Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
1 Corinthians 7:34
There are 33 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 33, footnote 5 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
The Pastor of Hermas (HTML)
Book Third.—Similitudes (HTML)
Similitude Fourth. As in Summer Living Trees are Distinguished from Withered by Fruit and Living Leaves, So in the World to Come the Just Differ from the Unjust in Happiness. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 262 (In-Text, Margin)
... wood, and [so] made manifest, because their actions were evil during their lives. For the sinners shall be consumed because they sinned and did not repent, and the heathen shall be burned because they knew not Him who created them. Do you therefore bear fruit, that in that summer your fruit may be known. And refrain from much business, and you will never sin: for they who are occupied with much business commit also many sins, being distracted about their affairs, and not at all serving their Lord.[1 Corinthians 7:30-35] How, then,” he continued, “can such a one ask and obtain anything from the Lord, if he serve Him not? They who serve Him shall obtain their requests, but they who serve Him not shall receive nothing. And in the performance even of a single action a ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 398, footnote 1 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2600 (In-Text, Margin)
... eum, qui vere Pater est, agnoscentes, regeneratos per aquam, cure hæc sit alia satio in creatione. At, inquit, “Qui est cælebs, curat quæ sunt Domini; qui autem duxit uxorem, quomodo placebit uxori.” Quid vero? annon licet etiam eis, qui secundum Deum placent uxori, Deo gratias agere? Annon permittitur etiam el, qui uxorem duxit, una cam conjugio etiam esse sollicitum de iis quæ sunt Domini? Sed quemadmodum “quæ non nupsit, sollicita est de iis, quæ sunt Domini, ut sit sancta corpore et spiritu:”[1 Corinthians 7:32-34] ita etiam quæ nupsit, et de iis, quæ sunt mariti, et de iis, quæ sunt Domini, est in Domino sollicita, ut sit sancta et corpore et spiritu. Ambæ enim sant sanctæ in Domino: hæc quidem ut uxor, ilia vero ut virgo. Ad eos autem pudore afficiendos et ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 687, footnote 13 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Ethical. (HTML)
On Prayer. (HTML)
Answer to the Foregoing Arguments. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 8878 (In-Text, Margin)
... called by the word “woman,” that word has been made common even to a virgin. Nor is it wonderful that the apostle—guided, of course, by the same Spirit by whom, as all the divine Scripture, so that book Genesis, was drawn up—has used the selfsame word in writing “women,” which, by the example of Eve unwedded, is applicable too to a “virgin.” In fact, all the other passages are in consonance herewith. For even by this very fact, that he has not named “virgins” (as he does in another place[1 Corinthians 7:34] where he is teaching touching marrying), he sufficiently predicates that his remark is made touching every woman, and touching the whole sex; and that there is no distinction made between a “virgin” and any other, while he does ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 715, footnote 19 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Ethical. (HTML)
On Patience. (HTML)
Of Bodily Patience. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 9159 (In-Text, Margin)
... Thus that Babylonish king, after being exiled from human 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[1 Corinthians 7:34-35] and raises the self-made eunuch to the realms of heaven. 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 ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 20, footnote 11 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
On the Apparel of Women. (HTML)
II (HTML)
Concerning the Plea of “Pleasing the Husband.” (HTML)
As if I were speaking to Gentiles, addressing you with a Gentile precept, and (one which is) common to all, (I would say,) “You are bound to please your husbands only.”[1 Corinthians 7:34] But you will please them in proportion as you take no care to please others. Be ye without carefulness, blessed (sisters): no wife is “ugly” to her own husband. She “pleased” him enough when she was selected (by him as his wife); whether commended by form or by character. Let none of you think that, if she abstain from the care of her person, she will incur the hatred and aversion of husbands. ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 29, footnote 2 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
On the Veiling of Virgins. (HTML)
Of the Argument Drawn from 1 Cor. XI. 5-16. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 291 (In-Text, Margin)
... retort the self-same line of argument. For he who knew elsewhere how to make mention of each sex—of virgin I mean, and woman, that is, not-virgin —for distinction’s sake; in these (passages), in which he does not name a virgin, points out (by not making the distinction) community of condition. Otherwise he could here also have marked the difference between virgin and woman, just as elsewhere he says, “Divided is the woman and the virgin.”[1 Corinthians 7:34] Therefore those whom, by passing them over in silence, he has not divided, he has included in the other species.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 55, footnote 4 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
On Exhortation to Chastity. (HTML)
Second Marriage a Species of Adultery, Marriage Itself Impugned, as Akin to Adultery. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 550 (In-Text, Margin)
If we look deeply into his meanings, and interpret them, second marriage will have to be termed no other than a species of fornication. For, since he says that married persons make this their solicitude, “how to please one another”[1 Corinthians 7:32-35] (not, of course, morally, for a good solicitude he would not impugn); and (since), he wishes them to be understood to be solicitous about dress, and ornament, and every kind of personal attraction, with a view to increasing their power of allurement; (since), moreover, to please by personal beauty and dress is the genius of carnal concupiscence, which again is the cause of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 60, footnote 5 (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 588 (In-Text, Margin)
... says, “(it is) for a man not to have contact with a woman.” It follows that it is evil to have contact with her; for nothing is contrary to good except evil. And accordingly (he says), “It remains, that both they who have wives so be as if they have not,” that it may be the more binding on them who have not to abstain from having them. He renders reasons, likewise, for so advising: that the unmarried think about God, but the married about how, in (their) marriage, each may please his (partner).[1 Corinthians 7:32-34] And I may contend, that what is permitted is not absolutely good. For what is absolutely good is not permitted, but needs no asking to make it lawful. Permission has its cause sometimes even in necessity. Finally, in this case, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 544, footnote 1 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
... way.” Also in the same place: “An unmarried man thinks of those things which are the Lord’s, in what way he may please God; but he who has contracted marriage thinks of those things that are of this world, in what way he may please his wife. Thus also, both the woman and the unmarried virgin thinketh of those things which are the Lord’s, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she that hath married thinks of those things which are of this world, in what way she may please her husband.”[1 Corinthians 7:32-34] Also in Exodus, when the Lord had commanded Moses that he should sanctify the people for the third day, he sanctified them, and added: “Be ye ready, for three days ye shall not approach to women.” Also in the first book of Kings: “And the priest ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 311, footnote 5 (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)
Marcella. (HTML)
The Difficulty and Excellence of Virginity; The Study of Doctrine Necessary for Virgins. (HTML)
... always love things which are honourable, and be distinguished among the foremost for wisdom and addicted to nothing slothful or luxurious, but should excel, and set her mind upon things worthy of the state of virginity, always putting away, by the word, the foulness of luxury, lest in any way some slight hidden corruption should breed the worm of incontinence; for “the unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord,” how she may please the Lord, “that she may be holy both in body and in spirit,”[1 Corinthians 7:34] says the blessed Paul. But many of them who consider the hearing of the word quite a secondary matter, think they do great things if they give their attention to it for a little while. But discrimination must be exercised with respect to these; for ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 322, footnote 6 (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)
Thaleia. (HTML)
The Doctrine of Paul Concerning Virginity Explained. (HTML)
... to restrain yourselves in the gratification of the flesh, not making your marriage an occasion for abusing your own vessels to uncleanness.” Then he adds, “But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none.” And again, going on and challenging them to the same things, he confirmed his statement, powerfully supporting the state of virginity, and adding expressly the following words to those which he had spoken before, he exclaimed,[1 Corinthians 7:32-34] “I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord: but he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. There is a difference also between a wife and ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 326, footnote 4 (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)
Thallousa. (HTML)
Perfect Consecration and Devotion to God: What It is. (HTML)
That which is laid down in the Book of Numbers, “greatly to vow a vow,” serves to show, as, with a little more explanation, I proceed to prove, that chastity is the great vow above all vows. For then am I plainly consecrated altogether to the Lord, when I not only strive to keep the flesh untouched by intercourse, but also unspotted by other kinds of unseemliness. For “the unmarried woman,” it is said,[1 Corinthians 7:34] “careth for the things of the Lord, how she may please the Lord.;” not merely that she may bear away the glory in part of not being maimed in her virtue, but in both parts, according to the apostle, that she may be sanctified in body and spirit, offering up her members to the Lord. For let us ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 436, footnote 13 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book IV (HTML)
Sec. II.—On Domestic and Social Life (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2970 (In-Text, Margin)
XIV. Concerning virginity we have received no commandment; but we leave it to the power of those that are willing, as a vow: exhorting them so far in this matter that they do not promise anything rashly; since Solomon says, “It is better not to vow, than to vow and not pay.” Let such a virgin, therefore, be holy in body and soul, as the temple of God,[1 Corinthians 7:34] as the house of Christ, as the habitation of the Holy Spirit. For she that vows ought to do such works as are suitable to her vow; and to show that her vow is real, and made on account of leisure for piety, not to cast a reproach on marriage. Let her not be a gadder abroad, nor one that rambles about ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 56, footnote 15 (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 Irksomeness and the Enemies of Virginity. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 324 (In-Text, Margin)
Thou desirest, then, to be a virgin? Knowest thou what hardship and irksomeness there is in true virginity—that which stands constantly at all seasons before God, and does not withdraw from His service, and “is anxious how it may please its Lord with a holy body, and with its spirit?”[1 Corinthians 7:34] Knowest thou what great glory pertains to virginity, and is it for this that thou dost set thyself to practise it? Dost thou really know and understand what it is thou art eager to do? Art thou acquainted with the noble task of holy virginity? Dost thou know how, like a man, to enter “lawfully” upon this contest and “strive,” that, in the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 557, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
On Christian Doctrine (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
Rule for Removing Ambiguity by Attending to Punctuation. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1842 (In-Text, Margin)
... the case in that passage to the Corinthians: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Receive us; we have wronged no man.” It is doubtful whether we should read, “ mundemus nos ab omni coinquinatione carnis et spiritus ” [let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit], in accordance with the passage, “that she may be holy both in body and in spirit,”[1 Corinthians 7:34] or, “ mundemus nos ab omni coinquinatione carnis ” [let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh], so as to make the next sentence, “ et spiritus perficientes sanctificationem in timore Dei capite nos ” [and perfecting ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 405, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Good of Marriage. (HTML)
Section 14 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1973 (In-Text, Margin)
14. And not without just cause a doubt is raised, whether he said this of all married women, or of such as so many are, as that nearly all may be thought so to be. For neither doth that, which he saith of unmarried women, “She, that is unmarried, thinkest of the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit:”[1 Corinthians 7:34] pertain unto all unmarried women: whereas there are certain widows who are dead, who live in delights. However, so far as regards a certain distinction and, as it were, character of their own, of the unmarried and married; as she deserves the excess of hatred, who containing from marriage, that is, from a thing allowed, does not contain ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 411, footnote 2 (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 2015 (In-Text, Margin)
... question, and let him answer, not concerning the man, but concerning the thing itself, and let him say, Whoso hath so great power is such as Abraham. But it may happen that the virtue of continence is less in his mind, who uses not marriage, which Abraham used: but yet it is greater than in his mind, who on this account held chastity of marriage, in that he could not a greater. Thus also let the unmarried woman, whose thoughts are of the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit,[1 Corinthians 7:34] when she shall have heard that shameless questioner saying, What, then, are you better than Sara? answer, I am better, but than those, who are void of the virtue of continence, which I believe not of Sara: she therefore together with this virtue did ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 420, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 11 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2041 (In-Text, Margin)
... given; the other many, in doubt unto whom she is to be given: by this one thing she guards modesty of thought from the crowd, that she is seeking, not an adulterer, but a husband, in the crowd. Therefore that virgin is with good reason set before a married woman, who neither sets herself forth for the multitude to love, whereas she seeks from out the multitude the love of one; nor, having now found him, orders herself for one, taking thought of the things of the world, “how to please her husband;”[1 Corinthians 7:34] but hath so loved “Him of fair beauty above the sons of men,” as that, because she could not, even as Mary, conceive Him in her flesh, she hath kept her flesh also virgin for Him conceived in her heart. This kind of virgins no fruitfulness of the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 424, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 22 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2064 (In-Text, Margin)
... who but must observe this in that which the same Apostle says a little after, “Whoso is without a wife has thought of the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord: but whoso is joined in marriage has thought of the things of the world, how to please his wife. And a woman unmarried and a virgin is divided; she that is unmarried is careful about the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit: but she that is married is careful about the things of the world, how to please her husband.”[1 Corinthians 7:32-34] Certainly he saith not, hath thought of the things of a state without care in this world, to pass her time without weightier troubles; nor doth he say that a woman unmarried and a virgin is divided, that is, distinguished, and separated from her who ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 442, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Good of Widowhood. (HTML)
Section 3 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2224 (In-Text, Margin)
... whether they have not been so. And this in another place he opens, where he says, “Divided is a woman unmarried and a virgin.” Assuredly when he adds a virgin also, what would he have understood by an unmarried woman, but a widow? Whence also, in what follows, under the one term “unmarried” he embraces both professions, saying, “She who is unmarried is careful of the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord: but she who is married is careful of the things of the world, how to please her husband.”[1 Corinthians 7:34] Certainly by the unmarried he would have understood, not only her who hath never married, but her also, who, being by widowhood set free from the bond of marriage, hath ceased to be married; for on this account also he calleth not married, save her, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 443, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Good of Widowhood. (HTML)
Section 8 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2237 (In-Text, Margin)
8. Whence, also, what the Apostle Paul said of the unmarried woman, “that she may be holy both in body and spirit;”[1 Corinthians 7:34] we are not so to understand, as though a faithful woman being married and chaste, and according to the Scriptures subject unto her husband, be not holy in body, but only in spirit. For it cannot come to pass, that when the spirit is sanctified, the body also be not holy, of which the sanctified spirit maketh use: but, that we seem not to any to argue rather than to prove this by divine saying; since the Apostle Peter, making mention of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 451, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Good of Widowhood. (HTML)
Section 23 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2278 (In-Text, Margin)
... widowed continence, we would assuredly exhort you to vow it; but, in that you have already vowed it, we exhort you to persevere. And yet I see that I must so speak as to lead those also who had as yet thought of marriage to love it and to seize on it. Therefore let us give ear unto the Apostle, “She who is unmarried,” saith he, “is careful about the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit; but she who is married is careful about the things of the world, how to please her husband.”[1 Corinthians 7:34] He saith not, is careful about the things of the world, so as not to be holy; but certainly that that marriage holiness is less, in regard of that portion of cares, which hath thought of the pleasure of the world. Whatever, therefore, I of earnest ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 31, footnote 4 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 501 (In-Text, Margin)
... scanty house-room. In the same strain, the apostle writes: “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. There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married careth for the things of the world how she may please her husband.”[1 Corinthians 7:32-34]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 39, footnote 8 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 630 (In-Text, Margin)
... but the rest continued to run the race of faith. Say not: “So-and-so enjoys her own property, she is honored of men, her brothers and sisters come to see her. Has she then ceased to be a virgin?” In the first place, it is doubtful if she is a virgin. For “the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh upon the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” Again, she may be a virgin in body and not in spirit. According to the apostle, a true virgin is “holy both in body and in spirit.”[1 Corinthians 7:34] Lastly, let her glory in her own way. Let her override Paul’s opinion and live in the enjoyment of her good things. But you and I must follow better examples.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 166, footnote 19 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Salvina. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2453 (In-Text, Margin)
... flesh of other quadrupeds. It is not the number of feet that makes the difference but delicacy of flavour. I know that the apostle has said: “every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving.” But the same apostle says: “it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine,” and in another place: “be not drunk with wine wherein is excess.” “Every creature of God is good”—the precept is intended for those who are careful how they may please their husbands.[1 Corinthians 7:34] Let those feed on flesh who serve the flesh, whose bodies boil with desire, who are tied to husbands, and who set their hearts on having offspring. Let those whose wombs are burthened cram their stomachs with flesh. But you have buried every ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 344, footnote 5 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4248 (In-Text, Margin)
... and the virgin. She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married is careful for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.” Why do you cavil? Why do you resist? The vessel of election says this; he tells us that there is a difference between the wife and the virgin. Observe what the happiness of that state must be in which even the distinction of sex is lost. The virgin is no longer called a woman.[1 Corinthians 7:34] “She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit.” A virgin is defined as she that is holy in body and in spirit, for it is no good to have virgin flesh if a woman be married in mind.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 345, footnote 3 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4251 (In-Text, Margin)
23. I do not deny that holy women are found both among widows and those who have husbands; but they are such as have ceased to be wives, or such as, even in the close bond of marriage, imitate virgin chastity. The Apostle, Christ speaking in him, briefly bore witness to this when he said,[1 Corinthians 7:34] “She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, how she may please the Lord: but she that is married is careful for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.” He leaves us the free exercise of our reason in the matter. He lays no necessity upon anyone nor leads anyone into a snare: he only persuades to that which is proper ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 150, footnote 9 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Letters. (HTML)
To a fallen virgin. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2129 (In-Text, Margin)
... present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” I was indeed ever afraid “lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your mind should be corrupted;” wherefore by countless counter-charms I strove to control the agitation of your senses, and by countless safeguards to preserve the bride of the Lord. So I continually set forth the life of the unmarried maid, and described how “the unmarried” alone “careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit.”[1 Corinthians 7:34] I used to describe the high dignity of virginity, and, addressing you as a temple of God, used as it were to give wings to your zeal as I strove to lift you to Jesus. Yet through fear of evil I helped you not to fall by the words “if any man defile ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 250, footnote 8 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Exposition of the Christian Faith. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
Chapter VII. Solomon's words, “The Lord created Me,” etc., mean that Christ's Incarnation was done for the redemption of the Father's creation, as is shown by the Son's own words. That He is the “beginning” may be understood from the visible proofs of His virtuousness, and it is shown how the Lord opened the ways of all virtues, and was their true beginning. (HTML)
52. Christ, then, is the beginning of our virtue. He is the beginning of purity, Who taught maidens not to look for the embraces of men,[1 Corinthians 7:34] but to yield the purity of their bodies and minds to the service of the Holy Spirit rather than to a husband. Christ is the beginning of frugality, for He became poor, though He was rich. Christ is the beginning of patience, for when He was reviled, He reviled not again, when He was struck, He did not strike back. Christ is the beginning of humility, for He took the form of a servant, though in the majesty of His power He was ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 367, footnote 2 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Virgins. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Chapter V. Heaven is the home of virginity, and the Son of God its Author, Who though He was a Virgin before the Virgin, yet being of the Virgin took the Virgin Church as His bride. Of her we have all been born. Some of her gifts are enumerated. Her daughters have a special excellence in that virginity is not a matter of precept, and that it is a most powerful help in the pursuit of piety. (HTML)
... For virginity cannot be commanded, but must be wished for, for things which are above us are matters for prayer rather than under mastery. “But I would have you,” he says, “be without carefulness. For he who is without a wife is careful for the things which are the Lord’s, how he may please God.…And the virgin taketh thought for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit. For she that is married taketh thought for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.”[1 Corinthians 7:34]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 391, footnote 1 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Widows. (HTML)
Chapter I. After having written about virgins, it seemed needful to say something concerning widows, since the Apostle joins the two classes together, and the latter are as it were teachers of the former, and far superior to those who are married. Elijah was sent to a widow, a great mark of honour; yet widows are not honourable like her of Sarepta, unless they copy her virtues, notably hospitality. The avarice of men is rebuked, who forfeit the promises of God by their grasping. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3302 (In-Text, Margin)
1. Since I have treated of the honour of virgins in three books, it is fitting now, my brethren, that a treatise concerning widows should come in order; for I ought not to leave them without honour, nor to separate them from the commendation belonging to virgins, since the voice of the Apostle has joined them to virgins, according to what is written: “The unmarried woman and the virgin careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit.”[1 Corinthians 7:34] For in a certain manner the inculcation of virginity is strengthened by the example of widows. They who have preserved their marriage bed undefiled are a testimony to virgins that chastity is to be preserved for God. And it is almost a mark of no ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 392, footnote 5 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Widows. (HTML)
Chapter II. The precepts of the Apostle concerning a widow indeed are laid down, such as, that she bring up children, attend to her parents, desire to please God, show herself irreproachable, set forth a ripeness of merits, have been the wife of one man. St. Ambrose notes, however, that a second marriage was not condemned by St. Paul, and adds that widows must have a good report for virtue with all. The reasons why younger widows are to be avoided, and what is meant by its being better to marry than to burn. St. Ambrose then goes on to speak of the dignity of widows, shown by the fact that any injury done to them is visited by the anger of God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3311 (In-Text, Margin)
8. “For this,” says he, “is acceptable with God.” So that if thou, O widow, carest for the things of God, thou oughtest to follow after that which thou hast learnt to be well pleasing to God. And, indeed, the Apostle somewhat farther back,[1 Corinthians 7:34] exhorting widows to the pursuit of continence, said that they mind the things of the Lord. But elsewhere, when a widow who is approved is to be selected, she is bidden not only to bear in mind but also to hope in the Lord: “For she that is a widow indeed,” it is said, “and desolate, must hope in God, and be instant in supplications and prayers night and day.” And not without ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 62, footnote 1 (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 VIII. (HTML)
... not any of those things which are not lawful. For, it is foolish to have dreaded that which is in its nature less, and not to dread that which is intrinsically more [or not to avoid those things which are interdicted, while such things as are permitted meet with contempt]. For the Apostle says, “She that is unmarried careth for the things of the Lord, how she may please God, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but she who is married careth for the things of this world, how she may please[1 Corinthians 7:34] her husband.” He thus affirms that the married woman pleases her husband by thinking of worldly things, while the unmarried woman pleases God, inasmuch as she has no anxiety about the things of the world. Let him tell me, then, whom she ...