§10Renuntiemus carnalibus, ut aliquando spiritalia fructificemus.
Let us renounce carnal things, so that at some time we may bear spiritual fruit.
Rape occasionem, etsi non exoptatissimam, attamen opportunam, non habere cui debitum solveres et a quo exsolvereris.
Seize the opportunity, even if not the most wished for, yet opportune, of not having one to whom you must pay your debt and by whom you should be released.
Desisti esse debitor.
You have ceased to be a debtor.
O te felicem! Dimisisti debitorem: sustine damnum.
O happy you! You have dismissed your debtor: bear the loss.
Quid si, quod diximus damnum, lucrum senties? Per continentiam enim negotiaberis magnam substantiam sanctitatis, parsimonia carnis spiritum acquires.
What if you shall feel that to be a gain, which we have called a loss? For through continence you will traffic in a great substance of holiness; by the sparing of the flesh you will acquire the spirit.
Recogitemus enim ipsam conscientiam nostram, quam alium se homo sentiat, cum forte a sua femina cessat.
For let us reflect on our very conscience, how different a man feels himself to be, when he happens to cease from his woman.
Spiritaliter sapit.
He savours of the spirit.
Si orationem facit ad dominum, prope est caelo.
If he offers prayer to the Lord, he is near to heaven.
Si scripturis incumbit, totus illic est.
If he applies himself to the scriptures, he is wholly there.
Si psalmum canit, placet sibi.
If he sings a psalm, he pleases himself.
Si daemonem adiurat, confidit sibi.
If he adjures a demon, he is confident in himself.
Ideo apostolus temporalem purificationem orationum commendandarum causa adiecit, ut sciremus, quod ad tempus prodest semper nobis exercendum esse, ut semper prosit.
Therefore the apostle added a temporary purification for the sake of recommending prayers, so that we might know that what is useful for a time ought to be practiced by us always, so that it may always be useful.
Quotidie, omni momento oratio hominibus necessaria est, utique et continentia, postquam oratio necessaria est.
Daily, at every moment, prayer is necessary for men, and therefore surely continence is also, since prayer is necessary.
Oratio de conscientia procedit.
Prayer proceeds from the conscience.
Si conscientia erubescat, erubescit oratio.
If the conscience blushes, the prayer blushes.
Spiritus deducit orationem ad deum.
The spirit conducts the prayer to God.
Si spiritus reus apud se sit conscientiae erubescentis, quomodo audebit orationem deducere ad altare, qua erubescente et ipse suffunditur sanctus minister? Etenim est prophetica vox veteris testamenti: Sancti eritis, quia deus sanctus, et rursus: Cum sancto sanctificaberis, et cum viro innocenti innocens eris et cum electo electus. Debemus enim ita ingredi in disciplina domini, ut dignum est, non secundum carnis squalentes concupiscentias.
If the spirit is guilty within itself of a blushing conscience, how will it dare to conduct the prayer to the altar, since, when the prayer blushes, even the holy minister itself is covered with shame? For indeed there is the prophetic voice of the Old Testament: 'You shall be holy, because God is holy,' and again: 'With the holy you will be sanctified, and with the innocent man you will be innocent, and with the elect you will be elect.' For we ought to walk in the discipline of the Lord in such a manner as is worthy, not according to the filthy lusts of the flesh.
Ita enim et apostolus dicit, quod sapere secundum carnem mors sit, secundum spiritum vero sapere vita aeterna sit in Christo Iesu domino nostro.
For so also the apostle says, that to mind the things of the flesh is death, but to mind the things of the spirit is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Item per sanctam prophetidem Priscam ita evangelizatur, quod sanctus minister sanctimoniam noverit ministrare.
Likewise, through the holy prophetess Prisca it is thus preached, that a holy minister knows how to administer holiness.
Purificantia enim concordat, ait, et visiones vident, et ponentes faciem deorsum etiam voces audiunt manifestas, tam salutares quam et occultas. Si haec obtusio, etiam cum in unis nuptiis res carnis exercetur, spiritum sanctum avertit, quanto magis, cum in secundo matrimonio agitur?
For she says, 'Purifying things harmonise, and they see visions, and those who turn their faces downward also hear manifest voices, both salutary and secret.' If this dulling of the senses, even when the matter of the flesh is practiced in a single marriage, turns away the Holy Spirit, how much more when it is done in a second marriage?
§11Duplex enim rubor est, quia in secundo matrimonio duae uxores eundem circumstant maritum, una spiritu, alia in carne.
For the blush is double, because in a second marriage two wives surround the same husband, one in spirit, the other in the flesh.
Neque enim pristinam poteris odisse, cui etiam religiosiorem reservas affectionem, ut iam receptae apud dominum, pro cuius spiritu postulas, pro qua oblationes annuas reddis.
For you will not be able to hate your former wife, for whom you even reserve a more religious affection, as one already received by the Lord, for whose spirit you make request, for whom you render annual offerings.
Stabis ergo ad dominum cum tot uxoribus, quot in oratione commemoras, et offeres pro duabus, et commendabis illas duas per sacerdotem de monogamia ordinatum aut etiam de virginitate sancitum, circumdatum viduis univiris? et ascendet sacrificium tuum libera fronte, et inter cetera bonae mentis postulabis tibi et uxori castitatem?
Will you then stand before the Lord with as many wives as you commemorate in prayer, and offer for two, and commend those two through a priest ordained from monogamy, or even consecrated from virginity, surrounded by widows who had but one husband? and will your sacrifice ascend with a free forehead, and among the other requests of a good mind will you petition for chastity for yourself and your wife?