Question 3

QUESTION III.


On continence.

After having treated of poverty, it now remains to treat of continence; concerning which, according to its three parts, a threefold question will be introduced.

For first it must be asked concerning conjugal chastity.

Second, concerning widowed continence.

Third, concerning virginal sanctity: and all this by comparison to the evangelical and divine law.

ARTICLE I.


On conjugal chastity.

The first question, therefore, is whether conjugal chastity is to be approved according to the evangelical law. And that it is, is shown by authority and by reason; by authority as follows.

1. Matthew 19, the Lord responding to the question put to him concerning marriage: Have you not read, that he who made men from the beginning made them male and female: and afterward: What God has joined together, let not man separate? The joining therefore of male and female according to the undivided companionship of life is from the institution of God and approved in the law of the Gospel by the judgment of Christ: and according to this the act of conjugal chastity is understood: therefore this virtue and its act is consonant with divine law.

2. Likewise, John 2: Jesus and his disciples were called to the wedding: and consequently he shows that he performed his first miracle there; but if the nuptial act were not consonant with the law of God, Christ would not have approved it by his own presence: therefore etc.

3. Likewise, 1 Peter 3: Husbands, dwelling together according to knowledge, bestowing honor on the woman as on a weaker vessel; but this is according to the conjugal act: therefore the conjugal act is consonant with the law of God.

4. Likewise, 1 Timothy 2, it is said of woman: She shall be saved through the bearing of children, if she shall have continued in faith and love with sanctification: but in the conjugal act there is the bearing of children, and that is consonant with the law of God: therefore etc.

5. Likewise, Ephesians 5: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church: but the union of Christ with the Church is according to the most chaste love: therefore the union of man with woman is also according to chaste love. But chaste love is consonant with the law of God: therefore also its act.

6. Likewise, 1 Corinthians 7: Let the husband render to the wife the debt owed, and the wife to the husband. The husband does not have power over his own body, but the wife does: therefore for the husband to render the debt to the wife is consonant with the law of God: but this is done according to the conjugal act: therefore etc.

7. Likewise, in the same place: If you have taken a wife, you have not sinned: and if a virgin shall have married, she does not sin: therefore if one was previously continent without a wife, it seems that one will also be continent with a wife, etc.

Likewise, this same thing is shown by reason as follows.

8. Everything that accords with the evangelical Sacraments is good and praiseworthy: but conjugal continence is of this kind: therefore it is good and praiseworthy. The major is evident; the minor is proved: Ephesians 5: This Sacrament is a great one, etc.: therefore conjugal continence is consonant with the law of God.

9. Likewise, that which accords with divine precepts is a work of virtue and consonant with the law of God: but the conjugal act is of this kind: therefore it is a work of virtue. The minor is proved: Genesis 1: Increase and multiply, etc.: but this is accomplished through the conjugal act: therefore etc.

10. Likewise, that which accords with natural dictate and proceeds from reason is a work of virtue; "for virtue is a habit consonant with reason in the manner of nature"; but conjugal continence accords with natural dictate and proceeds from reason: therefore etc.

11. Likewise, that which accords with the natural and common good accords with the law of God; but the conjugal act is of this kind, because it is directed toward the multiplication of human beings or the preservation of the species: therefore etc.

12. Likewise, there is a threefold character of the desirable, namely the honorable, the useful, and the delightful ; but wherever these three are found, that thing is consonant with the law of God: in matrimony there is the honorable through fidelity, and also the useful and the delightful through the generation of children: therefore etc.

13. Likewise, what food is to the preservation of the individual, sexual union is to the preservation of the species; but the moderate use of food pertains to virtue, namely to temperance: therefore moderate sexual union also pertains to virtue, namely to chastity: therefore it is consonant with the law of God.

On the contrary: 1. Luke 20: The children of this age marry and are given in marriage, etc.: but the children of this age are not children of God: therefore through the conjugal act which they exercise, they are not children of God: therefore conjugal continence is repugnant to the law of God.

2. Likewise, Romans 8: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God: but by the fact that they exercise the carnal act they are said to be in the flesh: therefore such persons cannot please God: therefore etc.

3. Likewise, Galatians 6: He who sows in the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption: but sowing in the flesh is done through the act of conjugal continence: therefore conjugal continence is contrary to the law of God.

4. Likewise, 1 Corinthians 7: He who is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, and how he may please his wife: but solicitude for and complacency in this world is condemned and is contrary to the law of God: therefore so also is conjugal continence.

5. Likewise, in the same place: Let those who have wives be as though not having them; but he who does not have a wife does not use her: therefore he who has one should not use her. But this is contrary to the act of conjugal continence: therefore conjugal continence is repugnant to the law of God.

6. Likewise, in the same place: Return together again: but this I say by way of indulgence, not by way of commandment: but no act of virtue requires indulgence: therefore the act of conjugal continence is not an act of virtue: therefore etc.

Likewise, the same is shown by reason as follows.

7. Everything is evil from which sin necessarily follows: but from the act of conjugal continence sin necessarily follows, namely original sin in the offspring generated: therefore etc.

8. Likewise, every act which evil necessarily accompanies is blameworthy: but evil necessarily accompanies the act of conjugal continence, namely lust: therefore it is blameworthy: therefore etc.

9. Likewise, every act about which one reasonably feels shame is a blameworthy act: but the act by which a man has intercourse with his wife is such: therefore etc.

10. Likewise, every act and movement that alienates from God is foreign to virtue: but the act of conjugal continence is such: therefore etc. Proof of the middle term: Hosea 1; the Gloss: "Just as wine intoxicates a man and alienates him from the state of his mind, so the law of marriage alienates a man from the things that are of God": therefore etc.

11. Likewise, no act in which reason is overwhelmed is an act of virtue: but in the act of conjugal continence reason is totally overwhelmed: therefore it is not a work of virtue.

12. Likewise, no act that is repugnant to spiritual delight is a movement of virtue: but the act of conjugal continence is such: therefore etc.

13. Likewise, every virtue consists in a mean; but the pleasure that is in the conjugal act is excessive: therefore its act will not be an act or work of virtue.

14. Likewise, every virtue concerns the good and the difficult: but the conjugal act is frail and easy: therefore it is not a work of virtue.

15. Likewise, the act of continence is to contain: but to contain is to abstain from intercourse: therefore, since knowing one's wife is contrary to this, it will also be contrary to continence, and thereby neither a virtue nor a work of virtue, and thus repugnant to or dissonant from the law of God.

CONCLUSION.


Conjugal chastity is approvable and consonant with the law of God, and indeed according to all states of the passing age.

I respond: It must be said that without doubt conjugal chastity is approvable and consonant with the law of God,

not only according to the state of the present time or the future, but indeed from the beginning of the world until the end of the present age, until the number of the elect is completed.

For the understanding of which it must be noted that conjugal chastity itself and its act and exercise is consonant with the law of nature and the law of Scripture and the law of grace.

It is consonant with the law of nature by reason of created nature itself, by reason of the precept superadded, by reason of the revelation shown from above.

It accords, I say, with the law of nature itself by reason of created nature, which was formed in the distinction of the sexes, according to that passage of Genesis 1: God created man in His image and likeness; male and female He created them. - It accords also by reason of the superadded precept, while the law of nature still remained, according to that passage of Genesis 1: God blessed them and said: Increase and multiply and fill the earth: which indeed is not done legitimately except through the exercise of conjugal chastity.

It accords no less by reason of revelation given from above. For Adam prophetically said after his deep sleep: This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Wherefore a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh. This word is said to have been spoken by God in Matthew 19, because Adam said it while illuminated by the divine Spirit.

From the first of these the union of man and woman is natural, from the second it is moral, from the third it is sacramental: and all of this belongs to it according to the state of the law of nature; from which the act and exercise of conjugal chastity itself first draws its origin.

It accords also with the written law by reason of the divine promise, the divine miracle, and the divine statute. By reason of the divine promise: because the Lord promised to Abraham, Genesis 17: You shall be the father of many nations; and I will make you increase most exceedingly, and I will establish you among nations, and kings shall come forth from you.

By reason of the divine miracle, according to that passage of Genesis 21: The Lord visited Sarah, as He had promised, and fulfilled what He had spoken, and she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time which God had foretold to her.

It accords also by reason of the divine statute, Leviticus 18. For the Lord established laws according to which legitimacy is observed in the persons who contract marriage. For He says: I am the Lord your God: keep my laws and judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. No man

shall approach to her that is near of kin to him, etc. - Since therefore the Lord as a benefit promised that He would give offspring to Abraham through the way of marriage, and miraculously made fruitful the dead womb of Sarah, and also gave laws according to which marriage is to be contracted: it is evident that conjugal chastity accords with the written law.

It accords no less also with the law of grace, first indeed by reason of the angelic announcement, according to that passage of Luke 1: Fear not, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and Elizabeth your wife shall bear you a son: now Zechariah had merited this through devout prayer and through a holy life chastely maintained in the law of marriage; whence it is said in Luke 1 that both were just before the Lord, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord, without blame.

Secondly, by reason of the Lord's definition, not only through the deed by which He was present at the wedding, but also through the word by which He authoritatively defined it, Matthew 19: What God has joined together, let not man separate.

Thirdly, it also accords by reason of apostolic instruction. For Peter and Paul, the principal organizers of the Church, both commend marriage and its law and the fidelity of the marriage bed and the payment of the debt and the mutual love of wife and husband.

Since, therefore, conjugal chastity is approved both by the apostolic mouth and by the evangelical word and by the angelic mouth and by the divine mouth: and it is also approved by nature, which is the implanted law, and by Scripture or the Mosaic law, and by the evangelical law: it is manifest that it accords with the divine law and is to be approved according to it. And it is a wonder how the perfidy of heretics is so mad as to condemn conjugal chastity that has been approved by so many irrefutable testimonies.

Whence Augustine, in On Ecclesiastical Dogmas: "To call marriages evil, or to be compared to fornication or to debauchery, and to believe foods to be evil—this is not of Christians, but of Manichaeans."

But this must be noted: that although marriage itself is to be approved in every state and time, nevertheless in the first state, namely of instituted nature, it existed as a Sacrament and a duty; but after man's fall, by reason of nature it existed as a duty, but by reason of the disease it existed as a remedy. For because it is a Sacrament, it is rather a remediation of the disease itself than something infected by the disease; whence it now holds the character of a duty, a remedy, and a Sacrament. And according to this it must be understood that the use of conjugal chastity can take place in two ways: either insofar as one has an eye toward the duty of procreating offspring for the worship of God, and thus it is an act of pure virtue by reason of its root, by reason of its mode, and by reason of its end; or insofar as one has an eye also toward the remedy, so that the vice of incontinence may be avoided, and thus it is an act of virtue that the weakness of the flesh accompanies. But if one has an eye toward the disease, that is, toward satiating concupiscence: either one in some way regards the remedy or the duty, and then it is not an act of virtue, but a venial sin, because it is excused through the Sacrament of marriage; or one in no way has an eye except toward satiating the appetite of concupiscence, by which one is carried with such great impulse that even if she were not his wife, he would know her: and then, because that act perverts the law of marriage, it is not an act consonant with chastity, but repugnant to it.

Whence Augustine, in the book On the Good of Marriage: "That intercourse alone is blameless which is conjugal, undertaken for the necessity of begetting; but that which goes beyond this necessity yields not to reason but to lust: and yet not to demand but to render this to one's spouse, lest by fornicating one sin damnably, pertains to the conjugal person. But if both are subjected to such concupiscence, they do something not properly of marriage; nevertheless, if in their union they love more what is honorable than what is dishonorable, that is, what belongs to marriage rather than what does not belong to marriage, this is conceded to them, on the authority of the Apostle, by way of pardon. For so great is the force of the Creator's ordinance and the order of creation that in things granted for use, even when the measure is exceeded, it is far more tolerable than even one or rare excesses in those things which have not been granted."

From these things, therefore, it is clear that conjugal continence and its due use is approvable according to the law of God. Whence also the arguments which are adduced for this position are to be granted.

1. To that which is first objected to the contrary concerning the children of this world, it must be said that the children of the world are sometimes distinguished from the children of light, as in Luke 16: The children of this world are more prudent than the children of light, etc.; sometimes they are distinguished from the children of the other world or of the resurrection, as here. In the first way, the children of this world are called those who conform themselves to this world and love it above all: and thus it has the sense of vice. In the second way, the children of this world are called those who live in this world, or pass away with the world; and thus it has the sense of infirmity. Whence from this it is not established that marriage is blameworthy, but that it has an infirmity attached to it.

2. 3. To that which is objected, that those who are in the flesh cannot please God, it must be said that to be in the flesh can denote a relation of matter or of end; insofar as it denotes a relation of matter, it is not reprehensible to be in the flesh, and thus it accords with conjugal chastity and its use; insofar as it denotes a relation of end, as when someone performs carnal works for the sake of the flesh, thus it is culpable: and in this way the Apostle understands it, and in this way it does not arise from conjugal chastity, but rather is against it. Whence Augustine, in the book On the Good of Marriage: "Marriages have this good, that carnal or youthful incontinence, even if it is vicious, is directed to the honorableness of propagating offspring, so that from the evil of lust the conjugal union may produce something good; then, because carnal concupiscence is restrained and in a certain way burns more modestly, being tempered by parental affection. For a certain gravity intervenes in fervent pleasure, when in the very act by which man and woman cleave to one another, they nevertheless consider becoming father and mother."

From which it is gathered that marriage is of such great power that it directs the carnal act to spiritual honorableness.

And through this the response to what follows is clear concerning what is objected from that text: He who sows in the flesh etc.

4. To that objection, that he who has a wife is anxious etc.: it must be said that solicitude is twofold: one kind is under God, and this is called distracting and occupying solicitude; the other kind leads to forgetfulness of God, and this is suffocating solicitude: similarly a distinction must be made concerning friendship as well. The Apostle, however, speaks of the first kind, and the argument proceeds from the second.

5. To that objection that those who have wives ought to be as though not using them: it must be said that the Apostle does not there prohibit every use of worldly things; for then it would be necessary for man to go out of the world, and thus no one in this world would be just and good; but he shows there that one's intention must not be fixed on this world, nor should it be loved as an end, but as a way to the end. This is clear from what he adds: For the figure of this world passes away . Hence from this it is not established that one should not use a wife, but that one should not rest in love of her and use of her, since she is not a stable good, but one transitory and perishable.

6. To that objection that the act of marriage is by way of indulgence: it must be said that this is not said of marriage itself and of the nuptial act that is performed for the procreation of children, but of that which is performed for the restraining of incontinence, because this has venial fault joined to it, as was said above. Hence Augustine, in the book On the Good of Marriage: "If you have taken a wife, you have not sinned: and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. From this it is no longer permissible to doubt that marriage is not a sin; therefore the Apostle does not grant marriage by way of pardon. For who would hesitate to say that it is most absurd to say that those to whom pardon is given have not sinned? But he grants that intercourse by way of pardon which takes place on account of incontinence, not solely for the sake of procreating, but also sometimes with no purpose of procreating; which marriage does not compel to happen, but obtains pardon for, provided however that it is not so excessive as to impede the times that ought to be set aside for prayer, nor changed into that use which is against nature".

7. To that objection that everything is evil to which sin necessarily follows: it must be said that this is true, speaking per se; but in the generation of offspring it must be noted that two things concur, namely the conjugal act and concupiscence, and they are distinguished from one another; because if man had remained upright, the act of marriage would have been without concupiscence; original sin therefore does not follow upon the conjugal act by reason of itself, but by reason of the concupiscence annexed to it; and therefore from this it does not follow that the act itself is evil, but that concupiscence is evil. And this is what Augustine says Against Julian: "It is not propagation that transmits original sin to posterity, but concupiscence".

8. To that which is objected, that every act which evil necessarily accompanies is blameworthy: it must be said that lust accompanies the act of conjugal chastity as punishment, but does not accompany it as fault: because the good of matrimony brings it about that that lust is ordered to a good, namely to the procreation of children; and through this very thing one uses the evil well and rather excuses the evil than is vitiated by the evil: because, as has been said, it has in itself the power of a divinely instituted remedy. Whence Augustine, in the third book against Julian: "Why are you unwilling to agree that lust is an evil, of which the married make good use for the sake of begetting? Or can there be an evil use of good things, and there cannot be a good use of evil things, when we find how well the Apostle used Satan himself, handing over a man to him for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved "?

9. To that which is objected, that no act about which one reasonably feels shame is an act of virtue: it must be said that a person does not feel shame about the conjugal act by reason of the act, but by reason of the vitiated punishment, namely lust, which from the vice of the first parent draws its origin, which in the vice of original sin confers origin, which also to the spirit itself is in a certain way rebellious. But about the conjugal act itself one feels no shame at all: which is evident, because one is not confounded but glories in this, that he has procreated children according to the law of matrimony, which restrained that lust and gave to that act a limit and measure and due end. Whence Augustine, in the fourth book against Julian: "Who among us says that the union of the conjugal members is evil, in which marriage uses well the evil of concupiscence for the propagation of children? Which concupiscence would not be an evil if it were moved solely for the sake of begetting to licit intercourse: but now, since conjugal chastity resists it, it is the boundary of evil, because it is a matter of no crime, because through the good of fidelity a person uses the evil of lust."

10. To that which is objected, that every motion alienating from God, etc.: it must be said that something is said to alienate from God in two ways: either simply, or with respect to some act or state. In the first way it cannot be without sin: in the second way it can be through the punishment of sin and also through an act of virtue: just as the exercise of action retards and for a time impedes the act of contemplation, just as also sleep impedes the exercise in virtue.

11. To the objection that no act in which reason is absorbed is an act of virtue: it can be said that reason is said to be absorbed in two ways in any act: either antecedently, or consequently. If antecedently, as is the case in drunkenness, because the drunkard knowingly procures something by which he overturns the use of reason in himself, then the objection has truth; but if consequently or even concomitantly, then it does not have truth. For even in sleep reason is absorbed. Whence Augustine, Against Julian: "You could not have more gravely accused lust than by confessing that in its impulse no one can think holy thoughts; but surely the religious soul, making good use of this evil, thinks this: that it should endure lust in lying together, which it cannot think about when it endures it—just as a man thinks of health so that he might give himself over to sleep, which indeed he cannot think about when he sleeps."

12. To the objection that no act which is repugnant to spiritual delight is a motion of virtue: it must be said that some act can be repugnant to spiritual delight in two ways: either by reason of rest itself, or by reason of order. For spiritual delight is ordered rest. That which is repugnant to it by reason of order, is vicious; but that which is repugnant by reason of rest for a time need not be a vice, as was shown above.

Furthermore, the conjugal act is not repugnant to that delight by reason of itself, but by reason of what is annexed to it.

13. To the objection that every act of virtue consists in a mean: it must be said that although in the conjugal act there seems to be excessive delight in comparison to the impulse of sensuality, it is nevertheless moderated in comparison to the governance of reason, which considers the due time, the due place, the due matter, the due end, and also the due manner; whence that excessive delight is not an act of virtue, but its moderation by reason is an act of conjugal chastity. Whence Augustine, in the fourth book Against Julian: "You ask whether in Christian spouses I should call the pleasure of their unions chastity, or unchastity? Behold, I respond: it is not itself called chastity, but the good use of that evil, by which good use it comes about that that evil cannot even be called unchastity: for unchastity is the shameful use of that same evil, just as virginal chastity is no use of that same evil."

14. To that which is objected, that every virtue is concerned with the good and the difficult: it must be said that although knowing one's wife is not difficult in itself, just as neither is eating food, nevertheless to preserve therein the due measure and to set a limit—this is both arduous and difficult—and to laudably overcome concupiscence within oneself through a certain warfare of virtue. Whence Augustine, in Against Julian, Book Three: "Conjugal chastity holds the palm, though a lesser one, over the subjection of this evil: for it too wages war against carnal concupiscence, lest it exceed the limits of the nuptial bed; it wages war lest it break into the time set aside by mutual consent of the spouses for prayer; it wages war with a stronger conflict, lest it touch even the body of the spouse beyond what suffices for the begetting of children. Such chastity makes use of women neither when menstruating nor when pregnant, nor of that age at which it is certain they cannot conceive; nor does the desire for intercourse entirely overcome it, but it is relaxed only when the effect of generation is hoped for."

15. To that which is objected, that to be continent is to abstain from intercourse: it must be said that to abstain from intercourse is said in two ways: either universally from all, and thus it pertains to counsel; or from all that is illicit, and thus it is an act of conjugal continence, which is more properly called conjugal chastity, because, just as sobriety consists in the moderate use of food, while abstinence denotes cessation even from licit use, so chastity denotes honorable and chaste use, while continence denotes chaste cessation from use; and both are good, as will be seen below, because it is good to make good use of an evil, and it is better not to make use of an evil at all. But this will be made more fully clear in the following question.

ARTICLE II.


On widowed continence, to be observed and vowed.

Second, it is asked concerning widowed continence; and the question is whether widowed continence according to the evangelical law ought to be vowed. And that it should is shown by authority and by reason: by authority thus.

1. Matthew 19: There are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven; he who can receive it, let him receive it: but to make oneself a eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is done most especially through a vow of continence, and this is proposed to all who wish to undertake it: therefore anyone who wills can vow continence according to the evangelical law.

2. Again, 1 Corinthians 7: It is good for a man not to touch a woman: therefore by equal reasoning it is good for a woman not to touch a man: but this is not a good of precept, but of counsel; and counsels are to be vowed: therefore not to touch a woman is to be vowed. But this is a vow of continence: therefore etc.

3. Again, a little further on: But I say to the unmarried and to widows: it is good for them, if they so remain: therefore according to the Apostle it is good to remain in widowed continence; but this good is a counsel: therefore someone can licitly vow widowed continence.

4. Likewise, in the same place: If the husband shall have died, the woman is freed from the law of the husband; but she will be more blessed if she so remains: but what is more blessed can be licitly vowed: and this is through the vow of widowed continence: therefore etc.

5. Likewise, on that word Augustine says, in On Widowhood: "What I say to one widowed woman I say to every widow: She will be more blessed if she so remains ":

therefore this is proposed to all widows: therefore it is licit for anyone to vow continence according to the evangelical law.

6. Likewise, in the same place: I wish all men to be as I myself: but he himself was entirely continent and bound to continence: therefore he wished that all be bound to continence. But this is done through the vow of continence: therefore etc.

7. Likewise, Romans 12: I beseech you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God; but this is done most especially when the flesh is dedicated to God through the vow of continence: therefore to vow continence is pleasing to God.

Likewise, this same thing is shown by reason thus.

8. What distances one from the concupiscence of the flesh is good and praiseworthy: but the vow of widowed continence most greatly distances from the concupiscence of the flesh: therefore it is good and praiseworthy.

9. Likewise, he who subdues the flesh acts praiseworthily, because the flesh through concupiscence drags one toward sin; but this is done through perpetual continence: therefore to be perpetually continent is praiseworthy: therefore it can be licitly vowed.

10. Likewise, there is a good of counsel, and there is a good of precept: but continence is not a good of precept, because then all who marry would sin: therefore it is a good of counsel. But counsels are to be vowed: therefore etc.

But against this: 1. First Corinthians 7: On account of fornication let each man have his own wife, and each woman her own husband: but that is not a counsel, since it is not a work of perfection nor of supererogation: therefore it is a precept: therefore whoever vows continence acts against this precept: therefore etc.

2. Likewise, First Timothy 5: I wish the younger women to marry, to bear children: but the vow of continence is contrary to this: therefore the Apostle wished the contrary of the vow of continence: therefore continence is not to be vowed.

3. Likewise, First Timothy 5: Let a widow be chosen not less than sixty years of age; and in the same place: Avoid the younger widows: therefore it does not seem that widowed chastity should be undertaken except in elderly women, nor this for any other reason than on account of the danger: therefore it does not seem safe to make a vow of continence.

4. Likewise, everything that is repugnant to a divine precept is to be condemned; but to vow continence is repugnant to a divine precept, namely Genesis 1: Increase and multiply: therefore etc.

5. Likewise, everything that is repugnant to the natural dictate is to be condemned; but the vow of continence is repugnant to the matrimonial union, which accords with the natural dictate: therefore etc.

6. Furthermore, everything that is contrary to the common good, is to be condemned; but the vow of continence is contrary to the common good, namely generation, in which the preservation of the species consists: therefore it is to be condemned.

7. Furthermore, whoever deprives himself of a useful and reasonable remedy divinely instituted acts badly; but he who vows continence deprives himself of matrimony, which is a sacramental remedy divinely instituted: therefore, etc.

8. Furthermore, he who commits himself to danger acts badly; but he who vows continence commits himself to danger on account of the slipperiness of the flesh: therefore, etc.

9. Furthermore, that which departs from the mean departs from virtue, because virtue consists in the mean; but to be continent at all times departs from the mean: therefore it departs from virtue: therefore, etc.

CONCLUSION.


Widowed chastity in both sexes is a matter of divine counsel: it is praiseworthy to love it, more praiseworthy to preserve it, and most praiseworthy to vow it and perpetually guard it.

I respond: it must be said that widowed chastity is a matter of divine counsel in women as well as in men; whence it is praiseworthy to love it, and more praiseworthy to preserve it, and most praiseworthy to vow it and perpetually guard it.

Now the reason why the Lord willed to counsel this is as follows: because, although conjugal continence has in itself many goods, namely fidelity, offspring, and the Sacrament, and through this marriage is an honorable good , beneficial and delightful; nevertheless after sin the very honor of marriage has attached to it concupiscence, which implies something of dishonor, by reason of which even spouses blush at that act. The utility of marriage, moreover, which consists in the procreation of children for the worship of God, has attached to it harm, because a person is frequently distracted so as not to be entirely devoted to divine prayer. The delight also which is in marriage has attached to it tribulation, according to what the Apostle says: Such shall have tribulation of the flesh, 1 Corinthians 7. — Because therefore marriage is good, no one is prohibited from it, no one is repelled from it; but because it has something attached which diminishes both honor and utility and spiritual joy: hence it is that no one is compelled to it against his will, because rather one is persuaded to abstain from it or to be continent, both by the Lord and by the Apostle himself, 1 Corinthians 7: If her husband be dead, the woman is loosed from the law of her husband; let her marry whom she will, only in the Lord; but she shall be happier if she so remain, according to my counsel. And the reason for this he himself states beforehand: Moreover, this I say for your profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is honorable, and which may afford the opportunity of beseeching the Lord without hindrance.

Since, therefore, widowed continence has more in itself of the nature of the honorable on account of purity, more of the nature of the advantageous on account of the removal of impediment, more of the nature of the delightful on account of the removal of burdens which follow upon the law of marriage: hence it is that widowed continence is counseled to all who are unbound; and those who wish to adhere to this counsel according to the dictate of evangelical perfection are not to be restrained but rather encouraged, that is, not only in old age but also in youth.

Whence Ambrose, in the book On Widowhood: "She is more illustrious who tames the heat of adolescence and the burning ardor of younger age, and desires neither the favor of a husband nor richer pleasures, than she who, now grown cold with a worn-out body and ripe old age, can neither be deprived of pleasures nor hope for offspring."

It must be granted, therefore, that widowed chastity is to be vowed according to the evangelical law; and this is to be urged upon all who have free power over their own body, as both the arguments and authorities demonstrate which have been adduced for this position, and therefore they are to be granted.

1. To that which is first objected to the contrary from the word of the Apostle, who says: On account of fornication, let each man have his own wife; it must be said that the following text determines this: But I say this by way of concession, not by way of command. Whence the Gloss on the aforementioned word: "The Apostle says this in order to exclude fornication, not to close the way to those striving toward a better life." And because the Apostle had said: Let each man have his own wife, and each woman her own husband, and come together again; namely, lest he should seem to have said this by way of precept, he adds: But I say this by way of concession, not by way of command. And therefore he does not sin who acts otherwise, that is, who practices continence; rather, he who acts thus sins, because there is some fault there, but a light one.

2. To that which is objected from the word of the Apostle: I will that the younger women marry, etc.: it must be said that neither is this a precept, but it is permissive, just as the preceding one; and therefore it does not follow that to vow continence is reprehensible. Whence Augustine, in the book On Widowhood: "What the Apostle says: I will that the younger women marry, bear children, commends the good of marriage with apostolic authority and sobriety; he does not impose the duty of procreation upon those who embrace the good of continence, as though it were an obligation of law." And later: "To devote oneself to the procreation of children in the honorable order of marriage is not a disposition to be condemned in a person; yet the Christian mind that thinks on heavenly things more laudably transcends and overcomes this. But since, as the Lord says, not all receive this word, let her who can receive it, receive it; and let her who does not contain herself marry; let her who has not begun deliberate, and let her who has undertaken it persevere; let no occasion be given to the adversary, let no offering be withdrawn from Christ."

3. To that which is objected: Let a widow be chosen not less than sixty years old: it must be said that this is not understood with respect to the vow of continence, but with respect to the ministry that was to be rendered to the Saints, who also were to be sustained from ecclesiastical goods. Hence in the Gloss: "Let a widow be chosen not less than sixty years old, who is to be nourished by the sustenance of the Church." Hence what he adds: Avoid younger widows: is understood in the same sense. Hence the Gloss there: "Avoid younger widows, that is, do not so greatly concern yourself with their vows of chastity as to undertake to sustain them with the sustenance of the Church." But that he does not intend to prohibit continence or the vow of continence for them is apparent from what Ambrose says in the book On Virginity: "We ought not to regard the virtue of age, but the age of virtue; nor should you marvel at profession in young girls, when you read of passion in little children." Hence also blessed Agnes in her legend, which Ambrose composed: "Do not, she said to the prefect, so despise bodily youth in me as to think that I wish to have you favorable: for faith is found not in years but in understanding, and almighty God approves minds more than ages."

4. To that which is objected, that everything which is repugnant to a divine precept is to be condemned: it must be said that the precept of nature is twofold: one which regards the common state; another which regards the state of a singular person. The first does not bind anyone per se and determinately, so long as there is another who fulfills or can fulfill that command. And since there are many who devote themselves to carnal generation, as much as suffices for nature, the observance of continence in a singular person is not repugnant to that precept. For that precept does not descend to any determinate person, except in a case in which nature could not subsist unless that person devoted himself to generation, as was the case with Adam, or with the sons of Noah, to whom it was expressly said: Increase and multiply and fill the earth.

5. To the objection that what is repugnant to the natural dictate is to be censured, it must be said that nature dictates something in two ways, namely by way of what is advantageous and by way of what is honorable. What therefore is repugnant to the natural dictate by way of what is honorable is always censurable; but what is repugnant to the natural dictate that dictates something by way of what is advantageous is not necessarily censurable, because, as Anselm says, the appetite for what is advantageous is in its original nature corrupted by the love of private good, which is called concupiscence; and what is repugnant to such an appetite by reason of the corruption attached to it can be praiseworthy, because the perfection of virtue consists in this: that delight be subdued and fled from, and that passion be restrained, especially that passion which is coeval with life. Because therefore such delight is joined to the work of generation, it follows that cessation from that work, although it may seem to be contrary to the inclination of the generative power, ought not to be censured; rather it is praiseworthy, as the exercise of perfect virtue.

6. To the objection that everything repugnant to the common utility is to be censured, it must be said that spiritual utility is to be preferred to carnal, and heavenly to earthly, and the heavenly is to be placed above the earthly, as the perpetual above the temporal, and as the end is to be preferred to those things which are ordered to the end. Because therefore this continence, although it may seem to contribute to the diminution of people in the earthly city, since it contributes to the hastening of the number of the elect, is more consonant with the common utility than repugnant to it, especially since the number of carnal men abounds more in earthly things than that of spiritual men, from whom paradise may be filled. Hence Augustine, in the book On the Good of Marriage: "Since for entering into a holy and sincere society an abundance of spiritual kinship overflows from all nations on every side, even those who desire to join in marriage solely for the sake of children are to be admonished to make use rather of the greater good of continence. But I know what they murmur. 'What if,' they say, 'all wished to abstain from all intercourse: how would the human race survive?' Would that all wished this, provided it were in charity from a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned! Much more quickly would the city of God be filled and the end of the age be hastened."

From which it is apparent that continence of this kind in truth is not repugnant to, but consonant with, the common utility.

7. To that which is objected, that one who deprives himself of a useful and rational remedy acts foolishly: it must be said that this remedy can be considered in two ways: either by reason of itself, or by reason of what is annexed to it. If therefore someone deprives himself of marriage, believing that this remedy is not good nor salutary: he acts foolishly, because he thinks badly of marriage, like a faithless Manichaean. But he who declines it by reason of what is annexed to it, namely lust, wishing to ascend to higher things, does not act foolishly, but wisely: because even in that state he does not lack a remedy, since through a firm resolve and laborious exercise and a gift divinely given and a vow emitted, the fervor of concupiscence is more thoroughly subdued than it would be repressed through marital companionship. Whence Augustine, in the book On Holy Widowhood: "Those who do not despair of the same pleasure bear a more burning lust: but those who have vowed to God the chastity of the unmarried withdraw the very hope which is the kindling of love: whence concupiscence is more easily restrained, which is inflamed by no expectation."

8. To that which is objected, that one who commits himself to danger acts badly: it must be said that, as is already clear from the foregoing word, one who vows chastity does not commit himself to danger, but to divine counsel, divine protection, and spiritual exercise, in which both the spirit is consoled and carnality is weakened, and as if from a fortified place one fights more manfully against the temptations of the devil inflaming to concupiscence. Whence Augustine, in the book On Widowhood: "Let spiritual delights succeed carnal delights in holy chastity: reading, prayer, psalmody, good thought, the frequent practice of good works, hope of the future age and the heart lifted upward, and for all these things thanksgiving to the Father of lights, from whom without any doubt every good gift and every perfect gift, as Scripture attests, descends."

9. To that which is objected, that one who departs from the mean departs from virtue: it must be said that this holds in those acts which do not imply corruption in themselves, such as distributing and retaining, eating and drinking: but the act of intercourse always has corruption annexed to it, unless it is excused by the good of marriage; and therefore, although perfection consists in other acts through their moderation, in this act it consists through complete restriction; because when this act is entirely forsaken, then the corruption and lust joined to it is more perfectly subdued; as will appear more fully in the following question.

ARTICLE III.


On virginal sanctity.

Thirdly, the question is asked concerning virginal sanctity: and the question is whether virginal continence is to be preferred to all others. And it seems that it is so, by authority, example, and reason; by authority thus.

1. First Corinthians 7: He who gives his virgin in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage does better: therefore virginal continence is to be preferred to the other differences of continence, according to the authority of the Apostle.

2. Likewise, the same is shown by the example of Christ. For Christ according to His human nature was the exemplar of virtue and of all Christian perfection; but it is established that Christ was a virgin: therefore virginal continence is to be preferred above all things.

3. Likewise, the same is shown by the example of the most blessed Mary, the Mother of the Lord, whose virginity He did not take away: therefore virginity is to be commended above all things.

4. Likewise, by the example of John the Evangelist, whom the Lord loved most greatly: and Jerome gives the reason for this, saying: "He who was chosen as a virgin by the Lord remained a virgin forever."

5. Likewise, by the example of John the Precursor of Christ, who is established to have been a virgin.

6. Likewise, by the example of Abel, who was a virgin: whence Augustine, in the book On the Wonders of Sacred Scripture: "The whole of justice is this: virginity, priesthood, and martyrdom, which threefold justice was in Abel."

By all these preeminent examples it is shown that virginity or virginal continence is to be preferred to all other parts of continence.

Likewise, the same is shown by reason, thus.

7. That which most greatly makes us follow Christ is most greatly to be preferred; but virginity most greatly makes one follow Christ, Apocalypse fourteen: For they are virgins and follow the Lamb wherever He goes: therefore etc.

8. Likewise, that which most greatly makes one conformed to the Angels is most greatly to be commended; but virginity most greatly makes one conformed to the Angels, because, according to Jerome, "to live in the flesh beyond the flesh is an angelic life, not a human one": therefore etc.

9. Likewise, to be continent is good, therefore to be more continent is more good, and to be most continent is most good; but the greatest continence is virginity: therefore etc.

10. Likewise, what is honorable is good, therefore what is more honorable is more good, and what is supremely honorable is supremely good; but in virginity there is supreme honor and purity: therefore etc.

11. Likewise, "that is whiter which is more unmixed with black": therefore by equal reasoning that is better which is more unmixed with evil: but lust is the fount of all evil, and virginity is most unmixed with lust: therefore etc.

12. Likewise, that which more disposes one to the noblest act is more praiseworthy: but virginity more disposes one to the act of contemplation, in which the greatest purity is required: therefore etc.

But against this it is objected: 1. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage: "The merit of continence is not unequal in John, who experienced no marriage, and in Abraham, who begot sons": therefore virginity is not to be preferred to marriage.

2. Likewise, if the opposite of this is better than the opposite of that, then this is simply better than that; but the opposite fecundity, namely that of the Virgin Mary, is better than virginity: therefore simply fecundity is better than virginity: therefore etc.

3. Furthermore, greater goods are to be preferred to middle and lesser goods—for the greater goods reside in virtues together with their habits, the middle goods reside in powers and faculties, and the least goods reside in corporeal things—but the habit of conjugal and widowed continence is in the mind, whereas virginity is in the flesh: therefore widowed and conjugal continence is to be preferred to virginal continence.

4. Furthermore, a good that one cannot lose unwillingly is better than one that one can lose unwillingly; but virginity is a good that one can lose unwillingly, as is evident in those violently assaulted: yet the habit of conjugal or widowed continence no one could lose unwillingly: therefore, etc.

5. Furthermore, a good that cannot be lost without sin is more to be chosen than one that can be lost without sin: but the habit of conjugal or widowed continence cannot be lost without sin; virginity, however, can be, as is evident in the case of a virgin who contracts marriage: therefore, etc.

6. Furthermore, "art and virtue concern what is difficult"; but it is more difficult for one who has experienced the act of the flesh to be continent than for one who has in no way experienced it: therefore the greater difficulty lies in conjugal or widowed continence than in virginal continence: therefore virginal continence is not to be preferred.

7. Furthermore, what renders one more like God is more praiseworthy: but generation renders one more like God, in whom there is supreme fecundity, than does virginity itself: therefore, etc.

8. Furthermore, what more conforms man to the state of innocence is more praiseworthy: but in the state of innocence there would not have been virginity, but generation and fecundity: therefore, etc.

9. Furthermore, "more goods are more to be chosen than fewer"; but in matrimony there are more goods than in virginity: for in matrimony there are fidelity, offspring, and the Sacrament, but in virginity only one: therefore conjugal continence is to be preferred to virginal continence.

10. Furthermore, what is more consonant with the perfection of nature is more praiseworthy; but generation and fecundity, that is, conjugal continence, is more consonant with the perfection of nature than virginity, because "each thing is perfect when it can produce something such as itself is": therefore, etc.

11. Furthermore, the species is preferred to the individual, and the universal to the particular: therefore what contributes to the perfection or conservation of the species is necessarily to be preferred to what contributes to the perfection or conservation of the individual: but conjugal continence contributes to the conservation of the species, whereas virginal continence contributes to the conservation of the individual or of a singular good: therefore, etc.

CONCLUSION.


Virginity denotes both the habit of continence, the state of virtue, and a preeminent comeliness; hence it is praiseworthy on account of the eminence of its virtue, beauty, and dignity, and takes precedence over the other species of chastity.

I respond: For the understanding of the foregoing, it should be noted that virginity, by the meaning of its name, denotes abstinence from all illicit intercourse and from all licit intercourse, with integrity remaining in body and in mind. For it is, as Augustine says, "virginity is the perpetual meditation upon incorruption in corruptible flesh." Insofar as virginity denotes abstinence from all illicit intercourse, it names a habit of virtue; insofar as it denotes abstinence from all licit intercourse, it names a state of virtue; insofar as it denotes integrity in body and in mind, it denotes a preeminent beauty.

By reason of the habit itself, therefore, virginity is praiseworthy with a praise common to conjugal modesty and widowed continence; by reason of the second, namely the state, it is more praiseworthy, and this with a special praise shared with widowed continence itself; by reason of the third, namely the superadded beauty, it is most praiseworthy, and this with a singular praise on account of its preeminent conformity to Christ the Bridegroom, to whom virginity makes one conformed with respect to the excellence of virtue, beauty, and dignity. — As to the excellence of virtue: because it attests to the highest virtue that someone in mortal flesh should lead a life not human but heavenly, should extinguish heat in fire, and in nature should surpass the force of nature: and this virginity does. Hence Jerome to the virgin Demetrias: "Just as in the furnace the fourth one, having the appearance as it were of the Son of man, tempered the immense flames and amid the conflagration of the raging furnace taught the flames to lose their heat and to threaten one thing to the eyes and present another to the touch: so also in the virginal soul, by the heavenly dew and the cold of fasting, youthful heat is extinguished and the manner of life of angels is obtained for the human body. Wherefore also the vessel of election says of virgins that he does not have a precept of the Lord, because it is against nature, nay rather beyond nature, not to exercise that for which you were born, to kill your root within you and to pluck only the fruits of virginity, to know no stranger's bed, to shudder at all intimacy with men, and to live in the body without the body."

As to the eminence of beauty: because the greatest beauty consists in perfect integrity and purity both in heart and in body, by which virginal chastity makes one conformed to Christ himself, the font and origin of all beauty. Hence Augustine in the book On Virginity: "Those who have been freed from the abyss of impurity are unworthy that unblemished virginity should be sent to imitate them: I send you to the King of heaven, to him through whom men were created, and who was created among men for the sake of men, to him who is beautiful in form beyond the sons of men and despised by the sons of men for the sons of men."

Also with respect to the prerogative of dignity, on account of which to follow Christ wherever he goes and to sing the new song, which is proper to virgins, there will be a singular glory among virgins, according to what blessed John says in the fourteenth chapter of the Apocalypse. Whence Augustine, in the book On Virginity: "Go forward, holy ones of God, boys and girls, men and women, celibates and unmarried, go forward perseveringly unto the end. Praise the Lord more sweetly, whom you contemplate more richly; hope more happily, whom you serve more urgently; please him more attentively: with loins girded and lamps burning, await the Lord when he comes from the wedding: you bring to the wedding of the Lamb a new song, which you will sing on your harps, not indeed such as all the earth sings, to which it is said: Sing to the Lord, all the earth: but such as no one will be able to say except you, and because you follow the Lamb wherever he goes, as he who was beloved by the Lamb above the rest wrote concerning you. Where do we think he goes, this Lamb, where no one dares or is able to follow him except you? Where do we think he goes, into what glades or meadows? Where, I believe, there are twofold joys, not the vain joys of this world, lying madnesses, nor joys such as in the very kingdom of God belong to the rest who are not virgins; but distinct from the lot of all the rest: joys of the virgins of Christ, concerning Christ, in Christ, with Christ, after Christ, through Christ, on account of Christ. In this you follow the Lamb, because the flesh of the Lamb is indeed virgin: for he retained this in himself which, conceived and born, he did not take away from his Mother."

It must be conceded, therefore, that since virginity does not only denote a habit of continence, but also denotes a state and a preeminent beauty, by reason of which it is praiseworthy, and is likewise praiseworthy on account of the eminence of virtue, beauty, and dignity, it is to be preferred to the other degrees of chastity: whence also to hold the contrary of this is not catholic, but erroneous. And because Jovinian held this, Jerome rebuked him as a heretic in the entire book which he wrote against Jovinian. Whence also in the book On Ecclesiastical Dogmas: "To equate marriage with virginity consecrated to God, or to believe that no merit accrues to those abstaining from wine or from meat out of love of purifying the body, this is not of a Christian, but of Jovinian." And Augustine in the book On Virginity: "Since it is an error both to equate marriage with holy virginity and to condemn it, these two errors to be fled clash against each other with opposing fronts, because they refused to hold the mean of truth: whereby both by certain reason and by the authority of the holy Scriptures we find that marriage is not a sin, nor do we equate it with the good either of virginal continence or of widowed continence."

The arguments which are adduced for this position are therefore to be conceded.

1. To that, therefore, which is first objected, namely that the merit of continence is not unequal in John: it must be said that Augustine never speaks with respect to that which pertains to the reward of the aureola, which regards adornment and state: but he speaks with respect to habit. Whence he says thus in the book On the Good of Marriage: "If we compare the things themselves, it is in no way to be doubted that the chastity of continence is better than the chastity of marriage, although both are good: but if we compare persons, he is better who has a greater good than another: moreover, he who has more of the same kind both has that which is less and certainly has that which is more." From which it is gathered that, whatever may be the case regarding the comparison of persons, the use of this continence exceeds the use of that. Whence also a little before he premises: "If it is said to a continent Christian who refuses marriage: are you then better than Abraham? let him say: I indeed am not better than Abraham; but the chastity of the celibate is better than the chastity of the married, of which Abraham had one in use and both in habit: and afterward let him say: I am indeed not better than Abraham in this kind of continence at least, which he did not lack, even if it did not appear: but I am such a one, not having something different, but doing something different."

2. To that which is objected, that the fruitfulness of Mary is more perfect than virginity: it must be said that there is no similarity between her fruitfulness and the fruitfulness of others: because the fruitfulness of the glorious Virgin herself was in conceiving the Son of God not through carnal intercourse, but through the Holy Spirit: whence she both conceived and bore a Son not only holy, but also the Holy of Holies; but the fruitfulness of other women is in conceiving sinners, who are not sons of God unless they are born again in holy mother Church. Whence Augustine, in the book On Virginity: "Indeed, faithful married women and virgins consecrated to God, by holy conduct and charity out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned, because they do the will of the Father, are spiritually mothers of Christ: but those who in married life bear children bodily do not bear Christ, but bear Adam. And therefore let them hasten, so that their offspring, imbued with the Sacraments, may become members of Christ." And afterward: "For Christians are not born from their flesh, but afterward become such, the Church travailing, because she is spiritually the mother of the members of Christ, whose spiritual virgin she also is. No fruitfulness of the flesh, therefore, can be compared to holy virginity, even of the flesh. For it is not honored because it is virginity, but because it is consecrated to God: which, although it is preserved in the flesh, is nevertheless preserved by the religion and devotion of the spirit." And through this the response to that objection is clear.

3. To that objection that greater goods are better than middle and lesser goods, and that virginity belongs to the least goods because it pertains to the flesh: it must be said that this is false. For although virginity with respect to something material and underlying pertains to the integrity of the flesh, with respect to the formal and completive aspect, however, it resides in the mind, which delights in incorruption to be perpetually observed in spirit and in flesh. And therefore that objection is to be resolved by destruction of the premise. Whence Augustine, in the book On Virginity: "The virginity of the body is spiritual, which the continence of piety vows and preserves. For just as no one uses the body unchastely unless wickedness is first conceived in the spirit, so no one preserves chastity in the body unless chastity is first implanted in the spirit. Furthermore, if conjugal chastity, although it is guarded in the flesh, is nevertheless attributed to the soul, not to the flesh—under whose presidency and governance the flesh itself is mingled with none other than one's own spouse—how much more and how much more honorably is that continence to be numbered among the goods of the soul, by which the integrity of the flesh is vowed, preserved, and consecrated to the very Creator of soul and flesh."

4. To that which is objected, that one can lose virginity unwillingly: it must be said that, as is already clear, this is false with respect to the merit of the virtue itself. Whence Lucy also said: "If you violate me against my will, chastity will be doubled for me unto the crown."

5. To that which is objected, that a good which cannot be lost without sin is more to be chosen: it must be said that this is false, because a good of counsel can be omitted without sin, and yet it is better than a good of precept.

The first assumption is false, because virginity, of which we now speak, is not merely the integrity of the flesh, but integrity dedicated to God through an inviolable purpose of perpetually remaining continent. Whence Augustine, in the book On Virginity: "Nor do we praise this in virgins, that they are virgins, but that, dedicated to God with pious conscience, they are virgins through continence. For—what I would not say rashly—a married woman seems to me happier than a virgin about to marry: for the former already has what the latter still desires; the former strives to please the one to whom she has been given, the latter strives to please many, uncertain to whom she is to be given."

6. To that which is objected, that art and virtue concern what is difficult: it must be said that there is a twofold difficulty: one which comes from the kind of work, and this, when it is greater, attests to the perfection of virtue; the other which comes from the weakness of vice, and this does not contribute to the greatness of virtue, because such difficulty was neither in Christ nor in the Virgin. The word of the Philosopher, however, is understood concerning the first difficulty, not the second.

7. To that which is objected, that generation renders one more like God than the incorruption of virginity: it must be said that not every likeness contributes to the complement of virtue, but that which flows from the power of assimilative love; but love which is chaste desires more to be assimilated to God in the full purity of both the inner and outer man than in the fecundity of the flesh, in which even brute animals are naturally assimilated by a certain remote likeness.

8. To that which is objected, that fecundity is more consonant with the state of innocence, etc.: it must be said that in the state of innocence generation would have been without all lust, with purity preserved in mind and flesh; and although by reason of the offspring begotten there is a greater likeness in conjugal modesty, nevertheless by reason of purity and cleanness it is greater in virginity; and because this latter is nobler than the aforesaid, therefore that argument does not conclude.

9. To that which is objected, that more goods are more to be chosen than fewer: it must be said that this is true where the goods are equal. For it can happen that one great good outweighs many, just as one mark of gold outweighs a hundred shillings. And so it is in the matter at hand: for through virginity the soul is made in a certain manner a friend and sister and spouse and in a certain manner a mother of Christ.

10. To that which is objected, that what is more consonant with the perfection of nature is more praiseworthy: it must be said that perfection of nature is spoken of in two ways: either of nature in general, or of rational nature as rational; but he objects concerning perfection spoken of in the first way, and the foregoing statement is understood of the second. For that a man begets and is able to beget, this attests to the perfection of nature in general; but that the spirit presides over the flesh, and reason over sensuality, restraining its depravities and rebellions, this attests to the perfection of rational nature, as was shown above.

11. To that which is objected, that the species is preferred to the individual, etc.: it must be said that this holds true in private goods, which pertain to the conservation of nature; but virginity is a spiritual good and in a certain manner perpetual, contributing to the consummation of the heavenly city; and therefore it is rightly preferred to marriage, as heavenly things to temporal things, for the reason that marriage fills the world, and virginity fills paradise.