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being less than sixty years of age. Such according to the story was Anna the prophetess, having lived with her husband for seven years from her virginity, remaining a widow for a long time until she was eighty-four years old. And this number is also proper to purity in widowhood, about which it has been said in other places. 2.265 It is possible to see women who cared for this choice also in the old testament. Such was the most courageous Judith, having her name appropriately; for Judith is interpreted as “praise.” It is not unlikely to find many others adorned with seniority and honor, and especially those about whom it is said in a prophet from the person of God: “I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,” and the following until: “And even upon my menservants and my maidservants I will pour out of my Spirit and they shall prophesy.” 2.266 Pay attention and consider whether it is said that only the old men hold staffs in their hands, or also the old women. It is possible that it was written about both orders, but it seems more probable that it is about men only. 2.267 In the streets that have been interpreted, in which sit those who are gray with wisdom and have grown old with a spotless life, there are also to be little boys and little girls playing a praiseworthy game, in which David, the man after God’s heart, delighting, doing all the wishes of the one who chose him, spoke out more boldly: “I will dance and I will play before the Lord.” 2.268 It is possible to understand the little boys playing in the streets of the renowned city of God as those who from their tenderest years have given themselves to temperance, so as to have incorruptibility with the purest gravity and a sound word beyond reproach. 2.269 And such were the sons of the apostles, “born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God,” “like newborn infants, having longed for the rational, sincere milk.” 2.270 He will also use opportunely what is said in Proverbs: “To give prudence to the simple, and to a young man perception and thought.” And again in the same book the divinely wise one said: “Hear, children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.” 2.271 These things are not said entirely about those who are male in body; for there are also souls that are male in spirit, having a female body. 2.272 Following the little boys that have been described, the little girls playing must also be understood. And see if concerning these things it is sung about the bride and the bridegroom in the forty-fourth Psalm what is sung here: “Virgins shall be brought to the king after her,” that is, the bride and queen, who stood at the right hand of her spouse, “her companions shall be brought to you; they shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing.” 2.273 The virgins to be brought after the Church, which was led as a bride to one man, Christ, are incorruptible in spirit and body, being pure in mind and deed. 2.274 As it was said that the little boys are primarily male in soul, but are not only so in body, likewise the virgins who have holiness in mind and deed do not necessarily have a female body. At any rate, in the Revelation of John the one hundred and forty-four thousand virgins were not such in body; for it was added: “These are they who were not defiled with a woman; for they are virgins, and there is no deceit in their mouth; for they are blameless.” 2.275 Concerning all those who spend their time in the streets of the much-praised city, it is written as about one choir in one of the Psalms: “Young men and maidens, old men with younger ones, let them praise the name of the Lord.” And concerning the different ages of the inner man, the disciple whom Jesus loved also writes: “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake,” -that is, of the Savior, -

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ἐλαττουμένην ἑξηκονταέτους χρόνου. Τοιαύτη κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν ὑπῆρχεν Ἄννα ἡ προφῆτις, ζήσασα μετὰ ἀνδρὸς ἔτη ἕπτα ἀπὸ τῆς παρθενίας αὐτῆς, διαμείνασα ἐπὶ πολὺ χήρα ἕως ἐτῶν ὀγδοήκοντα τεσσάρων. Οἰκεῖος δὲ καὶ οὗτος ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῆς ἐν χηρείᾳ ἁγνείας, περὶ οὗ ἐν ἄλλοις εἴρηται. 2.265 Ταύτης τῆς προαιρέσεως ἐπιμελομένας ἔστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ ἐν τῇ παλαιᾷ διαθήκῃ. Οἵα ἦν ἡ ἀνδρειωτάτη Ἰουδίθ, φερωνύμως ἐσχηκυῖα τὴν προσηγορίαν· Ἰουδὶθ γὰρ «αἴνεσις» ἑρμηνεύεται. Οὐκ ἀπεικὸς δὲ καὶ ἄλλας πλείονας εὑρεῖν πρεσβείᾳ καὶ τιμῇ κεκοσμημένας, καὶ μάλιστα ἐκείνας περὶ ὧν ἐν προφήτῃ εἴρηται ἐκ προσώπου Θεοῦ· «Ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα, καὶ προφητεύσουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες ὑμῶν», καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς μέχρι τοῦ· «Καί γε ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους μου καὶ τὰς δούλας μου ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματός μου καὶ προφητεύσουσιν.» 2.266 Ἐπιστήσας κατὰ σεαυτόν, σκόπησον εἰ περὶ μόνων τῶν πρεσβυτέρων εἴρηται ῥάβδους κατέχειν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ἢ καὶ περὶ τῶν πρεσβυτίδων. Ἐνδέχεται δὲ περὶ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ταγμάτων γεγράφθαι, πιθανώτερον δὲ δοκεῖ περὶ μόνων τῶν ἀνδρῶν. 2.267 Ἐν ταῖς σαφηνισθείσαις πλατείαις ἐν αἷς προκάθηνται οἱ φρονήσει πεπολιωμένοι καὶ ἀκηλιδώτῳ βίῳ γηράσαντες, καὶ παιδάρια καὶ κοράσια εἶναι παίζοντα παιδιὰν ἐπαινετὴν ᾗ ἐγκαλλωπιζόμενος ὁ κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνὴρ ∆αυίδ, πάντα τὰ θελήματα ποιῶν τοῦ ἐκλεξαμένου, παρρησιαστικώτερον ἀνεφθέγξατο· «Ἐνώπιον Κυρίου ὀρχήσομαι καὶ παίξομαι.» 2.268 Παιδάρια ἀθύροντα ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις τῆς ἀοιδίμου Θεοῦ πόλεως ἐκλαβεῖν ἔστιν τοὺς ἐξ ἁπαλῶν ὀνύχων σωφροσύνῃ ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιδεδωκότας, ὥστ' ἀφθορίαν ἔχειν μετὰ σεμνότητος ἀκραιφνεστάτης καὶ λόγον ὑγιῆ ἀκατάγνωστον. 2.269 Τοιοῦτοι δὲ ὑπῆρχον οἱ τῶν ἀποστόλων υἱοί, «ἀναγεγεννημένοι οὐκ ἐκ σπορᾶς φθαρτῆς, ἀλλ' ἀφθάρτου, διὰ ζῶντος λόγου Θεοῦ καὶ μένοντος», «ὡς ἀρτιγέννητα βρέφη τὸ λογικὸν ἄδολον γάλα ἐπιποθήσαντες». 2.270 Συγχρήσει δὲ καιρίως καὶ τῷ ἐν Παροιμίαις εἰρημένῳ· «Ἵνα δῷ ἀκάκοις πανουργίαν, παιδὶ δὲ νέῳ αἴσθησίν τε καὶ ἔννοιαν.» Καὶ ἔτι ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ βίβλῳ ὁ θεόσοφος εἶπεν· «Ἀκούσατε, παῖδες, παιδείαν πατρός, καὶ προσέχετε τοῦ γνῶναι ἔννοιαν.» 2.271 Οὐ πάντως δὲ περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸ σῶμα ἀρσένων λέγεται ταῦτα· εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ σῶμα θῆλυ ἔχουσαι ψυχαὶ ἄρσενες τῷ φρονήματι. 2.272 Ἑπομένως τοῖς ἀποδοθεῖσιν παιδαρίοις, καὶ κοράσια ἐκλημπτέον παίζοντα. Καὶ ὅρα εἰ περὶ τούτων ἐν τεσσερακοστῷ τετάρτῳ Ψαλμῷ ὑμνεῖται περὶ τῆς νύμφης καὶ τοῦ νυμφίου τὸ μελῳδούμενον ὧδε· «Ἀπενεχθήσονται τῷ βασιλεῖ παρθένοι ὀπίσω αὐτῆς», τῆς νύμφης καὶ βασιλίδος δηλονότι, τῆς παραστάσης ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ συνοικοῦντος, «αἱ πλησίον αὐτῆς ἀπενεχθήσονταί σοι· ἀπενεχθήσονται ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ καὶ ἀγαλλιάσει». 2.273 Παρθένοι ἀπενεχθησόμεναι ὀπίσω τῆς νυμφαγωγηθείσης ἑνὶ ἀνδρὶ τῷ Χριστῷ Ἐκκλησίας, πνεύματι καὶ σώματί εἰσιν ἀδιάφθοροι γνώμῃ καὶ πράξει ἁγνεύουσαι. 2.274 Ὡς ἐλέχθη ὡς τὰ παιδάρια προηγουμένως κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν ἄρρενα, ἀλλὰ οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὸ σῶμα τυγχάνουσιν, ὁμοίως αἱ ἐν γνώμῃ καὶ πράξει ἁγιότητα ἔχουσαι παρθένοι οὐκ ἐξ ἀνάγκης θηλυκὸν ἔχουσι σῶμα. Ἐν γοῦν τῇ Ἰωάννου Ἀποκαλύψει αἱ ἑκατὸν τεσσαράκοντα τέσσαρες χιλιάδες τῶν παρθένων οὐ τῷ σώματι ἦσαν τοιαῦται· ἐπηνέχθη γάρ· «Οὗτοί εἰσιν οἳ μετὰ γυναικὸς οὐκ ἐμολύνθησαν· παρθένοι γάρ εἰσιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν δόλος· ἄμωμοι γάρ εἰσιν.» 2.275 Περὶ πάντων τῶν διατριβόντων ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις τοῦ πολυυμνήτου ἄστεως, ὡς περὶ ἑνὸς χοροῦ ἐν ἑνὶ τῶν Ψαλμῶν φέρεται· «Νεανίσκοι καὶ παρθένοι, πρεσβύτεροι μετὰ νεοτέρων αἰνεσάτωσαν τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου.» Περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον διαφόρων ἡλικιῶν καὶ ὃν ἠγάπα Ἰησοῦς μαθητὴν ἐπιστέλλει· «Γράφω ὑμῖν, παιδία, ὅτι ἀφέωνται ὑμῶν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι διὰ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ», -τοῦ Σωτῆρος δηλαδή, -