13. Wherefore they who say
that the marriages of such are not marriages, but rather
adulteries, seem not to me to consider with sufficient acuteness
and care what they say; forsooth they, are misled by a semblance of
truth. For, whereas they, who of Christian sanctity marry not, are
said to choose the marriage of Christ, hence certain argue saying,
If she, who during the life of her husband is married to another,
be an adulteress, even as the Lord Himself hath laid down in the
Gospel; therefore, during the life of Christ, over Whom death hath
no more dominion,2252
if she who had chosen His
marriage, be
married to a man, she is an adulteress. They, who say
this, are moved indeed with acuteness, but
fail to observe, how
great absurdity in fact follows on this reasoning. For whereas it
is praiseworthy that, even during the
life of her
husband, by his
consent, a
female vow continence unto
Christ, now, according to the
reasoning of these persons, no one ought to do this, lest she make
Christ Himself, what is impious to
imagine, an
adulterer, by being
married to Him during the
life of her
husband. Next, whereas first
marriages are of better
desert than second,
far be it that this be
the thought of holy
widows, that
Christ seem unto them as a second
husband. For Himself they used heretofore also to have, (when they
were subject and did
faithful service to their own
husbands,) not
after the
flesh, but after the Spirit a
Husband; unto Whom the
Church herself, of which they are members, is the
wife; who by
soundness of
faith, of
hope, of
charity, not in the
virgins alone,
but in
widows also, and
faithful married women, is altogether a
virgin. Forsooth unto the universal
Church, of which they all are
members, the
Apostle saith, “I joined you unto one
husband a
chaste virgin to present unto
Christ.”
2253
But He knoweth how to make
fruitful, without marring of chastity, a
wife a
virgin, Whom even
in the
flesh itself His Mother could without violation of chastity
conceive. But there is brought to pass by means of this
ill-considered notion, (whereby they think that the marriages of
women who have fallen away from this holy purpose, in case they
shall have
married, are no marriages,) no
small evil, that
wives be
separated from their
husbands, as though they were adulteresses,
not
wives; and wishing to restore to continence the
women thus
separated, they make their
husbands real
adulterers, in that during
the life of their wives they have married others.
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