There must therefore be cut away from your field all things that are wont to prick and to tear, lest the husbandman's mind be planted, in his own possession, with malicious brambles. And there must be pruned away from us all that the furnace of boiling flesh, teeming with the sulphurous flames of fiery tinder, seethes forth — lest even a slender spark, if kept, kindle greater conflagrations. This Solomon makes plain, saying: «From one spark the fire is increased.» Turn away impure occasions, by which the inward parts of the breast are pierced, so that a limpid clearness may be honoured in us. Be content rather to endure the toilsome singleness for the sake of preserving modesty, than without toil to arrive at disgrace.
Consider what it is to be set over a holy people, and reflect what manner of thing it is to attend upon the divine sacraments. They who live by the altars ought to please the altars, and such care of sincerity befits the consecrated as are the sacred things themselves to which they render the services of their ministry — lest, in regard to the Lord, they themselves give offence in the very thing they handle, or, in regard to the people, they begin to hinder the very thing they preach. For which cause the apostle Paul thus testifies and says: «We endure all things,» he says, «lest we give any hindrance to the Gospel of Christ.» And again: «Giving no offence to anyone, that our ministry be not blamed.»
By this institution, therefore, you must labour as much as possible in these matters, in which singleness rather than pairing is the true witness for making gravity manifest. Behold how many evils the conduct of this pairing acquires — a manner of life which sows nothing but corruption, sprouts vices, conceives lust, brings forth ignominy, stirs up frenzy, holds out fury, feeds wantonness, nurses petulance, exalts downfalls, builds up ruins;
it raises up the banks, it prepares the precipices, it sails amid perils, it spreads sail toward shipwrecks, it rejoices in perdition, it fosters destruction, it traffics in confusion, it treasures up reproach, it heaps up accusations, it inflames indictments; and gathering by troops all at once into one bundle its numberless nets of ensnarement, it brings in, through infinite disgraces, manifold deaths unto the ruin of the lost.
And so, all these so many and so great slaughters of calamity and of a most wicked manner of life, no one lays low, no one tramples, no one lays to rest, except singular chastity alone — which is the unconquered rampart of holiness and the strong storming of infamy, the firmness of fortitude and the weakness of wanton lasciviousness, the safeguard of uprightness and the destruction of wickedness, the victory of the soul and the plunder of the body, the abundance of glories and the captivity of crimes, the bridal escort of holiness and the divorce of shamefulness, the token of sincerity and the abolition of scandals, the training of continence and the total emptying of luxury, the secure peace of the virtues and the quiet subduing of wars, the summit of purity and the prison of lust, the harbour of honour and the place of ignominious shipwreck, of virginity
mother and the enemy of uncleanness, the breastplate of modesty and the spoil of shamefulness, the death of corruption, the wall of firmness and the destruction of vulgarity, the sword of severity, the vanquisher and slayer of dissoluteness, the armour of strength and the disarming of licentious flowings, the dignity of integrity and the enslaving forfeit of fornication, the pinnacle of brightness and the precipice of disgrace, the will toward good works and the affliction of vices, the refreshment of chastity and the penalty of petulance, the acquisition of triumphs and the loss of crimes, the repose of salvation and the exile of perdition, the life of the spirit and the destruction of the flesh, the state of an angelic quality, the funeral of human substance.
By its restraints all obscenity is bridled, and by its fetters the heels of raging lust are held fast. Upon it, as upon a rock, are broken the assaults of surging blood, whatever they be, and in it the foaming madness of bodily swelling is calmed. And while it withdraws from itself the supports of concupiscence, it is known to bear its members already dead — concerning which the apostle Paul forewarns, saying: «Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is the service of idols; on account of which the wrath of God comes.»
From all these things human nature is gelded by nothing except the gleaming knife of singleness, so that, with circumcision betrothing them, it may bring unblemished eunuchs to the banquet of holiness. To this eunuch holiness has thus promised the nuptial seal of its ring, that without holiness virginity is unsealed — that virginity which, content with itself alone, tames desire and makes the mind chaste, subdues concupiscence, extinguishes the longings of ardour, weakens the limbs, enslaves the body, and so crucifies the things of the flesh, that one seems to lie, in his manner of life, as much a male as a female, while it cuts off from them the working of either sex:
or, doing neither, it glories in conferring upon both a third form out of the two, so that before the resurrection it may be known to meditate an image of the resurrection after the likeness of the angels. Promising this for the future, the Lord says: «Those who are deemed worthy of that world and of the resurrection from the dead shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, for neither shall they die any more; for they are like the angels of God, because they are the sons of the resurrection.» This holy singleness of merits demands that, before it is transfigured, it be already discerned as transfigured into the aspect of angelic brightness — that singleness which, cutting away from itself all things, despoils the combats of concupiscence; whose praises Solomon pursues, saying: «Better it is to be without children, with glory.»
«For its immortality lives on in remembrance, since it is known both with God and among men. When it is present, men imitate it, and they long for it when it has withdrawn itself; and crowned forever it triumphs, winning the battle of unpolluted combats.» There is nothing without children with glory except singleness alone — which not only stains its own conscience with no defilement, but which also no suspected reputations of pairing defame. For even if chastity — which is a difficult thing — should preserve a male and a female alike in virginity, it does not have that brightness which their very fellowship cannot but obscure with certain shadows of reproaches.
But singleness is so clear and conspicuous to all, that it shows itself to everyone, pure and luminous, in the splendour of its own brightness. Whence the apostle thus instructs us, saying: «Walk as children of light; for the fruit of light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is well-pleasing to God.» And again: «Do all things,» he says, «without murmuring and hesitation, that you may be blameless and simple, as the immaculate children of God, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.» So everywhere singleness shines, that all do not hesitate to pledge themselves for it; and it so glorifies holiness in itself, that it wrings praise for itself even from its very enemies.
This the apostle Paul enjoins especially concerning any man set in authority, saying: «He must moreover have a good testimony from those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.» This singleness, therefore, love; this hold fast — which alone is able to war down women. While as yet no concupiscence beats upon the breast, and while simplicity still remains uncorrupted or at rest, run quickly to the secret guardianship of singleness, lest afterward you be unable to escape. The entrance must be forestalled against all ambushes, lest hostility, creeping up first, come upon the unprovided. It is a saving remedy to come before rather than to be come before, and to anticipate rather than to be anticipated befits brave men.
Wherever there is foresight, all adversities are frustrated; but where foresight is neglected, all adversities hold dominion. Before the rope we contend; before want, we busy ourselves with labour. So in all things we take away the place of all calamities, while we exercise foresight for the times to come. How much more must the calamity of women be forestalled beforehand by every provision — the desire of which, if it is once allowed to begin, receives absolutely no end? Its comparison Solomon sets forth, saying: «Hell, and the love of woman, and the earth that is not satisfied with water, and fire — these say not: It is enough.» Let each one, therefore, who is secure because he is not yet tempted, be afraid; because nothing is said of him, let him look out lest it be said:
«We are men; we carry our frailty in the flesh.» So we ought now on every side to encompass and gird ourselves with watchful vigour, that there be no part that wavers. We receive indeed spiritual fortitude, by which the frailty of our substance is strengthened. But spiritual fortitude has been bestowed on us in such a way that it may guard the provident, not the headlong — that it may fortify those who renounce the importunities of sins, not those who plunge themselves the more into importunate sins. The Spirit has been given us as a guardian, but that he may come to the aid of those turning aside from adversities by standing by them, not that he may favour those choosing adversities, nor that he may strengthen the willing and prone toward evils, but that he may confirm those striving to be separated from adversities.
For whoever dares to exercise virtue by pernicious attempts has not the help of the Holy Spirit, who wishes no man of his own accord to be forced into a strong man's part for fraudulent victories; nor does he protect, nay rather he forsakes, him whom he has recognized to be seeking triumphs through unlawful outcomes as he rushes into perils — just as he himself spoke even then through Solomon, saying: «He who loves danger shall perish in it.» In its own order, therefore, and not at our own discretion, is the virtue of the Holy Spirit administered, and according to his ordinance battles are made to prosper. Never did an army fall except when hurled headlong, which, greedy to act bravely, broke in upon the dispositions of its own leader or commander:
much more does he pour out a fortitude bound to perish, who without the weapons of the Master's teaching should presume to triumph in the spirit, since he says: «Woe to those who through their own presumption do anything, and not through God.» If, therefore, there is in you any confidence of spiritual strength, let it be remembered what befits spiritual men; and if you believe that you war spiritually, acknowledge that what we teach is not carnal, as the apostle Paul speaks, saying: «If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things that I write to you.»
There is no cause for you to flatter yourselves with this deceptive persuasion, that, because you are spiritual, you would be willing to dwell amid the arsenals of the scandalous, nor that you are unfit for the dignity of the clerical office; because upon the greater the greater conflicts are wont to fall. The rich are envied more keenly than the poor, and the savage harassment of robbers troubles not the needy but the wealthy. Leaders and princes are assailed in battle by the enemy more than the common soldiers, and whatever summits are loftier are more violently buffeted by winds and whirlwinds. Therefore more and more, the more each man can do beyond the rest, let him know that he must fear for himself, lest in anything he be diminished; for which cause Solomon thus admonishes, saying: «Let him who glories,» he says,
«amid riches, let him fear poverty.» I beseech you, as much as I am able and beyond what I am able, that these be the pursuits of all clergymen: that they discharge their office in the withdrawal of an unaccusable singleness, lest either they themselves through women, or women through them, be provoked to ignominious mockeries. If anyone has a mother or daughter or sister or wife or kinswoman, let him so have her that no maidservant be present, nor any stranger-woman enter — lest he seem to keep his own near ones for this purpose, that for their sake he may freely bring in strangers to himself. But if those very near ones cannot be without the ministry of maidservants or without the solace of female friends, it is expedient that they migrate to another dwelling, rather than that on their account persons of contrary sort be retained.
For it is but human that neither should the cleric defraud those women of the necessities of life, nor should the women themselves defile the cleric through their importunate presence. They may be assigned to holy women with whom they may live, provided that no woman dwell together with a cleric. No woman—not even one held in low regard, not even an aged one—is to be taken privately into domestic service apart from ties of kinship; for it is precisely there that sin is most quickly committed, where the offence can be secure and free from suspicion, and above all because for lust no deformity, no contemptible or base loathing exists at all, since the devil, painting it over, makes fair whatever was foul or hideous.
But if anyone, compelled by the necessity of a journey, is lodged among brethren or among strangers where women are present, let him wholly restrain himself, lest he be corrupted by any passion. Withdrawn and secluded, let him give himself to God and to himself alone, lest he be inwardly taken captive by the devil, and lest he who could not be captured abroad should fall among his own. Let him who has escaped the enemy come forth to face them only for a time, for wholesome causes, and again let him hasten quickly to depart from their sight. In every place the company of women is to be tasted, not prolonged; contact with women is to be shown as if in passing, in a manner that flees away. For it is already a beginning of wantonness always to put oneself forward in their midst, and it is a rehearsal of perdition to make one's frequent passage among women.
Concerning this matter Solomon laid down for us a rule of restraint, saying: 'Be not continually in the midst of women.' So then walk, so conduct yourselves, that the senate of the Church may ever stand shining white in its clergy. Let sternness toward women be vigorous in us, let authority prevail, let vigour be maintained, let gravity be reverenced. That we may gather everything at once into a conclusion, we recite to you again the summary which the Apostle Paul sets before us, reducing all to a compendious fullness: 'For the rest, brethren,' he says, 'whatsoever things are true, whatsoever chaste, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good report; if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things which you have received and learned and heard and seen in me.'