15

This one gathered me in when I was a stranger; consider then the confidence before the angels, the boast before the peoples above. He to whom Christ bears witness, how would he not have confidence beyond angels? Almsgiving is a great thing, therefore, brothers; let us embrace this, to which nothing is equal; it is sufficient to wipe away other sins, and to drive away judgment; while you are silent it stands and advocates for you; or rather, while you are silent, ten thousand mouths give thanks on your behalf. So many are the good things from almsgiving, and yet we are neglectful and have grown lax. Give bread according to your ability; do you not have bread? give an obol; do you not have an obol? give a cup of cold water; do you not have this? grieve with the one who is afflicted, and you have a reward. For the reward is not for what is necessary, but for what is chosen. But while we are still discussing this, the concern for the virgins has come upon us; come then, let us return to the subject at hand. Give us, she says, oil from your vessels. We cannot give you any, lest there not be enough for us and for you; but go and buy from those who sell. And while they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who had their lamps bright went in with him, and the door of the bridal chamber was shut. Then came also the five foolish ones, and were knocking on the door of the bridal chamber, crying out: Open to us; and a voice from within from the bridegroom to them: Depart from me, I do not know you. And after so many labors, what did they hear? I do not know you. This is what I was saying, they acquired the great possession of virginity in vain and to no purpose. Consider, after so many labors they were cast out, when they had bridled incontinence, when they competed with the powers above, when they laughed at the affairs of this life, when they endured the great heat, when they passed beyond the wrestling ground, when they were winged from earth to heaven, when they did not break the seal of the body, when they acquired the great form of virginity, when they had their contest with the angels, when they trampled on the necessities of the body, when they forgot their nature, when in the body they performed the works of the incorporeal, when they acquired the great and invincible possession of virginity; then they heard, Depart from me, I do not know you. For do not think that the greatness of virginity is a small thing in my eyes; such a thing is virginity, that none of the ancients was able to keep it. For this is why the grace is great, because the things that were fearful 49.296 among the prophets and among the ancients, these have now become easy to despise. For what were the most burdensome and necessary things? Virginity, and contempt for death; but now even lowly maidens despise these things. For the possession of virginity was so burdensome, that none of the ancients was able to practice it. Noah was righteous and bore witness by God, but he had relations with a woman; likewise also Abraham and Isaac, the fellow heirs of his promise, had relations with a woman. Joseph the chaste refused the great drama of adultery; but he too had relations with a woman; for the profession of virginity was burdensome. From then on virginity became strong, from when the flower of virginity blossomed. None of the ancients, therefore, was able to practice virginity; for it is a great thing to bridle the body. Picture in your mind the form of virginity, and understand the greatness of its virtue; it still has a war each day that can never be quiet; this war is worse than a war with barbarians. For the war with the barbarians has a certain time of truce in its treaties, and sometimes they join battle, and sometimes not, and there are ranks and times; but in the war against virginity there is no truce; for it is the devil who makes war, not knowing to watch for a time of attack, not waiting for a battle formation to join the fight, but he stands always seeking to find the virgin unprotected, so that he might inflict a fatal blow; and the virgin is never able to cease from this war, but in her the

15

οὗτός με ξένον ὄντα συνήγαγεν· ἐννόησον λοιπὸν τὴν παῤῥησίαν τὴν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων, τὸ καύχημα τὸ ἐπὶ τῶν δήμων τῶν ἄνω. Ὧ ὁ Χριστὸς μαρτυρεῖ, πῶς οὐκ ἂν σχῇ παῤῥησίαν ὑπὲρ ἀγγέλους; Μέγα οὖν πρᾶγμα ἐλεημοσύνη, ἀδελφοί· ταύτην ἀσπασώμεθα, ἧς οὐδὲν ἴσον· ἱκανή ἐστι καὶ ἄλλας ἁμαρτίας ἐξαλεῖψαι, καὶ τὴν κρίσιν ἀπελάσαι· σοῦ σιωπῶντος ἕστηκε καὶ συνηγορεῖ· μᾶλλον δὲ σοῦ σιωπῶντος μυρία στόματα εὐχαριστεῖ ὑπὲρ σοῦ. Τοσαῦτα ἀγαθὰ ἐκ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀμελοῦμεν καὶ ἀναπεπτώκαμεν. ∆ὸς κατὰ δύναμιν ἄρτον· οὐκ ἔχεις ἄρτον; δὸς ὀβολόν· οὐκ ἔχεις ὀβολόν; δὸς ποτήριον ψυχροῦ ὕδατος· οὐκ ἔχεις τοῦτο; συμπένθησον τῷ θλιβομένῳ, καὶ ἔχεις μισθόν. Οὐ γὰρ τῆς ἀνάγκης ὁ μισθὸς, ἀλλὰ τῆς προαιρέσεως. Ἀλλ' ὡς ἔτι περὶ τούτου διαλεγόμεθα, ἐξῆλθεν ἡμῖν ἡ φροντὶς τῶν παρθένων· φέρε οὖν εἰς τὸ προκείμενον ἐπανέλθωμεν. ∆ότε ἡμῖν, φησὶν, ἔλαιον ἐκ τῶν ἀγγείων ὑμῶν. Οὐ δυνάμεθα δοῦναι ὑμῖν, μήποτε οὐκ ἀρκέσῃ ἡμῖν καὶ ὑμῖν· ἀλλ' ἀπελθοῦσαι ἀγοράσατε ἀπὸ τῶν πωλούντων. Ἀπερχομένων δὲ αὐτῶν ἀγοράσαι, ἦλθεν ὁ νυμφίος, καὶ αἱ ἔχουσαι τὰς λαμπάδας φαιδρὰς συνεισῆλθον αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀπεκλείσθη ἡ θύρα νυμφῶνος. Ἦλθον δὲ καὶ αἱ πέντε μωραὶ, καὶ ἔκρουον τὴν θύραν τοῦ νυμφῶνος βοῶσαι· Ἄνοιξον ἡμῖν· καὶ φωνὴ ἔσωθεν πρὸς αὐτὰς τοῦ νυμφίου· Ἀπέλθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς. Καὶ μετὰ τοσούτους καμάτους τί ἤκουσαν; Οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς. Τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὃ ἔλεγον, εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην ἐκτήσαντο τὸ μέγα κτῆμα τῆς παρθενίας. Ἐννόησον, μετὰ τοσούτους καμάτους ἐξεβλήθησαν, ὅτε ἀκρασίαν ἐχαλίνωσαν, ὅτε πρὸς τὰς ἄνω δυνάμεις τὴν ἅμιλλαν εἶχον, ὅτε τῶν βιωτικῶν κατεγέλασαν πραγμάτων, ὅτε τὸν καύσωνα ὑπήνεγκαν τὸν μέγαν, ὅτε τὰ σκάμματα ὑπερέβησαν, ὅτε ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνεπτερώθησαν, ὅτε τοῦ σώματος τὴν σφραγῖδα οὐ διέλυσαν, ὅτε τὸ μέγα εἶδος τῆς παρθενίας ἐκτήσαντο, ὅτε τὴν ἅμιλλαν πρὸς τοὺς ἀγγέλους ἔσχον, ὅτε τοῦ σώματος τὰς ἀνάγκας κατεπάτησαν, ὅτε τῆς φύσεως ἐπελήσθησαν, ὅτε ἐν σώματι τὰ ἀσώματα ἐπετέλεσαν, ὅτε τὸ μέγα καὶ ἀκαταμάχητον κτῆμα τῆς παρθενίας ἐκτήσαντο· τότε ἤκουσαν, Ἀπέλθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς. Μὴ γὰρ ἐμοὶ νομίσῃς τὸ τῆς παρθενίας μέγεθος μικρὸν εἶναι· τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν ἡ παρθενία, ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἠδυνήθη τῶν ἀρχαίων τοῦτο τηρῆσαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ χάρις μεγάλη, ὅτι ἃ ἦν φοβερὰ 49.296 ἐν τοῖς προφήταις καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀρχαίοις, ταῦτα ἐγένετο νῦν εὐκαταφρόνητα. Τίνα γὰρ ἦν τὰ βαρύτατα καὶ ἀναγκαῖα; Παρθενία, καὶ θανάτου ὑπεροψία· ἀλλὰ τούτων νῦν καὶ κόραι εὐτελεῖς καταφρονοῦσι. Βαρὺ γὰρ ἦν τὸ τῆς παρθενίας κτῆμα οὕτως, ὡς μηδένα δύνασθαι ταύτην ἀσκῆσαι τῶν παλαιῶν. Νῶε δίκαιος καὶ μαρτυρηθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ γυναικὶ προσωμίλησεν· ὁμοίως δὲ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ οἱ συγκληρονόμοι αὐτοῦ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας γυναικὶ προσωμίλησαν. Ἰωσὴφ ὁ σώφρων τὸ μέγα δρᾶμα τῆς μοιχείας ἠρνήσατο· ἀλλὰ καὶ οὗτος γυναικὶ προσωμίλησεν· βαρὺ γὰρ ἦν τὸ ἐπάγγελμα τῆς παρθενίας. Ἔκτοτε ἰσχυρὰ ἡ παρθενία ἐγένετο, ἐξότε τὸ ἄνθος τὸ τῆς παρθενίας ἐβλάστησεν. Οὐδεὶς τοίνυν τῶν παλαιῶν ἠδυνήθη παρθενίαν ἀσκῆσαι· μέγα γὰρ πρᾶγμα σῶμα χαλινῶσαι. Ἀναζωγράφησον τῷ λόγῳ τὸ τῆς παρθενίας εἶδος, καὶ κατάμαθε τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἀρετῆς αὐτῆς· ἔτι πόλεμον ἔχει ἐφ' ἑκάστης ἡμέρας οὐδέποτε δυνάμενον ἡσυχάσαι· χείρων τοῦ βαρβαρικοῦ πολέμου οὗτος ὁ πόλεμος. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τῶν βαρβάρων πόλεμος καιρόν τινα ἔχει ἀνοχῆς ἐν ταῖς συνθήκαις, καὶ ποτὲ μὲν συμβάλλουσι, ποτὲ δὲ οὒ, καὶ τάξεις καὶ χρόνοι εἰσίν· ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ πρὸς τὴν παρθενίαν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνοχή· διάβολος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ πολεμῶν, οὐ καιρὸν ἐπιτηρεῖν ἐπιθέσεως εἰδὼς, οὐ σύνταξιν πρὸς τὴν συμβολὴν ἐκδεχόμενος, ἀλλ' ἕστηκεν ἀεὶ ζητῶν τὴν παρθένον γυμνὴν εὑρεῖν, ἵνα καιρίαν ἐπαγάγῃ τὴν πληγήν· καὶ οὐδέποτε δύναται ἡ παρθένος τοῦ πολέμου παύσασθαι τούτου, ἀλλ' ἐν αὐτῇ τὸν