IX. Женское украшение

“Let your adornment, as a wife, be not the outward braiding of your hair, nor gold ornaments or finery in clothing, but the hidden person of the heart in the incorruptible beauty of a meek and quiet spirit, which is of great price in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:3-4). “So that women also adorn themselves in decent apparel, with modesty and chastity, not with braided hair, gold, pearls, or costly clothing, but with good works, as becomes women devoting themselves to godliness” (1 Tim. 2:9-10). A woman, when she excessively adorns herself, becomes more abominable when naked, since she then lays aside humility and decency (Conversation 10 on the Epistle to the Colossians). Golden attire and expensive pearls are the synagogue of Satan (vol. 2, p. 242). When you see a beautiful woman, resplendent in appearance, adorned with noble attire and arousing your heart to lust, immediately turn your eyes to the crown offered from above to those who overcome delusion (Discourse 6 on repentance). A woman is beautiful if she does not have chastity and purity, a painted coffin, an abyss that devours souls, a deadly poison prepared for others (On Psalm 5). A woman, when she adorns herself in order to attract everyone’s attention to herself, prepares poison and poison to give them to drink (Conversation 17 on the Evangelist Matthew). Women who paint their faces with white and rouge to seduce shameless young men greatly harm both themselves and those who look at them (Conversation 20 on the Evangelist Matthew). A woman who paints her face will receive great punishment, because she is transferring the work of God, which is perfect and does not require any correction (Conversation 17 on the Gospel of Matthew). Women's adornment gives rise to envy and jealousy (Conversation 61 on the Evangelist John). The sign of a dishonest wife is to adorn herself in order to please others and receive praise from them, for no honest person will praise an adorned wife, but only lustful and shameless people (Conversation 61 on the Evangelist John). True beauty is not recognized from the face, but from good and honest morals (Conversation 14 about wives and beauty). Discussion on women's jewelry How vain and seductive this charm is is, and there is no need to prove it, for why do wives decorate their faces? There is no other reason to be found, except to appear to people, because they do not decorate for themselves, since they go into their houses and bedrooms without decoration, and the body does not require it, and paints do not give health, unless they are harmful: the above-mentioned reason alone remains. What they do badly is that they go to banquets, marriages, comedies, companies and other gatherings; and worse than that, when they enter a holy church with the same trifle and thus make the church of God a disgrace. Benefit against such decoration First. To remember death, that worms will walk on the face now adorned with masks, and that which is now smeared and fragrant will then stink, and then turn to dust. Second. It will be necessary to give an answer to God for the temptation, and the more they are seduced by this charm, the greater the punishment the seductress will receive. “Woe to that man through whom temptation comes,” says Christ (Matthew 18:7). Third. Look with intelligent eyes at the most pure face of Christ, which for the sake of our iniquities was spat on and struck. See the discussion about the contempt of the world (§ XXVII). You might be interested in: