On Holy Virginity

Contents

Translation in progress.

Reading pages: 1–21 · 22–37 · 38–55 · 56–57

1. 1After his book On the Good of Marriage, Augustine sets out to praise consecrated virginity while warning virgins against pride.
2. 2The church, like Mary, is both virgin and mother, and is holiest in members who are virgins in body as well as spirit.
3. 3Mary was more blessed in believing in Christ than in bearing him, since spiritual kinship counts above physical kinship.
4. 4Mary had vowed virginity before the annunciation, as her question to the angel shows, so that virginity would be a free choice rather than a command.
5. 5Virgins who do the Father's will are spiritually mothers of Christ with Mary, as the church and every devout soul are.
6. 6Mary alone is mother and virgin in both body and spirit; the church is wholly mother and virgin in spirit.
7. 7Married women cannot claim a share in Mary's motherhood over virgins, since Christians are born not of the flesh but of the church.
8. 8Virginity is honored not for itself but because it is dedicated to God, and so even bodily virginity is spiritual.
9. 9Bearing children for Christ does not compensate for lost virginity, since the church can now gather members of Christ from all nations.
10. 10Every girl is born a virgin, whether of marriage or not, but no one is born a consecrated virgin.
11. 11It is not virginity as such but virginity vowed to Christ that is praised; such virgins are born of the church.
12. 12Marriage has its human goods, but virginity is the life of angels and a foretaste of incorruption.
13. 13Augustine rejects the view that virginity is valuable only for avoiding present troubles, not for the kingdom of heaven.
14. 14Paul gives counsel, not command, about virginity because marriage is no sin, but virginity vowed to God wins a special glory in eternal life.
15. 15Not divorcing is a precept, since a wife may be put away only for sexual immorality; not marrying is a counsel, so marrying is no sin.
16. 16Paul's 'tribulation of the flesh' refers to the burdens of married life, which he spared his readers from describing.
17. 17Those who read 'I spare you' as a hidden condemnation of marriage make Paul a liar and undermine the authority of Scripture.
18. 18Virgins must not judge marriage evil; it is a lesser good, a hill to pass over on the way to the mountain of continence.
19. 19Augustine rejects both the view that marriage equals virginity and the view that marriage is sinful.
20. 20Those who condemn marriage accuse all married people, as the elders falsely accused Susanna, and make Scripture a liar.
21. 21Augustine sums up: marriage is no sin, but it ranks below virginity and widowhood, and hinders not salvation but the special glory of continence.
22. 22Paul's words about pleasing the Lord and being holy in body and spirit show that continence aims at the kingdom of heaven, not present ease.
23. 23Christ himself says that those who renounce marriage do so for the kingdom of heaven.
24. 24The eunuchs promised a better place than sons and daughters in Isa 56 are those who renounce marriage for the kingdom, whose reward is eternal.
25. 25Isaiah's 'eternal name, which will never fail' shows that the reward of the continent is eternal and distinct from others'.
26. 26The equal denarius of the parable is eternal life, common to all the saints, while the many mansions mark their different glories.
27. 27Augustine exhorts consecrated virgins to follow the Lamb wherever he goes, sharing joys proper to them, as in Revelation 14.
28. 28All the faithful, including the married, can follow Christ in the Beatitudes, though only virgins follow him in virginity.
29. 29Virgins alone follow the Lamb on the way of virginity; others will rejoice with them without envy, since God will be all in all.
30. 30Virginity is a free offering, not a command like the ban on adultery, and it will be repaid with an eternal name.
31. 31The greater the gift of virginity, the more humility is needed, since pride and envy make the devil what he is.
32. 32Augustine gathers Christ's teaching on humility: the Beatitudes, the centurion, the Canaanite woman, the Pharisee and tax collector, the child, and the washing of feet.
33. 33All Christians must be humble, but most of all those, like virgins, who possess a great good.
34. 34Augustine sets aside vowed women who regret their vow or live loosely, and addresses his warning about pride to those who keep their profession well.
35. 35Christ, to whom all things are given, teaches above all 'Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.'
36. 36Repentant sinners in the Gospels easily learn humility from Christ, remembering their sins and his mercy.
37. 37Virgins raised in the church from childhood must learn humility from Christ himself, since they fall far short of him.
38. 38Virgins should learn humility not from repentant sinners but from Christ, who humbled himself out of love, lest they become like the proud Pharisee.
39. 39Virgins need the chaste fear of God that goes with love, not servile fear, so that they may not grow proud.
40. 40The Spirit rests on the humble, and the dangers of this life should keep virgins humble.
41. 41Virgins should love God more, not less, since he kept them from sins and gave them the gift of continence by grace.
42. 42Virginity is God's gift, and Scripture's prayers for obedience and repentance show that even what God commands is done only by his grace.
43. 43Both continence and the wisdom to know it is God's gift come from God, so virgins should love much and fear pride.
44. 44Knowing that her virginity is God's gift, a virgin must not despise others, and her humility must be real, not feigned.
45. 45Virginity ranks above marriage, but a virgin cannot know whether a married woman may be readier for martyrdom than she.
46. 46Augustine weighs readings of the hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold fruit and concludes that God's gifts are more varied than three grades.
47. 47No one prefers virginity to martyrdom, and since the readiness for martyrdom is hidden until tested, virgins must think others possibly better than themselves.
48. 48Since all the baptized, virgins included, must pray 'Forgive us our debts', no one should boast of being free from sin.
49. 49The virgins of Revelation are praised for having no lie in their mouth, so they must confess, with John, that they are not without sin.
50. 50Confession is no license to sin; small sins that creep in are made grave by pride but cleansed by Christ through humility.
51. 51Even if some could live without sin, the greater they are the more they must humble themselves, following Christ the meek and humble teacher.
52. 52Humility is the dwelling of love, the guardian of virginity; humble married people follow the Lamb more easily than proud virgins.
53. 53Augustine urges virgins to follow the Lamb humbly, trusting God to keep his gifts, praying against temptation, and confessing their sins.
54. 54Virgins who add holy conduct to virginity show the angelic life on earth, but must still humble themselves the more.
55. 55Virgins should give Christ, the most beautiful of lovers, all the love they would have given to marriage.
56. 56Christ seeks inner beauty and cannot be made jealous by lies, so virgins may love him securely and wholly.
57. 57Augustine closes with the hymn of the three youths in the furnace, which joins holiness to humility.