§2.5Sed aliquis sustinet nostra nec obstrepit.
But someone tolerates our practices and does not object.
Hoc est igitur delictum, quod gentiles nostra noverunt, quod sub conscientia iniustorum sumus, quod beneficium eorum est, si quid operamur.
This then is the sin, that pagans know our affairs, that we are under the consciousness of the unjust, and that it is their favor if we perform anything.
Non potest nescire qui sustinet, aut si celatur quia non sustinet, timetur.
He who tolerates cannot be ignorant; or if it is concealed because he does not tolerate, he is feared.
Cum autem scriptura utrumque mandet, et sine alterius conscientia et sine nostra pressura operari domino, nihil interest, in qua parte delinquas, aut in conscientiam mariti, si sit patiens, aut in conflictationem tui, dum vitatur impatiens.
But since scripture commands both—to work for the Lord without another's knowledge and without our own oppression—it makes no difference in which part you transgress: either against the husband's consciousness, if he is patient, or in your own conflict, while the impatient one is avoided.
Nolite, inquit, margaritas vestras porcis iactare, ne conculcent eas et conversi vos quoque evertant. Margaritae vestrae sunt etiam quotidianae conversationis insignia.
"Do not," it says, "throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them and, turning, tear you also." Your pearls are also the marks of your daily behavior.
Quanto curaveris ea occultare, tanto suspectiora feceris et magis captanda gentili curiositati.
The more you try to hide them, the more suspicious you will make them and the more subject to pagan curiosity.
Latebisne tu, cum lectulum, cum corpusculum tuum signas, cum aliquid immundum flatu explodis, cum etiam per noctem exurgis oratum, et non magiae aliquid videberis operari? Non sciet maritus quid secreto ante omnem cibum gustes? et si sciverit panem, non illum credit esse qui dicitur? Et haec ignorans quisque rationem simpliciter sustinebit? sine gemitu? sine suspicione panis an veneni? Sustinent quidam, sed ut inculcent, ut illudant huiusmodi feminis, quarum arcana in periculum quod credunt reservent, si forte laedantur, sustinent, quarum dotes obiectione nominis mercedem silentii faciant, scilicet apud arbitrum speculatorem litigaturi.
Will you escape notice when you sign your bed, when you sign your body, when you blow away something unclean, when you even rise at night to pray? And will you not seem to be performing some act of magic? Will your husband not know what you taste in secret before all food? And if he knows it is bread, does he not believe it is that which it is said to be? And knowing nothing of these reasons, will anyone simply tolerate this? Without a groan? Without a suspicion of whether it is bread or poison? Some do tolerate, but only to trample on, to mock such women, whose secrets they reserve for the danger they believe in, should they happen to be offended. They tolerate them so that they may make their dowries the price of silence by using the name of Christian as an accusation, intending indeed to litigate before the husband who acts as an arbiter and spy.
Quod pleraeque non providentes aut re excruciata aut fide perdita recognoscere consueverunt.
Many women, not anticipating this, have been accustomed to realize it only when their property has been tortured away or their faith lost.
§2.6Moratur dei ancilla cum laboribus alienis, et inter illos omnibus nominibus daemonum, omnibus sollemnibus regum, incipiente anno, incipiente mense, nidore turis agitabitur.
The handmaid of God dwells with the labors of others, and among them she will be agitated by the smell of incense at every name of demons, at every festival of kings, at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of the month.
Et procedet de ianua laureata et lucernata, ut de novo consistorio libidinum publicarum, discumbet cum marito saepe in sodalitiis, saepe in popinis, et ministrabit nonnumquam iniquis, solita quondam sanctis ministrare, et non hinc praeiudicium damnationis suae agnoscet, eos observans quos erat iudicatura? Cuius manum desiderabit? de cuius poculo participabit? Quid maritus suus illi, vel marito quid ipsa cantabit? Audiet sane aliquid dei coenans de taberna.
And she will go out from a door decorated with laurel and lanterns, as if from a new brothel of public lusts; she will recline with her husband often in associations, often in taverns, and she will sometimes minister to the unjust, she who was once accustomed to minister to the saints. And will she not recognize from this the prejudice of her own damnation, paying court to those whom she was destined to judge? Whose hand will she desire? Whose cup will she share? What will her husband sing to her, or what will she sing to her husband? She will certainly hear something of God while dining, but from the tavern.
De gehenna quae dei mentio? quae Christi invocatio? Ubi fomenta fidei de scripturarum interiectione? Ubi spiritus? Ubi refrigerium? Ubi divina benedictio? Omnia extranea, omnia inimica, omnia damnata, atterendae saluti a malo immissa.
What mention of God is there from Gehenna? What invocation of Christ? Where are the nourishments of faith from the insertion of the scriptures? Where is the Spirit? Where is refreshment? Where is the divine blessing? All things are foreign, all things hostile, all things condemned, sent by the evil one to grind down salvation.
§2.7Haec si illis quoque evenire possunt quae in matrimonio gentili fidem adeptae morantur, tamen excusantur, ut in ipsis deprehensae a deo, et iubentur perseverare et sanctificantur et spem lucrationis accipiunt.
If these things can happen also to those women who, having obtained faith in a pagan marriage, remain in it, yet they are excused, as having been found in this condition by God, and they are commanded to persevere, and they are sanctified and receive the hope of winning their husbands.
Si ergo ratum est apud deum matrimonium huiusmodi, cur non et prospere cedat, ut pressuris et angustiis et impedimentis et inquinamentis non ita lacessatur, habens iam ex parte divinae gratiae patrocinium? Nam et ad aliquam virtutem caelestem documentis dignationis alicuius vocatus ille de gentibus terrori est gentili, quo minus sibi obstrepat, minus insidiet, minus speculetur.
If therefore such a marriage is valid before God, why should it not also proceed prosperously, so as not to be so harassed by oppressions, distresses, impediments, and defilements, having already in part the patronage of divine grace? For indeed, she who is called from the pagans to some heavenly virtue by the proofs of some divine favor is a terror to her pagan husband, so that he objects to her less, plots less, and watches less.
Sensit magnalia, vidit experimenta, scit meliorem factum; sic et ipse dei candidatus est timore.
He has felt the wonders, he has seen the proofs, he knows she has been made better; thus he himself is a candidate for God through fear.
Ita facilius huiusmodi lucro fiunt in quos dei gratia consuetudinem fecit.
In this way, those into whom the grace of God has made a habit are more easily won.
Ceterum aliud est ultro et sponte in prohibita descendere.
But it is another thing to descend willingly and spontaneously into forbidden things.
Quae domino non placent, utique dominum offendunt, utique a malo inferuntur.
The things which do not please the Lord certainly offend the Lord, and are certainly brought in by the evil one.
Hoc signi erit, quod solis petitoribus placet nomen Christianum.
This will be the sign, that the Christian name pleases only the suitors.
Ideo inveniuntur qui tales non exhorreant ut exterminent, ut abrapiant, ut a fide excludant.
Therefore, some are found who do not shudder at such women so as to destroy them, to tear them away, to exclude them from the faith.
Habes causam, qua non dubites nullum huiusmodi matrimonium prospere decurri, dum a malo conciliatur, a domino vero damnatur.
You have the reason why you should not doubt that no such marriage runs a prosperous course, since it is conciliated by the evil one, but condemned by the Lord.