John Chrysostom, On "Let a widow be chosen"

to those who are incurably sick, to snatch from intolerable punishment, to wash a soul stained with the filth of sins from that stain, and to lead it to the highest purity? Let us not then despise a widow, but let us show all care for her. A widow indeed is our patroness. But it is worthwhile to stop and see what sort of widow he is speaking of here. For those are also called widows, who have fallen into extreme poverty, and are enrolled, and are nourished from the Church's funds, just as in the time of the apostles. For there arose, he says, a murmuring among the Hellenists, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily ministration. Not only these are called widows, but those too, who are in need of nothing, but enjoy abundance, and preside over their houses, having only lost their husband. Let us see then of what sort of widow he speaks here, saying: Let a widow be enrolled, being not less than sixty years old; is it about the one needing help and requiring to be fed from the Church's funds, or about the one without need and living in abundance? It is clear that it is about this latter one. For when he speaks of the former, the one perishing with hunger, he does not set a time, nor does he demand strictness of character; but simply, If any man or woman that believes, he says, has widows, let them relieve them, and let not the Church be burdened. He did not say, When she is sixty years old; he did not say, If she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet; and quite reasonably. For where it is necessary to relieve poverty, he does not wait for a time. For what if, being fifty years old, she were perishing with hunger? And what if in her youth she happened to be disabled in body? Will she be left to perish while waiting for her sixtieth year? But this is of the utmost inhumanity. For this reason, when it is necessary to relieve hunger, he is not precise about times and the virtue of the soul; but when it is not to relieve poverty, but to grant an honor according to worth, he reasonably makes such an examination of character. 3. For just as there are choirs of virgins, so also in ancient times there were choirs of widows, and it was not permitted for them simply to be enrolled among the widows. He is not speaking, then, of the one living in poverty and needing help, but of this one who has chosen widowhood. And for what reason does he require an age for this one also? He knows that youth is a kind of fire, and a sea full of waves and having many uprisings. When, therefore, they are about to have freedom from their age, and spend their time as in a harbor in their old age, their desires having been extinguished, he introduces them into this choir with security. What then? Did not many, he says, even beginning after their twentieth year, shine through to the end, and bear the yoke, and show forth an apostolic life? 51.324 Shall we then hinder those women, tell me, and force them, when they wish to live in widowhood, to enter into second marriages? And how is this worthy of an apostolic mind? What then is being said? Pay close attention, beloved, to the very meaning of the word. For he did not say, Let a widow be not less than sixty years old, but, Let a widow be enrolled; and again he did not say, Let younger widows not be enrolled, but, But the younger widows refuse; for he is discoursing these things to Timothy. For since many men are prone to slander, and have whetted their tongues against the rulers of the Church, wishing to rescue the ruler from accusations, he lays down these laws, and says: You refuse, and you do not enroll her. If she herself wishes from her own home and of herself to choose these things, let her do it; you, however, do not yet accept her, so that they may not say that being younger, wishing to marry, to preside over a household, so-and-so compelled her; for this reason she fell, and was tripped up. You shall not enroll her, so that, even if she falls, you may be free from accusations; and if she does not fall, with greater security at the proper time you may enroll her. But if he says, I will that the younger widows marry, bear children, hear what sort of younger widows he means, those who after they have grown wanton against Christ wish to marry, the tattlers, the busybodies, the ones going about the

ἀνίατα νενοσηκόσιν, ἐξαρπάσαι τιμωρίας ἀφορήτου, ψυχὴν βαφεῖσαν τῷ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ῥύπῳ τῆς κηλῖδος ἐκπλῦναι ἐκείνης, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄκραν ἀγαγεῖν καθαρότητα; Μὴ τοίνυν καταφρονῶμεν χήρας γυναικὸς, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν περὶ αὐτὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ἐπιδείξωμεν. Προστάτις ἡμῶν ἐστιν ἡ ὄντως χήρα. Ἄξιον δὲ ἐπιστάντας ἰδεῖν, περὶ ποίας ἐνταῦθα χήρας φησί. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐκεῖναι χῆραι λέγονται, αἱ εἰς εὐτέλειαν ἐσχάτην καταπεσοῦσαι, καὶ ἐγγεγραμμέναι, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν τρεφόμεναι χρημάτων, καθάπερ οὖν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων. Ἐγένετο γὰρ, φησὶ, γογγυσμὸς μεταξὺ τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν, ὅτι παρεθεωροῦντο ἐν τῇ διακονίᾳ τῇ καθημερινῇ αἱ χῆραι αὐτῶν. Οὐχ αὗται δὲ μόνον χῆραι λέγονται, ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖναι, αἱ μηδενὸς μὲν δεόμεναι, ἀλλ' εὐπορίας ἀπολαύουσαι, καὶ οἰκίας προεστῶσαι, τὸν δὲ ἄνδρα ἀποβαλοῦσαι μόνον. Ἴδωμεν οὖν περὶ ποίας χήρας ἐνταῦθά φησι λέγων· Χήρα καταλεγέσθω μὴ ἐλάττων ἐτῶν ἑξήκοντα γεγονυῖα· ἆρα περὶ τῆς δεομένης βοηθείας καὶ χρείαν ἐχούσης ἐξ ἐκκλησιαστικῶν τρέφεσθαι χρημάτων, ἢ περὶ τῆς ἀνενδεοῦς καὶ ἐν εὐπορίᾳ ζώσης; Εὔδηλον ὅτι περὶ ταύτης. Περὶ μὲν γὰρ ἐκείνης ὅταν λέγῃ, τῆς λιμῷ διαφθειρομένης, οὐ χρόνον τίθησιν, οὐκ ἀκρίβειαν ἀπαιτεῖ τρόπων· ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς, Εἴ τις πιστὸς ἢ πιστὴ, φησὶ, χήρας ἔχει, ἐπαρκείτω αὐταῖς, καὶ μὴ βαρείσθω ἡ Ἐκκλησία. Οὐκ εἶπεν, Ὅταν ἑξήκοντα ἐτῶν γένη-ται· οὐκ εἶπεν, Εἰ ἐξενοδόχησεν, εἰ ἁγίων πόδας ἔνιψε· καὶ μάλα εἰκότως. Ἔνθα μὲν γὰρ ἂν πενίαν διορθῶσαι δέοι, οὐκ ἀναμένει χρόνον. Τί γὰρ εἰ πεντήκοντα ἐτῶν οὖσα λιμῷ διαφθείροιτο; τί δὲ ἐὰν ἐν νεότητι τὸ σῶμα ἀνάπηρος οὖσα τύχοι; καθευδεῖται ἀναμένουσα τὸ ἑξηκοστὸν ἔτος; Ἀλλ' ἀπανθρωπίας τοῦτο ἐσχάτης. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο, ὅταν μὲν λιμὸν παραμυθήσασθαι δέοι, οὐδὲν περὶ χρόνων καὶ τῆς κατὰ ψυχὴν ἀρετῆς ἀκριβολογεῖται· ὅταν δὲ μὴ ᾖ διορθώσασθαι πενίαν, ἀλλὰ τιμὴν κατ' ἀξίαν χαρίσασθαι, εἰκότως τοσαύτην ποιεῖται τρόπων ἐξέτασιν. γʹ. Καθάπερ γάρ εἰσι παρθένων χοροὶ, οὕτω καὶ χηρῶν τὸ παλαιὸν ἦσαν χοροὶ, καὶ οὐκ ἐξῆν αὐταῖς ἁπλῶς εἰς τὰς χήρας ἐγγράφεσθαι. Οὐ περὶ ἐκείνης οὖν λέγει τῆς ἐν πενίᾳ ζώσης καὶ δεομένης βοηθείας, ἀλλὰ περὶ ταύτης τῆς ἑλομένης χηρείαν. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτης ἀπαιτεῖ χρόνον; Οἶδεν ὅτι πυρά τίς ἐστιν ἡ νεότης, καὶ πέλαγος κυμάτων γέμον καὶ πολλὰς ἔχον ἐπαναστάσεις. Ἐπειδὰν οὖν μέλλωσιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἡλικίας ἀτέλειαν ἔχειν, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν λιμένι διατρίβωσι τῷ γήρᾳ, τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν αὐταῖς σβεσθεισῶν, μετὰ ἀδείας αὐτὰς εἰς τὸν χορὸν εἰσάγει τοῦτον. Τί οὖν, οὐχὶ πολλαὶ, φησὶ, καὶ μετὰ εἰκοστὸν ἔτος ἀρξάμεναι μέχρι τέλους διέλαμψαν, καὶ τὸν ζυγὸν ἤνεγκαν, καὶ ἀποστολικὸν ἐπεδείξαντο βίον; 51.324 κωλύσομεν οὖν ἐκείνας, εἰπέ μοι, καὶ βουλομένας ἐν χηρείᾳ ζῇν ἀναγκάσομεν δευτέροις ὁμιλῆσαι γάμοις; καὶ ποῦ τοῦτο ἄξιον ἀποστολικῆς γνώμης; τί οὖν ἐστι τὸ λεγόμενον; Προσέχετε μετὰ ἀκριβείας, ἀγαπητοὶ, αὐτῇ τῇ σημασίᾳ τῆς λέξεως. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπε, Χήρα γινέσθω μὴ ἐλάττων ἐτῶν ἑξήκοντα γεγονυῖα, ἀλλὰ, Χήρα καταλεγέσθω· καὶ πάλιν οὐκ εἶπε, Χῆραι νεώτεραι μὴ καταλεγέσθωσαν, ἀλλὰ, Τὰς νεωτέρας δὲ χήρας παραιτοῦ· πρὸς γὰρ τὸν Τιμόθεον ταῦτα διαλέγεται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εὐχείρωτοι περὶ κακηγορίας εἰσὶ, καὶ τὰς γλώττας κατὰ τῶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας προεστώτων ἠκονήκασι, βουλόμενος ἐξαρπάσαι τὸν ἄρχοντα τῶν ἐγκλημάτων, τούτους τίθησι τοὺς νόμους, καί φησι· Σὺ παραιτοῦ, καὶ σὺ μὴ κατάλεγε. Ἂν αὐτὴ βούληται οἴκοθεν καὶ παρ' ἑαυτῆς αἱρεῖσθαι ταῦτα, ποιείτω· σὺ μέντοι μὴ καταδέξῃ μηδέπω, ἵνα μὴ λέγωσιν ὅτι Νεωτέραν οὖσαν, γήμασθαι βουλομένην, οἰκίας προστῆναι, ὁ δεῖνα κατηνάγκασε· διὰ τοῦτο ἔπεσε, καὶ ὑπεσκελίσθη. Σὺ μὴ καταλέξῃς αὐτὴν, ἵνα, κἂν πέσῃ, τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ᾖς ἀπηλλαγμένος· κἂν μὴ πέσῃ, μετὰ πλείονος ἀσφαλείας τῷ προσήκοντι καιρῷ καταλέξῃς. Εἰ δὲ λέγει, Βούλομαι νεωτέρας χήρας γαμεῖν, τεκνογονεῖν, ἄκουσον ποίας φησὶ νεωτέρας, τὰς μετὰ τὸ καταστρηνιᾶσαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ βουλομένας γαμεῖν, τὰς φλυάρους, τὰς περιέργους, τὰς περιερχομένας τὰς