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Celibacy and Consecrated Virginity

Forgoing marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven

Celibacy and consecrated virginity name the voluntary renunciation of marriage for the sake of God's kingdom, commended in the Gospel and by Paul, and praised in early writers such as Methodius. It is highly esteemed across the traditions. They differ, however, over mandatory clerical celibacy: the Latin Catholic Church requires it of its priests, a discipline that contrasts with Eastern and Protestant practice.

How it traveled

  1. 1 Corinthians
    Ephesus · 67
    explains
  2. On the Veiling of Virgins.
    — · 220
    explains
  3. On Monogamy.
    — · 220
    explains
  4. On Exhortation to Chastity.
    — · 220
    explains
  5. The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle.
    — · 220
    explains
  6. The Second Epistle of the Same Clement.
    — · 220
    explains
  7. The Church History of Eusebius
    Caesarea · 339
    explains
  8. The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods
    — · 360
    applies
  9. The Letters
    Caesarea (Cappadocia) · 379
    applies
  10. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen
    Nazianzus · 390
    explains
  11. On Virginity
    Nyssa · 395
    explains
  12. Concerning Virgins
    Milan · 397
    explains
  13. Concerning Widows
    Milan · 397
    explains
  14. Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose
    Milan · 397
    explains
  15. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  16. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  17. Homilies on First Corinthians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  18. The Letters of St. Jerome
    Bethlehem · 420
    explains
  19. Against Jovinianus
    Bethlehem · 420
    explains
  20. Jerome and Gennadius. Lives of Illustrious Men
    Bethlehem · 420
    explains
  21. The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary
    Bethlehem · 420
    explains
  22. Dialogues of Sulpitius Severus
    Toulouse (Aquitaine) · 425
    applies
  23. Of Holy Virginity
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  24. On the Good of Widowhood
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  25. On the Good of Marriage
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  26. Letters of St. Augustin
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  27. On Continence
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  28. On the Morals of the Catholic Church
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  29. On Marriage and Concupiscence
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  30. Reply to Faustus the Manichæan
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  31. The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults
    Marseille · 435
    applies
  32. The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X
    Marseille · 435
    explains
  33. The Conferences of John Cassian. Part II. Containing Conferences XI-XVII
    Marseille · 435
    applies
  34. The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 450
    explains
  35. The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret
    Cyrrhus · 458
    explains
  36. The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great
    Rome · 604
    explains
  37. Selected Epistles of Gregory the Great
    Rome · 604
    explains
  38. The Canons of the Council in Trullo; Often Called The Quinisext Council
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 692
    applies
  39. Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59)
    Paris · 1274
    explains
  40. Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church
    Geneva · 1564
    explains

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