THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
In the same way, he says, I want women also to draw near to God without anger and without doubting. They must have pure hands, not follow their desires, not plunder, and not be covetous.
What profit is there if she does not plunder herself, but does so through her husband? Yet Paul requires something more from women. What is it?
"In modest apparel, with shamefacedness and self-control, they should adorn themselves, not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls," he says, "or costly clothing, but with good works, as befits women who profess piety."
What does he call "modest apparel"? It means clothing that covers them decently on every side. It should be becoming, but not elaborate. The first is proper; the second is unseemly.
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What will you say to this? You come to pray to God, yet you surround yourself with gold ornaments and headdresses. Have you come to dance? Or to take part in a wedding feast? Have you appeared for a solemn procession?
There gold ornaments are fitting; there headdresses are fitting; there costly garments are fitting. Here none of these things is needed.
You have come to make supplication, to pray for your sins, to offer prayer for your transgressions, and to entreat the Lord to incline Him to mercy. Why, then, do you adorn yourself?
Such attire is unbecoming for one who prays. How can you groan? How can you weep? How can you pray earnestly when clothed in such adornment?
Even if you weep, your tears will seem worthy of laughter to anyone who sees them. For a woman who weeps ought not to wear gold.
This is hypocrisy and pretense. How is it not hypocrisy, when the same soul that produced this splendor and vainglory also pours out tears?
Put away all this pretense from yourself. God cannot be mocked. Such things belong to actors and dancers, who spend their days on the stage. They are wholly unbecoming to an honorable woman.
"With shamefacedness," he says, "and self-control." Therefore do not imitate harlots. By such attire they attract many lovers to themselves.
Through this many have often brought an evil opinion upon themselves. They received no benefit from their adornment, because through that opinion they harmed many.
A wanton woman, even if she enjoys a reputation for chastity, gains nothing from that reputation. He who judges secrets will in due time bring everything to light.
So too, a chaste woman, if by her attire she succeeds in gaining the reputation of a woman of bad conduct, gains nothing from her chastity. For many have been brought to ruin through such a reputation.
But why should I suffer, one woman will say, if another suspects me? You give occasion for it by your attire, by your look, and by your movements.
For this reason Paul speaks so much about clothing and modesty.
If he rejects what is merely a sign of wealth, namely gold, pearls, and costly garments, how much more does he reject what is a sign of excessive vanity?
I mean cosmetics, painting the eyes, an affected gait, a soft voice, a moist glance filled with every kind of fornication, and the artful way in which a veil is thrown on or a garment is put on.
I mean also the skillfully arranged belt and the ornate footwear. He indicates all this when he says, "in modest apparel," and also by the words, "with shamefacedness."
For all these things belong to shamelessness and indecency.
I beg you, be indulgent toward me. My word contains such open rebuke not in order to wound or grieve you, but to remove from the flock everything foreign to it.
If he forbids this to married women who live in luxury and wealth, how much more does he forbid it to those who have dedicated themselves to virginity?
But what virgin, they will say, puts gold ornaments on herself? What virgin wears headdresses? Even ordinary clothing may be so elaborate that these adornments become insignificant beside it.
Even inexpensive clothing may be more showy than clothing embroidered with gold.
When a garment has too bright a color, and is fastened with special care by a belt around the breast, as happens with those who dance on the stage, it becomes a snare.
It neither spreads out broadly, as though rising upward, nor is drawn so tight that it seems too narrow. It keeps a middle course between the two, and forms many folds around the breast.
Can such a garment not allure far more than every kind of silken dress?
What if the footwear, being black, gives off an extraordinary shine and ends in a point? What if, by its graceful appearance, it resembles a painting, so that it does not raise the sole of the foot too much?
What if you do not adorn your face with cosmetics, yet wash it with extraordinary care and attention?
What if you place around your forehead a band much whiter than your face, and then throw a black veil over it from above, so that the black stands out more against the white?
What shall you say about this constant turning of the eyes?
What shall we say about the belt and the band upon the breast? When girding themselves, women now hide it, now display it outwardly.
Often they leave the breast uncovered so that the skillful workmanship of the belt may be seen, while they put a veil around the whole head.
As for the hands, they cover them so carefully, like tragic actors, that one might think the garment had grown onto them.
What shall I say about the gait and the other movements? These can captivate those who look at them more than any gold.
Let us fear, beloved, lest we too hear what the prophet said to the Hebrew women who cared for outward adornment: "Instead of a girdle there shall be a rope, and instead of curled hair, baldness" (Is 3:23).
Such things can attract more powerfully than gold ornaments. So can many other things skillfully arranged so that people will look at them and those who look will be captivated by them.
This is no small sin. On the contrary, it is very great. It can provoke God to anger and destroy the whole labor of virginity.
Christ is your Bridegroom. Why do you draw human lovers to yourself? He will then condemn you for adultery.
Why do you not adorn yourself with the adornment that pleases Him and is acceptable to Him: shamefacedness, self-control, honor, and decent clothing?
This clothing belongs to wanton women and is disgraceful. We can no longer distinguish wanton women from virgins. See to what shame they have brought themselves.
A virgin ought to be a stranger to elaborateness. She ought to dress simply, and as circumstances allow. But she devotes herself zealously to countless outward adornments.
Put an end to this madness, woman. Turn this care toward the soul, toward inward beauty.
This outward splendor prevents the inward from becoming good. Whoever cares for the former neglects the latter. Likewise, whoever despises the former transfers all his care to the inward.
Do not tell me, "Alas, I wear worn clothing, inexpensive footwear, and a veil that costs nothing. What display is there in this?"
Do not deceive yourself. As I have said, one may adorn oneself more in this clothing than in another.
One may adorn oneself more in a worn garment than in one fitted to the body, beautifully arranged in the pattern that suits shamelessness, and brightly shining.
You say this to me. But what will you say to God, who knows the thought with which you do it?
But you do not do this for the sake of wantonness. For what reason, then? To arouse admiration?
Are you not ashamed? Do you not blush, when you wish to arouse admiration in this way?
But you will say, "I wear this clothing simply, and not for that reason at all." God knows what you are saying to us.
Will you give account to me? You will answer to Him who is present at everything that happens among us, and who will then appraise it.
You will answer to Him before whom all things are manifest and open.
For this reason we speak these things now, so that we may not force you to undergo such accountability.
Let us fear lest the Lord also reproach you for what He reproached the Hebrew women through the prophet: they came to appear before Me "and walk with outstretched necks and make a tinkling with their feet" (Is 3:16).
You have undertaken a great labor, which requires struggle, not display. It requires battle, not a life filled with softness.
Do you not see boxers and wrestlers? Do they concern themselves with gait and outward adornment? Not at all.
They disregard all this, put on a garment soaked with oil, and have only one aim: to strike blows and repel them.
The devil stands there, gnashing his teeth and striving in every way to destroy you. Yet you do not cease occupying yourself with these satanic adornments.
I do not wish to say anything about the voice, or how many women try to give it a certain expression. Nor will I speak of perfumes and the other objects of luxury.
This is why worldly women laugh at us. The honor of virginity has perished. No one respects a virgin as she ought to be respected, because they themselves have brought themselves into contempt.
Should they not be honored in the Church of God as though they had come from heaven?
Yet now they are despised. This is because of themselves, not because of those who are wiser than they are.
When a woman who has a husband and children and manages a household sees that you, who ought to be nailed to the Cross, are more occupied with these adornments than she is, will she not laugh at you?
Will she not despise you?
Do you not see how much effort and how much care are involved here?
By the poverty of your clothing you outdo the woman who dresses in costly garments, because you care more about adornments than the woman who puts on gold ornaments.
You do not seek what befits you, but strive after what does not befit you, when you ought to be doing good works.
For this reason virgins have come to receive less honor than women living in the world, because they do not show works worthy of virginity.
We say this not to all, or rather, we say it to all: to the guilty, so that they may come to their senses, and to the innocent, so that they may admonish the others.
But see to it that this reproach does not pass into action. We have said this not to grieve you, but to correct you, and so that we may be able to boast of you.
May we all do what is pleasing to God and live for His glory. Through this may we be counted worthy to receive the promised good things, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ.
With Him, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, and honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Neither stones, nor gold, nor the costliness of garments, nor expensive varieties of colors, nor anything else among such corruptible things adorns souls. Instead, souls are adorned by fasts, sacred vigils, meekness, modesty, poverty, courage, humility, patience, and contempt for all the things of the present life.