8. In modesty she so greatly excelled, and so far
surpassed, those of her own day, to say nothing of those of old time
who have been illustrious for modesty, that, in regard to the two
divisions of the life of all, that is, the married and the unmarried
state, the latter being higher and more divine, though more difficult
and dangerous, while the former is more humble and more safe, she was
able to avoid the disadvantages of each, and to select and combine all
that is best in both, namely, the elevation of the one and the security
of the other, thus becoming modest without pride, blending the
excellence of the married with that of the unmarried state, and proving
that neither of them absolutely binds us to, or separates us from, God
or the world (so that the one from its own nature must be utterly
avoided, and the other altogether praised): but that it is mind
which nobly presides over wedlock and maidenhood, and arranges and
works upon them as the raw material of virtue under the master-hand of
reason. For though she had entered upon a carnal union, she was
not therefore separated from the spirit, nor, because her husband was
her head, did she ignore her first Head: but, performing those
few ministrations due to the world and nature, according to the will of
the law of the flesh, or rather of Him who gave to the flesh these
laws, she consecrated herself entirely to God. But what is most
excellent and honourable, she also won over her husband to her side,
and made of him a good fellow-servant, instead of an unreasonable
master. And not only so, but she further made the fruit of her
body, her children and her children’s children, to be the fruit
of her spirit, dedicating to God not her single soul, but the whole
family and household, and making wedlock illustrious through her own
acceptability in wedlock, and the fair harvest she had reaped thereby;
presenting herself, as long as she lived, as an example to her
offspring of all that was good, and when summoned hence, leaving her
will behind her, as a silent exhortation to her house.