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

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

Woman And Virgin

Cum autem venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum, factum ex muliere, factum sub lege. Sed offendit factum ex muliere, quia natum confitemur ex Virgine. Factum non confitemur nisi hominem; Deus autem semper faciens est, fieri nescit ut sit. Fieri nescit Deus; sed fit ut aliquid alicui sit, quo modo dicitur: Domine, refugium factus es nobis; et: Dominus factus est auxiliator meus. Quanta factus, qui numquam est factus? Dominus autem Christus homo factus est, ut esset, ut qui Creator semper erat, creatura esset. Manens enim Deus, factus est homo, ut fieret quod non erat, non ut periret quod erat. Hoc ergo de Virgine quod factum est, quare ex mulier? Quod apud Hebraeos, ubi est prima lingua Scripturae, mulier nomen est significandi sexus, non amissae integritatis. Lege: quando mulier formata est, Extraxit, inquit, Deus unam e costis eius, id est viri, et aedificavit eam in mulierem. Sic mulier Maria; sic ei dictum est, antequam pareret, antequam conciperet: Beata tu inter mulieres. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XLIX, Ut Homo Diligit Iustitiam et Misericordiam et Iudicium Paratusque sit Ambulare cum Domino Deo Suo, Fragmentum Source: Migne PL 38.257

'When came the fullness of time God sent His Son, made from a woman, made under the law.' 1 But there is a problem with 'made from a woman' because we confess that He was born from a virgin. We do not confess anything but He was made man. And God is always making, to become one knows not what. What God becomes is not known but He may become something to someone, as when it is said, 'Lord you have been made a refuge for me.' and 'The Lord was made my help.' 2 How much making for Him who was never made. But the Lord Christ was made man so that the one who was always Creator became a created thing. For remaining God He was made man so He might become what He was not, and that what He was might not perish. Therefore He was made from a virgin, but why does it say here 'made from a woman?' Because in Hebrew, which is the first tongue of Scripture, the name woman signifies the sex, not a loss of dignity. Read that when woman was formed, 'God drew out one of his ribs,' that is, the man's, 'and fashioned it into a woman.' 3 So Mary was a woman, and so it was said to her before she gave birth, and before she had conceived, 'Blessed are you among women.' 4 Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 49a, 'So that the man who loves righteousness and mercy and judgement and is prepared to walk with the Lord his God.' 1 Galat 4.4 2 Ps 89.1, Ps 29.11 3 Gen 2.21 4 Lk 2.24

Birth And Grace

ΕΡΩΤ ΟΕ' Διατί τῶν πατριαρχῶν αἱ γυναῖκες στεῖραι; Καὶ γὰρ Σὰῥῥα στεῖρα, καὶ ἡ Ῥεβέκκα ὡσταύτως, καὶ ἡ Ῥακὴλ μέντοι, καὶ ἡ Λεία. Ἰδὼν γὰρ, φησὶ, Κύριος, ὅτι μισεῖται ἡ Λεία, ἀνέῳξε αὐτῆς τὴν μήτραν.; Τὸ Ἰσρατηλιτικὸν συστῆσαι γένος βουληθεὶς ὁ Θεὸς, δείκνυσιν οὐ κατὰ φύσεως ἀκολουθίαν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τῆς χάριτος φιλοτιμίαν τὴν πολυγονίαν δεξάμενον. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς κηδεμονίας ἐκεῖνο τὸ γένος τετύχηκεν, ἐπειδήπερ ὁ Δεσπότης Χριστὸς, ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸς, ἐκεῖθεν ἔμελλε τὸ κατὰ σάρκα βλαστήσειν. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Γένεσιν Source: Migne PG 80.185c

Question 75 Why were the wives of the patriarchs sterile? For Sarah was sterile, and Rebecca also, similarly Rachel and Leah. 'For the Lord, seeing that Leah was despised, opened her womb.' 1 Wishing to commend the race of Israel, God shows that it is not by natural succession but by grace that the reception of honourable fecundity comes about. And this race obtained this care because The Lord Christ, the Only Begotten Son, would be born from it according to the flesh. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Genesis 1 Gen 29.31

The Church And The Devil

Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem et semen tuum. Mulierem, hic Ecclesiam dicit, cui diabolus contrarius est. Semen vero mulieris bona opera sunt Ecclesiae, semen serpentis, opera omnis iniquitatis. Haec est enim mulier illa, de qua Joannes in Apocalipsi dicit, quod eam draco perseqeretur, volens eam devorare, postquam etiam fluvium ex ore euo emisit, quia persecutionem gentium contra Ecclesiam suscitavit. Ipsa conteret caput tuum. Id est, Ecclesia conteret caput tuum, id est, initium malae voluntatis, antequam ad opus prorumpat. Unde et in psalmo beatus dicitur qui parvulus Babylonis tenuerit, et ad petram alliserit. Parvuli Babylonis est initium peccati et orgio malae voluntatis. Hi sunt parvuli confusionis qui, antequam proficient, allidendi sunt ad petram, id est Christum. Remigius Antissiodorensis, Commentarius In Genesim, Caput III Source: Migne PL 131.66b-c

I shall set hostility between you and the woman and your seed. 1 'The woman,' he speaks of the Church, against which the devil is hostile. But the seed of the woman is the good works of the Church, and the seed of the serpent is every work of wickedness. Indeed this is the woman of whom John speaks in the Apocalypse, that the dragon shall persecute her, wishing to devour her, and later he pours forth a river from his mouth, because he stirs up the persecution of the Gentiles against the Church. 2 'She shall crush your head.' 1 That is, the Church 'shall crush your head,' that is, the beginning of evil desires, before they burst forth into deeds. Whence it is said in the Psalm: 'Blessed is he who takes hold of one of the little ones of Babylon, and smashes it against a rock.' 3 The little ones of Babylon are the beginning of sin and the source of evil desire. These are the little ones of confusion who before they come forth should be smashed against the rock which is Christ. Remigius of Auxerre, Commentary On Genesis, Chapter 3 1 Gen 3.15 2 Apoc 12.13 3 Ps 136.9

Pilate's Wife and the Gentiles

Sedente autem Pilato pro tribunali misit ad illum uxor sua, dicens: Nihil tibi sit et justo iste. Species in ea gentium plebis est: quae jam fidelis eum, cum quo conversabatur, incredulum populum ad Christi fidem advocat. Quae quia ipsa multum sit passa pro Christo, in eamdem gloriam futurae spei illum eum quo conversabatur invitat. Denique Pilatus et manus lavit, et populo innocentem se a Domini sanguine esse testatus est: quia Judaeis suscipientibus in se ac filios suos fusi dominici sanguinis crimen, quotidie in confessionem fidei ablutus gentium populus demigrat. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Caput XXXIII Source: Migne PL 9.1072c-d

His wife sent to Pilate sitting on the tribunal saying, 'Have nothing to do with this righteous man.' 1 She who already had faith in Him is a type of the Gentile people, which when converted, calls an unbelieving people to faith in Christ. She who, because she had suffered much for Christ, invited him to the same glory of future hope in Him to whom she had converted. Thus Pilate washed his hands and bore witness to a people innocent of the blood of the Lord, because the Jews took upon themselves and their sons the crime of the blood of the Lord, and every day the Gentile people are cleansed in the confession of the faith. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 33 1 Mt 27.19

Standing Beside The Cross

Stabant autem iuxta crucem Hic notatur compatientium paucitas; quia ex omnibus caris eius tres aderant mulieres, inter quasi et Mater Domini, cui etiam Dominus compatiebatur. Et notantur hic quator: mulierum ad Dominum compassio, Domini erga Matrem sollicitudo et ex sollicitudine recommendatio et ultimum recommendationis acceptio. Notatur ergo mulierum compassio in hoc quod dicit: Stabant iuxta crucem Iesu; ideo corpore appropinquabant, quia affectus compassionis trahebat. Alii vero longe recesserant per incompassionem; under dicitur in Psalmo: Qui iuxta me erant de longe stererunt. Sed istae steterunt iuxta, quae magis diligebant, scilicet Mater eius, quae super omnes compatiebatur; under Lucae secundo: Tuam ipsius animam pertransibit gladius; et soror Matris eius Maria Cleophae; haec fuit mater Iacobi. Notandum est, quod Anna dicitur habuisse tres viros: Ioachim, Cleopham et Salome, et ex istis tribus viris habuit tres Marias, scilicet Matrem Domini, quae fuit filia Ioachim; matrem Iacobi, quae fuit filia Cleophae; matrem Simonis et Iudae, quae fuit filia Salome. Et Maria Magdalene, quae dicata est a Magdalo castro. Istae tres mulieres tanquam magis compatientes stabant iuxta crucem Domini Cum vidisset ergo Iesus. Hic notatur secundum, scilicet Domini erga Matrem sollicitudo, in hoc, quod respexit eam et cui posset eam recommendare; under dicit: Cum vidissset ergo Iesus Matrem; cum vidisset ut sollicitus; primae ad Timotheum quinto: Si quis suorum et maxime domesticorum curam non habet,etc. Et Chrysostomus: Hic multam dilectionem monstrat Dominus ad Matrem et commendat eam discipulo, erudiens nos, usque ad ultimam respirationem omnem facere diligentiam eroum qui nos genuerunt. Exodi vigesimo: Honora patrem tuum et matrem tuam. Hoc quod praecepit, implevit. Et discipulum stantem, quem diligebat; et ideo eam sibi familiariter recommendare poterat. Stabat Ioannes, non recesserat; unde erat unus de illis quibus dicitur Lucae vigesimo secundo: Vos estis, qui permansistis mecum in tentationibus meis. Dicit Matri suae... Hic notatur tertium, scilicet diligens recommendatio; unde dicit: Mulier, ecce, filius tuus; quasi: ita confidas de eo sicut de filio. Deinde dicit discipulo: Ecce, mater tua... Quasi: ita eam custodias ut matrem. Et ex illa hora accepit eam discipulus in suam. Hic notatur recommendationis acceptio; in suam, scilicet matrem, accepit, ut illam, sicut matrem filius, honoraret, custodiret, et servaret. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput XIX Source: Here, p1140-43

But they stood beside the cross...1 Here should be noted the fewness of the compassionate. From all his dear ones there were three women who drew near. Among whom was the mother of the Lord, to whom the Lord Himself was compassionate. And here may be noted four things: the compassion of the women for the Lord, the care of the Lord for His mother and from the care the commission, and finally the acceptance of the commission. The compassion of the women is noted when it is said, 'They stood beside the cross of Jesus,' therefore they were near in body because the force of compassion drew them. Others, however, had withdrawn to a distance because of a lack of compassion, whence it is said in the Psalm: 'Those who were near me, stand far off.' 2 But these women stood near, because they loved more, that is, His mother, who above all suffered with Him, whence in the second chapter of Luke: 'A sword will pass through your soul,' 3 and also the sister of His mother, Mary of Cleophas, she who was the mother of James. It must be noted that it is said that Anna had three husbands, Ioachim, Cleophas and Salomas, and from these three men were the three Marys, that is the mother of the Lord, who was the daughter of Ioachim, the mother of James, who was the daughter of Cleophas, and the mother of Simon and Judas, who was the daughter of Salomas. 'And Mary Magdalene,' who was so called from the town of Magdala. These three women, as those who were suffering more, stood beside the cross of Christ. When Jesus saw...4 Now secondly the care of the Lord for His mother is noted, in that He looked on her and to whom he entrusted her, whence it says, 'When Jesus saw His mother...' 'When He saw,' that is, with care. In the fifth chapter of the first letter to Timothy: 'If someone among you has no care for the members of his own household...' 5 And Chrysostom: 'Here the Lord shows great love for His mother, and he entrusts her to a disciple, teaching us to love to the last breath those who have given birth to us.' 6 In the twenty second chapter of Exodus: 'Honour your father and mother.' 7 This He commanded, this He fulfilled. 'And the disciple standing there, whom He loved...' Thus He was able to entrust her to one with whom He was familiar. John stood near, he did not withdraw, therefore he was one of those concerning which the twenty second chapter of Luke says: 'You are those who have continued with me in my trials.' 8 'He said to His mother...' Thirdly the care of the commission is noted, whence He says: 'Mother, behold, your son,' that is, you may have confidence in him as if in a son. 'Then he said to the disciple: Behold, your mother...' That is, guard her as a mother. 'And from that hour the disciple received her as his own...' Here the acceptance of the commission is noted. As a mother he received her, that as a son he honour and guard and attend to her as a mother Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 19 1 Jn 19.25 2 Ps 37.12 3 Lk 2.35 4 Jn 19.26 5 1 Tim 5.8 6 Chrys Hom On John 85 7 Exod 20.12 8 Lk 22.28

Ruth's Inclusion

Quomodo enim Ruth, cum esset alienigena, Judaeo nupsit? Et qua ratione in Christi generatione ejus putavit evangelista copulae commemorationem esse faciendam, quae Legis serie vetabatur. Non ergo ex legitima Salvator generatione manavit? Videtur esse deforme, nisi ad Apostolicam sententiam revertaris, quia lex non est justis posita, sed injustis. Haec enim cum sit alienigena et Moabitis praesertim cum lex Moysi prohiberet has nuptias, Moabitasque excluderet ab Ecclesia; sic enim scriptum est: Moabite non introibunt in Ecclesiam Domini usque ad tertiam et quartam generationem, et usque in saeculum, quomodo intravit in Ecclesiam, nisi quia sancta et immaculata moribus supra legem facta est, Si enim Lex impiis et peccatoribus postia est, utique Ruth, quae definitionem Legis excessit, et intravit in Ecclesiam, et facta est Israelitis, et meruit inter majores Dominici generis computari, propter cognationem mentis electa non corporis, magnum nobis exemplum est, quia in illa nostrum omnium qui collecti ex gentibus sumus, ingrediendi in Ecclesiam Domini figura praecessit. Hanc igitur aemulemur; ut quia haec moribus hanc praerogativam meruit adsciscendae societiatis suae, sicut historia docet: nos quoque propter morum electionem in Ecclesiam Domini, meritis suffragantibus, allegemur. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber III Source: Migne PL 15.1601b-1602a

But how did Ruth who was a foreigner, marry a man who was a Jew? And why in Christ's genealogy did the Evangelist think to make mention of a union which was prohibited by the commandments of the Law? Was the Saviour not drawn from legitimate lineage? It appears monstrous to us unless we attend to that passage of the Apostle: 'The Law is not given for the righteous but the unrighteous.' 1 For this woman was an foreigner, a Moabitess, from a nation with whom the Law of Moses forbade all marriage and completely shut them out of the Church. So it is written, 'A Moabite shall not enter into the Church of God, even to the third and fourth generation, and even forever.' 2 How then did she enter into the assembly unless that she was holy and unstained in her life above the Law? If the Law was given for the impious and sinners, so Ruth, who exceeded the scope of the Law, entered into the assembly and took her place among the Israelites and merited to be reckoned among the great ones of the lineage of the Lord, on account of the elevation of her mind, not her body, being to us a great example, because in her was prefigured the entrance into the Lord's Church of all of us who are gathered out of the Gentiles. This, then, emulate, that as by her conduct she merited the right to be approved for this society, as the history teaches, so we also on account of the elevation of our conduct, by right of merits, be voted into the assembly of the Lord. Saint Ambrose, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 3 1 1 Tim 1.9 2 Deut 23.3

Remembering And Thanking

Διακόνοις θυγατράσι Τερεντίου Κόμητος Ἐγὼ καὶ Σαμοσάτοις ἐπιστὰς προσεδόκησα συντεύξαθαι τῇ κοσμιότητι ὑμῶν: καὶ ἐπειδὴ διήμαρτον τῆς συντυχίας, οὐ μετρίως ἤνεγκα τὴν ζημίαν, λογιζόμενος πότε εἴη ἢ ἐμοὶ δυνατὸν πάλιν πλησιάσαι τοῖς καθ̓ ὑμᾶς χωρίοις ἢ ὑμῖν αἱρετὸν τὴν ἡμετέραν καταλαβεῖν. Ἀλλ̓ ἐκεῖνα μὲν κείσθω ἐν τῷ θελήματι τοῦ Κυρίου. Τὸ δὲ νῦν ἔχον, ἐπειδὴ εὗρον τὸν υἱὸν Σωφρόνιον πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξορμῶντα, ἡδέως αὐτῷ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐπέθηκα ταύτην, προσηγορίαν ὑμῖν κωμίζουσαν καὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν γνώμην δηλοῦσαν, ὅτι οὐ διαλιμπάνομεν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτι μεμνημένοι ὑμῶν, καὶ εὐχαριστοῦντες ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ ὅτι ἀγαθῆς ῥίζης ἀγαθὰ βλαστήματά ἐστε, ἔγκαρπα τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἔργοις, καὶ τῷ ὄντι ὡς κρίνα ἐν μέσῳ ἀκανθῶν. Tὸ γὰρ ὑπὸ τοσαύτης διαστροφῆς τῶν παραφθειρόντων τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας περικυκλουμένας μὴ ἐνδοῦναι πρὸς τὰς ἀπάτας, μηδὲ τὸ ἀποστολικὸν τῆς πίστεως κήρυγμα καταλιπούσας πρὸς τὴν νῦν ἐπιπολάζουσαν καινοτομίαν μετατεθῆναι, πῶς οὐχὶ μεγάλης μὲν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν εὐχαριστίας ἄξιον, μεγάλους δὲ ὑμῖν ἐπαίνους δικαιότατα προξενεῖ; Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ἐπιστολή ΡΕ´ Source: Migne PG 32.512c-513a

To the deaconesses, daughters of Count Terentius. I hoped to have met you upstanding ladies at Samosata, but as it happened we did not meet, and since it was a blow not easily to be borne, I thought to myself: When will it be possible for me to be in your neighbourhood again? Or when will it be agreeable to you to come to mine? But all these things must be left to the will of the Lord. As for the present, because I found that my son Sophronius was setting out to come to you, I happily gave him this letter, to convey to you my greetings and to make it clear to your minds that, by God's grace, I do not forget you, and that I give thanks to the Lord for you, that you are good shoots of a good root, fruitful in good works, and truly like lilies among thorns. 1 For surrounded by the great perversity of those who are corrupting the word of truth, you do not give in to their deceits. You have not, abandoning the Apostolic proclamation of faith, gone over to the novelty that has now risen up among us. How is this not worthy of great thanksgiving to God? Shall this not rightly bring you great glory? Saint Basil of Caesarea, from Letter 105 1 Song 2.2

An Enduring Lady

Tunc igitur et quaedam uxor cujusdam cellaritae regis nomino Dagila, quae temporibus Geiserici multoties jam confessor exstiterat, matrona nobilis ac delicata, flagellis et fustibus omnino debilitata, exsilio arido et invio relegatur, ubi nullus hominum forte consolationis gratia veniendi haberet accessum, relinquens cum gaudio domum, maritum simul et filios. Cui postea oblatum esse dicitur, ut in mitiorem eremum translata, frueretur, si vellet, solatio sociorum. Illa vero ingens sibi adesse credens gaudium, ubi nullus humanus esset consolantis affectus, ne fieret supplicavit. Victor Vitensis, Historia Persecutionis Africae Provinciae, Liber V Source: Migne PL 58.246b-c

Then there was a certain wife of a royal attendant named Dagila, who in the days of king Geiseric had already stood forth as a confessor, a noble and delicate matron, who having been beaten with whips and clubs, was sent into exile into a dry and trackless place, where there was no possibility of human comfort, which she had received with thanks, leaving with joy her house and husband and children. Later she was told that she might be moved to a milder place in the desert, where she might enjoy, if she wished, the consolation of companions. But this great lady, believing herself to have obtained a state of joyfulness where there was no touch of human comfort, entreated that it not be so. Victor Vitensis, History of the Persecution of the African Province, Book 5

The Creation Of Woman

Quod mulier viri de latere facta est, propter ipsius conjunctionis vim commendandam ita fieri oportuisse credendum est. Quod autem dormienti illi factum est, quod osse detracto in cujus locum caro suppleretur, altioris mysterii gratia factum est. Significabatur enim quod de latere Christi in cruce per mortem sopiti sacramenta essent salutis exitura, videlicet sanguis et aqua, de quibus sponsa illi conderetur Ecclesia, nam si tanti sacramenti non esset figura in creatione feminae praemittenda, quid opus erat dormisse Adam, ut costam illi Deus, de qua feminam faceret, tolleret, qui et vigilanti ac non dolenti idem facere poterat? Quid necessarium ut cum os quod de viri latere sumptum est, unde femina condebatur, in locum ossis non os, sed care suppleretur, nisi quia figurabatur quod Christus propter Ecclesiam infirmus, at vero Ecclesia per ipsum esset firma futura? Unde ejusdem mysterii gratia typico quoque verbo usa est Scriptura, ut non diceret: fecit, aut formavit, aut creavit, sicut in omnibus supra operibus; sed aedificavit, inquit, Dominus Deus costam, quam tulerat de Adam in mulierem, non tanquam corpus humanum, sed tanquam domum, quae domus nos sumus, si fiduciam et gloriam spei usque ad finem firmam retineamus. Taliter enim decebat, ut humani generis origo, Deo operante, procederet, quatenus redemptioni ipsius quae in fine erat saeculi per eumdem ventura conditorem concinentibus figuris testimonium daret. Sanctus Beda, Hexameron Liber I Source: Migne PL 91.51a-c

That the woman was made from the side of the man, on account of the commendable force of that same union, should thus be believed was necessary. For that she was made while he slept, the bone being drawn out and in its place flesh supplied, was for the sake of a high mystery. 1 It was done to signify that from the side of Christ on the cross in the sleep of death the sacrament of salvation would come forth, as blood and water, from which the bride that is the Church is established for Him. For if there were not the figure of such a mystery in the creation of woman, what point was there in Adam sleeping, and that God took a bone from him from which he made woman, all which He was able to do with the man awake and without such labour? Why was it necessary that the bone be taken from the side of the man from which the woman was made and in place of bone, not bone, but flesh supplied, unless it was a figure that Christ was made weak for the Church, but the Church to come was made strong by Him? Whence for the sake of this mystery a specific type of word is used in Scripture, so that is does not say: 'He made', or 'He formed', or 'He created', as in the works that were done before, but it says that the Lord God 'built up,' the rib which he took from Adam into a woman, not like a human body, but as a building, which building we are, if we hold to firm faith and the glory of hope until the end. For so it was befitting that the origin of the human race, by the work of God, go forth, seeing that she who at the end of the age was its redemption through the coming of the same Creator, He gave witness to with resounding figures. Saint Bede, Hexameron, Book 1 1 Gen 2.21-22

A Humble Woman

ὧν ἦν Νικαρέτη ἡ Βιθυνὴ, τῶν παρὰ Νικομηδεῦσιν εὐπατριδῶν ἐπισήμου γένους, ἐπὶ ἀϊδίῳ παρθενίᾳ καὶ ἀρετῇ βίου εὐδοκιμοῦσα. Ἀτυφοτάτην δὲ ὧν ἴσμεν σπουδαίων γυναικῶν ταύτην ἔγνων, ἤθει τε καὶ λόγῳ καὶ διαίτῃ τεταγμένην, καὶ τὰ θεῖα μέχρι θανάτου τῶν βιωτικῶν προτιμῶσαν: ἀνδρείᾳ τε καὶ φρονήσει πρὸς περιπετείας δυσχερῶν πραγμάτων ἀντισχεῖν ἱκανήν: ὡς μήτε πολλῆς πατρῴας περιουσιας ἀδίκως ἀφαιρεθεῖσαν ἀγανακτεῖν, ἐν ὀλίγοις τε περιλειφθεῖσιν, ὑπὸ ἀρίστης οἰκονομίας, καίπερ εἰς γῆρας προελθοῦσαν, τὰ ἐπιτήδεια σὺν τοῖς οἰκείοις ἔχειν, καὶ ἄλλοις ἀφθόνως χορηγεῖν.Ὑπὸ φιλανθρώπου δὲ προθυμίας φιλόκαλος οὖσα, καὶ παντοδαπὰ παρεσκεύαζε φάρμακα εἰς πτωχῶν νοσούντων χρείαν: οἷς δὴ πολλοῖς τῶν γνωρίμων πολλάκις ἐπήρκεσε μηδὲν ἀποναμένοις τῶν συνήθων ἰατρῶν. Σὺν θείᾳ γάρ τινι ῥοπῇ, ἅπερ ἐπεχείρει εἰς χρηστὸν ἀπέβαινε τέλος: καὶ συλλήβδην εἰπεῖν, τῶν καθ̓ ἡμᾶς σπουδαίων γυναικῶν ἑτέραν οὐκ ἔγνων, εἰς τοσοῦτον ἤθους τε καὶ σεμνότητος καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀρετῆς ἐπιδοῦσαν. Ἀλλ̓ ἡ μὲν, καίπερ τοιάδε οὖσα, τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐλάνθανεν: ὑπὸ μετριότητος γὰρ τρόπων, καὶ φιλοσοφίας, ἀεὶ λανθάνειν ἐπετήδευεν: ὡς μήτε εἰς ἀξίωμα διακόνου σπουδάσαι προελθεῖν, μήτε προτρεπομένου πολλάκις Ἰωάννου ἑλέσθαι ποτὲ παρθένων ἐκκλησιαστικῶν ἡγεῖσθαι. Ἑρμείος Σωζομενός, Ἐκκλησιαστίκη Ἱστορία, Τομ Η' Κεφ ΚΓ' Source: Migne PG 67.1576a-c

Nikarete of Bithynia, of a noted family of the nobility near Nicomedia, was celebrated on account of her perpetual virginity and the virtue of her life. She was the most modest of all the zealous women that we have ever known, and was well ordered in speech and in behavior, and until death she preferred the service of God to all worldly considerations. With courage and prudence she was able to bear the sudden reversals of adverse affairs; thus when she was unjustly stripped of much of her abundant patrimony she did not display any indignation, but with finest economy, although advanced in age, she supplied the needs of her household, and without complaint ministered to others. As a woman who loved a charitable spirit, she prepared a variety of remedies for the needs of the poor who were sick, by which she frequently succeeded in curing patients who had received no benefit from the knowledge of the customary physicians. Then with a devout strength which assisted her in reaching the best results, she departed. And, to speak briefly, we have never known a devoted woman endowed with such manners, dignity, and every other virtue. But although she was so, she concealed much, for by the modesty of her ways and love of wisdom she always desired to be unnoticed, so that, thinking herself unworthy, she did not seek the office of deaconess, nor of instructress of the virgins consecrated to the service of the Church, although it was frequently urged by John Chrysostom. Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, Book 8, Chapter 23

A Woman's Healing

Et cum venisset Jesus in domum Petri, vidit socrum ejus jacentem, et reliqua. Ad hoc ergo venerat ut videret febricitantem, et ideo mox cum venisset, vidit eam ac sanavit. Causa namque adventus ejus jacentis infirmitas, et non edenti necessitas fuit; quia in domo qua misera febris hominem laniabat, non cura prandii ac laetitiae, sed lacyrmarum erat effusio. Mira omnipotentis Dei dispensatio, qui etiam non quaerentes se quaerit, et non valentes ad se venire, ad eos clementer venit; quia si non ille ad nos prior venissset, nunquam ad eum redire potuissemus. Sed bene, postuqam descendit, haec mulier tetio loco curata legitur, quambis alii evangelistae alio in loco eam commemoraverint. Nihil enim interest ad historiae veritatem quis quo loco ponat, sive quod ex ordine interserit, sive quod postea factum ante praeoccupaverit; dum tamen invicem non adversentur, quod numquam reperies. Multum vero ad mysticam semper proficit intelligentiam, ut eo loco ab unoquoque, Spiritu sancto docente, singula ponantur, ut et veritas pateat operis, et doctrina spiritalis uberius appareat ex circumstantia lectionis. Nam, ut dixi, leprosus ille universum designat humanum genus, id est lepta originalis delicti coinquinatum: puer centurionis gentilitatem solam, morbo idololatriae, quasi paralysi, dissolutam, et ab omni compagine vitae pene emortuam. Quibus curatis, clementissimum erat ut mulier, quae fuerat auctor morborum et mortis, post virum curaretur et ipsa. Utrumque enim sexum Dominus curaturus advenerat. Sed prior curari debuit qui prior creatus est, tum demum et alla ab opifice nec praetermitti. Unde et Sciptura: Tenuit, inquit, manum, et dimisit eam febris. Quid putas? Nunquid verbo non potuit eam curare, quia tenuit manum ejus? Vel cur leprosum tangit, et curat verbo; hujus vero tenet manum, et continuo discedit febris? Illum ergo tangit, quod lex vetuerat, ut se supra legem ostenderet, de quo satis jam diximus. Hujus vero tenuit manum, quam mulier contra mandatum extenderat ad arborem, de qua noxium arboris gustum sumeret. Propterea ergo ratio fuit ejus tenere manum, ut vitam resumeret; quia Adam de manu mulieris acceperat mortem. Sic omnia Salvatoris concinunt opera. Justum quippe erat ut quod manus praesumentis admiserat, manus repararet auctoris, et indulgentiam reciperet quae cunctis intulerat mortem. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber V, Cap VIII Source: Migne PL 120.353c-354b

And when Jesus came into the house of Peter, He saw his mother in law cast down...1 For this, therefore, He came, that He see one fevered, and therefore as soon as He had come, He saw her and healed her. The reason for His coming was the weakness of her cast down and not because of some need for eating, because when in the house a fever had laid low a wretched invididual there was no care for feasting and joy but for a pouring out of tears. Wonderous dispensation of God, who sought out those not seeking and who came to those languishing, coming to them in mercy, because if He had not come to us before, never would we have been able to return to Him. And well it is said that after He descended, He cured this woman in third place, although the other evangelists remember her in another place. 2 For it is of no weight to the truth of history who is placed where, or in what order set, or recalled, or if that which is later is considered before, while none of them oppose the other, which you will never find. However, it is always of much cause of profit to the spiritual understanding, that in that place, by whichever one, with the Holy Spirit teaching, each thing is placed, that the truth of the work is revealed and the spiritual teaching more fruitfully appear from the circumstances of the passage. For, as I have said, the leper signified the whole human race, that is, the leper was soiled with original sin, and the centurion's boy indicated the Gentiles alone, who with the sickness of idolatry, as one paralysed and incapable, was mortified from every activity of life. Which curing, He most merciful, after curing man, cured woman, she who was the creator of disease and death. For the Lord came to cure both sexes. But it was right that He cure him who was created first, and then that the Creator pass on to her. Whence Scripture says: 'He held her hand and rid her of the fever.' What do you think? Was He not able to cure her with a word, because He held her hand? Or why did He touch the leper and cure with a word, but He held her hand and immediately the fever fled? He touched him that the old law wither away, that He show Himself over the law, concerning which we have spoken of enough before. And then He held the hand of woman, who against command had reached for the tree, from which she received the ruinous taste of the tree. Thus it was reasonable that He hold her hand, that life be restored, because Adam received death from the hand of the woman. So all the works of the Lord harmonise. Certainly it was right that the hand of the Creator restore the hand which had presumptively reached out, and so she receive forgiveness for bringing death to all. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 5, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.14 2 Mk 1.30, Lk 4.38

Bishops And Women

Πάσας μὲν, εἰ οἶόν τε, ὁμιλίας γυναικῶν ἐκτρέπεσθαι χρὴ, ὡς ἐχούσας τινὰ πρὸς χαύνωσιν ἐπιτήδευσιν· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο ἀδύνατον διὰ περιστάσεις χρειῶν, ἤ οἰκνομίας πτωχῶν, κάτω νεύοντας διαλέγεσθαι. Τοῖς γὰρ πλείοσιν, ἤ καὶ πᾶσι σχεδὸν τοῖς ἡττηθεῖσι κάλλους γυναικῶν, δια τῶν θυρίδων ἀνέβη ὁ θάνατος, ὃς καὶ τοῦ μεγάλου Προφήτου καὶ βασιλέως ἐκράτησεν, ὅτε πρὸς τὸ λουτρὸν ἐκεῖνο τὸ θανατηφόρον ἀπέβλεψε. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΠΘ' Ἰσιδωρῳ Ἐπισκοπῳ Source: Migne PG 78.244c

All must, if it is possible, flee association and talk with women, as they have a certain power and ability for softening. But if on account of the necessity of the affair, or dispensation to the poor, it is not possible to avoid this, we must have care to fix our eyes on the ground when we speak to them. So many, indeed almost all, have been overwhelmed by female beauty, so that it happens to them that 'death rises up through the windows,' 1 even he who was a great prophet and king was conquered when he looked upon that fatal bath. 2 Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 89, To the Bishop Isidore 1 Jerem 9.21 2 2 Kings 11.2

Roles And The Resurrection

Motus vero terrae tempore matutino, diei dominici resurrectionis est virtus: cum contuso mortis aculeo, et illuminatus illius tenebris, resurgente Virtutum coelestium Domino, infernorum trepidatio commovetur. Angelus autem Domini de coelo descendens, et lapidem revolvens, et sepulcro adsidens, misericordiae Dei Patris insigne est, resurgenti filio ab inferis Virtutum coelestium minsteria mittentis. Atque ideo prior ipse resurrectionis est index, ut quodam famulatu paternae voluntatis resurrectio nuntiaretur. Sed confestim Dominus mulierculis per angelum adhortatis occurrit, et consalutat: ut nuntiaturae exspectantibus discipulis resurrectionem, non angeli potis quam Christi ore loquerentur. Quod vero primum mulierculae Dominum vident, salutantur, genibus advolvuntur, nuntiare apostolis jubentur; ordo in contrarium causae principalis est redditus: ut quia a sexu isto coepta mors esset, ipsi primum resurrectionis gloria et visus et fructus et nuntius redderetur. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap XXXIII Source: Migne PL 9.1076a-c

The earth being shaken in the morning, 1 is the power of the resurrection of the Lord's day. With the blunting of the sting of death and the illumination of its darkness by the rising of the Lord of heavenly power, a trembling shakes hell. For the angel of the Lord descending from heaven and rolling back the stone and sitting beside the tomb, is a sign of the mercy of God, who for the rising of the Son from hell sends the ministry of the powers of heaven. And therefore before Him he is a herald of the resurrection, that the resurrection be announced by a servant of the Father's will. But swiftly the Lord comes to the women who had been exhorted by the angel, and greets them, that they be heralds of hope of the resurrection to the disciples, speaking not with the mouth of an angel but with the mouth of Christ. That the women first see the Lord, and are greeted, and grasp His knees, and are commanded to be heralds to the Apostles, is the giving of the reversal of the order since the beginning. Because death first began by their sex, so that sex was first given the glory and power and fruit and declaration of the resurrection. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 33 1 Mt 28.2

Eve And Mary

Per feminam mors, per feminam vita: per Hevam interitus, per Mariam salus. Illa, corrupta, secúta est seductorem: haec, integra, peperit Salvatorem. Illa poculum a serpente propinatum libenter accepit et viro tradidit, ex quo simul mererentur occidi: hæc, gratia cælesti desuper infusa, vitam protulit, per quam caro mortua possit resuscitari. Quis est qui hæc operatus est, nisi Virginis Fílius et virginum Sponsus, qui attulit Matri fecunditatem, sed non abstulit integritatem? Quod contulit matri suae, hoc donavit et sponsae suae. Denique sancta Ecclesia quae illi integro integra conjuncta est, quotidie parit membra ejus, et virgo est. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi,De Symbolo Sermo Ad Catechumenos, Cap IV Source: Migne PL 40.655-656

Through a woman came death, through a woman life, by Eve ruin, by Mary salvation. The first, being corrupted, followed the seducer, the second untouched gave birth to the Saviour. The first freely received a cup from the serpent and gave it to the man, from which instantly they merited death, the second, infused with heavenly grace from on high, brought forth life, by which the dead flesh is able to be revived. And who is He who does this, unless the Son of the Virgin and the Spouse of virgins, who brought fertility to Mary but did not remove her integrity? And that which he brought to His mother, He gave to his spouse, for the holy Church undefiled which is joined to Him undefiled, every day bears its members, and is a virgin. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On The Creed To Catechumens, Chap 4

Susanna's Trial

Ἡ δὲ ἧν κλαίουσα. Διὰ γὰρ τῶν δακρύων ἐφεθκετο τὸν ἀπ' οὐρανῶν Λόγον, τὸν μέλλοντα διὰ δακρύωμ ἐγείρειν τὸν Λάζαρον τεθνηκότα Καὶ ἐπίστευσεν αὐτοῐς ἡ συναγωγή. Δεῖ οὖν ἡμᾶς ἐν παντὶ πραγματι ἐδραίους γενομένους, μὴ τοῖς ψευδέσιν προσέχειν, μηδὲ προσώποις ἀρχόντων εὐκόλως συναρπαζομένους πείθεσθαι, γινώσκοντας, ὅτι λόγον ἔχομεν δοῦναι τῷ θεῷ· ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ στοιχοῦντες, καὶ τὸ ἀκριβὲς τῆς πίστεως ἐπιζητοῦντες, εὐάρεστοι ἐσόμεθα τῷ θεῷ. Καὶ εἰσήκουσεν ὁ Θεὸς τῆς φωνῆς αὐτῆς. Ὅσοι γὰρ ἐπικαλοῦνται αὐτὸν ἐκ καθαρᾶς καρδίας, τούτων ὁ Θεὸς ὑπακούει· ὅσοι δε ἐν δόλῳ καὶ ὑποκρίσει, ἀποστρέφει τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀπ' αὐτῶν. Πεπαλαιωμένε ἡμερῶν κακῶν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ φθαταντες ἐν τῷ προοιμίῳ, διηγησάμεθα, ὅτι οἱ δύο πρεσβύτεροι εἰς τύπον ἀναφέρονται τῶν δύο λαῶν, τοῦ τε ἐκ περιτομῆς καὶ τοῦ ἐξ ἐθνῶν, οἵ καὶ ἀεὶ ἐπίβουλοι γίνονται τῆς Ἐκκλησίας· ἵδωμεν τα ῥήματα αὐτοῦ τοῦ Δανιὴλ, καὶ μάθωμεν, ὅτι ἐν μηδενὶ ἡμᾶς διαψεὺδεται ἡ Γραφή. Τῷ γὰρ πρώτῳ πρεσβυτέρῳ διαλεγόμενος, ὡς νομοθέτῃ ἐπιτιμᾷ· τῷ δὲ ἑτέρῳ, ὡς ἑθνικῳ διαλέγεται, σπέρμα Χαναιὰν ἀποκαλῶν· καίτοι ὄντα ἐν περιτομῇ Ἤδη γὰρ ἄγγελος Θεοῦ. Δηλοῖ δὲ, ὅτι ἡνίκα προσηύξατο ἡ Σωσάννα πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ εἰσηκούσθη, τότε ἐξαπεστάλη ὁ ἄγγελος βοηθήσων αὐτῇ, ὄν τρόπον ἐπὶ τοῦ Τωβία καὶ τῆς Σάῥῥας συνέβη. Προσευξαμένων γὰρ αὐτῶν, τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ αὐτῇ ὠρᾳ εἰσηκούσθη ἡ δέησις ἀμθοτέρων, καὶ ἀπεστάλη ὁ ἀγγελος Ῥαφαὴλ ἰάσασθαι τοὺς δύο. Καὶ ἀνέστησαν ἐπὶ τοὺς δύο πρεσβυτέρους. Ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ εἰρημένον· Ὁ ὀρύσσων βόθρον τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ, εἰς αὐτὸν ἐμπεσεῖται. Προσέχειν οὖν ὀφείλομεν πᾶσιν, ἀγαπητοὶ, φοβούμενοι μή τις ἔν τινι παραπτώματι κρατηθεὶς, αὐτὸς τῆς αὐτοῦ ψυχῆς ἔνοχος γένηται, γινώσκοντες ὅτι ἔκδικος ὁ Θεὸς περὶ πάντων γίνεται· αὐτὸς ὤν ἐν κόσμῳ πραττομένων οὐδέν. Δι' ὃ ἀεὶ ἐγρήγοροι καρδίας καὶ σωφρόνως βιοῦντες, τὴν Σωσὰνναν μιμησώμεθα. Ἅγιος Ἱππόλυτος Ρώμης, Εἰς Των Σωσανναν Source:  Migne PG 10 696d-697b

And she was weeping. 1 For by her tears she attracted the Word from heaven, who with tears was to raise the dead Lazarus. And the assembly believed them. 2 We must, then, be steadfast in every affair, and give no heed to lies, and be convinced that we should not be carried off by persons in power, knowing that we have to give an account to God; for if we stand with the truth and accurately pursue the faith we shall be well-pleasing to God. And God heard her voice. 3 For Gods hears those who call upon Him from a pure heart. But God turns away His face from those who do stand in deceit and hypocrisy. You that have grown old in evil. 4 Now since at the outset we explained that the two elders are to be understood as a type of the two peoples, that of the circumcision and that of the Gentiles, they who are always opponents of the Church, let us consider the words of Daniel, and let us learn that Scripture deceives us in nothing. For, addressing the first elder, he reproves him as one who is schooled in the Law, but he addresses the other as a Gentile, calling him 'seed of Canaan,' although he was of the circumcision. For now the angel of God. 5 It is clear that when Susannah prayed to God and was heard, then the angel was sent then to help her, just as he came to Tobias and Sara. For when they prayed, the prayer of both was heard in the same day and the same hour, and the angel Raphael was sent to heal both. And they rose up against the two elders. 6 That the saying might be fulfilled: 'He who digs a pit for his neighbour, he shall fall into it.' 7 To all these things, then, we should give heed, beloved, fearing lest anyone be seized in any transgression, being guilty in his soul, knowing that God is the Judge of all things, whom nothing done in the world escapes. Therefore, always watchful in heart and prudent in life, let us imitate Susanna.  Saint Hippolytus of Rome, On Susanna 1 Dan 13.35 2 Dan 13.41 3 Dan 13.44 4 Dan 13.52 5 Daniel 13.55 6 Dan 13.61 7 Prov 26.27

Beauty And Wisdom

Ψευδεῖς ἀρέσκειαι καὶ μάταιον κάλλος γυναικός γυνὴ γὰρ συνετὴ εὐλογεῖται φόβον δὲ Κυρίου αὕτη αἰνείτω  Ψευδεῖς ἀρέσκειαι καὶ μάταιον κάλλος. Ἡ ἀφρονεστάτη ψυχὴ οὐ μόνον ἐννοεῖ καὶ φαντάζεται τὸ αὑτῇ ἀρεστὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔργῳ ἐγχειρεῖ πληρῶσαι τὴν θεωρίαν· εἰ δὲ ἀρχὴ σοφίας φόβος Κυρίου, δικαίως ἡ τυχοῦσα σοφίας ψυχὴ αῑνεῖ τὸν φόβον τοῦ Κυρίου, ὅς γέγονεν αὐτῇ τῆς τοιαύτης γνώσεως. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας Source: Migne PG 17.251b-c

Her graces a lie and vain the beauty of a woman; it is the woman of understanding who blesses the fear of the Lord that will achieve praise. 1   Her graces a lie and vain the beauty. Most foolish is she who does not think on and picture her soul, when she is at her ease, for even when she goes to her occupation she adds to it her meditation. If the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, 2 rightly the soul of her who is wise commends the reverence of the Lord, who counsels such wisdom. 2 Origen, On Proverbs, Fragment 1 Prov 31.30 2 Prov 1.7

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 New People

Et in Osee dicit: Vocabo non plebem meam plebem meam et non misericordiam consecutam misericordiam consecutam et erit in loco ubi dictum est: Non plebs mea vos, ibi vocabuntur filii Dei vivi. Unde autem Hiberione qui numquam notitiam Dei habuerunt nisi idola et inmunda usque nunc semper coluerunt quomodo nuper facta est plebs Domini et filii Dei nuncupantur, filii Scottorum et filiae regulorum monachi et virgines Christi esse videntur? Et etiam una benedicta Scotta genetiva nobilis pulcherrima adulta erat, quam ego baptizavi; et post paucos dies una causa venit ad nos, insinuavit nobis responsum accepisse a nuntio Dei et monuit eam ut esset virgo Christi et ipsa Deo proximaret: Deo gratias, sexta ab hac die optime et avidissime arripuit illud quod etiam omnes virgines Dei ita hoc faciunt, non sponte patrum earum, sed et persecutiones patiuntur et improperia falsa a parentibus suis et nihilominus plus augetur numerus, et de genere nostro qui ibi nati sunt nescimus numerum eorum, praeter viduas et continentes. Sed ex illis maxime laborant quae servitio detinentur: usque ad terrores et minas assidue perferunt; sed Dominus gratiam dedit multis ex ancillis suis, nam etsi vetantur tamen fortiter imitantur. Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Confessio Source: Migne PL 53.810a-b

Hosea says: 'I will call a people not mine my people; and she who has not obtained mercy, will obtain mercy, and in the place where it was said: You are not my people, there they will be called children of the living God.' 1 Whence how in Ireland which never had knowledge of God but to serve idols and unclean things always up to now, have they recently become the people of the Lord, and are called children of God, and the sons and daughters of the leaders of the Irish are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ? There was a blessed Irish lady of noble birth, a most beautiful woman, whom I baptised, and after a few days she came to me for one reason: she told me that she had received word from a messenger of God, who admonished her that she should become a virgin of Christ and that she should come near to God. Thanks be to God, six days later, enthusiastically and well, she took up that way which all the virgins of God do. And not by their fathers' will do they do this, for they suffer persecution from them and false accusations from their parents, and nevertheless the number of them grows, and we do not know the number of our people who were born there. Besides which, there are the widows and the celibates. But of all these, those held in slavery toil most, constantly enduring terror and threats, but the Lord gives grace to so many of His handmaids who serve him, for even if they are forbidden, they bravely follow. Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, from The Confessio 1 Hosea 2.23-24; 1.10