adultery with her already in his heart." But now they behold the
very bride of the Lord--her of whom Christ is the head--
committing adultery without fear or shame. Yes, the very spirits of
departed saints may well groan, the zealous Phineas, that it is not
permitted to him now to snatch the spear and to punish the loathsome
sin with a summary corporeal vengeance; and John the Baptist, that
he cannot now leave the celestial abodes, as he once left the
wilderness, and hasten to rebuke the transgression, and if the
sacrifice were called for, to lay down his head sooner than abate
the severity of his reproof. Nay, let us rather say that, like
blessed Abel, John "being dead yet speaketh," and now lifts up his
voice with a yet louder cry than in the case of Herodias, saying,
"It is not lawful for thee to have her." For, although the body of
John, yielding to the inevitable sentence of God, has paid the debt
of nature, and his tongue is silent, yet "the word of God is not
bound." And he who, when the marriage covenant had been violated in
the case of a fellow-servant, was faithful even unto death with his
stern reproofs, what must he have felt if he had seen the holy
bride-chamber of the Lord thus wantonly outraged?

But as for thee, O thou who hast thus cast off the yoke of that
divine union, and deserted the undefiled chamber of the true King,
and shamefully fallen into this disgraceful and impious defilement,
since thou hast no way of evading this bitter charge, and no method
or artifice can avail to conceal thy fearful crime, thou boldly
hardenest thyself in guilt. And as he who has once fallen into the
abyss of crime becomes henceforth an impious despiser, so thou
deniest thy very covenant with the true bridegroom; alleging that
thou wast not a virgin, and hadst never taken the vow, although thou
hast both received and given many pledges of virginity. Remember
the good confession which thou hast made before God and angels and
men. Remember that venerable assembly, and the sacred choir of
virgins, and the congregation of the Lord, and the Church of the
saints. Remember thy aged grandmother in Christ, whose Christian
virtues still flourish in the vigor of youth; and thy mother in the
Lord, who vies with the former, and strives by new and unwonted
endeavors to dissolve the bands of custom; and thy sister likewise,
in some things their imitator, and in some aspiring to excel them,
and to surpass in the merits of v