Девство

If through dispassion we again restore the image of God in ourselves, and likeness to God grants us unceasing life, then, neglecting everything else, let us use our care to ensure that our soul is never possessed by any passion, and our thought in the battles of temptation remains unyielding and unshakable, and that through this we become partakers of God’s bliss. But virginity serves as an accomplice in such care - for those who intelligently flow to this talent. For the gift of virginity does not consist in abstinence from childbearing alone, but the whole life, way of life, and character must be virginal, showing incorruption in every celibate activity. You can commit adultery with your words, commit adultery with your eyes, defile your ears, accept uncleanness in your heart, and transgress the limits of chastity by immoderation in food and drink. And whoever, through abstinence in all this, observes himself under the law of virginity, really shows in himself the perfect and successful grace of virginity in everything (5). You might be interested in: