XI.  But He said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.  Do you see the sublimity of the matter?  It is found to be nearly incomprehensible.  For surely it is more than carnal that that which is born of flesh should not beget to the flesh.  Surely it is Angelic that she who is bound to flesh should live not according to flesh, but be loftier than her nature.  The flesh bound her to the world, but reason led her up to God.  The flesh weighed her down, but reason gave her wings; the flesh bound her, but desire loosed her.  With thy whole soul, O Virgin, be intent upon God (I give this same injunction to men and to women); and do not take the same view in other respects of what is honourable as the mass of men do; of family, of wealth, of throne, of dynasty, of that beauty which shews itself in complexion and composition of members, the plaything of time and disease.  If thou hast poured out upon God the whole of thy love; if thou hast not two objects of desire, both the passing and the abiding, both the visible and the invisible, then thou hast been so pierced by the arrow of election, and hast so learned the beauty of the Bridegroom, that thou too canst say with the bridal drama and song, thou art sweetness and altogether loveliness.