"But I do receive it," Theopatra said that Virtue replied, "and I praise you all; for most excellently—even if not so conspicuously, yet with earnestness—have you gone through the things received and spoken, not contriving sweet-sounding speech for the delight of your hearers, but a reminder and watchfulness unto amendment. For he who says that chastity must be set before my pursuits and embraced first of all others gives right counsel; which many think they honor and serve, yet few, so to speak, truly honor. For it is not when a man is ambitious to keep his own flesh untasted of the pleasure of intercourse, while not mastering the others, that he honors chastity; rather he dishonors it, and not least by his vulgar lusts, exchanging pleasures for pleasures. Nor again when, while toiling and persevering against the outward lusts, he is lifted up and puffed up by this very thing—being able to master the kindlings of the flesh—and esteems all men as nothing, despising them, does he honor chastity; for he dishonors it by insulting it with haughtiness, by cleansing the outside of the dish and the platter—the flesh, the body—while injuring the heart with conceit and love of contention. Nor again, when one prides himself on wealth, does he zealously honor it; rather, this man above all dishonors it, preferring to it a little gain, to which none of the things held precious is of equal worth; for all wealth is as nothing before it, and gold as a little sand. Nor again does the one who exceedingly esteems to love himself and is zealous to look to his own advantage alone, but is heedless of his neighbors, honor chastity; rather, this man too dishonors it, for he falls far short of those who consort with it worthily, by maiming its love and its sympathy and its philanthropy. For one must not be chaste and virgin in this respect, while in that doing evil and being defiled and licentious; nor profess in this respect to be pure and self-controlled, while in that being polluted and sinning; nor again confess in this respect to have given no thought to worldly things, while in that acquiring them and being engrossed in them; but one must keep all the members unparticipating in and unmixed with corruption—not only the parts that itch and serve intercourse, but already also those more active than these. For it is a mockery to keep the organs of procreation virgin, but not to keep the tongue; or to keep the tongue virgin, but not the sight or the hearing or the hands; or to have and keep these virgin, but not to keep the heart, but to prostitute it to conceit and anger. For he who is going not to sin in the practice of chastity must by all means keep all his members and senses pure and tightly bound, just as the helmsmen of ships bind tight the joints, so that sin may not have an entrance within when it floods in. For with great pursuits great faults of necessity occur, and in truth evil is more opposed to the good than to the not-good. Many, therefore, supposing that chastity consists rather in enduring against the goading lusts, neglecting the other aspects of it, have stumbled, and have attached reproaches to those who have rightly set out toward it—reproaches which you have refuted, a law through all, since you yourselves have kept virginity both in deed and in word. And the things concerning the virgin, what manner of person she ought to be, have been delineated; and I, having become an eyewitness as you contended sufficiently in word, declare you all to be victors and crown you—but Thecla with the greater and leafier crown, as the first of you and as having shone forth more magnificently." Having said these things, then, Theopatra said that Virtue commanded all to rise, and that, standing under the agnus-castus, they should send up a fitting hymn of thanksgiving to the Lord, and that Thecla should lead and go before. So when they had risen, she said that Thecla, standing in the midst of the virgins and on the right of Virtue, sang in seemly fashion, and that the rest, set in a circle as in the figure of a chorus, responded to her. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you, and holding lamps that bear the light, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Alpha): From on high, O virgins, the cry of one that rouses the dead came, bidding us with all speed to go forth to meet the Bridegroom in white robes and with lamps toward the East: awake, before the King come in within the gates. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you, and holding lamps that bear the light, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Beta): Fleeing the much-lamented happiness of mortals, the delights and love of the luxury of life, I long to be sheltered under your life-giving arms and to behold your beauty forever, O blessed one. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you... O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Gamma): Leaving behind the mortal beds of marriages and my golden home, O King, for your sake I have come in spotless garments, that I too may enter within the all-blessed bridal chambers in company with you. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and bear the light-bringing lamps, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Delta): Fleeing the countless beguiling wiles of the dragon, O blessed one, I endured also the flame of fire and the man-destroying onslaughts of savage beasts, awaiting you from heaven. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and, holding lamps that bear the light, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Epsilon): I forgot my fatherland, longing for your grace; I forgot the choirs of virgins my companions, and the pride of mother and kindred; for you yourself, O Christ, are all things to me. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you... O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Zeta): O Life, you are the giver! Hail, O Light! Receive this our cry; the choir of virgins calls upon you, perfect Flower, Love, Joy, Prudence, Wisdom, Word. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you... O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Eta): With doors flung open, O Queen radiantly arrayed, you received us within the chambers, O you of body undefiled, fair-victorious bride, sweet-breathing one; clad in like robes we stand beside Christ, singing your all-blessed marriage, O young shoot. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you... O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Theta): Now the maidens, heavy with grief, lament outside the gates of the bridal chamber and cry mournfully, because, having quenched the light of their lamps, they did not arrive in time to behold the storehouse of joy. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you... O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Iota): For, having turned aside from the holy way, the wretched ones neglected the more to acquire oil for life; and bearing the dead lamps of fiery flame, they groan within from the depths of their hearts. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you... O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Kappa): Sweet-abounding bowls of nectar are set before us; let us drink, O virgins: it is a heavenly draught which the Bridegroom has set for those worthily called to the marriage. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and bear the light-bringing lamps, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Lambda): Brightly did Abel, dripping with blood, declare your murder, looking up to heaven: "Receive me, wounded pitilessly by a brother's hand, I beseech you, O Word." RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and, holding light-bearing lamps, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Mu): A mighty struggle did your steadfast servant, O Word, Joseph win; for a woman violently dragged him toward lawless beds, inflamed with desire, but he, in no way ashamed, fled naked, crying aloud. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and, holding lamps that bear the light, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Nu): Jephthah brought up his newly-slain maiden daughter as a sacrifice to God, unskilled, like a lamb about the altar; and she, nobly fulfilling the type of your flesh, O blessed one, cried out steadfastly. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and, holding lamps that bear the light, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Xi): Courageous Judith, with well-aimed wiles, beheaded the general of foreign hordes, having charmed him by the appearance of her beauty, yet not defiling the members of her body, and said with victorious cries: RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Omicron): Beholding the comely form of Susanna, two men, maddened with lust, said: "O woman, we have come longing for secret unions of marriage with you, dear one." But she with trembling cries said: RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you... O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Pi): "It is far better for me to die than, betraying my marriage-bed to you, O woman-mad men, to suffer eternal punishment in the fiery torments of God: save me, O Christ, from these now." RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you, holding light-bearing lamps, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Rho): The Forerunner, washing the multitudes of mortals with cleansing streams, was lawlessly led to slaughter by a wicked man for the sake of chastity, and wetting the dust with crimson gore he cried to you, O blessed one. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and, holding light-bearing lamps, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Sigma): Your life-bearing grace also, untouched, unyielding, carrying your spotless offspring in a seedless womb, came under suspicion, as a virgin betraying her marriage-bed; but she, being with child, said, O blessed one: RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and, holding lamps that bear the light, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Tau): Longing to behold your nuptial day, O blessed one, all those whom you yourself, O King of angels, have called from on high are come, bearing the greatest gifts to you, O Word, in spotless robes. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and, holding lamps that bear the light, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Upsilon): With hymns, O blessed Bride of God, we your bridal attendants now honor you, O virgin untouched, O Church of snow-white body, dark-tressed, chaste, blameless, beloved. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and, holding lamps that bear the light, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Phi): Corruption has fled, and the tearful pains of diseases; death is taken away, all folly has perished, mind-wasting grief has died, and suddenly the joy of God's Christ has shone forth upon mortals. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and, holding lamps that bear the light, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Chi): The paradise of mortals is no longer bereft; for again he who fell by the manifold arts of the dragon dwells in it, as before, by divine appointment, incorruptible, fearless, O blessed one. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you, holding light-bearing lamps, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Psi): Singing the new song now, the choir conducts you toward the heavens, O Queen, all radiant with light, crowned with white cups of lilies, and bearing in your hands torches that flash with flame. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you, holding light-bearing lamps, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. PSALM (Omega): O you who dwell in the undefiled chambers of heaven, O blessed one, without beginning, marshalling all things by eternal power, we are present: receive us also, together with your Son, within the gates of life, O Father. RESPONSE: I keep myself chaste for you and, holding lamps that bear the light, O Bridegroom, I go forth to meet you. EUBOULION: Worthily did Thecla bear off the first of the prizes, O Gregorion. GREGORION: Worthily indeed. EUBOULION: But what then? The stranger-woman from Telmessus—tell me, was she not listening even from outside? For I marvel whether she kept quiet when she learned of this banquet, and did not at once, like a bird, fly to the food to hear the things being said. GREGORION: No; for the report is that she was present with Methodius, who was inquiring of Virtue about these very things. But it is a fine and blessed thing to make use of such a teacher and guide, namely Virtue. EUBOULION: But, O Gregorion, which do we call the better—those who do not desire but master desire, or those who desire and yet keep virginity? GREGORION: Those who do not desire and keep virginity; since these possess both their understanding and their sense undefiled, and are wholly incorruptible, having sinned in nothing. EUBOULION: Well said, by chastity, O Gregorion, and wisely. But do I hinder you at all if I take up the arguments, that I may learn more vigorously, and you, being moved, may refute me still further? GREGORION: Take them up, wherever you wish; for I am sufficiently able, O Euboulion, to teach you that the one who does not desire is better than the one who desires, and no one shall at all refute you. EUBOULION: Bravo! For I rejoice that you answer me magnanimously and show how richly you have prospered in wisdom. GREGORION: You seem, it appears, to be a chatterer of a fellow, O Euboulion. EUBOULION: For what reason? GREGORION: Because you say these things mocking me rather than speaking the truth. EUBOULION: Speak no ill, O blessed one; for I greatly admire your shrewdness and high renown. I said this, that the things about which many wise men often dispute among themselves, you say you not only understand, but also take pride in teaching others. GREGORION: Tell me, do you in truth find it hard to allow that those who do not desire differ at all from those who desire and exercise self-control? Or are you altogether jesting with me in these things? EUBOULION: And how am I testing you, when I confess that I do not know? But come, tell me, O wisest one, in what do those who do not desire and are chaste differ from those who desire and keep virginity? GREGORION: Because, first of all, they have their soul itself pure, and the Holy Spirit ever dwells in it, since it is not dragged about and muddied by fantasies and reasonings of incontinence, so as ever to be injured even through the imagination; but they are wholly unsusceptible, both in the flesh and in the heart, of desire, keeping a calm of the passions. But those who are lured outwardly through the sight by fantasies, and receive desire flooding in like a stream into the heart, are no less often defiled, even though they suppose they are striving against and battling the pleasures, being defeated in their reasoning. EUBOULION: Shall we then call those pure who keep a calm and are not disturbed by desire? GREGORION: Most certainly. For God, who through the beatitudes makes gods of those who believe in Him without hesitation, declares that such ones shall see God with boldness, because they bring to the divine contemplation nothing that darkens or troubles the eye of the soul, but, having become wholly outside the appetites of worldly things, they keep the flesh pure not only, as I said, of mixture, but already also the heart unsusceptible of reasonings of incontinence, in which especially the Holy Spirit, dwelling as in a temple, rests. EUBOULION: Hold then—for I think we may more rightly proceed from here to the discovery of what is truly better—and tell me: do you call any helmsman good? GREGORION: I do. EUBOULION: Which—the one who has brought the vessel safely through great and irresistible storms, or the one who does so in calm and windless weather? GREGORION: The one in great and irresistible storms. EUBOULION: Shall we not then call the soul that is flooded by the surging waves of the passions and yet does not grow weary or give out, but steers the vessel, the flesh, nobly into the harbor of self-control, better and more approved than the one that sails in fair weather? GREGORION: We shall. EUBOULION: For to adjust oneself to the assaults of the blasts of the evil spirit and not to be cast away or conquered, but, looking up wholly toward Christ, to battle steadfastly with the pleasures, brings greater praise than that of the one who keeps virginity with ease and unbuffeted. GREGORION: It seems so. EUBOULION: And what of the Lord? Does He not seem to show that the one who desires and exercises self-control differs from—is greater than—the one who does not desire and keeps virginity? GREGORION: Where then? EUBOULION: There, where, comparing the prudent man to a house well founded, He declares him incapable of falling, unable to be cast down by the rain and the rivers and the winds—likening, it seems, the lusts to the storms, and to the rock the immovable and unfailing constancy of the soul concerning chastity. GREGORION: You would seem to speak the truth. EUBOULION: And what of a physician? Do you not call best the one who has already been tried in great diseases and has healed many? GREGORION: I do. EUBOULION: And the one who has accomplished nothing yet, nor had any sick at all under his hands—is he not by all means still less approved? GREGORION: Yes. EUBOULION: Shall we not then say that the soul which bears with a more fluid body and soothes its diseases concerning the pleasures with the medicines of self-control is more skilled in healing than the one allotted to govern a healthy and passionless body? GREGORION: We must say so. EUBOULION: And what of wrestling? Which is the better wrestler—the one who has great and strong antagonists, and ever grapples and is not thrown, or the one who has no antagonists? GREGORION: Plainly the one who has them. EUBOULION: And so in wrestling too the more approved athlete is the one who has antagonists? GREGORION: Necessarily. EUBOULION: Shall we not then by all necessity say that the soul which contrives against the assaults of desire and is not dragged down, but pulls against and ranges itself in opposition, appears stronger than the one that does not desire? GREGORION: True. EUBOULION: And what of holding out steadfastly against the impulses, Gregorion, of base appetites? Does it seem to you to belong rather to courage? GREGORION: Very much so. EUBOULION: And is this courage a power of virtue? GREGORION: Plainly. EUBOULION: Then if endurance is a power of virtue, the soul that is troubled and holds out against the desires appears more powerful than the one not troubled? GREGORION: Yes. EUBOULION: And if more powerful, also better? GREGORION: Yes. EUBOULION: The soul that desires and exercises self-control is therefore better than the one that does not desire, from the things agreed upon. GREGORION: True you speak; and I shall desire to discourse with you yet more fully concerning these matters. If, then, it is agreeable to you, tomorrow I will come again to hear of them. For now, as you see, it is time at last to turn and to busy ourselves with the outward man.