Christus reprobat vnum votum continencie coniugalis, quod quidam rex et regina coniuges vouerunt sine consilio et deliberacione matura, ne inde maius malum et detraccio oriatur.
The Peril of Rash Vows
Christ warns a royal couple against the presumption of altering the marriage bond without divine counsel.
After a certain king and queen had two children, they made a vow of chastity and abstinence between themselves. When the queen was asked about this and told to pray to God, Christ appeared and said to her: Scripture says that no one should presume to separate what God has joined. For who would dare to change what has been reasonably approved and established in the law of God?
Discernment in Spiritual Transitions
True spiritual growth requires mature deliberation, and it is better to retract an indiscreet vow than to risk greater harm.
Still, for a just cause, a carnal good can sometimes be changed into a spiritual good; in that case, it isn't a dissolution of the marriage, but a kind of transition, provided that the two of them, with mature deliberation and counsel, consent to a higher good out of the love of God.1 But this king and queen agreed to what seemed like a good thing, yet it wasn't a wise one; for one side consented to a vow of celibacy out of new-found fervor, an indiscreet zeal, and a lightness of mind, while the other side did so out of a certain self-satisfaction, a sudden impulse, and a desire to escape hardship.2 Therefore, it's safer and more praiseworthy to return to the original law of the marriage bond, lest by chance—if they continue in this indiscreet way, and temptations grow, and regret for the vow they took sets in—a greater evil and an occasion for slander should arise from it. However, in these matters, the two of them should act according to the advice of wise people, because it isn't a sin to wisely retract what was begun and attempted without proper discernment.
Read the original Latin
Postquam quidam rex et regina habuerunt duos filios, vouerunt votum castitatis et continencie inter se. Super quo requisita sponsa, quod oraret deum, christus apparens dixit ei:
Scriptura dicit, quod homo non presumat separare, quod deus coniunxit. Quis enim audeat mutare illud, quod racionabiliter in lege dei approbatum et sanctitum est?
Veruntamen ex iusta causa carnale bonum quandoque mutari potest in spirituale bonum, et tunc non est solucio coniugii sed translacio quedam, quando duo cum deliberacione matura et consilio consenciunt in melius bonum ex caritate dei.
Sed iste rex et regina consenserunt in vnum apparens bonum sed non discretum, quia altera pars consentit voto continencie ex feruore nouicio et ex zelo indiscreto et leuitate animi, alia vero pars ex quadam placencia et impulsu subito et causa fugiendi dolores.
Ideo tucius est et laudabilius redire ad primam legem matrimonialis copule, ne forte, si indiscreta continuauerint et temptaciones creuerint et penitudo assumpti propositi accesserit, oriatur inde maius malum et occasio detrahendi.
Veruntamen in istis faciant isti duo secundum consilia sapientum, quia non est peccatum retractare sapienter, quod indiscrete inchoatum et attemptatum est.
Notes
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