Marriage and Virginity
Augustine Replies to Juliana's Request
The Bishop Augustine, Servant of Christ and Servant of the Servants of Christ, to the Consecrated Servant of God, Juliana. The Lord of Lords Grant You Salvation!
1, 1. Not wanting to delay any longer in carrying out the promise I made in response to your request and your love in Christ, as best I can among other pressing occupations I have set myself to write something to you on the subject of holy widowhood as a way of life. When I was with you, you burdened me with this request, and as I could not refuse you, in your letters you have frequently reminded me of my promise. In this writing, you will certainly read things that by no means apply to you personally or to those who live in Christ with you, and are not strictly necessary for the guidance of your life. Just the same you must not think that these things are therefore superfluous. Although I have addressed this letter to you, I have not written it only for you, and I have by no means overlooked the possibility that through you it might also be of benefit to others. So if you find anything here that was never necessary for you, or is not necessary for you now, but you see that it is so for others, do not be reluctant to take it, and to give it to them to read. In this way you will do a service to others with your charity.
2. On every question relating to moral life there is need not only for instruction but also for encouragement. With the instruction we will know what we ought to do, and with the encouragement we will be motivated to do what we know we ought to do.†1 What more can I teach you than what we read in the apostle? Holy scripture has established the rule that we should not be ambitious to know more than one ought to know, but, as he said, we should have knowledge in good measure, according to the degree of faith God has allotted to each person (Rom 12:3). All I must do to teach you, therefore, is to explain to you the words of that Doctor and offer any comment the Lord inspires concerning them.†2
The Meaning of "Unmarried" in Paul's Writings
2, 3. The apostle, the Doctor of the Gentiles, the chosen vessel,†3 says this: I say, however, to those who are unmarried and those who are widows that it is good for them to stay as they are, as I do too (1 Cor 7:8). These words must not be understood as implying the view that widows may not be described as unmarried, since obviously they have had the experience of marriage. He means by the word "unmarried" those who are not now subject to the marriage bond, whether or not they have been in the past. He makes this clear elsewhere, when he says, An unmarried woman, and a virgin, is set apart (1 Cor 7:33). When he adds the word "virgin," what does he mean by "unmarried woman" if not a widow? In the same way a little further on he includes both states of life under the same description of "unmarried," when he says: A woman who is not married is concerned about what has to do with the Lord, how to please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the affairs of the world and how to please her husband (1 Cor
7:34). He certainly did not mean by "not married" only the one who has never been married, but meant also the one who is no longer married because she has been freed from the ties of marriage by widowhood. For the same reason he also calls "married" only the one who has a husband, and not the one who had a husband but now does not. Hence every widow is unmarried; but because not every unmarried woman is a widow (for there are also virgins), that is why he mentions both when he says here, I say, however, to those who are unmarried and those who are widows (1 Cor 7:8). It is as if he said, "What I am saying to the unmarried ones, I am not saying only to those who are virgins, but also to those who are widows: it is good for them to stay as they are, as I do too" (1 Cor 7:8).
The Good of Marriage and of Widowhood
3, 4. See how, if there is faith, or rather because there is faith, your excellence is compared to the excellence the apostle says is his. The doctrine there is brief, but not to be disdained because of its brevity, but more readily retained and better appreciated, because in its brevity it is not trivial. It cannot be just any perfection that the apostle is commending here, ranking it unequivocally as superior to the fidelity of married women. How great is the excellence in the fidelity of married women, that is to say Christian and religious married women, can be concluded from the fact that, when he was commanding them to flee from fornication (and certainly he was then addressing married persons), he said: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? (1 Cor 6:19; 7:34). So great is the excellence of Christian marriage, therefore, that they are even members of the body of Christ. Nevertheless, while the excellence of chastity in widowhood is greater, it does not follow that in this state of life a Catholic widow is something greater than a member of Christ, but among the members of Christ she occupies a place superior to that of the married woman. The same apostle says this: