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Objection 1: It would seem that virginity is the greatest of
virtues. For Cyprian says (De Virgin. [De Habitu Virg.]):
"We address ourselves now to the virgins. Sublime is their glory,
but no less exalted is their vocation. They are a flower of the
Church's sowing, the pride and ornament of spiritual grace, the most
honored portion of Christ's flock."
Objection 2: Further, a greater reward is due to the greater
virtue. Now the greatest reward is due to virginity, namely the
hundredfold fruit, according to a gloss on Mt. 13:23.
Therefore virginity is the greatest of the virtues.
Objection 3: Further, the more a virtue conforms us to Christ,
the greater it is. Now virginity above all conforms us to Christ;
for it is declared in the Apocalypse 14:4 that virgins "follow the
Lamb whithersoever He goeth," and (Apoc. 14:3) that they
sing "a new canticle," which "no" other "man" could say.
Therefore virginity is the greatest of the virtues.
On the contrary, Augustine says (De Virgin. xlvi): "No one,
methinks, would dare prefer virginity to martyrdom," and (De
Virgin. xlv): "The authority of the Church informs the faithful
in no uncertain manner, so that they know in what place the martyrs and
the holy virgins who have departed this life are commemorated in the
Sacrament of the Altar." By this we are given to understand that
martyrdom, and also the monastic state, are preferable to virginity.
I answer that, A thing may excel all others in two ways. First, in
some particular genus: and thus virginity is most excellent, namely in
the genus of chastity, since it surpasses the chastity both of
widowhood and of marriage. And because comeliness is ascribed to
chastity antonomastically, it follows that surpassing beauty is
ascribed to chastity. Wherefore Ambrose says (De Virgin. i,
7): "Can anyone esteem any beauty greater than a virgin's, since
she is beloved of her King, approved by her Judge, dedicated to her
Lord, consecrated to her God?" Secondly, a thing may be most
excellent simply, and in this way virginity is not the most excellent
of the virtues. Because the end always excels that which is directed
to the end; and the more effectively a thing is directed to the end,
the better it is. Now the end which renders virginity praiseworthy is
that one may have leisure for Divine things, as stated above
(Article 4). Wherefore the theological virtues as well as the
virtue of religion, the acts of which consist in being occupied about
Divine things, are preferable to virginity. Moreover, martyrs work
more mightily in order to cleave to God---since for this end they
hold their own life in contempt; and those who dwell in
monasteries---since for this end they give up their own will and all
that they may possess---than virgins who renounce venereal pleasure
for that same purpose. Therefore virginity is not simply the greatest
of virtues.
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 Questions. 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.
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