About women's jewelry

Tertullian's work “On Women's Jewelry” (13 chapters, 202) is the second book of the treatise of the same name. This book is not a continuation of the first, but a new treatment of the topic, borrowing some thoughts from the first. Here Tertullian takes up arms against artificial means of beauty: hair dyeing, rouge, etc. A Christian woman should be decorated with purity of feelings and good behavior, fear of God and especially chastity. *The title of the work in Latin is De cultu feminarum. Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Famous servants of the living God, my dearest sisters in Christ! Allow me, as your brother, although I consider myself unworthy of this praiseworthy name, to present to you this brief teaching, moved not by a sense of vanity, but only by the impulse of love for the cause of your salvation; This matter, which we all must care about equally, consists most importantly of irreproachable proof of your purity. Just as we all constitute the church of God through the sanctification of us by the Holy Spirit at baptism, this purity must be, so to speak, the gatekeeper and guardian of this church, so that nothing unclean, nothing worldly, enters into it, and so that the Lord, who dwells in it, seeing His dwelling defiled, does not withdraw from it with indignation. But now I do not intend to show you the need for cleanliness: the divine commandments are quite positive in this regard. I will limit myself only to explaining to you one important duty related to this virtue, the duty that you must observe in considering your appearance. Many of you (let me make this reproach to you, although no one is worthy of as many reproaches as I), many of you, under the guise of imaginary ignorance or bold pretense, behave in appearance rather incontinently, as if purity consisted only in avoiding coarse carnal pleasures, and as if appearance, that is, outfits and decorations of the body, meant absolutely nothing. These individuals do not miss anything to maintain their beauty and their imaginary decency, so that there is almost no difference between them and pagan wives, to whom true chastity is unfortunately unknown. I say that these unbelievers do not know true chastity, because whoever does not know the true God, the author and keeper of all truth, cannot follow any other path than the path of error and lies. Indeed, even if it were possible to believe that chastity exists among pagans, then, however, this virtue of theirs is so imperfect and insufficient that, no matter how chaste they are in their souls, the luxury of their clothing reveals in them a tendency towards debauchery. Their vanity is such that if it is impossible to have complete pleasure, then they are happy to take advantage of a part of it. How many of them are there who, pretending that they only want to please their husbands, take special pains to decorate and decorate their bodies in order to attract the eyes of strange men, no matter how much it seems from the outside that they have no bad intentions? Let's say even more. It usually happens with these chaste pagans that if they do not dare to commit a crime, then they have a desire to do so, or if now they do not want, then at least they do not bother to eradicate such a desire in themselves. Should this be surprising? Everything that does not come from God cannot but be immoral. These pagan women, not being able to achieve perfect good, spoil the little good that they possess by mixing evil into it. You, dear sisters, must differ from them in attire as much as you differ from them in everything else, “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5.48). This perfection, I mean Christian purity, should not only take away from you the desire to be loved, but make you hate and reject everything that can kindle dangerous love in others. Firstly, the desire to please through artificial embellishments can only come from a corrupt and depraved heart. It is known what kind of bait these embellishments serve to lure people into forbidden pleasures. Why should you kindle the criminal flame? Why invite such pleasure that your duty dictates that you consider it prohibited? Secondly, we should not at all pave the way for temptations, which already often triumph, constantly attacking us, or, at least, greatly disturbing the peace of the soul. Oh God! save us from this destructive stumbling block. We must have such a modest, sedate, Christian appearance that our conscience cannot reproach us for anything. If we want to always remain in this happy state, we should not rely too much on ourselves; for by relying on our own strengths, we will be less wary and become more courageous. Fear is the basis of salvation: arrogance is the opposite of fear. It is much better not to trust our virtue: distrust will instill fear in us, fear will make us more cautious, caution will put us in a position to avoid danger. On the contrary, if we rely on ourselves: then without fearing anything and not respecting enough dangers, we almost cannot avoid falling. He who walks in safety and is not afraid of anything will never stand on firm footing. But whoever is attentive to everything, fears everything, will acquire peace and self-confidence. God would grant that His servants would be worthy, in any case, of His protection, and could always boast of the mercies poured out from Him! Why should we try to destroy our brothers? Why arouse lust in their hearts with feigned embellishments? If the new Lord's law imposes equal punishment for both desires and dishonorable deeds, do you think that the one who caused death to another will remain unpunished? Know that you are really destroying your brother when, presenting your beauty to his eyes, you give rise to lustful desires in him. He has already done in his soul what he criminally desired, and you become for him, so to speak, a sword that kills him. Here, at least there was no positive misconduct on your part: but no less, you are inexcusable. Similarly, when a murder occurs in a house, the owner of the house, even if he did not participate in the crime, is subject to the severity of justice for negligence. So adorn yourself, if you wish, carefully cleanse your body, so that your brothers, looking at you, perish. But what then will follow with the divine commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22.39)? Alas! If you care little about your own salvation, then at least do not destroy the salvation of others. Do not think that the Holy Spirit spoke in this way only in relation to the performance of certain works of mercy. No! He is talking here about all cases in general where we can be useful to our neighbor. And how indisputable it is that our own spiritual good, as well as the good of others, is endangered when charms, already too dangerous in themselves, carefully multiply: then be sure that your duty is not only to reject all kinds of decorations that inflame our passions, but even to diminish or erase the shine of your natural beauty through some kind of negligence, the source of which would be God. In this way you will stop the dangerous effects usually produced by the eyes. Although, of course, we should not completely condemn beauty, since it constitutes the advantage of the body, and being an adornment of the work of God’s hands, it serves, so to speak, as an honorable curtain of our soul; but the harm that we can cause to those who look at us should arouse in us the same fears that Abraham suffered from the beauty of Sarah (Gen. 12.15, 20.2). This father of believers had to marry his wife to his sister in order to free her from the reproach of the Egyptians and the king of Gerar. However, let beauty not be dangerous for those who use it and not harmful for those living with us, let it not subject anyone to temptation and not give rise to temptation and fall; but is it dissatisfying that she is not needed for the brides of Christ? As soon as someone is Christianly chaste, he has nothing to do with temporary beauty, because, strictly speaking, one cannot expect any other use and fruit from it other than voluptuousness. I don’t find that it is possible to judge her differently. Therefore, we must give up concern about increasing the pleasures that we have, or about acquiring those that we do not have. Let us leave this care to the crazy women who, while busy with their beauty, think that they are working for themselves, while they are working for others. - How! someone will say. Is it possible that whoever preserves his beauty is a criminal even as he maintains chastity? Are we not allowed to use the ornaments of the body and enjoy the pleasure of being well-built? “I submit this circumstance to the judgment of the one who places all his dignity in the advantages of the flesh. We must despise this reckless gain, which constitutes the quality of a vain soul; and vanity is not at all befitting people who consider it the duty of their knowledge to preserve Christian love for mankind. If all glory in general is vain and useless, then what kind of contempt is worthy of that glory that is derived from the weak outfits of the body? The first disciples of Christ! I address my speech to you. If it is permissible to boast about something, then one must boast only about spiritual blessings. The beautiful qualities of the body should not occupy us much, because our duty is to adorn only our soul. We should only rejoice in those things in which we can have direct success. Our glory lies in the merits of good deeds. It is possible for a Christian to boast of his flesh, but of flesh exhausted by repentance and, as it were, hardened by holy deeds, so that the flesh thus exhausted would bring triumph to the mind, and not humiliate it, and would attract the gaze and sighs of some crazy young man. Having been convinced by arguments, dear sisters, that beauty is useless to you, do not worry about it if you do not have it; and if there is, then neglect it with humility. A Christian woman may naturally be well built; but her beauty should not be a subject of temptation. She should not only not attract the eyes of men with various embellishments, but also not be noticed by them. Do you want me to speak to you in a non-Christian way, so to speak, and give you the kind of advice that I could give to pagans? Be sure that you should try to please no one other than your husbands; They can only like you to the extent that you stop caring about being liked by others. Don't be afraid; a wife cannot seem disgusting to her husband. He liked her quite well when the qualities of her body and soul forced him to choose her as his wife. Do not believe that, by despising decorations and adornments, you could incur the hatred or coldness of your husbands. The husband, no matter what he is, demands from his wife, above all else, inviolable chastity. A Christian should not pay attention to beauty, because the advantages that flatter the pagans cannot be highly valued by us. And even non-believers themselves regard beauty as a suspicious and dangerous thing. For whom do you want to adorn your face? The Christian does not demand it, the unbeliever does not trust it. Why bother with outfits that arouse contempt in one and suspicion in another? Are you wasting your time in vain? Everything that I have said so far is not intended to turn you to a way of life that is, so to speak, peasant and disgusting, or to advise you not to maintain neatness in your person. My intention is only to show you to what extent and to what limits your care for your body can extend, so that chastity is not touched. It should not go beyond the bounds of modest decency and decent neatness. You have to start by pleasing God. What offends Him most is the immense tendency of many women to use all kinds of drugs to make their skin white and smooth, to paint their faces and cheeks with rouge, to blacken their eyebrows with soot. It is obvious that they do not like the simple creation of God when they find shortcomings in it. They condemn the wisdom of the supreme Creator of all things; for to correct or remake what God has created means precisely to condemn Him. But who teaches them to do this? None other than the enemy of God, the devil. Indeed, who is able to teach how to disfigure the body, if not the one whose malice has managed to change the mind of a person? Let us stop doubting: he, precisely he, is the inventor of all these criminal tricks, so that in some way we ourselves can wage war against God. What we accept from birth is the creation of God’s hands; and what we add to this comes from none other than Satan. What courage, what audacity to use Satan as an aid to carry out the work of God’s hands! Our slaves do not dare to borrow anything from our enemies. The warriors do not demand anything from the leaders of the opposing side: they consider it a crime to resort to the enemy of their ruler. Should Christians really resort to their worst enemy, that is, to an evil spirit? But what am I saying: to Christians? Can they be called Christians after such infidelity? They should rather be called disciples of the one whose teaching they will follow. From these instructions, know, dear sisters, how unworthy of the name of a Christian and contrary to the religion you profess, to artificially dress yourself up, while you are ordered to observe sacred simplicity in all your behavior; express your face when you are forbidden to express all your feelings; to desire what Providence has not given you, while you are commanded not to desire anything that belongs to another; try to multiply your charms when strict chastity is required of you. Tell me, please, how can you keep what is difficult in the law, when you do not keep what is easy and not at all burdensome in it? Some of you are constantly engaged in anointing your hair to give it a blond color. They seem to be ashamed of their fatherland, and are angry that they were not born in Gaul or Germany. They try to forcibly convey to their hair what nature has endowed these peoples with. This shiny hair is a sad omen: its vain and imaginary beauty leads to ugliness. Indeed, not to mention other inconveniences, is it not true that through the use of these incense hairs are lost insensibly? Isn’t it true that the brain itself weakens from these extraneous moistures and from the immense heat of the sun, in which you want to scorch and dry your head? Is it possible to love embellishments that produce such disastrous consequences? Should that which is composed of such obscene things be called good? A Christian woman makes a kind of altar out of her head, onto which she pours a lot of incense. Isn't this similar to a sacrifice offered to an unclean spirit? Wouldn't it be better to use these substances for pious, useful and necessary use, for which they were created by God? On the other hand, what did Jesus Christ command? “You cannot,” He says, “make a single hair white or black.” (Matthew 5.36). And wives dare to contradict God? Look, they say, how skillfully we make blond hair out of dark blond or black hair, and that makes us more beautiful. But the time will come when they will not miss anything, so that white hair turns back into black, and when old age will tell them that they have enjoyed life for too long. What a time. incongruity! People are ashamed of the age to which they earnestly wished to reach; they complain about the loss that should have long been expected; they sigh about their youth, which they spent criminally; God forbid that such madness should enter the mind of an upright Christian. The more someone tries to hide his old age, the more it reveals itself. If you want to never grow old, then preserve your innocence acquired through baptism. We must try to preserve this imperishable beauty until we move to heaven, where our innocence will receive retribution. Do you think that you are approaching heaven, and that you are anxious to leave this unhappy world as quickly as possible, when you consider the end of your days an unbearable burden and disgrace? How does decorating your head benefit your salvation? Can't you leave your hair alone? You curl them, then develop them; then you raise it, then you lower it; Today you braid them, and tomorrow you leave them to worry carelessly; sometimes you burden them with a lot of other people's hair, making them into either a kind of hat with which you cover your head, or a kind of pyramid so that your neck is open. What a strange thing it is to want to constantly break the commandment of God! “Which of you, by caring,” says the Savior, “can add one cubit to his stature” (Matthew 6.27)? And you definitely want to add something to it, accumulating tufts of hair on your head with a bunch of decorations, with which you burden the crown of your head, like the center of a helmet. If you are not ashamed to bear such a burden, then at least be ashamed of its unworthiness. Do not place on the head, blessed by baptism, the mortal remains of any poor man who has died of debauchery, or of any villain condemned to die on the scaffold. A free head must remove itself from the slavery of all these burdensome decorations. However, you are trying in vain to appear superbly dressed; It is in vain that you use the most skilled craftsmen to tidy your hair: God wants you to be covered. Why? Probably so that no one can see the wives’ heads, for “every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her own head” (1 Cor 11.5). God would grant that on the great day of Christian triumph, I, a poor sinner, would be allowed to raise my head to your proud heights, in order to be a witness whether you will be resurrected with your rouge and whitewash, with your incense and magnificent hair, and whether the Angels will present you to Jesus Christ with these secular outfits and decorations. Do you think that if God does not approve of this luxury here, then perhaps you will find it on the day of the Last Judgment, and your bodies will then shine with the same clothes with which you adorn them in this world? But, unfortunately for you, bodies and souls must be resurrected, stripped of all foreign admixture. Whatever is not resurrected with body and soul must be rejected, because it does not come from God. Reject now what you will have to reject then, so that the Lord will see you now as He will see you on the last day. It is easy for a person, you say, and especially for one who has little condescension towards the female sex, to condemn everything in women that can make them pleasant. - But do I really approve of certain vanities in our field that are not consistent with the importance of religion? Men are obsessed with the same passion to please women as women are to please men. In those others, this vice was instilled by a corrupted nature. Men have their own potions to decorate their person artificially. They love to shave, pluck hair from their beards, curl their hair, tidy up their heads, hide the signs of their old age, hide gray hair, give their bodies the appearance of youth, even blush like women, smooth their skin with a special powder, look constantly in the mirror, despite the fact that it shows them too faithfully. All this is done as if the knowledge of God, who forbids us any desire to please and all impurity, was not enough for us to reject these things, recognizing them as useless and contrary to chastity. It is known that where God is, chastity is present, along with the sacred sedateness that accompanies it. How can purity triumph without these weapons, that is, without modesty and sedateness? But in the same way, how can we use this sedateness in favor of chastity, when our face, clothing and entire composition do not reveal a decent severity of morals? So, in relation to your attire and to your many outfits and embellishments, you must in every possible way cut off, reject and expel this exorbitant luxury that is unnecessary for you. What good is it for you that people will notice on your face the signs of a pious, humble, simple, modest Christian, conforming to the rules of the Gospel, while in all other parts of your appearance you will begin to exhibit vain pomp and indecent effeminacy? It is easy to understand how this luxury is contrary to Christian purity, and what path it leads to the greatest disorder. How is this? Nothing other than disgracing, so to speak, the pleasures of beauty through the bliss of clothing. This is so true that without the help of this luxury, a well-built face is usually considered mediocre, unpleasant, devoid of its charms, a beauty that is, as it were, divorced from grace. On the contrary, when there is a lack of natural beauty, people add it with blush, whitewash and other aids. It is noticeable that even persons who have reached the age of tranquility and entered the haven of modesty are often still amazed by the splendor and splendor of jewelry, and are overwhelmed by strong desires aroused by the splendor of clothing, despite the coldness of their age. Reject, faithful servants of Jesus Christ, courageously reject all these embellishments and outfits, just as you would reject those shameful people who sell virgin purity. If you are obliged to have respect for your race, quality and dignity: then appear with such modest magnificence that would not be reprehensible for the true wisdom instilled in you by the Gospel. At the very least, beware that, under the pretext of necessity, you do not cross the boundaries prescribed by religion. How can we really show humility, which is our direct duty, when we do not reduce the exorbitant use of wealth and decoration, which feeds only vanity, which does not become us? Are we not allowed, you may object, to use our property? – But the Apostle proclaims to you that we should “use this world as if we do not use it; for the image of this world is passing away." There he says that we should be “buyers as if they were not purchasers.” If the Apostle then commands “that those who have wives should be as if they had not” (1 Cor 7.29–31) because of the shortness of time: then why should you think after this about the vain attire that is being discussed here? Therefore, by their very impulse, many persons are obliged to maintain uninterrupted virginity, and in order to acquire the kingdom of God, they deprive themselves of such pleasure that could be allowed to them. Other people abstain from consuming things that God Himself recognizes as necessary, such as meat and wine, the consumption of which cannot cause either danger or remorse: in this case they prefer to subjugate and sacrifice their soul to the Lord through similar mortification of the flesh. Until now, you have enjoyed your wealth and pleasures, you have enjoyed the fruits of your natural qualities. It's time to follow the life-saving rules. We are the beloved people that God created at the end of the ages. He has destined us from eternity to judge sensibly the value of time, so that, having been instructed in this divine teaching, we would sweep away all the excesses of this age. We are spiritually circumcised from all things in spirit and in body, and we must spiritually and physically change the rules of this world. Do you think that God Himself taught people the art of dyeing wool with the juice of famous plants or the oily parts of famous fish? Probably, at the beginning of the world, He forgot to create red or blue sheep, and therefore subsequently discovered the secret of giving different colors to fabrics in order to make their fineness and lightness more valuable. He probably made these golden toys, shining with many precious stones, and pierced the edges of your ears to hang magnificent pearls on them. Did He not fully recognize the need to torment His creation and tire the children, dissatisfied with their lot, to the point that from the slits on the body designated for work, some kind of grains hang, with which the Parthians, a barbarian people, cover their entire body in the form of a necklace? Meanwhile, the same gold that delights you is used by other nations to make chains and fetters; what their historians are talking about. It is clear that these things are valued not because they are good in themselves, but because they are rare. But who discovered them? None other than the rebellious angels or their minions: they initially showed people these earthly works. Then labor and industry, combined with their rarity, made them even more precious from an insane zeal to satisfy the luxury of women. It must be assumed that God will plunge these evil spirits into total darkness, among other things, because they showed people these dangerous substances, such as gold, silver and things made from them, and especially because they taught the art of painting fabrics and the face itself. How can we please God when we love the works of those whom His justice has condemned to eternal punishment? But let us assume that God Himself gave all these things, and that He commanded us to use them. Let us assume that the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 3.16–25) in the name of the Lord did not cry out against women’s scarlet vestments, that he did not denigrate their “golden braids, rings, monist... and wrists,” that he said nothing about their many other vain decorations. Shouldn’t we really be different from the pagans, and have an advantage over them in what is for them? precious? Will you remember that you have no other Lord and mentor than the true God, and that He is jealous when anyone transgresses His divine teaching? Let us be convinced, as it should be, that this divine Builder, from the very beginning of the world, established everything in a wise way, and to test the virtue of his faithful disciples, he arranged metals and minerals so that the freedom given to them to use them could increase their merits as they began to deprive them. Doesn't it sometimes happen that a smart father of a family deliberately exposes some valuable things to test the loyalty of his servants? Are they happy if they show signs of their honesty and self-control? But how much more praiseworthy is that servant who refuses what is given to him, and who even fears the excessive indulgence of his master! This is the opinion of the Apostle: “everything is permissible for me,” he says, “but not everything edifies” (1 Cor 10.23). How many times more will we be afraid of using forbidden things when we learn to be afraid of using things that are permitted? Tell me: what reason do you have for appearing in a magnificent outfit when you are separated from other women who need it for reasons that do not concern us? You do not visit pagan temples, you do not attend their spectacles, you do not attend the festivals of the gods. The usual fruits of lavishing such pomp in clothing consist precisely in being in meetings, in order to see others and to show off oneself, in order to show off vain vanity, in order to put up chastity for sale. But you, faithful servants of the Lord, have other saving incentives to leave your home: you must either visit the sick, or be present at divine services, or come to listen to the word of God. All these are pious, abstinent and modest exercises. For this, neither extraordinary nor magnificent clothes with long tails are needed. If decency, friendship or duty force you to visit pagan ladies: then why not appear to them with your simplicity, especially since you want to follow the path of faith? Through this you will show the essential difference between the servants of the true God and the servants of the devil. You will serve as an edifying example for them. “Glorify God,” says the Apostle, “in your bodies” (1 Cor 6.20). If God is glorified by maintaining cleanliness, then He is also glorified by decent clothing and decent behavior. I am aware of other objections from some women. We are afraid, they say, that the name of God will not be blasphemed when we abandon our previous attire. Guided by this rule, we, therefore, should not abandon previous vices; we, therefore, must maintain the same morals, because we want to maintain the same appearance; and then, probably, the nations will not blaspheme the name of God. It is truly a great blasphemy when anyone says about any of you: this woman has become more modest by becoming a Christian! How! Are you really afraid of being considered poorer by becoming richer, or appearing more careless by becoming more respectable? Should a Christian follow pagan rules or God's rules? We must be careful not to provide the fairest pretext for blasphemy. Could anything really be more seductive than to see Christian wives who, bearing the title of sacred guardians of purity, are publicly dressed and rouged like harlots? What difference then will there be between you and these unfortunate victims of uncleanness? The severity of the laws previously separated them from married women, and forbade them to wear the attire of noble persons; but now the self-will of this age, intensifying every day, equates these scoundrels with the most famous ladies, so that it is no longer possible to distinguish one from the other. The Holy Scripture instructs us that dressing up and painting the face signify the fornication of the body. The Lord, having named “the great harlot who sits on... many... waters,” gives her a robe in keeping with her name: “and the woman,” it is said, “is clothed... in purple and scarlet” (Rev 17.1–4): the robe is truly cursed; without which she would not have been called a vile adulteress. Judah, the son of Jacob, seeing Tamar sitting before the gates of Aenaim, clothed in a veil (Gen. 38.14), despite the fact that her face was under the veil, immediately guessed that she was a harlot: by the quality of the attire he knew what her occupation was. Experience soon showed him that he was not mistaken. All this convinces us that we should try in every possible way not to give with our appearance a reason for drawing a bad conclusion about our virtue. What good will the integrity of the soul, suspected by others, serve? Why give others pretexts for criminally desiring what we ourselves abhor? Why shouldn’t our clothing be evidence of our morals, in order to take away from shamelessness any reason for denigrating the soul? It is allowed to appear chaste, but it is forbidden to appear shameless. Some of you, perhaps, will tell me: I have no need for the approval of people, their testimony bothers me little, God sees my heart, He alone is my judge. - So be it; but let us remember what the Apostle says on this subject: “your meekness... is known... be it to all people” (Phil 4.5). Which end? Is it so that malice cannot find anything objectionable in our behavior, and that your good example serves evil people as a reproach? What is the meaning of these words: “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5.16). Why does Jesus Christ call us the light of the world? Why does he compare us to “a city that cannot hide... on the top of a mountain”? (Matthew 5:14) Is it not so that we enlighten people who are in darkness and rise above people immersed in vices? And in fact, when you put a lamp under a bushel, then everyone will have the right to accuse you of criminal negligence, because you, as it were, extinguish this lamp. We become lamps of the world from our good deeds, but these deeds, when they are truly good, do not like darkness: they must be discovered; and decency requires that others know and see them. Therefore, it is not enough for a Christian to be chaste: he must appear so. This purity, if I dare say, should be so abundant that it flows from the heart onto the dress, and from the inside waters the entire person. She will thus protect the citadel of the interior with reliable fortifications of the exterior, and with greater security will maintain the fidelity due to God. One must completely renounce all bliss that weakens strict virtue. However, I don’t know whether hands that are accustomed to the wrists are able to lift the weight of the shackles. I doubt that the legs, which so often wore silk garters, could bear the pain of tying them with rope. I'm afraid that the head, covered with emeralds and diamonds, will retreat vilely from the sword with which we are constantly threatened. Therefore, faithful servants of Jesus Christ, get used to the most difficult things, and you will not feel them on occasion. Give up pleasures and outfits, and you will never regret them. Always be prepared to endure the harshest blows, and do not have anything that would be difficult for you to part with. All the blessings of this world are nothing more than chains that delay the flight of our hope. Let us reject all these earthly decorations if we want to shine in heaven. Beware of loving the destructive gold, which seals the main crime of the Israelites (Exodus 32.2–6). You must hate what destroyed the Jews, causing them to leave God to worship the work of their hands. However, the time of Christians has always, and especially now, been an iron age, not a golden one. The robes of martyrdom are being prepared for us: the angels seem to already be clothing us in them. Appear before them, distinguished by the beauty and pleasures of the apostles. Let simplicity and chastity be your only decoration. Draw before your eyes the humble modesty that comes from a well-ordered interior. Tie the word of God to your ears, and the yoke of Christ to your neck. Submit to your husbands: this is enough for your adornment. Engage your hands in spinning, and keep your feet in the circle of your houses: this will make your feet more beautiful than an abundance of gold. Be filled with the joy of wisdom, holiness and purity. 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