thus, and those who provided us most of all with the ability to speak freely to the unbelievers, these have most of all sewn up our mouths and poured out much shame upon us. For the sake of money—and even these were few, yet they had it in them to show that some among the Greeks had lived philosophically, and some among them overcame anger; but the flower of virginity was nowhere among them, but they always yielded the first place to us in this, acknowledging that the achievement is above nature and not human. For this reason our entire nation was greatly admired by them; but now, no longer, but they laugh and jeer at us. For this reason also the devil has thus breathed against this flock, because he saw in this most excellent phalanx the army of Christ; and thus he attempted to confound it, so that hereafter it would be better, if not that virgins themselves...

^A even attempt to carry out the matter in this way. The reason for all these evils is that the matter exists only in name, and the whole business is circumscribed in words, which is the smallest part of virginity; while those things which are more necessary, and which demonstrate it even more, have been neglected, and no attention is paid to a modest manner of dress suitable for virgins, or to silence, or to compunction, or to anything of that kind. They rather chatter away at everything, and laugh at inappropriate times, and are tumultuous, and live more in delights than women who stand in the brothel, while they entice spectators from all sides with their tricks, and strive to throw themselves into the disgrace of harlots, as if competing with them and contending for the glory of the disgrace. For where, tell me, shall we be able afterwards to distinguish such a virgin from the rank and company of those women, when she herself does the same thing that they do; when, indeed, she entangles the hearts of young men in fraud, when she is petulant and intemperate, when she offers the same poisons, mixes the same cups, and prepares the same hemlock?—But she does not say: "Come, let us be entwined in love," nor does she say: "I have sprinkled my bed with crocus, and my couch with cinnamon" (Prov. vii. 17). Those others hide the bait at home, but you carry the snare everywhere, and spread the wings of pleasure as you walk in the market-place. But you did not say the words, nor did you utter those harlot-like speeches: "Come, let us be entwined in love." You did not say it with your tongue, but you said it with your habit; you did not speak with your mouth, but you spoke with your walk; you did not invite with your voice, but you invited with your eyes more clearly than with your voice. But even after you had invited, you did not offer yourself. You are not thus freed from sin, for this is another species of fornication. You remained pure from the violation of the body, indeed, but not of the soul; and the sin was completed by you, even if not through the act, but through the gaze.

Virginity does not befit a luxurious manner of life and expensive clothing.

But I know not whence, to say these things, I have been brought back to this point; wherefore it is necessary to return to that from which I digressed.

^A point of Bethsaida he did not employ exhortations anymore, nor signs, but only lamentation, continuously crying out, "Woe," to the cities, just as we do for those who are in their death throes. And blessed Paul, too, imitating his own teacher, did not cease throughout his whole life to lament so bitterly those who had fallen and who remained in their fall and were no longer willing to rise, such that even with a certain more powerful definition he wrote to the Romans on this very matter, saying: *I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites* (Rom. 9.2-4). Do you see how much emphasis his words have, how much pain of heart they present? And he mourns for the believers who are stumbling and tossed by waves, as if he himself were the one in those very evils. For who, he says, *is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?* (2 Cor. 11.29). And he did not say, "I am sorrowful," but, "I am burning," wishing to indicate the unbearable and incurable nature of the pain through the word "burning." Let us, therefore, imitate both our Lord and his fellow-servant. For there will not lie before us a small reward for these lamentations and weepings, just as no ordinary blame follows from God for those who pass over the evils of their own members without sympathy. And of these, one may see an example from the most steadfast man, Ezekiel, and the other from the blessed Micah. For the one says that, when the Jews had arrived at the extreme of wickedness and had voluntarily defected to the evil of idols, God commanded a sign to be given on the faces of those who were groaning and suffering over what was happening. For it is not necessary simply to groan, but also to be pained, even though they had neither said nor done anything toward the correction of what was happening; but because they contributed what was in their power, they were honored with such honor by the philanthropic God that they were deemed worthy of both safety and much glory. ^B And Micah, along with other accusations—I mean gluttony, drunkenness, and the anointing with perfumes—added this charge of lack of sympathy, saying thus: *They did not suffer at all over the breaking of Joseph* (Amos 6.6). And he reproved again those who inhabited the city of Enan because of this, saying that they did not go forth to lament the house neighboring them (Mich. 1.11). But if, where God is angry, the one who does not suffer with those being punished is accused, what kind of forgiveness will he be worthy of who does not grieve with those who fall into evil? And do not be amazed if, while God is punishing us, it is necessary to suffer with those being punished; for even God himself, in punishing, does not wish to do this. For *I do not desire the death of the sinner*, he says. Therefore, if the one inflicting the punishment does not wish for the punishment, it is all the more necessary for us to suffer with those being punished; perhaps we will call them back in this way, perhaps we will recover them. For even if they have perished, let us nevertheless provide the remaining remedy and let us mourn and lament, not by gathering choirs of women, but each one privately and by himself, without those women present. But if you wish, I will also begin this mournful song for you; for I am not ashamed, ^C doing this with Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Paul, and before all these, with the Lord. Let us begin, therefore, as Christ began first, and let us say: "Woe to you, my soul! For the sake of what honor you were called through the philanthropy of God, and what place you will receive because of your negligence! Woe to you! Because he himself drew you to the spiritual bridal chambers, but you, tearing yourself away from that glory, were brought down into the fire of the devil and to the incurable punishments, where [there is] weeping and gnashing of teeth, where there is no one to comfort, nor to stretch out a hand, but all is darkness and perplexity and turmoil and evils that have no comfort nor end; all these things the friendship of the world has worked for you, and the preferring of the earth to heaven, and the not wishing to hear the voice of the bridegroom assiduously admonishing us to have nothing in common with present affairs." Who, you wretched and miserable soul, will be able to show you mercy henceforth? For even if you see Noah himself, who saved his entire house in the common storm of the world’s flood and stood against such great wrath, even if you see Job, and Daniel, and with them Moses and Samuel, even the patriarch Abraham, no one will stretch out a hand to you henceforth, even if you be related by birth, even if you be a daughter, even if you be a sister, even if you offer a prayer of supplication, like that rich man, you will work all things in vain and to no purpose. How were you cast down from heaven, not being the morning star, nor rising in the dawn, but being able to shine more than the solar rays themselves? How have you sat desolate? And one would not be wrong to transfer the majority of the laments made over that city to this captive soul, the one more captive than that city.

3. But perhaps there is enough of lamentations — enough, I say, as in scripture and book; for without these, the whole of time would not suffice for us to lament as worthy the soul that has suffered such things. For what should one lament first? That the honorable and holy and great name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, and his glory is defiled? Or that a matter so venerable and great is maligned? Or that many souls are falling through these scandals? Or that even the sound part of the choir is dyed with the stain of your glory? Or that you are kindling an unquenchable fire both for yourselves and for those who live with you? And how, you say, is it necessary that these things happen when we are able to show the body not corrupted, not defiled? For the most part, this display will not be now, ^D but then, on that day. For the wisdom and art of a midwife is able to see only this: whether the body received the union of a man. But if it also escaped ignoble contact, and the fornication by kisses and the corruption of embraces, that day will declare it then, when the Word of God, who lives and brings forth the hidden things of men into the midst, and who is present at things done in secret, places all things naked and stripped bare before the eyes of all; then we will know well if your body is pure from these things and incorrupt in every way. But although we do not refine our arguments on these matters, nor do we contend: but...

^A that which is the most grievous of all these things, and worthy of ten thousand tears, that you should endure such labor on all sides, keep the body with such diligence, and have exhausted all that labor and poured forth that sweat, yet for the sake of the blasphemy against Christ, and having spared the flesh, you did not spare the glory of God, but did everything so that your body might remain intact for Him; but as for how it should not be insulted or disgraced before many, you did not even have any concern. Would that you had not done all this, and had not exerted yourself so that the glory of God might be defamed. And how do I do this? you say. Because you have men shut up inside the house with you, who are always seated by you. ¶ For if you desire to have men as cohabitants, you ought not to have chosen virginity, but it was necessary to pass on to marriage: for it would have been much better to have married in that way than to claim to be a virgin in such a way.

Marriage is to be preferred to ill-guarded virginity

For such a union neither God condemns, nor do men blame; for it is an honest state, offending no one, harming no one: but that virginity with men is more denounced by all than fornication itself. For it loses its proper order, and has been cast down into a pit deeper than that of fornication. For no one would be able to count the virgin who does not care for the things of the Lord, but makes many into adulterers, as being among the virgins, nor indeed among the wedded. For she has a concern for how to please one husband: but you, for how to please countless ^B men, and those who are not known by the law of marriage, but in some other way condemned and rejected by all: whence I fear lest, falling from both positions, you might appear as having been numbered in the order of dishonest women. And if one should wish to judge the matter from the very appellation, we can contradict nothing. For if at any time they betake themselves to the marketplace, or if there is otherwise talk at home about them among those who dispute concerning such an absurd coupling, wishing to signify her, they call (him) this one, not "mother"—for he did not give birth to her; nor "sister"—for she was not born from the same womb; nor "spouse"—for they do not cohabit by the law of marriage; nor by any other name of kindred which is allowed or permitted by law, but by a certain shameful and ridiculous one. For I myself could not bear to name it: so greatly do I hate and abhor this appellation, and it is troublesome to me even (to hear) the name of cohabitation. But you did not give birth, nor did you endure the pains of childbirth. And what is more foul than this defense? What, likewise, is more miserable than that she wishes to appear a virgin before those to whom both many others and loose women can betake themselves? But they, you say, are convicted from elsewhere, that they are given to licentiousness. From where elsewhere, tell me? From their clothing, from their look, from their walk, from the lovers whom they catch. You have indeed well depicted for us the character ^C of a harlot; but see that with these conjectures and arguments, before you catch them, you do not catch yourself. For you, too, for yourself, often provide such lovers, and through the same nets. But if you do not call those passing by into your dwelling, and have them always kept inside, which is much more grievous, for no other reason than to fulfill an absurd pleasure—which is both his and yours—not, I say, the act of intercourse. But what profit comes from that, since this very thing happens by mutual gazes? Otherwise, if this is not the case, and you do not commit this adultery, why do you have him at home? What just and reasonable cause will you tell us? For the wedded woman will cite marriage, the harlot will cite lust; but you, a virgin, what kind of cause will you tell us that is worthy of being brought forward and is just? Do they sleep, and not congregate with us, as those men do with those women? Nay, most people affirm precisely this. But what is this? you say: it is against their own heads. But whether they speak only against their own heads, we shall inquire later. And already it has been manifestly demonstrated, when we were speaking about men, that not only those who blaspheme, but those who rashly provide occasions, are liable to punishment in the case that is being handled: ^D nevertheless, we shall demonstrate this same thing again. But now, if I ask you the cause of this cohabitation, can you tell me anything? I am a weak woman, she says, and am not able by myself to suffice for my own needs. Truly, when we object these things to your cohabitants, from them we hear the contrary, namely that they keep you for the sake of their own service. How then, you who can be a comfort to men from your abundance, cannot be a support to yourselves as women, but stand in need of others? For just as man to man, so woman to woman would surely have cohabited more conveniently and rightly: when, moreover, you are more convenient to men for service, much more so to yourselves. For what, I ask, is the society of a man necessary and useful? Or what kind of service will he perform for the woman that a woman cannot (perform) for a woman? Will he be able to weave a web with you, or thread a warp with a woof, more than a woman? Or is not the matter the opposite? For he, even if he wished, would certainly not know how, unless perhaps you have just now taught them these things; since this is the work of a woman alone. But to wash a garment, to kindle a fire, and to boil a pot? Even these, not less, but better than a man, can a woman perform. How then is a man useful, tell me, I ask? Or when it is necessary to sell or buy? But not even here does a woman avail less than a man, and the marketplace will surely testify, and all those who wish to buy garments will for the most part be from women. But if it is shameful for virgins to stand in the marketplace for trade, as indeed it is shameful, how much more shameful is it to cohabit with a man? Nevertheless, even this is less able to escape than that. For I would have more rightly entrusted these things either to a girl who serves, or to old women who are fit for these things: whence it is plain that these are pretexts and evasions, and coverings for weakness. What coverings of weakness? she says. For if I desired a man and marriage and a life of this sort, who would forbid it? Would not the liberty be present for me to do this, whereby neither God would be offended, nor I myself be rebuked by men? And indeed I say this also, and they are not your words so much as mine. But it is necessary to say: where the need for a man is so greatly necessary to you; or since you cannot show it, let him who cohabits badly be cast out: for otherwise you cannot be absolved of this disgrace. For this is

what you were saying, and it is not yours so much as it is of those who grieve over your indecency. It was fitting indeed, even if the service of the man were very useful, not even so to accept it with such reproach: for when the glory of God is insulted, there should be no pretext so necessary as to persuade one to overlook so great an evil. For even if it were set before you that you must die ten thousand times a day so that this might not happen, you ought to have endured this with much pleasure, much more so than to overlook so great an evil for the sake of rest and worldly need. ^A Hear, then, how Paul fears this and trembles, and from what fullness of virtue he speaks. "For it is good for me," he says, "to die, rather than that anyone should make my boast void" (1 Cor. 9:15). If he, then, in order that his boast might not be made void, chose to die, and we, in order that we may remove scandals, do not despise even a small amount of ease; how shall we ever be able to be saved? Yet it is not equal, nor even a little bit close, to be deprived of praise and to fall into accusation. For he, even if that had happened, would not have offended God—for He himself had ordered him to live from the Gospel—but nevertheless he chose rather to die than to betray his achievement. But we, who disturb established things everywhere, and know that we shall pay a most heavy penalty for these things, do not even endure to despise a cold and untimely habit? And what forgiveness shall we have? It was fitting, as I said before, if even the many needs required only a man, and such an insult was born from the fact, to choose to die rather than to overlook this happening. But when it is easier and most simple to achieve everything even through a woman, what forgiveness shall you have when you act delicately in this way, and insult your own salvation? Tell me, when that man provides these things for you, will you not also provide some service to him? It is surely clear to all. And how much better is it neither to give back such things nor to receive them, but to spend that time of labor, which you waste on his rest, on your own, rather than by laboring at more difficult tasks to further disgrace your reputation? But you provide no service to him. Then he must serve himself in everything, and make the beds, and cook, and kindle a fire, and do other things of that kind. But not even a servant, receiving nothing from his master, would endure ^B to serve in such a way. But this man endures everything, you say, for the fear of God, and the reward laid up for this service, and he will be grateful—the one who is ordered—to receive nothing from us. How, then, shall we stop the mouths of the shameless? For if you testify such piety to him, and he so trembles and fears the commandments of God that he sees himself as cheaper than any slave, and undergoes everything while receiving nothing from you, before all these things he ought to have cared for the glory and good name of God. But now it is not of the same soul, at the same time, to show such persuasion and contempt regarding the commandments of God—at one moment to tremble at them, and at the next to make no account of the Lawgiver himself being insulted. For to be free of pleasure, and to suffer nothing human at all, to keep vigil, and to endure hardship, and to humble oneself, and by one's own labors to provide rest for others, is of a soul that is very much philosophical and winged; but not to insult the glory of God, and not to do those things through which He would be blasphemed by many, even many who are not very great have achieved. How, then, shall we believe you that you do this for God and for the intensity of the ascetic life, which requires a great and noble soul, when you do not endure to overlook that which is of a lesser and ordinary kind? You do not even wish to depart from these things, from which God is insulted, and you betray both body and everything for the sake of things that are not pleasing to Him? And who would endure to be persuaded of these things? But I do not know how I passed from the virgins to those cohabiting with them; wherefore we must return again to them. 5. Whence, then, shall we be able to persuade those who accuse and reason these things? "And let them not be persuaded," she says. And where is the pious soul in this? For one ought to despise those who speak evil only when we do not provide them with handles; or rather, not even then, whenever we can stop their mouths; but when the whole thing is from us, all the fire turns ^C upon our own head. For by sinning in such a way, he says, against the brethren, and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ (1 Cor. 8:12). For he knew, he knew clearly, that the weakness of those who are struck does not suffice for our defense, but this very thing is what condemns us most of all. For by as much as we are clear of the cause of the hitting, by so much the more would we be just in sparing their weakness. And I do not yet say that they are not hit without cause, but let it be granted that they endure this unreasonably; for not even so should one overlook them. Paul himself, writing to the Romans, taught us this, saying thus: "Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God" (Rom. 14:20). Yet the stroke was unreasonable, but nevertheless he does not rebuke the one who is struck, but him who brings the stroke. For what I said already, I will say again now: when some great gain happens, and it is greater than the stroke, one must overlook those who are scandalized; but when there is nothing more than that the weak are cast down—and even if they suffer this ten thousand times from unreasonableness—one must spare them; since God also brings those who push and cast down under the sentence of punishment. For to hit another while gaining nothing is of the utmost wickedness. And we, when we see someone become displeased from a long illness, cast out of the house those who provoke him untimely, and we do not quibble over whether they do this justly or unjustly, but having cast them out of all defense, and giving much forgiveness to this one because of his weakness, even if he is provoked unjustly, we pity him. And if we have used such care even regarding servants and children, and often scourge a son who is failing in such things, much more will the good and kind and gentle God do this. What do you say? Is the one being struck weak? Then he is worthy of pity, not a blow. Does he have wounds? Let us not, then, exacerbate them, but let us heal them. Does he suspect wrongly and without reason? Then let us remove the suspicion, so as not ^D

to sin against Christ—she who contends about these things. Do you not hear in the Old Testament Moses often saying, "God is a jealous God" (Exod. XX, 5)? And again, "I have been jealous for Jerusalem" (Zach. I, 14)? In the New Testament, however, Paul crying out, "For I am jealous of you with a godly jealousy," lest a soul not very infirm or sick be subverted. For although the matter is very terrible, it is more a matter of sweetness than of terror. For there is never jealousy without a preceding warm and fervent charity, so that this is a proof of a vehement and ardent divine charity and friendship. For jealousy in God is not a passion, but wishing to interpret His immense love, He has often used this name. Nevertheless, we who, being very senseless, fall into human affections, wrong Him who loves us so much, while we honor in every way those who can be of no benefit to us. For what, O wretched woman, can this cold living-together profit you, while it deprives you of so great a treasure? See, I pray: it leads you down from the heavens, it excludes you from the spiritual bridal chamber, it separates you from the heavenly Bridegroom, it prepares for you immortal punishments and torments that have no end. For these, if your housemate offered you ^A countless talents, if he were more ready than slaves for sale, if he set you in greater honor and dignity than a queen, would it not behoove you to shun and hate him as one harmful and an enemy, and as one taking away more than he gives? The care of heavenly goods is set before you, of the future kingdom, of immortal life, of ineffable glory; you, however, call to mind earthly business, and you honor this one who seems useful for those things as if he were a master, and do you not hide yourself, and do you not pray that the earth might swallow you up, so that you might thus depart from there? But you offer me the pretext of the infirmity of the female nature, and the dispensation of human usages, and domestic rest, framing and composing pretexts that are not? ^B But neither thus will you deceive those who have a heart. For there is not, there is no rest that drives one to such turpitude. For a woman, if she wished, would suffice not only for herself but for many others for service: since, while from the beginning the man took upon himself civil affairs, the woman was allotted the domestic administration and care. You do not, therefore, snatch men inside because you are in need of rest. For what, then? For the sake of lewdness or lust? I, indeed, would not say so; far be it. Nay, I do not cease to rebuke those who say this; would that it were possible to persuade them! What, then, is the pretext, what is the cause that makes us seek that thing, one says? The love of vain glory. And just as for men there is a frivolous and ^C wretched pleasure, so for them the desire for honor reconciles this cohabitation.

Mulieres vanæ gloriæ cupidæ

being as a virgin, and attending upon the Bridegroom without distraction; then shall not only your kinsfolk, but Greeks, and Jews, and every race of men, acknowledge you. ^A So if you seek glory, walk this path, and not the opposite one: then they will no longer call you by this person's name or that, but by Christ's; and of this ornament, nothing comparable will ever be provided for you by any man. Are these things small, tell me, which are sung and noised abroad every day, both in the marketplace, and in houses, and in other cities: "Such a one, being a girl, and quite young, and of very fair countenance, able to attract many protectors if she had wished, did not wish to, but chose to undergo and suffer anything rather than betray the friendship of Christ and cause the flower of chastity to wither"? Blessed are you, and twice, and thrice, and many times over; what good things shall you enjoy, what a crown shall you receive, what a reward shall you reap, competing even with the incorporeal powers themselves! ^B These things and the like will all say regarding her, and will set them before their own daughters for emulation; and if one should wish to urge someone who is living temperately, or to correct one who has been corrupted, all will again bring forward her praises into the midst: and not only here, but if speech happens to be made simply concerning virginity, thus will all praise her, not only those who live temperately, but even those who had studied and acted in every way to capture her, only to be thereafter treated with contempt and looked down upon. And she indeed will enjoy such, and much greater than what has been mentioned, glory; but she who has those cohabiting with her, will enjoy the opposite of all these. ^C And first, when virginity is accused by some as unclean, both will come to mind in such assemblies, but one will open her mouth with the words of those who are defending, and the other with those of the accusers. Next, when it is necessary for someone to be corrected and set aright, she indeed is brought into the midst like an astringent medicine, capable of checking rot, and it adorns the mouth of the teacher; that one, however, stands with the shamed person, even if she is not present, being punished and shamed. For it is necessary that she who is sinning at every turn be accused and shamed again. And wherever speech arises regarding this matter, just as that one is blessed, so this one is wretched and miserable, and will hear all such things; and just as the former is sung and praised not only by those who know her, but also by those who are ignorant of her, and who have received no benefit, so this one is blamed and slandered by those who know her, and those who are ignorant of her, and those who have suffered no harm from her. ^D For those who live correctly are praised and admired not only by acquaintances, but also by strangers, and even by their enemies; but the corrupted and the base are blamed even by their friends. And this is also a work of the providence of God, to have instilled in us such intimacy towards virtue, and such estrangement towards vice, that all may vote for the former, even those who do not pursue it, and condemn vice, even those who turn away from it and those who pursue it. Whence it is clear that these neglected ones are turned away from not only by those who know them, but also by those who are ignorant of them, and most of all by those themselves who cohabit with them. For even if they say they

have not harmed them, yet they have done them the greatest of wrongs, as also to those who live with them, and to those who are scandalized, and before all these, they have cast shame upon the name of the Bridegroom—what punishment will they not endure? Are you unaware what a task you have undertaken, for what a struggle you have girded yourselves, what part of the battle you have been allotted? You dwell near—nay, you dwell with—the King of battles Himself, and you serve in His army. Just as in wars the whole army does not occupy one place, but some adorn the horns of the formation, others the center, others the rear, others the front of the phalanx, while others, wherever the king appears, appear everywhere with him and run with him: so also the choir of virgins, if it is truly the choir of virgins, has chosen no other order but this. Not in this way do those who are arrayed in golden togas, carried on horses adorned with gold, and bearing shields distinguished with gold and gems, have to manifest the presence of the king, as the virgin of Christ. For they indeed wait about the royal carriage itself; but the virgin becomes as it were a royal carriage, like the Cherubim, if she wishes, and stands by Him like the Seraphim.

^B You must therefore show yourself, as though you were an ornament of all philosophy, and strike everyone with amazement—as if an angel were now descending from heaven, and as if one of the cherubim were appearing on earth, he would turn all men toward himself: so too must the virgin bring all who see her into wonder and amazement at her holiness. For if, as she walks, she goes as if through a wilderness; and when she sits in church, with the most profound silence, her eye sees none of those passing by, neither women nor men, but the Bridegroom only, as if He were present and visible; and returning home, she speaks to Him in prayers, and hears His voice alone through the Scriptures; and at home she considers only Him whom she desires and loves, and is as a stranger and an alien, and does everything as if the things present did not pertain to her; and not only does she flee the looks of men, but also the gatherings of worldly women, and affords the body only as much as is necessary, and spends everything for the salvation of the soul: who would not admire, who would not be struck with awe, beholding an angelic life in a feminine nature? And what man would dare approach, what man would dare to touch a soul so radiant? Therefore all will refrain from her, both willingly and unwillingly; all likewise will be struck with amazement, seeing her like gold gleaming and refined by fire. For indeed the nature of gold has in itself much brightness, but when it also holds fire within itself, it is a greater miracle and more terrible. But if this happens in a body, when the same happens in a soul that is golden, it will be a sight desirable not then to men only, but even to angels. Why therefore do you adorn yourself with garments, you who have such adornment from this flame? For garments were not given so that we might be adorned by them, but that we might hide the shame of our nakedness, not so that we might be clothed in such things as expose us to greater shame than nakedness itself. For this reason God also clothed Adam in garments of skin (Gen. 3:21), and likewise his wife; although, had He wished, He could have clothed him in beautiful garments; but He showed us from of old through them that the present time is one not of delicacies, but of lamentation and mourning.

^C But if it is ignominy and condemnation, and comes from sin, that you should need a covering, why do you increase the matter of reproach? Does it not sufficiently indicate our fall that we have need of clothes? Why do you exaggerate the crime? Why do you increase the accusation with greater need? For it was fitting to wail and weep, and to punish the body itself, according to Paul (1 Cor. 9:27); but we sit and weave veils artfully, just as if someone having swellings around his eyes were compelled to cover them, and were to decorate these veils all the more. For this reason Elijah, for this reason John, having a simple covering and tunics of skin, and being clothed in hair garments, panted and longed to receive the garments of incorruption. But you surpass theatrical women in the curiosity of your garments, with which you prepare snares for more elegant young men. The Bridegroom does not wish you to be clothed and adorned in this way, but commanded that all His glory be stored in your soul; but you neglect that, and adorn the mud and ashes in various ways, and entice incontinent lovers, and make adulterers of almost all who see you. And that you gather much fire from this, I do not believe you would deny; but that ignominy and disgrace follow therefrom, I shall demonstrate this from your lovers. For when she who adorns her soul has God as the lover of her beauty, but you have men—nay, not men, but pigs and dogs, and if there is anything more irrational: who is so senseless as to think you more adorned than those whose desire leads God toward them for their internal beauty? And thus, the more you have leisure for curiosity, the more abominable you have become: and you drive God away from yourself, while you entice these, and hence you appear so much the more foul and base. For how is she not base, if she cannot entice God? But if she who adorns herself is so ungrateful, consider how much hatred she gathers to herself who has a cohabitant.

^D But if it seems right, let us not talk of cohabitation only, but let us open it up ourselves, so that it may be seen to be more foul. For since they do not fear the eye that knows no sleep, but the fear of their eyes is the eyes of men; come, let us deprive them of even this consolation, bringing what is hidden and covered by walls into the middle; let us open the door for those who want to see these things, waking them first from the bed; indeed, if it seems right, let us first examine what happens at home, and let us order them to be separated by walls and to sleep in various bedrooms. For I do not think anyone, even if he were very much in bondage to foulness, would want to be exposed in this way, to sleep in one bedroom. Let them, therefore, be separated by walls—and what will this have been? For it is not enough to be freed from suspicion. But now nothing is said of suspicion, even though many maidservants cohabit with her; let us now seek out another foulness. For it happens that when they rise at the same time, not for vigils (for nothing pious is to be expected from these souls), that they pass to each other as they lie, and force themselves at night: compared to which what could be more shameful? But if it happens that the cohabitant suddenly falls ill, there is no use for walls here afterward, but rising before others she enters in to the virgin lying there, to tend the infirmity.

And often the handmaidens are themselves disposed to be slothful, and she sits by and takes care of the other tasks, which it is often only proper for women to minister; and neither is she ashamed, but rather she prides herself on it, nor does he blush, but actually rejoices the more, and so much the more as the slavery he exhibits is more shameful: and that Apostolic saying which says, *Whose glory is in their shame* (Phil. 3:19), is shown forth then through their deeds. But when the handmaidens also arise, the shame is worse; for with uncovered head, and in single tunics, and with bare hands, as if distraught and rising in the night, they run about while he is present, or rather, while he is moving about in their midst and running hither and thither, they are all forced to fulfill their tasks: what could be more shameful than this? And if a midwife should arrive, not even then is he ashamed, but he even prides himself on it while other strangers are coming in. For he looks to one thing only—how he might display his own service to the sick woman—not knowing that the more he displays it, the more he brings shame upon both himself and her. And what is to be wondered at if he does not blush when she arrives? For they often do not hesitate even at midnight, doing the work of the meanest handmaidens, to run to the midwife herself; and when she arrives, sometimes they drive him out even against his will, if he is very shameless, and at other times they permit him to enter and sit by: and yet what would one do, even if he were to practice a thousand things in order to bring shame upon himself, such as he prepares for himself? But when day comes, and it is time for both to rise from bed, ^A there are guards and observations. For she could not go out into the outer room with freedom; and often upon going out, she perhaps falls upon the man in her unclothed state; and he, suspecting this very thing, sometimes enters after giving notice, and at other times without being on guard, and he incurs great laughter; for I do not wish to say anything more. These things, even if they are small, are accustomed to give birth to great coals of wantonness. And these things happen in the house, and more than these besides; but when, having entered the marketplace, he is about to return, the indecency is greater again. For as if entering his own house, and not being forced to give notice, by finding women sitting there he shamed her; and she herself has often suffered the same. And a woman has thought it shameful to receive women, and the man to receive men; but they do not refuse to live together, while refusing to host those of their own sex. What could be worse than this? And there are times when I have even found him sitting beside a woman who is winding thread, or even holding a distaff. What could one say of the quarrels, the daily fights? For even if there is great friendship, it is likely that these things happen. But I have heard it said by some that they even endure jealousy; for where there is not spiritual love, this too must happen. Thence come the constant falls, thence the corruptions, thence the virgins become unfree and shameless, even if they are not corrupted in body, by being corrupted in their character. For when she learns with boldness to converse with a man, and to sit with him, and to look him in the face, and to laugh while he is present, and to behave indecorously in many other ways, and considers this to be nothing terrible, the veil of virginity is removed, ^B and the flower is withered. Thence they do not hesitate, they do not refuse, but they even become procuresses and matchmakers for marriage, and they become hucksters of others’ affairs, and they hinder many who wish to remain unmarried, thinking to have found in this an apology for their own evils; thence they are contemptible to all, thence even the married women themselves do not blush to be like them, since they act better than they do in every way. For it is much better to be joined in a first and second marriage, than to behave so indecorously, and to receive the suspicion of being procuresses and panders from everyone, because, having departed from the pleasures of marriage, she subjects herself to the burdens of marriage. For what is more burdensome than to have a man and to be anxious for his affairs? God has delivered you from this weight; the words, *Your turning shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you* (Gen. 3:16), have been loosed for you through virginity; why do you drag slavery upon yourselves again? Christ made you free, and you are sewing troubles for yourself; he made you free from care, and you are devising anxieties.

9. But because I have mentioned anxiety, it occurred to me while I was saying these things that that Apostolic statement is relevant. For if the cohabitation of men with women, and women with men, suppressed these anxieties, Paul would not have said, while exhorting them to self-control, *But I would have you to be without anxiety* (1 Cor. 7:32), as if even by this he were urging us on. For what do you want, he says? Rest and freedom? Then do you not see the opposite coming to pass, slavery and labors and many miseries from cohabiting with men? Many at any rate, having often lost their husbands, for this reason did not marry again, so that they might not be under the yoke of slavery again. But in general, if you live in poverty, and are unprotected from every side, show forth the virtue of your life, and have nothing in common with a man, but mingle yourself with women who have lived decorously, and you will neither lose your crown, and you will enjoy every security. But if you think this is difficult to obtain, seek diligently, and you will certainly find; or rather, there is no need even to seek. For just as we all run toward the light, so if the rays of your mode of life shine, all will run to you, each one desiring to take upon herself the rank of your servant, and will consider you to be the security of her own house, and the ornament of life, and the crown of life, according to the word of Christ. *For seek*, he says, *the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you* (Matt. 6:33). But now we ourselves are the cause of falling out of these worldly things, while neglecting heavenly things. And when I say "we," I do not mean men only, but also you, and you more than men. Since even in the beginning for this reason the woman received a more grievous punishment, because she brought in more of the deception; for which reason God punished the one who deceived more than the one deceived: which is what will be now also, if you do not wish to correct yourselves, and to return to your own nobility. For indeed for this reason the woman was blamed then, that she gave of the fruit to the man, and she did not dare to say that it was his duty, being a man, not to be persuaded nor deceived, but she kept silent as having no apology, and he came to another, weak indeed herself, yet nevertheless having more of an argument than she. Whence it is manifest that it is more permissible for the deceived to cast blame upon the deceivers, than for those to cast it upon the deceived. The harlot calls the one who abuses her ^C shamefully, and when he sleeps, she dismisses him again; but you, when you call him in with insults, you afflict and corrupt your own soul, always shutting him in, and you do not allow him to go out, binding yourself with heavy chains of flattery, and you think yourself to be busy with other works.

^C But tell me, how is the present life—how brief it is, how it resembles dreams, and fading flowers, and a passing shadow! Why do you wish to delight yourself now in a dream, and be punished then in reality? Although, this thing has no delight; for how could it, where there is condemnation, reproaches, insults, and scandals? But even if there were delights, what is a small drop of water compared to an immense sea? "Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people, and your father's house, and the King will desire your beauty" (Ps. XLIV, 11)—this David once spoke to the world, which was in a bad state. We, therefore, chanting this to you, shall alter the Prophet's word slightly and say with the Prophet: "Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your evil habit and those who live with you to your harm, and the King will desire your beauty." ^D What is greater than this for you? Or what equivalent could we possibly say, than that having chosen the Lord of heaven, of earth, of angels, and archangels, and of the powers above as your lover, you are liberated from your base fellow slaves who dishonor your nobility? Therefore, it is fitting to end the discourse here: for we shall be able to say nothing equal to this honor.

For if a woman who has taken a king on earth as her groom considers herself more blessed than all others: you, having not a terrestrial one, nor a fellow slave, but Him who is in heaven, Him who is above every principality and power and virtue and every name that is named, Him who sits above the Cherubim, who shakes the earth, who stretches out the heaven, who is terrible to the Cherubim and inaccessible to the Seraphim—having not just a groom, but a lover more ardent than any man—how do you not abandon all things that are here, even if it were necessary to abandon the soul itself? Since, therefore, this word alone is sufficient to correct and to promote towards the heavenly conversation that which is heavier than all lead, we also finish here, and admonish you to sing this as if it were some divine song; and at home, and in the marketplace, and by day and by night, and on the road, and in your chamber, and by voice and by mind, you should speak continuously to your soul saying: "Hear, O soul, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your evil habit, and the King will desire your beauty." And if you say this word continuously, you will make your soul purer than all gold. For this utterance will be able to breathe more vehemently and effectively than fire upon your thoughts, and to purge away all the stains of your mind, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

THE END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Order of matters contained in this volume see at the end of the second part of the volume.

Parisiis. — Ex Typis J.-P. MIGNE.