教宗庇護十二世 《神聖童貞通諭》 Sacra Virginitas （1－8）【引言】

教宗庇護十二世

《神聖童貞通諭》

Sacra Virginitas

一九五四年三月廿五日

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《神聖童貞通諭》致凡與宗座督睦交往的可敬神昆：宗主教、首席主教、總主教、主教，及其他教區首長：論童貞。

教宗庇護十二世致候可敬神昆并給予宗徒遐福

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引言：童貞與教會


１奉獻與天主的童貞和成全的潔德，無疑是基督遺贈其教會異常珍貴的寶藏之一。j


２為此教父們肯定：終身童貞乃由教會創始的崇高事業。他們指出古時教外司祭的童貞祇限於固定時期。（S. Ambrosius, De Virginibus, lib. I, c. 4, n. 15; De Virginitate, c. 3,n. 13; P. L. XVI, 193-269）。舊約裡固然有持守童貞的命令，但祇限於結婚以前（出，二二，一至一七；申，二二，二三至二九；德，四二，九）此外，聖盎博羅削寫說：「我們曾讀到過，在耶路撒冷聖殿中亦有童貞女的話。但保祿宗徒說：『這些事情發生在他們身上，為了作一個預像』（格前，一Ｏ，一一）；那是一個預示未來的先兆而己。」（S. Ambrosius, De Virginibus, lib. I, c. 3, n. 12- P. L. XVI, 192）k


３自宗徒時代起，童貞的神花已在教會花園內盛開著。宗徒大事錄記載著斐理伯六品有四個女兒是童貞女（宗，二一，九）。此處的童貞女三字并非只說他們年紀幼小，而是指的她們終身不嫁l。不久之後，聖依納爵在致斯密那堂區的信裡曾提到童貞女，因為在該堂區裡，童貞女連同節婦們形成該堂區信友們不小的一部份（S. Ignatius Antioch., Ep. And Smyrn., c. 13; Ed. Funk-Diecamp, P. A. vol. I, p286）。聖儒斯定說：「許多六七十歲的男女人士，自孩提時起，受著基督訓誨的熏疏，持身如玉。」（S. Justin, Apol. I Pro Christ., c. 15; P. G. VI,349） 具見在第二世紀時，奉獻潔德與天主的男女人數已逐漸增高，同時他們在教會內擔任的職務亦日見重要，就如吾人在論基督淨配的憲諭裡秉詳細陳述過的。（Const. Apost. Sponsa Christi; AAS. XLIII, 1951, pp.5-8）。


４此外，聖西彼廉、聖亞大納削、聖盎博羅削、金口聖若望、聖熱羅尼莫、聖奧斯定，及其他不少教父人們，在他們的著作裡，對童貞的高貴都曾大事頌揚。這些教父們的道理，因了歷代聖師和神修學家們的闡述而益形光。這對鼓勵男女信友，選擇童貞生活，并使業已立志持守童貞的男女人士，至死堅持其潔身事主的志向，大大有助。


５自教會肇建伊始直至現代，奉獻潔德與天主的人士擢髮難數。有的終身童貞，冰清玉潔；有的配偶死後至死不再結婚；有的為了補贖前愆，誓志守身。他們都抱定一個共同的志向，為天主永久戒絕肉慾的一切快感。教父們對童貞的讚揚，為這些人士，應當形成一種請求、聲援、力量，使他們繼續祭獻自身，誓不由己置諸祭壇上的燔祭裡，抽取任何一部份，而攫為已有，即使是最渺小的一部分。


６修士地位由三愿所構成，而三愿之一，便是成全的潔德（C. J. C. CAN. 487）。這潔德在拉丁教會內，是晉陞大品的神職人員所應有的條件m（C. J. C. can. 132），并且是俗傷組織的會友們應守的規律n（Const. Apost. Provida Mater, art.III; ASS. XXXIX, 1947, p. 121）。甚至不少普通信友亦奉行之；有些男友信友，雖沒有修士修女的成全地位，卻立志或發私願，不娶不嫁，戒絕一切肉慾，俾能更便利地服務他人，更容易地天主親密結合。o





７吾人以慈父胸懷，敦勸全體并每位將自己心身獻與天主的神子神女，務要堅決持守所定的志向，并勤勉實踐之。



頒發此通諭的動機




８現代有人在這事上脫離正路；他們因了過度提高婚姻，竟將婚姻加諸童貞之上，并且對奉獻與天主的潔德及教會所有獨身生活，多所譏評。吾人深知自身負有宗徒職責，故特對童貞的崇高加以辯護和聲明，俾使公教真理不為錯誤所歪曲。



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SACRA VIRGINITAS


ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII ON CONSECRATED VIRGINITY TO OUR VENERABLE BROTHERS, THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER LOCAL ORDINARIES IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE


1. Holy virginity and that perfect chastity which is consecrated to the service of God is without doubt among the most precious treasures which the Founder of the Church has left in heritage to the society which He established.


2. This assuredly was the reason why the Fathers of the Church confidently asserted that perpetual virginity is a very noble gift which the Christian religion has bestowed on the world. They rightly noted that the pagans of antiquity imposed this way of life on the Vestals only for a certain time; [1] and that, although in the Old Testament virginity is ordered to be kept and preserved, it is only a previous requisite for marriage;[2] and furthermore, as Ambrose writes,[3] "We read that also in the temple of Jerusalem there were virgins. But what does the Apostle say? 'Now all these things happened to them in figure',[4] that this might be a foreshadowing of what was to come "


3. Indeed, right from Apostolic times this virtue has been thriving and flourishing in the garden of the Church. When the Acts of the Apostles[5] say that Philip the deacon was the father of four virgins, the word certainly refers to their state of life rather than to their age. And not much later Ignatius of Antioch salutes the virgins,[6] who together with the widows, formed a not insignificant part of the Christian community of Smyrna. In the second century, as St. Justin testifies, "many men and women, sixty and seventy years old, imbued from childhood with the teachings of Christ, keep their integrity."[7] Gradually the number of men and women who had vowed their chastity to God grew; likewise the importance of the office they fulfilled in the Church increased notably, as We have shown more at length in Our apostolic constitution, "Sponsa Christi."[8]


4. Further, the Fathers of the Church, such as Cyprian, Athanasius, Ambrose, John Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, and many others, have sung the praises of virginity. And this doctrine of the Fathers, augmented through the course of centuries by the Doctors of the Church and the masters of asceticism, helps greatly either to inspire in the faithful of both sexes the firm resolution of dedicating themselves to God by the practice of perfect chastity and of persevering thus till death, or to strengthen them in the resolution already taken.


5. Innumerable is the multitude of those who from the beginning of the Church until our time have offered their chastity to God. Some have preserved their virginity unspoiled, others after the death of their spouse, have consecrated to God their remaining years in the unmarried state, and still others, after repenting their sins, have chosen to lead a life of perfect chastity; all of them at one in this common oblation, that is, for love of God to abstain for the rest of their lives from sexual pleasure. May then what the Fathers of the Church preached about the glory and merit of virginity be an invitation, a help, and a source of strength to those who have made the sacrifice to persevere with constancy, and not take back or claim for themselves even the smallest part of the holocaust they have laid on the altar of God.


6. And while this perfect chastity is the subject of one of the three vows which constitute the religious state,[9] and is also required by the Latin Church of clerics in major orders[10] and demanded from members of Secular Institutes,[11] it also flourishes among many who are lay people in the full sense: men and women who are not constituted in a public state of perfection and yet by private promise or vow completely abstain from marriage and sexual pleasures, in order to serve their neighbor more freely and to be united with God more easily and more closely.


7. To all of these beloved sons and daughters who in any way have consecrated their bodies and souls to God, We address Ourselves, and exhort them earnestly to strengthen their holy resolution and be faithful to it.


8. However, since there are some who, straying from the right path in this matter, so exalt marriage as to rank it ahead of virginity and thus depreciate chastity consecrated to God and clerical celibacy, Our apostolic duty demands that We now in a particular manner declare and uphold the Church's teaching on the sublime state of virginity, and so defend Catholic truth against these errors.