Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Members of the Church · On Monks (Book II)
Chapter 27: The Same Asserted by the Testimony of the Fathers
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. II, De Monachis (De Membris Ecclesiae, Book II), On Monks (On the Members of the Church, Book II). The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
Fourthly, it is to be proved by the testimonies of the Fathers. Saint Ignatius (in the epistle to the Tarsians) commands that the virgins consecrated to God be honored; and (in the epistle to the Antiochenes): “Let the virgins,” he says, “acknowledge to whom they have consecrated themselves.”
Dionysius (Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter 6, part 2), describing the rite by which monks were initiated, says that they publicly in the church promise that they renounce the divisible life — that is, the secular life; for the secular man is divided, as the Apostle says (1 Corinthians 7), since he thinks partly of God, partly of a wife.
Martial (in the epistle to the people of Toulouse, chapter 8) says that he persuaded the virgin Valeria to vow her virginity to God; which Matthew also, Abdias writes in his life, persuaded Iphigenia; and Blessed Paul, Saint Ambrose writes (Book 2 On Virgins), persuaded Thecla; and Saint Clement, Bede writes in the martyrology (on May 7), persuaded Flavia Domitilla, of whom Eusebius too makes mention in the Chronicle.
Tertullian (in the book On the Veiling of Virgins): “O sacrilegious hands,” he says, “which could tear off a habit dedicated to God! What worse would some persecutor have done, had he known this to have been chosen by a virgin?” And at the end of the book: “Thou hast married,” he says, “Christ; to Him thou hast delivered thy flesh, to Him thou hast betrothed thy maturity.” And in the same place: “What,” he says, “shall the very vow of continence do,” etc. And (in the book On Monogamy, beyond the middle): “Having,” he says, “a judgment, because they have rescinded their first faith — that, namely, in which, being found in widowhood and having professed it, they were unwilling to persevere.”
Clement of Alexandria (Stromata 3, at the beginning): “Continence, then,” he says, “is a despising of the body according to the covenants and agreements entered into with God.” And at the end of the book: “The Lord,” he says, “said, Let him who has taken a wife not put her away; let him who has not taken one not take one; but let him who has professed that he will never take one persevere without a wife.”
Origen (homily 23 on Numbers): “Whence,” he says, “it seems to me that it is of him alone to offer sacrifice unceasingly who has devoted himself to unceasing and perpetual continence.”
Hilary (on Psalm 64): “To God, then,” he says, “are to be vowed the contempt of the body, the guarding of chastity, the endurance of fasting.”
Eusebius (Book 4 On the Life of Constantine): “Certain women,” he says, “embracing chastity and virginal modesty, consecrated body and mind to God.” And below, of Constantine: “The virginal choir,” he says, “he all but adored, judging that God dwelt there, to whom the maidens had devoted themselves.”
Saint Cyprian (Book 1, epistle 11, to Pomponius): “Christ,” he says, “our Lord and Judge, when He sees His virgin, dedicated to Him and destined for His sanctity, lying with another, how is He indignant and angered, and what punishments does He threaten to unchaste unions of this kind?” And below: “She,” he says, “who has committed this crime, is an adulteress not of a husband, but of Christ.” And (in the book On the Habit of Virgins): “Those,” he says, “who have dedicated themselves to Christ, and have devoted both flesh and mind to God, let them consummate their work, destined for a great reward.”
Saint Athanasius (in the book On the Humanity of the Word) says that even boys in his time were wont to profess virginity; and (in the Apology for his flight) he mentions the sacred virgins whom the Arians most petulantly vexed. Which more fully Peter, Athanasius’ successor, writes in a certain epistle which exists in Theodoret (Book 4 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapters 20, 21, 22). The same Athanasius (in the book On Virginity): “After,” he says, “thou hast professed continence, thou hast sanctified thy body.”
Saint Basil (in the preface of the monastic constitutions): “And so,” he says, “he who desires to be free from the bonds of the world flees marriage as certain fetters; and these being left behind, he consecrates his life to God, and professes chastity, so that there be not even the faculty for him of turning back to marriage.” And (in the last epistle, which is to a fallen virgin): “And because,” he says, “the impious, fallen into the depth, thereafter despises evils, thou too deniest thy very covenants to the true spouse, and criest out that thou art neither a virgin nor ever didst promise. Recall to memory the honorable profession which thou didst profess before God, and angels, and men. Recall to memory the venerable congregation, and the sacred choir of virgins; how many letters thou didst often write to the saints, by which thou didst ask them to pray for thee, not that thou mightest attain human marriage, nay ignominious corruption, but that thou mightest not fall from the Lord Jesus,” etc. The same (in the book On Virginity, a little from the middle): “When,” he says, “they have professed virginity to the Lord, afterward, soothed and overcome by an evilly flattering carnal pleasure, they wish to cover the crime of defilement with the honest name of marriage.” And a little before: “By a horrid sacrilege the adulterer of the spouse of Christ is made.” And a little below: “For that that spouse (Christ) has occupied the solemn and legitimate wedlock, both the habit of virginity, and the covenants, and the agreements with Him, and besides the very procession testify; for, ennobled by such a husband, she went forth in public,” etc. The same (in the questions explained at length, questions 14 and 15) disputes much of the solemn vow of monks.
Saint Gregory Nazianzen (in the oration on the death of his father, beyond the middle): “For as we vowed ourselves to God,” he says, “if we should escape the peril, so, the danger past, we offered ourselves,” etc. For Gregory, as he himself writes in the poem on his own life, had been consecrated to God by his mother before he was born; and he himself afterward, when he was in peril at sea, again made a vow of continence and religion, which he also kept.
Saint Optatus of Milevis (Book 6 against Parmenian): “This is a spiritual kind of marrying,” he says; “they had already come into the marriage of the spouse by will, out of their profession,” etc.
Saint Epiphanius (heresy 61, of the Apostolics): “The holy Apostles of God,” he says, “handed down that it is a sin, after virginity decreed, to turn to marriage.” And below: “If,” he says, “she who was a widow, and dedicated to God, afterward married, will have judgment and condemnation, because she rejected her first faith; how much more she who was a virgin dedicated to God, and married, has grown wanton against Christ, and rejected a greater faith, and will have judgment.” And (heresy 48, of the Montanists): “God the Word rejoices,” he says, “in those who can render an approved worship of God, and choose to exercise virginity and continence,” etc. Thou seest the possession of continence called a worship.
Saint John Chrysostom (homily 15 on the first to Timothy): “And a widow,” he says, “in the profession of widowhood consents to Christ — that is, marries Christ.” And below: “When,” he says, “they have devoted themselves to Him, they wish to marry, having damnation, because they have made void their first faith; by faith he means a compact.” And (homily 14) he most fully describes and with wondrous praises proclaims the monastic profession; but most clearly (in epistle 6 to Theodore the fallen): “Marriage is honorable,” he says, “but for thee it is not fitting even to keep the privileges of marriage, though frequently thou callest this very thing marriage; yet I judge it worse than adultery,” etc.
Sulpicius (in the Life of Saint Martin, before the middle): “Arborius,” he says, “a man of very holy and faithful disposition, when his daughter was most grievously burning with the heats of a quartan fever, inserted a letter of Martin, which by chance had been brought to him, on the girl’s breast in the very access of the burning, and at once the fever was put to flight. Which thing so prevailed with Arborius that he at once vowed the girl to God and dedicated her to perpetual virginity; and, setting out to Martin, he presented the girl to him in person, nor did he suffer her to be consecrated, the habit of virginity being imposed, by any other than Martin.”
Rufinus (Book 10 of the history, chapter 8) says that at Jerusalem there was a notable monastery of sacred virgins, to whom Helena, mother of Constantine, was sometimes wont to minister at table with her own hands.
Saint Ambrose (Book 3 On Virgins, before the middle): “Thou forbiddest girls, initiated in the sacred mysteries and consecrated to integrity, to marry. Would that I could have recalled those about to marry! Would that I could have changed the nuptial veil for the pious veil of integrity! Or does it seem unworthy that consecrated virgins be not led away from the sacrosanct altars to marriage? And to whom it is lawful to choose a spouse, is it not lawful to prefer God?” And below: “Learn,” he says, “how many the Alexandrian Church, and that of the whole East, and the African, are wont each year to consecrate; fewer men here come forth than there virgins are consecrated.” The like he repeats throughout.
Blessed Jerome (in the epistle to Sabinianus): “It is the custom,” he says, “in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria, that both virgin and widow, who have vowed themselves to God, and renouncing the world have trodden underfoot all the delights of the world, offer their hair to the mothers of the monasteries to be cut off, not afterward to go about with uncovered head against the will of the Apostle, but with it bound and veiled alike.” The writings of this holy man are full of testimonies for the vow and profession of chastity, so much so that Peter Martyr says there is none of the Fathers who is more opposed to their dogma than Jerome.
Saint Augustine (Book 1 On Adulterous Marriages, chapter 24): “What,” he says, “was lawful to anyone before he vowed, will not be lawful when he has vowed that he will never do it; if, however, he vowed that which ought to be vowed, such as is perpetual virginity,” etc. And (on Psalm 75): “A certain consecrated woman,” he says, “wished to marry. What did she wish? What her own mother too. Did she wish something evil? Plainly evil. Why? Because she had vowed to the Lord her God.” The same in the same place: “What,” he says, “does the Apostle say of certain women who vowed and did not render? Having, he says, damnation, because they have made void their first faith. What is it, made void their first faith? They vowed and did not render.”
Saint Fulgentius (in the book On the Faith, to Peter, chapter 42): “To those,” he says, “who, whether married or free from marriage, have vowed continence to God, it is very damnable if either those wish to seek the conjugal work, to which they professed they would not go, or those to demand it back, from which they professed they would depart — the former by a free, the latter by a common will.” The same Saint Fulgentius (in epistle 1, chapter 6): “A virgin,” he says, “does not sin by marrying, if before she married she did not vow virginity to God in her heart.” And (epistle 3, chapter 4): “This,” he says, “is the only-begotten Son of God, only-begotten Son also of a virgin, one spouse of all the sacred virgins, the fruit, honor, and gift of holy virginity, whom holy virginity bore corporally, to whom holy virginity is spiritually married; by whom holy virginity is made fruitful, that it may persevere intact; by whom it is adorned, that it may remain beautiful; by whom it is crowned, that it may reign perennially glorious. Wherefore keep the good deposit, and the merit of so great a good, which, that thou mightest have it, God gave, and that thou mightest vow it to God, He Himself brought about.”
To all these testimonies of the Councils, Pontiffs, and Fathers, Peter Martyr brings three answers at the end of his book. First he says that all these are human testimonies, and that it is not the office of a Christian man to appeal from the testimonies of God to the testimonies of men: “As to the other point,” he says, “concerning the judgment of the Fathers, since our adversaries, both in this cause and in other controversies, are always wont to appeal to them, I pronounce that it does not seem to me to be of a Christian man to appeal to the judgments of men from the Scriptures of God. For this is to do injury to the Holy Spirit; for faith is from hearing, and hearing from the word of God, not from the Fathers.” So he. Where too he most fully proves that there is no appealing from Scripture to the Fathers.
But while he says these things, he seems to me to appeal from candor to impudence, from truth to falsehood. For the Catholic Doctors never appealed from Scripture to the Fathers, but, in the understanding of Scripture, from the judgment of a few seditious men to the judgment of many most wise and best men; or even from the judgment of a party to the judgment of others who are not parties. For as in human suits, when two contend and appeal to some judge, they do not appeal from the law to the judge, but from the litigating party to the judge. And if again the judge do not satisfy them, they appeal again, not from the law, but from one judge to another, until they come to some one from whom there can be no appeal. So too in the Church, when suits arise, the divine laws are inspected, which are received by all. And if the suit be not ended, a judge is sought, not because Scripture is not believed, but because the question is about the Scripture itself. And so we appeal from the explanation of the litigating adversary to the arbitration of the wise and skilled, who flourished before the suit arose. And if these perchance agree not among themselves, we appeal to the judgment of the whole Church — that is, to the definition of the supreme Pastor, or of a general Council.
And if anyone should still wish to appeal from that judge to Scripture, he does the same as if in human suits one should appeal from the Praetor to the law; which would be ridiculous, since to appeal from the Praetor to the law, when the question is about the sense of the law, is nothing else than to appeal from the sentence of a public judge to one’s own proper and private judgment.
But, says Peter, even all the Fathers, and the Councils, though they agree most perfectly among themselves, can err, unless they agree with the word of God. I answer that this indeed is true, but that the assumption which is kept silent is false — namely, that all the Fathers, or the legitimate and approved Councils, can fail to agree with the word of God. And the examples which he himself brings prove nothing else but that individual Fathers separately, and illegitimate and reproved Councils, can err. For the Second Council of Ephesus, and that of Constantinople under Leo the Iconoclast, whose examples Martyr adduces, no one is ignorant what they were.
His other answer is: that the Fathers indeed assert what we say, but that they are not to be heard, because they had no just cause of asserting it: “Certainly,” he says, “that we may confess what is true, we have them in this cause more unfair. For at once from the times of the Apostles too much began to be attributed to celibacy; but for what causes this was done, we have taught above in many words.” So he.
And he taught above that there are four causes why at the beginning of the Church celibacy began to be cultivated: “Why virginity was in so great esteem, one cause can be that Christ said there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven, and to that effect Paul has very many things in the seventh chapter of the first to the Corinthians. These indeed the Fathers always had in their mouth, but they ought to have considered how they were to be taken.” And below: “Another cause is that at that time there were grave persecutions in all places, and it is less troublesome in a persecution if one flee alone than if he be compelled to be solicitous about a wife and children. The third cause is that in those times the Christian religion labored under grave infamy; for since at the hours before dawn, and in the dark, from fear of the princes, they came together for hymns and assemblies, the people began to suspect that they used among themselves promiscuous intercourse and nefarious lust,” etc. And below: “And for that reason they fed a great number of virgins and celibates. The fourth cause is that a good part of those who came to Christ were of the heathen; but these always especially looked up to virginity and celibacy.”
Here we answer that the first cause is the chief and most true — namely, the words of Christ and of the Apostle. But as to what Martyr adds, that the holy Fathers ought to have considered how those things were to be taken, it coincides with the former answer. For this is to ask, which after all are more to be believed in the explanation of those passages: the Fathers, most ancient, most holy, and most learned, or Luther and Calvin? But certainly I do not see how there can be doubt about this matter; for if immediately from the Apostles, as Martyr says, those Fathers flourished, surely they could hear and consult the Apostles themselves, and accordingly understand their words far better than these men, who were a thousand five hundred years after the Apostles.
The second and third causes could indeed have had some weight to persuade continence, but that they were not the chief causes of this thing we easily prove. First, because the Fathers, while they praise and persuade continence and the vow of continence, never bring forward those causes, but the words of Christ, of the Apostles, and of the Prophets. On which account Peter Martyr himself confesses that the Fathers always had in their mouth the words of Christ and of Paul, nor did he bring any testimony of any of the ancients who wrote that celibacy was to be looked up to, or to be undertaken, on account of flight in persecution, or on account of refuting the calumny of the heathen. Secondly, if these had been the chief causes, the admiration of celibacy would long since have ceased; for those causes lasted a very short time. But it is not so; rather, always more and more in the Church the honor of continence consecrated and devoted to God flourished and vigorated.
The fourth cause is most false, since it is established that celibacy in the Church began not from the Gentiles, but from the Jews. Since Christ Himself a virgin, His mother a virgin, John a virgin, all the Apostles continent after their calling, had been born of Jews, not of Gentiles. Those first Christians too, who in Egypt cultivated continence, of whom Philo writes (in the book On the Contemplative Life of Suppliants), had come to the Church from Judaism, not from Paganism.
Add that Peter Martyr wrote the contrary in his commentary on 1 Corinthians 7, where he says thus: “Neither do we judge of celibacy that it is at present, as hitherto it was in Judaism and among the heathen, little honorable. For Cicero writes (On the Laws): Let them forbid celibates. Christ removed this ignominy of celibacy,” etc.
Further, the testimonies of the Gentiles are indeed sometimes brought forward by the Fathers, but they are so brought forward as the Apostle once cited the poet Aratus (Acts 17) and Menander (1 Corinthians 15) — namely, not that in such testimonies the foundation of the dogmas of faith be placed, but that it be shown that celibacy does not fight against nature and reason, and that Christians may blush if in those things which pertain to virtue they be found inferior to the heathen. In this way Saint Jerome (in the books against Jovinian), after he had confirmed celibacy by many testimonies of Scripture, produces also the testimonies and examples of the heathen.
The third answer of Peter Martyr consists of some testimonies of the Fathers which seem to fight with the vow of continence. But these we shall bring forward a little later, when we come to dissolve the objections of the adversaries.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT XXVII. Idem asseritur testimonio Patrum. Quarto probanda est testimoniis Patrum. S. Ignatius epist. ad Tharsenses jubet hono¬ rari virgines Deo sacras : et epist. ad Antio¬ chenses « Virgines, inquit, agnoscant cui se consecraverunt. » Dionysius Eccles. hierarch. cap. 6. part2. describens ritum, quo initiabantur Monachi, dicit eos publice in Ecclesia, promittere, se renuntiare vitee divisibili, id est, vitee secu- lari; saecularis enim divisus est, ut Aposto¬ lus dicit I. Corinth. VII. cumpartim de Deo, partim de uxore cogitet. Martialis epist. ad Tolosanos, capite octa¬ vo, dicit se Valeriae virgini persuasisse, ut virginitatem suam Deo voveret, quod etiam Iphigeniae suasisse Matthaeum scribit Abdias in ejus vita, et Theclae Beatum Paulum scribit S. Ambrosius lib. II. de virginibus, et Flaviae Domitillae sanctum Clementem scribit Beda in martyrologio die VII Maii, cujus etiam meminit Eusebius in Chronico. Tertullianus lib. de velandis virginibus : « 0 sacrilegae manus, inquit, quae dicatum Deo habitum detrahere potuen nt, quid pejus aliquis persecutor fecisset, si hoc a virgine electum cognovisset? » Et in fine libri: « Nupsisti, inquit, Christo, illi tradidisti car¬ nem tuam, illi sponsasti maturitatem tuam.» Et ibidem : « Quid, inquit, faciet ipsum con¬ tinentiae votum etc. » Et lib. de Monogamia, ultra medium: « Habentes, inquit, judi¬ cium, quod primam fidem resciderunt, il- am videlicet, a qua, in viduitate inventae et professae eam, noluerint perseverare. » Clemens Alexandrinus Strom. III. initio : « Est ergo, inquit, continentia, corporis des¬ picientia convenienter pactis conventis cum Deo initis. » Et in fine libri : « Dominus, in¬ quit, dixit, qui uxorem duxit, non repudiet eam; qui non duxit, non ducat; qui autem professus est se numquam ducturum, sine uxore perseveret. » Origines hom. 23. in Numeros : « Unde, inquit, mihi videtur illius solius esse indesi¬ nens offerre sacrificium qui se indesinenti, et perpetuae devoverit continentiae. >» Hilarius in Psalm. LXIV : « Deo ergo, in¬ quit, vovenda sunt contemptus corporis, castitatis custodia, jejunii tolerantia. » Eusebius lib. IV. de vita Constantini : « Castitatem, inquit, virginalemque modes¬ tiam amplexatae quaedam, corpus, et ani¬ mum consecravere Deo. » Et infra de Cons^ tantino : « Virgineum, inquit, chorum tan¬ tum non adorabat, istic habitare Deum, cui se puellae devoverant, arbitrabatur. » S. Cyprianus lib. i. epist. 11. ad Pompo¬ nium : « Christus, inquit, Dominus et Judex noster, cum virginem suam sibi dicatam, et sanctitati suae destinatam, jacere cum altero cernat, quam indignatur, et irascitur, et quas poenas incaestis ejusmodi conjunctioni¬ bus comminatur? » Et infra, « Quae, inquit, hoc crimen admisit, non mariti, sed Christi adultera est. » Et lib. de habitu virginum : « Qui, iriquit, se Christo dicaverint, et tam carnem quarft mentem Deo devoverint, opus suum consumment magno praemio destina¬ tum. » S. Athanasius in lib. de Humanite Verbi dicit, etiam pueros virginitatem suo tempo¬ re profiteri solitos : et in Apologia pro fuga sua meminit sacrarum virginum, quas Aria- ni petulantissime vexaverunt. Quod fusius scribit Petrus, Athanasii successor, in epis¬ tola quadam, quse exstat apud Theodore- tum lib. IV. hist. Eccl. cap. 20, 21, 22. Idem Athanasius in lib. de virginitate : « Postquam, inquit, continentiam professa es, corpus tuum sanctificasti. » S. Basiliusin procemio constitut. monast. : « Itaque, inquit, qui a mundi vinculis liber esse cupit, nuptias veluti pedicas quasdam fugit ; his autem relictis, vitam suam Deo consecrat, et castitatem profitetur, ut neque facultas ipsi sit conversionis ad nuptias. » 570 LIBER II. Et epist. ult. qu£G est ad virginem lapsam : « Et quia, inquit, impius in profundum col¬ lapsus mala de csetero contemnit, etiam ipsa abnegas ad verum sponsum pacta, neque esse virgo, neque unquam promisse clamas. Revoca in memoriam honestam professio¬ nem, quam professa es coram Deo, et An¬ gelis, et hominibus. Revoca in memoriam venerandam congregationem, et sacrum vir¬ ginum chorum, yuot litteras ad Sanctos se¬ pe exarasti, per quas pro te orare petisti, non ut nuptias humanas, imo ignominio¬ sam corruptionem assequereris, sed ut a Domino Jesu non excideres etc. » Idem lib. de Virginitate parum a medio : « Cum, in¬ quit, virginitatem Domino professae sint, carnali postmodum voluptate male blanda delinitae ac devictae stupri scelus honesto conjugii nomine obtegere cupiunt.» Et pau¬ lo ante : « Horrendo, inquit sacrilegio Christi sponsae adulter efficitur. » Et pau¬ lo infra : « Nam quod solemne, inquit, legi- timumque connubium sponsus ille (Christus) occuparit, et virginitatis habitus, et foedera, et conventa cum illo, et praeterea processus ipse testatur, hujusmodi quippe nobilitata viro processit in publicum etc. » Idem in quaestionibus fuse explicatis, quaest. 14 et 15, multa de voto solemni Monachorum dis¬ putat. S. Gregorius Nazianzenus oratione de obi¬ tu patris sui ultra medium : « Ut enim, in¬ quit, nos Deo vovimus, si discrimen effuge¬ remus, ita periculo defuncti, nosmetipsos obtulimus etc. » Gregorius enim,' ut ipse poemate de vita sua scribit, a matre Deo consecratus fuerat, antequam nasceretur, et ipse postea, cum in mari periclitaretur, iterum votum continentiae et' religionis emi¬ sit, quod etiam servavit. S. Optatus Milevitanus li. VI. contra Par- menianum : « Spirituale, inquit, hoc genus nubendi est; in nuptiam sponsi jam vene¬ rant voluntate ex professione sua etc. » Sanctus Epiphanius haer. 61. Apostolico- rum: « Tradiderunt, inquit, sancti Dei Apos- li, peccatum esse, post decretam virginita¬ tem ad nuptias converti. » Et infra : « Si, inquit, quae vidua fuit, ac Deo dicata, et postea nupsit, judicium et condemnatio¬ nem habebit, quod primam fidem rejecit ; quanto magis quae Deo dicata virgo fuit, et nupsit, contra Christum lasciviit, et majo¬ rem fidem rejecit, et judicium habebit. » Et haer. 48. Montanistarum : « Gaudet, inquit, Deus verbum his, qui approbatum Dei cul¬ tum praestare possunt, et virginitatem} et continentiam exercere deligunt etc. » Vides cultum vocari possessionem continentiae. Sanctus Joannes Chrysostomus, hom. 15. in priorem ad Timotheum: « Et vidua, in¬ quit, in viduitatis professionne Christo con¬ sentit, id est, Christo nubit, » Et infra : « Cum, inquit, illi se devoverint, nubere vo¬ lunt habentes damnationem, quia primam fidem irritam fecerunt, fidem pactum dicit.» Et homil. 14. prolixissime describit, ac mi¬ ris laudibus praedicat monasticam professio¬ nem ; sed clarissime epist. 6. ad Theodorum lapsum : cc Honorabiles, inquit, nuptiae, sed te etiam servare non convenit privilegia nuptiarum, quamvis frequenter hoc ipsum nuptias voces, ego tamen adulterio illud pe- jus existimo etc. » Sulpitius in vita S. Martini ante medium: « Arborius, inquit, vir sancti admodum et fidelis ingenii, cum filia ejus gravissime quartanae febris aestibus ureretur, epistolam Martini, quae casu ad eum delata fuerat, pectori puellae in ipso accessu ardoris inse¬ ruit, statimque fugata febris est. Quae res apud Arborium tantum valuit, ut statim puellam Deo voveret, et perpetuae virginitati dicaret ; profectusque ad Martinum, puel¬ lam ei praesens obtulit, neque ab alio eam, quam a Martino, habitu virginitatis imposi¬ to, passus est consecrari. » Ruffinus lib. X. histor. cap. 8. dicit, Hie¬ rosolymis fuisse insigne monasterium sacra¬ rum virginum, quibus Helena mater Cons¬ tantini suis manibus ministratre inmen sa ali¬ quando solebat. Sanctus Ambrosius lib. HI. de virginibus, ante medium : « Initiatas, inquit, sacris mysteriis, et consecratas integritati puellas nubere prohibes. Utinam potuissem revoca¬ re nupturas, utinam potuissem flammeum nuptiale pio integritatis velamine mutare. An indignum videtur, ut sacratae virgines, a sacrosanctis altaribus non abducantur ad nuptias? Et quibus licet sponsum eligere, non licet Deum prajferre? » Et infra: « Discite, inquit, quantas Alexandrina, totiusque Orientis, et Africana Ecclesia, quotannis sa¬ crare consueverint ; pauciores hic homines prodeunt, quam illic virgines consecrantur.» Similia passim repetit. B. Hieronymus in epist. ad Sabinianum : « Moris est, inquit, in iEgypti et Syrise mo¬ nasteriis, ut tam virgo, quam vidua, que se CAPUT XXVII. 571 Deo voverint, et saeculo renuntiantes, omnes delicias saeculi eonculcarint, crinem monas¬ teriorum matribus offerant desecandum, non intecto postea contra Apostoli volunta¬ tem incessurae capite, sed ligato pariter, ac velato. » Plena sunt scripta sancti hujus viri testimoniis, pro castitatis voto, et pro¬ fessione, adeo ut Petrus Martyr dicat, nul¬ lum esse ex Patribus, qui magis dogmati ipsorum adversetur, quam Hieronymus. S. Augustinus lib. I. de adulterinis conju¬ giis c. 24 : «Quod, inquit, cuiquam, ante¬ quam vovisset, licebat, cum id se numquam facturum voverit, non licebit : si tamen id voverit, quod vovendum fuit, sicut est per¬ petua virginitas etc. » Et in Psalm. LXXV : « Nescio, inquit, quae castimonialis nubere voluit. Quid voluit? quod et mater ipsius. Aliquid mali voluit? mali plane, quare? quia voverat Domino Deo suo. » Idem ibi¬ dem : «Quid, inquit, ait Apostolus de quibus¬ dam, quae voverunt, et non reddiderunt? Habentes, inquit, damnationem, quia pri¬ mam fidem irritam fecerunt. Quid est pri¬ mam fidem irritam fecerunt? Voverunt et non reddiderunt. » S. Fulgentius lib. de fide ad Petrum cap. 42. « Eis, inquit, qui sive conjugati, sive a conjugio liberi, continentiam Deo voverunt, admodum est damnabile, si vel illi conjuga¬ le opus voluerint appetere, quo se non ac¬ cessuros, vel illi repetere, a quo recessuros, illi libera, illi communi professi sunt volun¬ tate. » Idem S. Fulgentius in epist. I. cap. 6: « Non peccat, inquit, virgo nubens, si virgi¬ nitatem Deo priusquam nuberet in corde non vovit. » Et epist, 3. cap. 4 : « Hic est, inquit, unigenitus Dei Filius, unigenitus etiam virginis Filius, unus omnium sacra¬ rum virginum sponsus, sanctae virginitatis fructus, decus, et munus, quem corporaliter sancta virginitas peperit, cui spiritualiter sancta virginitas nubit ; a quo sancta virgini¬ tas faecundatur, ut perseveret intacta : a quo decoratur, ut permaneat pulchra ; a quo coronatur, ut regnet perenniter glorio¬ sa. Quapropter bonum depositum custodi, et meritum tanti boni, quod ut haberes, Deus dedit, et ut Deo voveres, ipse fecit. » Ad hsec omnia Conciliorum, Pontificum, et Patrum testimonia, tres adfert responsio¬ nes Petrus Martyr ad finem libri. Primo di¬ cit, omnia ista humana esse testimonia, nec esse Christiani hominis officium provocare a testimoniis Dei ad testimonia hominum : « Quod, inquit, ad alterum attinet de judi¬ cio Patrum, quoniam adversarii nostri, et in hac causa, et in aliis controversiis sem- per provocare solent ad eos, pronuntio mi¬ hi non videri hominis esse Christiani ad ho¬ minibus judicia provocare a Scripturis Dei. Hoc enim est injuriam facere Spiritui sanc¬ to ; nam fides est ex auditu, auditus autem ex verbo Dei, non ex Patribus. » Hsec ille. Ubi etiam fusissime probat, non esse provo¬ candum a Scriptura ad Patres. Sed dum hsec dicit, ipse mihi provocare videtur a candore ad impudentiam, a veri¬ tate ad mendacium; Non enim Catholici Doctores provocarunt unquam a Scriptura ad Patres, sed in Scripturse intelligentia a judicio paucorum seditiosorum, ad judicium multorum sapientissimorum, et optimorum virorum, vel etiam a judicio partis ad judi¬ cium aliorum, qui partes non sint. Ut enim in humanis litibus cum duo contendunt, et judicem aliquem appellant, non provocante a lege ad judicem, sed a parte litigante ad judicem. Et si rursus judex non satisfaciat, provocant iterum non a lege, sed ab uno judice ad alium, donec veniatur ad aliquem, a quo provocari non possit. Ita quoque in Ecclesia cum oriuntur lites, inspiciuntur le¬ ges divinae, quae ab omnibus recipiuntur. Quod si lis non finiatur, quaeritur judex, non quod Scripturae non credatur, sed quod de ipsa Scriptura quaestio sit. Itaque provoca¬ mus ab explicatione adversarii litigantis, ad arbitrium sapientium, etperitorum, qui ante' litem exortam floruerunt. Quod si illi inter se fortasse non conveniant, provocamus ad Ecclesiae totius judicium, id est, ad summi Pastoris, vel generalis Concilii definitio¬ nem. Quod si quis adhuc velit ab isto judice ad Scripturam provocare, idem facit, ac si quis in humanis litibus a Praetore provocaret ad legem; quod ridiculum esset, cum nihil sit aliud provocare a Praetore ad legem, quan¬ do de sensu legis questio est, quam provo¬ care a sententia publici judicis.ad suum pro¬ prium, privatumque judicium. At, inquit Petrus, etiam Patres omnes, et Concilia, licet inter se optime consentiant, errare possunt, nisi cum verbo Dei consen¬ tiant. Respondeo, id quidem esse verum, sed assumptionem, quae subticetur, esse fal¬ sam, nimirum posse omnes Patres, aut Con¬ cilia legitina et approbata, cum verbo Dei non consentire. Exempla autem, quae ipse 572 LIBER IL adfert, nihil aliud probat, nisi posse Patres singulos seorsim, et Concilia illegitima, et reprobata errare. Concilium enim II Ephesi- num, et Gonstantinopolitanum sub Leone Iconomacho, quorum exempla Martyr addu¬ cit, nemo nescit qualia fuerint. Altera ejus responsio est. Patres quidem id asserere, quod nos dicimus, sed non esse audiendos, quod non habuerint justam cau¬ sam id asserendi: « Certe, inquit, ut quod verum est fateamur, eos in hac causa habe¬ mus iniquiores. Statim enim ab Apostolo¬ rum temporibus nimium tribui cseptum est caelibatui, quibus autem de causis, id fac¬ tum sit, supra multis verbis docuimus. » Haec ille. Docuit autem supra, quatuor esse causas, cur initio Ecclesiae coeperit coli coelibatus : « Cur tanto, inquit, in pretio virginitas fuerit, causa una esse potest, quod Christus dixe¬ rit, esse Eunuchos, qui se destraverunt prop¬ ter regnum coelorum, et in eam sententiam permulta Paulus habet in septimo capite prioris ad Corinth. Haec sane Patres semper habuerunt in ore, sed eos cogitare oportuit, quemadmodum essent accipienda. » Et in¬ fra, « Altera causa est, quod- illo tempore graves erant persecutiones omnibus in locis, minus autem molestum est in persecutione, si quis solus fugiat, quam si cogatur sollici¬ tus esse de uxore et liberis. Tertia causa est, quia illis temporibus Christiana religio gravi laborabat infamia ; cum enim horis antelu¬ canis, et in tenebris metu Principum ad hymnos et synaxes convenirent, populus cse- pit suspicari illos uti inter se promiscuo concubitu, et nefaria libidine etc. » Et infra : « Atque ea gratia magnum numerum ale¬ bant virginum et coelibum. Quarta causa est, quia bona pars eorum, qui accesserunt ad Christum, erat Ethnicorum. At illi maxi¬ me semper suspiciebant virginitatem et coeli¬ batum. » Hic nos respondemus , Primam causam esse praecipuam, et verissimam, nimirum verba Christi, et Apostoli. Quod autem ad¬ dit Martyr, sanctos Patres debuisse cogitare, quemadmodum illa essent accipienda, coin- cidit cum 'responsione superiori. Id enim est quaerere, utris tandem magis credendum sit in eorum locorum explicatione, Patribus ne antiquissimis, et sanctissimis, et doctissi¬ mis, an Luthero, et Calvino. Sed certe non video quomodo ambigi possit de hac re ; nam si statim ab Apostolis, ut Martyr dicit, floruerunt Patres illi , profecto Apostolos ipsos audire et consulere potuerunt : ac proinde longe melius verba illorum in- lelligere, quam isti, qui mille et quingentis annis post Apostolos fuerunt. Secunda, et Tertia causa potuerunt quidem momentum aliquod habere ad suadendam continentiam, sed non fuisse causas prteci- puas hujus rei, facile probamus. Primo, quia Patres, dum laudant, et suadent con¬ tinentiam, et continentias votum, numquam adferunt istas causas, sed verba Christi, Apos¬ tolorum, et Prophetarum. Quocirca ipse etiam Petrus Martyr fatetur, semper Patri¬ bus fuisse in ore verba Christi, et Pauli, nec attulit ullum testimonium alicujus veteris, qui scripserit suspiciendum esse, vel sus¬ cipiendum coelibatum ob fugam in persecu¬ tione, aut ob refellendam calumniam Ethni¬ corum. Secundo, si istse fuissent causa; prsecipue, jamdudum cessasset admiratio coelibatus ; nam causae illae brevissimo tem¬ pore durarunt : Non autem ita est , sed semper magis et magis in Ecclesia floruit, et viguit honor continentiae Deo sacratae ac devotae. Quarta causa falsissima est, cum constet coelibatum in Ecclesia non a Gentilibus, sed a Judaeis coepisse. Siquidem Christus ipse virgo, mater ejus virgo, Joannes virgo, Apos- tili omnes post vocationem suam continentes, ex Judaeis, non ex Gentibus nati fuerant. Illi etiam primi Christiani, qui in iEgypto continentiam colebant, de quibus scribit Philo in lib. de vita contemplativa suppli- cum, ex Judaismo, non ex Paganismo, ad Ecclesiam venerant. Adde , quod Petrus Martyr contrarium scripsit in commentario ad cap. VII prioris ad Corinthios, ubi sic ait : «Neque judica¬ mus de coelibatu, quod sit in praesenti, ut hactenus erat in Judaismo, et apud Ethni¬ cos, parum honestus. Scribit enim Cicero de legibus, Ccelibes esse prohibento. Chris¬ tus hanc ignominiam coelibatus amovit etc.» Porro Gentilium testimonia adferuntur quidem interdum a Patribus, sed ita ad¬ feruntur, ut Apostolus quondam citavit Aratum Poetam Act. XVII et Menandrum I. Corinth XV. nimirum non ut in ejusmodi testimoniis ponatur firmamentum dogma¬ tum fidei, sed ut ostendatur coelibatus non pugnare contra naturam, et rationem, et ut Christiani erubescant, si in iis quse ad virtutem pertinent, inveniantur Ethnicis in- CAPUT XXVIII. 573 feriores. Hoc modo S. Hieronymus in libris adversus Jovinianum , postquam multis Scripturae testimoniis coelibatum confirma¬ vit, producit etiam Ethnicorum testimonia et exempla. • Tertia responsio Petri Martyris constat ex aliquot Patrum testimoniis, quae cum voto continentiae pugnare videntur. Sed ea paulo post adferemus, ubi ad objectiones adver¬ sariorum dissolvendas pervenerimus.