First Lessons

Ἀρχὴ δὲ πάντων χαλεπῶν φιλαργυρία. εἰδότες οὖν ὅτι οὐδὲν εἰσηνέγκαμεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ ἐξενεγκεῖν τι ἔχομεν, ὁπλισώμεθα τοῖς ὅπλοις τῆς δικαιοσύνης καὶ διδάξωμεν ἑαυτοὺς πρῶτον προεύεσθαι ἐν τῇ ἐντολῇ τοῦ Kυριοῦ· ἔπειτα καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ἡμῶν ἐν τῇ δοθείσῃ αὐταῖς πίστει καὶ ἀγάπῃ καὶ ἁγνείᾳ στεργούσας τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἄνδρας ἐν πάσῃ ἀληθείᾳ καὶ ἀγαπώσας πάντας ἐξ ἴσου ἐν πάσῃ ἐγκρατείᾳ, καὶ τὰ τέκνα παιδεύειν τὴν παιδείαν τοῦ φόβου τοῦ θεοῦ· τὰς χήρας σωφρονούσας περὶ τὴν τοῦ Kυρίου πίστιν, ἐντυγχανούσας ἀδιαλείπτως περὶ πάντων, μακρὰν οὔσας πάσης διαβολῆς, καταλαλιᾶς, ψευδομαρτυρίας, φιλαργυρίας καὶ παντὸς κακοῦ, γινωσκούσας ὅτι εἰσὶ θυσιαστήριον θεοῦ καὶ ὅτι πάντα μωμοσκοπεῖται, καὶ λέληθεν αὐτὸν οὐδὲν οὔτε λογισμῶν οὔτε ἐννοιῶν οὔτε τι τῶν κρυπτῶν τῆς καρδίας. Ἅγιος Πολύκαρπος Σμύρνης, Πρὸς Φιλιππήσιους Έπιστολή Source: Migne PG 5.1008c-1009a

'But the love of money is the root of all evils.' 1 Knowing, therefore, that 'as we brought nothing into the world, so we can bear nothing out,' 2 let us arm ourselves with the armour of righteousness, 3 and first let us teach ourselves to walk in the commandments of the Lord. Then teach your wives to walk in the faith given to them, and to love their own husbands dearly and tenderly and in all truth, and to love everyone equally and in chastity, and to raise their children in the knowledge and fear of God. Teach widows to be sensible regarding the faith of the Lord, praying continually for all, 4 being far from all slandering, evil-speaking, false-witnessing, land the love of money, and every sort of evil, knowing that they are the altar of God, and that He sees all things clearly and nothing is hidden from Him, neither reasoning, nor reflections, nor any one of the secret things of the heart. Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, from the Letter to the Philippians. 1 1 Tim 6.10 2 1 Tim 6.7 3 Ephes 6.11 4 1 Thes 5.17

The Light Of Heaven

Dominae Eximiae Et Merito Praestantissimae, atque in Christi Caritate Honorandae Filiae Italicae, Augustinus Episcopus, In Domino Salutem Non solum litteris tuis, verum etiam ipso referente qui pertulit, comperi multum te flagitare litteras meas, credentem quod ex eis consolationem habere plurimam possis. Tu itaque videris quid exinde capias, ego tamen eas negare vel differre non debui. Consoletur autem te fides et spes tua, et ipsa caritas quae diffunditur in cordibus piorum per Spiritum sanctum, cuius nunc aliquid pro pignore accepimus, ut ipsam plenitudinem desiderare noverimus. Non enim te desolatam putare debes, cum in interiore homine habeas praesentem Christum per fidem in corde tuo; aut sic te contristari oportet, quemadmodum gentes quae spem non habent, cum veracissima promissione speremus nos de hac vita, unde migraturi quosdam nostros migrantes non amisimus, sed praemisimus, ad eam vitam esse venturos, ubi nobis erunt quanto notiores, tanto utique cariores, et sine timore ullius discessionis amabiles. Hic autem etsi coniux tuus, cuius abscessu vidua diceris, tibi notissimus erat, sibi tamen notior erat quam tibi. Et unde hoc, cum tu eius corporalem faciem videres, quam ipse utique non videbat, nisi quia notitia nostri certior intus est, ubi nemo scit quae sunt hominis, nisi spiritus hominis qui in ipso est: sed cum venerit Dominus, et illuminaverit abscondita tenebrarum, et manifestaverit cogitationes cordis, tunc nihil latebit proximum in proximo, nec erit quod suis quisque aperiat, abscondat alienis, ubi nullus erit alienus. Lux vero ipsa, qua illuminabuntur haec omnia quae modo in cordibus reconduntur, qualis aut quanta sit, quis lingua proferat, quis saltem infirma mente contingat? Profecto lux illa Deus ipse est, quoniam Deus lux est, et tenebrae in eo non sunt ullae; sed lux mentium purgatarum, non istorum corporis oculorum. Erit ergo tunc mens idonea quae illam lucem videat, quod nunc nondum est. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, ex Epistula XCII, Italica Source: Migne PL 33.316

To the Noble and Rightly Distinguished, and in the Love of Christ a Daughter Worthy of Honour, Lady Italica, Bishop Augustine Sends Greeting in the Lord. Not only by your letter, but also by the statements of him who brought it to me, I have learned that you have zealously requested a letter from me, believing that you might acquire from it much consolation. You will see what you may gain from that, I however felt that I should neither refuse nor delay. May your faith and hope console you, and that love which is diffused in the hearts of the pious by the Holy Spirit, 1 of which we now receive a portion as a pledge, so that we may learn to desire its fullness. For you should not consider yourself desolate while you have Christ dwelling within your heart by faith, nor should you sorrow as those folk who have no hope, when by a most sure promise we have hope in this life that we have not lost those who have gone away earlier than ourselves to the country where we shall come, in which they shall be more beloved to us as they shall be better known, and where without any fear of separation we shall love. Even if your husband, by whose passing you are now a widow, was most well known to you, yet he was better known to himself than to you. And how so, when you looked on his face, which he himself did not see, unless because the inner knowledge which we have of ourselves is more certain, since no man 'knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in man.' 2 But when the Lord comes, 'who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the thoughts of the hearts,' 3 then nothing shall be hidden in any one from his neighbour, nor shall there be anything which any one might reveal to his own, but hide from strangers, for there shall be no stranger there. But that light which shall illuminate all those things yet hidden in the heart, what tongue could tell its nature and greatness? Who can with our weak minds even approach it? Truly that Light is God Himself, because 'God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all,' 4 but He is the light of purified minds, not of these bodily eyes. And thus then the mind shall be able to see that light which now it cannot. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Letter 92, to Italica 1 Rom 5.5 2 1 Cor 2.11 3 1 Cor 4.5 4 1 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

A Lady's Marriages

Interea neque hoc silendum arbitror quod mihi personarum gravium atque fidelium est relatione compertum. Gothorum namque temporibus Galla hujus urbis nobilissima puella Symmachi consulis ac patricii filia, intra adolescentiae tempora marito tradita, in unius anni spatio ejus est morte viduata. Quam dum, fervente mundi copia, ad iterandum thalamum et opes et aetas vocarent, elegit magis spiritalibus nuptiis copulari Deo, in quibus a luctu incipitur, sed ad gaudia aeterna pervenitur, quam carnalibus nuptiis subjici, quae a laetitia semper incipiunt, et ad finem cum luctu tendunt. Huic autem cum valde ignea conspersio corporis inesset, coeperunt medici dicere, quia nisi ad amplexus viriles rediret, calore nimio contra naturam barbas esset habitura, quod ita quoque post factum est. Sed sancta mulier nihil exterioris deformitatis timuit, quae interioris sponsi speciem amavit, nec verita est si hoc in illa foedaretur, quod a coelesti sponso in ea non amaretur. Mox ergo ut ejus maritus defunctus est, abjecto saeculari habitu, ad omnipotentis Dei servitium sese apud beati Petri apostoli ecclesiam monasterio tradidit, ibique multis annis simplicitati cordis atque orationi dedita, larga indigentibus eleemosynarum opera impendit. Cumque omnipotens Deus perennem jam mercedem reddere ejus laboribus decrevisset, cancri ulcere in mamilla percussa est. Nocturno autem tempore ante lectum ejus duo candelabra lucere consueverant, quia videlicet amica lucis, non solum spiritales, sed etiam corporales tenebras odio habebat. Quae dum nocte quadam ex hac eadem jaceret infirmitate fatigata, vidit beatum Petrum apostolum inter utraque candelabra ante suum lectum consistentem; nec perterrita timuit, sed ex amore sumens audaciam exsultavit, eique dixit: Quid est, Domine mi, dimissa sunt mihi peccata mea? Cui ille benignissimi ut est vultus, inclinato capite annuit, dicens: Dimissa; veni. Sed quia quamdam sanctimonialem feminam in eodem monasterio prae caeteris diligebat, illico Galla subjunxit: Rogo ut soror Benedicta mecum veniat. Cui ille respondit: Non, sed illa talis veniat tecum; haec vero quam petis, die erit trigesimo secutura. His itaque expletis, visio apostoli assistentis et colloquentis ei ablata est. At illa protinus cunctae congregationis accivit Matrem, eique quid viderit, quidve audierit, indicavit. Tertio autem die cum ea quae jussa fuerat sorore defuncta est; illa vero quam ipsa poposcerat die est trigesimo subsecuta. Quod factum nunc usque in eodem monasterio manet memorabile, sicque hoc a praecedentibus Matribus traditum narrare illic solent subtiliter juniores quae nunc sunt sanctimoniales virgines, ac si illo in tempore huic tam grandi miraculo et ipsae adfuissent. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Dialogi Liber IV, Caput XIII

Nor do I judge that I should be silent concerning that which I learned from the report of persons who are solemn and trustworthy. In the time of the Goths, a most noble young lady named Galla, daughter to Symmachus the Consul, during her adolescence was given in marriage, and in the space of a year death made her a widow. Yet though she did not lack for world's wealth and her riches and young years cried out for a second marriage, she chose rather to be joined to God in spiritual marriage, which begins in mourning but arrives at everlasting joy, than to become again subject to carnal matrimony, which always begins with delights and comes to its end in sorrow. Now since this lady had an extremely warm state of body, the physicians said that unless she took a husband again, on account of her heat, contrary to nature, she would grow a beard, and so it happened. But the holy woman feared not at all outward deformity, since inwardly she loved the beauty of her spouse; nor did she care if anything of her became foul, which her celestial spouse did not love. Therefore soon after the death of her husband, casting off her secular habit, she gave herself to the service of Almighty God at the monastery by the church of the blessed Apostle Saint Peter, where for many years she lived in simplicity of heart and prayer and gave alms plentifully to the needy. When almighty God determined to gave to her an everlasting reward for her labours, she was struck by a cancerous growth in one of her breasts. In the night she was accustomed to have two candles burning before her bed, for being a friend of the light, she hated not only spiritual but also corporal darkness. One night, lying afflicted with her infirmity, she saw Saint Peter standing between the two candlesticks before her bed, and not being afraid at all, but rather love giving her boldness, she said to him: 'How is it with me, my Lord? Are my sins forgiven me?' To whom he who had most kindly countenance inclined a little his head and said: 'They are forgiven; come.' But because there was a consecrated lady in the monastery whom she loved more than the rest, she said, 'I ask that sister Benedicta come with me.' To which he replied, 'No, but another will come with you, and the one whom you wish shall follow after thirty days.' And having said this, the vision of the Apostle standing near and his speech was taken from her. Immediately she called for the mother of the congregation and told her what she had seen and heard, and the third day following both she and the other nun died, and then thirty days later the one whom she had asked for also followed. The memory of this is kept until today in that monastery, so that the consecrated women who now live there, having it handed down to them by their predecessors, are accustomed to tell every detail of it, as if they had been there at that time when the great miracle occurred. Saint Gregory the Great, Dialogues, Book 4, Chap 13

Prayer and Wealth

Augustinus Episcopis Servus Christi Servorumque Christi, Religosae Famulae Dei Probae, in Domino Dominorum Salutem. Et petisse te et promisisse me recolens, ut de orando Deo ad te aliquid scriberem, ubi tribuente ipso quem oramus, tempus facultasque concessa est, oportuit ut debitum meum iam iamque persolverem, et pio studio tuo in Christi caritate servirem. Quam me autem laetificaverit ipsa petitio tua, in qua cognovi quantam rei tantae curam geris, verbis explicare non possum. Quod enim maius oportuit esse negotium viduitatis tuae, quam persistere in oratione nocte ac die, secundum Apostoli admonitionem? ille quippe ait: Quae autem vere vidua est et desolata speravit in Domino, et persistit in oratione nocte ac die. Unde mirum videri potest, cum sis secundum hoc saeculum nobilis, dives, tantaeque familiae mater, et in eo licet vidua, non tamen desolata, quomodo occupaverit cor tuum praecipueque sibi vindicaverit orandi cura; nisi quia prudenter intellegis quod in hoc mundo et in hac vita nulla anima possit esse secura. Proinde qui tibi eam cogitationem dedit, profecto facit quod Discipulis suis, non pro seipsis, sed pro humano genere contristatis, et desperantibus quemquam posse salvari, posteaquam ab illo audierunt facilius esse camelum intrare per foramen acus, quam divitem in regnum coelorum; mirifica et misericordissima pollicitatione respondit: Deo esse facile quod hominibus impossibile est. Cui ergo facile est ut etiam dives intret in regnum coelorum, inspiravit tibi piam sollicitudinem, de qua me consulendum putasti quonam modo esset tibi orandum. Ille namque cum etiam hic adhuc esset in carne, Zachaeum divitem in regnum coelorum misit, et resurrectione atque ascensione glorificatus, multos postea divites impartito Spiritu sancto fecit huius saeculi contemptores, et finita divitiarum cupiditate ditiores. Quomodo enim tu sic studeres orare Deum, nisi sperares in eo? quomodo autem sperares in eo, si sperares in incerto divitiarum, et contemneres praeceptum saluberrimum, quo Apostolus ait: 'Praecipe divitibus huius mundi non superbe sapere, neque sperare in incerto divitiarum, sed in Deo vivo qui praestat nobis omnia abundanter ad fruendum; ut divites sint in operibus bonis, facile tribuant, communicent, thesaurizent sibi fundamentum bonum in futurum, ut apprehendant veram vitam? Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, ex Epistula CXXX, Probae

The Bishop Augustine, servant of Christ, and of the servants of Christ, to Proba, a pious handmaid of God, in the Lord of Lords, greetings.  Recalling your request and my promise, that I should write to you something about praying to God when the time and ability should be given by Him to whom we pray, now indeed is the time that I should discharge my debt and be of service to your pious desire in the love of Christ. How indeed I rejoiced because of your request, in which I marked how great is the care that you have for this matter, I have not the words to express. For what better business could your widowhood have than to persist in prayer night and day, according to the Apostle's admonition, who says, 'She that is truly a widow and desolate trusts in God, and persists in prayer night and day' ? 1 Whence it is possible to appear wonderful that while you are according to the world noble, and rich, and a mother of such a family, and so, though a widow, not desolate, care about prayer should occupy your heart and persist there, were it not that you wisely understand that in this world and in this life no soul can be secure. Whence He who gave you to this thought is surely doing what He did to His disciples when not for themselves, but for the whole human family, they sorrowed and were despairing that anyone be saved, after they heard from Him that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And with a wondrous and merciful promise he replied: 'That which is impossible for men is easy for God.' 2 So He to whom it is easy to make even the rich enter into the kingdom of heaven, inspired you with that pious anxiety by which you think you must have my counsel on how you should pray. He while He was in the flesh sent the rich Zaccheus into the kingdom of heaven, 3 and after He was glorified in His resurrection and ascension He made by the gift of the Holy spirit many who were rich despise this present world and by extinguishing the desire for wealth enriched them. For how could you desire so much to pray to God if you did not hope in Him? And how could you hope in Him if your hope was fixed on uncertain riches, disdaining the most wholesome exhortation of the Apostle, who said: 'Exhort the rich of this world that they know not to be proud, nor have hope in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us in abundance all things to enjoy, that they be rich in good works, happy to distribute, and communicate, and to provide for themselves a good foundation in the future, that they may lay hold of eternal life? 4 Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Letter 130, To Proba 1 1 Tim 5:5 2 Mt 19:21-26 3 Lk 19:9  4 1 Tim 6:17-19

Consoling A Widow

Εἰ μὲν μόνην τοῦ συμβεβηκότος ὑμῖν πάθους ἐλογιζόμην τὴν φύσιν, τῶν ψυχαγωγούτων ἄν ἐδεήθην κἀγὼ, οὐ μόνον τῷ τὰ ὑμέτερα οἰκεῖα κρίνειν, καὶ τὰ θυμήρη, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὁποῖά ποτ' ἂν ᾗ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ τὴν θαυμασίαν ἐκείνην καὶ ὅντως αξιέπαινον κεφαλήν διαφερόντως ἠγαπηκέναι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὅπος αὐτὸν θεῖος ἐνθένδε μετέστησε, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀμείνω μετέθηκε βιοτὴν, καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἑμαυτοῦ ψυχῆς ἀποσκεδάννυμι τῆς ἀθυμίας τὸ νέφος, καὶ τὴν σὴν παρακαλῶ σεμνοπρέπειαν νικῆσαι τῆς ἀθυμίας τὸ πάθος τῷ λογισμῷ, καὶ εἰς καιρὸν προσενεγκεῖν τῇ ψυχῇ τῶν θείων λόγων τὴν ἐπῳδήν· τούτου γὰρ δὴ χάριν εὐθὺς ἐκ σπαργάνων οἶόν τινα θηλὴν ἔλκομεν τῆς ἱερᾶς Γραφῆς τὴν μελέτην, ἴν' ὅταν ἡμῖν προσπέσῃ πάθος, προσενέγκωμεν ἀλεξίκακον φάρμακον τὴν διδασκαλίαν τοῦ Πνεύματος. Οἴδαμεν δὲ ὡς παγχάλεπον, καὶ λίαν ἐστὶν ἀλγεινὸν, ἀξιεράστου τινὸς ἐν πείρᾳ γεγενημένον ἔρημον ἐξαπίνης τοῦ ποθουμένου γενέσθαι, καὶ ἐν εὐκληρίᾳ γενόμενον δυσκληρίᾳ περιπεσεῖν. Ἀλλὰ τοῖς γε νοῦν ἔχουσι, καὶ σώφρονι λογισῷ κεχρημένοις, οὐδὲν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀδόκητον· οὐδὲν γὰρ τούτων σταθερὸν, ούδε βέβαιον ού καλλος, οὐ πλοῦτος, οὐκ εὐεξία σώματος, οὐκ ἀξιώματος ὅγκος· οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν παρὰ τοῖς πλείστοις θαυμαζομένων. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἄκρας εὐπορίας εἰς πενίαν ἐσχάτην μετέπεσον· οἱ δὲ τὴν ὑγίειαν ἀποβαλόντες, παντοδαποῖς παλαίουσι πάθεσιν· ἀλλοι περιφανείᾳ συμνυνόμενοι γένους, τὸν βαρύτατον ἔλκουσι τῆς δουλείας ζυγόν. Τῷ δὲ κάλλει τοῦ σώματος καὶ νόσος λωβᾶται, καὶ γῆρας λυμαίνεται. Μάλα δὲ σοφῶς τῶν ὅλων ὁ Πρύτανις οὐδὲν τούτων εασε διαρκὲς, οὐδὲ μόνιμον· ἵνα τὰς μεταβολὰς δεδιότες οἱ τούτων τετυχηκότες, καταστέλλωσι τὴν ὀφρὺν, καὶ τὸν τούτων εὔριπον ἐπιστάμενοι, μὴ τοῖς προσκαίροις θαῥῥῶσιν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορηγὸν ἔγωσι τὰς ἐλπίδας. Ταῦτα τὴν σὴν εἰδῦαν θαυμασιότητα, τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν φύσιν καταμαθεῖν αξιῶ· εὐρήσεις γὰρ αὐτὴν θνητὴν οὔσαν, καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς δεξαμένην τοῦ θανάτου τὸν ὅρον. Πρὸς γὰρ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ὁ τῶν ὅλων ἔφη Θεος· 'Γη εἴ καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ.' Ἀψευδὴς δὲ ὁ τὴν ψῆφον ἐξενεγκὼν, καὶ μάρτυς ἡ πεῖρα. Μία γὰρ πάντων εἴσοδος εἰς τὸν βίον, κατὰ τὴν  θείαν Γραφὴν, ἔξοδός τε ἴση, καὶ πᾶς γεννώμενος προσμένει τὸν τάφον. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἴσον ἂπαντες βιοτεύουσι χρόνον· ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν πρόωροι τελευτῶσιν, οἱ δὲ εἰς ἄνδρας τελέσαντες, οἱ δὲ καὶ τῶν τοῦ γήρως ἀνιαρῶν πειραθέντες· οὕτω καὶ οἱ τοῦ γάμου δεξάμενοι τὸν ζυγὸν διαζεύγνυνται· ἀνάγκη γὰρ ἢ τὸν ἂνδρα προαπελθεῖν, ἢ τὴν γυναῖκα προτέραν δέξασθαι τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος. Καὶ οἱ μὲν εὐθὺς μετὰ τὴν παστάδα τοὺς θρήνους ἐδέξαντο· οἱ δὲ ὀλιγον συμβιώσαντες χρόνον. Ἀπόχρη τοίνυν καὶ τὸ κοινὸν τοῦ πάθους ἀφορμὴν τῷ λογισμῳ παρασχεῖν εἰς τὸ νικῆσαι τὸ πάθος. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἐπιστολή ΙΔ', Ἀλεξάνδρᾳ Source: Migne PG 83.1185d-1188d

If I had only considered the character of your suffering, I also would have been in need of consolation, not only because I think that what concerns you, be it agreeable or otherwise, concerns me, but because I dearly loved that worthy and wonderful man. But since the Divine decree has taken him from here and translated him to the better life, I therefore scatter the cloud of sorrow from my soul, and call on you to vanquish grief's pain by the power of reason, and in this hour to bring your soul under the spell of God's word; for why from the very cradle do we suck the instruction of the Sacred Scriptures, like milk from the breast, but that when suffering falls on us we may be able to apply the teaching of the Spirit as a balm for our pain? I know how sad and how very grievous it is when one has experienced the worth of some loved object, suddenly to be deprived of it, and in a moment to fall from happiness to misery. But to them who have good good sense, and employ prudent reason, no human event is unexpected; for nothing human is stable, nothing lasting; neither beauty, nor wealth, nor health, nor high dignity; nor any of all those things that most consider wonderful. Some tumble from height of opulence to lowest poverty, and some lose their health and struggle with various forms of disease, and some proud of the splendour of their lineage come to drag the crushing yoke of slavery. Sickness mars the beauty of the body and old age destroys it, and very wisely has the supreme Ruler not allowed any of these things to continue nor be stable forever, so that their possessors, in fear of change, may restrain proud looks, and, knowing how all such things flow away, may cease to put their confidence in what is transient, and found their hopes upon the One who gives all that is good. These things knowing, most excellent lady, consider human nature; for you will find that it is mortal and from the beginning received the doom of death . It was to Adam the God of all said 'Dust you are and to dust you shall return.' 1 Truthful is He who gave the sentence, and experience is witness. 'All have one entrance into life and one is the exit,' 2 Divine Scripture tells us, and for every one born the grave waits. And all do not live an equal length of time; some men come to an end too soon; some in their manhood, and some after they have experienced the trials of old age; and likewise they who have taken on the marriage yoke are released from it, and it must be that either husband depart first or wife reach life's end before him. And some have just entered the bridal chamber when comes lamentation, and some live together a little while. Enough, then, to remember that the grief is common to give reason space to conquer grief. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Letter 14, To Alexandra 1 Gen 3.19 2 Wis 7.6

Criticising Critics

O invidia primum mordax tui! O Satanae calliditas semper sancta persequens! Nullae aliae Romanae urbi fabulam praebuerunt, nisi Paula et Melanium, quae contemptis facultatibus, pignoribusque desertis, crucem Domini quasi quoddam pietatis levavere vexillum. Si balneas peterent, unguenta eligerent, divitias et viduitatem haberent materiam luxuriae et libertatis, dominae vocarentur, et sanctae. Nunc in sacco et cinere formosae volunt videri, et in gehennam ignis cum jejuniis, et pedore descendere: videlicet non eis licet applaudente populo perire cum turbis. Si gentiles hanc etiam carperent, si Judaei haberent solatium non placendi eis, quibus displicet Christus. Nunc vero, pro nefas! homines Christiani, praetermissa domorum suorum cura, et proprii oculi trahe neglecta, in alieno oculo festucam quaerunt. Lacerant santum propositum, et remedium poenae suae arbitrantur, si nemo sit sanctus: si omnibus detrahatur: si turba sit pereuntium: si multitudo peccantium. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola XLV Ad Asellam Source: Migne PL 22 481-2

O envy, biter first of yourself! O cunning of Satan, that always persecutes the holy! No other Roman lady was exposed to gossip but only Paula and Melanium, who, despising possessions and deserting families, lifted the Lord's cross as a standard of piety. If they had attended the baths, chosen perfumes, and used their wealth and status as widows to luxuriate and be independent, they would have been acclaimed as ladies of high rank and saints. But now since in sackcloth and ashes they wish to appear beautiful, they with their fasting and their dirt will tumble into the Gehenna of fire, for certainly it could not be that they would perish with the crowd whom the people applaud. If it were Gentiles snapping at them, if it were Jews they had not cared to please, well, so these too Christ displeased. But, in truth and for shame, it is Christians who overlook care for their own households and neglecting the beams in their own eyes look for motes in the eyes of others. They tear apart the holy way and so judge that they have found a remedy for their own punishment if no one is holy, if they can detract from every one, if they can show that the many perish and sinners are the multitude. Saint Jerome, from Letter 45, To Asella

Epitaph For Pulcheria

Clauditur hoc tumulo Benedicti fida iugalis, quae tenuit castam defuncto coniuge vitam. nomine Pulcheria fuit, sed nomine formam signavit mentemque, simul vitamque decentem. filius his Thomas, aluit quem blanda relictae simpliciter pietas cari post fata mariti, officium sola exibuit commune parentum, ipsius hic collo genetrix portata quiescit: tale decus meruit funeris pia mater habere Epitaphios Pulcheriae

This tumulus holds Benedict's faithful wife, She who was chaste with spouse deceased. Her name was Pulcheria, that name signifying Form and mind, as well as a decorous life. Their son Thomas, whom this gentle widow raised, She ever pious after the death of her husband, The common office of parents alone fulfilling, He carried her to this mound to rest Such an honour a pious mother merited. Epitaph for Pulcheria

Judith's Final Victory

Nam cum manu solum Holophernem vicisset, consilio omnem hostium vicit exercitum. Suspenso enim Holophernnis capite, quod virorum non potuit excogitari consilio, suorum erexit animos, hostium fregit: suos pudore excitans, hostes quoque terrore percellens, eoque caesi sunt et fugati. Ita unius viduae temperantia atque sobrietas non solam naturam suam vicit, sed quod est amplius, fecit viros etiam fortiores. Nec his tamen elata successibus, cui utique gaudere et exsultare licebat jure victoriae, viduitatis reliquit officium: sed contemptis omnibus qui ejus nuptiae ambiebant, vestem jucunditatis deposuit, viduitatis resumpsit: nec triumphorum suorum amavit ornatus, illos existimans esse meliores quibus vitia corporis, quam quibus hostium arma vincuntur. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Viduis, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 16.247a-b

For with the hand she conquered Holofernes alone, by prudence she conquered a whole army of enemies. The head of Holofernes hung up, a deed the wisdom of men had been unable to plan, she raised up the souls of her own and crushed those of the enemy. Rousing her own by modesty, she struck terror into the enemy so that they fled and were slain. Thus the temperance and sobriety of one widow not only triumphed over her own nature, but, moreover, even made men more brave. However, she was not elated by these achievements, though indeed she had the right of rejoicing and exulting in her victory, that she would give up her state of widowhood; but rather scorning all who aspired to wed her, she laid aside her garments of joy and resumed those of widowhood, not loving the adornments of her own triumphs, but judging those things to be better which conquer the faults of the body rather than the arms of an enemy. Saint Ambrose of Milan, On Widows, Chapter 7

Second Marriages

Quid igitur? Damnamus secunda matrimonia? Minime; sed prima laudamus. Abjicimus de Ecclesia digamos? Absit: sed monogamos ad continentiam provocamus. In Arca Noe non solum munda, sed et immunda fuerunt animalia. Habuit homines, habuit et serpentes. In domo quoque magna, vasa diversa sunt; alia in honorem, alia in contumeliam. Est crater ad bibendum; est matual ad secretiorae naturae. Nam cum in semente terrae bonae, centesimum, et sexagesimum et trigesimum fructrum Evangelia doceant; et centenarius pro virginitais corona, primum gradum teneat; sexagenarius pro labore viduarum, in secundo sit numero; tricenarius foedera nuptiarum, ipsa digitorum conjunctione testetur, digamia in quo erit numero? Imo extra numerum. Certe in bona terra non oritur, sed in vepribus, et spinetis vulpium, quae Herodi impiissimo comparantur, ut in eo se putet esse laudabilem, si scortis melior sit: si publicarum libidinum victimas superet, si uni sit prostituta, non pluribus.  Sanctus Hieronymus, ex Epistola CXXIII, Ad Ageruchiam Source: Migne PL 22 1052

What then? Do I condemn second marriages? Not at all; but I praise first ones. Do I expel the twice-married from the church? May it not be so; but I exhort to continence those who have been married once. In The Ark of Noah there were not only clean animals but unclean ones. It bore men and serpents. In a great house there are diverse vessels; some to honour, some to dishonour. There is bowl from which one drinks and a bowl for the excretions of nature. 1 The seed sown in good ground brings forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold, as the Gospel teaches. 2 The hundredfold is the crown of chastity and holds first place; the sixtyfold is the labour of widows and is numbered second; while the thirtyfold is the bond of marriage, indicated by the joining together of fingers. Where are second marriages numbered? They are not counted. They do not grow from good ground but among thorns and the bramble bushes of foxes, that creature to which the most impious Herod was compared. 3 A woman who marries more than once thinks herself praiseworthy if she is better than a whore, if she surpasses the victims of public lust by prostituting herself only to one, not to many. St Jerome, from Letter 123, To Ageruchia 1 2 Tim 2.20 2 Mt 13.8 3 Lk 13.32