§1.5Adiciunt quidem sibi homines causas nuptiarum de sollicitudine posteritatis et liberorum amarissima voluptate.
Men indeed add to themselves causes of marriage from concern for posterity and the most bitter pleasure of having children.
Nobis otiosum est.
For us, this is superfluous.
Nam quid gestiamus liberos gerere, quos cum habemus, praemittere optamus, respectu scilicet imminentium angustiarum, cupidi et ipsi iniquissimo isto saeculo eximi et recipi apud dominum, quod etiam apostolo votum fuit? Nimirum necessaria suboles servo dei.
For why should we yearn to bear children, whom when we have them, we desire to send before us, in view of the impending distresses, being ourselves eager to be rescued from this most unjust world and received by the Lord, which was also the apostle's wish? No doubt, posterity is necessary for a servant of God.
Satis enim de salute nostra securi sumus, ut liberis vacemus: quaerenda nobis onera sunt quae etiam a gentilium plerisque vitantur, quae legibus coguntur, quae parricidiis expugnantur, nobis demum plurimun importuna, quantum fidei periculosa.
Are we so secure about our own salvation that we have leisure for children? Must we seek burdens which are avoided even by most of the pagans, which are compelled by laws, which are cast off by infanticide, things which are in the end highly inconvenient for us, in proportion as they are dangerous to faith?
Cur enim dominus Vae praegnantibus et nutricantibus cecinit, nisi quia filiorum impedimenta testatur in illa die expeditionis incommodum futura? Ea utique nuptiis imputantur.
For why did the Lord prophesy "Woe to those who are pregnant and nursing," except because He testifies that the obstacles of children will be an inconvenience on that day of departure? These things indeed are imputed to marriage.
Istud autem ad viduas non pertinebit.
But this will not concern widows.
Ad primam angeli tubam expeditae prosilient, quamcunque pressuram persecutionemque libere perferent, nulla in utero, nulla in uberibus aestuante sarcina nuptiarum.
At the first trumpet of the angel they will spring forward unencumbered, they will freely endure any pressure and persecution, with no burden of marriage heating in the womb or at the breasts.
Igitur sive carnis, sive saeculi, sive posteritatis gratia nubitur, nihil ex istis necessitatibus competit dei servis, ut non satis habeam semel alicui earum succubuisse et uno matrimonio omnem concupiscentiam huiusmodi expiasse.
Therefore, whether one marries for the sake of the flesh, or of the world, or of posterity, none of these necessities applies to the servants of God, so that I should not hold it sufficient to have once succumbed to some one of them and to have expiated all concupiscence of this kind by a single marriage.
Nubamus quotidie, et nubentes a die illo timoris deprehendamur ut Sodoma et Gomorrha.
Shall we marry daily, and while marrying be caught by that day of fear like Sodoma and Gomorrha?
Nam illic non utique nuptias et mercimonia solummodo agebant, sed cum dicit, Nubebant et emebant, insigniora ipsa carnis et saeculi vitia denotat, quae a divinis disciplinis plurimum avocent, alterum per lasciviendi voluptatem, alterum per adquirendi cupiditatem.
For there indeed they were not only doing marriages and business, but when Scripture says, "They were marrying and buying," it denotes the more prominent vices of the flesh and of the world, which most of all distract from divine teachings, the one through the pleasure of wantonness, the other through the greed of acquisition.
Et tamen illa tunc caecitas longe a finibus saeculi habebatur.
And yet that blindness then was held far from the end of the world.
Quid ergo fiet, si quae olim detestabilia sunt penes deum, ab iis nos nunc arceat? Tempus, inquit, in collecto est. Superest ut qui matrimonia habent tamquam non habentes agant.
What then will happen if God now debars us from those things which were once detestable in His sight? "The time," it says, "is shortened." It remains that those who have marriages should act as though they had them not.
§1.6Quod si hi qui habent obliterare debent quod habent, quanto magis non habentes prohibentur repetere quod non habent, ut cuius maritus de rebus abiit, exinde requiem sexui suo nubendi abstinentia iniungat, quam pleraeque gentilium feminarum memoriae carissimorum maritorum parentant.
But if those who have them ought to obliterate what they have, how much more are those who have them not forbidden to seek again what they have not, so that she whose husband has departed from this life should thenceforth impose rest on her sex by abstinence from marrying, which most pagan women offer to the memory of their dearest husbands?
Cum quid difficile videtur, difficiliora alios obeuntes recenseamus.
When something seems difficult, let us review others who undergo more difficult things.
Quot enim sunt, qui statim a lavacro carnem suam obsignant? quot item qui consensu pari inter se matrimonii debitum tollunt, voluntarii spadones pro cupiditate regni caelestis? Quodsi salvo matrimonio abstinentia toleratur, quanto magis adempto? Credo enim difficilius salvum derelinqui quam amissum non desiderari.
For how many are there who seal their flesh immediately from the baptismal font? How many likewise who by mutual consent abolish between themselves the conjugal debt, voluntary eunuchs for the sake of the desire for the kingdom of heaven? But if abstinence is endured while marriage is intact, how much more when it is taken away? For I believe it is more difficult to abandon what is intact than not to long for what is lost.
Durum plane et arduum satis continentia sanctae feminae post viri excessum dei causa, cum gentiles satanae suo et virginitatis et viduitatis sacerdotia perferant? Romae quidem quae ignis illius inextinguibilis imaginem tractant, auspicia poenae suae cum ipso dracone curantes de virginitate censentur.
Is continence clearly hard and sufficiently arduous for a holy woman after the departure of her husband for God's sake, when the pagans endure priestesses of virginity and widowhood for their own Satan? Indeed, at Rome, those who handle the image of that unquenchable fire are reckoned in virginity, caring for the omens of their own punishment with the dragon itself.
Achaeae Iunoni apud Aegium oppidum virgo sortitur, et quae Delphis insaniunt, nubere nesciunt.
At the town of Aegium, a virgin is chosen by lot for Achaean Juno, and those who rave at Delphi know not how to marry.
Ceterum viduas Africanae Cereri adsistere scimus, durissima quidem oblivione a matrimonio allectas.
Moreover, we know that widows attend on African Ceres, attracted indeed to her service by a most harsh oblivion of marriage.
Nam manentibus in vita viris non modo decedunt, sed et alias eis utique ridentibus loco suo insinuant, adempto omni contactu usque ad osculum filiorum, et tamen durante usu perseverant in tali viduitatis disciplina, quae pietatis etiam sanctae solatia excludit.
For while their husbands are still living, they not only withdraw from them, but even introduce others in their place while their husbands indeed smile upon it, with all contact taken away, even to the kiss of their children; and yet, as long as the practice lasts, they persevere in such discipline of widowhood, which excludes even the consolations of holy affection.
Haec diabolus suis praecepit, et auditur.
The devil has commanded these things to his own, and he is obeyed.
Provocat nimirum dei servos continentia suorum, quasi ex aequo.
No doubt he challenges the servants of God by the continence of his own, as if on equal terms.
Continent etiam gehennae sacerdotes.
Even the priests of Gehenna practice continence.
Nam invenit quomodo homines etiam in bonis sectationibus perderet, et nihil apud eum refert alios luxuria, alios continentia occidere.
For he has found how to destroy men even in good pursuits, and it makes no difference to him whether he kills some by luxury and others by continence.