§17Atquin cum modestia et humilitate adorantes magis commendabimus deo preces nostras ne ipsis quidem manibus sublimius elatis, sed temperate ac probe elatis, ne uultu quidem in audaciam erecto.
Nay, praying with modesty and humility, we shall the more commend our prayers to God, not even with our hands lifted up too high, but raised temperately and becomingly, and not even with our countenance raised in boldness.
nam et ille publicanus, qui non tantum prece, sed et uultu humiliatus atque deiectus orabat, iustificatior Pharisaeo procacissimo discessit.
For even that publican, who prayed humbled and cast down not only in prayer but also in countenance, went away more justified than the most impudent Pharisee.
sonos etiam uocis subiectos esse oportet, aut quantis arteriis opus est, si pro sono audiamur? deus autem non uocis, sed cordis auditor est, sicut conspector.
The sounds of the voice also ought to be subdued, or else what size of lungs do we need if we are heard for our noise? But God is the hearer not of the voice, but of the heart, just as He is its inspector.
daemonium oraculi Pythii, et mutum, inquit, intellego et non loquentem exaudio. dei aures sonum expectant? quomodo ergo oratio Ionae de imo uentre ceti per tantae bestiae uiscera ab ipsis abyssis per tantam aequoris molem ad caelum potuit euadere? quid amplius referent isti qui clarius adorant, nisi quod proximis obstrepunt? immo prodendo petitiones suas quid minus faciunt, quam si in publico orent? • §18Alia iam consuetudo inualuit.
The demon of the Pythian oracle says: "And the dumb I understand, and the one who speaks not I hear." Do the ears of God expect sound? How then could the prayer of Jonah from the lowest belly of the whale, through the entrails of so great a beast, from the very abysses, through so great a mass of sea, escape to heaven? What more do those report who pray more loudly, except that they make a din for their neighbors? Nay, by betraying their petitions, what less do they do than if they prayed in public? • Another custom has now prevailed.
ieiunantes habita oratione cum fratribus subtrahunt osculum pacis, quod est signaculum; orationis.
Those who fast, when prayer is held with the brethren, withhold the kiss of peace, which is the seal of prayer.
quando autem magis conferenda cum fratribus pax est, nisi cum operantis oratio commendabilior ascendit, ut ipsi de nostra operatione participent, qua maduerint de sua pace fratri transigendo? quae oratio cum diuortio sancti osculi integra? quem domino officium facientem impedit pax? quale sacrificium est a quo sine pace disceditur? quaecumque oratio. sit, non erit potior praecepti obseruatione, quo iubemur ieiunia nostra celare.
But when is peace more to be conferred with the brethren, than when the prayer of one who practices it ascends more commendable, so that they themselves may participate in our practice, being saturated by conveying their peace to a brother? What prayer is complete with the divorce of the holy kiss? What peace hinders anyone performing a duty to the Lord? What kind of sacrifice is it from which one departs without peace? Whatever the prayer may be, it will not be preferable to the observation of the precept by which we are commanded to conceal our fasts.
iam\' enim de abstinentia osculi agnoscimur ieiunantes.
For now by the abstinence from the kiss we are recognized as fasting.
sed et si qua ratio est, ne tamen huic praecepto reus sis, potes domi, si forte, inter quos latere ieiunium in totum non datur, differre pacem.
But even if there is some reason, yet lest you be guilty against this precept, you can at home, if perhaps you are among those where it is not possible to hide the fast entirely, defer the peace.
ubicumque autem alibi operationem tuam abscondere potes, debes meminisse praecepti; ita et disciplinae foris et consuetudini domi satisfacies.
But wherever else you can hide your practice, you ought to remember the precept; thus you will satisfy both the discipline abroad and the custom at home.
sic et die paschae. , quo communis et quasi publica ieiunii religio est, merito deponimus osculum, nihil curantes de occultando quod cum omnibus faciamus.
So also on the day of Pascha, on which the religious duty of fasting is common and, as it were, public, we deservedly omit the kiss, caring nothing about hiding what we do in common with everyone.
§19Similiter et de stationum diebus non putant plerique sacrificiorum orationibus interueniendum, quod statio soluenda sit accepto corpore domini.
Similarly, regarding the days of stations, most people do not think they should participate in the prayers of the sacrifices, because the station must be dissolved upon receiving the body of the Lord.
ergo deuotum deo obsequium eucharistia resoluit an magis deo obligat? nonne sollemnior erit statio tua, si et ad aram dei steteris? accepto corpore domini et reseruato utrumque saluum est, et participatio sacrificii et executio officii.
Does the Eucharist, therefore, break off the duty devoted to God, or does it rather bind us more to God? Will not your station be more solemn if you have also stood at the altar of God? By receiving the body of the Lord and reserving it, both are kept safe, both the participation in the sacrifice and the performance of the duty.
si statio de militari exemplo nomen accepit (nam et militia dei sumus), utique nulla laetitia siue tristitia obueniens castris stationes militum rescindit.
If the "station" received its name from the military example (for we are also the militia of God), certainly no joy or sadness happening to the camp rescinds the stations of the soldiers.
nam laetitia libentius, tristitia sollicitius administrabit disciplinam.
For joy will administer discipline more willingly, and sadness more carefully.
§20De habitu uero dumtaxat feminarum uarietas obseruationis effecit post sanctissimum apostolum nos uel maxime nullius loci homines impudenter retractare, nisi quod non impudenter, si secundum apostolum retractemus.
But concerning the dress at least of women, the variety of observation has caused us, men of no position, to treat of it most impudently after the most holy apostle, except that it is not impudently if we treat of it according to the apostle.
de modestia quidem cultus et ornatus aperta praescriptio est etiam Petri, cohibentis eodem ore, quia eodem et spiritu, quo Paulus, et uestium gloriam et auri superbiam et crinium lenonem operositatem.
Concerning modesty of dress and ornament there is an open prescription also of Peter, restraining with the same mouth, because with the same spirit as Paul, both the glory of garments, and the pride of gold, and the seductive labor of hair.
§21Sed quod promisce obseruatur per ecclesias quasi incertum, id retractandum est, uelarine debeant uirgines, an non.
But what is observed promiscuously throughout the churches as uncertain, that is to be treated of, namely, whether virgins ought to be veiled or not.
qui enim uirginibus indulgent capitis immunitatem, hoc niti uidentur, quod apostolus non uirgines nominatim, sed mulieres designauerit uelandas esse, nec sexum, ut diceret feminas, sed gradum sexus, dicendo mulieres. nam si sexum nominasset, feminas dicendo, absolute definisset de omni muliere, at cum unum gradum sexus nominat, alium tacendo secernit.
For those who grant virgins exemption of the head seem to rely on this: that the apostle designed not virgins by name, but women, to be veiled; and not the sex, as if he had said "females," but a grade of the sex, by saying "women." For if he had named the sex by saying "females," he would have defined absolutely concerning every woman; but when he names one grade of the sex, he sets apart the other by keeping silent.
potuit enim, inquiunt, aut et uirgines nominare specialiter aut compendio generaliter feminas.
For they say he could have either named virgins specifically or, as a compendium, females generally.