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“Give no occasion, he says, to the adversary for the sake of reproach.” For since it was likely that many of the widows at that time lived their subsequent lives more rashly and audaciously, as if released from a certain necessity and dominion of their conjugal union with their husbands, so as even to draw upon themselves an evil reputation through their forwardness, he leads them away from this destructive liberty, and brings them again to the former yoke. For if any widow, he says, being a widow, is going to fornicate in secret and disgrace herself, it is much better to marry, and “give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” So, in order not to provide occasions for reproach, and not to live a life of insolence and fornication, he commanded marriage. Listen, at any rate, to the things of which he accuses them. For it is necessary to be turned all the time to prayers and supplications. “But they,” he says, “are not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.” But he does not want it this way, but for her to be constantly devoted to spiritual things; “for she who lives in pleasure,” he says, “is dead while she lives.” Since even in the case of the virgin, he does not wish to define this good thing by the purity of the body, but by spending all her leisure in the service of God; “For this,” he says, “I say to you, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction.” For he does not wish her to be divided, but to be entirely of spiritual things and things in heaven and to be anxious for the things of the Lord. Thus also he exhorts the widow to conduct herself, saying: “She who is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.” When, therefore, they spend the leisure which ought to be spent in the affairs of the Gospel, not only on superfluous and unprofitable things, but also on things extremely harmful throughout their whole life, he reasonably leads them to marriage at last. Just as, then, God gave the Sabbath to the Jews not that they should be simply idle, but that they should abstain from wicked deeds; so also the widow and the virgin choose this life not simply so that they may not have intercourse with a man, but that they may be anxious for the things of the Lord, that they may attend entirely to the service of God. Yes, he says; but it will be an intolerable evil for a woman, inexperienced in affairs, to be forced to endure the affairs of men. For she will neither be able to manage them as he did, and from these things she will gain only afflictions and the loss of everything. Have, then, all those who have not entered into second marriages lost all their possessions and been deprived of everything, and is it not possible to see a widow presiding over affairs? These are excuses and pretexts and veils for one's own weakness. For many have presided over households more nobly than men, and have raised orphan children, and some have increased the property in their hands, while others have not diminished it. For from the beginning God did not entrust everything to men, nor did he leave the affairs of life to depend on them alone in all things; for the woman would have been easily despised if she contributed nothing to our life. Knowing this, therefore, God assigned to her a portion no less; and declaring this from the beginning he said: “Let us make him a helper.” For lest the man should have a high opinion of himself against her, because he was created first, or because the woman was formed for his sake, He suppressed his pride through this word, showing that the affairs of the world need the woman no less than the man. What then are these things, and in what ways does she assist us in the constitution of life? For since private affairs no less than public affairs constitute the present state of things, having divided them, he entrusted all that is in the marketplace to men, but that which is in the house to women; and if they should exchange their order, everything is corrupted and destroyed; thus each in his own sphere is much more useful than the other. Therefore if the domestic affairs of the womanly

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«Μηδεμίαν, φησί, διδόναι τῷ ἀντικειμένῳ ἀφορμὴν λοιδορίας χάριν.» Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πολλὰς τῶν χηρῶν εἰκὸς ἦν τότε προπετέστερον καὶ αὐθαδέστερον τῷ μετὰ ταῦτα κεχρῆσθαι βίῳ, καθάπερ τινὸς ἀνάγκης καὶ δεσποτείας τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα συζυγίας ἀπαλλαγείσας, ὡς καὶ πονηρὰν ἐπισπάσασθαι δόξαν διὰ τῆς ἰταμότητος, ἀπάγων αὐτὰς τῆς ὀλεθρίου ταύτης ἐλευθερίας, πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸν ζυγὸν ἄγει τὸν πρότερον. Εἰ γὰρ μέλλοι τις, φησί, χήρα οὖσα λάθρα πορνεύειν καὶ καταισχύνειν ἑαυτήν, πολλῷ βέλτιον γαμεῖν, καὶ «μηδεμίαν διδόναι τῷ ἀντικειμένῳ ἀφορμὴν λοιδορίας χάριν». Ὥστε διὰ τὸ μὴ παρέχειν τὰς ἀφορμὰς τῆς λοιδορίας, καὶ βίον ἐφύβριστον ζῆν καὶ πορνικόν, τὸν γάμον ἐπέταξεν. Ἄκουε γοῦν καὶ ὅσα αὐτῶν κατηγορεῖ. ∆έον γὰρ εἰς προσευχὰς τετράφθαι τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον καὶ ἱκετηρίας. «Αἱ δέ, φησί, καὶ ἀργαί, ἀλλὰ καὶ φλύαροι καὶ περίεργοι, λαλοῦσαι τὰ μὴ δέοντα.» Αὐτὸς δὲ οὐχ οὕτω βούλεται, ἀλλὰ προσηλῶσθαι αὐτὴν διαπαντὸς τοῖς πνευματικοῖς· «Ἡ γὰρ σπαταλῶσα, φησί, ζῶσα τέθνηκεν.» Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὴν παρθένον οὐ τῇ τοῦ σώματος ἁγνείᾳ βούλεται ὁρίζειν τοῦτο τὸ καλόν, ἀλλὰ τὴν πᾶσαν σχολὴν εἰς τὴν λατρείαν ἀναλίσκειν τοῦ Θεοῦ· «Τοῦτο γάρ, φησί, λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐχ ἵνα βρόχον ὑμῖν ἐπιβάλω, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ εὔσχημον καὶ εὐπρόσεδρον τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀπερισπάστως.» Οὐ γὰρ θέλει αὐτὴν μερίζεσθαι, ἀλλ' ὅλην εἶναι τῶν πνευματικῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ τοῦ Κυρίου μεριμνᾶν. Οὕτω καὶ τὴν χήραν πολιτεύεσθαι παραινεῖ λέγων· «Ἡ δὲ ὄντως χήρα καὶ μεμονωμένη ἤλπικεν ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν καὶ προσμένει ταῖς δεήσεσι καὶ ταῖς προσευχαῖς νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας.» Ὅταν οὖν τὴν σχολὴν ἣν ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελικοῖς πράγμασιν ἀναλίσκειν χρή, ταύτην μὴ μόνον εἰς περιττὰ καὶ ἀνωφελῆ, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς τὰ σφόδρα ἐπιβλαβῆ παρὰ πάντα δαπανῶσι τὸν βίον, εἰκότως αὐτὰς ἐπὶ τὸν γάμον ἄγει λοιπόν. Καθάπερ οὖν καὶ Ἰουδαίοις τὸ σάββατον ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς οὐχ ἵνα ἀργῶσιν ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ' ἵνα τῶν πονηρῶν ἀπέχωνται πράξεων· οὕτω καὶ ἡ χήρα καὶ ἡ παρθένος, οὐχ ἵνα ἁπλῶς μὴ ὁμιλῶσιν ἀνδρί, τοῦτον αἱροῦνται τὸν βίον, ἀλλ' ἵνα τὰ τοῦ Κυρίου μεριμνῶσιν, ἵνα ἐξ ὁλοκλήρου τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ θεραπείᾳ προσεδρεύωσι. Ναί, φησίν· ἀλλ' ἀφόρητον ἔσται κακὸν γυναῖκα οὖσαν πραγμάτων ἄπειρον τὰ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀναγκάζεσθαι ὑπομένειν. Οὔτε γὰρ αὐτὴ μεταχειρίσασθαι δυνήσεται καθάπερ ἐκεῖνος, καὶ θλίψεις ἀπὸ τούτων καὶ τὸ πάντα ἀπολέσαι κερδανεῖ μόνον. Ἆρ' οὖν πᾶσαι αἱ μὴ δευτέροις ὁμιλήσασαι γάμοις πάντα ἀπώλεσαν τὰ αὑτῶν καὶ πάντων ἐξέπεσαν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν γυναῖκα χήραν πραγμάτων προϊσταμένην; Σκῆψις ταῦτα καὶ πρόφασις καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ἀσθενείας προκαλύμματα. Πολλαὶ γὰρ τῶν ἀνδρῶν γενναιότερον καὶ οἰκίας προέστησαν, καὶ παῖδας ἐξέθρεψαν ὀρφανούς, καὶ τὰς ἐν χερσὶν οὐσίας αἱ μὲν ηὔξησαν, αἱ δὲ οὐκ ἠλάττωσαν. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἐξ ἀρχῆς οὐ τὸ πᾶν τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐπέτρεψεν, οὐδὲ ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτῶν ἐκκρέμασθαι τὰ ἐν τῷ βίῳ πράγματα μόνον ἀφῆκεν· ἦ γὰρ ἂν εὐκαταφρόνητος ἡ γυνὴ ἦν μηδὲν συντελοῦσα πρὸς τὸν βίον ἡμῖν. Ὅπερ οὖν εἰδὼς ὁ Θεὸς ἀπένειμεν αὐτῇ μοῖραν οὐκ ἐλάττονα· καὶ τοῦτο δηλῶν ἄνωθεν ἔλεγε· «Ποιήσωμεν αὐτῷ βοηθόν.» Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ τῷ πρῶτον γεγενῆσθαι, μηδὲ τῷ δι' αὐτὸν τὴν γυναῖκα πεπλάσθαι, μέγα κατ' αὐτῆς ἔχῃ φρονεῖν ὁ ἀνήρ, διὰ τοῦ ῥήματος τούτου κατέστειλε τὸν τῦφον αὐτοῦ, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐχ ἧττον τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἢ τῆς γυναικὸς τὰ τοῦ κόσμου δεῖται πράγματα. Τίνα οὖν ἐστι ταῦτα καὶ ἐν τίσι συνεφάπτεται ἡμῖν εἰς τὴν τοῦ βίου σύστασιν αὕτη; Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐχ ἧττον τῶν δημοσίων τὰ ἰδιωτικὰ συγκροτεῖ τὴν παροῦσαν κατάστασιν, διανείμας αὐτά, τὰ μὲν ἐπ' ἀγορᾶς πάντα ἐνεχείρισε τοῖς ἀνδράσι, τὰ δὲ κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν ταῖς γυναιξί· κἂν ἀλλάξωνται τὴν τάξιν, πάντα διεφθάρη καὶ ἀπόλωλεν· οὕτως ἕκαστος ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ πολὺ θατέρου χρησιμώτερος. Οὐκοῦν εἰ τὰ κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν τῆς γυναικείας