Page:Ante-Nicene Fathers volume 1.djvu/241

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TO THE PHILADELPHIANS.
227
in God, that ye may be the freedmen of Christ.[1] Husbands, love your wives, as fellow-servants of God, as your own body, as the partners of your life, and your co-adjutors in the procreation of children. Virgins, have Christ alone before your eyes, and His Father in your prayers, being enlightened by the Spirit. May I have pleasure in your purity, as that of Elijah, or as of Joshua the son of Nun, as of Melchizedek, or as of Elisha, as of Jeremiah, or as of John the Baptist, as of the beloved disciple, as of Timothy, as of Titus, as of Evodius, as of Clement, who departed this life in [perfect] chastity.[2] Not, however, that I blame the other blessed [saints] because they entered into the married state, of which I have just spoken.[3] For I pray that, being found worthy of God, I may be found at their feet in the kingdom, as at the feet of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; as of Joseph, and Isaiah, and the rest of the prophets; as of Peter, and Paul, and the rest of the apostles, that were married men. For they entered into these marriages not for the sake of appetite, but out of regard for the propagation of mankind. Fathers, "bring
  1. 1 Cor. vii. 22.
  2. There was a prevalent opinion among the ancient Christian writers, that all these holy men lived a life of celibacy.
  3. Or, "it is not because, etc., that I have mentioned these."