52

the virtue of virginity. For it is admirable and worthy of many crowns to overcome the madness of desires and to restrain raging nature, but it becomes truly admirable when such a life is added, but by itself it is weak and not sufficient to save those who possess it. And those who even now practice virginity would bear witness to us, but they fall as short of Elijah and Elisha and John as the earth does from heaven. For just as if you remove decorum and devotion, you have cut the very sinews of virginity, so when you possess it with an excellent way of life, you have the root and the foundation of good things. For just as a rich and fertile earth knows how to nourish a root, so an excellent way of life knows how to nourish the fruits of virginity, or rather, both the root and fruit of virginity is the crucified life. This anointed those noble men for that admirable race, cutting off all their bonds, and with nimble and light feet letting them fly like birds toward heaven. For where there is neither care for a wife nor concern for children, the ease of having no possessions is great, and having no possessions makes one be near the heavens, freeing us not only from fears, nor cares, nor dangers, but also from every other difficulty.

81 How good is the state of having no possessions. For he who has nothing as though possessing all things, this man despises all things and uses great boldness of speech both toward rulers and toward potentates and toward him who wears the diadem. For he who despises money, proceeding on his way, will also easily despise death. And having become superior to these things, he will speak with everyone with boldness, fearing no one nor trembling. But he who is occupied with money is a slave not only of money but also of glory and honor and of the present life and, to put it simply, of all worldly things. For this reason Paul called it the root of all evils. But virginity is able to dry up this root and to plant in us another, the best one, which sprouts all good things: freedom, boldness of speech, courage, fiery zeal, a fervent love for heavenly things, a contempt for all things on earth. Thus "decorum and devotion" come to be.

82 To those who say that they who have lived as virgins pray to come into the bosom of Abraham. But what is this wise saying of the many? The patriarch, it is said, Abraham, had a wife and children and money and flocks and herds, and after all that, John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, both of whom happened to be virgins, and Paul and Peter who shone in self-control, pray to depart into his bosom. Who told you this, my good man? What prophet? What evangelist? Christ Himself, he says. For seeing the centurion having great faith, he said: "That many will come from the east and the west and will recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob." And Lazarus, too, is then seen by the rich man, feasting with him. And what has this to do with Paul, what with Peter, what with John? For Lazarus was not Paul and John, nor were the many from the east and the west the choir of the apostles. So this argument of yours is superfluous and vain. But if you wish to hear at all the prizes of the apostles, listen to the one who is about to give them, saying: "You who have followed me, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." And nowhere here is Abraham, nor his son, nor his son's son, nor the bosom that received them, but a dignity far greater than that; for these will sit judging their descendants. And not only in this is the difference clear, but that many will obtain what Abraham obtained. For "many will come," he says, "from the east and the west and will recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob"; but of those thrones, no one

52

παρθενίας ἀρετή. Θαυμαστὸν μὲν γὰρ καὶ πολλῶν στεφάνων ἄξιον καὶ τὸ τῆς τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν περιγενέσθαι λύττης καὶ μαινομένην κατέχειν τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ τότε ὄντως γίνεται θαυμαστὸν ὅταν ὁ τοιοῦτος βίος προσῇ, αὐτὸ δὲ καθ' ἑαυτὸ ἀσθενὲς καὶ οὐχ ἱκανὸν σῶσαι τοὺς ἔχοντας. Καὶ μαρτυρήσειαν ἂν ἡμῖν ὅσαι παρθενίαν μὲν ἀσκοῦσι καὶ νῦν, τοσοῦτον δὲ ἀποδέουσιν Ἡλίου καὶ Ἑλισσαίου καὶ Ἰωάννου ὅσον ἡ γῆ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ εὔσχημον καὶ εὐπρόσεδρον ἂν περιέλῃς, αὐτὰ τὰ νεῦρα τῆς παρθενίας ἐξέκοψας, οὕτως ὅταν αὐτὴν μετὰ πολιτείας ἔχῃς ἀρίστης, τὴν ῥίζαν καὶ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἔχεις τῶν καλῶν. Καθάπερ γὰρ ῥίζαν γῆ λιπαρὰ καὶ γόνιμος, οὕτως οἶδεν ἀρίστη πολιτεία τρέφειν τοὺς τῆς παρθενίας καρπούς, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ῥίζα καὶ καρπὸς παρθενίας ὁ ἐσταυρωμένος βίος ἐστίν. Αὕτη τοὺς γενναίους ἐκείνους πρὸς τὸν θαυμαστὸν ἤλειψε δρόμον, πάντα μὲν αὐτῶν τὰ δεσμὰ περικόψασα, ποσὶ δὲ εὐλύτοις καὶ κούφοις καθάπερ πτηνοὺς ἀφεῖσα πέτεσθαι πρὸς τὸν οὐρανόν. Ὅπου γὰρ οὔτε γυναικὸς θεραπεία οὔτε παίδων ἐπιμέλεια, πολλὴ τῆς ἀκτημοσύνης ἡ εὐκολία, ἀκτημοσύνη δὲ ἐγγὺς εἶναι ποιεῖ τῶν οὐρανῶν, οὐ φόβων μόνον οὐδὲ φροντίδων οὐδὲ κινδύνων ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης δυσκολίας ἡμᾶς ἀπαλλάττουσα.

81 Πόσον ἡ ἀκτημοσύνη καλόν. Ὁ γὰρ μηδὲν ἔχων ὡς πάντα κατέχων, οὗτος ἁπάντων καταφρονεῖ καὶ παρρησίᾳ κέχρηται πολλῇ καὶ πρὸς ἄρχοντας καὶ πρὸς δυνάστας καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν τὸ διάδημα περικείμενον. Ὁ γὰρ χρημάτων καταφρονῶν ὁδῷ προβαίνων καὶ θανάτου καταφρονήσει ῥᾳδίως. Τούτων δὲ γενόμενος ἀνωτέρω πᾶσι μετὰ παρρησίας διαλέξεται οὐδένα δεδοικὼς οὐδὲ τρέμων. Ὁ δὲ περὶ χρήματα ἠσχολημένος οὐ χρημάτων ἐστὶ μόνον δοῦλος ἀλλὰ καὶ δόξης καὶ τιμῆς καὶ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς καὶ πάντων ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν τῶν βιωτικῶν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ῥίζαν αὐτὴν τῶν κακῶν πάντων ὁ Παῦλος ἐκάλεσεν. Ἀλλὰ ταύτην ἱκανὴ ξηρᾶναι τὴν ῥίζαν ἡ παρθενία καὶ ἑτέραν ἡμῖν ἐνθεῖναι τὴν ἀρίστην τὴν ἅπαντα βλαστάνουσαν τὰ καλά, ἐλευθερίαν, παρρησίαν, ἀνδρείαν, ζῆλον πεπυρωμένον, ἔρωτα τῶν οὐρανίων θερμόν, ὑπεροψίαν πάντων τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς. Οὕτω «τὸ εὔσχημον καὶ εὐπρόσεδρον» γίνεται.

82 Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας ὅτι οἱ παρθενεύσαντες εἰς κόλπους Ἀβραὰμ εὔχονται ἐλθεῖν. Ἀλλὰ τίς ὁ σοφὸς τῶν πολλῶν λόγος; Ὁ πατριάρχης, φησίν, Ἀβραὰμ καὶ γυναῖκα εἶχε καὶ παῖδας καὶ χρήματα καὶ ποίμνια καὶ βουκόλια, καὶ μετὰ πάντα ἐκεῖνα Ἰωάννης ὅ τε βαπτιστὴς ὅ τε εὐαγγελιστής, ἀμφότεροι παρθένοι τυγχάνοντες, καὶ Παῦλος καὶ Πέτρος ἐπὶ τῆς ἐγκρατείας διαλάμψαντες, εἰς τοὺς ἐκείνου κόλπους εὔχονται ἀπελθεῖν. Τίς σοι τοῦτο εἶπεν, ὦ βέλτιστε; Ποῖος προφήτης; Τίς εὐαγγελιστής; Αὐτός, φησίν, ὁ Χριστός. Τὸν γὰρ ἑκατοντάρχην ἰδὼν πολλὴν ἔχοντα πίστιν ἔλεγεν· «Ὅτι πολλοὶ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν καὶ δυσμῶν ἥξουσι καὶ ἀνακλιθήσονται μετὰ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ.» Καὶ ὁ Λάζαρος δὲ μετ' αὐτοῦ τότε ὁρᾶται ὑπὸ τοῦ πλουσίου τρυφῶν. Καὶ τί τοῦτο πρὸς Παῦλον, τί δαὶ πρὸς Πέτρον, τί δαὶ πρὸς Ἰωάννην; Οὐ γὰρ Λάζαρος Παῦλος καὶ Ἰωάννης, οὐδὲ οἱ πολλοὶ οἱ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν καὶ δυσμῶν ὁ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἦσαν χορός. Ὥστε περιττὸς ὑμῖν οὗτος ὁ λόγος καὶ μάταιος. Εἰ δὲ θέλεις ὅλως ἀκοῦσαι τὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἔπαθλα, ἄκουσον τοῦ μέλλοντος αὐτὰ διδόναι λέγοντος· «Ὑμεῖς οἱ ἀκολουθήσαντές μοι, ὅταν καθίσῃ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης αὐτοῦ, καθίσεσθε καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐπὶ δώδεκα θρόνους κρίνοντες τὰς δώδεκα φυλὰς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.» Καὶ οὐδαμοῦ ἐνταῦθα ὁ Ἀβραὰμ οὔτε ὁ τούτου παῖς οὐδὲ ὁ ἐκείνου οὐδὲ ὁ λαχὼν αὐτοὺς κόλπος, ἀλλ' ἀξία πολλῷ μείζων ἐκείνης· τοὺς γὰρ ἐκείνων οὗτοι καθεδοῦνται κρινοῦντες ἐγγόνους. Οὐ ταύτῃ δὲ μόνον ἡ διαφορὰ δήλη ἀλλ' ὅτι ὧν μὲν ὁ Ἀβραὰμ ἔτυχε πολλοὶ τεύξονται. «Πολλοὶ» γὰρ «ἐλεύσονται», φησίν, «ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν καὶ δυσμῶν καὶ ἀνακλιθήσονται μετὰ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ»· τῶν δὲ θρόνων ἐκείνωνοὐδεὶς