На целомудрие

It is good to commit to marriage, only chastely, devoting most of it to God, and not to a carnal union. It is better to remain free from bonds, to give everything to God and the higher worlds. God is not conjugated, angels are disembodied; and matter is conjugated and full of corruption. He who enters into marriage cares for his wife and dear children; and virgins have all their care about Christ. If your wife can give you the same as God, then married life is equal to celibate life. And if it cannot, then there is no equality between these types of life. Therefore, do not reproach me, parents, who prefer marriage rather than purity; I do not humiliate marriage, but I choose purity for myself. But others have fallen... Away from me, you who take the weak and not the perfect as an example! The weak are a shame to themselves, but the perfect are our glory. Is it really possible that, fearing hail, one should not cultivate the land and plant vines? Does the sea bring into the harbor everyone who surrenders to it? Why should I take examples from afar? The hosts of angels were not carried away by the fallen Dennitsa. Judas became the murderer of the Master, and the other apostles became His glory. You do not look at the non-participation of your marriage, at the seduction of fornicators, who make both the object of your love and your family alien to you. Go up, and let envy stay below. Maintain purity in everything, virgin, left as the bride of the one Christ, keep the beauty sealed. Christ is merciful, but also jealous, does not tolerate anything ugly, nothing indecent. In clothing, the best decoration is unadornment. Avoid effeminacy, be modest in your movements, do not attract my gaze to you with your gaze; observe chastity in your walk; spend time in solitude; close your ears with a key; do not allow laughter to commit fornication; quite a lot, if you allow yourself a sign of laughter. Anger, drunkenness and demons are equally dangerous for virgins; and worst of all is the satiety of the belly. Let beauty give way to prayers and vigils. And don’t allow your brother to live with you unless absolutely necessary. Why have before your eyes what inflames the disease? Nothing is so vile as remembering only the carnal. Only your father and God are reliable for you, young one; and let the rest flee from you, as the beasts once did from Sinai, when the Law was inscribed on the tablets. What was brought as a gift to God and the virgin should be inviolable not only to the defiled, but also to the gaze of all. And don’t let your bodily needs completely enslave you. If you need anything, God will pour it out from the “vessel”, and the “water carrier” will replace your cultivated field (1 Kings 17:12). A large crowd is satisfied with five loaves; how much more will you, who stand before God, be satisfied. Therefore, having a most pure Bridegroom, whose beauty is incorporeal, do not mate with another. He will not be your husband, but an adulterer, snatching the beloved from the living Spouse. Is it possible that, having dedicated a vessel to God, you will appropriate it for yourself? Will you really, having escaped the fire of Sodom, return to it again? Don't harden into a salty stone. You are more than a widow. But a widow’s marriage is not innocent if it exceeds the limits of purity. What is less important than a golden tongue and one didrachm? But they, being kidnapped, destroyed the army (Joshua 7:21). Look at this, virgin, and obey God. 2. Every virtue elevates the righteous to one degree higher. He who does not know the marriage bed is equal to the angels. Whoever strives in abstinence tries to compare with the virgins. He who observes marital fidelity will become equal to the abstinent. Only strive in chastity in order to achieve the highest degrees. You might be interested in: