... bishops in the first Epistle to Timothy, he says, “If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. The bishop, therefore, must be without reproach, the husbands of one wife, temperate, sober-minded,” etc.; and, in regard to deacons, “Let the deacons,” he says, “be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well,” etc. Yea, and also when appointing widows, he says, “Let there be no one as a widow under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man;”[1 Timothy 5:9] and after this he says the things superadded, as being second or third in importance to this. And, in the Epistle to Titus, “For this cause,” he says, “I left thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 137, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters

The Confessions (HTML)

He speaks of his design of forsaking the profession of rhetoric; of the death of his friends, Nebridius and Verecundus; of having received baptism in the thirty-third year of his age; and of the virtues and death of his mother, Monica. (HTML)

He Describes the Praiseworthy Habits of His Mother; Her Kindness Towards Her Husband and Her Sons. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 770 (In-Text, Margin)

... had not to complain of that in him, as one of the faithful, which, before he became so, she had endured. She was also the servant of Thy servants. Whosoever of them knew her, did in her much magnify, honour, and love Thee; for that through the testimony of the fruits of a holy conversation, they perceived Thee to be present in her heart. For she had “been the wife of one man,” had requited her parents, had guided her house piously, was “well-reported of for good works,” had “brought up children,”[1 Timothy 5:9-10] as often travailing in birth of them as she saw them swerving from Thee. Lastly, to all of us, O Lord (since of Thy favour Thou sufferest Thy servants to speak), who, before her sleeping in Thee, lived associated together, having received the grace ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 55, footnote 1 (Image)

Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes

Treatise Concerning the Christian Priesthood. (HTML)

Book III (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 117 (In-Text, Margin)

Now in the first place, to start from that subject which seems to be simpler than the others, the charge of widows appears to cause anxiety to those who take care of them only so far as the expenditure of money is concerned; but the case is otherwise, and here also a careful scrutiny is needed, when they have to be enrolled,[1 Timothy 5:9-10] for infinite mischief has been caused by putting them on the list without due discrimination. For they have ruined households, and severed marriages, and have often been detected in thieving and pilfering and unseemly deeds of that kind. Now that such women should be supported out of the Church’s revenues provokes punishment from God, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 122, footnote 3 (Image)

Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes

Letter to a Young Widow. (HTML)

Letter to a Young Widow. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 339 (In-Text, Margin)

... this point, and to prove to you that this name of widow is not a title of calamity but of honour, aye the greatest honour. For do not quote the erroneous opinion of the world as a testimony, but the admonition of the blessed Paul, or rather of Christ. For in his utterances Christ was speaking through him as he himself said “If ye seek a proof of Christ who is speaking in me?” What then does he say? “Let not a widow be enrolled under threescore years of age” and again “but the younger widows refuse”[1 Timothy 5:9] intending by both these sayings to indicate to us the importance of the matter. And when he is making regulations about bishops he nowhere prescribes a standard of age, but in this case he is very particular on the point, and, pray, why so? not ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 2, page 387, footnote 2 (Image)

Socrates: Church History from A.D. 305-438; Sozomenus: Church History from A.D. 323-425

The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen. (HTML)

Book VII (HTML)

In What Manner, and from What Cause, the Functions of the Presbyter, Appointed to Preside over the Imposition of Penance, were abolished. Dissertation on the Mode of Imposing Penance. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1550 (In-Text, Margin)

... offences were of rarer occurrence; for people were deterred from their commission, by the dread of confessing them, and of exposing them to the scrutiny of a severe judge. I believe it was from similar considerations, that the Emperor Theodosius, who was always zealous in promoting the glory of the Church, issued a law, enacting that women should not be admitted into the ministry, unless they had had children, and were upwards of sixty years of age, according to the precept of the Apostle Paul.[1 Timothy 5:9] By this law it was also decreed, that women who had shaved their heads should be ejected from the churches; and that the bishop by whom such women were admitted should be deposed from the bishopric.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 166, footnote 2 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Salvina. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2436 (In-Text, Margin)

... you can give to them. Temper grief with love, for if he is gone they are still with you. It is no small merit in God’s eyes to bring up children well. Hear the apostle’s counsel: “Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.”[1 Timothy 5:9-10] Here you learn the roll of the virtues which God requires of you, what is due to the name of widow which you bear, and by what good deeds you can attain to that second degree of chastity which is still open to you. Do not be disturbed because the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 230, footnote 8 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Ageruchia. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3225 (In-Text, Margin)

... turned aside after Satan.” I must accordingly begin by considering the meaning of this pronouncement and examining the context of the whole passage. I must then plant my feet in the steps of the apostle and, as the saying goes, not deviate a hair’s breadth from them either to this side or to that. He had previously described his ideal widow as one who had been the wife of one man, who had brought up children, who was well reported of for good works, who had relieved the afflicted with her substance,[1 Timothy 5:9-10] whose trust had been in God, and who had continued in prayer day and night. With her he contrasted her opposite, saying: “She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” And that he might warn his disciple Timothy with all needful admonition, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 231, footnote 8 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Ageruchia. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3237 (In-Text, Margin)

6. Again, no widow of youthful age must quiet her qualms of conscience by the plea that he gives commandment that no widow is to be taken into the number under three-score years old.[1 Timothy 5:9] He does not by this arrangement urge unmarried girls or youthful widows to marry, seeing that even of the married he says: “the time is short: it remaineth that they that have wives be as though they had none.” No, he is speaking of widows who have relations able to support them, who have sons and grandsons to be responsible for their maintenance. The apostle commands these latter to shew piety at home, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 359, footnote 2 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

Treatises. (HTML)

Against Jovinianus. (HTML)

Book I (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 4346 (In-Text, Margin)

... they be any longer two, if they are several. Lamech, a man of blood and a murderer, was the first who divided one flesh between two wives. Fratricide and digamy were abolished by the same punishment—that of the deluge. The one was avenged seven times, the other seventy times seven. The guilt is as widely different as are the numbers. What the holiness of second marriage is, appears from this—that a person twice married cannot be enrolled in the ranks of the clergy, and so the Apostle tells Timothy,[1 Timothy 5:9] “Let none be enrolled as a widow under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man.” The whole command concerns those widows who are supported on the alms of the Church. The age is therefore limited, so that those only may receive the food ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 392, footnote 7 (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 3313 (In-Text, Margin)

9. And of what kind she ought to be who is chosen the description is given in the words of the teacher himself: “Not less than threescore years old, having been the wife of one man.”[1 Timothy 5:9] Not that old age alone makes the widow, but that the merits of the widow are the duties of old age. For she certainly is the more noble who represses the heat of youth, and the impetuous ardour of youthful age, desiring neither the tenderness of a husband, nor the abundant delights of children, rather than one who, now worn out in body, cold in age, of ripe years, can neither grow warm with pleasures, nor ...