§16Monentis apostoli uox est: expurgate uetus fermentum, ut sitis noua consparsio, sicut estis azymi: nam et pascha nostrum inmolatus est Christus. itaque festa celebremus non in fermento ueteri neque in fermento malitiae et nequitiae sed in azymis sinceritatis et ueritatis.
There is the voice of the warning apostle: 'Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new dough, just as you are unleavened; for indeed Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed.' Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
num sinceritas perseuerat et ueritas, quando quae sincera sunt polluuntur colorum adulteriis, medicaminum facis in mendacium uera mutantur? Dominus tuus dicit: non potes facere capillum unum album aut nigrum: et tu ad uincendam Domini tui uocem uis te esse potiorem, audaci conatu et sacrilego contemptu crines tuos inficis, malo praesagio futurorum capillos iam tibi flammeos auspicaris et peccas pro nefas capite id est corporis parte meliore! et cum scriptum sit de Domino: caput autem eius et capilli erant albi uelut lana aut nix, tu execraris canitiem, detestaris alborem, qui sit ad Domini caput similis!
Does sincerity and truth remain, when what is pure is polluted by the adulteries of colors, and what is true is changed into a lie by the dregs of cosmetics? Your Lord says: 'You cannot make a single hair white or black.' And yet you, wishing to be stronger to overcome the voice of your Lord, dye your hair with a bold attempt and sacrilegious contempt; with a bad omen of the future, you already portend for yourself fiery hair, and, oh, what a sin, you sin in your head, that is, the better part of your body! And although it is written of the Lord: 'But His head and His hairs were white like wool or snow,' you abhor gray hair, you detest whiteness, which is similar to the Lord’s head!
§17Non metuis, oro, quae talis es, ne cum resurrectionis dies uenerit, artifex tuus te non recognoscat, ad sua praemia et promissa uenientem remoueat et excludat et increpans uigore censoris et iudicis dicat: copus hoc meum non est nec imago haec nostra est.
Do you not fear, I ask, you who are such, lest when the day of resurrection comes, your Creator should not recognize you, and should remove and exclude you as you come to His rewards and promises, and rebuking you with the severity of a censor and judge, should say: 'This body is not mine, nor is this image ours.
cutem falso medicamine polluisti, crinem adultero colore mutasti, expugnata est mendacio facies, figura corrupta est, uultus alienus est.
You have polluted your skin with false cosmetics, you have changed your hair with an adulterous color, your face has been vanquished by a lie, your figure is corrupted, your appearance is that of a stranger.
Deum uidere non poteris, quando oculi tibi non sunt quos Deus fecit sed quos diabolus infecit.
You will not be able to see God, since you do not have the eyes which God made, but those which the devil has stained.
illum tu sectata es, rutilos adque depictos oculos serpentis imitata es, de inimico tuo compta, cum illo pariter arsura. haec, oro, non cogitanda sunt Dei semis, non die semper ac nocte metuenda? uiderint quid sibi nuptae per placendi studium de coniugum solacio blandiantur, quos dum in excusationem suam proferunt, ad societatem criminosae consensionis adsciscunt.
You have followed him; you have imitated the glittering and painted eyes of the serpent; adorned by your enemy, you are to burn equally with him.' Must these things, I ask, not be thought of by the seed of God, and must they not be feared always day and night? Let married women see to it what they flatter themselves concerning the consolation of their husbands through their eagerness to please; whom while they bring forward for their own excuse, they associate into the partnership of a criminal agreement.
uirgines certe, quibus hic sermo non consulit, quae se eiusmodi artibus compserint, inter uirgines non putem debere numerari sed tamquam contactas oues et morbidas pecudes a sancto et puro grege uirginitatis arceri, ne contagio suo ceteras polluant, dum simul degunt, ne perdant alias quaecumque perierunt.
Certainly, as for virgins—whom this discourse does not excuse—who have adorned themselves with such arts, I would not think they ought to be numbered among virgins, but, like infected sheep and diseased cattle, should be kept away from the holy and pure flock of virginity, lest they pollute the rest by their contagion while they live together, lest those who have perished ruin others.
§18Et quoniam continentiae bonum quaerimus, perniciosa quaeque et infesta uitemus.
And since we seek the good of continence, let us avoid everything that is destructive and hostile.
nec illa praetereo, quae dum neglegentia in usum ueniunt, contra pudicos et sobrios mores licentiam sibi de usurpatione fecerunt.
Nor do I pass over those things which, while by negligence they come into use, have made for themselves a license from usurpation against chaste and sober manners.
quasdam non pudet nubentibus interesse et in illa lasciuientium libertate sermonum conloquia incesta miscere, audire quod non decet, quod non licet dicere, obseruare et esse praesentes inter uerba turpia et temulenta conuiuia, quibus libidinum fomes accenditur, sponsa ad patientiam stupri, ad audaciam sponsus animatur.
Some are not ashamed to be present at weddings, and in that freedom of wanton speech to mingle unchaste conversations, to hear what is not fitting, to hear what is not lawful to say, to observe and be present amidst filthy words and drunken banquets, by which the fuel of lusts is kindled, the bride is encouraged to the endurance of disgrace, and the bridegroom to boldness.
quis illi in nuptiis locus est cui animus ad nuptias non est, aut uoluptaria illic et laeta esse quae possunt, ubi et studia et uota diuersa sunt? quid illic discitur, quid uidetur? quantum a proposito suo uirgo deficit! quantum inpudicior, quae uenerat pudica, discedit! corpore licet uirgo ac mente permaneat, oculis, auribus, lingua minuit illa quod habebat.
What place is there in a wedding for her whose mind is not on marriage, or what things can be pleasant and joyful there, where both pursuits and vows are different? What is learned there, what is seen? How greatly a virgin falls away from her purpose! How much more unchaste she departs, who had come chaste! Although she may remain a virgin in body and mind, by her eyes, ears, and tongue she has diminished what she possessed.