童貞的概念、崇高 （Sacra Virginitas 9-23）

童貞的概念


９首先應注意者，是教會論童貞的道理，出自其淨配基督的口舌。


１０為了師傅對婚姻所做聲明，門徒們認為婚姻的鏈鎖和不便，太過煩重，於是問說：「如果人同妻子的關係是這樣的話，倒不如不娶的好」（瑪，一九，一Ｏ）。基督答說，這話并非人人所能領悟，只有蒙天主恩賜的人才能領悟。又說，有人因了本性的缺陷不得結婚，還有人則為了他人的暴力或惡意，不得結婚。但亦有人為了天國甘心自願不娶不嫁。最後，基督結論說：「誰能領悟就領悟吧！」（同上，一九，一Ｏ至一二）



童貞應是永久性的


１１基督的這段話并非指的身體方面所有阻礙結婚的缺陷，而是指的永久不娶不嫁，終身戒絕肉體享樂的出乎自由意志的決心。將自動放棄肉體享樂者，和被迫於本性或暴力，不得已而謝絕婚姻者，相較之下，救主基督豈非有意訓誨吾人，潔德如欲完整，必須是永久的嗎？



童貞應以天國為目標


１２此外，教父和聖師們明白宣稱，除非為了天國，童貞便不成其為美德，意即吾人接受童貞生活，如不為了便於專務天主的事，如不為了穩妥地獲取天上永福，如不為了更能全心致力於引導他人走向天國，則童貞已不成其為美德。


１３倘男女信友為了過度自私而不結婚，或如聖奧斯定所警告的，為了逃避婚姻負擔（S. Aug., De Sancta Virginitate, c. 22 P. L. XL, 407）或如法利塞人一樣，為了炫耀自身的完整，則他們不得享有童貞的榮譽；就如岡格冷塞公會議所斥責的，誓守潔德，不應為了嫌惡婚姻，而應為了喜愛童貞的美麗和聖潔。（Can. 9; Mansi Coll. Concil. II, 1096）



童貞應以中樂天主為職志


１４還有，充滿天上神光的異族宗徒保祿曾這樣說：「沒有妻子的人掛慮主的事，想怎樣悅樂主．．．．．．沒有丈夫的婦女和童貞女掛慮主的事，想怎樣悅樂主」（格前，七，三二，三四）。所以，全心全靈貫注於天主的事務；在一切事上只求中樂天主，專心存想天主，并將自己神形全獻與天主，這應當是童貞的第一要義，這亦是童貞之所以為美德的理由。p


１５教父們常常這樣詮解基督的意見和聖保祿的道理。自教會建立伊始，他們即誌認為：童貞在於將肉體與心神奉獻天主。聖西彼廉要童貞女只求取悅天主，不為其他人物容飾自己，因為她們業經將自己奉獻了天主，放棄了肉慾，全心全神歸向了天主．．．．．．，（S. Cypr. De Habitu virginum, 4; P. L. IV, 443）西波主教則更進一步，說：「童貞并非因為是童貞，便應受到尊榮，而因為是奉獻與天主的．．．．．．吾人所以頌讚童貞女并非因為她們是童貞女，而是因為她們將自己的節德奉獻了天主」q（S. August. De sancta virginitate, cc. 8, 11;P. L. XL, 400, 401）。兩位神學泰斗：聖多瑪斯（Summa Theologiae II-II, Q, 152, art. 3 and 4）與聖文都拉（S. Bonav. De Perfectione evangelica, Q. 3, ART. 3, So.15），依據聖奧斯定的權威宣稱，如果沒有永久誓守童貞的聖願，童貞便缺乏美德所應具備的牢固性。因為只有以永久的聖願束縛自己考，始能將基督永不結婚的主張全部兌現。如有人意圖給自己保留一條結婚的出路，則他們所有童貞的志向，便不成其為更完善與更成全的。



童貞使人貴為基督淨配


１６依教父們的看法，成全的潔德好似婚姻鏈鎖，使人的心神與基督結合；甚至他們將違反這信誓的罪行比作通姦r（S. Cypr. De habitu virginum, c. 20; P. L IV, 459）。故此聖亞大納削稱擁有童貞聖德者為基督淨配（S. Athanas. Apol. And Constant., 33; P. G. XXV, 640）。聖盎博羅削寫得更為中肯，他說：「童貞者是嫁與天主者。」（S. Ambros. De Virginibus, lib. I, c. 8; P. L. XVI, 206）并且由這位米蘭聖師的著作裡（同上，III, cc. 1-3, nn. 1-14; De institutione virginis, c. 17, nn. 014-114; P. L. XVI. 219-224, 333-336）可以見到，遠自第四世紀，祝聖貞女的儀式極其相似現在教會祝聖婚姻的儀式。s（Sacramentarium Leo-nianum, XXX; P. L. LV, 129; Pontificale Romanum: De bencdictione et consecratione Virginum.）


１７職是之故，教父們勸告童貞女熱愛其淨配基督，要比妻子熱愛其丈夫更加誠摯，她們的思想行為要時時刻刻依從基督的意旨（S. Cypr. De habitu virginum, 4 et 22; P. L. IV, 443-444 et 462; S. Ambros. De virginibus, lib. I, c. 7, n. 37; P. L. XVI, 199）。聖奧斯定寫說：「妳們要熱愛人子中之最英俊者；妳們是自由的，妳們的心神不受婚姻鏈鎖的約束．．．．．．妳們若嫁了人，妳們便應專誠熱愛丈夫；妳們既為了基督而不嫁人，更應以何等的熱誠１來愛基督呢？基督既妳們被釘於十字架，妳們的心神亦應全部釘在基督身上。」(11) (S. August. De sancta vir-ginitate, cc. 54-55; P. L. XL; 428) 這與教會在祝聖童貞時請她們朗誦的下面的一段話，意義正相吻合：「為了愛吾主耶穌基督，我輕視了世界上的王國，并世俗的一切裝飾；我看見了祂，我喜愛了祂，我信任了祂，我熱戀了她。」(Pontificale Romanum: De benedictione et consecra-tione virginum) 溫柔地促使童貞女奉獻自己神形與天主的動機，只是基督的聖愛，就如聖梅多德要童貞女朗誦的這句美麗異常的話：「基督，你是我我萬有；淨配，我為你守身如玉，擎著明亮的歡迎你。」(S. Methodius Olympi, Convivium decem irginum, orat. XI, c. 2;P. G. XVIII, 209) 是的，是基督的聖愛，促使童貞女投身苦修院并永久居留在內，俾能更爽快更便利地對越和愛慕其淨配；是基督的聖愛鼓勵童貞女接受慈善和博愛的工作，鞠躬盡瘁，死而後已。



童貞使人追隨天主羔羊


１８若望宗徒關於未曾為婦女玷污，仍是童年的男士們說：「不論羔羊走向何方，他們常追隨左右」（默，一四，四）。吾人且存想聖奧斯定致給他們的訓話：「你們要追隨羔羊，因為天主羔羊的肉軀是童貞的．．．．．．你們要以神形兩潔的童貞，追隨左右，無論祂走各何方。但所謂追隨便是效法。因為伯多祿宗徒說：『基督為我們受難，給我們留下榜樣，使我們步武祂的足跡』（伯前，二，二一）。」（S. August. De sancta virginitate, c. 27; P. L. XL, 411）他們是基督的門徒兼淨配；他們所以接受童貞生活，就如聖文都拉所逆，無非「為了肖似其淨配基督，而基督則是鼓舞他們則效其童貞的主動者」(.S. Bonav. De perfectione Evang., Q. 3, A. 3)。故他們單在心裡與基督結合不夠，愛基督的聖愛還須以效法基督的德表來證實，尤其應梗倣祂全部為造福人類的生活。司鐸、修士、修女，以及一切專心事奉天主者，其所以潛修成全的潔德，無非為了則效其師傅，祂是至死童貞者。聖傅爾珍爵說：「這是天主的唯一子；這是童貞女的獨生子；這是一切童貞的無二淨配，是童貞的果實、光榮、恩惠；在肉體方面祂是童貞所生，在精神方面，童貞又是祂的淨配；祂使童貞多產而不使童貞遭受污損；祂是童貞的光輝，使童貞永遠美麗；最後，祂將給童貞加冕，使童貞永世為王。」(S. Fulgent. Epist. 3, c. 4, n. 6; P. L. LXV, 326)



童貞助人發揚愛德


１９可敬神昆，此處吾人認為應進一步發揮并闡明者，是：基督的愛何以使心胸慷慨者戒絕婚姻，以及童貞和成全愛德間究竟存在著怎樣的聯繫。上面吾人所援引的基督的聖言已意味著，不娶不嫁怎樣解脫人們於煩重的任務。受聖神啟發的保祿宗徒曾以這些言語陳述了解脫的原由，他說：「我要你們無牽無掛．．．．．．有妻子的人，顧慮世間的事，怎樣取悅妻子，他的心被分散了。」（格前，七，二三至三三）我們要注意，保祿宗徒并非說丈夫掛慮妻子是錯誤的，亦不斥責妻子取悅其丈夫是違法的，他只強調他們的心被分散於夫妻愛和天主之間，以及因了解婚姻帶來的繁雜事務，使人難以專務天主的事而己。夫妻決應各盡其義務，二人成為一體，此乃天主的命令（創，二，二四；瑪一五，五），并在任何情況下，甘苦與共(12)（格前，七，三九）。至於有意專心事奉天主者，其所欲接受童貞生活猶如一種解脫的理由，則是為了更充份地奉事天主和服務他人。舉例來說，驚人的傅教士聖沙切略，貧困者的慈父聖味增爵，青年教育家聖鮑斯高，勤勞不倦的移民之母聖方濟加戛勃理尼，假使他們應當照應自己的配偶和子女，并為他們精神肉體的需要而操心，怎能做出如此偉大的事業呢？



童貞助人舉心向上


２０此外，凡有意一心事主救人者，共所以選擇童貞生活的另一理由，是教父們論童貞生活的裨益時肯定的一點，他們說：人們戒絕肉體的快感，是為了更適宜於享受神魂的超昇。無疑的，他們曾清楚地聲明，合法婚姻內心的快感是無可厚非的，而且聖潔的婚姻貴為聖事，那是業經祝聖了的；但仍不得不承認，人性的這種低級官能，自亞當犯罪後，頗有礙於思想正直，有時且推動人們做出不道義的事業，就如天神博士所說：「婚姻的運用阻止人專心事奉天主。」(13) (Summa Theo-Logiae II-II, Q. 186, A.4)



童貞予人以精神自由


２１拉丁教會之所以要神職人員甘心情願接受成全的潔德義務，就為了使他們獲得不得不為俗事所纏擾的精神自由(C. J. C. can. 132)。吾人前任教宗庇護十一世說：「雖然這法令在東方教會裡不全有效，但神職人員的獨身生活頗為他們所尊重，有時尤其為他們的高級神職人員，還是必須恪守的律令。」(Encyclica and Catholici sacerdotii fastigium, AAS. XXVIII, 1936, pp. 24-24)


２２還該注意一點：神職人員戒絕婚姻，不獨因為他們負責宗徒事業，而且因為他們舉行聖祭。倘若舊約的司祭，當他們在聖殿裡值班時，還不得運用婚姻權利，否則，法律便要聲明他們不潔，和其他俗人無異（肋，一五，一六至一七）；何況身為基督的司祭，天天舉行彌撒人祭，不更應當永久持身如玉？關於司鐸成全的潔德，聖伯多祿達米盎這樣說：「既然救主耶穌在孩提時期業已如此鍾愛成全的潔德，不唯受生於童貞女，而且其鞠養之父亦是童貞者，請問現在永王卞天的祂，要什麼人來觸動其聖體呢？」(S. P. Damian. De Coelibatu sacerdotum, c. 3; P. L.CXLV, 384)


２３因此，教會明白宣佈：童貞比婚姻更為卓越。救主基督曾向門徒們聲明，童貞是更其成全的生活，是一種福音勸諭。保祿論父親之嫁其女者，只說：「做得好」；但談到父親之不嫁其女者，則說：「做得更好」（格前，七、三八）。再，他每逢將童貞與婚姻對比時，多次用這些話發表他的意見說：「我要你們同我一樣無牽無掛．．．．．．我是向尚未結婚者和結婚後喪偶者說的：若他們同我一樣，能止於現狀，為他們倒好」（同上、七、七至八）。如上所述，童貞所以比婚姻更為卓越，毫無疑問，一來為了它的宗旨更為崇高，二來為了它使人更有效地專心事奉天主；反之，為婚姻與俗務所羈縻者則多多少少是心神分散了的。（同上、七、三三）

9. First of all, We think it should be noted that the Church has taken what is capital in her teaching on virginity from the very lips of her Divine Spouse.

10. For when the disciples thought that the obligations and burdens of marriage, which their Master's discourse had made clear, seemed extremely heavy, they said to Him: "If the case stands so between man and wife, it is better not to marry at all."[12] Jesus Christ replied that His ideal is not understood by everybody but only by those who have received the gift; for some are hindered from marriage because of some defect of nature, others because of the violence and malice of men, while still others freely abstain of their own will, and this "for the kingdom of heaven." And He concludes with these words, "He that can take it, let him take it."[13]

11. By these words the divine Master is speaking not of bodily impediments to marriage, but of a resolution freely made to abstain all one's life from marriage and sexual pleasure. For in likening those who of their own free will have determined to renounce these pleasures to those who by nature or the violence of men are forced to do so, is not the Divine Redeemer teaching us that chastity to be really perfect must be perpetual?

12. Here also it must be added, as the Fathers and Doctors of the Church have clearly taught, that virginity is not a Christian virtue unless we embrace it "for the kingdom of heaven;"[14] that is, unless we take up this way of life precisely to be able to devote ourselves more freely to divine things to attain heaven more surely, and with skillful efforts to lead others more readily to the kingdom of heaven.

13. Those therefore, who do not marry because of exaggerated self-interest, or because, as Augustine says,[15] they shun the burdens of marriage or because like Pharisees they proudly flaunt their physical integrity, an attitude which has been condemned by the Council of Gangra lest men and women renounce marriage as though it were something despicable instead of because virginity is something beautiful and holy, - none of these can claim for themselves the honor of Christian virginity.[16]

14. Moreover, the Apostle of the Gentiles, writing under divine inspiration, makes this point: "He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. . . And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and spirit."[17]

15. This then is the primary purpose, this the central idea of Christian virginity: to aim only at the divine, to turn thereto the whole mind and soul; to want to please God in everything, to think of Him continually, to consecrate body and soul completely to Him.

16. This is the way the Fathers of the Church have always interpreted the words of Jesus Christ and the teaching of the Apostle of the Gentiles; for from the very earliest days of the Church they have considered virginity a consecration of body and soul offered to God. Thus, St. Cyprian demands of virgins that "once they have dedicated themselves to Christ by renouncing the pleasures of the flesh, they have vowed themselves body and soul to God . . . and should seek to adorn themselves only for their Lord and please only Him."[18] And the Bishop of Hippo, going further, says, "Virginity is not honored because it is bodily integrity, but because it is something dedicated to God. . . Nor do we extol virgins because they are virgins, but because they are virgins dedicated to God in loving continence."[19] And the masters of Sacred Theology, St. Thomas Aquinas[20] and St. Bonaventure,[21] supported by the authority of Augustine, teach that virginity does not possess the stability of virtue unless there is a vow to keep it forever intact. And certainly those who obligate themselves by perpetual vow to keep their virginity put into practice in the most perfect way possible what Christ said about perpetual abstinence from marriage; nor can it justly be affirmed that the intention of those who wish to leave open a way of escape from this state of life is better and more perfect.

17. Moreover the Fathers of the Church considered this obligation of perfect chastity as a kind of spiritual marriage, in which the soul is wedded to Christ; so that some go so far as to compare breaking the vow with adultery.[22] Thus, St. Athanasius writes that the Catholic Church has been accustomed to call those who have the virtue of virginity the spouses of Christ.[23] And St. Ambrose, writing succinctly of the consecrated virgin, says, "She is a virgin who is married to God." [24] In fact, as is clear from the writings of the same Doctor of Milan,[25] as early as the fourth century the rite of consecration of a virgin was very like the rite the Church uses in our own day in the marriage blessing.[26]

18. For the same reason the Fathers exhort virgins to love their Divine Spouse more ardently than they would love a husband had they married, and always in their thoughts and actions to fulfill His will.[27] Augustine writes to virgins: "Love with all your hearts Him Who is the most beautiful of the sons of men: you are free, your hearts are not fettered by conjugal bonds . . . if, then, you would owe your husbands great love, how great is the love you owe Him because of Whom you have willed to have not husbands? Let Him Who was fastened to the cross be securely fastened to your hearts."[28] And this in other respects too is in harmony with the sentiments and resolutions which the Church herself requires of virgins on the day they are solemnly consecrated to God by inviting them to recite these words: "The kingdom of this earth and all worldly trappings I have valued as worthless for love of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Whom I have seen, loved, believed, and preferred above all else."[29] It is nothing else but love of Him that sweetly constrains the virgin to consecrate her body and soul entirely to her Divine Redeemer; thus St. Methodius, Bishop of Olympus, places these beautiful words on her lips: "You yourself, O Christ, are my all. For you I keep myself chaste, and holding aloft my shining lamp I run to meet you, my Spouse."[30] Certainly it is the love of Christ that urges a virgin to retire behind convent walls and remain there all her life, in order to contemplate and love the heavenly Spouse more easily and without hindrance; certainly it is the same love that strongly inspires her to spend her life and strength in works of mercy for the sake of her neighbor.

19. As for those men "who were not defiled with women, being virgins,"[31] the Apostle John asserts that, "they follow the Lamb wherever he goes."[32] Let us meditate, then, on the exhortation Augustine gives to all men of this class: "You follow the Lamb because the body of the Lamb is indeed virginal. . . Rightly do you follow Him in virginity of heart and body wherever He goes. For what does following mean but imitation? Christ has suffered for us, leaving us an example, as the Apostle Peter says 'that we should follow in his footsteps'."[33] Hence all these disciples and spouses of Christ embraced the state of virginity, as St. Bonaventure says, "in order to become like unto Christ the spouse, for that state makes virgins like unto Him."[34] It would hardly satisfy their burning love for Christ to be united with Him by the bonds of affection, but this

love had perforce to express itself by the imitation of His virtues, and especially by conformity to His way of life, which was lived completely for the benefit and salvation of the human race. If priests, religious men and women, and others who in any way have vowed themselves to the divine service, cultivate perfect chastity, it is certainly for the reason that their Divine Master remained all His life a virgin. St. Fulgentius exclaims: "This is the only-begotten Son of God, the only-begotten Son of a virgin also, the only spouse of all holy virgins, the fruit, the glory, the gift of holy virginity, whom holy virginity brought forth physically, to whom holy virginity is wedded spiritually, by whom holy virginity is made fruitful and kept inviolate, by whom she is adorned, to remain ever beautiful, by whom she is crowned, to reign forever glorious."[35]

20. And here We think it opportune, Venerable Brothers, to expose more fully and to explain more carefully why the love of Christ moves generous souls to abstain from marriage, and what is the mystical connection between virginity and the perfection of Christian charity. From our Lord's words referred to above, it has already been implied that this complete renunciation of marriage frees men from its grave duties and obligations. Writing by divine inspiration, the Apostle of the Gentiles proposes the reason for this freedom in these words: "And I would have you to be without solicitude. . . But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided."[36] Here however it must be noted that the Apostle is not reproving men because they are concerned about their wives, nor does he reprehend wives because they seek to please their husbands; rather is he asserting clearly that their hearts are divided between love of God and love of their spouse, and beset by gnawing cares, and so by reason of the duties of their married state they can hardly be free to contemplate the divine. For the duty of the married life to which they are bound clearly demands: "They shall be two in one flesh."[37] For spouses are to be bound to each other by mutual bonds both in joy and in sorrow.[38] It is easy to see, therefore, why persons who desire to consecrate themselves to God's service embrace the state of virginity as a liberation, in order to be more entirely at God's disposition and devoted to the good of their neighbor. How, for example, could a missionary such as the wonderful St. Francis Xavier, a father of the poor such as the merciful St. Vincent de Paul, a zealous educator of youth like St. John Bosco, a tireless "mother of emigrants" like St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, have accomplished such gigantic and painful labors, if each had to look after the corporal and spiritual needs of a wife or husband and children?

21. There is yet another reason why souls desirous of a total consecration to the service of God and neighbor embrace the state of virginity. It is, as the holy Fathers have abundantly illustrated, the numerous advantages for advancement in spiritual life which derive from a complete renouncement of all sexual pleasure. It is not to be thought that such pleasure, when it arises from lawful marriage, is reprehensible in itself; on the contrary, the chaste use of marriage is ennobled and sanctified by a special sacrament, as the Fathers themselves have clearly remarked. Nevertheless, it must be equally admitted that as a consequence of the fall of Adam the lower faculties of human nature are no longer obedient to right reason, and may involve man in dishonorable actions. As the Angelic Doctor has it, the use of marriage "keeps the soul from full abandon to the service of God."[39]

22. It is that they may acquire this spiritual liberty of body and soul, and that they may be freed from temporal cares, that the Latin Church demands of her sacred ministers that they voluntarily oblige themselves to observe perfect chastity.[40] And "if a similar law," as Our predecessor of immortal memory Pius XI declared, "does not bind the ministers of the Oriental Church to the same degree, nevertheless among them too ecclesiastical celibacy occupies a place of honor, and, in certain cases, especially when the higher grades of the hierarchy are in question, it is a necessary and obligatory condition."[41]

23. Consider again that sacred ministers do not renounce marriage solely on account of their apostolic ministry, but also by reason of their service at the altar. For, if even the priests of the Old

Testament had to abstain from the use of marriage during the period of their service in the Temple, for fear of being declared impure by the Law just as other men,[42] is it not much more fitting that the ministers of Jesus Christ, who offer every day the Eucharistic Sacrifice, possess perfect chastity? St. Peter Damian, exhorting priests to perfect continence, asks: "If Our Redeemer so loved the flower of unimpaired modesty that not only was He born from a virginal womb, but was also cared for by a virgin nurse even when He was still an infant crying in the cradle, by whom, I ask, does He wish His body to be handled now that He reigns, limitless, in heaven?"[43]