Nicene and Post-Nicene Church Fathers Series 2 - The Still Small ...

his sacred duties lie not at Antioch, but at Iconium; for, as you have written to me yourself,
he has chosen to live rather at the latter than at the former place. The man in question may,
therefore, be received; but your reverence must require him to shew repentance for the rash
readiness of the oath which he took before the unbeliever, 2694 being unable to bear the
trouble of that small peril.
XVIII. Concerning fallen virgins, who, after professing a chaste life before the Lord,
make their vows vain, because they have fallen under the lusts of the flesh, our fathers, tenderly
2695 and meekly making allowance for the infirmities of them that fall, laid down that
they might be received after a year, ranking them with the digamists. Since, however, by
God’s grace the Church grows mightier as she advances, and the order of virgins is becoming
more numerous, it is my judgment that careful heed should be given both to the act as it
appears upon consideration, and to the mind of Scripture, which may be discovered from
the context. Widowhood is inferior to virginity; consequently the sin of the widows comes
far behind that of the virgins. Let us see what Paul writes to Timothy. “The young widows
refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; having
damnation because they have cast off their first faith.” 2696 If, therefore, a widow lies under
a very heavy charge, as setting at naught her faith in Christ, what must we think of the virgin,
who is the bride of Christ, and a chosen vessel dedicated to the Lord? It is a grave fault even
on the part of a slave to give herself away in secret wedlock and fill the house with impurity,
and, by her wicked life, to wrong her owner; but it is forsooth far more shocking for the
bride to become an adulteress, and, dishonouring her union with the bridegroom, to yield
herself to unchaste indulgence. The widow, as being a corrupted slave, is indeed condemned;
but the virgin comes under the charge of adultery. We call the man who lives with another
man’s wife an adulterer, and do not receive him into communion until he has ceased from
his sin; and so we shall ordain in the case of him who has the virgin. One point, however,
must be determined beforehand, that the name virgin is given to a woman who voluntarily
devotes herself to the Lord, renounces marriage, and embraces a life of holiness. And we
admit professions dating from the age of full intelligence. 2697 For it is not right in such
cases to admit the words of mere children. But a girl of sixteen or seventeen years of age,
in full possession of her faculties, who has been submitted to strict examination, and is then
2694 Videtur infidelis ille vir unus aliquis fuisse ex potentioribus Arianis ejusque furor idcirco in presbyteros
Antiochenos incitatus quod hi ecclesiam absente Meletio regerent, ac maximam civium partem in illius fide et
communione retinerent.
2695 ἁπαλῶς, with four mss., al. ἁπλῶς.
2696 1 Tim. v. 11, 12.
2697 “Hoc Basilii decretum de professionis ætate citatur in canone quadragesimo synodi in Trullo” (a.d. 691)
“et decem et septem anni quos Basilius requirit, ad decem rediguntur.”
To Amphilochius, concerning the Canons.
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