Tertullian: de Virginibus Velandis

[1] Proprium iam negotium passus meae opinionis Latine quoque ostendam virgines nostras velari oportere, ex quo transitum aetatis suae fecerint; hoc exigere veritatem, cui nemo praescribere potest, non spatium temporum, non patrocinia personarum, non privilegium regionum; ex his enim fere consuetudo initium ab aliqua ignorantia vel simplicitate sortita in usum per successionem corroboratur et ita adversus veritatem vindicatur.

[1] Having now ventured to make the proper business of my opinion, I will show in Latin as well that our virgins ought to be veiled, from the time when they have made the transition of their age; truth demands this, to which no one can prescribe—neither the span of times, nor the patronages of persons, nor the privilege of regions; for from these almost always custom, having gotten its beginning from some ignorance or simplicity, is corroborated into use through succession, and thus is claimed against truth.

[2] Sed dominus noster Christus veritatem se, non consuetudinem cognominavit. Si semper Christus et prior omnibus, aeque veritas sempiterna et antiqua res. Viderint ergo, quibus novum est, quod sibi vetus est.

[2] But our Lord Christ cognominated himself Truth, not Custom. If Christ is ever and prior to all, equally Truth is sempiternal and an ancient thing. Let them look to it, then, for whom that is new which to themselves is old.

[3] Haeresis non tam novitas quam veritas revincit. Quodcumque adversus veritatem sapit, hoc erit haeresis, etiam vetus consuetudo. Ceterum suo vitio quis quid ignorat; quod autem ignoratur, fuit tam requirendum quam recipiendum, quod agnoscitur.

[3] Heresy is refuted not so much by novelty as by truth. Whatever savors against truth, this will be heresy, even an old custom. Furthermore, a person is ignorant of something by his own fault; but what is unknown ought to have been sought out as much as what is recognized is to be received.

[4] Regula quidem fidei una omnino est, sola immobilis et irreformabilis, credendi scilicet in uni cum deum omnipotentem, mundi conditorem, et filium eius Iesum Christum, natum ex virgine Maria, crucifixum sub Pontio Pilato, tertia die resuscitatum a mortuis, receptum in caelis, sedentem nunc ad dexteram patris, venturum iudi care vivos et mortuos per camis etiam resurrectionem.

[4] The rule of faith is indeed one altogether, alone immovable and irreformable, namely of believing in the one only omnipotent God, the creator of the world, and his Son Jesus Christ, born from the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, on the third day resuscitated from the dead, received in the heavens, sitting now at the right hand of the Father, about to come to judge the living and the dead, through the resurrection of the flesh as well.

[5] Hoc lege fidei manente cetera iam disciplinae et conversationis admittunt novitatem correctionis, operante scilicet et proficiente usque in finem gratia dei.

[5] With this law of faith remaining, the rest—of discipline and conversation—admit the novelty of correction, the grace of God, namely, working and advancing even to the end.

[6] Quale est enim, ut diabolo semper operante et adiciente cottidie ad iniquitatis ingenia opus dei aut cessaverit aut proficere destiterit? cum propterea paraclitum miserit dominus, ut, quoniam humana mediocritas omnia semel capere non poterat, paulatim dirigeretur et ordinaretur et ad perfectum perduceretur disciplina ab illo vicario domini, spiritu sancto.

[6] For what sort of thing is it, that with the devil always operating and daily adding to the devices of iniquity, the work of God should either have ceased or have stopped progressing? since for this reason the Lord sent the Paraclete, that, since human mediocrity was not able to grasp all things at once, the discipline might be gradually directed and ordered and led to perfection by that vicar of the Lord, the Holy Spirit.

[7]Adhuc multa habeo loqui ad vos, sed nondum potestis ea baiulare; cum venerit ille spiritus veritatis, deducet vos in omnem veritatem et supervenientia renuntiabit vobis. Sed et supra de hoc eius opere pronuntiavit.

[7]I still have to speak to you many things, but you are not yet able to bear them; when that Spirit of truth has come, he will lead you into all truth and he will announce to you the things that are to come. But also above he pronounced concerning this work of his.

[8] Quae est ergo paracliti administratio nisi haec, quod disciplina dirigitur, quod scripturae revelantur, quod intellectus reformatur, quod ad meliora proficitur? Nihil sine aetate est, omnia tempus expectant; denique EcclesiastesTempus, inquit, omni rei.

[8] What, then, is the administration of the Paraclete if not this: that discipline is directed, that the scriptures are revealed, that understanding is reformed, that progress is made toward better things? Nothing is without its season, all things await time; finally Ecclesiastes,A time, he says, for every thing.

[9] Aspice ipsam creaturam paulatim ad fructum promoveri: granum est primo et de grano frutex oritur et de frutice arbuscula enititur, deinde rami et frondes invalescunt et totum arboris nomen expanditur, inde germinis tumor et flos de germine solvitur et de flore fructus aperitur; is quoque rudis aliquamdiu et informis paulatim aetatem suam dirigens eruditur in mansuetudinem saporis.

[9] Look upon creation itself gradually being advanced toward fruit: at first it is a grain, and from the grain a shrub arises, and from the shrub a little tree strives forth; then the branches and leaves grow strong and the whole appellation of the tree is spread out; then the swelling of the bud, and the flower is loosed from the bud, and from the flower the fruit is opened; this too, for some time raw and shapeless, gradually, directing its age, is educated into the mildness of flavor.

[10] Sic et iustitia — nam idem deus iustitiae et creaturae — primo fuit in rudimentis, natura deum metuens, dehinc per legem et prophetas promovit in infantiam, dehinc per evangelium efferbuit in iuventutem, nunc per paracletum componitur in maturitatem.

[10] Thus also justice — for the same God is of justice and of creation — at first was in rudiments, by nature fearing God, then through the law and the prophets it advanced into infancy, then through the Gospel it effervesced into youth, now through the Paraclete it is composed into maturity.

[11] Hic erit solus a Christo magister et dicendus et verendus; non enim ab se loquitur, sed quae mandantur a Christo; hic solus antecessor, quia solus post Christum; hunc qui receperunt, veritatem consuetudini anteponunt; hunc qui audierunt usque non olim prophetantem, virgines contegunt.

[11] This one will be the only teacher from Christ, to be both called and revered; for he does not speak from himself, but the things that are commanded by Christ; this one alone is the forerunner, because he alone is after Christ; those who have received him put truth before custom; those who have heard him prophesying even not long ago veil virgins.

II.

[1] Sed nolo interim hunc morem veritatis deputare; consuetudo sit tantisper, ut consuetudini etiam consuetudinem opponam. Per Graeciam et quasdam barbarias eius plures ecclesiae virgines suas abscondunt; est et sub hoc caelo institutum istud alicubi, ne qui gentilitati Graecanicae aut barbaricae consuetudinem illam ascribat.

[1] But I do not wish meanwhile to reckon this custom as truth; let it be a custom for the time being, so that to custom also I may oppose custom. Throughout Greece and some of its barbarian regions many churches keep their virgins concealed; and under this sky too that institution exists in some places, lest anyone ascribe that custom to Greek or barbarian paganism.

[2] Sed eas ego ecclesias proposui, quas et ipsi apostoli vel apostolici viri condiderunt et puto, ante quosdam. Habent igitur et illae eandem consuetudinis auctoritatem; tempora et antecessores opponunt magis quam posterae istae. Quid observabimus, quid eligimus?

[2] But those churches I have put forward, which both the apostles themselves or apostolic men founded, and, I think, before certain others. Therefore those also have the same authority of custom; times and predecessors they oppose more than these latter ones. What shall we observe, what choose?

[3] Non possumus respuere consuetudinem, quam damnare non possumus, utpote non extraneam, quia non extraneorum, cum quibus communicamus scilicet ius pacis et nomen fraternitatis. Una nobis et illis fides, unus deus, idem Christus, eadem spes, eadem lavacri sacramenta, semel dixerim, una ecclesia sumus. Ita nostrum est, quodcumque nostrorum est, ceterum dividis corpus.

[3] We cannot reject a custom which we cannot condemn, inasmuch as it is not extraneous, since it is not of outsiders, with whom we communicate, namely, the right of peace and the name of brotherhood. One faith for us and for them, one God, the same Christ, the same hope, the same sacraments of the laver; I would say once for all, we are one church. Thus it is ours, whatever is of our own, otherwise you are dividing the body.

[4] Tam hic, sicut in omnibus varie institutis et dubiis et incertis fieri solet, adhibenda fuit examinatio, quae magis ex duabus tam diversis consuetudinibus disciplinae dei conveniret, et utique ea deligenda, quae virginis includit, soli deo notas — quibus, praeterquod a deo, non ab hominibus captanda gloria est, etiam ipsum bonum suum erubescendum est: virginem magis laudando quam vituperando confundas, quia delicti durior frons est, ab ipso et in ipso delicto impudentiam docta —; nam illam consuetudinem, quae virgines negat, dum ostendit, nemo probasset nisi aliqui talis quales virgines ipsae.

[4] However, here, as is wont to happen in all matters variously instituted and in things doubtful and uncertain, an examination had to be applied as to which of the two so diverse customs would more fit the discipline of God, and assuredly that one had to be chosen which encloses the virgin, known to God alone — for whom, besidesthat glory is to be sought from God, not from men, even her very good is to be blushed at: you would confound a virgin more by praising than by blaming, since the brow of an offense is harder, having learned impudence from the offense itself and in the offense —; for that custom which denies virgins while it displays them, no one would have approved except some such as the virgins themselves.

[5] Tales enim oculi volent virginem visam, quales habet virgo, quae videri volet; invicem se eadem oculorum genera desiderant; eiusdem libidinis est videri et videre. Tam sancti viri est subfundi, si virginem viderit, quam sanctae virginis, si a viro visa sit.

[5] For such eyes will want the virgin seen as are those which a virgin has who will wish to be seen; in turn the same kinds of eyes desire one another; to be seen and to see are of the same libido. It is as much for a holy man to be suffused, if he should see a virgin, as for a holy virgin, if she should be seen by a man.

III.

[1] Sed nec inter consuetudines dispicere voluerunt illi sanctissimi antecessores. Tamen tolerabilius apud nos ad usque proxime utrique consuetudini communicabatur; arbitrio commissa res erat, ut quaeque voluisset, aut tegi aut prostitui, sicut et nubere, quod et ipsum neque cogitur neque prohibetur.

[1] But those most holy predecessors did not wish to discern among the customs. Nevertheless, among us, right up to very recently, there was a more tolerable accommodation to either custom; the matter was committed to discretion, so that each woman who wished might either be covered or be exposed, just as to marry, which likewise is neither compelled nor forbidden.

[2] Contenta erat veritas pacisci cum consuetudine, ut tacite sub consuetudinis nomine frueretur se vel ex parte. Sed quoniam coeperat agnitio proficere, ut per licentiam utriusque moris indicium melioris partis emergeret, statim ille adversarius bonorum multoque institutorum opus suum fecit.

[2] Truth was content to make a pact with custom, so that, silently under the name of custom, it might enjoy itself even in part. But since recognition had begun to make progress, so that by the license of each custom the indication of the better part might emerge, at once that adversary of the good and of many institutions did his own work.

[3] Ambiunt virgines hominum adversus virgines dei, nuda plane fronte temerarie audaciam excitatae, et virgines videntur, quae aliquid a viris petere possunt, nedum tale factum, ut scilicet aemulae earum, tanto magis liberae quanto Christi solius ancillae, dedantur illis!

[3] The virgins of men canvass against the virgins of God, with a plainly naked brow, temerariously stirred into audacity; and they seem to be virgins, who can petition something from men—much less such a deed as, namely, that their rivals, so much the more free by as much as they are handmaids of Christ alone, be given over to them!

[4] 'Scandalizamur', inquiunt, 'quia aliter aliae incedunt', et malunt scandalizari quam provocari. Scandalum, nisi fallor, non bonae rei, sed malae exemplum est, aedificans ad delictum; bonae res neminem scandalizant nisi malam mentem.

[4] 'We are scandalized,' they say, 'because some proceed otherwise,' and they prefer to be scandalized rather than to be provoked. Scandal, unless I am mistaken, is not an example of a good thing, but of a bad one, building toward offense; good things scandalize no one except an evil mind.

[5] Si bonum est modestia, verecundia, fastidium gloriae, soli deo captans placere, agnoscant malum suum, quae de tali bono scandalizantur. Quid enim? siincontinentes dicant se a continentibus scandalizari, et continentia revocanda est?

[5] If modesty, shamefastness, distaste for glory, aiming to please God alone, is good, let those who are scandalized at such a good acknowledge their own evil. What then? if theincontinent say that they are scandalized by the continent, must continence be recalled?

et ne multinubi scandalizentur, monogamia recusanda est?

and lest the many-wived be scandalized, is monogamy to be refused?

[6] Cur non magis hae qu[a]erantur scandalo sibi esse petulantiam, impudentiam ostentaticiae virginitatis? Propter huiusmodi igitur capita nundinaticia trahantur virgines sanctae in ecclesiam, erubescentes, quod cognoscantur in medio, paventes, quod detegantur accersitae quasi ad stuprum? Non minus enim et hoc pati nolunt.

[6] Why are these women not rather to be asked to consider as a scandal to themselves the petulance, the impudence of ostentatious virginity? On account of nundinatory heads of this sort, then, are holy virgins to be dragged into the church, blushing that they are recognized in the midst, trembling that they are uncovered, summoned as if to defilement? For they are no less unwilling to suffer this as well.

[7] Omnis publicatio virginis bonae stupri passio est. Et tamen vim carnis pati minus est, quia de officio naturae venit; sed cum spiritus ipse violatur in virgine sublato velamine, didicit amittere, quod tuebatur.

[7] Every publicizing of a good virgin is a suffering of violation. And yet to endure the force of the flesh is less, because it comes from the office of nature; but when the spirit itself is violated in a virgin, with the veil removed, it has learned to lose what it was guarding.

[8] O sacrilegae manus, quae dicatum deo habitum detrahere potuerunt! Quid peius aliquis persecutor fecisset, si hoc a virgine electum agnovisset? Denudasti puellam a capite et nota iam sibi virgo non est, alia est facta.

[8] O sacrilegious hands, that were able to strip off the habit dedicated to God! What worse would any persecutor have done, if he had acknowledged this to have been chosen by the virgin? You have denuded the girl from the head, and the virgin, now known to herself, is no more; she has been made other.

[9] Exsurge igitur, veritas, exsurge et quasi de patientia erumpe! Nullam volo consuetudinem defendas; nam iam et illa consuetudine, sub qua te fruebaris, expugnatur. Te esse demonstra, quae virgines tegis, ipsa scripturas tuas interpretare, quas consuetudo non novit; si enim nosset, numquam esset.

[9] Rise up, then, Truth, rise up and, as if out of patience, burst forth! I do not want you to defend any custom; for already even by that custom, under which we used to enjoy you, you are being assailed. Show yourself to be the one who covers virgins; do you yourself interpret your Scriptures, which custom does not know; for if it knew them, it would never be.

IV.

[1] Quatenus autem et de scripturis adversus veritatem argumentari consuetudo est, statim opponitur nobis nullam mentionem virginum ab apostolo factam, ubi de velamine praefinit, sed tantum mulieres nominatas, cum, si voluisset et virgines tegi, de virginibus quoque cum mulieribus nominatis pronuntiasset, 'quomodo illic', inquit, 'ubi de nuptiis tractat, quid observandum sit etiam de virginibus declarat'; itaque non contineri eas lege velandi capitis ut non nominatas in hac lege, immo ex hoc velari, qua non iubentur, quae neo nominantur.

[1] Inasmuch, however, as it is also a custom to argue from the Scriptures against the truth, it is straightway objected to us that no mention of virgins was made by the apostle where he defines about the veil, but only women are named; since, if he had wished virgins also to be covered, he would have pronounced with virgins named together with women, “just as there,” he says, “where he treats of nuptials, he also declares what is to be observed concerning virgins as well”; and so they are not contained under the law of veiling the head, as not named in this law—nay rather, from this they are forbidden to be veiled, in that they are not commanded, who are not even named.

[2] Sed et nos eandem argumentationem retorquemus. Qui enim sciebat in alias utriusque generis facere mentionem — virginis dico et mulieris, id est non virginis — ex causa distinctionis, in his, in quibus non nominat virginem, non faciens distinctionem ostendit condicionis communionem.

[2] But we also retort the same argumentation. For he who knew, in other places, to make mention of both kinds — I mean of the virgin and the woman, that is, the non-virgin — for the cause of distinction, in those in which he does not name the virgin, by not making a distinction shows a communion of condition.

[3] Ceterum potuit hic quoque constituere differentiam inter virginem et mulierem, sicut alibi dicit:Divisa est mulier et virgo. Igitur quas non divisit tacendo, in altera uniit. Nec tamen quia illic divisa est et mulier et virgo, hic quoque patrocinabitur illa divisio, ut quidam volunt.

[3] Moreover, he could here also have established a difference between the virgin and the woman, just as elsewhere he says:The woman and the virgin are divided. Therefore, those whom he did not divide by keeping silence, he united into the other. Nor, however, because there both the woman and the virgin are divided, will that division also lend its advocacy here, as some wish.

[4] Quanta enim alibi dicta non valent, ubi dicta scilicet non sunt! nisi si eadem sit causa quae alibi, ut sufficiat semel dictum. Illa autem causa virginis et mulieris longe divisa est ab hac specie.

[4] For how do things said elsewhere avail where, namely, they have not been said! unless the same cause be as elsewhere, so that once said may suffice. But that cause of the virgin and the woman is far divided from this species.

Divisa est, inquit, mulier et virgo. Quare? quoniam innupta, id est virgo, cogitat ea, quae, sunt domini, ut sit sancta et corpore et spiritu, nupta autem, id est non virgo, cogitat quomodo placeat viro.

It is divided, he says, the woman and the virgin. Why? because the unwed woman, that is, a virgin, thinks on the things that are the Lord’s, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit, but the married woman, that is, not a virgin, thinks how she may please her husband.

[5] Haec erit interpretatio divisionis illius, nullum habens locum in isto capitulo, in quo neque de nuptiis neque de animo et cogitatu muliebri et virginis pronuntiatum, sed de capite velando. Cuius nullam volens esse disceptationem spiritus sanctus uno nomine mulieris etiam virginem intelligi voluit, quam proprie non nominando a muliere non separavit et non separando coniunxit ei, a qua non separavit.

[5] This will be the interpretation of that division, having no place in this chapter, in which there has been no pronouncement either about nuptials or about the mind and cogitation of the woman and of the virgin, but about veiling the head. Of which matter, wishing there to be no disputation, the Holy Spirit willed that under one name, “woman,” the virgin also be understood; and by not naming her specifically he did not separate her from “woman,” and by not separating he conjoined her to the one from whom he did not separate her.

[6] Novum est nunc ergo principali vocabulo uti et cetera nihilominus in eo vocabulo intelligi, ubi nulla est necessitas singillatim distinguendae universitatis? Naturaliter compendium sermonis et gratum et necessarium est, quoniam sermo laciniosus et onerosus et vanus est. Sic et generalibus vocabulis contenti sumus comprehendentibus in se specialium intellectum.

[6] Is it now, then, a new thing to use the principal vocable and to have the rest nonetheless understood in that vocable, where there is no necessity for the universality to be distinguished one by one? Naturally, a compendium of discourse is both welcome and necessary, since discourse that is ragged, onerous, and vain is [the alternative]. Thus also we are content with general vocables, which in themselves comprehend the understanding of the special particulars.

[7] Ergo iam de vocabulo ipso. Naturale vocabulum est femina, naturalis vocabuli generale mulier, generalis etiam speciale virgo vel nupta vel vidua vel quot etiam aetatis nomina accedunt. Subiectum est igitur generali speciale, quia generale prius est, ut subcessivum antecessivo et portionale universali: in ipso intelligitur, cui subicitur, et in ipso significatur, quia in ipso continetur.

[7] Therefore now about the vocable itself. Natural
the vocable is female; the general of the natural vocable, woman; the general also has the special: virgin or married woman or widow, and as many names of age as likewise accrue. Therefore the special is subject to the general, because the general is prior, as the subcessive to the antecessive and the portionary to the universal: in it is understood that to which it is subjected, and in it it is signified, because in it it is contained.

[8] Sic nec manus nec pes nec ullum membrorum desiderat nominari corpore nominato; et si mundum dixeris, illic erit et caelum et quae in eo, sol et luna et sidera et astra, et terra et freta et omnis census elementorum. Omnia dixeris, cum id dixeris, quod ex omnibus constat. Sic et mulierem nominando quicquid est mulieris nominavit.

[8] Thus neither hand nor foot nor any of the members requires to be named, the body having been named; and if you say “world,” there will be therein both heaven and the things that are in it—the sun and the moon and the constellations and the stars—and the earth and the straits and the entire enumeration of the elements. You have said “all things,” when you have said that which consists of all things. So also, by naming “woman,” he has named whatever belongs to woman.

[1] Sed quoniam ita mulieris nomen usurpant, ut non putent competere illud nisi ei soli, quae virum passa sit, probari a nobis oportet proprietatem eius vocabuli ad sexum ipsum, non ad gradum sexus pertinere, quo communiter etiam virgines censeantur.

[1] But since they so usurp the name of “woman” that they do not think
it to appertain except to her alone who has suffered a man, it ought to be proved by us that the propriety of that vocable pertains to the sex itself, not to a grade of the sex, whereby even virgins are commonly reckoned.

[2] Cum hoc genus secundi hominis a deo factum est in adiutorium hominis, femina illa statim mulier cognominata est, adhuc felix, adhuc digna paradiso, adhuc virgo:Vocabitur, inquit, mulier. Habes itaque nomen, non dico iam virgini commune, sed proprium, quod a principio virgo sortita est.

[2] When this genus of the second human was made by God for the aid of the human, that female was immediately cognominated “woman,” still happy, still worthy of paradise, still a virgin:She shall be called, he says, woman. You have therefore a name, I do not say now common to a virgin, but proper, which from the beginning the virgin obtained by lot.

[3] Sed ingeniose quidam de futuro volunt dictumvocabitur mulier, quasi quae hoc futura esset, cum virginitatem resignasset, quoniam et adicit: Propterea relinquet homo patrem et matrem et conglutinabitur mulieri suae et erunt duo in carne una. Ostendant igitur primo, uti s<c>it subtilitas ista, si de futuro mulier cognominata est, quod interea vocabulum acceperit; non potest enim sine vocabulo praesentis qualitatis suae fuisse.

[3] But some ingeniously want it to have been said of the future,she shall be called woman, as if she were going to be this when she had resigned her virginity, since he also adds: Therefore a man will leave father and mother and will be joined to his woman, and the two will be in one flesh. Let them show, then, first, uti s<c>it subtilitas ista, if with respect to the future she has been cognominated “woman,” what appellation she received meanwhile; for she could not have been without a vocable of her present quality.

[4] Ceterum quale est, ut, quae in futurum vocaretur nomine designato, in praesenti nihil cognominaretur! Omnibus animalibus Adam nomina imposuit et nemini ex futura condicione, sed ex praesenti institutione, cui conditio quaecumque serviret, hoc appellata, quod ex primordio voluit.

[4] But what sort of thing is it, that she who was to be called in the future by a designated name should in the present be given no cognomen! Adam imposed names upon all the animals, and to none on the basis of a future condition, but on the basis of the present institution—whatever condition might serve it—they were called by that which he willed from the beginning.

[5] Quid ergo tunc vocabatur? Atquin quotienscumque in scriptura nominatur, mulier appellatur, antequam nupta, et numquam virgo, cum virgo; hoc nomen tum unum illi fuit, et quando nihil prophetico modo dictum est.

[5] What then was she called at that time? But indeed, whenever in Scripture she is named, she is called “woman,” before she was married, and never “virgin,” when a virgin; this was then her sole name, even when nothing was said in a prophetic mode.

[6] Nam cum scriptura refert fuisse nudos duos, Adam et mulierem eius, nec hoc de futuro sapit, quasi mulierem dixerit eius in praesagio uxoris, sed quoniam et innupta illius mulier ut de substantia eius:Hoc, inquit, os ex ossibus meis et caro ex carne mea vocabitur mulier.

[6] For since scripture reports that there were two naked, Adam and his woman, neither does this savor of the future, as if he had said “his woman” in a presage of “wife,” but because even unmarried she was his woman as from his substance:This, he says, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh shall be called woman.

[7] Hinc ergo tacita conscientia naturae ipsa divinitas animae in usum sermonis eduxit nescientibus hominibus — sicut et alia multa, quae ex scriptura fieri et dici solere alibi poterimus ostendere —, uti mulieres nostras dicamus uxores, quamquam et improprie quaedam loquamur; nam et Graeci, qui magis vocabulo mulieris in uxore utuntur, alia habent propria vocabula uxoris; sed malo hunc usum ad scripturae testimonium deputare.

[7] Hence therefore, by the silent conscience of nature, the very divinity of the soul brought forth into the use of discourse for unknowing humans — just as also many other things, which we shall be able elsewhere to show are wont to be done and said from Scripture —, that we call our women “wives,” although we also speak some things improperly; for even the Greeks, who more use the vocable of “woman” for a wife, have other proper vocables of “wife”; but I prefer to reckon this usage to the testimony of Scripture to be assigned.

[8] Ubi enim duo in unam carnem efficiuntur per matrimonii nexum, 'caro ex carne et os ex ossibus' vocatur secundum originem mulier eius, ex cuius substantia incipit censeri facta uxor. Ita mulier non natura nomen est uxoris, sed uxor condicione nomen est mulieris. Denique mulier et non uxor dici potest, non mulier autem uxor dici non potest, quia nec esse.

[8] For where two are made into one flesh through the nexus of matrimony, 'flesh from flesh and bone from bones' she is called according to origin, the woman of him, from whose substance she begins to be reckoned as having been made a wife. Thus mulier is not by nature the name of uxor, but uxor is by condition the name of mulier. Finally, mulier and not uxor can be said, but not-mulier, however, cannot be called uxor, because she cannot even be.

[9] Constituto igitur nomine novae feminae, quod est mulier, et explicito quod prius fuit, id est nomine assignato, convertit iam ad propheticam rationem, uti diceret:Propter hanc relinquet homo patrem et matrem. Adeo separatum est nomen a prophetia quantum et ab ipsa persona, ut non utique de ipsa Eva dixerit, sed in illas feminas futuras, quas in matrice generis feminini nominarit.

[9] Therefore, with the name of the new female established, which is “woman,” and with what was prior unfolded, that is, the name assigned, he now turns to prophetic reasoning, to say:For this cause a man will leave father and mother. So far is the name separated from the prophecy as also from the person herself, that he did not, to be sure, speak about Eve herself, but about those future females, whom he named within the matrix of the feminine kind.

[10] Alioquin non Adam relicturus erat patrem et matrem, quos non habebat, propter Evam; ergo non ad Evam pertinet, quia nec ad Adam, quod prophetice dictum est; de maritorum enim condicione praedictum, qui ob mulierem parentes suos erant relicturi, quod in Evam cadere non potuit, quia nec in Adam.

[10] Otherwise Adam would not be about to leave father and mother—whom he did not have—on account of Eve; therefore it does not pertain to Eve, since it does not to Adam either, that which was said prophetically; for it was foretold concerning the condition of husbands, who on account of the woman would be about to leave their parents, which could not apply to Eve, since neither to Adam.

[11] Si ita res est, apparet non propter futurum mulierem cognominatam, ad quam futurum non pertinebat. Eo accedit, quod ipse rationem eius nominis edidit; cum enim dixisset:Vocabitur mulier: Quoniam ex viro suo sumpta est et ipso adhuc virgine. Sed dicemus et de viri nomine suo loco.

[11] If the matter is thus, it appears she was not cognominated on account of the future woman, to whom the future did not pertain. To this is added that he himself set forth the reason of that name; for when he had said:She shall be called woman: Because she was taken from her man and he himself still a virgin. But we will speak also about the man’s name in its own place.

[12] Nemo itaque nomen ad prophetiam interpretetur, quod ex alia significatione deductum est, praesertim cum appareat, ubi de futuro nomen acceperit, illic scilicet, ubi Eva cognominatur, personali iam vocabulo, quia naturale praecesserat. Si enim Evamater viventium est, ecce ex futuro cognominatur, ecce uxor et non virgo praenuntiatur. Hoc erit vocabulum nupturae; ex nupta enim mater.

[12] Therefore let no one interpret the name with reference to prophecy, which has been derived from another signification, especially since it is apparent where she received a name from the future—namely, there where Eve is surnamed, now by a personal appellation, because the natural one had preceded. For if Eve is themother of the living, behold she is surnamed from what is to come, behold a wife and not a virgin is preannounced. This will be the appellation of one about to be married; for from one married comes a mother.

[13] Ita hic quoque ostenditur non de futuro mulierem tunc nominatam, quae postmodum acceptura erat futurae condicionis suae nomen. Responsum satis est ad hanc partem.

[13] Thus here too it is shown that the woman was not then named with reference to the future, she who afterward was going to receive the name of her future condition. A response sufficient to this part has been given.

VI.

[1] Videamus nunc, si et apostolus formam vocabuli istius secundum Genesim observat, sexui deputans illuc, sic mulierem vocans virginem Mariam quemadmodum et Genesis Evam. Scribens enim ad Galatas:Misit, inquit, deus filium suum factum ex muliere, quam utique virginem constat fuisse, licet Hebion resistat.

[1] Let us see now whether the apostle also observes the form of this vocable according to Genesis, deputing it there to the sex, thus calling the virgin Mary woman, just as Genesis does with Eve. For writing to the Galatians:He sent, he says, God his Son his made from a woman, who assuredly is agreed to have been a virgin, although Hebion resists.

[2] Agnosco et angelum Gabrielem ad virginem missum; sed cum benedicit illam, inter mulieres, non inter virgines deputat:Benedicta tu inter mulieres. Sciebat et angelus mulierem etiam virginem dici.

[2] I acknowledge also the angel Gabriel sent to the virgin; but when he blesses her, he reckons her among women, not among virgins:Blessed are you among women. The angel also knew that “woman” is said even of a virgin.

[3] Sed et ad haec duo ingeniose quidam respondisse sibi visus est, quoniam quidem desponsata est Maria, idcirco et ab angelo et ab apostolo mulierem pronuntiatam; 'desponsata enim quodammodo nupta'. Tamen inter quodammodo et verum satis interest, dumtaxat hoc in loco; nam alibi ita sane habendum est.

[3] But even to these two a certain person seemed to himself to have answered ingeniously, since indeed Mary was espoused, therefore she was pronounced a woman both by the angel and by the apostle; 'for espoused is in a certain manner married.' Yet between "in a certain manner" and "in truth" there is sufficient difference, at least in this place; for elsewhere it is indeed to be held so.

[4] Nunc vero non quasi iam nuptam mulierem Mariam pronuntiaverunt, sed quasi nihilominus feminam, etiamsi non sponsam, quasi hoc a primordio dictam; illud enim praeiudicet necesse est, a quo forma descendit.

[4] Now indeed they did not pronounce Mary a woman as if already married, but as nonetheless a female, even if not a betrothed bride, as one called this from the beginning; for that must of necessity prejudge, from which the form descends.

[5] Ceterum quod pertineat ad hoc capitulum, si hic desponsatae adaequatur, ut ideo mulier dicta sit Maria, non qua femina, sed qua maritata, iam ergo Christus non ex virgine natus est, quia ex desponsata, quae virgo esse desierit hoc nomine; quod si ex virgine natus est, licet ex desponsata, tamen integra, agnosce mulierem etiam virginem, etiam integram dici.

[5] But as pertains to this chapter, if here “betrothed” is equated, so that for that reason Mary is called “woman,” not in that she is a female, but in that she is married, then therefore Christ was not born from a virgin, because from a betrothed woman, who has ceased to be a virgin by this name; but if he was born from a virgin—although from one betrothed, yet intact—recognize that “woman” is said also of a virgin, also of one intact.

[6] Hic certe nihil prophetice dictum videri potest, ut futuram mulierem, id est nuptam, apostolus nominarit dicendofactum ex muliere; non enim poterat posteriorem mulierem nominare, de qua Christus nasci non habebat, id est virum passam, sed illam, quae erat praesens, quae erat virgo et mulier vocabatur.

[6] Here certainly nothing can seem to be said prophetically, such that the apostle would have named a future woman, that is, a wedded woman, by sayingmade from a woman; for he could not name a later woman, from whom Christ was not to be born—that is, one who had undergone a man—but the one who was present, who was a virgin and was called “woman.”

VII.

[1] Post vocabuli huius proprietatem secundum primordii formam virginis et ita universo mulierum generi defensam (7.) convertamus ad ipsas iam rationes recensendas, per quas apostolus docet velari feminam oportere, an eadem etiam virginibus competat, ut ex hoc quoque vocabuli communio inter virgines et non virgines constet, dum eaedem velaminis causae in utraque parte deprehenduntur.

[1] After the propriety of this term according to
the primordial form of the virgin, and thus defended for the entire race of women (7.), let us now turn to the very reasons to be reviewed, through which the apostle teaches that a woman ought to be veiled, whether the same also competa<n>t to virgins, so that from this too the communion of the word between virgins and non-virgins may stand established, since the same causes of the veil are discovered on both sides.

[2] Sicaput mulieris vir est, utique et virginis, de qua fit mulier illa quae nupsit, nisi si virgo tertium genus est monstruosum aliquod sui capitis. Si mulieri turpe est radi sive tonderi, utique et virgini. Proinde viderit saeculum, aemulum dei, si ita virgini caesum capillum decori mentitur, quemadmodum et puero permissum.

[2] Ifthe head of the woman is the man, then of course also of the virgin, from whom that woman who has married is made—unless the virgin is a third genus, some monstrous kind with her own head. If it is disgraceful for a woman to be shaved or shorn, then of course for the virgin as well. Accordingly, let the age, the rival of God, see to it, if in this way it feigns that cut hair is an adornment for the virgin, just as it is permitted to a boy
permitted.

Ergo cui aeque non convenit radi sive tonderi, aeque convenit operiri.

Therefore, the one for whom it is equally unfitting to be shaven or shorn, it is equally fitting to be veiled.

[3] Sigloria viri est mulier, quanto magis virgo, quae et sibi gloria est; si mulier ex viro et propter virum, costa illa Adae virgo primum fuit; si mulier potestatem habere super caput debet, vel eo iustius virgo, ad quam pertinet, quod in causa est.

[3] Ifthe glory of the man is the woman, how much more the virgin, who is also a glory to herself; if the woman is from the man and on account of the man, that rib of Adam was at first a virgin; if the woman ought to have authority upon the head, then by so much the more justly the virgin, to whom pertains that which is in question.

[4] Si enimpropter angelos, scilicet quos legimus a deo et caelo excidisse ob concupiscentiam feminarum, quis praesumere potest quales angelos maculata iam corpora et humanae libidinis reliquias desiderasse, ut non ad virgines potius exarserint, quarum flos etiam humanam libidinem excusat?

[4] If, indeed,on account of the angels, namely those whom we read to have fallen from God and from heaven on account of the concupiscence of women, who can presume angels of such a sort as to have desired bodies already maculated and the relics of human libido, so that they did not rather blaze up toward virgins, whose flower even excuses human libido?

[5] Nam et scriptura sic suggerit:Et factum est, inquit, cum coepissent homines plures fieri super terram, et filiae natae sunt eis; conspicati autem, filii dei filias hominum, quod pulchrae essent, acceperunt sibi uxoris ex omnibus quas elegerunt. Hic enim nomen mulierum Graecum uxoris sapit, quia de nuptiis mentio est.

[5] For even Scripture thus suggests:And it came to pass, he says, when men began to be more numerous upon the earth, and daughters were born to them; and, beholding, the sons of God the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, they took for themselves wives from all whom they chose. For here the Greek name for “women” savors of “wife,” because there is mention of nuptials.

[6] Cum ergo filias hominum dicit, manifeste virgines portendit, quae adhuc apud parentes deputarentur — nam nuptae maritorum nuncupantur—, cum potuerit dixisse uxores hominum; aeque non adulteros nominans angelos, sed maritos, dum innuptas sumunt filias hominum, quas natas supra dixit, sic quoque virgines significavit, supra natas, at hic angelis nuptas. Aliud eas nescio quam natas et dehinc nuptas.

[6] Therefore, when he says daughters of men, he manifestly portends virgins, who were still accounted as being with their parents — for married women are called by their husbands —, since he could have said wives of men; likewise he names the angels not adulterers, but husbands, while they take the unwed daughters of men, whom he said above to have been born: thus also he signified them as virgins, above as born, but here as wedded to angels. Otherwise, that they were I-know-not-how born and thereafter married is another matter.

[7] Debet ergo adumbrari facies tam periculosa, quae usque ad caelum scandala iaculata est, ut cum deo assistens, cui rea est angelorum exterminatorum, ceteris quoque angelis erubescat et malam illam aliquando libertatem capitis sui comprimat, iam nec hominum oculis offerendam.

[7] Therefore a face so perilous ought to be veiled, which has hurled scandals even up to heaven, so that, standing with God—before whom she is a defendant on account of the banished angels—she may blush before the other angels as well and at length restrain that evil liberty of her head, no longer to be offered to the eyes of men.

[8] Sed etsi contaminatas iam feminas angeli illi appetissent, tanto magis propter angelos virgines velari debuissent, quanto magis propter virgines angeli deliquisse potuissent.

[8] But even if those angels had desired women already contaminated, all the more, on account of the angels, the virgins ought to have been veiled, inasmuch as all the more, on account of the virgins, the angels could have been delinquent.

[9] Si autem et naturae praeiudicium adicit apostolus, quod honor sit mulieris redundantia capillorum, quia coma pro operimento est, utique hoc maxime virgini insigne est, quarum et ornatus ipse proprie sic est, ut concumulata in verticem ipsam capitis arcem ambitu crinium contegat.

[9] But if the apostle also adds the precedent of nature, that the abundance of hair is the woman’s honor, since the hair is for a covering, assuredly this is most of all a badge of the virgin, of whom even the adornment itself is properly thus, that, heaped up upon the crown, it may cover the very citadel of the head with the circuit of the hairs.

VIII.

[1] Horum certe omnium contraria efficiunt, ne vir caput velet, scilicet quia non sit naturaliter consecutus ambitionem capillorum, quia radi sive tonderi non sit turpe illi, quia non propter illum angeli exorbitarint, quiagloria et imago dei sit, quia caput eius Christus.

[1] Certainly the contraries of all these effect that a man should not veil his head, namely because he has not naturally attained the luxuriance of hair, because to be shaved or to be shorn is not shameful to him, because not on his account did the angels go out of orbit, because he is theglory and image of God, because his head is Christ.

[2] Itaque cum de viro et muliere apostolus tractet, cur illam oporteat velari, illum vero non, apparet, cur et virginis silentium fecerit, eadem ratione scilicet virginem in mulierem intelligendam sinens, qua et puerum ut in viro deputandum non nominavit, totum ordinem utriusque sexus propriis vocabulis complexus, mulieris et viri.

[2] And so when the apostle treats of the man and the woman—why she ought to be veiled, but he not—it becomes apparent why he also made silence about the virgin, namely by the same rationale, allowing the virgin to be understood under woman, by which likewise he did not name the boy as one to be reckoned under man, having encompassed the whole order of either sex with their proper vocables, of woman and of man.

[3] Sic etiam Adam, adhuc integer, vir in Genesi est cognominatus:Vocabitur, inquit, mulier, quia ex viro suo sumpta est. Sic vir Adam ante nuptiarum congressum, quemadmodum et Eva mulier.

[3] Thus also Adam, still in his integrity, is cognominated man in Genesis:She shall be called, he says, woman, because she has been taken from her man. Thus Adam is man before the congress of nuptials, just as likewise Eve is woman.

[4] De utraque parte satis ad universam speciem cuiusque sexus apostolus pronuntiavit et breviter et plene tam instructa definitione:Omnis, inquit, mulier. Quid est omnis, nisi omnis generis, omnis ordinis, omnis condicionis, omnis dignitatis, omnis aetatis? siquidem omne totum est et integrum et nulla sui parte defectum.

[4] On both sides the apostle has pronounced sufficiently to the universal species of each sex, both briefly and fully, with so well-instructed a definition:Omnis, he says, mulier. What is “every,” if not of every kind, every order, every condition, every dignity, every age? since the whole is total and integral and defective in no part of itself.

Pars autem mulieris et virgo est.

But the virgin also is a part of woman.

[5] Aeque et de viro non velando omnis inquit. Ecce duo diversa nomina, vir et mulier, omnis uterque; duae leges obnoxiae invicem, hinc velandi, inde nudandi.

[5] Likewise also about the man not being veiled
velando every he says. Behold two different names, man and woman, each “every”; two laws subject reciprocally, on the one hand for veiling, on the other for unveiling.

[6] Igitur si eo, quod dictum sitomnis vir, commune est nomen viri etiam nondum viri, masculi investis, commune autem cum sit nomen secundum naturam, communis est et lex non velandi eius, qui inter viros virgo est, secundum disciplinam, cur non praeiudicatum sit proinde et mulierem virginem omnem muliere nominata contineri consortio nominis, ut contineatur et communione legis?

[6] Therefore, if by the fact that it is saidevery man, the name of man is common even to one not yet a man, a male not yet invested, and since the name is common according to nature, the law also is common—of not veiling him who among men is a virgin—according to discipline, why should it not be pre-judged likewise that every virgin woman is contained under “woman,” by consortium of the name, so that she be contained also by communion of the law?

[7] Si virgo mulier non est, nec vir investis est; si non operitur virgo, quia mulier non sit, operiatur investis, quia vir non sit; eiusdem virginitatis aequa sit venia; sicut virgines non coguntur velari, ita pueri non iubeantur revelari. Cur ex parte definitionem apostoli agnoscimus absolutam circa omnem virum nec detractamus, quare non et puerum nominavit, ex parte autem praevaricamur, aeque absoluta ea circa omnem mulierem?

[7] If a virgin is not a woman, neither is an un-vested male a man; if the virgin is not covered, because she is not a woman, let the un-vested male be covered, because he is not a man; let there be an equal indulgence of the same virginity; just as virgins are not compelled to be veiled, so let boys not be ordered to be unveiled. Why do we, on the one hand, acknowledge the Apostle’s definition as absolute with respect to every man and not carp at why he did not also name the boy, but, on the other hand, prevaricate with respect to that [definition] equally absolute concerning every woman?

[8]Si quis, inquit, contentiosus est, nos talem consuetudinem non habemus neque ecclesia dei: ostendit contentionem aliquam de ista specie fuisse, ad quam extinguendam toto compendio usus est, neque virginem nominans, ut ostenderet dubitandum de velanda non esse, et omnem nominans mulierem, cum nominasset virginem. Sic et ipsi Corinthii intellexerunt; hodie denique virgines suas Corinthii velant: quid docuerint apostoli, qui didicerunt approbant.

[8]If anyone, he says, is contentious, we do not have such a custom, nor the church of God: he shows there had been some contention about this species, to extinguish which he used an entire short-cut, neither naming the virgin, so as to show there is not to be doubting about her being veiled, and naming every woman, as though he had named the virgin. Thus even the Corinthians themselves understood; indeed today the Corinthians veil their virgins: what the apostles taught, those who have learned approve.

IX.

[1] Videamus nunc, an, sicut naturae et causae argumenta virgini quoque competere monstravimus, ita etiam disciplinae ecclesiasticae praescripta de muliere in virginem spectent.

[1] Let us now see whether, just as we have shown the arguments of nature and cause to be fitting to the virgin as well, so also the prescripts of ecclesiastical discipline concerning the woman have regard to the virgin.

[2] Non permittitur mulieri in ecclesia loqui, sed nec docere nec tinguere nec offerre nec ullius virilis muneris, nedum sacerdotalis officii sortem sibi vindicarent. Quaeramus, an aliquid horum virgini liceat.

[2] It is not permitted for a woman to speak in church, nor to teach nor to baptize nor to offer, nor to claim for herself any share of any virile function, much less of a sacerdotal office. Let us inquire whether any of these is licit for a virgin.

[3] Si virgini licet, sed in omnibus eadem condicione subicitur et necessitas humilitatis cum muliere censetur, unde illi unum hoc licebit, quod omni feminae non licet? Quid praerogativae meretur adversus condicionem suam?

[3] If it is not permitted to the virgin, but in all things she is subjected under the same condition, and the necessity of humility is assessed together with the woman, whence will this one thing be permitted to her, which is not permitted to every woman? What prerogative does she merit against her condition?

[4] Si qua virgo est et carnem suam sanctificare proposuit, idcirco velaminis venia fit illi, ut in ecclesiam notabilis et insignis introeat, ut honorem sanctitatis in libertate capitis ostendat? Potuit dignius honorari aliqua praerogativa virilis aut gradus aut officii.

[4] If there is any virgin and she has purposed to sanctify her flesh, is there on that account a dispensation from the veil granted to her, that she may enter the church notable and distinguished, that she may display the honor of sanctity in the liberty of the head? She could be more worthily honored by some prerogative manhood’s, or of rank, or of office.

[5] Plane scio alicubi virginem in viduatu ab annis nondum viginti collocatam. Cui si quid refrigerii debuerat episcopus, aliter utique salvo respectu disciplinae praestare potuisset, ne tale nunc miraculum, ne dixerim monstrum, in ecclesia denotaretur, virgo vidua, hoc quidem portentuosior, quod nec qua vidua caput texit, utrumque se negans, et virginem, quae vidua deputetur, et viduam, quae virgo dicatur.

[5] I plainly know that somewhere a virgin was placed in widowhood, at not yet twenty years of age. If the bishop had owed her any refreshment, he could surely have furnished it otherwise, with the respect of discipline preserved, lest such a miracle, not to say a monster, be denoted in the church, a virgin widow, in this respect indeed the more portentous, because she did not, as a widow, cover her head, denying herself to be both, both a virgin who is reckoned a widow, and a widow who is called a virgin. a name="9_6">

[6] Sed ea auctoritate illic sedet intecta qua et virgo; ad quam sedem praeter annos sexaginta non tantum univirae, id est nuptae, aliquando eliguntur, sed et matres et quidem educatrices filiorum, scilicet ut experimentis omnium affectuum structae et facile norint ceteras et consilio et solacio iuvare et ut nihilominus ea decucurrerint, per quae femina probari potest. Adeo nihil virgini ad honorem de loco permissum est,X.

[6] But by that authority she sits there unveiled with which the virgin also [sits]; to which seat, past sixty years of age, not only univirae, that is, married women, are sometimes elected, but also mothers, indeed educatrices of sons, namely so that, furnished with the experiences of all affections, they may readily know how to aid the others with both counsel and solace, and so that they likewise may have run through those things by which a woman can be proved. To such a degree nothing has been permitted to the virgin for honor from rank of place,10.

[1] sic nec de aliquibus insignibus.

[1] thus, neither with respect to any insignia.

Ceterum satis inhumanum, si feminae quidem per omnia viris subditae honorigeram notam virginitatis suae praeferant, qua suspiciantur et circumspiciantur et magnificentur a fratribus, viri autem tot virgines, tot spadones voluntarii caeco bono suo incedant, nihil gestantes, quod et ipsos faceret illustres.

Moreover, it is quite inhuman, if women, indeed in all things subjected to men, should bear before them the honor‑bearing mark of their virginity, by which they are looked up to and looked around upon and are magnified by the brethren, whereas the men—so many virgins, so many voluntary eunuchs—should go about with their good blind, bearing nothing which would make them illustrious as well.

[2] Debebunt etiam et ipsi aliqua sibi insignia defendere, aut pennas Garamantum aut stropulos barbarorum aut cicadas Atheniensium aut cirros Germanorum aut stigmata Britonum; aut ex diverso fiat: capite velati in ecclesia lateant.

[2] They too will owe, even they themselves, to defend for themselves some insignia to defend, either the feathers of the Garamantes, or the little fillets of the barbarians, or the cicadas of the Athenians, or the curls of the Germans, or the stigmata of the Britons; or let it be done conversely: with the head vetled, let them lurk in the church.

[3] Certi sumus spiritum sanctum magis masculis tale aliquid subscribere potuisse, si feminis subscripsisset, cum praeter sexus auctoritatem etiam ipsius continentiae nomine masculos potius honorari oportuisset, quorum quanto sexus avidior et calidior in feminas, tanto continentia maioris ardoris laboratior ideoque dignior omni ostentatione, si ostentatio virginitatis est dignitas.

[3] We are certain that the Holy Spirit could have more subscribed something of this sort to males, if he had subscribed it to females, since, apart from the authority of the sex, even by the very name of continence, males ought rather to be honored; and the more their sex is more avid and hotter toward females, by so much their continence labors with greater ardor, and is therefore more worthy of every ostentation, if the ostentation of virginity is a dignity.

[4] Non enim et continentia virginitati antistat sive viduorum sive qui ex consensu contumeliam communem iam recusaverunt? Nam virginitas gratia constat, at continentia vero virtute; non concupiscendi, cui concupiscendo inoleveris, grande certamen est; cuius autem concupiscendi ignoraveris fructum, facile non concupisces, adversarium non habens, concupiscentiam fructus.

[4] For does not continence also stand above virginity—whether that of the widowed, or of those who by consensus have now refused the common contumely? For virginity consists by grace, but continence indeed by virtue; not to desire what, by desiring, you have grown habituated to is a great contest; but that, the fruit of whose desiring you have not known, you will easily not desire, having no adversary—the concupiscence of the fruit.

[5] Quomodo ergo non magis viris aliquid tale deus in honorem subscripsisset vel quia familiariori scilicet imagini suae vel quia plus laboranti? Si autem nihil masculo, multo magis feminae.

[5] How, then, would God not rather have underwritten something of this sort in honor to men, either because, namely, to his more familiar image, or because to the one laboring more? If, however, nothing to the male, much more to the female.

XI.

11.

[1] Sed quod supra intermisimus ex parte subsecutae disputationis, ne cohaerentiam eius dispergeremus, nunc responso expungemus. Ubi enim gradum fiximus de apostoli absoluta definitione, omnem mulierem etiam omnis aetatis intelligendam, responderi ex diverso habebat, ergo a nativitate et a primo nomine aetatis virginem operiri oportere.

[1] But what above we interrupted, in part on account of the subsequent disputation, lest we scatter its coherence, we will now settle with a response. For where we fixed our step on the apostle’s absolute definition—that every woman, even to be understood as of every age—, it had to be answered conversely, that therefore from birth and from the first appellation of age a virgin ought to be veiled.

[2] Non ita est autem, sed ex quo intelligere se coeperit et sensum naturae suae intrare et de virginis exire et pati novum illud, quod alterius aetatis est.

[2] It is not so, however, but from the time when she has begun to understand herself and to enter into the sense of her own nature, and to go forth from virginity, and to undergo that new thing which is of another age.

[3] Nam et principis generis Adam et Eva quamdiu intellectu carebant, nudi agebant; at ubi de arbore agnitionis gustaverunt, nihil primum senserunt quam erubescendum; ita sui quique sexus intellectum tegmine notaverunt.

[3] For even Adam and Eve, the first of the race, so long as they lacked intellect, lived naked; but when they tasted of the tree of recognition, they felt nothing first except blushing; thus each of their own sex marked their understanding with a covering.

[4] Sed etsipropter angelos velanda est, sine dubio ab ea aetate lex velaminis operabitur, a qua potuerunt filiae hominum concupiscentiam sui adducere et nuptias pati; ex illo enim virgo desinit, ex quo potest non esse.

[4] But even ifon account of the angels she must be veiled, without doubt from that age the law of the veil will operate, from which the daughters of men were able to draw to themselves concupiscence and to undergo nuptials; for from that point a virgin ceases, from which she can not be.

[5] Et ideo penes Israelem illicitum est ad virum tradere nisi post contestatam sanguine maturitatem; ita ante hunc indicem acerba res est. Igitur si tamdiu virgo, quamdiu acerba est, desinit virginem, cum matura cognoscitur, et ut non virgo iam legi applicatur sicut et nuptiis.

[5] And therefore among Israel it is illicit to hand over to a man unless after maturity attested by blood; thus before this indicator the matter is unripe. Accordingly, if she is a virgin so long as she is unripe, she ceases to be a virgin, when, mature, she is known, and as not a virgin she is now applied to the law just as also in nuptials.

[6] Et desponsatae quidem habent exemplum Rebeccae, quae, cum ad sponsum ignotum adhuc ignota perduceretur, simul ipsum cognovit esse, quem de longinquoprospexerat, non sustinuit dexterae colluctationem nec osculi congressionem nec salutationis communicationem, sed confessa quod senserat, id est spiritu nuptam, negavit virginem velata ibidem. O mulierem iam de Christi disciplina! ostendit enim etiam nuptias de aspectu et animo fieri quemadmodum stuprum.

[6] And the betrothed indeed have the example of Rebecca, who, when she was being led to a bridegroom unknown while she herself was still unknown, as soon as she recognized him to be the one whom from afar she hadprospected, did not endure the grappling of the right hand nor the meeting of a kiss nor the interchange of a salutation, but, confessing what she had felt—that is, a bride in spirit—declared herself not a virgin, veiled there on the spot. O woman already of Christ’s discipline! for she showed that even marriages are made from look and mind, just as fornication.

[7] Nisi quod etiam Rebeccam quidam adhuc velant, de ceteris vero, id est quae desponsatae non sunt, viderit aut parentum procrastinatio ex angustiis vel scrupulositate descendens, viderit et ipsum continentiae votum: nihil pertinet ad aetatem sua spatia currentem suaque debita maturitati luentem; alia in occulto mater, natura, et alius in latenti pater, tempus, filiam suam legibus suis maritarunt.

[7] Except that some even still veil Rebecca, but as for the rest—that is, those who are not betrothed—let either the procrastination of parents, descending from constraints or scrupulosity, see to it, and let the very vow of continence see to it as well: it has nothing to do with age, running its own spans and paying its dues to maturity; another mother in secret, Nature, and another father in hiding, Time, have married their daughter by their own laws.

[8] Aspice nuptam iam in illam tuam virginem, et animam expectatione[m] et carnem transfiguratione[m], cui tu secundum paras maritum: iam et vox obsolefacta est et membra completa sunt et pudor ubique vestitur et menses tributa defendunt, ac tu mulierem negas, quam muliebria pati dicis?

[8] Look upon a bride already in that your virgin, both the soul by expectation and the flesh by transfiguration, for whom you are preparing, as a second, a husband: already even the voice is outworn, and the limbs are complete, and modesty is clothed everywhere, and the menses, as tributes, defend her; and do you deny a woman, she whom you say undergoes womanly things?

[9] Si congressio viri mulierem facit, non tegantur nisi post ipsam nuptiarum passionem — atquin etiam apud ethnicos velatae ad virum ducuntur —; si autem ad desponsationem velantur, quia et corpore et spiritu masculo mixtae sunt per osculum et dexteras, per quae primum resignarunt pudorem spiritu, per commune conscientiae pignus, quo totam condixerunt confusionem, quanto magis tempus illas velabit, sine quo sponsari non possunt et quo urgente sine sponsalibus virgines desinunt esse!

[9] If the congress with a man makes a woman, let them not be veiled except after the very consummation of nuptials — and yet even among the pagans they are led to the husband veiled —; but if they are veiled for desponsation, because both in body and in spirit they have been mingled with the male through a kiss and the right hands, through which they first unsealed modesty in spirit, through the common pledge of conscience, by which they have covenanted the whole commingling, how much more will Time veil them, without which they cannot be espoused, and at whose urgency, even without betrothals, virgins cease to be!

[10] Tempus etiam ethnici observant, ut ex lege naturae iura sua aetatibus reddant; nam feminas quidem a duodecim annis, masculum vero a duobus amplius ad negotia mittunt, pubertatem in annis, non sponsalibus aut nuptiis decernentes; mater familiae vocatur, licet virgo, et pater familiae, licet investis. A nobis nec naturalia observantur, quasi alius sit deus naturae quam noster.

[10] The ethnics also observe time, so that by the law of nature they render their proper rights according to ages; for they send females indeed from twelve years, but the male from two more, to business, determining puberty by years, not by betrothals or nuptials; she is called “mother of the family,” though a virgin, and “father of the family,” though un-gowned. By us not even the things of nature are observed, as if there were another god of nature than ours.

XII.

12.

[1] Agnosce et mulierem, agnosce et nuptam de testimoniis et corporis et spiritus, quae patitur et in conscientia et in carne; haec sunt tabellae priores naturalium sponsalium et nuptiarum. Impone velamen extrinsecus habenti tegumen intrinsecus; tegantur etiam superiora, cuius inferiora nuda non sunt.

[1] Recognize also the woman, recognize also the married woman, from the testimonies both of body and of spirit, who suffers both in conscience and in flesh; these are the earlier tablets of natural sponsals and nuptials. Impose a veil from the outside upon her who has a covering on the inside; let the upper parts also be covered, she whose lower parts are not naked.

[2] Vis scire, quae sit aetatis auctoritas? Propone utramque, immature compressam in habitu mulieris et quae maturitate progressa in virginitate duret cum suo habitu: facilius illa mulier negabitur, quam ista virgo credetur; tanta est adeo fides aetatis, ut nec habitu obstrui possit.

[2] Do you wish to know what the authority of age is? Set both before you: the one prematurely pressed into the habit of a woman, and the one who, maturity advanced, endures in virginity with her own habit: more easily will that “woman” be denied than this virgin be believed; so great indeed is the faith of age, that it cannot be obstructed even by habit.

[3] Quid, quod etiam haec nostrae etiam habitu mutationem aetatis confitentur, simulque se mulieres intellexerunt, de virginibus educantur? a capite quidem ipso deponentes quod fuerunt vertunt capillum et acu lasciviore comam sibi inserunt, crinibus a fronte divisis apertam professae mulieritatem;

[3] What then, that these our women even by their habit confess the mutation of age, and, as soon as they have understood themselves to be women, are led out from among the virgins? from the very head itself, indeed, putting off what they had been, they change the hair, and with a more lascivious pin they insert/arrange the tresses for themselves, the hairs parted from the forehead, having professed open womanhood;

[4] iam et consilium formae a speculo petunt et faciem morosiorem lavacro macerant, forsitan et aliquo eam medicamine interpolent, pallium extrinsecus iactant, calceum stipant multiformem, plus instrumenti ad balneas deferunt.

[4] now too they seek counsel for their form from the mirror, and they soak their more fastidious face in the bath, perhaps even they touch it up with some medicament, they flaunt the mantle outwardly, they pad the multiform shoe, they carry more apparatus to the baths.

[5] Quid singula persequar? Solae autem manifestae paraturae totam circumferunt mulieritatem, sed virginari volunt sola capitis nuditate, uno habitu negantes, quod toto suggestu profitentur.

[5] Why should I pursue the particulars one by one? And yet their manifest preparations alone carry about their entire womanhood; but they wish to be virgins by the sole nakedness of the head, with one habit denying what they profess upon the whole stage.

XIII.

13.

[1] Si propter homines habitu abutuntur, impleant illum etiam in hoc, ut et apud ethnicos caput velent; certe in ecclesia virginitatem suam abscondant, quam extra ecclesiam celant. Timent extraneos? revereantur et fratres aut constanter audeant et in vicis virgines videri, sicut audent in ecclesiis; laudabo vigorem, si aliquid et apud ethnicos virginitatis nundinarint.

[1] If on account of men they abuse attire, let them make it full even in this, that among the pagans too they veil the head; at least in the church let them hide their virginity, which outside the church they conceal. Do they fear strangers? Let them revere their brothers as well, or let them consistently dare to be seen as virgins in the vicis, just as they dare in the churches; I will praise the vigor, if they have even peddled something of virginity among the pagans.

[2] Eadem natura foris quae et intus, eadem institutio apud homines et apud dominum eadem libertate constat. Quo ergo foris quidem bonum suum abstrudunt, in ecclesia vero provulgant? Exposco rationem.

[2] The same nature outside as also inside, the same institution both with men and with the Lord stands established in the same liberty consists. Why then do they indeed thrust away their good outside, but in the church rather publish it abroad? I demand a rationale.

Utrumne ut fratribus suis placeant an ut ipsi deo?

Whether to please their brothers or to please God himself?

[3] Si ut ipsi deo, tam idoneus est ad conspicienda, quaeque in occulto fiunt, quam iustus ad remuneranda, quae soli sibi fiunt; denique praecipit, nihil debucinemus eorum, quae apud illum mercedem merebuntur, nec ea ab hominibus compensemus.

[3] If it is to please God himself, he is as apt for beholding the things that are done in secret as he is just for remunerating the things that are done for himself alone; finally, he commands that we trumpet nothing of those things which will merit reward with him, nor take their compensation from men.

[4] Quodsi unius victoriati vel quamcumque elimosinae operationem sinistra conscia facere prohibemur, quantum tenebrarum circumfundere debemus, cum tantam oblationem deo offerimus ipsius corporis et ipsius spiritus nostri, cum illi ipsam naturam consecramus?

[4] But if we are forbidden to do the operation of alms, whether of a single victoriatus or of whatever sort, with the left hand aware, how much darkness ought we to pour around, when we offer to God so great an oblation of our very body and our very spirit, when to him we consecrate our very nature?

[5] Ergo quod non potest videri propter deum fieri, quia sic fieri deus non vult, sequitur, ut hominum gratia fiat, utique primo inlicitum ut gloriae libidinosum; gloria enim inlicitum est eis, quorum probatio in omni humiliatione constat.

[5] Therefore what cannot seem to be done for God—since God does not will it to be done thus—follows to be done for the sake of men, in any case in the first place illicit as lustful for glory; for glory is illicit for those whose probation consists in every humiliation.

[6] Et si a deo confertur continentiae virtus, quid gloriaris, quasi non acceperis? si vero non aceepisti, quid habes, quod datum tibi non est? Hoc ipso autem constat a deo datum tibi non esse, quod illum non soli deo praestas.

[6] And if the virtue of continence is conferred by God, why do you glory, as though you had not received? but if indeed you have not received, what do you have that has not been given to you? By this very fact, however, it is evident that it has not been given to you by God: that you do not render it to God alone.

Videamus ergo, quod humanum est, an firmum sit et verum.

Therefore, let us see whether what is human is firm and true.

XIV.

14.

[1] Referunt aliquando dictum a quodam, cum primum quaestio ista temptata est: 'Et quomodo ceteras sollicitabimus ad huiusmodi opus?' Scilicet felices nos facient, si plures erunt, et non dei gratia vel merita cuiusque. Virgines ecclesiam an ecclesia virgines ornant deo sive commendant?

[1] They report that a saying was once uttered by a certain man, when first this question was attempted: 'And how shall we solicit the rest to a work of this kind?' Surely they will make us happy if there are more of them, and not the grace of God or the merit of each individual. Do virgins adorn the church, or does the church adorn the virgins to God, or commend them?

[2] Confessus est igitur gloriam esse in causa; porro ubi gloria, illic sollicitatio, ubi sollicitatio, illic coactio, ubi coactio, illic necessitas, ubi necessitas, illic infirmitas. Merito itaque dum caput non tegunt, ut sollicitentur gloriae causa, ventres tegere coguntur infirmitatis ruina; aemulatio enim illarum, non religio producit.

[2] He has confessed, therefore, that glory is in the cause; moreover, where glory, there solicitation; where solicitation, there coaction; where coaction, there necessity; where necessity, there infirmity. Deservedly, therefore, while they do not cover the head, in order to be solicited for the sake of glory, they are compelled to cover their bellies by the ruin of infirmity; for emulation of them, not religion, brings them forth.

[3] Aliquando et ipse venter deus earum, quia facile virgines fraternitas suscipit. Nec tantum autem ruunt, sed et funem longum delictorum sibi attrahunt; prolatae enim in medium et publicato bono suo elatae et fratribus omni honore et caritatis operatione cumulatae dum , non latent, ubi quid admissum est, tantum dedecoris cogitantes, quantum honoris habuerunt.

[3] Sometimes even the belly is their god, because readily the brotherhood receives virgins. Nor do they merely rush headlong, but they also draw to themselves a long rope of delicts; for, brought forth into the midst and, their good having been made public, exalted, and heaped up by the brothers with every honor and the operation of charity, while , they do not lie hidden, where something has been committed, thinking of as much disgrace as they have had of honor.

[4] Si intectum caput virginitati adscribitur, si qua virgo exciderit de gratia virginitatis, ne prodatur, intecto permanet capite esse et tunc iam alieno ambulat habitu [id est quem sibi vindicat virginitas; permanet nihilo minus in habitu vel tunc saltem alieno, ne scilicet mutatione prodatur].

[4] If an uncovered head is ascribed to virginity, if any virgin should fall from the grace of virginity, lest she be betrayed, she remains with an uncovered head, and then already she walks in an alien habit [that is, one which virginity vindicates for itself; she remains nonetheless in a habit, or then at least in an alien one, namely, lest she be betrayed by a change].

[5] Et consci[enti]ae mulieritatis iam indubitatae audent nudo capite ad deum adire; sed aemulator deus et dominus, qui dixit:Nihil occultum quod non reveletur, plerasque etiam in conspectum deducit.

[5] And with the conscienc[e] of womanhood now indubitable, they dare to approach God with a bare head; but the jealous God and Lord, who said:Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, even brings most into plain sight.

[6] Non enim confitebuntur nisi ipsorum infantium suorum vagitibus proditae. Quantum autem plures, non etiam de pluribus sceleribus suspectas habebis?

[6] For they will not confess unless betrayed by the wailings of their own infants. But the more of them there are, will you not also have them suspected of more crimes?

[7] Dicam, licet nolim: difficile mulier semel fit, quae timet fieri quaeque iam facta potest virginem mentiri sub deo. Quanta item circa uterum suum audebit, ne etiam mater detegatur? Scit deus, quot iam infantes et perfici et perduci ad partum integros duxerit debellatos aliquamdiu a matribus.

[7] I will say it, though I would not: it is hardly only once that a woman becomes such—she who fears to become so, and who, once made, can lie that she is a virgin under God. How much, likewise, will she dare concerning her womb, lest even a mother be uncovered? God knows how many infants, though for a while warred down by their mothers, he has already caused both to be brought to full term and to be led intact to birth.

[8] Facillime semper eoncipiunt et felicissime pariunt huius modi virgines et quidem simillimos patribus.

[8] Such virgins very easily always conceive and most felicitously give birth, and indeed to children most similar to their fathers.

[9] Haec admittit flagitia coacta et invitata virginitas.

[9] These flagitious acts are admitted by virginity, whether coerced or invited.

[10] Ipsa concupiscentia non latendi non est pudica: patitur aliquid, quod virginis non sit, studium placendi, utique et viris. Quantum velis bona mente conetur, necesse est publicatione sui periclitetur, dum percutitur oculis incertis et multis, dum digitis demonstrantium titillatur, dum nimium amatur, dum inter amplexus et oscula assidua concalescit. Sic frons duratur, sic pudor feritur, sic solvitur, sic discitur aliter iam placere desiderare.

[10] The very concupiscence of not hiding is not chaste: it admits something that is not of a virgin—an eagerness to please, and indeed men. However much she may strive with a good mind, it is inevitable that by the publication of herself she be imperiled, while she is struck by eyes uncertain and many, while she is tickled by the fingers of those pointing, while she is too much loved, while among embraces and assiduous kisses she grows warm. Thus the brow is hardened, thus modesty is smitten, thus it is loosened, thus she learns now to desire to please in another way.

XV.

15.

[1] Sed enim vera et tota et pura virginitas nihil magis timet quam semetipsam. Etiam feminarum oculos pati non vult: alios ipsa oculos habet. Confugit ad velamen capitis quasi ad galeam, quasi ad clipeum, qui bonum suum protegat adversus ictus temptationum, adversus iacula scandalorum, adversus suspiciones et susurros et aemulationem, ipsum quoque livorem.

[1] But indeed true and whole and pure virginity fears nothing more than herself. She does not wish to endure even the eyes of women: she herself has other eyes. She flees to the veil of the head as to a helmet, as to a shield, which may protect her good against the blows of temptations, against the javelins of scandals, against suspicions and whispers and emulation, even the very envy.

[2] Nam est aliquid, etiam apud ethnicos metuendum, quod fascinum vocant, infeliciorem laudis et gloriae enormioris eventum. Hoc nos interdum diabolo interpretamur, ipsius enim est boni odium, interdum deo deputamus, illius est enim superbiae iudicium, extollentis humiles et deprimentis elatos.

[2] For there is something, even among the pagans, to be feared, which they call the fascinum, a more unfortunate outcome of praise and of enormous glory. This we sometimes interpret as the devil, for hatred of the good is his; sometimes we assign it to God, for it is his judgment upon pride, of the One exalting the humble and casting down the exalted.

[3] Timebit itaque virgo sanctior vel in nomine fascini hinc adversarium, inde deum, illius lividum ingenium, huius censorium lumen, et gaudebit sibi soli et deo nota. Sed et si cui innotuerit, sapit, si temptationibus gradum ob(s)truxerit.

[3] Therefore the more holy virgin will fear, even in the name of the fascinum, on the one hand the adversary, on the other hand God—the livid, envious nature of that one, the censorial light of this one—and she will rejoice to be known to herself alone and to God. But even if she has become known to someone, she is wise, if she has obstructed the path to temptations.

[4] Quis enim audebit oculis suis premere faciem clausam, faciem non sentientem, faciem, ut dixerim, tristem? Quicumque malus cogitatus ipsa severitate frangetur. Iam se etiam mulierem negat, quae virginem celat.

[4] For who will dare to press with his eyes upon a closed face, a face insensate, a face, as I would say, sad? Any evil cogitation will be broken by the very severity. Already she even denies herself to be a woman, who conceals the virgin.

XVI.

16.

[1] In his consistit defensio nostrae opinionis secundum scripturam, secundum naturam, secundum disciplinam. Scriptura legem condit, natura contestatur, disciplina exigit. Cui ex his consuetudo opinionis prodest vel qui diversae sententiae color?

[1] In these consists the defense of our opinion, according to Scripture, according to nature, according to discipline. Scripture enacts the law, nature bears witness, discipline demands. To which of these does the custom of opinion profit, or what is the color of a diverse opinion?

[2] Dei est scriptura, dei est natura, dei est disciplina; quicquid contrarium est istis, dei non est. Si scriptura incerta est, natura manifesta est et de cuius testimonio scriptura incerta non potest esse; si de natura dubitatur, disciplina quid magis deo ratum sit ostendit.

[2] Scripture is God’s, nature is God’s, discipline is God’s; whatever is contrary to these is not God’s. If scripture is uncertain, nature is manifest, and by whose testimony scripture cannot be uncertain; if there is doubt about nature, discipline shows what is more ratified by God.

[3] Nihil est illi carius humilitate, nihil acceptius modestia, nihil operosius gloria et studio hominibus placendi. Illud itaque sit tibi et scriptura et natura et disciplina, quod ratum deo inveneris, sicut iuberis omnia examinare et meliora quaeque sectari.

[3] Nothing is dearer to Him than humility, nothing more acceptable than modesty, nothing more toilsome than glory and the zeal of pleasing men. Therefore let that be for you both Scripture and Nature and Discipline—whatever you have found ratified with God—as you are commanded to examine all things and to pursue each of the better things.

[4] Superest etiam, ut ad ipsas convertamur, quo libentius ista suscipiant. Oro te, sive mater sive soror sive filia virgo, secundum annorum nomina dixerim, vela caput, si mater, propter filios, si soror, propter fratres, si filia, propter patres: omnes in te aetates periclitantur.

[4] It remains also that we turn to the women themselves, in order that they may more willingly undertake these things. I entreat you, whether I should say mother or sister or virgin daughter, according to the names of years, veil your head—if a mother, on account of sons; if a sister, on account of brothers; if a daughter, on account of fathers: all ages are imperiled in you.

[5] Indue armaturam pudoris, circumduc vallum verecundiae, murum sexui tuo strue, qui nec tuos emittat oculos nec admittat alienos. Adimple habitum mulieris, ut statum virginis serves. Mentire aliquid ex his, quae intus sunt, ut soli deo exhibeas veritatem;

[5] Put on the armature of modesty, draw around a rampart of verecundity, build a wall for your sex, which may neither emit your eyes nor admit those of others. Fulfill the habit of a woman, that you may preserve the status of a virgin. Dissimulate something of the things that are within, so that you may exhibit the truth to God alone;

[6] Quamquam non mentiris nuptam; nupsisti enim Christo, illi tradidisti carnem tuam, illi sponsasti maturitatem tuam. Incede secundum sponsi tui voluntatem: Christus est, qui et alienas sponsas et maritatas velari iubet, utique multo magis suas.

[6] Although you do not lie in calling yourself married; you have indeed been wed to Christ, to him you handed over your flesh, to him you betrothed your maturity. Walk according to your bridegroom’s will: it is Christ who commands even others’ brides and married women to be veiled, assuredly much more his own.

XVII.

17.

[1] Sed et vos admonemus, alterius pudicitiae mulieres, quae nuptias incidistis, ne sic a disciplina velaminis exsolescatis, ne quidem in momento horae, ut, quia reicere illam non potestis, alio modo destruatis neque tectae neque nudae incedentes.

[1] But we also admonish you, women of another modesty, who have fallen into nuptials, not thus to unlearn from the discipline of the veil not even for the moment of an hour, lest, because you cannot reject it, you destroy it in another way, proceeding neither covered nor naked.

[2] Mitris enim et lanis quaedam non velant caput, sed conligant, a fronte quidem protectae, qua proprie autem caput est, renudae; aliae modice linteolis, credo, ne caput premant, nec ad aures usque demissis cerebro tenus operiuntur, Misereo, si tam infirmo auditu sunt, ut per tegmen audire non possint.

[2] By miters indeed and woolens some do not veil the head, but bind it up, protected at the forehead indeed, but denuded where properly however the head is; others slightly with little linen cloths, I suppose, lest they press the head, and, even with them let down as far as the ears, they are not covered up to the brain, I pity them, if they are of such feeble hearing that through a covering they cannot hear.

[3] Sciant, quia totum caput mulier est; limites et fines eius eo usque porriguntur, unde incipit vestis; quantum resoluti crines occupare possunt, tanta est velaminis regio, ut cervices quoque ambiantur; ipsae enim sunt, quas subiectas esse oportet, propter quas potestas supra caput haberi debet; velamen iugum illarum est.

[3] Let them know, that the whole head is the woman; the limits and confines of it extend as far as where the garment begins; as much as loosened hair can occupy, so great is the region of the veil, so that the necks also may be encompassed; for they themselves are the ones who ought to be subjected, on account of whom power ought to be held over the head; the veil is their yoke.

[4] Iudicabunt vos Arabiae feminae ethnicae, quae non caput, sed faciem quoque ita totam tegunt, ut uno oculo liberato contentae sint dimidiam frui lucem quam totam faciem prostituere: mavult femina videre quam videri.

[4] The pagan women of Arabia will judge you, who cover not the head, but even the whole face in such a way that, with one eye freed, they are content to enjoy half the light rather than to prostitute the whole face: a woman prefers to see rather than to be seen.

[5] Quas propterea infelicissimas ait Romana quaedam regina, quod adamare magis quam adamari possint, cum sint vel ex alterius felicitatis et quidem frequentioris immunitate felices, quia facilius adamari quam adamare feminae possint.

[5] Whom for that reason a certain Roman queen calls most unlucky, because they can love rather than be loved, though they are even happy by an immunity from the otherfelicity, and indeed the more frequent one, since women can more easily be loved than to love.

[6] Et ethnicae quidem disciplinae meracior et, ut ita dixerim, barbarior modestia; nobis dominus etiam revelationibus velaminis spatia metatus est. Nam cuidam sorori nostrae angelus in somnis cervices, quasi applauderet, verberans: 'Elegantes', inquit, 'cervices et merito nudae! Bonum est, usque ad lumbos a capite veleris, ne et tibi ista cervicum libertas non prosit.' Et utique quod uni dixeris, omnibus dixeris.

[6] And
indeed of the pagan discipline a purer and, so to speak, more barbarous modesty; for us
the Lord has even by revelations measured out the spaces of the veil. For to a certain sister of ours an angel in a dream, beating her neck as if
applauding, said: 'Elegant necks, and deservedly bare! It is good that you be unveiled from the head down to the loins, lest this freedom of the necks be unprofitable to you as well.' And surely what
you have said to one, you have said to all.

[7] Quantam autem castigationem merebuntur etiam illae, quae inter psalmos vel in quacumque dei mentione retectae perseverant meritoque etiam in oratione ipsa facillime fimbriam aut villum aut quodlibet filum cerebro superponunt et tectas se opinantur! Tanti caput suum me[n]tiuntur.

[7] But how great a chastisement will those also deserve, who persist uncovered during psalms or at any mention of God, and, deservedly, even in the prayer itself very easily place a fringe or a nap or any thread upon the head and suppose themselves covered! So much do they lie about their own head.

[8] Aliae, quibus plane maior est palma omni fimbria et filo, non minus capite suo abutuntur, ut bestia quaedam magis quam avis, licet pennata, brevi capite, protracta cervice, cetera altegra[n]dia; hanc aiunt, cum delitescendum habet, caput solum plane totum in condensum abstrudere, reliquam se in aperto relinquere; ita dum in capite secura est, nuda, qua maior est, capitur tota cum capite. Tales enim erunt et istae minus quam utile est tectae.

[8] Others, for whom plainly the palm is greater than any fringe and thread, abuse their own head no less, like a certain beast rather than a bird—though feathered—with a short head, an extended neck, the rest lofty and grand; they say that this creature, when it has to hide, thrusts its head alone, the whole of it, into the dense cover, leaving the rest of itself in the open; thus, while it is secure in respect to the head, naked where it is larger, it is captured whole together with the head. For such too will these women be, covered less than is useful.

[9] Oportet ergo tempore omni et omni loco memores legis incedere, paratas et instructas ad omnem dei mentionem, qui si fuerit in pectore, cognoscetur et in capite feminarum. Haec cum bona pace legentibus, utilitatem consuetudini praeponentibus pax et gratia a domino nostro Iesu redundet cum Septimio Tertulliano, cuius hoc opusculum est.

[9] It is proper therefore at every time and in every place to go forth mindful of the law, prepared and instructed for every mention of God; who, if he shall have been in the breast, will be recognized also on the head of women. These things—with good peace to those reading, who prefer utility to custom—may peace and grace from our Lord Jesus overflow, together with Septimius Tertullianus, whose little work this is.