Letter 50020: You ask me to write down what I have been preaching about virginity, and since you are the one person whose example...

From: Ambrose, Bishop of Milan To: His sister Marcellina Date: ~377 AD Context: Ambrose writes to Marcellina [who had taken the veil of consecrated virginity from Pope Liberius in Rome around 353] about the excellence of the consecrated life and the proper understanding of Christian asceticism. Ambrose to his most dear sister Marcellina — greetings. You ask me to write down what I have been preaching about virginity, and since you are the one person whose example gives me the right to speak on the subject, I comply. I know that this teaching offends many — especially the mothers of Milan, who suspect I am discouraging their daughters from marriage. Let me be clear: marriage is good. Marriage is holy. Marriage was instituted by God. But consecrated virginity is a higher calling — not because the body is evil, but because dedication to God without division is a gift of extraordinary value. The virgin does not despise marriage; she transcends it. The married woman serves God through her family, and this is honorable. The virgin serves God directly, and this is more honorable still — as Paul himself teaches (1 Corinthians 7:38). But I am not speaking of virginity of the body alone. What good is an intact body if the mind is corrupt? Virginity of the heart is the foundation. The woman who is pure in thought but married is closer to God than the woman who is physically a virgin but spiritually enslaved to vanity. You, sister, have lived this truth for decades now. When Pope Liberius [bishop of Rome, 352-366] placed the veil on your head, you chose a path that has shaped not only your own life but mine. I became a bishop; you became a model of the life I preach. Which of us chose the better part? Continue in your calling with joy. The world does not understand it, but the Lord honors it, and that is enough.

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