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At this point, let’s look at the CCC on Virginity . . .
Virginity for the sake of the Kingdom
CCC 1618 Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with him takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social.113 From the very beginning of the Church there have been men and women who have renounced the great good of marriage to follow the Lamb wherever he goes, to be intent on the things of the Lord, to seek to please him, and to go out to meet the Bridegroom who is coming.114 Christ himself has invited certain persons to follow him in this way of life, of which he remains the model:
(Bold CCC 1620 above and Scripture below, mine)
St. Paul said in 1st Corinthians 7:1 . . . .
1st CORINTHIANS 7:1 (NIV) 1. Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.
St. Paul himself was likely an unmarried virgin himself as is suggested from the passage several verses later (although we cannot say for sure) . . .
1st CORINTHIANS 7:7 7 I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.
St. Paul is urging chastity and virginity, then in the same context states he wishes all were as HE HIMSELF is.
If St. Paul didn’t think anything special of the state of Virginity, he probably wouldn’t have referred to virgins the way he did in 2nd Corinthians 11.
2nd CORINTHIANS 11:1-3 1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
“Pure bride” here in 2nd Corinthians 11:2 is literally “chaste virgin”. Let’s look at the Protestant translation NIV to see this better illustrated . . .
2nd CORINTHIANS 11:1-3 (NIV) 1 I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so **that I might present you as a pure virgin **to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a “chaste virgin” to your one husband—that is Christ!
St. Thomas Aquinas has more to say on this subject. St. Thomas states the following . . .
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (Summa Theologica; Section 2 Part 2, question 152)
Reply to Objection 1. Virgins are “the more honored portion of Christ’s flock,” and “their glory more sublime” in comparison with widows and married women.
Reply to Objection 2. The hundredfold fruit is ascribed to virginity, according to Jerome Ep. cxxiii ad Ageruch.], on account of its superiority to widowhood, to which the sixtyfold fruit is ascribed, and to marriage, to which is ascribed the thirtyfold fruit. But according to Augustine (De QQ. Evang. i, 9), “the hundredfold fruit is given to martyrs, the sixtyfold to virgins, and the thirtyfold to married persons.” Wherefore it does not follow that virginity is simply the greatest of virtues, but only in comparison with other degrees of chastity.
Reply to Objection 3. Virgins “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth,” because they imitate Christ, by integrity not only of the mind but also of the flesh, as Augustine says (De Virgin. xxvii). Wherefore they follow the Lamb in more ways, but this does not imply that they follow more closely, because other virtues make us cleave to God more closely by imitation of the mind. The “new hymn” which virgins alone sing, is their joy at having preserved integrity of the flesh.
I’ll try to post more on this later as it directly concerns (at least in part) some of the original post and certainly concerns much of the discussion in this thread.
Virginity for the sake of the Kingdom
CCC 1618 Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with him takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social.113 From the very beginning of the Church there have been men and women who have renounced the great good of marriage to follow the Lamb wherever he goes, to be intent on the things of the Lord, to seek to please him, and to go out to meet the Bridegroom who is coming.114 Christ himself has invited certain persons to follow him in this way of life, of which he remains the model:
"For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it."115
CCC 1619 Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ and of the ardent expectation of his return, a sign which also recalls that marriage is a reality of this present age which is passing away.116
CCC 1620 Both the sacrament of Matrimony and virginity for the Kingdom of God come from the Lord himself. It is he who gives them meaning and grants them the grace which is indispensable for living them out in conformity with his will.117 Esteem of virginity for the sake of the kingdom118 and the Christian understanding of marriage are inseparable, and they reinforce each other:
Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good.119
CCC 1619 Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ and of the ardent expectation of his return, a sign which also recalls that marriage is a reality of this present age which is passing away.116
CCC 1620 Both the sacrament of Matrimony and virginity for the Kingdom of God come from the Lord himself. It is he who gives them meaning and grants them the grace which is indispensable for living them out in conformity with his will.117 Esteem of virginity for the sake of the kingdom118 and the Christian understanding of marriage are inseparable, and they reinforce each other:
Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good.119
(Bold CCC 1620 above and Scripture below, mine)
St. Paul said in 1st Corinthians 7:1 . . . .
1st CORINTHIANS 7:1 (NIV) 1. Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.
St. Paul himself was likely an unmarried virgin himself as is suggested from the passage several verses later (although we cannot say for sure) . . .
1st CORINTHIANS 7:7 7 I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.
St. Paul is urging chastity and virginity, then in the same context states he wishes all were as HE HIMSELF is.
If St. Paul didn’t think anything special of the state of Virginity, he probably wouldn’t have referred to virgins the way he did in 2nd Corinthians 11.
2nd CORINTHIANS 11:1-3 1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
“Pure bride” here in 2nd Corinthians 11:2 is literally “chaste virgin”. Let’s look at the Protestant translation NIV to see this better illustrated . . .
2nd CORINTHIANS 11:1-3 (NIV) 1 I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so **that I might present you as a pure virgin **to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a “chaste virgin” to your one husband—that is Christ!
St. Thomas Aquinas has more to say on this subject. St. Thomas states the following . . .
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (Summa Theologica; Section 2 Part 2, question 152)
Reply to Objection 1. Virgins are “the more honored portion of Christ’s flock,” and “their glory more sublime” in comparison with widows and married women.
Reply to Objection 2. The hundredfold fruit is ascribed to virginity, according to Jerome Ep. cxxiii ad Ageruch.], on account of its superiority to widowhood, to which the sixtyfold fruit is ascribed, and to marriage, to which is ascribed the thirtyfold fruit. But according to Augustine (De QQ. Evang. i, 9), “the hundredfold fruit is given to martyrs, the sixtyfold to virgins, and the thirtyfold to married persons.” Wherefore it does not follow that virginity is simply the greatest of virtues, but only in comparison with other degrees of chastity.
Reply to Objection 3. Virgins “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth,” because they imitate Christ, by integrity not only of the mind but also of the flesh, as Augustine says (De Virgin. xxvii). Wherefore they follow the Lamb in more ways, but this does not imply that they follow more closely, because other virtues make us cleave to God more closely by imitation of the mind. The “new hymn” which virgins alone sing, is their joy at having preserved integrity of the flesh.
I’ll try to post more on this later as it directly concerns (at least in part) some of the original post and certainly concerns much of the discussion in this thread.