Chapter II.

Deep indeed will be the thought necessary to understand the surpassing excellence of this grace. It is comprehended in the idea of the Father incorrupt; and here at the outset is a paradox, viz. that virginity is found in Him, Who has a Son and yet without passion has begotten Him. It is included too in the nature of this Only-begotten God, Who struck the first note of all this moral innocence; it shines forth equally in His pure and passionless generation. Again a paradox; that the Son should be known to us by virginity. It is seen, too, in the inherent and incorruptible purity of the Holy Spirit; for when you have named the pure and incorruptible you have named virginity. It accompanies the whole supramundane existence; because of its passionlessness it is always present with the powers above; never separated from aught that is Divine, it never touches the opposite of this. All whose instinct and will have found their level in virtue are beautified with this perfect purity of the uncorrupted state; all who are ranked in the opposite class of character are what they are, and are called so, by reason of their fall from purity. What force of expression, then, will be adequate to such a grace? How can there be no cause to fear lest the greatness of its intrinsic value should be impaired by the efforts of any one’s eloquence? The estimate of it which he will create will be less than that which his hearers had before. It will be well, then, to omit all laudation in this case; we cannot lift words to the height of our theme. On the contrary, it is possible to be ever mindful of this gift of God; and our lips may always speak of this blessing; that, though it is the property of spiritual existence and of such singular excellence, yet by the love of God it has been bestowed on those who have received their life from the will of the flesh and from blood; that, when human nature has been based by passionate inclinations, it stretches out its offer of purity like a hand to raise it up again and make it look above. This, I think, was the reason why our Master, Jesus Christ Himself, the Fountain of all innocence, did not come into the world by wedlock. It was, to divulge by the manner of His Incarnation this great secret; that purity is the only complete indication5    δείξασθαι. Livineius conjectures δέξασθαι; so also Cod. Reg. Cf. Sedulius:   “Domus pudici pectoris   Templum repente fit Dei.” of the presence of God and of His coming, and that no one can in reality secure this for himself, unless he has altogether estranged himself from the passions of the flesh. What happened in the stainless Mary when the fulness of the Godhead which was in Christ shone out through her, that happens in every soul that leads by rule the virgin life. No longer indeed does the Master come with bodily presence; “we know Christ no longer according to the flesh6    2 Cor. v. 16.”; but, spiritually, He dwells in us and brings His Father with Him, as the Gospel somewhere7    S. John xiv. 23 tells. Seeing, then, that virginity means so much as this, that while it remains in Heaven with the Father of spirits, and moves in the dance of the celestial powers, it nevertheless stretches out hands for man’s salvation; that while it is the channel which draws down the Deity to share man’s estate, it keeps wings for man’s desires to rise to heavenly things, and is a bond of union between the Divine and human, by its mediation bringing into harmony these existences so widely divided—what words could be discovered powerful enough to reach this wondrous height? But still, it is monstrous to seem like creatures without expression and without feeling; and we must choose (if we are silent) one of two things; either to appear never to have felt the special beauty of virginity, or to exhibit ourselves as obstinately blind to all beauty: we have consented therefore to speak briefly about this virtue, according to the wish of him who has assigned us this task, and whom in all things we must obey. But let no one expect from us any display of style; even if we wished it, perhaps we could not produce it, for we are quite unversed in that kind of writing. Even if we possessed such power, we would not prefer the favour of the few to the edification of the many. A writer of sense should have, I take it, for his chiefest object not to be admired above all other writers, but to profit both himself and them, the many.

[2] Κεφάλαιον βʹὍτι ἴδιον τῆς θείας τε καὶ ἀσωμάτου φύσεως κατόρθωμά ἐστιν ἡ παρθενία. Συνέσεως γὰρ ἡμῖν χρεία πολλῆς, δι' ἧς ἔστι γνῶναι τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς χάριτος ταύτης, ἥτις συνεπινοεῖται μὲν τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ πατρί: ὃ δὴ καὶ παράδοξον ἐν πατρὶ παρθενίαν εὑρίσκεσθαι τῷ καὶ υἱὸν ἔχοντι καὶ δίχα πάθους γεννήσαντι. Τῷ δὲ μονογενεῖ θεῷ τῷ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας χορηγῷ συγκαταλαμβάνεται, ὁμοῦ τῷ καθαρῷ καὶ ἀπαθεῖ τῆς γεννήσεως αὐτοῦ συνεκλάμψασα: καὶ πάλιν τὸ ἴσον παράδοξον υἱὸς διὰ παρθενίας νοούμενος. Ἐνθεωρεῖται δὲ ὡσαύτως καὶ τῇ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος φυσικῇ καὶ ἀφθάρτῳ καθαρότητι: τὸ γὰρ καθαρὸν καὶ ἄφθαρτον ὀνομάσας ἄλλῳ ὀνόματι τὴν παρθενίαν ἐσήμανας. Πάσῃ δὲ τῇ ὑπερκοσμίῳ φύσει συμπολιτεύεται διὰ τῆς ἀπαθείας συμπαροῦσα ταῖς ὑπερεχούσαις δυνάμεσιν, οὔτε τινὸς τῶν θείων χωριζομένη καὶ οὐδενὸς τῶν ἐναντίων προσαπτομένη: πάντα γὰρ ὅσα καὶ φύσει καὶ προαιρέσει πρὸς ἀρετὴν νένευκε τῷ καθαρῷ πάντως ἐνωραΐζεται τῆς ἀφθαρσίας, καὶ πάντα ὅσα εἰς τὴν ἐναντίαν ἀποκέκριται τάξιν τῇ ἀποπτώσει τῆς καθαρότητος τοιαῦτά ἐστι καὶ ὀνομάζεται. Τίς οὖν ἐξαρκέσει δύναμις λόγων τῇ τοσαύτῃ χάριτι παρισωθῆναι; Ἢ πῶς οὐ φοβεῖσθαι χρή, μὴ διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐπαίνων σπουδῆς λυμήνηταί τις τῷ μεγαλείῳ τοῦ ἀξιώματος, ἐλάττω τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ δόξαν τῆς προειλημμένης τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς ἐμποιήσας;
Οὐκοῦν καλῶς ἔχει τοὺς μὲν ἐγκωμιαστικοὺς λόγους ἐπὶ ταύτης ἐᾶν, ὡς ἀμήχανον ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς τῆς ὑποθέσεως συνεπᾶραι τὸν λόγον, ὡς δέ ἔστι δυνατὸν ἀεὶ μεμνῆσθαι τοῦ θείου τούτου χαρίσματος καὶ ἐπὶ γλώττης ἔχειν τὸ ἀγαθόν, ὅπερ ἴδιον μὲν τῆς ἀσωμάτου φύσεώς ἐστι καὶ ἐξαίρετον, ὑπὸ φιλανθρωπίας δὲ θεοῦ καὶ τοῖς διὰ σαρκὸς καὶ αἵματος λαχοῦσι τὴν ζωὴν ἐχαρίσθη, ἵνα καταβληθεῖσαν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως, ὥσπερ τινὰ χεῖρα τὴν τῆς καθαρότητος μετουσίαν ὀρέξασα, πάλιν ὀρθώσῃ καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἄνω βλέπειν χειραγωγήσῃ. Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ τὴν πηγὴν τῆς ἀφθαρσίας αὐτὸν τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν μὴ διὰ γάμου εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ἵνα ἐνδείξηται διὰ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τὸ μέγα τοῦτο μυστήριον, ὅτι θεοῦ παρουσίαν καὶ εἴσοδον μόνη καθαρότης ἱκανή ἐστι δέξασθαι, ἣν ἄλλως οὐκ ἔστι πρὸς ἀκρίβειαν πᾶσαν κατορθωθῆναι, εἰ μὴ παντελῶς τις ἑαυτὸν τῶν τῆς σαρκὸς παθημάτων ἀλλοτριώσειεν. Ὅπερ γὰρ ἐν τῇ ἀμιάντῳ Μαρίᾳ γέγονε σωματικῶς, «τοῦ πληρώματος τῆς θεότητος» ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ διὰ τῆς παρθενίας ἐκλάμψαντος, τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ πάσης ψυχῆς κατὰ λόγον παρθενευούσης γίνεται, οὐκέτι σωματικὴν ποιουμένου τοῦ κυρίου τὴν παρουσίαν: «Οὐ γὰρ γινώσκομεν ἔτι», φησί, «κατὰ σάρκα Χριστόν», ἀλλὰ πνευματικῶς εἰσοικιζομένου καὶ τὸν πατέρα ἑαυτῷ συνεισάγοντος, καθώς φησί που τὸ εὐαγγέλιον.
Ἐπεὶ οὖν τοσαύτη ἐστὶ τῆς παρθενίας ἡ δύναμις, ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ τῶν πνευμάτων μένειν καὶ μετὰ τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων χορεύειν δυνάμεων καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης σωτηρίας ἐφάπτεσθαι, τὸν μὲν θεὸν δι' ἑαυτῆς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου βίου κοινωνίαν κατάγουσα, τὸν δὲ ἄνθρωπον ἐν ἑαυτῇ πρὸς τὴν τῶν οὐρανίων ἐπιθυμίαν πτεροῦσα καὶ οἱονεὶ σύνδεσμός τις γινομένη τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης πρὸς τὸν θεὸν οἰκειώσεως, τὰ τοσοῦτον ἀλλήλων ἀφεστῶτα τῇ φύσει τῇ παρ' ἑαυτῆς μεσιτείᾳ εἰς συμφωνίαν ἄγουσα, τίς ἂν εὑρεθείη δύναμις λόγων συνανιοῦσα τῷ θαύματι; Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ παντελῶς ἄτοπον ἀφώνοις ἢ ἀναισθήτοις ὅμοιον φαίνεσθαι καὶ τῶν δύο τὸ ἕτερον, ἢ μὴ ἐπεγνωκέναι δοκεῖν τὰ τῆς παρθενίας καλὰ ἢ ἄπληκτον καὶ ἀκίνητον πρὸς τὴν τῶν καλῶν αἴσθησιν ἐπιδειχθῆναι, βραχέα τινὰ περὶ αὐτῆς εἰπεῖν διὰ τὸ δεῖν ἐν πᾶσι πείθεσθαι τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ τοῦ ἐπιτάξαντος ἡμῖν προεθυμήθημεν. Μηδεὶς δὲ τοὺς κομπωδεστέρους παρ' ἡμῶν ἐπιζητείτω τῶν λόγων: ἔστι μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲ βουλομένοις ἡμῖν ἴσως δυνατὸν τὸ τοιοῦτον, ἀμελετήτοις οὖσι τῆς τοιαύτης λέξεως: εἰ δὲ καὶ παρῆν τοῦ κομπάζειν ἡ δύναμις, οὐκ ἂν τοῦ κοινῇ λυσιτελοῦντος τὸ ἐν ὀλίγοις εὐδοκιμῆσαι προετιμήσαμεν. Ζητεῖν γὰρ ἐξ ἁπάντων οἶμαι δεῖν τόν γε νοῦν ἔχοντα οὐκ ἐξ ὧν ὑπὲρ τοὺς λοιποὺς θαυμασθήσεται, ἀλλ' ἐξ ὧν ἂν καὶ ἑαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ὠφελήσειεν.