On the Dress of Virgins.

 1. Discipline, the safeguard of hope, the bond of faith, the guide of the way of salvation, the stimulus and nourishment of good dispositions, the tea

 2. But if in Holy Scripture discipline is frequently and everywhere prescribed, and the whole foundation of religion and of faith proceeds from obedie

 3. My address is now to virgins, whose glory, as it is more eminent, excites the greater interest. This is the flower of the ecclesiastical seed, the

 4. For that is not an empty carefulness nor a vain fear, which takes counsel for the way of salvation, which guards the commandments of the Lord and o

 5. But if continency follows Christ, and virginity is destined for the kingdom of God, what have they to do with earthly dress, and with ornaments, wh

 6. Paul proclaims in a loud and lofty voice, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is cru

 7. But there are some rich women, and wealthy in the fertility of means, who prefer their own wealth, and contend that they ought to use these blessin

 8. You call yourself wealthy and rich but Paul meets your riches, and with his own voice prescribes for the moderating of your dress and ornament wit

 9. You say that you are wealthy and rich. But not everything that can be done ought also to be done nor ought the broad desires that arise out of the

 10. You say that you are wealthy and rich but it becomes not a virgin to boast of her riches, since Holy Scripture says, “What hath pride profited us

 11. You say that you are wealthy and rich, and you think that you should use those things which God has willed you to possess. Use them, certainly, bu

 12. The characteristics of ornaments, and of garments, and the allurements of beauty, are not fitting for any but prostitutes and immodest women and

 13. Moreover Isaiah, full of the Holy Spirit, cries out and chides the daughters of Sion, corrupted with gold, and silver, and raiment, and rebukes th

 14. For God neither made the sheep scarlet or purple, nor taught the juices of herbs and shell-fish to dye and colour wool, nor arranged necklaces wit

 15. And indeed in that very matter, for the sake of the fear which faith suggests to me, for the sake of the love which brotherhood requires, I think

 16. The voice of the warning apostle is, “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened for even Christ our passover is s

 17. Are you not afraid, I entreat you, being such as you are, that when the day of resurrection comes, your Maker may not recognise you again, and may

 18. And since we are seeking the advantage of continency, let us also avoid everything that is pernicious and hostile to it. And I will not pass over

 19. But what of those who frequent promiscuous baths who prostitute to eyes that are curious to lust, bodies that are dedicated to chastity and modes

 20. For this reason, therefore, the Church frequently mourns over her virgins hence she groans at their scandalous and detestable stories hence the

 21. Therefore hear me, O virgins, as a parent hear, I beseech you, one who fears while he warns hear one who is faithfully consulting for your advan

 22. Hold fast, O virgins! hold fast what you have begun to be hold fast what you shall be. A great reward awaits you, a great recompense of virtue, t

 23. The first decree commanded to increase and to multiply the second enjoined continency. While the world is still rough and void, we are propagated

 24. Every one of which things, O good virgins, you ought to observe, to love, to fulfil, who, giving yourselves to God and Christ, are advancing in bo

13. Moreover Isaiah, full of the Holy Spirit, cries out and chides the daughters of Sion, corrupted with gold, and silver, and raiment, and rebukes them, affluent as they were in pernicious wealth, and departing from God for the sake of the world’s delights. “The daughters of Sion,” says he, “are haughty, and walk with stretched-out neck and beckoning of the eyes, trailing their gowns as they go, and mincing with their feet. And God will humble the princely daughters of Sion, and the Lord will unveil their dress; and the Lord will take away the glory of their apparel, and their ornaments, and their hair, and their curls, and their round tires like the moon, and their crisping-pins, and their bracelets, and their clusters of pearls, and their armlets and rings, and earrings, and silks woven with gold and hyacinth. And instead of a sweet smell there shall be dust; and thou shalt be girt with a rope instead of with a girdle; and for a golden ornament of thy head thou shalt have baldness.”29    Isa. iii. 16. This God blames, this He marks out: hence He declares that virgins are corrupted; hence, that they have departed from the true and divine worship. Lifted up, they have fallen; with their heads adorned, they merited dishonour and disgrace. Having put on silk and purple, they cannot put on Christ; adorned with gold, and pearls, and necklaces, they have lost the ornaments of the heart and spirit. Who would not execrate and avoid that which has been the destruction of another? Who would desire and take up that which has served as the sword and weapon for the death of another? If he who had drunk should die by draining the cup, you would know that what he had drunk was poison; if, on taking food, he who had taken it were to perish, you would know that what, when taken could kill, was deadly; nor would you eat or drink of that whence you had before seen that others had perished. Now what ignorance of truth is it, what madness of mind, to wish for that which both has hurt and always will hurt and to think that you yourself will not perish by those means whereby you know that others have perished!

0451A XIII. Clamat etiam Spiritu sancto plenus Esaias, et filias Sion auro et argento ac veste corruptas increpat et objurgat perniciosis opibus affluentes et a Deo per saeculi delicias recedentes: Exaltatae sunt, ait, filiae Sion, et ambulaverunt alto collo , et nutu oculorum et incessu pedum trahentes tunicas, et pedidibus simul ludentes. Et humiliabit Deus principales filias Sion, et revelabit Dominus habitum earum, et auferet Dominus gloriam vestis illarum et ornamenta earum et crines et cincinnos et lunulas et discriminalia et armillas et botronatum et dextralia et annulos et inaures et serica contexta cum auro et hyacintho. Et erit pro odore suavitatis pulvis, et pro cingulo reste cingeris, et pro ornamento capitis aureo calvitium habebis (Isa. III, 16-24). Hoc Deus culpat, hoc denotat. 0451B Hinc corruptas esse virgines, hinc a cultu vero atque divino descivisse pronuntiat. Exaltatae ceciderunt , comptae turpitudinem foeditatemque meruerunt. Sericum 0452A et purpuram indutae Christum induere non possunt. Auro et margaritis et monilibus adornatae ornamenta cordis ac pectoris perdiderunt. Quis non id execretur et fugiat quod alii fuerit exitio ? quis id appetat et assumat quod ad necem alterius pro gladio fuerit et telo? Si hausto poculo moreretur ille qui biberat, venenum scires esse quod ille potavit. Si, accepto cibo, qui acceperat interiret, scires esse lethale quod acceptum potuit occidere, nec ederes inde nec biberes unde interiissc alios ante conspiceres. Nunc quanta ignorantia veri est, animi quanta dementia, id velle quod et nocuerit semper et noceat, et putare quod inde ipsa non pereas unde alios periisse cognoscas!