ACC ~ Revelation 14 v4

THE LORD PROMISES THE GRACE OF CONTINENCE ALSO TO WOMEN. CYPRIAN: Nor is this an empty precaution and a vain fear that takes thought of the way of salvation, that guards the life-giving precepts of the Lord, so that those who have consecrated their lives to Christ, and, renouncing the concupiscent behaviors of the flesh, have dedicated themselves to God in body as well as in spirit, may perfect their work, destined as it is for a great reward, and may not be solicitous to adorn themselves or to please anyone except their Lord, from whom in truth they await the reward of virginity, since he himself says, “All do not accept this word but those to whom it is given; for there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made so by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven.” Again, too, by these words of the angel the gift of continence is made clear, virginity is extolled: “These are they who were not defiled with women, for they have remained virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” And indeed not to men only does the Lord promise the grace of continence, disregarding women; but since woman is a part of man and was taken and formed from him, almost universally in the Scriptures God addresses the first formed because they are two in one flesh, and in the man is signified likewise the woman. But if continence follows Christ, and virginity is destined for the kingdom of God, what have such maidens to do with worldly dress and adornments, whereby in striving to please men they offend God? THE DRESS OF VIRGINS 4-5.

THE WORD INCARNATE PRESERVED HIS FLESH INCORRUPT. METHODIUS: What then did the Lord, who is the Truth and the Light, take in hand when he came down from heaven? He preserved the flesh which he had taken upon himself incorrupt in virginity, so that we also, if we would come to the likeness of God and Christ, should endeavor to honor virginity. For to become like God is to the avoid corruption. John, filled with Christ, shows us that the Word, when he was incarnate, became chief Virgin in the same way as he was chief shepherd and chief prophet of the church, saying in the book of the Revelation, “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty-four thousand, having his name and his Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. And they sang as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders. And no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goes,” showing that the Lord is leader of the choir of virgins. And notice in addition to this how great in God’s sight is the dignity of virginity: “These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault,” he says, “and they follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” And he clearly intends by this to teach us that the number of virgins was, from the beginning, restricted to this number, namely, a hundred and forty-four thousand, while the multitude of the other saints is beyond counting. For let us consider what he means when discusses the rest. “I beheld a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and tribes and people and tongues.” It is plain, then, as I said, that in the case of the other saints he introduces an uncounted multitude, while in the case of those who are in a state of virginity he mentions only a very small number, so as to make a strong contrast with those who make up the uncounted number. SYMPOSIUM 1.5.

VIRGINS ARE FIRSTFRUITS. JEROME: Out of each tribe, except the tribe of Dan, the place of which is taken by the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand virgins who have been sealed are spoken of as future believers, who have not defiled themselves with women. And that we may not suppose the reference to be to those who have not had relations with harlots, he immediately added, “for they continued virgins.” Whereby he shows that all who have not preserved their virginity, in comparison with pure and angelic chastity and of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, are defiled. “These are they who sing a new song that no man can sing except him that is a virgin. These are firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb and are without blemish.” If virgins are firstfruits, it follows that widows and the continent in marriage come after the firstfruits, that is, are in the second and third rank; nor can a lost people be saved unless it offer such sacrifices of chastity to God and with pure victims reconcile the spotless Lamb. AGAINST JOVINIAN 1.40.

THE WHOLE FLOCK OF GOD WILL BE GATHERED. MAXIMUS OF TURIN: The man Jesus Christ, who overcame the devil by his suffering and unlocked the underworld by his resurrection, returning to heaven like a victor after having accomplished a great deed, hears from God the Father: “Sit at my right hand.”And it is not to be wondered at that it is given to the Son to sit on the same seat as does the Father, since by nature he is of one substance with the Father. But perhaps someone is puzzled that the Son is said to be on the right. For although there are no degrees of dignity where the fullness of divinity is concerned, nonetheless the Son sits on the right not because he is preferred to the Father but so that he not be believed to be inferior. And the Son is on the right because, according to the Gospel, the sheep will be gathered on the right but the goats on the left. It is necessary, therefore, that the first lamb occupy the place of the sheep and that the unsullied leader come before the unsullied flock that will follow him, as John says in the Apocalypse: “These are the ones who follow the Lamb of God wherever he goes, who have not defiled themselves with women.” Therefore the prophet David says, “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand.” That is to say, the Lord who is Father offers the lofty seat of his throne to the Lord God Christ, who is his Son, and for the sake of honor he places him at his right on an eternal seat. SERMON 40.2.

THOSE FAITHFUL IN MARRIAGE HAVE HOPE. AUGUSTINE: And we too, brothers and sisters, if we truly love him, let us imitate him. After all, we won’t be able to give a better proof of love than by imitating his example. “For Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, so that we might follow in his footsteps.” In this sentence the apostle Peter appears to have seen that Christ suffered only for those who follow in his footsteps and that Christ’s passion profits none but those who follow in his footsteps. The holy martyrs followed him, to the shedding of their blood, to the similarity of their sufferings. The martyrs followed, but they were not the only ones. It’s not the case, I mean to say, that after they had crossed, the bridge was cut; or that after they had drunk, the fountain dried up. What, after all, is the hope of the good faithful, who either bear the yoke of matrimony in chastity and concord in the wedded state, or tame the allurements of the flesh by living continently as widows, or even raise the standard of a loftier sanctity, and flourishing in a new kind of virginity, “follow the Lamb wherever he goes”? What hope, I repeat, is there for these, what hope for all of us, if the only ones who follow Christ are those who shed their blood for him? So is mother church going to lose all those children of hers, whom she has brought forth all the more abundantly, the more secure she has been in the time of peace? In order not to lose them, is she to pray for persecution, pray for trials and temptations? Perish the thought, brothers and sisters! How, I mean to say, can anyone pray for persecution who cries out every day, “Do not bring us into temptation”?That garden of the Lord’s brothers and sisters, includes, yes it includes, it certainly includes not only the roses of martyrs but also the lilies of virgins, and the ivy of married people and the violets of widows. There is absolutely no kind of human beings, dearly beloved, who need to despair of their vocation; Christ suffered for all. It was truly written, it is he “who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the acknowledgment of the truth.” SERMON 304.2.

TRUE VIRGINS FOLLOW THE LAMB. AUGUSTINE: Marriages are to possess their own good, not because they bring forth children but because they bring them forth honorably, lawfully and chastely, for the good of society; and once they are begotten, they likewise bring them up in a wholesome and purposeful way. Marriage is a good also because the partners preserve for each other the fidelity of the marriage bed, and because they do not violate the sacrament of marriage. All these, however, are duties of human obligation, whereas unsullied virginity and abstention from all intercourse by devoted continence is a role assigned to angels, the intention to preserve enduring incorruption while in the corruptible flesh. All physical fertility, all marital chastity must yield precedence to this, for the first does not lie within human power, and the second does not abide in eternity; free will does not control bodily fertility, and there is no marriage, however chaste, in heaven. It is certain that those who already in the flesh possess something not of the flesh will attain a grandeur beyond the rest in that immortality that is shared by all. …

So there is no commandment of the Lord that binds virgins. However, in the eternal life that is to be attained by avoidance or forgiveness of sins, there is an illustrious glory that is to be assigned not to all who will dwell in eternity, but to certain individuals there, and to obtain this it is not sufficient to have been freed from sins; some vow must also be made to him who has delivered us. It is not a sin to have failed to make such a vow, but it is praiseworthy to have made and delivered it. … But because in that eternal life the lights of their merits will shine differently, “There are many dwelling places” in the Father’s house. Accordingly, since the value of the denarius remains the same, one of us will not live longer than another, but in those numerous dwelling places one will obtain brighter glory than another.

So press on, holy ones of God, boys and girls, males and females, unmarried men and women; press on unremittingly to the end. Praise the Lord in tones sweeter as your thoughts center on him more fruitfully. Hope in him more blessedly as you serve him more urgently; love him more glowingly as you please him more diligently. With loins girded and lamps alight, await the Lord’s arrival from the wedding. You will bring to the marriage of the Lamb a new song to play on your harps—not indeed one such as the whole earth sings when it is bidden, “Sing a new song to the Lord, sing to the Lord, the whole earth,”but one such as none but you will be able to sing. For in the Apocalypse this is how you were seen by the man beloved of the Lamb before all others, who was wont to recline on his breast, who imbibed and vomited forth God’s description of the wonders of heaven. That man saw you, twelve times twelve thousand blessed harpists, your virginity of body undefiled, your truth of heart inviolate, and he wrote these words about you because you follow the Lamb wherever he goes. Where do we imagine this Lamb goes, when no one but you presumes or is able to follow him there? Into what glades and meadows? Where, I believe, the pasture is one of joys—not the empty joys of this world for they are deceitful lunacies, nor those joys in God’s kingdom that accrue to the rest who are not virgins, but joys distinct from the portion of those allotted to all the rest. These are the joys of Christ’s virgins, issuing from Christ, in Christ, with Christ, following Christ, through Christ, because of Christ. The joys peculiar to Christ’s virgins are not the same as those of nonvirgins, though these too are of Christ; for there are different joys for different persons, but no others obtain such as these.

Advance towards them, follow the Lamb, for the Lamb in the flesh is assuredly virginal as well; for this he preserved for himself when he was full-grown, and he did not deprive his mother of it when he was conceived and born. Follow him as you deserve, because of your virginity in heart and flesh, wherever he goes, for what does “follow” mean but “imitate”? For as the apostle Peter says, “Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example to follow in his steps.” Each of us follows him in as much as we imitate him, not as the Son of God through whom alone all things were made, but as the Son of man who revealed in himself all that we must imitate. Many things in him are revealed for all to imitate, but bodily virginity is not set forth for all, for those who have already lost their virginity have not the means of being virgins. So the rest of the faithful, who have lost their virginity, must follow the Lamb not wherever he goes, but so far as they themselves can go. They can in fact follow everywhere except where he has advanced into the glory of virginity. “Blessed are the poor in spirit”; imitate him who became poor for your sake, when he was rich. “Blessed are the meek.” But what is beyond doubt is that married people too can walk in his footsteps. Though they do not plant their feet perfectly in the same traces, they none the less tread the same paths. But see, that lamb treads the virgin’s path, so how will those who have lost it follow him when they never recover it? So you who are his virgins, you must follow him on that path as well, for it is on this score alone that you follow him wherever he goes. We can encourage those who are married to advance toward any other gift of sanctity to which they can follow him, excepting when they have lost this path beyond hope of recovery.

Follow him therefore, maintaining with constancy the course that you vowed with burning zeal to take. While you can, ensure that you do not lose the good of virginity, for you can do nothing to regain it. The rest of the crowd of the faithful who cannot follow on this path will observe you. They will observe you, but they will not envy you, and by sharing the joy with you they will possess in you what they do not possess in themselves. They will not be able to sing that new song that belongs to you alone, but they will be able to hear it and to take delight in that good of yours that is so surpassing. But you who are virgins will both sing and hear it, for you will also hear it from your own lips as you sing it; your joy will be the more blessed and your dominion sweeter. Those who do not attain your greater joy will experience no grief, for the Lamb whom you follow wherever he goes will not abandon those either who cannot follow him where you can. The Lamb of whom we speak is almighty; he will both go before you yet not desert them, for he will be the God who is “all in all.”HOLY VIRGINITY 12, 14, 26-29.

IN HER VIRGINS THE CHURCH GAINS A FULLER VIRGINITY. FULGENTIUS OF RUSPE: [The church], though she has in her diverse members different gifts, according to the grace that has been given to her, still she has received the greater grace of a gift in those members in whom she is spiritually called a virgin, so that she also gains the integrity of bodily virginity. For in other faithful members, who believe in God correctly according to the rule of the catholic faith and observe conjugal and widow’s chastity, who are not splattered by any stain of any act of fornication and remain exempt from any illicit sexual act of infidelity, the church gains a spiritual virginity only; but in those members in whom she guards the correct faith in such a way that they keep the flesh untouched by any sexual intercourse, the more the church has a fuller virginity, the more perfectly she possesses the name of the same virginity. In the former she has nothing less of its life; in the latter, however, she acquires something more for glory, because just as Paul says, “The brightness of the sun is one kind, but the brightness of the moon another, and the brightness of the stars still another. For star differs from star in brightness. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” Finally, under the name of eunuchs (who also in the Gospel the Lord affirms have castrated themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven) the Lord through Isaiah again promises virgins a better place in his house and within his walls. For so it is written: “For thus says the Lord, ‘To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.’” Also in the Apocalypse of blessed John, they are the ones who “follow the Lord wherever he goes” who have remained virgins. LETTER TO PROBA 10.

THE CHURCH HOLDS TO THE PURITY OF THE FAITH. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: In this passage we do not understand the “virgins” to be only those who are chaste in the body. Rather, we have especially in mind the whole church that holds to the pure faith, as the apostle says, “I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” For she is not corrupted by any adulterous commixture of the heretics, nor to the end of its life is it hindered by the alluring yet deadly desires of this world or by an infelicitous perseverance in them without the remedy of penance. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 14.4, HOMILY 11.

A CLOSER VISION OF CHRIST. BEDE: The elect are doubtless imbued with one true faith, even if their merits differ in rank; for they will come to one light of eternal truth in heaven, even though the ones who endeavor to cleave to Christ higher up in this life will enjoy a closer vision of him in that life. Accordingly, it is said of certain ones on account of the merit of their great virtue, “These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes”; just before, it is said of others, as if of the nearby branches on the lampstand, “And they were singing a new song, as it were, before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders.” By this it is shown that all the saints throughout the streets of that heavenly city sing a new song of gladness to God, but those who in this life transcended the common life of the faithful by the special privilege of sacred virginity are there raised up into a special position above the others in the joy of song. ON THE TABERNACLE 1.25, 32.

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