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| Chapter II.
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Chapter II.
For it is a great and a
divine thing, almost beyond a corporeal nature, to lay aside165
| 165 “sopire
luxuriam,” lit. to put to sleep. | luxury, and to extinguish, by strength of
mind, the flame of concupiscence, kindled by the torch of youth; to put
down by spiritual effort the force of natural delight; to live in
opposition to the practice of the human race; to despise the comforts
of wedlock; to disdain the sweet enjoyments derived from children; and
to regard as nothing, in the hope of future blessedness, everything
that is reckoned among the advantages of this present life. This is, as
I have said, a great and admirable virtue, and is not undeservedly
destined to a vast reward, in proportion to the greatness of its labor.
The Scripture says, “I will give to the eunuchs, saith the Lord,
a place in my house and within my walls, a place counted better
than166
| 166 “a filiis et
filiabus”: a mistaken rendering of the Hebrew text. | sons and daughters; I will give them an
eternal name, and it shall not167
fail.” The
Lord again speaks concerning such eunuchs in the Gospel, saying,
“For there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the
kingdom of heaven’s sake.”168
Great, indeed, is the struggle connected with chastity, but greater is
the reward; the restraint is temporal, but the reward will be eternal.
For the blessed Apostle John also speaks concerning these, saying that
“they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.”169
This, I think, is to be understood to the
following effect, that there will be no place in the court of heaven
closed against them, but that all the habitations of the divine
mansions will be thrown open before them.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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