The Presbyters Project

II.18. (17.) De uirginibus.

[...] (11) Quaeritur autem cur feminae uirgines in benedictione uelentur, quarum haec causa est; in gradibus enim uel officiis ecclesiasticis feminae nullatentus praescribuntur. Nam neque permittitur eis in ecclesia loqui uel docere, sed nec tinguere nec offerre nec ullius uirilis muneris aut sacerdotalis officii sortem sibi uindicare, ideoque hoc tantum ut, quia uirgo est et carnem suam sanctificare proposuit, idcirco uelaminis uenia fit illi, ut in ecclesia notabilis uel insignis introeat, et honorem sanctificati corporis in libertate capitis ostendat, atque mitram quasi coronam uirginalis gloriae in uertice praeferat.

(ed. Lawson 1989: 69)

II.18. (17.) Virgins.

[...] (11) It is asked, however, why female virgins are veiled for their consecration. This is the reason for it. Women are not at all ordered in ecclesiastical rankings or offices. For it is not permitted for them to speak or teach in the church [see 1 Cor 14:34; 1 Tim 2:12], and they may not baptize nor offer nor appropriate for themselves a share in any masculine gift or priestly office. Therefore in this case only, because she is a virgin and has proposed to sanctify her flesh, because of that let the indulgence of a veil be extended to her that she may enter the church as a notable or decorated person and show the honor of the sanctified body in the freedom of the head, and wear the miter as a crown of virginal glory on the top of her head.

(trans. Knoebel 2008: 81)

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

City

Seville

About the source:

Author: Isidore of Seville
Title: De ecclesiasticis officiis, On the Ecclesiastical Offices, De origine officiorum
Origin: Seville (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Isidore was born probably ca 560, he became the bishop of Seville in 600, and he held that office to his death in AD 636. He wrote several works, among them the De ecclesiasticis officiis composed certainly after AD 598 (the composition of the Moralia in Job by Gregory the Great which are used by Isidore in the books 5 and 6). We cannot establish another terminus ante quem than the year of death of Isidore, although some scholars proposed that the De ecclesiasticis officiis were written before the composition of Chronicon in AD 615 (Lawson 1989: 13*-14*). The argument is based on the assumption that the list of Isidore`s writings composed by Braulio, bishop of Saragossa is ordered chronologically, but, as was demonstrated by its most recent editor (Martin 2006: 64-73), most certainly it is not the case.

Isidore composed the treatise at the request of Bishop Fulgentius of Écija (see the dedicatory letter at the beginning of the book). The De ecclesiasticis officiis is also one of the most important sources for the early Spanish liturgy.

Edition:

C.M. Lawson ed., Sancti Isidori episcopi Hispalensis de ecclesiasticis officiis, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 113, Turnhout 1989

Translation:

Isidore of Seville, De ecclesiasticis officiis, translation and introduction by T.L. Knoebel, Ancient Christian Writers 61, New York 2008

Categories:

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Usurping presbyterial power

Ritual activity - Baptism and instructing catechumens

Ritual activity - Eucharist

Female ministry

Pastoral activity - Teaching

Impediments or requisits for the office - Gender

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1336, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1336