§2.8Ad. hoc quaeramus, an iure, quasi revera dispectores divinarum sententiarum.
In addition to this, let us ask whether they act lawfully, as if they were in truth despisers of divine judgments.
Nonne etiam penes nationes severissimi quique domini et disciplinae tenacissimi servis suis foras nubere interdicunt? scilicet ne in lasciviam excedant, officia deserant, dominica extraneis promant.
Do not even among the pagans the most severe masters and those most tenacious of discipline forbid their slaves to marry outside? namely, lest they break out into lasciviousness, desert their duties, and disclose their master's secrets to strangers.
Nonne insuper censuerunt servituti vindicandos qui cum alienis servis post dominorum denuntiationem in consuetudine perseveraverunt? Severiores habebuntur terrenae disciplinae caelestibus praescriptis? ut gentiles quidem extraneis iunctae libertatem suam amittant, nostrae vero diaboli servos sibi coniungant et in statu suo perseverent? Scilicet negabunt sibi a domino per apostolum eiusdem denuntiatum.
Have they not, moreover, decreed that those who persisted in intimacy with other people's slaves after the masters' warning should be claimed for slavery? Shall earthly disciplines be held more severe than heavenly precepts? so that pagan women indeed, when joined to strangers, lose their liberty, while our women join to themselves the servants of the devil and yet continue in their own status? Doubtless they will deny that the same warning was declared to them by the Lord through His apostle.
Quam huius amentiae causam detineam, nisi fidei imbecillitatem pronam semper in concupiscentias saecularium gaudiorum? Quod quidem plurimum in lautioribus deprehensum est.
What cause of this madness can I hold, except the weakness of faith, ever prone to the desires of worldly joys? And this indeed is most of all detected in the wealthier women.
Nam quanto dives aliqua est et matronae nomine inflata, tanto capaciorem domum oneribus suis requirit, ut campum in quo ambitio decurrat.
For the richer any woman is and puffed up with the name of matron, the more spacious a house she requires for her burdens, as if a field in which her ambition may run its course.
Sordent talibus ecclesiae.
To such women, the churches are mean.
Difficile in domo dei dives, ac si quis est, difficile caelebs.
Rare is a rich person in the house of God, and if there is any, rarely is that person single.
Quid ergo faciant? Unde nisi a diabolo maritum petant idoneum exhibendae sellae et mulabus et cinerariis peregrinae proceritatis? Christianus ista etiam dives fortasse non praestet.
What then should they do? From where else than from the devil should they seek a husband suitable for providing a sedan-chair, mules, and hair-curlers of foreign tallness? A Christian husband, even if rich, perhaps would not provide these things.
Quaeso te, gentilium exempla proponas tibi.
I pray you, set before yourself the examples of the pagans.
Pleraeque et genere nobiles et re beatae passim ignobilibus et mediocribus sibi coniunguntur ad luxuriam inventis, aut ad licentiam sectis.
Many women, both noble by birth and blessed with wealth, are everywhere joined to ignoble and mediocre men, found for luxury or chosen for license.
Nonnullae se libertis et servis suis conferunt, omnium hominum existimatione despecta, dummodo habeant a quibus nullum impedimentum libertatis suae timeant.
Some bestow themselves upon their own freedmen and slaves, despising the opinion of all men, provided they have those from whom they fear no impediment to their liberty.
Christianam fidelem fideli re minori nubere piget, Iocupletatiorem futuram in viro paupere? Nam si pauperum sunt regna caelorum, divitium non sunt, plus dives in paupere inveniet.
Is a Christian faithful woman loath to marry a faithful man of lesser estate, when she is to be made richer in a poor husband? For if the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor, and not to the rich, a rich woman will find more in a poor husband.
Maiore dote dotabitur de bonis eius qui in deo dives est.
She will be endowed with a greater dowry from the goods of him who is rich in God.
Sit illa ex aequo in terris, quae in caelis forsitan non erit.
Let her be on equal terms on earth, who perhaps will not be so in heaven.
Dubitandum et inquirendum et identidem deliberandum est, an idoneus sit invectis dotalibus cui deus censum suum credidit? Unde sufficiamus ad enarrandam felicitatem eius matrimonii quod ecclesia conciliat et confirmat oblatio et obsignat benedictio, angeli renuntiant, pater rato habet? Nam nec in terris filii sine consensu patrum recte et iure nubunt.
Must we doubt and inquire and repeatedly deliberate whether he to whom God has entrusted His own wealth is suitable for imported dowries? How shall we suffice to fully declare the happiness of that marriage which the church conciliates, and the oblation confirms, and the blessing seals, angels announce, and the Father holds valid? For not even on earth do children marry rightly and lawfully without the consent of their fathers.
Quale iugum fidelium duorum unius spei, unius voti, unius disciplinae, eiusdem servitutis? Ambo fratres, ambo conservi, nulla spiritus carnisve discretio.
What a yoke is that of two believers of one hope, of one desire, of one discipline, of the same service! Both are brethren, both fellow-servants, with no distinction of spirit or of flesh.
Atquin vere duo in carne una. Ubi caro una, unus et spiritus.
Nay, they are truly two in one flesh; where the flesh is one, one also is the spirit.
Simul orant, simul volutantur, simul ieiunia transigunt, alterutro docentes, alterutro exhortantes, alterutro sustinentes.
Together they pray, together they prostrate themselves, together they perform their fasts, mutually teaching, mutually exhorting, mutually sustaining.
In ecclesia dei pariter utrique, pariter in convivio dei, pariter in angustiis, in persecutionibus, in refrigeriis.
Both are equally in the church of God, equally at the banquet of God, equally in distresses, in persecutions, in refreshments.
Neuter alterum celat, neuter alterum vitat, neuter alteri gravis est.
Neither conceals anything from the other, neither avoids the other, neither is troublesome to the other.
Libere aeger visitatur, indigens sustentatur.
The sick is visited with freedom, the indigent is supported.
Eleemosynae sine tormento, sacrificia sine scrupulo, quotidiana diligentia sine impedimento; non furtiva signatio, non trepida gratulatio, non muta benedictio.
Alms are given without torment, sacrifices are offered without scrupulous worry, daily devotion is performed without hindrance; there is no stealthy signing of the cross, no trembling thanksgiving, no silent blessing.
Sonant inter duos psalmi et hymni, et mutuo provocant quis melius domino suo cantet.
Psalms and hymns resound between the two, and they mutually challenge each other as to who shall sing better to their Lord.
Talia Christus videns et audiens gaudet.
Seeing and hearing such things, Christ rejoices.
His pacem suam mittit.
To these He sends His peace.
Ubi duo, ibi et ipse: ubi et ipse, ibi et malus non est.
Where two are, there He is also; and where He is, there the evil one is not.
Haec sunt quae apostoli vox illa sub brevitate intellegenda nobis relinquit.
These are the things which that voice of the apostle leaves for us to understand under brevity.
Haec tibi suggere, si opus fuerit.
Suggest these things to yourself, if there be need.
His te ab exemplis quarundam reflecte.
Turn yourself away by these from the examples of certain women.
Non licet aliter fidelibus nubere, non expedit.
It is not lawful for believers to marry otherwise, nor is it expedient.