VIII. Churn milk and it will be
butter; Prov. xxx. 33. examine this and
perhaps you may find something more nourishing in it. For I think
that the Word here seems to deprecate second marriage. For, if
there were two Christs, there may be two husbands or two wives; but if
Christ is One, one Head of the Church, let there be also one flesh, and
let a second be rejected; and if it hinder the second what is to be
said for a third? The first is law, the second is indulgence, the
third is transgression, and anything beyond this is swinish, such as
has not even many examples of its wickedness. Now the Law grants
divorce for every cause; but Christ not for every cause; but He allows
only separation from the whore; and in all other things He commands
patience. He allows to put away the fornicatress, because she
corrupts the offspring; but in all other matters let us be patient and
endure; or rather be ye An indication that S.
Gregory was himself unmarried. enduring and
patient, as many as have received the yoke of matrimony. If you
see lines or marks upon her, take away her ornaments; if a hasty
tongue, restrain it; if a meretricious laugh, make it modest; if
immoderate expenditure or drink, reduce it; if unseasonable going out,
shackle it; if a lofty eye, chastise it. It is uncertain which is
in danger, the separator or the separated. Let thy fountain of
water, it says, be only thine own, and let no stranger share it with
thee; Prov. v. 17. and, let the colt of thy favours and the
stag of thy love company with thee; do thou then take care not to be a
strange river, nor to please others better than thine own wife.
But if thou be carried elsewhere, then thou makest a law of lewdness
for thy partner also. Thus saith the Saviour.