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of orphans and a judge of widows; and you will see him in many places showing great zeal on behalf of this class.

But lest this name, being constantly spoken, distress your soul and confuse your mind, coming upon it in the very flower of your age, I wish first to discourse on this subject and to show that the name of widowhood is a name not of misfortune but of honor, and of the greatest honor. Do not bring forward to me as evidence the mistaken opinion of the many, but the legislation of the blessed Paul, or rather, of Christ. For what he uttered, Christ spoke through him, as he himself said: “Do you seek proof of Christ speaking in me?” What then does he say? “Let a widow be enrolled who is not less than sixty years of age”; and again, “But refuse younger widows”; wishing by both statements to set before us the greatness of the matter. And while legislating concerning bishops, he nowhere sets a number of years, but here he employs great exactness. Why is that? Not because widowhood is greater than the priesthood, but because these women have greater toil than them, with many matters, both public and private, overwhelming them from all sides. For just as a city without walls is set forth in the midst for all who wish to plunder it, so also a young woman living in widowhood has many who plot against her from every side, not only those who covet her money, but also those who are eager to corrupt her chastity. And we shall find that not only these, but also other occasions leading to her fall arise. For contemptuous servants, and neglected affairs, and no longer being held in the same honor, and seeing her peers faring well, and often also the desire for luxury, have persuaded them to enter into second marriages. But there are some who are unwilling to be united with men by the law of marriage, but do so secretly and in concealment. And they do this in order to reap the praises of widowhood; so much does the matter seem to be not a thing of reproach, but admirable and worthy of honor among men, not only among us who are believers but also among the unbelievers themselves. For I myself, when I was still a young man, know that my own sophist—and he was the most superstitious of all men—admired my mother in the presence of many. For, asking those sitting beside him, as was his custom, whose son I was, and when someone said that I was the son of a widow, he learned from me my mother's age and the length of her widowhood. And when I said that, being forty years old, she had already spent twenty of them since she lost my father, he was astonished and cried out loudly, and looking at those present said: 'Heavens, what women there are among the Christians!' To such a degree does this matter enjoy admiration and praise, not only among us but also among those outside. Perceiving all these things, the blessed Paul said: “Let a widow be enrolled who is not less than sixty years of age.” And not even after so great a testimony of years does he permit her to be enrolled in this sacred choir, but he also adds other things, saying: 'Well reported for good works, if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality, if she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has devoted herself to every good work.' Oh, the testing and the ordeal, what great virtue he demands from the widow and how exact he is! He would not have done this unless he was about to entrust an honorable and venerable matter to her. And: “But refuse younger widows,” he says. Then he also adds the reason: “For when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry.” For by this saying he intimates to us that those who have lost their husbands are betrothed to Christ in their place.

Then, showing this betrothal to be gentle and mild, he sets this down, saying: “For when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry,” as of a mild husband who does not use his authority over them, but allows them to live in freedom. And he did not stop his discourse at this point, but also elsewhere again much

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ὀρφανῶν καὶ κριτὴν τῶν χηρῶν· καὶ πολλὴν ὑπὲρ τούτου τοῦ γένους πολλαχοῦ ποιούμενον αὐτὸν ὄψει τὴν σπουδήν.

Ἵνα δὲ μὴ συνεχῶς τοῦτο λεγόμενον τὸ ὄνομα στρέφῃ σου τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ συγχέῃ τὸν λογισμὸν ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς ἡλικίας τῷ ἄνθει ἐπελθόν, ὑπὲρ τούτου διαλεχθῆναι βούλομαι πρῶτον καὶ δεῖξαι ὅτι οὐ συμφορᾶς, ἀλλὰ τιμῆς ἐστιν ὄνομα, τὸ τῆς χηρείας ὄνομα, καὶ τιμῆς τῆς μεγίστης. Μὴ γάρ μοι τὴν τῶν πολλῶν δόξαν τὴν πεπλανημένην εἰς μαρτυρίαν ἀγάγῃς, ἀλλὰ τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν νομοθεσίαν. Ἃ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἐφθέγγετο, ταῦτα ὁ Χριστὸς ἐλάλει δι' αὐτοῦ, καθὼς καὶ αὐτὸς ἔλεγεν· «Εἰ δοκιμὴν ζητεῖτε τοῦ ἐν ἐμοὶ λαλοῦντος Χριστοῦ;» Τί οὖν φησι; «Χήρα καταλεγέσθω μὴ ἔλαττον ἐτῶν ἑξήκοντα γεγονυῖα»· καὶ πάλιν· «Νεωτέρας δὲ χήρας παραιτοῦ»· δι' ἀμφοτέρων τοῦ πράγματος ἡμῖν τὸ μέγεθος παραστῆσαι βουλόμενος. Καὶ περὶ μὲν ἐπισκόπων διαταττόμενος οὐδαμοῦ τίθησιν ἐτῶν ἀριθμόν, ἐνταῦθα δὲ πολλὴν ποιεῖται τὴν ἀκρίβειαν. Τί δήποτε; Οὐχ ὅτι ἡ χηρεία μείζων ἱερωσύνης ἐστίν, ἀλλ' ὅτι μείζονα αὗται πόνον ἐκείνων ἔχουσι, πραγμάτων αὐτὰς πολλῶν πολλαχόθεν περιρρεόντων δημοσίων καὶ ἰδιωτικῶν. Καθάπερ γὰρ πόλις ἀτείχιστος εἰς μέσον ἅπασι τοῖς βουλομένοις ἁρπάζειν πρόκειται, οὕτω καὶ κόρη χηρείᾳ συζῶσα πολλοὺς ἔχει πανταχόθεν τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας, οὐ τοὺς τῶν χρημάτων αὐτῆς ἐφιεμένους μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς τὴν σωφροσύνην αὐτῆς διαφθεῖραι σπεύδοντας. Καὶ οὐ ταύτας μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέρας πρὸς τὸ πεσεῖν αὐτὴν ἀφορμὰς προσγινομένας εὑρήσομεν. Καὶ γὰρ οἰκέται καταφρονοῦντες, καὶ πράγματα ἀμελούμενα, καὶ τὸ μηκέτι ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ εἶναι τιμῇ, καὶ τὸ τὰς ὁμήλικας εὖ πραττούσας ὁρᾶν, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ τὸ τρυφῆς ἐπιθυμεῖν, δευτέροις αὐτὰς ἔπεισεν ὁμιλῆσαι γάμοις. Εἰσὶ δὲ αἳ νόμῳ μὲν γάμου οὐκ ἐθέλουσι συγγενέσθαι τοῖς ἀνδράσι, λάθρα δὲ καὶ μετὰ τοῦ κρύπτεσθαι. Τοῦτο δὲ ποιοῦσιν ἵνα τὰ ἐγκώμια τῆς χηρείας καρπώσωνται· οὕτως οὐκ ἐπονείδιστον, ἀλλὰ θαυμαστὸν καὶ τιμῆς ἄξιον τὸ πρᾶγμα παρὰ ἀνθρώποις εἶναι δοκεῖ, οὐ παρ' ἡμῖν μόνον τοῖς πιστοῖς ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἀπίστοις αὐτοῖς. Καὶ γὰρ ἐγώ ποτε νέος ἔτι ὤν, τὸν σοφιστὴν τὸν ἐμὸν-πάντων δὲ ἀνδρῶν δεισιδαιμονέστερος ἐκεῖνος ἦν-οἶδα ἐπὶ πολλῶν τὴν μητέρα τὴν ἐμὴν θαυμάζοντα. Τῶν γὰρ παρακαθημένων αὐτῷ πυνθανόμενος, οἷα εἴωθε, τίνος εἴην ἐγώ, καί τινος εἰπόντος ὅτι χήρας γυναικός, ἐμάνθανε παρ' ἐμοῦ τήν τε ἡλικίαν τῆς μητρὸς καὶ τῆς χηρείας τὸν χρόνον. Ὡς δὲ εἶπον, ὅτι ἐτῶν τεσσαράκοντα γεγονυῖα εἴκοσιν ἔχει λοιπὸν ἐξ οὗ τὸν πατέρα ἀπέβαλε τὸν ἐμόν, ἐξεπλάγη καὶ ἀνεβόησε μέγα, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ἰδών· «Βαβαί, ἔφη, οἷαι παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς γυναῖκές εἰσι.» Τοσούτου οὐ παρ' ἡμῖν μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἔξωθεν τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀπολαύει τοῦ θαύματος καὶ ἐπαίνου. Ἅπερ ἅπαντα συνιδὼν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ἔλεγε· «Χήρα καταλεγέσθω μὴ ἔλαττον ἐτῶν ἑξήκοντα γεγονυῖα.» Καὶ οὐδὲ μετὰ τὴν τοσαύτην τῶν χρόνων μαρτυρίαν ἀφίησιν αὐτὴν εἰς τὸν ἅγιον τοῦτον ταγῆναι χορόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕτερα προστίθησι λέγων· «Ἐν ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς μαρτυρουμένη, εἰ ἐτεκνοτρόφησεν, εἰ ἐξενοδόχησεν, εἰ ἁγίων πόδας ἔνιψεν, εἰ θλιβομένοις ἐπήρκεσεν, εἰ παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ ἐπηκολούθησε.» Βαβαὶ τῆς δοκιμασίας καὶ τῆς βασάνου, ὅσην παρὰ τῆς χήρας ἀπαιτεῖ τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ πῶς ἀκριβολογεῖται. Οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο ποιήσας εἰ μὴ πρᾶγμα τίμιον καὶ σεμνὸν ἔμελλεν ἐμπιστεύειν αὐτῇ. Καί· «Νεωτέρας δέ, φησί, χήρας παραιτοῦ.» Εἶτα καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν προστίθησιν· «Ὅταν γὰρ καταστρηνιάσωσι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, γαμεῖν θέλουσι.» ∆ιὰ τούτου γὰρ ἡμῖν τοῦ ῥήματος αἰνίττεται, ὅτι αἱ τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀποβαλοῦσαι ἀντ' ἐκείνων ἁρμόττονται τῷ Χριστῷ.

Εἶτα δεικνὺς τὴν ἁρμονίαν ταύτην πρᾶον οὖσαν καὶ ἐπιεικῆ, τοῦτο τίθησιν εἰπών· «Ὅταν γὰρ καταστρηνιάσωσι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, γαμεῖν θέλουσι», καθάπερ τινὸς ἀνδρὸς ἐπιεικοῦς καὶ οὐ μετ' ἐξουσίας αὐταῖς κεχρημένου, ἀλλ' ἐῶντος ἐν ἐλευθερίᾳ ζῆν. Καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τούτων τὸν λόγον ἔστησεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέρωθι πάλιν πολλὴν