§11Sed quod supra intermisimus ex parte subsecutae disputationis, ne cohaerentiam eius dispergeremus, nunc responso expungemus.
what we temporarily left aside above from the part of the subsequent discussion, lest we should scatter its coherence, we will now clear up with an answer.
Ubi enim gradum fiximus de apostoli absoluta definitione, omnem mulierem etiam omnis aetatis intellegendam, responderi ex diverso habebat ergo a nativitate et a primo nomine aetatis virginem operiri oportere.
For when we established our position on the apostle’s absolute definition—that "every woman" is to be understood as including also every age—it had to be answered from the opposite side that therefore a virgin ought to be veiled from birth and from the first name of her age.
Non ita est autem, sed ex quo se intellegere coeperit et sensum naturae suae intrare et de virginis exire et pati novum illud quod alterius aetatis est.
But it is not so; rather, it is from the time when she begins to understand herself, to enter into the consciousness of her nature, to depart from that of a virgin, and to experience that new thing which belongs to another age.
Nam et principes generis Adam et Eva, quamdiu intellectu carebant, nudi agebant.
For even the founders of the race, Adam and Eve, as long as they lacked understanding, went about naked.
At ubi de arbore agnitionis gustaverunt, nihil primum senserunt quam erubescendum.
But when they tasted of the tree of knowledge, they felt nothing first except what was to be blushed at.
Ita sui quique sexus intellectum tegmine notaverunt.
Thus, they marked the awareness of their respective sex with a covering.
Sed etsi propter angelos velanda est, sine dubio ab ea aetate lex velaminis operabitur a qua potuerunt filiae hominum concupiscentiam sui adducere et nuptias pati.
But even if she must be veiled because of the angels, without doubt the law of the veil will operate from that age from which the daughters of men were able to prompt desire for themselves and to undergo marriage.
Ex illo enim virgo desinit ex quo potest non esse.
For a virgin ceases to be a virgin from the time when she is able not to be one.
Et ideo penes Israël illicitum est ad virum tradere nisi post contestatam sanguine maturitatem; ita ante hunc indicem acerba res est.
And for this reason, among Israel, it is unlawful to deliver her to a husband except after her maturity has been attested by blood; thus, before this indicator, she is an unripe thing.
Igitur si tam diu virgo quamdiu acerba est, desinit virginem eum matura cognoscitur, et ut non virgo iam legi applicatur, sicut et nuptiis.
Therefore, if she is a virgin only so long as she is unripe, she ceases to be a virgin when she is recognized as mature, and as no longer a virgin she is already applied to the law, just as to marriage.
Et desponsatae quidem habent exemplum Rebeccae, quae cum ad sponsum ignotum adhuc ignota perduceretur, simul ipsum cognovit esse quem de longinquo prospexerat, non sustinuit dexterae colluctationem nec osculi congressionem nec salutationis communicationem, sed confessa quod senserat, id est spiritu nuptam, negavit virginem velata ibidem.
And betrothed women indeed have the example of Rebecca, who, when she was being conducted, still unknown herself, to a still unknown betrothed, as soon as she recognized him to be the one whom she had espied from afar, did not wait for the clasping of right hands, nor the meeting of a kiss, nor the exchange of salutation, but confessing what she had felt—that is, that she was married in spirit—she denied being a virgin by veiling herself then and there.
O mulierem iam de Christi disciplina! Ostendit enim etiam nuptias de aspectu et animo fieri, quemadmodum stuprum;
Oh, a woman already of Christ's discipline!
nisi quod etiam Rebeccam quidam adhuc velant.
For she showed that marriage also, just like adultery, takes place by glance and mind; except that some people even now still veil Rebecca.
De ceteris vero, id est quae desponsatae non sunt, viderit parentum procrastinatio ex angustiis vel scrupulositate descendens, viderit et ipsum continentiae votum.
But concerning the rest, that is, those who are not betrothed, let the procrastination of parents, arising from difficulties or scrupulosity, see to it, and let the vow of continence itself see to it.
Nihil pertinet ad aetatem sua spatia currentem suaque debita maturitati luentem.
It has nothing to do with age, which runs its own course and pays its own dues to maturity.
Alia in occulto mater, natura, et alius in latenti pater, tempus, filiam suam legibus suis maritarunt.
Another mother in secret, Nature, and another father in hiding, Time, have married their daughter according to their own laws.
Aspice nuptam iam illam tuam virginem, et animam expectatione et carnem transfiguratione, cui tu secundum paras maritum.
Look at that virgin of yours, already married—both in soul by expectation and in flesh by transfiguration—for whom you are preparing a second husband.
Iam et vox obsolefacta est, et membra completa sunt, et pudor ubique vestitur, et menses tributa dependunt, ac tu mulierem negas quam muliebria pati dicis? Si congressio viri mulierem facit, non tegantur nisi post ipsam nuptiarum passionem.
Already her voice has changed, her limbs are fully developed, modesty is clothed everywhere, and her monthly courses pay their tribute, and yet do you deny that she is a woman when you say she undergoes the experiences of a woman? If the congress of a man makes a woman, let them not be veiled except after the actual experience of marriage.
Atquin etiam apud ethnicos velatae ad virum ducuntur.
But indeed, even among the pagans, they are led to a husband veiled.
Si autem ad desponsationem velantur, quia et corpore et spiritu masculo mixtae sunt per osculum et dexteras, per quae primum resignarunt pudorem spiritu, per commune conscientiae pignus quo totam condixerunt confusionem, quanto magis tempus illas velabit, sine quo sponsari non possunt et quo urgente sine sponsalibus virgines desinunt esse? Tempus etiam ethnici observant, ut ex lege naturae iura sua aetatibus reddant.
And if they are veiled for betrothal because they are mixed with a male both in body and in spirit through the kiss and the right hands—by which they first unsealed their modesty in spirit—and through the common pledge of conscience by which they agreed to the whole of their future intimacy, how much more will time veil them, without which they cannot be betrothed, and under the pressure of which, even without betrothal, they cease to be virgins?
Nam feminas quidem a duodecim annis, masculum vero a duobus amplius ad negotia mittunt, pubertatem in annis, non sponsalibus aut nuptiis decernentes.
Even the pagans observe time, so that from the law of nature they may render to each age its rights.
Mater familiae vocatur, licet virgo, et pater familiae, licet investis.
For indeed they send females to business from twelve years of age, but a male from two years more, determining puberty by years, not by betrothals or marriages.
A nobis nec naturalia observantur, quasi alius sit deus naturae quam noster.
By us not even natural things are observed, as if the God of nature were someone other than our God.