ACC ~ Revelation 14 v5

BEYOND HUMAN NATURE. OECUMENIUS: The language of the vision relays how surpassingly excellent and beyond human nature are those who are in Christ. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 14.1-5.

PHYSICAL VIRGINITY UNWORTHY WITHOUT PURITY OF HEART. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: Truly, dearest brothers, of what profit is it for a man or woman, whether cleric or monk or religious, if bodily virginity is preserved, as long as purity of the heart is violated by evil desires? Of what benefit is it to show chastity in one member and to keep corruption in all the rest? For if you notice carefully, those virgins who follow the Lamb do not do so merely because of the fact that they have preserved only bodily virginity. Finally, when he had said, “These are they who did not defile themselves with women,” he continued and added, “and in their mouth there was found no lie; they are without blemish.” Listen carefully that if anyone boasts about bodily virginity alone, as long as he loves deceit he will not be able to follow Christ along with those holy virgins. For this reason let no virgin presume only upon her physical virginity, because if she is disobedient or gossiping she knows that she will have to be excluded from the bedchamber of her heavenly Spouse. Although a virgin possesses a hundredfold and a married woman the thirtyfold, still a chaste and humble married woman is better than a proud virgin. SERMON 155.3.

BAPTISM AND PENANCE. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: It does not say “there was no [lie in their mouth],” but “no lie was found in their mouth.” For whatever the Lord finds when he calls forth from here, that is what he judges. For whether through baptism or through penance we are able to be made both virgins and without falsehood in the interior person. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 14.5, HOMILY 11.

THE WHOLE CHURCH IS VIRGIN. BEDE: Virgins are not joined to the divine following because of chastity only, unless they also lead a life unblemished by any infection of sin. Tyconius does not interpret this vision to refer especially to virgins, but generally to the whole church, which the apostle betroths “to one husband, to present a pure virgin to Christ,”and he concludes in this way: “He did not say ‘no lie was in their mouth’ but ‘no lie was found.’” As the apostle says, “And such were you, but you have been washed,” and “the iniquity of the unjust will not harm him on the day he will have turned from his iniquity,” and he will be able to be a virgin, and deceit will not be found in his mouth. For those who are chaste and pure he calls “virgins.” EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 14.5.