30. But you, O happy virgins, who know not such
torments, rather than ornaments, whose holy modesty, beaming in your
bashful cheeks, and sweet chastity are a beauty, ye do not, intent upon
the eyes of men, consider as merits what is gained by the errors of
others. You, too, have indeed your own beauty, furnished by the
comeliness of virtue, not of the body, to which age puts not an end,
which death cannot take away, nor any sickness injure. Let God
alone be sought as the judge of loveliness, Who loves even in less
beautiful bodies the more beautiful souls. You know nothing of
the burden and pain of childbearing, but more are the offspring of a
pious soul, which esteems all as its children, which is rich in
successors, barren of all bereavements, which knows no deaths, but has
many heirs.