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| Chapter IV.
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Chapter IV.
Now, therefore, since we
have set forth, although in few words, both the difficulty and the
merit of purity, great care must be taken lest a matter which in itself
implies great virtue, and is also destined to a vast reward, should
fail to produce its proper fruits. For the more precious every sort of
thing is, the more it is guarded with anxious solicitude. And since
there are many things which fail to secure their proper excellence,
unless they are assisted by the aid of other things, as is, for
instance, the case with honey, which, unless it is preserved by the
protection of wax, and by the cells of the honeycombs, and is indeed,
to state the matter more truly, sustained by these, loses its
deliciousness and cannot exist apart by itself; and again as it is with
wine, which, unless it be kept in vessels of a pleasant odor, and with
the pitch frequently renewed, loses the power of its natural sweetness;
so great care must be taken lest perchance some things may be necessary
also to virginity, without which it can by no means produce its proper
fruits, and thus a matter of so great difficulty may be of no advantage
(while all the time it is believed to be of advantage), because it is
possessed without the other necessary adjuncts. For unless I am
mistaken, chastity is preserved in its entirety, for the sake of the
reward to be obtained in the kingdom of heaven, which it is perfectly
certain no one can obtain who does171
| 171 “quod sine
æternæ vitæ merito neminem consequi posse satis certum
est.” | not deserve
eternal life. But that eternal life cannot be merited except by the
keeping of all the divine commandments, the Scripture testifies,
saying, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments.”172
Therefore no one
has that life, except the man who has kept all the precepts of the law,
and he who has not such life cannot be a possessor of the kingdom of
heaven, in which it is not the dead, but the living who shall reign.
Therefore virginity, which hopes for the glory of the kingdom of
heaven, will profit nothing by itself, unless it also possess that to
which eternal life is promised, by means of which the reward of the
kingdom of heaven is possessed. Above all things, therefore, the
commandments which have been enjoined upon us must be kept by those who
preserve chastity in its entireness, and who are hoping for its reward
from the justice of God, lest otherwise the pains taken to maintain a
glorious chastity and continence come to nothing. No one acquainted
with the law does not know that virginity is above173
| 173 “supra
mandatum”: Clericus remarks on this, “Non
supra, sed præter, nam ea de re nihil præcepit
Christus.” | the commandment or precept, as the
Apostle says, “Now, as to virgins, I have no precept of the Lord,
but I give my advice.”174
When, therefore,
he simply gives advice about maintaining virginity, and lays down no
precept, he acknowledges that it is above the commandment. Those,
therefore, who preserve virginity, do more than the commandment
requires. But it will then only profit you to have done more than was
commanded, if you also do that which is commanded. For how can you
boast that you have done more, if, in respect to some point, you do
less? Desiring to fulfill the Divine counsel, see that, above all
things, you keep the commandment: wishing to attain to the reward of
virginity, see that you keep fast hold of what is necessary to merit
life, that your chastity may be such as can receive a recompense. For
as the observance of the commandments ensures life, so, on the other
hand, does the violation give rise to death. And he who through
disobedience has been doomed to death cannot hope for the crown
pertaining to virginity; nor, when really handed over to punishment,
can he expect the reward promised to chastity.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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