Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Matthew 19:12
There are 59 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 89, footnote 2 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Ignatius (HTML)
Epistle to the Smyrnæans: Shorter and Longer Versions (HTML)
Chapter VI—Unbelievers in the blood of Christ shall be condemned. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1010 (In-Text, Margin)
Let no man deceive himself. Both the things which are in heaven, and the glorious angels, and rulers, both visible and invisible, if they believe not in the blood of Christ, shall, in consequence, incur condemnation. “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”[Matthew 19:12] Let not [high] place puff any one up: for that which is worth all is faith and love, to which nothing is to be preferred. But consider those who are of a different opinion with respect to the grace of Christ which has come unto us, how opposed they are to the will of God. They have no regard for love; no care for the widow, or the orphan, or the oppressed; of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 89, footnote 4 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Ignatius (HTML)
Epistle to the Smyrnæans: Shorter and Longer Versions (HTML)
Chapter VI—Unbelievers in the blood of Christ shall be condemned. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1012 (In-Text, Margin)
Let no man deceive himself. Unless he believes that Christ Jesus has lived in the flesh, and shall confess His cross and passion, and the blood which He shed for the salvation of the world, he shall not obtain eternal life, whether he be a king, or a priest, or a ruler, or a private person, a master or a servant, a man or a woman. “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”[Matthew 19:12] Let no man’s place, or dignity, or riches, puff him up; and let no man’s low condition or poverty abase him. For the chief points are faith towards God, hope towards Christ, the enjoyment of those good things for which we look, and love towards God and our neighbour. For, “Thou shall love the Lord thy God ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 167, footnote 5 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Justin Martyr (HTML)
The First Apology (HTML)
Chapter XV.—What Christ himself taught. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1787 (In-Text, Margin)
... in his heart before God.” And, “If thy right eye offend thee, cut it out; for it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of heaven with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into everlasting fire.” And, “Whosoever shall marry her that is divorced from another husband, committeth adultery.” And, “There are some who have been made eunuchs of men, and some who were born eunuchs, and some who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake; but all cannot receive this saying.”[Matthew 19:12] So that all who, by human law, are twice married, are in the eye of our Master sinners, and those who look upon a woman to lust after her. For not only he who in act commits adultery is rejected by Him, but also he who desires to commit adultery: ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 34, footnote 3 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
The Pastor of Hermas (HTML)
Book Third.—Similitudes (HTML)
Similitude Fifth. Of True Fasting and Its Reward: Also of Purity of Body. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 268 (In-Text, Margin)
I said to him, “Sir, I do not see the meaning of these similitudes, nor am I able to comprehend them, unless you explain them to me.” “I will explain them all to you,” he said, “and whatever I shall mention in the course of our conversations I will show you. [Keep the commandments of the Lord, and you will be approved, and inscribed amongst the number of those who observe His commands.] And if you do any good beyond what is commanded by God,[Matthew 19:12] you will gain for yourself more abundant glory, and will be more honoured by God than you would otherwise be. If, therefore, in keeping the commandments of God, you do, in addition, these services, you will have joy if you observe them according to my command.” I said to him, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 52, footnote 5 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
The Pastor of Hermas (HTML)
Book Third.—Similitudes (HTML)
Similitude Ninth. The Great Mysteries in the Building of the Militant and Triumphant Church. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 390 (In-Text, Margin)
... fruits, adorned with fruits of various kinds, they who believed were the following: they who suffered for the name of the Son of God, and who also suffered cheerfully with their whole heart, and laid down their lives.” “Why, then, sir,” I said, “do all these trees bear fruit, and some of them fairer than the rest?” “Listen,” he said: “all who once suffered for the name of the Lord are honourable before God; and of all these the sins were remitted, because they suffered for the name of the Son of God.[Matthew 19:12] And why their fruits are of various kinds, and some of them superior, listen. All,” he continued, “who were brought before the authorities and were examined, and did not deny, but suffered cheerfully—these are held in greater honour with God, and of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 146, footnote 7 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Athenagoras (HTML)
A Plea for the Christians (HTML)
Chapter XXXIII.—Chastity of the Christians with Respect to Marriage. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 825 (In-Text, Margin)
... of this life, even to the pleasures of the soul, each of us reckoning her his wife whom he has married according to the laws laid down by us, and that only for the purpose of having children. For as the husbandman throwing the seed into the ground awaits the harvest, not sowing more upon it, so to us the procreation of children is the measure of our indulgence in appetite. Nay, you would find many among us, both men and women, growing old unmarried, in hope of living in closer communion with God.[Matthew 19:12] But if the remaining in virginity and in the state of an eunuch brings nearer to God, while the indulgence of carnal thought and desire leads away from Him, in those cases in which we shun the thoughts, much more do we reject the deeds. For we ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 381, footnote 1 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2441 (In-Text, Margin)
Ac Valentiniani quidem, qui desuper ex divinis emissionibus deduxere conjugationes, acceptum habent matrimonium: Basilidis autem sectatores, “Cum interrogassent, inquiunt, apostoli, nun sit melius uxorem non ducere, dicunt respondisse Dominum: ‘Non omnes capiunt verbum hoc. Sunt enim eunuchi alii a nativitate, alii vero a necessitate.’”[Matthew 19:11-12] Hoc dictum autem sic interpretantur: “Quidam ex quo nati sunt, naturaliter feminam aversantur, qui quidem hoc naturali utentes temperamento, recte faciunt, si uxorem non ducant. Hi, inquiunt, eunuchi sunt ex nativitate. Qui autem sunt a necessitate, ii sunt theatrici exercitatores, qui, gloriæ studio retracti, se ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 381, footnote 2 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2442 (In-Text, Margin)
... nativitate. Qui autem sunt a necessitate, ii sunt theatrici exercitatores, qui, gloriæ studio retracti, se continent. Quinetiam qui casu aliquo excisi sunt, eunuchi facti sunt per necessitatem. Qui itaque eunuchi fiunt per necessitatem, non fiunt eunuchi secundum logon, seu rationem. Qui autem regni sempiterni gratia seipsos castrarunt, id ad declinandas, inquiunt, conjugii molestias fecerunt, quod procurandæ rei familiaris onus ac sollicitudinem timerent. Et illud: ‘Melius est nubere quam uri,’[Matthew 19:11-12] dicentem Apostolum aiunt velle: Ne animam tuam in ignem injicias, noctu et interdiu resistens, et timens ne a continentia excidas. Nam cum in resistendo occupata fuerit anima, a spe est divisa”—Patienter igitur sustine,” inquit his verbis Isidoms in ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 390, footnote 8 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2504 (In-Text, Margin)
... subjungit: “Num cum venerit Filius hominis, inveniet fidem in terra?” Et rursus: “Væ prægnantibus et lactantibus in illis diebus.” Quanquamhæc quoque dicuntur allegorice. Propterea nec “tempora” præ finiit, “quge Pater posuit in sua potestate,” ut permaneret mundus per generationes. Illud autem: “Non omnes capiunt verbum hoc: sunt enim eunuchi, qui sic nati sunt; et sunt eunuchi, qui castrati sunt ab hominibus; et sunt eunuchi, qui seipsos castrarunt propier regnum cœlorum. Qui potest capere, capiat;”[Matthew 19:11-12] nesciunt quod, postquam de divortio esset locutus, cum quidam rogassent: “Si sic sit causa uxoris, non expedit homini uxorem ducere;” tunc dixit Dominus: “Non omnes capiunt vetbum hoc, sed quibus datum est.” Hoc enim qui rogabant, volebant ex eo ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 392, footnote 2 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2534 (In-Text, Margin)
... cœlo deciderunt. Valentinus autem in Epistola ad Agathopodem: “Cum omnia, inquit, sustinuisset, erat continens, divinitatem sibi comparavit Jesus; edebat et bibebat peculiari modo, non reddens cibos; tanta ei inerat vis continentiæ, ut etiam nutrimentum in eo non interierit, quoniam ipse non habuit interitum.” Nos ergo propter dilectionem in Dominum, et propter ipsum honestum, amplectimur continentiam, templum Spiritus sanctificantes. Honestum enim est, “propter regnum cœlorum seipsum castrare”[Matthew 19:12] ab omni cupidirate, et “emundare conscientiam a mortuis operibus, ad serviendum Deo viventi.” Qui autem propier odium adversus carnem susceptum a conjugali conjunctione, et eorum qui conveniunt ciborum participatione, liberari desiderant, indocti ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 400, footnote 5 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2629 (In-Text, Margin)
... inquit Magister. Quare Paulus quoque scribens ad Galatas, dicit: “Filioli mei, quos iterum parturio, donec formetur in vobis Christus.” Rursus ad Corinthios scribens: “Si enim decies mille pædagogos,” inquit, “habeatis in Christo, sed non multos patres. In Christo enim per Evangelium ego vosgenui.” Propterea “non ingrediatur eunuchus in Ecclesiam Dei,” qui est sterilis, et non fert fructum, nec vitro institutione, nec sermone. Sed “qui se” quidem “castrarunt” ab omni peccato “propter regnum cœlorum,”[Matthew 19:12] ii sunt beati, qui a mundo jejunant.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 564, footnote 13 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Anti-Marcion. (HTML)
On the Resurrection of the Flesh. (HTML)
Certain Metaphorical Terms Explained of the Resurrection of the Flesh. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 7474 (In-Text, Margin)
We have also in the Scriptures robes mentioned as allegorizing the hope of the flesh. Thus in the Revelation of John it is said: “These are they which have not defiled their clothes with women,” —indicating, of course, virgins, and such as have become “eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.”[Matthew 19:12] Therefore they shall be “clothed in white rai ment,” that is, in the bright beauty of the unwedded flesh. In the gospel even, “the wedding garment” may be regarded as the sanctity of the flesh. And so, when Isaiah tells us what sort of “fast the Lord hath chosen,” and subjoins a statement about the reward of good works, he says: “Then shall thy ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 715, footnote 20 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Ethical. (HTML)
On Patience. (HTML)
Of Bodily Patience. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 9160 (In-Text, Margin)
... form in his seven years’ squalor and neglect, because he had offended the Lord; by the bodily immolation of patience not only recovered his kingdom, but—what is more to be desired by a man—made satisfaction to God. Further, if we set down in order the higher and happier grades of bodily patience, (we find that) it is she who is entrusted by holiness with the care of continence of the flesh: she keeps the widow, and sets on the virgin the seal and raises the self-made eunuch to the realms of heaven.[Matthew 19:12] That which springs from a virtue of the mind is perfected in the flesh; and, finally, by the patience of the flesh, does battle under persecution. If flight press hard, the flesh wars with the inconvenience of flight; if imprisonment ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 23, footnote 9 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
On the Apparel of Women. (HTML)
II (HTML)
Excess in Dress, as Well as in Personal Culture, to Be Shunned. Arguments Drawn from I Cor. VII. (HTML)
... of this world is passing away.” And “they who buy are so to act as if they possessed not.” Why so? Because he had laid down the premiss, saying, “The time is wound up.” If, then he shows plainly that even wives themselves are so to be had as if they be not had, on account of the straits of the times, what would be his sentiments about these vain appliances of theirs? Why, are there not many, withal, who so do, and seal themselves up to eunuchhood for the sake of the kingdom of God,[Matthew 19:12] spontaneously relinquishing a pleasure so honourable, and (as we know) permitted? Are there not some who prohibit to themselves (the use of) the very “creature of God,” abstaining from wine and animal food, the enjoyments of which border upon no ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 42, footnote 11 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
To His Wife. (HTML)
I (HTML)
Examples of Heathens Urged as Commendatory of Widowhood and Celibacy. (HTML)
... have; so that she whose husband has departed from the world should thenceforward impose rest on her sex by abstinence from marriage—abstinence which numbers of Gentile women devote to the memory of beloved husbands! When anything seems difficult, let us survey others who cope with still greater difficulties. How many are there who from the moment of their baptism set the seal (of virginity) upon their flesh? How many, again, who by equal mutual consent cancel the debt of matrimony—voluntary eunuchs[Matthew 19:12] for the sake of their desire after the celestial kingdom! But if, while the marriage-tie is still intact, abstinence is endured, how much more when it has been undone! For I believe it to be harder for what is intact to be quite forsaken, than for ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 60, footnote 2 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
On Monogamy. (HTML)
The Question of Novelty Further Considered in Connection with the Words of the Lord and His Apostles. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 585 (In-Text, Margin)
... still shameless “infirmity of the flesh” look to that: let us meantime come to an agreement as to whether it be “novel.” This (even) broader assertion we make: that even if the Paraclete had in this our day definitely prescribed a virginity or continence total and absolute, so as not to permit the heat of the flesh to foam itself down even in single marriage, even thus He would seem to be introducing nothing of “novelty;” seeing that the Lord Himself opens “the kingdoms of the heavens” to “eunuchs,”[Matthew 19:12] as being Himself, withal, a virgin; to whom looking, the apostle also—himself too for this reason abstinent—gives the preference to continence. (“Yes”), you say, “but saving the law of marriage.” Saving it, plainly, and we will see under what ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 64, footnote 8 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
On Monogamy. (HTML)
From Patriarchal, Tertullian Comes to Legal, Precedents. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 626 (In-Text, Margin)
... them. But (now), when the “extremity of the times” has cancelled (the command) “Grow and multiply,” since the apostles (another command), “It remaineth, that both they who have wives so be as if they have not,” because “the time is compressed;” and “the sour grape” chewed by “the fathers” has ceased “to set the sons’ teeth on edge,” for, “each one shall die in his own sin;” and “eunuchs” not only have lost ignominy, but have even deserved grace, being invited into “the kingdoms of the heavens:”[Matthew 19:12] the law of succeeding to the wife of a brother being buried, its contrary has obtained—that of not succeeding to the wife of a brother. And thus, as we have said before, what has ceased to be valid, on the cessation of its reason, cannot ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 65, footnote 8 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
On Monogamy. (HTML)
From the Law Tertullian Comes to the Gospel. He Begins with Examples Before Proceeding to Dogmas. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 646 (In-Text, Margin)
... taught, what kind of (supposition) is it that He Himself withal should set upon His own official chair men who were mindful rather to enjoin—(but) not likewise to practise—sanctity of the flesh, which (sanctity) He had in all ways recommended to their teaching and practising?—first by His own example, then by all other arguments; while He tells (them) that “the kingdom of heavens” is “children’s;” while He associates with these (children) others who, after marriage, remained (or became) virgins;”[Matthew 19:12] while He calls (them) to (copy) the simplicity of the dove, a bird not merely innocuous, but modest too, and whereof one male knows one female; while He denies the Samaritan woman’s (partner to be) a husband, that He may show that manifold husbandry ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 71, footnote 2 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
On Monogamy. (HTML)
Even If the Permission Had Been Given by St. Paul in the Sense Which the Psychics Allege, It Was Merely Like the Mosaic Permission of Divorce--A Condescension to Human Hard-Heartedness. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 679 (In-Text, Margin)
... Lord (the things) which in His day “could not be endured;” which it is now no longer competent for any one to be unable to endure, seeing that He through whom the power of enduring is granted is not wanting. How long shall we allege “the flesh,” because the Lord said, “the flesh is weak?” But He has withal premised that “the Spirit is prompt,” in order that the Spirit may vanquish the flesh—that the weak may yield to the stronger. For again He says, “Let him who is able to receive, receive (it);”[Matthew 19:12] that is, let him who is not able go his way. That rich man did go his way who had not “received” the precept of dividing his substance to the needy, and was abandoned by the Lord to his own opinion. Nor will “harshness” be on this ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 125, footnote 1 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
De Fuga in Persecutione. (HTML)
De Fuga in Persecutione. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1190 (In-Text, Margin)
... assemble by day, you have the night, the light of Christ luminous against its darkness. You cannot run about among them one after another. Be content with a church of threes. It is better that you sometimes should not see your crowds, than subject yourselves (to a tribute bondage). Keep pure for Christ His betrothed virgin; let no one make gain of her. These things, my brother, seem to you perhaps harsh and not to be endured; but recall that God has said, “He who receives it, let him receive it,”[Matthew 19:12] that is, let him who does not receive it go his way. He who fears to suffer, cannot belong to Him who suffered. But the man who does not fear to suffer, he will be perfect in love—in the love, it is meant, of God; “for perfect love casteth out ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 543, footnote 12 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
... groanings, and in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; and thy turning shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Of this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: “All men do not receive the word, but they to whom it is given: for there are some eunuchs who were born so from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who have been constrained by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who can receive it, let him receive it.”[Matthew 19:11-12] Also according to Luke: “The children of this world beget, and are begotten. But they who have been considered worthy of that world, and the resurrection from the dead, do not marry, nor are married: for neither shall they begin to die: for they are ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 157, footnote 3 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Anatolius and Minor Writers. (HTML)
Pierus of Alexandria. (HTML)
A Fragment of a Work of Pierius on the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1273 (In-Text, Margin)
Origen, Dionysius, Pierius, Eusebius of Cæsareia, Didymus, and Apollinaris, have interpreted this epistle most copiously; of whom Pierius, when he was expounding and unfolding the meaning of the apostle, and purposed to explain the words, For I would that all men were even as I myself, added this remark: In saying this, Paul, without disguise, preaches celibacy.[Matthew 19:12]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 316, footnote 9 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Methodius. (HTML)
The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity. (HTML)
Theophila. (HTML)
The Rational Soul from God Himself; Chastity Not the Only Good, Although the Best and Most Honoured. (HTML)
... advantage. For there are some to whom it is not given to attain virginity; and there are others whom He no longer wills to be excited by procreations to lust, and to be defiled, but henceforth to meditate and to keep the mind upon the transformation of the body to the likeness of angels, when they “neither marry nor are given in marriage,” according to the infallible words of the Lord; since it is not given to all to attain that undefiled state of being a eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of heaven,[Matthew 19:12] but manifestly to those only who are able to preserve the ever-blooming and unfading flower of virginity. For it is the custom of the prophetic Word to compare the Church to a flower covered and variegated meadow, adorned and crowned not only with ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 55, footnote 2 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Two Epistles Concerning Virginity. (HTML)
The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle. (HTML)
The Salutation. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 293 (In-Text, Margin)
all those who love and cherish their life which is in Christ through God the Father, and obey the truth of God in hope of eternal life; to those who bear affection towards their brethren and towards their neighbours in the love of God; to the blessed brother virgins, who devote themselves to preserve virginity “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven;”[Matthew 19:12] and to the holy sister virgins: the peace which is in God.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 774, footnote 1 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Remains of the Second and Third Centuries. (HTML)
Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3779 (In-Text, Margin)
... daughter also, who passed her life under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and reposes at Ephesus; John, moreover, who reclined on the Lord’s bosom, and who became a priest wearing the mitre, and a witness and a teacher—he rests at Ephesus. Then there is Polycarp, both bishop and martyr at Smyrna; and Thraseas from Eumenia, both bishop and martyr, who rests at Smyrna. Why should I speak of Sagaris, bishop and martyr, who rests at Laodicea? of the blessed Papirius, moreover? and of Melito the eunuch,[Matthew 19:12] who performed all his actions under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and lies at Sardis, awaiting the visitation from heaven, when he shall rise again from the dead? These all kept the passover on the fourteenth. day of the month, in ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 83, footnote 16 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
The Diatessaron of Tatian. (HTML)
The Diatessaron. (HTML)
Section XXV. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1801 (In-Text, Margin)
... said unto them, Every one who putteth away his wife, and [39] marrieth another, hath exposed her to adultery. And any woman that leaveth her husband, and becometh another’s, hath committed adultery. And whosoever marrieth [40] her that is divorced hath committed adultery. And his disciples said unto him, If there be between the man and the woman such a case as this, it is not good for [41] a man to marry. He said unto them, Not every man can endure this saying, except [42] him to whom it is given.[Matthew 19:12] There are eunuchs which from their mother’s womb were born so; and there are eunuchs which through men became eunuchs; and there are eunuchs which made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He that is able to be content, let him ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 55, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
He advances to puberty, and indeed to the early part of the sixteenth year of his age, in which, having abandoned his studies, he indulged in lustful pleasures, and, with his companions, committed theft. (HTML)
Stricken with Exceeding Grief, He Remembers the Dissolute Passions in Which, in His Sixteenth Year, He Used to Indulge. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 192 (In-Text, Margin)
... vigilantly to have given heed to the voice from the clouds: “Nevertheless, such shall have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you;” and, “It is good for a man not to touch a woman;” and, “He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.” I should, therefore, have listened more attentively to these words, and, being severed “for the kingdom of heaven’s sake,”[Matthew 19:12] I would with greater happiness have expected Thy embraces.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 116, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
He finally describes the thirty-second year of his age, the most memorable of his whole life, in which, being instructed by Simplicianus concerning the conversion of others, and the manner of acting, he is, after a severe struggle, renewed in his whole mind, and is converted unto God. (HTML)
He, Now Given to Divine Things, and Yet Entangled by the Lusts of Love, Consults Simplicianus in Reference to the Renewing of His Mind. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 597 (In-Text, Margin)
... himself was. But I, being weak, made choice of the more agreeable place, and because of this alone was tossed up and down in all beside, faint and languishing with withering cares, because in other matters I was compelled, though unwilling, to agree to a married life, to which I was given up and enthralled. I had heard from the mouth of truth that “there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake;” but, saith He, “he that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”[Matthew 19:12] Vain, assuredly, are all men in whom the knowledge of God is not, and who could not, out of the good things which are seen, find out Him who is good. But I was no longer in that vanity; I had surmounted it, and by the united testimony of Thy whole ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 406, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Good of Marriage. (HTML)
Section 15 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1978 (In-Text, Margin)
... be one to exact but to yield the due, observing in all things a chaste and religious concord. But in those times, wherein as yet the mystery of our salvation was veiled in prophetic sacraments, even they who were such before marriage, yet contracted marriage through the duty of begetting children, not overcome by lust, but led by piety, unto whom if there were given such choice as in the revelation of the New Testament there hath been given, the Lord saying “Whoso can receive, let him receive;”[Matthew 19:12] no one doubts that they would have been ready to receive it even with joy, who reads with careful attention what use they made of their wives, at a time when also it was allowed one man to have several, whom he had with more chastity, than any now ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 410, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Good of Marriage. (HTML)
Section 25 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2005 (In-Text, Margin)
... that virtue, the profit of drinking was so left free to the body, as that the habit of continence continued in the soul. For it is the habit itself, whereby any thing is done, when there is need; but when it is not done, it can be done, only there is no need. This habit, in the matter of that continence which is from sexual intercourse, they have not, unto whom it is said, “If they contain not, let them be married.” But this they have, unto whom it is said, “Whoso can receive, let him receive.”[Matthew 19:12] Thus have perfect souls used earthly goods, that are necessary for something else, through this habit of continence, so as, by it, not to be bound by them, and so as by it, to have power also not to use them, in case there were no need. Nor doth any ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 410, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Good of Marriage. (HTML)
Section 27 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2012 (In-Text, Margin)
27. Therefore at that time, when the Law also, following upon the days of the Patriarchs, pronounced accursed, whoso raised not up seed in Israel, even he, who could, put it not forth, but yet possessed it. But from the period that the fullness of time hath come, that it should be said, “Whoso can receive, let him receive,”[Matthew 19:12] from that period even unto this present, and from henceforth even unto the end, whoso hath, worketh: whoso shall be unwilling to work, let him not falsely say, that he hath. And through this means, they, who corrupt good manners by evil communications, with empty and vain craft, say to a Christian man exercising continence, and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 417, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 1 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2027 (In-Text, Margin)
... fulfilled in a marvellous and effectual manner, whose married life also was prophetic: whence, not after the wonted custom of human wishes and joys, but by the very deep counsel of God, in certain of them fruitfulness obtained to be honored, in certain also barrenness to be made fruitful. But at this time, towards them unto whom it is said, “if they contain not, let them be married,” we must use not consolation, but exhortation. But them, unto whom it is said, “Whoso can receive, let him receive,”[Matthew 19:12] we must exhort, that they be not alarmed; and alarm that they be not lifted up. Wherefore virginity is not only to be set forth, that it may be loved, but also to be admonished, that it be not puffed up.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 419, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 9 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2038 (In-Text, Margin)
... save children, to make over unto Christ, can be set against the loss of virginity. Forsooth, in former times, unto Christ about to come after the flesh, the race itself of the flesh was needful, in a certain large and prophetic nation: but now, when from out every race of men, and from out all nations, members of Christ may be gathered unto the People of God, and City of the kingdom of heaven, whoso can receive sacred virginity, let him receive it; and let her only, who contains not, be married.[Matthew 19:12] For what, if any rich woman were to expend much money on this good work, and to buy, from out different nations, slaves to make Christians, will she not provide for the giving birth to members of Christ in a manner more rich, and more numerous, than ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 424, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 23 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2066 (In-Text, Margin)
23. Lastly, let us hear the Lord Himself delivering most plain judgment on this matter. For, upon His speaking after a divine and fearful manner concerning husband and wife not separating, save on account of fornication, His disciples said to Him, “If the case be such with a wife, it is not good to marry.”[Matthew 19:10-12] To whom He saith, “Not all receive this saying. For there are eunuchs who were so born: but there are others who were made by men: and there are eunuchs, who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven: whoso can receive, let him receive.” What could be said more true, what more clear? Christ saith, the Truth saith, the Power ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 427, footnote 11 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 30 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2093 (In-Text, Margin)
30. Ye also who have not yet made this vow, who are able to receive it, receive it.[Matthew 19:12] Run with perseverance, that ye may obtain. Take ye each his sacrifices, and enter ye into the courts of the Lord, not of necessity, having power over your own will. For not as, “Thou shall not commit adultery, Thou shall not kill,” can it so be said, Thou shalt not wed. The former are demanded, the latter are offered. If the latter are done, they are praised: unless the former are done, they are condemned. In the former the Lord commands us what is due; ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 430, footnote 11 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 37 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2131 (In-Text, Margin)
... and hath sucked, no one of this number can say, “I, who before was a blasphemer, and persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy, in that I did in being ignorant, in unbelief.” Yea more, that, which Thou commandedst not, but only didst set forth, for such as would, to seize, saying, “Whoso can receive, let him receive;” they have seized, they have vowed, and, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, not for that Thou threatenedst, but for that Thou exhortedst, they have made themselves eunuchs.[Matthew 19:12] To these cry out, let these hear Thee, in that Thou art “meek and lowly of heart.” Let these, by how much they are great, by so much humble themselves in all things, that they may find grace before Thee. They are just: but they are not, are they, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 453, footnote 11 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Good of Widowhood. (HTML)
Section 28 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2301 (In-Text, Margin)
... off. Nor let it stay you from your earnest purpose of persuading others to the same good ye have, if it be said to you, Whereas marriage also is good, how shall there be all goods in the Body of Christ, both the greater, forsooth, and the lesser, if all through praise and love of continence imitate? In the first place, because with the endeavor that all be continent, there will still be but few, for “not all receive this word.” But forasmuch as it is written, “Whoso can receive, let him receive;”[Matthew 19:11-12] then do they receive who can, when silence is not kept even toward those who cannot. Next, neither ought we to fear lest haply all receive it, and some one of lesser goods, that is, married life, be wanting in the body of Christ. For if all shall ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 228, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)
Reply to Faustus the Manichæan. (HTML)
Faustus willing to believe not only that the Jewish but that all Gentile prophets wrote of Christ, if it should be proved; but he would none the less insist upon rejecting their superstitions. Augustin maintains that all Moses wrote is of Christ, and that his writings must be either accepted or rejected as a whole. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 610 (In-Text, Margin)
... saints, as when the Apostle Paul says: "Alexander the coppersmith has done me much evil; the Lord shall reward him according to his works." So it might be thought that the apostle was prompted by angry feeling to utter this imprecation: "I would that they were even made eunuchs that trouble you." But if we remember who the writer is, we may see in this ambiguous expression an ingenious style of benediction. For there are eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.[Matthew 19:12] If Faustus had a pious appetite for Christian food, he would have found a similar ambiguity in the words of Moses. By the Jews the declaration, "Thou shalt see thy life hanging, and shalt not believe thy life," may have been understood to mean that ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 329, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)
Reply to Faustus the Manichæan. (HTML)
Faustus repels the insinuation that the prophecy of Paul with reference to those that should forbid to marry, abstain from meats, etc., applies to the Manichæans more than to the Catholic ascetics, who are held in the highest esteem in the Church. Augustin justifies this application of the prophecy, and shows the difference between Manichæan and Christian asceticism. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1021 (In-Text, Margin)
... having introduced the doctrines of devils into Iconium, when Thecla, after having been betrothed, was by his discourse inflamed with the desire of perpetual virginity. And what shall we say of Jesus, the Master Himself, and the source of all sanctity, who is the unwedded spouse of the virgins who make this profession, and who, when specifying in the Gospel three kinds of eunuchs, natural, artificial, and voluntary, gives the palm to those who have "made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven,"[Matthew 19:12] meaning the youths of both sexes who have extirpated from their hearts the desire of marriage, and who in the Church act as eunuchs of the King’s palace? Is this also the doctrine of devils? Are those words, too, spoken in a seducing spirit? And if ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 55, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
God Punishes Both in Wrath and in Mercy. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 560 (In-Text, Margin)
... Wherefore even our opponents in this controversy, whilst they are chaste in their life, and commendable in character, and although they do not hesitate to do that which the Lord enjoined on the rich man, who inquired of Him about the attainment of eternal life, after he had told Him, in answer to His first question, that he had already fully kept every commandment in the law,—that “if he wished to be perfect, he must sell all that he had and give to the poor, and transfer his treasure to heaven;”[Matthew 19:12] yet they do not in any one instance venture to say that they are without sin. But this, as we believe, they refrain from saying, with deceitful intent; but if they are lying, in this very act they begin either to augment or commit sin.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 271, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
On Marriage and Concupiscence. (HTML)
On Marriage and Concupiscence (HTML)
Continence Better Than Marriage; But Marriage Better Than Fornication. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2123 (In-Text, Margin)
... the sole purpose of assisting in the procreation of children; otherwise, since the present time (as we have already said) is the period for abstaining from the nuptial embrace, and therefore makes no necessary demand on the exercise of the said function, seeing that all nations now contribute so abundantly to the production of an offspring which shall receive spiritual birth, there is the greater room for the blessing of an excellent continence. “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”[Matthew 19:12] He, however, who cannot receive it, “even if he marry, sinneth not;” and if a woman have not the gift of continence, let her also marry. “It is good, indeed, for a man not to touch a woman.” But since “all men cannot receive this saying, save they ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 155, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
The Harmony of the Gospels. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Of the Harmony Subsisting Between Matthew and Mark in the Accounts Which They Offer of the Time When He Was Asked Whether It Was Lawful to Put Away One’s Wife, and Especially in Regard to the Specific Questions and Replies Which Passed Between the Lord and the Jews, and in Which the Evangelists Seem to Be, to Some Small Extent, at Variance. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1114 (In-Text, Margin)
120. Matthew continues giving his narrative in the following manner: “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, He departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judæa beyond Jordan; and great multitudes followed Him; and He healed them there. The Pharisees also came unto Him, tempting Him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” And so on, down to the words, “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”[Matthew 19:1-12] Mark also records this, and observes the same order. At the same time, we must certainly see to it that no appearance of contradiction be supposed to arise from the circumstance that the same Mark tells us how the Pharisees were asked by the Lord as to what ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 132, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)
Chapter V. 19. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 408 (In-Text, Margin)
3. But the catholic faith has it, that the works of the Father and of the Son are not separable. This is what I wish, if possible, to speak to you, beloved; but, according to those words of the Lord, “he that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”[Matthew 19:12] But he that is not able to receive it, let him not charge it on me, but on his own dullness; and let him turn to Him that opens the heart, that He may pour in what He freely giveth. And, lastly, if any one may not have understood, because I have not declared it as I ought to have declared it, let him excuse the weakness of man, and supplicate the divine goodness. For we ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 681, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXLIX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 6004 (In-Text, Margin)
... loosed? Men do fly hither, desiring to be rid of their wives: here they are more tightly bound: no man looseth these fetters. “What God joined together, let not man put asunder.” But these bonds are hard. Who but knows it? This hardness the Apostles grieved at, and said, “If this be the case with a wife, it is not good to marry.” If the bonds be of iron, it is not good to set our feet within them. And the Lord said, “All men cannot receive this saying, but let him that can receive it, receive it.”[Matthew 19:11-12] “Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be freed,” for thou art bound with bonds of iron. “Art thou free from a wife, seek not a wife;” bind not thyself with bonds of iron.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 1, page 254, footnote 5 (Image)
Eusebius: Church History from A.D. 1-324, Life of Constantine the Great, Oration in Praise of Constantine
The Church History of Eusebius. (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Origen's Daring Deed. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1810 (In-Text, Margin)
1. this time while Origen was conducting catechetical instruction at Alexandria, a deed was done by him which evidenced an immature and youthful mind, but at the same time gave the highest proof of faith and continence. For he took the words, “There are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake,”[Matthew 19:12] in too literal and extreme a sense. And in order to fulfill the Saviour’s word, and at the same time to take away from the unbelievers all opportunity for scandal,—for, although young, he met for the study of divine things with women as well as men,—he carried out in action the word of the Saviour.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 16, footnote 2 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Heliodorus, Monk. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 210 (In-Text, Margin)
... sheets, spread your sails, fasten the cross as an ensign on your prow. The calm that you speak of is itself a tempest. “Why so?” you will perhaps argue; “are not all my fellow-townsmen Christians?” Your case, I reply, is not that of others. Listen to the words of the Lord: “If thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come and follow me.” You have already promised to be perfect. For when you forsook the army and made yourself an eunuch for the kingdom of heaven’s sake,[Matthew 19:12] you did so that you might follow the perfect life. Now the perfect servant of Christ has nothing beside Christ. Or if he have anything beside Christ he is not perfect. And if he be not perfect when he has promised God to be so, his profession is a ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 29, footnote 9 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 462 (In-Text, Margin)
Some people may be eunuchs from necessity; I am one of free will.[Matthew 19:11-12] “There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. There is a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.” Now that out of the hard stones of the Gentiles God has raised up children unto Abraham, they begin to be “holy stones rolling upon the earth.” They pass through the whirlwinds of the world, and roll on in God’s chariot on rapid wheels. Let those stitch coats to themselves who have lost the coat woven from the top ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 75, footnote 14 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Pammachius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1157 (In-Text, Margin)
... Christ. Not, of course, that the deferring of communion for one day or for two makes a Christian any the holier or that what I have not deserved to-day I shall deserve to-morrow or the day after. But if I grieve that I have not shared in Christ’s body it does help me to avoid for a little while my wife’s embraces, and to prefer to wedded love the love of Christ. A hard discipline, you will say, and one not to be borne. What man of the world could bear it? He that can bear it, I reply, let him bear it;[Matthew 19:12] he that cannot must look to himself. It is my business to say, not what each man can do or will do, but what the Scriptures inculcate.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 111, footnote 1 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Amandus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1638 (In-Text, Margin)
... that is divorced committeth adultery.” Whether she has put away her husband or her husband her, the man who marries her is still an adulterer. Wherefore the apostles seeing how heavy the yoke of marriage was thus made said to Him: “if the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry,” and the Lord replied, “he that is able to receive it, let him receive it.” And immediately by the instance of the three eunuchs he shows the blessedness of virginity which is bound by no carnal tie.[Matthew 19:10-12]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 137, footnote 10 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Pammachius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1952 (In-Text, Margin)
8. “If thou wilt be perfect,” the Lord says, “go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor.…and come and follow me.” If thou wilt be perfect. Great enterprises are always left to the free choice of those who hear of them. Thus the apostle refrains from making virginity a positive duty, because the Lord in speaking of eunuchs who had made themselves such for the kingdom of heaven’s sake finally said: “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”[Matthew 19:12] For, to quote the apostle, “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” If thou wilt be perfect. There is no compulsion laid upon you: if you are to win the prize it must be by the exercise of your own free will. If therefore ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 234, footnote 2 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Ageruchia. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3267 (In-Text, Margin)
... not count at all, I mean, second marriage; and do not seek for far fetched precedents to justify you in marrying again. You cannot too closely imitate your grandmother, your mother, and your aunt; whose teaching and advice as to life will form for you a rule of virtue. For if many wives in the lifetime of their husbands come to realize the truth of the apostle’s words: “all things are lawful unto me but all things are not expedient,” and make eunuchs of themselves for the kingdom of heaven’s sake[Matthew 19:12] either by consent after their regeneration through the baptismal laver, or else in the ardour of their faith immediately after their marriage; why should not a widow, who by God’s decree has ceased to have a husband, joyfully cry again and again ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 373, footnote 4 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against Jovinianus. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4505 (In-Text, Margin)
... in town or country. Every day the blood of adulterers is shed, adulterers are condemned, and lust is raging and rampant in the very presence of the laws and the symbols of authority and the courts of justice. Be not afraid that all will become virgins: virginity is a hard matter, and therefore rare, because it is hard: “Many are called, few chosen.” Many begin, few persevere. And so the reward is great for those who have persevered. If all were able to be virgins, our Lord would never have said:[Matthew 19:12] “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it:” and the Apostle would not have hesitated to give his advice,— “Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord.” Why then, you will say, were the organs of generation created, and why ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 373, footnote 8 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against Jovinianus. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4509 (In-Text, Margin)
... and the food masticated passes into the stomach, and a man is not blamed for giving my wife bread: similarly if it was intended that the organs of generation should always be performing their office, when my vigour is spent let another take my place, and, if I may so speak, let my wife quench her burning lust where she can. But what does the Apostle mean by exhorting to continence, if continence be contrary to nature? What does our Lord mean when He instructs us in the various kinds of eunuchs.[Matthew 19:12] Surely the Apostle who bids us emulate his own chastity, must be asked, if we are to be consistent, Why are you like other men, Paul? Why are you distinguished from the female sex by a beard, hair, and other peculiarities of person? How is it that ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 48, footnote 5 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
On the Duties of the Clergy. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
Chapter VI. On what is useful: not that which is advantageous, but that which is just and virtuous. It is to be found in losses, and is divided into what is useful for the body, and what is useful unto godliness. (HTML)
... godliness, according to the Apostle’s division: “Bodily exercise profiteth a little, but godliness is profitable unto all things.” And what is so virtuous as integrity? what so seemly as to preserve the body unspotted and undefiled, and its purity unsullied? What, again, is so seemly as that a widow should keep her plighted troth to her dead husband? What more useful than this whereby the heavenly kingdom is attained? For “there are some who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.”[Matthew 19:12]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 404, footnote 8 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Widows. (HTML)
Chapter XIII. St. Ambrose, treating of the words in the Gospel concerning eunuchs, condemns those who make themselves such. Those only deserve praise who have through continence gained the victory over themselves, but no one is to be compelled to live this life, as neither Christ nor the Apostle laid down such a law, so that the marriage vow is not to be blamed, though that of chastity is better. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3391 (In-Text, Margin)
... conquer, not those who are defeated. And why should I use arguments when the words of the Apostle’s command are at hand? For you find it thus written: “I would that they were mutilated who desire that you should be circumcised.” For why should the means of gaining a crown and of the practice of virtue be lost to a man who is born to honour, equipped for victory? how can he through courage of soul mutilate himself? “There be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.”[Matthew 19:12]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 405, footnote 2 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Widows. (HTML)
Chapter XIII. St. Ambrose, treating of the words in the Gospel concerning eunuchs, condemns those who make themselves such. Those only deserve praise who have through continence gained the victory over themselves, but no one is to be compelled to live this life, as neither Christ nor the Apostle laid down such a law, so that the marriage vow is not to be blamed, though that of chastity is better. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3394 (In-Text, Margin)
... commandments, and he who distributes tasks must observe equity in looking into them, for: “A false balance is abomination to the Lord.” There is, then, an excess and a defect in weight, but the Church accepts neither, for: “Excessive and defective weights and divers measures, both of them are alike abominable in the sight of the Lord.” There are tasks which wisdom apportions, and apportions according to the estimate of the virtue and strength of each. “He that is able to receive it let him receive it.”[Matthew 19:12]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 58, footnote 7 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of Sulpitius Severus. (HTML)
The Doubtful Letters of Sulpitius Severus. (HTML)
Letter II. A Letter of Sulpitius Severus to His Sister Claudia Concerning Virginity. (HTML)
Chapter II. (HTML)
... 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 than sons and daughters; I will give them an eternal name, and it shall not 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.”[Matthew 19:12] 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 ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 505, footnote 2 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Conferences of John Cassian. Part III. Containing Conferences XVIII.-XXIV. (HTML)
Conference XXI. The First Conference of Abbot Theonas. On the Relaxation During the Fifty Days. (HTML)
Chapter V. How those who live under the grace of the Gospel ought to go beyond the requirement of the law. (HTML)
... the grace of the gospel who disregard the fulfilment even of the lighter commands of the law, to the easy character of which the weighty words of the giver of the law bear testimony, as a curse is actually invoked on those who do not fulfil them; for it says: “Cursed is everyone that does not continue in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them.” But here on account of the superiority and excellence of the commandments it is said: “He that can receive it, let him receive it.”[Matthew 19:12] There the forcible compulsion of the lawgiver shows the easy character of the precepts; for he says: “I call heaven and earth to record against you this day, that if ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord your God ye shall perish from off the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 14, page 92, footnote 1 (Image)
The Seven Ecumenical Councils
The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods. (HTML)
The Council of Grangra. (HTML)
The Canons of the Holy Fathers Assembled at Gangra, Which Were Set Forth After the Council of Nice. (HTML)
Canon I. (HTML)
When one considers how deeply the early church was impressed with those passages of Holy Scripture which she understood to set forth the superiority of the virgin over the married estate, it ceases to be any source of astonishment that some should have run into the error of condemning marriage as sinful. The saying of our Blessed Lord with reference to those who had become “eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake,”[Matthew 19:12] and those words of St. Paul “He that giveth his virgin in marriage doeth well, but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better,” together with the striking passage in the Revelation of those that were “not defiled with women for they are virgins,” were considered as settling the ...