Taking Wives

Oὕτως εἶπεν Kύριος ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀποικίαν ἣν ἀπῴκισα ἀπὸ Ιερουσαλημ οἰκοδομήσατε οἴκους καὶ κατοικήσατε καὶ φυτεύσατε παραδείσους καὶ φάγετε τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτῶν, καὶ λάβετε γυναῖkας.. Τί δέ ἐστι τὸ λαθεῖν γυναῖkας; Ἐδήλωτεν ὁ περὶ τῆς σοφίας εἰπών Ταύτὴν ἐζήτησα Κύμην ἀγαγέσθαι ἐμαυτῷ, καὶ ἐραστὴς ἐγενόμην τοῦ κάλλους αὐτῆς. Δεῖ ταύτης ἐρᾷν, ὡς ἐν Παροιμίαις Σολομὼν εἰσηγήτατο, φἡσας Ἑράσθητι αὑτῆς, καὶ τηρήσει σε καὶ χαράχωσον αὐτὴν, καὶ ὑψώσει σε. Καὶ ἄλλας ὦ νόει παρὰ τὴν σοφίαν γυναῖκας, τὰς λοιπὰς ἀρττάς, Οὕτω γὰρ ἐξέσται πολλὰς γυναῖκας λαξεῖν ἐξ ὧν δεῖ τεχνοποιεῖν. ἀπὸ σοφίας λόγον σοφίας, ὡς ἂν καὶ ἄλλους οἰχοδομήσῃς" ἀπὸ σωφροσύνης ἔργα σωφροσύνης, ἵνα σώφρονας ποιήσῃς βίῳ χαὶ λόγῳ" ἀπὸ ὀικαιοσύντς ἔργα διχαιοσύνης ἐν κοινωνί καὶ συναλλάγμασι" ἀλλὰ καὶ δικαίους διδάσκων τεχνοποιῆσεις ἀπὸ δικαιοσύνης. Υἱοὺς δὲ ποιήσεις ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν καὶ θυγατέρας" υἱοὺς μὲν τὰ θεῖα νοῆματὰ χαὶ τὰ δόγματα, θυγατέρας δὲ τὰς πράξεῖς. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν Source: Migne PG 13.577a-b

Thus says the Lord God of Israel to all those gone into exile from Jerusalem, build houses and dwell in them and plant gardens and eat their fruits, and take wives... 1 But what is it to take a wife? He makes it clear who speaks of wisdom saying, 'I sought to take this bride for myself, and I was made a lover of beauty.' 2 And it is indeed needful to love her, as Solomon teaches us in Proverbs with these words, 'You shall love her and she will guard you, and with a ditch dug about her she will exalt you.' 3 Yet let it be understood that there are other wives apart from wisdom, the other virtues. So it is permitted to take many wives, from which children should be produced. Wise speech is born from wisdom, so that you may edify others. Prudent works are born from prudence, by which you may make others prudent in life and words. Just works in civil life and agreements are born from justice, and in teaching others to be just you will produce children from justice. Indeed you will produce sons and daughters, sons who are holy thoughts and teaching, and daughters who are deeds. Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jerem 29.4-5 2 Wisdom 8.2 3 Prov 4.6

Fraternal Love

Consimiliter sunt ammonedni homines, ut habeant benivolum affectum ad homines qui sunt sibi colligati naturali colligatione vel affinitate, quia tales dicuntur fratres in scripturis. Quatuor enim modis dicuntur fratres, ut ait papam, scilicet natura, ut Esau et Iacob, gente, ut omnes Iudei, cognatione, ut Abraham et Loth, affectu, et hoc vel speciali quo omnes Christiani dicuntur fratres, vel communi quo omnes homines ex uno patre nati. Ad omnes ergo qui sunt colligati cognatione, amor ordinatus debet extendi. Et si dicat salvator, Luce xviii: Qui non odit patrem aut matrem et cetera, non potest esse meus discipulus. Non prohibet amorem naturalem parentum et cognatorum, sed carnalem quo impeditur amor divinus, prout exponit Augustinus episola xxii. Unde et antiqui erant affectuosi sicut Abraham et Loth quem liberavit ab hostibus, Genesis xiii. Et Laban ad Iacob quando audivit eum advenisse, Genesis xxviii. Et ideo coniugium institutum est fieri inter extraneos inter quos amor et caritas extendatur et dilatetur ubi amor naturalis minus servet secundum Augustinus xv De civitate dei capitulo xvi. ubi loquitor bene de ista materia: Predictos igitur debet predictor ammonere ut habeant se vicissini sicut debent se habere, et de talibus cum eisdem conferre. Johannes Gallensis, Communiloquium sive Summa Collationum, Pars secunda, Distinctio tercia, secunde partis, Capitulum tercium, De amore ad consanguineos Source: here, p107

Similarly men should be exhorted to be of good will to men who are bound to them by natural bonds or affinity, because such brothers are spoken of in Scripture. Men are brothers in four ways, by a father, as it is according to nature, as with Esau and Jacob, by a people, as with all the Jews, by kinship, as Abraham and Lot, and by love, which is that by which all Christians are especially called brothers, or by that shared commonness of all men who are born from the one Father. Therefore to all those who are bound by family relationship, an orderly love should be extended. And if the Saviour says in the eighteenth chapter of Like, 'He who does not hate father or mother, ' and the rest, 'cannot be my disciple,' 1 this does not prohibit the natural love of parents and relations, but rather anything carnal that would be an obstacle to Divine love, as Augustine explains in his twelfth letter. Whence the men of old were affectionate, as when Abraham freed Lot from his enemies in the thirteenth chapter of Genesis. And as Laban was when he heard Jacob had arrived in the twenty eighth chapter of Genesis. 2 Therefore marriage was instituted among those more distant from us, so that love and charity might increase and expand where natural love is lacking, and should have our care, according to Augustine in the fifteenth book of the city of God, chapter sixteen, where he speaks well about this matter. Therefore let the preacher admonish men to have as much love for their neighbours as they have for themselves, and treat them as they would themselves. 3 John of Wales, The Communiloquium, Second Part, Second Part of the Third Distinction, Third Chapter, On Love of Relations. 1 Lk 14.26 2 Gen 15.8-16, Gen 29.12-14 3 Mk 12.31, Levit 19.18

Death's Defeat

Neutra igitur vel ad instans in statu permanet conditionis, quo vocatur ad esse, sed vitium originis redit ad non esse, eum incipit esse, ut mirabiliter et miserabiliter non prius inchoet esse quam non esse; venire quam redire; ascendere quam descendere, nec incipiat miserabiliter anima prius vitam dare quam mortem dare, ut sit et caro mortificans, a quo vivificatur, et anima vivificans, a quo mortificatur. Hic occurrunt lugubres illae nuptiae septem virae et toties homicidae filiae Raguelis, quam Tobis filius Tobia sine periculo ducere protuit, qui daemone fortiorem angelum comitem, imo ducem, habuit Tobias et Tobias, pater et filius, vetus et novus, caecus et videns: Adam et Adam, primus et secundus, pater et filius, vetus et novus, caecus et videns, homo et hominis filius. Sed de homine vel filio hominis aliquando secundum carnem, aliquando secundum animam, aliquando secundum utrumque sermo conficitur. Nunc ergo hic Tobias animam significat filii hominis, Sara vero communiter carnem hominis, angelus autem dux et comes Tobiae Dominum Dei Verbum, quam animae quam semel suscepit, sapienter ducatum praestitit, fideliter comitatum, fortiter auxilium, prudenter consilium. Septem vero viri morti magis quam mulieri conjugati, universas, praeter Christi animam, quae non prius carni quam morti unitae sunt, propter carnem tamen morti unitae, et propter mortem a carne separatae. Daemon suffocans, naturalis illa originalisque concupiscentia datur intelligi: quae de domo Raguelis et cubiculo Sarae, nisi fortior supervenerit, minime ejicitur. Superveniente itaque fortiore Verbi virtute fortis ejicitur, fugatur, ligatur, vasa ejus, id est naturalia, quae captiva tenebantur, diripiuntur. Ducitur captiva captivitas, thalamus purgatur; liberatur domus, Sara sine periculo ducitur, pater miratur, mysterium agnoscit, angelo gratias agit, epulas parat, vicina invitat. Plena sunt haec mysteriis, redundant sacramentis. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo VII, In Dominica Infra Octavas Epiphaniae I Source: Migne PL 194.1714d-1715c

Therefore not for an instant does either the soul or the body remain in its state which it is called to be, but Original Sin returns it to non-being, even as it begins, so that mysteriously and wretchedly there is no beginning of being without not being, no coming without going, no rising without falling, nor does, most miserably, the soul give life but it gives death, so that the flesh brings death from what gives it life, and the soul gives life from what brings death. Here there is a reminder of those woeful marriages of the seven murdered husbands of the daughter of Raguel, and how Tobit's son Tobias was able to take her in marriage without danger, since Tobias had an angel as a companion, and indeed guide, who was stronger than the demon. 1 These two, father and son, old and young, blind and seeing, are both Adam, the First Adam and the Second Adam, 2 father and son, old and new, man and the Son of Man. When we speak of the Son of Man, sometimes it refers to the flesh, sometimes to the soul, sometimes to both. Here with us now Tobias signifies the soul of the Son of Man, but Sara means the flesh of man in general, and the Angel, the guide and companion of Tobias, is the Lord, the Word Of God, which as soon as He takes up a soul, is the wise guide, the loyal companion, the strong helper, the prudent counsellor. As for the seven husbands who were joined to death rather than a wife, they are all souls, apart from Christ's, which as soon as they are united to the flesh are bound to death, and because of the flesh are joined with death and because of death are separated from the flesh. The choking demon is to be understood as the concupiscence natural to our fallen nature, that lurks in Raguel’s house and Sara's bed chamber unless someone stronger should come. 3 Therefore with yet stronger virtue the strong one is cast out and driven off, and bound, and the vessels of our nature which he held captive are stripped from him. 'Captivity is led captive,' 4 the marriage chamber is cleansed, the house is freed. Sara's marriage without peril amazes her father, and he recognizes the mystery and thanks the angel, and he prepares a banquet and invites the neighbours. All this abounds with mysteries and overflows with secrets! Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 7 On The Sunday Within the Epiphany Octave 1 Tobit 3.7-8, 6.14 2 1 Cor 15.45-47 3 Lk 11.22 4 Ephes 4.8

Jars And Water And Wine

Et die tertio nuptiae factae sunt in Cana Galilaeae... Moraliter Nuptiae istae sunt Dei et Animae ipsa reconciliatone animae ad Deum. Oseae secundo: Sponsabo te mihi in fide, et scies, quia ego Dominus. Ad has nuptias faciendas venit Dominus Jesus, sed invitatus. Apocal tertio: Ecce ego sto ad ostium, et pulso, si quis audierit vocem meam, et aperuerit mihi januam, introibo ad illum, et coenabo cum illo. Vinum in his nuptiis defecit. Hoc vinum est interna devotio, de quo in Psal Vinum laetificat cor hominis. Et Matth nono: Nemo mittit vinum novum in utres veteres. Istud vinum deficit, cum homo efficitur aridus et indevotus, sicut dicit anima sancta in Psal Anima mea, sicut terra sine aqua, tibi. Sed ad preces Virginis, quae compatitur miseris, Dominus implet hydrias aqua compunctionis, quae convertitur in dulcedinem devotionis. Unde Exodo quinto decimo dicitur, quod aquae Marath in dulcedinem conversae sunt. Nota igitur, quod hyrdria, in qua hauritur aqua, est consideratio. Hydria vacua est consideratio defectus, et vacuitatis, quam incurrit homo per peccatum. Ista hydria impletur aqua, cum homo ex consideratione tali lacrymis perfunditur. Est igitur hydria prima consideratio defectus cognitionis; Tob quinto: Quale gaudium mihi erit, qui in tenebris sedeo, etc Secunda hydria consideratio defectus circumspectus circa hostem, secundae ad Cor. undecimo: Timeo autem, ne sicut serpens seduxit Hevam asturia sua, ita corrumpantur sensus vestri, et excidant a simplicitate, quae est in Christo. Tertia est consideratio defectus internae consolationis. Jer secundo: Vide quia malum, et amarum est, te reliquisse Dominum Deum tuum. Quarta est consideratio defectus virtutis ad resistendum; Psal Dereliquit me virtus mea, et lumen oculorum, et ipsum non est mecum. Quinta est consideratio defectus stabilitatis; Gen octavo: Sensus et cogitatio humani cordis in malum prona sunt ab adolescentia sua. Sexta est consideratio defectus securitatis ad proemium expectandum; Ecclesiastici nono: Nescit homo, utrum amore, an odio dignus fit. Tunc implentur istae hydriae aqua usque ad summum, quando anima poenitens lavat per singulas noctes ex his considerationibus, lectum suum. Et ex aqua vinum fit optimum devotionis, de quo Zach nono: Quid bonum ejus, et quid pulchrum ejus, nisi frumentum electorum, et vinum germinans virgines? In hoc converitur aqua compunctionis, unde sancta anima in Psal Convertisti planctum meum in gaudium mihi. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput II Source: Here, p507

On the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee... 1 Morally these nuptials are of God and the soul, in the reconciliation of the soul to God. In the second chapter of Hosea: 'I shall espouse you to me in faith, and you shall know I am the Lord.' 2 For the performance of these nuptials comes the Lord Jesus, even uninvited. In the third chapter of the Apocalypse: 'Behold I stand and the door and I knock, if someone hears my voice and opens the door to me, I shall enter and feast with him.' 3 The wine at the wedding ran out. This wine is internal devotion, concerning which in the Psalm: 'Wine which delights the heart of a man,' 4 and in the ninth chapter of Matthew: 'No one puts new wine in old wineskins.' 5 This wine runs out when a man is made arid and undevout, as the holy soul says in the Psalm, 'As a land without water to you,' 6 but to the prayers of the Virgin, who has compassion on your misery, the Lord fills the jars with the water of compunction, which are then turned into the sweetness of devotion. Whence in the fifteenth chapter of Exodus it is said that the waters of Mara turned sweet. 7 Therefore note that the jars from which the water is drawn is consideration. An empty jar is defective consideration and it holds nothing, and because of it a man hurries to sin. But this jar is filled with water when a man in such consideration is drenched with tears. Thus the first jar is consideration of defective knowledge. In the fifth chapter of Tobit, 'What joy shall there be for me who sit in darkness?' 8 The consideration of the second jar concerns the defect of wariness regarding the enemy. In the eleventh chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians: 'But I fear lest as the serpent seduced Eve with its cleverness, so your minds are corrupted and you are cut off from the simplicity which is in Christ.' 9 The third jar is the consideration of the defect of internal consolation. In the second chapter of Jeremiah: 'See that it is wicked and bitter that you have forsaken the Lord your God.' 10 The fourth consideration is the defect of virtue for resisting. In the Psalm: 'My virtue has gone from me, and the light of my eyes is not with me.' 11 The fifth consideration is of the defect of stability. In the eighth chapter of Genesis: 'The mind and thought of the human heart is inclined to wickedness from its youth.' 12 The sixth consideration is a defect in hope for the expected reward. In the ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes: 'A man does not know if he is worthy of love or hate.' 13 And then the jars are filled even to the brim when the penitent soul washes itself with these considerations each night on its own bed. And from this water is made the best wine of devotion, concerning which it is said in the ninth chapter of Zachariah: 'What is His good, and what is His beauty, unless the wheat of the elect and wine bringing forth virgins?' 14 One is changed into this by the water of compunction, whence the holy soul says in the Psalm: 'You turned my weeping into joy.' 5 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 2 1 Jn 2.1 2 Hosea 2.19 3 Apoc 3.10 4 Ps 103.15 5 Mt 9.17 6Ps 142.6 7 Exod 15.23 8 Tob 5.12 9 2 Cor 11.3 10 Jerem 2.19 11 Ps 37.11 12 Gen 8.21 13 Eccl 9.1 14 Zach 9.17 15 Ps 29.12

The Mountain And The City

Dixitque Lot ad eos : Quaeso, domine mi, quia invenit servus tuus gratiam coram te, et magnificasti misericordiam tuam quam fecisti mecum, ut salvares animam meam, nec possum in monte salvari, ne forte apprehendat me malum, et moriar: est civitas hæc juxta, ad quam possum fugere, parva, et salvabor in ea: numquid non modica est, et vivet anima mea? Est civitas parva. Id est, Segor quae antea Bale dicebatur secundum quod dixit: Est civitas parva, quae vocata est Segor, id est parvula. Mystice mons celsitudinem virtutum, significat ad quem nos angelus cohortatur, dicens: In montem salvum te fac, sicut verbi gratia est contemptus omnium facultum. Ad quem perfectionem Dominus invitat dicens: Si vis perfectus esse, vade, et vende omnia quae habes, et da pauperibus, et veni, sequere me, et habebis thesaurum in caelo. Qui vero se viderit ad hunc montem non posse conscendere, melius est ut in Segor, hoc est, in parvula remaneat, contentus laicali vita et communi conversatione, quam post arreptum virtutis montem ad humilia, id est ad saecularia redeat. Virginitas quoque celsissimus mons est ad quem doctor gentium hortatur, dicens: Bonum est homini, si sic permanserit sicut et ego. Hortatur ergo angelus Lot ut ad hunc montem conscendat, fugiens incendia libidinum. Sed qui se viderit hoc non posse servare descendat ad Segor, hoc est, utatur legitimo conjugio, quia melius mediocri bono uti quam per abrupta libidinum praecipitari. Unde et Dominus apostolis dicentibus: Si sic est causa uxoris, non expedit nubere, respondit: Non omnes capiunt verbum hoc, sed quibus datum est: qui potest capere, capiat. Et Apostolus: Propter fornicationem, inquit, unusquisque suam uxorem habeat. Remigius Antissiodorensis, Commentarius In Genesim, Caput XIX Source: Migne PL 131.92a-c

And Lot said to them: 'I beg, my Lord, since your servant has found favour before you, and you have magnified your mercy which you showed to me, that you save my soul. I cannot go up the mountain and be saved, lest some evil seize me and I perish, but there is a city close by to which I can flee, a little city, and I shall be saved there. Is it not small, and shall my soul not live?' 1 'A little city.' That is, Segor, which was also called Bale, according to which he said. 'There is a little city which is called Segor,' that is, small. Spiritually the mount is the height of the virtues, signifying that to which the angel exhorts us, saying, 'On the mountain save yourself,' which for the sake of a word is contempt of things here. To which perfection the Lord invites us, saying: 'If you will be perfect, go, and sell what you have, and give it to the poor, and come, follow me, and you shall have treasure in heaven.' 2 But he who sees that he is not able to ascend this mountain, it is better that he should dwell in Segor, that is, in little things, content with the lay life and common intercourse, and so after considering the mountain of virtue he returns to humble things, that is, the world. Virginity is also a heavenly mountain to which the teacher of the Gentiles exhorts us, saying, 'It is good for a man if he shall remain as I am.' 3 Therefore the angel tells Lot to go up the mountain that he might flee the fire of lust. But he who looks on himself as one who cannot do this, he goes down to Segor, that is, he makes use of lawful marriage, because a lesser good is better than to be suddenly cast into lust. Whence when the Apostles said: 'If this is the case with a wife, it does not profit to marry,' the Lord answered: 'Not everyone can receive this word, but to those it is given. He who is able, let him do it.' 4 And the Apostle says: 'Because of fornication let each man have his own wife.' 5 Remigius of Auxerre, Commentary On Genesis, Chapter 19 1 Genes 19.18-20 2 Mt 19.21 3 1 Cor 7.8 4 Mt 19.10-12 5 1 Cor 7.2

Love And Understanding

Vocatus est Jesus et discipuli ejus ad nuptias. Quoniam ut diximus in zelo transmigrationis factae sunt nuptiae istae, dici etiam a nobis debuit quod supra audistis, id est unde cecidimus illic revertamur, et ubi cecidimus ibi innitamur, ut inde surgamus. Migrandum vero quasi pedibus duobus, sensu et affectu. Altero de littera ad spiritum, altero de vitio ad virtutem. Quinimo et transmigrandum, et de virtute in virtutem migres, usque dum perfecta cognitione cernas quem diligit anima tua: et quasi quibusdam brachiis plenae dilectionis amplectaris, quem cernis: et propter cognitionem exsultabundus et admirans dicas: Talis est dilectus meus, et propter dilectionem subjungas: Et ipse est amicus meus; et illud: Ego dilecto meo, et dilectus meus mihi; inter ubera mea commorabitur. Haec est via transmigrationis, quam non tepide, non trepide, non tarde, sed dilatato corde cum zelo et fervore, inenarrabili dulcedine percurras, et quo feret impetus spiritus, semper rapiatis. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo X Source: Migne PL 194.1723a-c

'Jesus and His disciples had been invited to a marriage.' 1 Because, as I said, these marriages are made only in the zeal for passing on, I must speak of what you heard before from me, that is, how we may return from whence we fell, and where we fell there we may gain support that we might rise to whence we came. We must move, however, as with two feet, understanding and love. By one from the letter to the spirit, by the other from vice to virtue. And moreover there must be a passing on, by which you shall move from virtue to virtue, even to the perfect understanding of Him whom your soul loves, even to an embracing in the arms of bountiful love Him whom you see, and because of understanding, exulting and in wonder, you shall say: 'Such is my beloved,' and because of love you will add: 'And He is my friend,' 2 and then: 'I am my love's and my love is mine, in my bosom He shall dwell.' 3 This is the way of passing on, which is not for the lukewarm, nor for the hesitant, nor for the slow, but with a heart swelling with zeal and fervour you should run with unspeakable sweetness, and to that place where the power of the Spirit bears you, you shall have gain forever. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 10 1 Jn 2.2 2 Song 5.16 3 Song 2.16

Goods And Marriage

Copulatio itaque maris et feminae generandi causa bonum est naturale nuptiarum. Sed isto bono male utitur, qui bestialiter utitur, ut sit eius intentio in voluptate libidinis, non in voluntate propaginis. Quamquam in nonnullis animalibus rationis expertibus, sicut in plerisque alitibus, et coniugiorum quaedam quasi confoederatio custoditur et socialis nidificandi sollertia vicissimque ovorum dispertita tempora fovendorum et nutriendorum opera alterna pullorum magis eas videri faciunt agere, cum coeunt, negotium substituendi generis quam explendae libidinis. Quorum duorum illud est in pecore simile homnis, hoc in homine simile pecoris. Verum quod dixi ad naturam pertinere nuptiarum, ut mas et femina generandi societate iungantur et ita invicem non fraudent, sicut omnis societas fraudulentum socium naturaliter non vult, hoc tamen evidens bonum cum infideles habent, quia infideliter utuntur, in malum peccatumque convertunt. Eo modo ergo et illam concupiscentiam carnis, qua caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, in usum iustitiae convertunt fidelium nuptiae. Habent quippe intentionem generandi regenerandos, ut qui ex eis saeculi filii nascuntur in Dei filios renascantur. Quapropter qui non hac intentione, hac voluntate, hoc fine generant filios, ut eos ex membris hominis primi in membra transferant Christi, sed infideles parentes de infideli prole gloriantur; etiamsi tanta sint observantia, ut secundum matrimoniales tabulas nonnisi liberorum procreandorum causa concumbant, non est in eis vera pudicitia coniugalis. Cum enim virtus sit pudicitia, cui vitium contrarium est impudicitia, omnesque virtutes etiam quae per corpus operantur in animo habitent, quomodo vera ratione pudicum corpus adseritur, quando a vero Deo ipse animus fornicatur? Quam fornicationem sanctus ille Psalmus accusat, ubi dicit: Ecce enim qui longe se faciunt a te peribunt; perdidisti omnem qui fornicatur abs te, vera igitur pudicitia, sive coniugalis sive vidualis sive virginalis, dicenda non est, nisi quae verae fidei mancipatur. Cum enim recto iudicio praeferatur nuptiis sacrata virginitas, quis non sobria mente christianus etiam non univiras christianas catholicas nuptas, non solum vestalibus, sed etiam haereticis virginibus anteponat? Tantum valet fides, de qua dicit Apostolus: Omne quod non est ex fide peccatum est; et de qua item scriptum est ad Hebraeos: Sine fide impossibile est placere Deo. Sanctus Augustinus Hippoensis, De Nuptiis et Concupisentia, Liber I Source: Migne PL 44.415-416

Thus the union of male and female for the purpose of procreation is the natural good of marriage. But he uses this good badly who uses it bestially, so that his intention is in the pleasure of lust, not in the wish for offspring. Nevertheless in not a few animals without reason, as in most birds, there is both maintained a certain confederation of pairs and a social combination of skill in nest building, and their sharing between one another of the time for cherishing their eggs and in the work of feeding their young give them the appearance of acting, when they come together, for the purpose of the continuance of their kind rather than satisfying lust. Of these two, the one is the likeness of man in a beast, the other the likeness of the beast in man. The truth which I ascribed to the nature of marriage, that the male and the female are bound together as associates for procreation, and thus do not deceive other, as all society has a natural dislike of a deceitful associate, although even faithless men possess this evident good of nature, yet, since they use it without faith, they only turn it to evil and sin. In like manner, therefore, that carnal concupiscence by which 'the flesh lusts against the Spirit.' 1 is converted to the use of righteousness by the marriages of the faithful. For they hold to the intention of generating to be regenerated, that those who are born of them as children of the world may be reborn as sons of God. Whence those who do not beget children with this intention, this will, this end, that they be transferred from being members of the first man into members of Christ, but glory as unbelieving parents over unbelieving children, even if they observe such things as the matrimonial tablets set forth, not laying together but the purpose of the procreation of children, there is no true conjugal chastity in them. For as much as chastity is a virtue, whose opposing vice is unchastity, and as all the virtues, even those which operate through the body, have their place in the soul, how can the body be in any true sense be claimed to be chaste, when the soul itself fornicates apart from the true God? Which fornication the holy Psalmist denounces when he says: 'Behold, they who place themselves far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all who fornicate apart from you.' 2 Therefore it must not be said that there is no true chastity, whether conjugal, or of a widow, or of a virgin, unless it is given to the true faith. For though consecrated virginity is rightly preferred to marriage, yet what Christian in his sober mind would not prefer catholic Christian women who have even been married more than once, to not only vestals, but also to heretical virgins? So great is the benefit of faith, concerning which the Apostle says, 'Whatever is not of faith is sin;' 3 and concerning which it is written to the Hebrews, 'Without faith it is impossible to please God.' 4 Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Marriage and Concupiscence, Book 1 1 Galat 5.17 2 Ps 72.27 3 Rom 14.23 4 Heb 11.6

Offering Gifts

Quomodo si, inquit, inferant filii Israel munus in vase mundo in domum Domini; legimus in Apostlo, in domo magna non solum argentea vel aurea, sed etiam lignea vasa et fictilia reperiri. Quae in ipsa graduum diversitate omnia possunt esse usui, etiamsi non sunt aequalia dignitati. Cuilibet distantiae nitor opus est. Potest in fictilibus vasculis, dummodo munditia non deesit, divinae domui munus offerri, si vas ex eadem massa fictum, quia peccando ceciderat in contumeliam, poenitendo redeat ad honorem. Habemus enim thesaurum istum in vasis fictilibus. Haec ergo vascula, ut dixi, poenitentium teneant compunctionem. Porro lignea legitimam conjugatorum praeferant simplicitatem: cruore martyris aurea rubeant; virginitatis radio argentea perlucescant. Vasorum talium capacitas est, quod rationabilis naturae conditi sumus. In haec modo provideat de suo quisque quod offerat: pro qualitate munerum fit pretiositas vasculorum. Istis credo vasculis Heliseus quondam liquorem olei vivacis infudit, quod cum flueret irriguum, non e fluxit impletum. Sancti Aviti Viennensis, Ex sermone die 3 Rogationum Source: Migne PL 59.320b-d

He says that the sons of Israel will bring in gifts in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord, 1 and we read in the Apostle: 'In a great house there are not only vessels of silver and gold but even of wood and earth.' 2 With which difference of grades all can put to use, even if they are not of equal worth. And what may be those differences I will strive to explain. It is possible that in an earthern vessel, provided that beauty is not lacking, gifts may be brought to the Divine house, if that vessel which is from that earthen substance made because it has fallen into sin into dishonour, by penance returns to honour. 'For we have this treasure in eathern vessels.' 3 So there are, as I have said, these vessels which hold the compunction of the penitent. Then the wood bears the simple lawfulness of those who are married, the golden ones shine with the blood of martyrs, the silver gleam with the brightness of virginity. The capacity of such vessels is the state of our rational nature. In this way let a man see what he offers from himself, what sort of worthiness of gift is in the vases. Into these vessels, I think, Elisha once poured the living oil, which when it flowed filled them, and when the vessel was full it stopped flowing. 4 Saint Avitus of Vienne, from a Sermon on the Third day of Rogation 1 Isaiah 66.20 2 2 Tim 2.20 3 2 Cor 4.7 4 4 Kings 4.1-7

A Mindless Divorce

Ἐῥῥέθη δὲ ὅτι ὃς ἄν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, δότω αὐτῇ ἀποστάσιον... Ὁ τὴν σώφρονα ἐκβάλλων δίδωσιν αὐτῇ ἄδειαν ἄλλῳ γαμηθῆναι, ὅπερ ἐστὶν εἴδος μοιχείας, ὠσανεὶ μὴ λυθείσης συζυγίας· οὐ γὰρ τὰ ῥεποὺδια παρὰ Θεῷ λύει τὸν γάμον, ἀλλ' ἡ ἄτοπος πρᾶξις. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source:  Migne PG 72.380d

And it was said that whoever would dismiss his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce... 1   He who casts out wisdom and gives her freedom to be married to another, this is a type of adultery, for it is not as if the bond is broken; no bill of divorce releases from the marriage to God, but it is an irrational act. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 5.31

Errors And Darkness

Ὅτι παρὰ φύσιν ταύτας ἡγοῦνται οἱ πολλοὶ τρυφὰς, τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἁμαρτίας· οἱ δὲ τούτων ἐπιεικέστεροι γνωρίζουσι μὲν οὔσας αὐτας ἁμαρτίας, ἠττῶνται δὲ τῶν ἡδονῶν, καὶ τὸ σκότος αὐτοῖς ἐστὶ προκάλυμμα τῶν παθῶν· καὶ τὸ σκότος αὐτοῖς ἐστι προκάλυμμα τῶν παθῶν· μοιχεύει γὰρ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ γάμον ὁ ἑταιριζόμενος αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ ἀκούει τοῦ παιδαγωγοῦ βοῶντος· Ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ ἀναβαίνων ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης αὐτοῦ, ὁ λέγων ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ· Τίς με ὁρᾷ; Σκότος κύκλῳ μου, καὶ οἱ τοῖχοι σκέπη μου, καὶ οὐδεὶς βλέπει τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου· τί εὐλαβοῦμαι; Μὴ μνησθήσεται ὁ ὕψιστος. Ταλάντατος μὲν οὗτος, ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀνθρώπων δεδιὼς μόνους, λήσειν δὲ τὸν θεὸν ὑπονοῶν. Οὐ γὰρ γινώσκει, φησὶν ἡ γραφή, ὅτι ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου ὑψίστου μυριοπλασίως ἡλίου φωτεινότεροί εἰσιν, οἳ ἐπιβλέπουσι πάσας ὁδοὺς ἀνθρώπων καὶ κατανοοῦσιν εἰς ἀπόκρυφα μέρη. Ταύτῃ τε πάλιν ὁ παιδαγωγὸς αὐτοῖς ἀπειλεῖ διὰ Ἡσαΐου λέγων· Οὐαὶ οἱ ἐν κρυφῇ βουλὴν ποιοῦντες, καὶ ἐροῦσι· τίς ἡμᾶς ὁρᾷ; Λήσεται μὲν γὰρ ἴσως τὸ αἰσθητὸν φῶς τις, τὸ δὲ νοητὸν ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν, ἢ ὥς φησιν Ἡράκλειτος· Τὸ μὴ δῦνόν ποτε πῶς ἄν τις λάθοι; Μηδαμῶς τοίνυν ἐπικαλυπτώμεθα τὸ σκότος, τὸ γὰρ φῶς ἔνοικον ἡμῖν· καὶ ἡ σκοτία, φησίν, αὐτὸ οὐ καταλαμβάνει, καταυγάζεται δὲ αὐτὸ ἡ νὺξ τῷ σώφρονι λογισμῷ· λογισμοὺς δὲ ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν οὓς ἀκοιμήτους λύχνους ὠνόμασεν ἡ γραφή. Καίτοι τό γε πειρᾶσθαι λανθάνειν ἐφ' οἷς πράττει τις ὁμολογοῦντος ἁμαρτάνειν ἐστίν, πᾶς δὲ ὃς ἁμαρτάνει, καὶ ἀδικεῖ εὐθύς, οὐχ οὕτως τὸν πέλας, ἂν μοιχεύῃ, ὡς ἑαυτόν, ὅτι μεμοίχευκεν· ἀλλὰ πάντως αὑτὸν χείρονα ἀποφαίνει καὶ ἀτιμότερον. Ὁ γὰρ ἁμαρτάνων, παρ' ὅσον ἁμαρτάνει, χείρων καὶ ἀτιμότερος αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ· πάντως δὲ ἤδη που καὶ ἀκολασία πρόσεστι τῷ ἡττωμένῳ αἰσχρᾶς ἡδονῆς· Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Ὁ Παιδαγωγός, Λογὸς Δεύτερος, Κεφ. Ι' Source: Migne PG 8 516a-517a

For many think that only those delights which are against nature are perversions, such as these sins of theirs. And even those who are better than them, knowing them to be sins, are yet overcome by pleasure, and darkness is a veil for their passions. For he who uses marriage in a whorish way commits adultery, and does not hear the Instructor crying out: 'The man who ascends his bed, who says in his soul, Who sees me? Darkness is around me, and the walls shelter me, and no one sees my sins. Why do I fear? The Highest will not remember.' Indeed most wretched is this man: 'who dreads only the eyes of men, and thinks he will escape the observation of God. For he knows not,' says Scripture, 'that brighter ten thousand times than the sun are the eyes of the Most High, which look on all the ways of men, and cast their glance into hidden parts.' 1 Thus again the Instructor warns them, speaking by Isaiah: 'Woe be to those who take counsel in secret, and say: Who sees us?' 2 For one may escape the light of the senses, but from the mind it is impossible. 'For how,' says Heraclitus, 'can one escape the notice of that which never sets?' Let us, then, not cover ourselves with darkness, for the light dwells in us. 'For the darkness,' it is said, 'comprehends it not.' 3 And the night itself is illuminated by prudent reason, and so Scripture has named the thoughts of good men 'sleepless lamps.' And to attempt to hide something one does is to admit sin, and every one who sins directly wrongs not so much his neighbour, if he commits adultery, as himself, because he has committed adultery, besides making himself worse and of ill repute. For he who sins, in the degree in which he sins, is made worse and is of less worth than before, and he who has been overthrown by base pleasures, now has licentiousness wholly attached to him. Clement of Alexandria, from The Teacher, Book II, Ch 10 1 Sirach 23.18-19 2 Isaiah 29.15 3 Jn 1.5

Anna The Widow

Docuit igitur Scriptura quantam collatio conferat gratiam, quantum etiam sit munus divinae benedictionis in viduis. Quibus quoniam honorificentia a Deo tanta confertur, est advertere qualis debeat vita competere; docet enim Anna quales deceat esse viduas, quae immaturo mariti obitu destituta, maturae tamen adoream laudis invenit: non minus religionis officio, quam studio castitatis intenta. Vidua, inquit, octoginta et quator annorum, vidua quae non discederet de templo, vidua quae jejuniis et obsecrationibus die ac nocte serviret. Vides qualis vidua praedicetur, unius viri uxor, aetatis quoque jam probata processu, vivida religioni, et effeta jam corpore: cui diversorium in templo, colloquium in prece, vita in jejunio: quae dierum noctiumque temporibus indefessae devotionis obsequio, cum corporis agnosceret senectutuem, pietatis tamen nesciret aetatem. Sic instituitur a juventute vidua, sic praedicatur in senectute veterana: quae viduitatem non occasione temporis, non imbecillitate corporis, sed virtutis magnanimitate servaverit. Etenim cum dicit septem annis eam cum viro fuisse a virginitate sua, ad adolescentiae utique studiis inchoata predicat subsidia senectutis. Docemur itaque triplicem castitatis esse virtutem: unam conjugalem, aliam viduitatis, tertiam virginitatis; non enim aliam sic praedicamus, ut excludamus alias. Suis quibusque professionibus ista conducunt. In hoc Ecclesiae est opulens disciplina, quod quos praeferat, habet: quos rejiciat, non habet; atque utinam habere numquam possit. Ita igitur virginitatem praedicavimus ut viduas non rejiceremus: ita viduas honoramus, ut suus honos conjugio reservetur. Non nostra hoc praecepta, sed divina testimonia docent. Reminsicamur itaque quemadmodum Maria, quemadmodum Anna, quemadmodum Susanna laudentur. Sed quoniam non laudes earum tantummodo praedicandae sunt, sed disciplinae etiam sunt sequendae, reminiscamur ubi Susanna, ubi Anna, ubi Maria, sint repertae: et advertamus quemadmodum singulae aptis laudibus praedicentur, ut ubinam commorentur: nupta in paradiso, vidua in templo, virgo in secreto. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Viduis, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 16. 241b-242b

Scripture therefore teaches how much grace is given by unity, and how great is the gift of divine blessing in widows. And since such honour is given to them by God, we should observe what sort of life they pursue. Now Anna shows what widows ought to be, she who was left destitute by the early loss of her husband and yet found the reward of full praise, intent not less on the duties of religion than on the care for chastity. A widow, it says, of eighty four years, a widow who did not depart from the temple, a widow who served night and day with fasting and with prayers. 1 You see how a widow is spoken of: the wife of one man, tried also by the advance of age, vigorous in religion even though worn out in body, whose station is the temple, whose conversation is prayer, whose life is fasting, she who through the hours of day and night by a service of unwearied devotion, though the body admit old age, yet she knows no age in piety. So is a widow trained from her youth, so she is spoken of in her old age, she who has guarded her widowhood not by the chance of time, nor by weakness of body, but by magnanimity in virtue. For when it is said that she was seven years from her virginity with her man, it shows us that the things which are the support of her old age began in the zeal of her youth. And so we are taught that the virtue of chastity is threefold, one kind is the married life, the second widowhood, and the third virginity, for we do not exhort one to exclude the others. Each with its own profession leads onward together.  In this the discipline of the Church is rich, that it has those whom it may set before others, but has none whom it rejects, and that it were that it never had any. Thus we have spoken of virginity so that we do not reject widowhood, thus we reverence widows so that we reserve wedlock its own honour. It is not our commands but the Divine sayings which teach this. Let us remember how Mary, how Anna, and how Susanna are praised. But since we must not only tell their praises but also follow their discipline, let us remember where Susanna, 2 and where Anna, 3 and where Mary 4 are found, and note how each is spoken of with her special commendation, and in which place each is mentioned, she that is married in the garden, the widow in the temple, the virgin in her secret chamber Saint Ambrose, On Widows, Chap 4 1 Lk 2.36-37 2 Dan 13.7 3 Lk 2.38 4 Lk 1.28

Advent Names

Non apices, non litterae, non syllabae, non verbum, non nomina, non personae in Evangelio divinis vacua sunt figuris. Sponsa quaeritur ut jam tunc Ecclesia Christi sponsa signetur, juxta illud Oseae prophetae: Sponsabo te mihi in justitia et judicio et in misericordia et miserationibus et desponsabo te mihi in fide. Hinc Joannes ait: Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est.  Et Paulus: Sponsavi vos uni viro virginem castam exhibere Christo. Vere sponsa quae virginali partu novam Christi regignit infantiam. Procurator Joseph sponsus, ut iste in illo Joseph Christi figuram impleat passionis; Joseph prophetalibus somniis incurrit zelum, Christus propheticis visionibus suscepit invidiam; Joseph missus in lacum mortis, vivus emergit a lacu, Christus mortis sepulcro datus, vivus remeat a sepulcro. Joseph venumdatus est, pretio taxatus est Christus, Joseph transducitur in Aegyptum, ad Aegtptum fugatur Christus; Joseph esurientibus populis panem copiose ministrat, Christus coeli pane manentes orbe toto exsaturat nationes. Sic lucet cur Joseph iste coelestis sponsi typum praetulerit, portaverit imaginem, ambulaverit in figuram. Maria mater vocatur, et quando non Maria mater. Congregationes, inquit, aquarum apellavit maria. Nonne haec exeuntem populum de Aegypto concepit uno utero et emergeret coelestis in novam creaturam renata progenies juxta illud apostoli: Patres nostri omnes sub nube fuerunt, et omnes mare transierunt et omnes sub nube fuerunt, et omnes mare transierunt, et omnes in Moyse baptizatisint in nube et in mari. Et ut semper Maria humane praevia sit salutis, populum quem unda generatrix emisit in lucem, ipse jure praecessit in cantico. Maria, inquit, soror Aaron sumens tympanum in manu sua, dixit: Cantemus Domino, gloriose enim honorificatus est. Nomen hoc prophetiae germanum est, hoc renascentibus salutare, hoc virginitati insigne, hoc pudicitiae decus, hoc indicium castitatis, hoc Dei sacrificium, hoc hospitalitatis virtus, hoc collegium sanctitatis; merito ergo matris Christi nomen est hoc maternum. Diximus quare mater sponsa, quare Joseph sponsus, quare Mariae maternum nomen, ut totum circa ortum Christi fuisse mysticum panderemus. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CXLVII Source Migne PL 52 592d- 593c

Not a dot, not a letter, not a syllable, not a word, not a name, not a person in the Gospel is without Divine significance. The bride in question was already before as a bride a figure of the Church of Christ, according to which the prophet Hosea, says, 'I shall marry you to me in righteousness and judgement and in mercy and pity and I shall betroth you to me in faith.' 1 Whence John says 'He who has the bride is the bridegroom.'  2 And Paul: 'I have espoused you to one man, a chaste virgin before Christ.'  3 Truly she is the bride who gave birth in virginal birth to the new child of Christ. The overseer Joseph is the groom, he who as a figure of Christ fulfilled the passion. Joseph encountered jealousy by prophetic dreams, Christ with prophetic visions encountered envy, Joseph was thrown into the pit of death and living emerged from it, the dead Christ being given to the tomb came back living from it. Joseph was sold as a slave, for a price Christ was handed over, Joseph was taken into Egypt, Christ fled there, Joseph ministered to a hungering people with abundance of bread, Christ with the bread of heaven satisfies all the nations of the world. So it is evident why Joseph is a type of the celestial spouse, he bore the image, he walked as a figure. Mary is named mother and when not Mary mother. 'And the gathering of the waters he named the sea,' it says, 4 where sea is 'Maria'. And is the going of the people from Egypt not a conception in one womb that they emerge a new creation, a people from heaven reborn, according to the Apostle, 'Our fathers were beneath a cloud, and they passed through the sea and all in Moses were baptized in the cloud and sea.' 5 And that always Mary may be humanely the herald of salvation, a maternal wave which sends a people out into the light, rightly does it occur in a previous song. It says: 'Miriam, the sister of Aaron, took up the timbrel in her hand and said, 'We shall sing the Lord, for gloriously He has been magnified.' 6 The name of this prophetess is appropriate, here is the rebirth of salvation, here the seal of virginity, here the glory of modesty, here the sign of chastity, here the sacrifice of God, here the welcoming of virtue, here the gathering of holiness, and thus with merit is this the name of Christ's mother. And so we have told why the mother was the bride, why Joseph is the groom, why Mary is the mother's name, that we might reveal the whole mystery of Christ's coming. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 147 1 Hosea 2.19-20 2 Jn 3.29 3 2 Cor 11.2 4 Gen 1.10 5 1 Cor 10.1-2  6 Exodus 15.20-21

The Beautiful Soul

Sed puellam de populo, ne contaminet semen suum. Pulchra namque a Deo creata est anima, et satis decora, quae imaginem habet, et similitudinem Dei. Dehinc sequitur: De genere suo ducat uxorem, animam scilicet, quae ei fide conjungitur. Nec contaminabit semen suum, id est, verbum Dei, quod in Ecclesia praedicatur, sicut in Evangelio scriptum est: Ne dederitis sanctum canibus, neque mittatis margaritas ante porcos, ne conculcent eas pedibus suis. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Leviticum, Caput XII Source: Migne PL 83.331

But a maiden from the people, lest his seed be debased. 1 For the soul created by God is beautiful, and it is fully adorned, having the image and likeness of God. Whence it follows that from his own people he will lead a wife, that is, the soul, which is bound to him in faith. Nor should his seed be contaminated, that is, the word of God, which is preached in the Church, as it is written in the Gospel: 'Do not give a holy thing to dogs, nor cast pearls before swine, lest they trample on them with their feet.' 2 Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Leviticus, Chap 12 1 Lev 21.14-15 2 Mt 7.6 3 Lk 12.49

The Contemplative And The Warrior

Homo formidoloso et corde pavido non egredietur ad bellum. Vadat et revertatur ad domum suam, ne pavere faciat corda fratrum suorum, sicut et ipse timore perterritus est. Quibus verbis edocet non posse eos professionem contemplatinois vel spiritualis militiae arripere exercitium, qui adhuc nudari terrenis operibus pertimescunt. Ne rursus infirmitate mentis revertantur, suoque exemplo alios a perfectione evangelica revocent, et infideli terrore infirment; jubentur itaque tales, ut, discedentes a pugna, revertantur in domum suam, quia non possunt duplici corde bella Domini praeliari. Vir enim duplex animo, inconstants in omnibus viis suis. Tales quippe oportet ut ne initium quidem renuntiationis arripiant. Quibus melius est ut un activa vita consistant, quam trepidi contemplationem exsequentes, majori discrimine semetipsos involvant. Melius est enim non vovere, quam vovere et non reddere. Similiter et ille a tali militia prohibetur, qui uxorem duxerit, qui plantaverit vineam, velt propaginem filiorum, non enim potest servire divinae militiae servus uxoris, secundum Apostoli: Qui cum uxore est, sollicitus est quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est.  Nec potest inesse quis studio contemplationis, qui adhuc in delectatione defigitur carnis. Nemo, inquit Apostolus, militans Deo, implicat se negotiis saecularibus, ut ei placeat cui se probavit. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Deutronomium, Caput XV Migne PL 83.365-366

A man fearful and timid in heart should not go out to war. Let him begone and return to his house lest he causes fear in the hearts of his brothers, with his own fear unnerving them. 1 By which words is taught that they are not able to take up the exercise of contemplation or spiritual warfare who yet fear to strip themselves of worldly works, lest again they fall back into weakness of soul and their example calls others away from the perfection of the Gospel, and by faithless fear others are made infirm. Such men are thus ordered to withdraw from combat and return to their own houses because they who have divided hearts are not able to fight the wars of the Lord; a man with a divided soul is inconstant in all his ways. And certainly they should not even start on the beginning of renunciation; it is better for them is to be established in the active life, those who with fear would follow the contemplative, with greater discrimination occupying themselves. Better it is not to take a vow than to take a vow and not fulfill it. And likewise he is prohibited from such warfare who takes a wife, who plants vines and who propagates children, 2 for he is not able to serve in the Divine army who is the servant of a wife, as the Apostle says, 'He who has a wife has his care in how to please her, and he is divided in himself.' 3 And the contemplative zeal is not able to inhere in him who is yet fixed in the pleasures of the flesh. 'No one,' says the Apostle, 'is a soldier of God who is involved in worldly business, but he who is would please him who has approved him.' 4 Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Exodus, Chap 27 1 Deut 20.8 2 Deut 20. 5-7  3 1 Cor 7.33 4 2 Tim 2.4

The Wives Of Jesus

Ipse autem est qui praefigurabatur in Jacob Dominus Jesus, duorum vir conjugiorum, hoc est, consors quidam legis et gratiae, qui virginem Rachel ante dilexit, et praedestinatam sibi in conjugium pio amabat affectu. Sed quoniam Lia tanquam lex subintravit, et oculis infirmior obrepsit tanquam Synogoga, quae mentis caecitate Christum videre non potuit, superabundavit gratia sanctae Rachel, quae supra primum illud est expetita conjugium, quae Ecclesiae principatum futurum jam tunc nominis sui in interpretatione signabat. Beata Rachel, quae astulit opprobrium suo partu: beata Rachel, quae abscondit cultus, erroresque gentilium, quae simulacra eorum plena esse immunditiae declaravit. Nemo credat paternae pietatis laesam esse reverentiam, quod stante patre sedit; quoniam scriptum est: Qui plus fecerit patrem aut matrem, quam me, non est me dignus. Ubi causa agebatur religionis, fides debuit sedem habere judicii, et quasi rea stare perfidia. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Jacob et Vita Beata, Lib II, Caput V Migne PL 14 624

In Jacob is prefigured the Lord Jesus, a man of two wives, that is, the consort of the law and grace, who first loved the virgin Rachel, and, being predestined for her in marriage, he loved with pious affection. But Leah as the law was first introduced, and had weaker eyes like the Synagogue, which blindness of mind was not able to recognise Christ, while Rachel abounded with grace of sanctity, 1 she who above the first was the desired marriage, she who the preeminent future of the Church already then signified by her name interpreted. Blessed Rachel, who took away shame with her birthing, blessed Rachel, who took away the religion and the errors of the Gentiles, who declared their idols to be unclean. No one thinks that paternal piety is honourable when it does harm, and so with the father standing she sat; for it is written 'He who cares for father or mother rather than me is not worthy of me.' 2 When the court of religion is held, faith should sit in the seat of judgement, and the guilty traitor stands. 3   Saint Ambrose, On Jacob and the Good Life, Book 2, Chap 5 1.Gen 29.17,30 2 Mt 10.37 3 Gen 31

Taking A Wife

Post longam igitur servitutem, quam Jacob apud socerum suum pro uxoribus, velut mercede, sustinuit, praecepit ei Dominus ut reverteretur in patriam suam. Tunc, ignorante socero, eum uxoribus et comitatu properavit. Laban autem consecutus est eum in montem Galad cum furore, atque idola quae Rachel furata erat apud eum requisivit, nec reperit. Quid igitur sibi hoc ipsum figuraliter velit, inspiciendum est. Dum Laban superius aliam gerat personam, nunc tamen diaboli typum figurat. Laban quippe interpretatur dealbatio. Dealbatio autem diabolus non inconvenienter accipitur, qui cum sit ex merito tenebrosus, transfigurat se in angelum lucis. Huic servivit Jacob, id est, ex parte reproborum Judaicus populus, ex cujus carne incarnatus Dominus venit. Potest etiam per Laban mundus hic experimi, qui cum furore Jacob persequitur, quia electos quosque, qui Redemptoris nostri membra sunt, persequendo opprimere conatur. Hujus filiam, id est, seu mundi, seu diaboli, Jacob abstulit, cum sibi Christus Ecclesiam ex gentilitate conjunxit, quam et de domo partis abstrahit, quia ei per prophetam dicit 'Obliviscere populum tuum, et domum patris tui' Quid vero in idolis, nisi avaritia designatur? Unde et per Paulum dicitur: Et avaritia, quae est idolorum servitus. Laban ergo veniens apud Jacob, idola non invenit, quia, ostensis mundi thesauris, diabolus in Redemptore nostro vestigia concupiscentiae terrenae non reperit. Sed quae Jacob non habuit, ea Rachel sedendo cooperuit. Per Rachel quippe, quae ovis dicitur, Ecclesia figuratur. Sedere autem est humilitatem poenitentiae appetere, sicut scriptum est: Surgite, postquam sederitis. Rachel ergo sedendo idola cooperuit, quia sancta Eccleisa Christum sequens, vitia terrenae concupiscentiae per humilitatem poenitetniae cooperuit. De hac coopertione vitiorum per Prophetam dicitur: Beati quorum remissa sunt iniquitates, et quorum tecta sunt peccata. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Quaestiones in Vetus Testamentum, Caput XXVI

Therefore after long service which Jacob undertook for his uncle for wives, as reward, the Lord commanded that he should return to his fatherland. Then, without the knowledge of his uncle, he hurried away with his wives and company. Laban however pursued him to mount Galaad in anger, and seeking the idols which Rachel hid, he did not find them. 1 What this means figuratively we must investigate. While Laban before bore another persona, now however he is a type of the devil. And the name of Laban is interpreted as whitewashing. And whitewashing is not inconveniently applied to the devil who though he is by his nature darkness may transform himself into an angel of light. Jacob served this one, that is, from a part of the reprobate Hebrew people the Lord came incarnate in the flesh. And by Laban the world is expressed, who with fury pursued Jacob, because those chosen, who are members of the Redeemer, he tried to suppress with persecution. His daughter, that is,a thing of the world, or of the devil, Jacob took away, as Christ joined himself to the Church drawn from the Gentiles, which he drew forth even from the house of her father, and concerning this it is said by the Prophet, 'Forget your people, and the house of your father.' 2 And what is signified by the idols but avarice? Whence by Paul it is said: 'And avarice which is the service of idols.' 3 Laban, then, coming to Jacob did not find the idols, because regarding the ostentatious wealth of the world, the devil does not in our Redeemer find trace of worldly desires. Yet that which Jacob did not have, Rachel sitting covered. And by Rachel, who is named sheep, the Church is signified. To sit is take to the humility of penance, as it is written, 'You rise after sitting.'  4 Rachel therefore sitting covers the idols, and the Church following Christ with the humility of penance covers the vices of worldly desires. Concerning which covering of faults the Prophet says, 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.' 5 Saint Isidore of Seville, Questions on the Old Testament, Chapter 26 1 Gen 29-31 2 Ps 44.11 3 Col 3.5 4 Ps 126.2 5 Ps 31.1

Marriage And The Beginning

Invenimus nos ad initiam dirigi a Christo, sicut in quaestione repudii dicens illud propter duritiam  ipsorum a Moyse esse permissum, ab initio autem non ita fuisse, sine dubio ad initium revocat matrimonii  individuitatem; ideoque quos Deus ab initio coniunxit in unam carnem duos, hodie homo non separabit. Dicit et apostolus scribens ad Ephesios Deum proposuisse in semetipso ad dispensationem  adimpletionis temporum ad caput, id est ad initium, reciprocare universa in Christo, quae sunt super caelos et super terras in ipso.  Sic et duas Graeciae litteras, summam et ultimam, sibi induit dominus, initii et finis concurrentium in se figuras, uti, quemadmodum A ad Ω usque volvitur et rursus Ω ad  A replicatur, ita ostenderet in se esse et initii decursum ad finem et finis reoursum ad initium, ut omnis dispositio in eo desinens, per quem coepta est, per sermonem scilicet dei, quia caro factus est, proinde desinat, quemadmodum et coepit. Et adeo in Christo omnia revocantur ad initium,  ut et fides reversa sit a circumcisione ad integritatem carnis illius, sicut ab initio fuit, et libertas ciborum et sanguinis solius abstinentia, sicut ab initio fuit, et matrimonii individuitas, sicut ab initio fuit, et repudii cohibitio, quod ab initio non fuit; et postremo totus homo in paradisum revocatur, ubi ab initio fuit. Cur ergo vel monogamum illo non debeat Adam  referre, qui non potest tam integrum quam inde dimissus est? Quantum pertinet itaque ad initii restitutionem, id a te exigit et dispositionis et spei tuae ratio, quod ab initio fuit; secundum initium, quod tibi et in Adam censetur et in Noe recensetur, elige, in quo eorum initium tuum deputes: in ambobus te sibi monogamiae censura defendit.  Sed et si initium transmittit  ad finem ut A ad Ω, quomodo finis remittit ad initium ut Ω ad A, atque ita census noster transfertur in Christum, animalis in spiritalem, quia non primo, quod spiritale est, sed quod animale,  dehinc quod spiritale, proinde videamus, an id ipsum debeas huic quoque censui secundo, an in eandem te formam conveniat novissimus quoque Adam in quam et primus, quando novissimus Adam, id est Christus, innuptus in totum, quod etiam primus Adam ante exilium.  Sed donato infirmitati  tuae carnis suae exemplo perfectior Adam, id est Christus, eo quoque nomine perfectior qua integrior, volenti quidem tibi spado occurrit in carne; si vero non sufficis, monogamus incurrit in spiritu, unam habens ecclesiam sponsam secundum figuram, quam apostolus in illud magnum sacramentum  interpretatur, in Christum et ecclesiam, competentes carnali monogamiae per spiritalem. Vides igitur, quemadmodum etiam in Christo novas censum non possis eum sine monogamiae  professione deferre, nisi carne sis, quod spiritu ille est, licet et quod fuit carne, aeque esse debueris.  Tertullianus, De Monogamia, Caput V Migne PL 2 935-6

We find ourselves directed to the beginning by Christ, just as, in the question of divorce, he says that it had been permitted by Moses on account of their hard hearts but that from the beginning it was not so, doubtless recalling to the beginning the indivisibility of marriage, and so those whom God from the beginning joined, two in one flesh, 1 today man shall not separate. And writing to the Ephesians the Apostle says that God 'had proposed in Himself, at the dispensation of the fulfillment of the times, to recall to the head' that is, to the beginning 'everything in Christ, which are above the heavens and above the earth in Him.' 2 So, also, two Greek letters, the first and the last, the Lord takes to Himself, as figures of the beginning and end 3 which join together in Him, so that, just as Alpha rolls on until it reaches Omega, and again Omega until it reaches Alpha, thus He shows in Himself both the downward course of the beginning to the end, and the backward course of the end to the beginning, so that every dispensation ending in Him through whom it began, that is, through the Word of God who was made flesh, may have an end corresponding to its beginning. And so in Christ are all things recalled to the beginning, that even faith returns from circumcision to the integrity of the flesh, as it was from the beginning; and freedom of foods and abstinence from blood alone, as it was from the beginning; and the indivisibility of marriage, as it was from the beginning; and the prohibition of divorce, which was not from the beginning; and finally the whole man is recalled into Paradise, where he was from the beginning. Why, then, should He not restore Adam there as a monogamist, who cannot have him as perfect as when he was dismissed? As much as it pertains to the restitution of the beginning, the reason of the dispensation you live under and of your hope demand this from you, that which was from the beginning in accordance with the beginning, which for you is counted in Adam, and recounted in Noah. Choose in which of the two you would have your beginning; in both the judgement of monogamy is maintained. But again, if the beginning passes on to the end, as Alpha to Omega, as the end passes back to the beginning, as Omega to Alpha, and thus our origin is transferred to Christ, the animal to the spiritual, because what is first is not spiritual, but what is animal, then comes what is spiritual, let us then see whether you owe the same to this second origin, whether the second Adam meet you in the same form as the first, since the second Adam, that is, Christ, was entirely unwedded, as was even the first before his expulsion. But the more perfect Adam, giving to your weakness the gift of the example of His own flesh, that is, Christ, more perfect as He was more entirely pure, comes before you, as a voluntary celibate in the flesh. If, however, you are unable, He stands a monogamist in spirit, having one Church as His spouse, which figure the Apostle interprets of that great sacrament of Christ and the Church, 4  the spiritual corresponding to carnal monogamy. You see, therefore, how, renewing your origin in Christ, you cannot follow it without the profession of monogamy; unless you be in the flesh what He is in spirit, and what He was in flesh, you equally should have been. Tertullian, On  Monogamy, Chapter 5 1 Gen 2.24 2 Ephes 1.10 3 Apoc 1.8; 22.13 4 Ephes 5.22-33

Marriage And Discipline

Ἐλπίδα οὖν ζωῆς αἰωνίου ἔχοντες, τῶν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ βίῳ καταφρονοῦμεν, μέχρι καὶ τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ἡδέων. Γυναῖκα μὲν ἔκαστος ἡμῶν, ἣν ἠγάγετο κατὰ τοὺς ὑφ' ἡμῶν τεθειμένους νόμους, νομίζων, καὶ ταύτην μέχρι τοῦ παιδοποιήσθαι. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ γεωργὸς καταβάλλων εἰς γῆν τὰ σπέρματα, ἅμητον περιμένει οὐκ ἐπισπείρων· καὶ ἡμῖν μέτρον ἐπιθυμίας ἡ παιδοποιία. Εὕροις δ' ἂν πολλοὺς τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν,καὶ ἄνδρας καὶ γυναῖκας, καταγηράσκοντας ἀγάμους, ἐλπίδι τοῦ μᾶλλον συνέσεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ. Εἰ δὲ τὸ ἐν παρθενίᾷ καὶ ἐν εὐνουχίᾳ μεῖναι, μᾶλλον παρίστησι τῷ Θεῷ, τὸ δὲ μέχρις ἐννοίας καὶ ἐπιθυμίας ἐλθεῖν ἀπάγει· ὦν τὰς ἐννοίας φεύγομεν, πολὺ πρότερον τὰ ἔργα παραιτούμεθα. Οὐ γὰρ μελέτῃ λόγων, ἀλλ' ἐπιδείξει καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ ἔργων τὰ ἡμέτερα· ἢ οἷός τις ἐτέχθη, μένειν, ἢ ἐφ' ἑνι γάμῳ. Ὁ γὰρ δεύτερος εὐπρεπής ἐστι μοιχεία. Ὃς γὰρ ἂν ἀπολύσῃ, φησὶ, τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, καὶ γαμήσῃ ἄλλην, μοιχᾶται· οὔτε ἀπολύειν ἐπιτρέπων ἧς ἔπαυσέ τις τὴν παρθενίαν, οὔτε ἐπιγαμεῖν. Ὁ γὰρ ἀποστερῶν ἑαυτὸν τῆς προτέρας γυναικὸς, καὶ εἰ τέθνηκε, μοιχός ἐστι παρακεκαλυμμένος, παραβαίνων μὲν τὴν χεῖρα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι ἐν ἀρχῇ ὁ Θεὸς ἕνα ἄνδρα ἔπλασε καὶ μίαν γυναῖκα· λύων δὲ τὴν σάρκα πρὸς σάρκα κατὰ τὴν ἔνωσιν πρὸς μίξιν εἰς τοῦ γένους κοινωνίαν. Ἀθηναγόρος, Πρεσβεία Περί Χριστιανών Source: Migne PG 6.965a-966a

Hope, then, having of eternal life, we despise the things of this life, even unto the pleasures of the soul. Each of us reckons her his wife whom he has married according to the laws laid down by us, and this for child bearing. For as the farmer throwing down the seed into the earth awaits the harvest, not sowing more, so to us the measure of desire is the bearing of children. But you may find many among us, both men and women, growing old unmarried, in hope of binding themselves closer to God. But if remaining in maidenhood and as a eunuch brings one nearer to God, and the thought and desire lead away from Him, those thoughts we flee, well before we wish for the deed. For our care is not for words but for the showing and teaching of our deeds, that a man should either remain as born, or marry once. For a second marriage is only a fair seeming adultery. 'For he who divorces his wife,' He says, 'and marries another, is an adulterer,' 1 a man not being permitted to be rid of her whose virginity he has ended, nor to remarry. For he who rids himself of his first wife, even if she is dead, is a cloaked adulterer, fleeing from the hand of God, because in the beginning God made one man and one woman, while he severs the bond of flesh and flesh fashioned for the intercourse of the race. Athenagoras, from The Embassy For The Christians 1 Mt 19.9

Virginity And Marriage

Πολλοὶ τῶν μεγάλων ἀνθρώπων τὴν παρθενίαν θαυμάζουσιν· καὶ γάρ ἐστι θαυμαστὴ ὡς τῶν ἀγγέλων σύμφυτος, ὡς τῶν ἄνω δυνάμεων συνόμιλος, ὡς τῶν ἀσωμάτων φύσεων σύνδρομος, ὡς τῆς ἁγίας ἐκκλησίας λαμπαδοῦχος, ὡς τὸν κόσμον νικῶσα, ὡς τὰ πάθη πατοῦσα, ὡς τὰς ὀρέξεις χαλινοῦσα, ὡς τῇ Εὔᾳ μὴ κοινωνοῦσα, ὡς λύπης ἀπηλλαγμένη, ὡς ἁγνείας ἐπειλημμένη, ὡς στεναγμῶν λελυτρωμένη, ὡς τὴν καταδεδικας μένην ἀπόφασιν μὴ προσδεχομένη τὴν φάσκουσαν· Πληθύνων πληθυνῶ τὰς λύπας σου καὶ τὸν στεναγμόν σου· ἐν λύπαις τέξῃ τέκνα καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα σου ἡ ἀποστροφή σου, καὶ αὐτός σου κυριεύσει. Θαυμαστὴ τοιγαροῦν ἡ παρθενία ὡς ἀδούλωτον κτῆμα, ὡς ἐλεύθερον ἐνδιαίτημα, ὡς ἀσκητικὸν ἐγκαλλώπισμα, ὡς τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἕξεως ἀνωτέρα, ὡς τῶν ἐπ' ἀνάγκαις παθῶν ἀπολυθεῖσα, ὡς συνεισελθοῦσα τῷ νυμφίῳ Χριστῷ εἰς τὸν θάλαμον τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας. Καὶ τὰ μὲν τῆς παρθενίας κλέη ταῦτα καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια τούτων. Ὁ δὲ τίμιος γάμος ὑπέρκειται παντὸς δώρου γηΐνου, ὡς ἔγκαρπον δένδρον, ὡς ἀστειότατον φυτόν, ὡς ῥίζα τῆς παρθενίας, ὡς γεωργὸς τῶν λογικῶν καὶ ἐμψύχων κλάδων, ὡς εὐλογία τῆς τοῦ κόσμου αὐξήσεως, ὡς παρήγορος τοῦ γένους, ὡς δημιουργὸς τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος, ὡς τῆς θεϊκῆς εἰκόνος ζωγράφος, ὡς τὸν δεσπότην εὐλογοῦντα κεκτημένος, ὡς πάντα τὸν κόσμον φέρειν δεχόμενος, ὡς ἐκείνῳ πολιτευόμενος ὃν καὶ ἐνανθρωπῆσαι ἐδυσώπησεν, ὡς δυνάμενος λέγειν μετὰ παρρησίας· Ἰδού, ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδία ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ θεός. Περίελε τὸν τίμιον γάμον καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσεις τὸ τῆς παρθενίας ἄνθος· ἔνθεν γὰρ καὶ οὐκ ἄλλοθεν τὸ τῆς παρθενίας ἄνθος ἀναλέγεται. Ταῦτα δὲ λέγοντες οὐ μάχην παρεισβάλλομεν μεταξὺ παρθενίας καὶ γάμου· ἑκάτερα δὲ ὡς ἀλληλόχρεα θαυμάζομεν. Ἐπειδὴ τῶν ἑκατέρων ὁ δεσπότης προνοητής, οὐκ ἀντιταλαντεύει ἕτερον τῷ ἑτέρῳ· πρὸς πάντα γὰρ τὰ ἑκάτερα μέρη τῆς θεοφοβίας ἔχεται. Δίχα γὰρ τῆς εὐσεβοῦς θεοφοβίας οὔτε παρθενία σεμνὴ οὔτε γάμος τίμιος. Ἀμφιλοχίος Ἐπισκόπος Ἰκονίου, εἰς τὴν θεοτόκον καὶ εἰς τὸν Συμεῶνα καὶ Ἄνναν. Λογός Β' Source: Migne 39.44-45

They are many great men who admire virginity, for indeed it is a wonder to share the nature ofangels, to be as an associate of lofty powers, as a companion ofincorporeal nature, as a torch of the holy Church, as one who conquersthe world, as one who treads down passions, as one who binds appetite, as one who has no communion with Eve, as one untouched by sorrow, as one immune togroans, as one loosed from moaning, as one not expecting that decree ofcondemnation which says, 'I shall multiply the multitude of your sorrows and your groans; insorrow you shall birth children, and you shall incline to your man and he shallrule over you.' 1 Thus is virginity a wonder, as a thing knowing no servitude, as a place of freedom, as a honourableascetic discipline, as something superior to human state, as a thingthat frees from pressing passions, as that which enters the wedding chamber with Christ the bridegroomin the kingdom of heaven. And these emblems of virginity things near may have. Indeed marriage is honourable, 2 a over all worldly things, as a fruit bearing tree, as an elegant plant, as the root of virginity, that which produces living and rational branches, as a blessing of growth to the world, as a type ofcomfort, as the Creator of man, as the painter of the Divine image, as that to which the Lord gave blessing, as that which may receive Him who bears the whole world, for Him prepared who descending became man, that it is able to say openly, 'Behold, I and the children which the Lord has given to me.' 3 Take away honourable marriage and you will not find the flower of virginity, because the flower of virginity is not gathered from another. But when we speak of these things, we by no means set up a fight between virginity and marriage, but we admire the different offices of both. Since the provident master of each one does not oppose one to the other, in both piety may be embraced. For without devout piety, neither is virginity venerable nor is marriage honourable. Amphilocius of Iconium, from Oration 2, On The Mother Of God and Simeon and Anna 1 Gen 3.16 2 Heb 13.4 3 Isaiah 8.18