Methodius — Banquet of the Ten Virgins Discourse 1

Virginity is something supernaturally great, wonderful, and glorious ; and, to speak plainly and in accordance with the Holy Scriptures , this best and noblest manner of life alone is the root of immortality , and also its flower and first-fruits ; and for this reason the Lord promises that those shall enter into the kingdom of heaven who have made themselves eunuchs, in that passage Matthew 9:12 of the Gospels in which He lays down the various reasons for which men have made themselves eunuchs. Chastity with men is a very rare thing, and difficult of attainment, and in proportion to its supreme excellence and magnificence is the greatness of its dangers.

For this reason, it requires strong and generous natures, such as, vaulting over the stream of pleasure, direct the chariot of the soul upwards from the earth, not turning aside from their aim, until having, by swiftness of thought, lightly bounded above the world, and taken their stand truly upon the vault of heaven, they purely contemplate immortality itself as it springs forth from the undefiled bosom of the Almighty. Earth could not bring forth this draught; heaven alone knew the fountain from whence it flows; for we must think of virginity as walking indeed upon the earth, but as also reaching up to heaven.

And hence some who have longed for it, and considering only the end of it, have come, by reason of coarseness of mind , ineffectually with unwashed feet, and have gone aside out of the way, from having conceived no worthy idea of the virginal manner of life. For it is not enough to keep the body only undefiled, just as we should not show that we think more of the temple than of the image of the god; but we should care for the souls of men as being the divinities of their bodies, and adorn them with righteousness. And then do they most care for them and tend them when, striving untiringly to hear divine discourses, they do not desist until, wearing the doors of the wise, Sirach 6:36 they attain to the knowledge of the truth .

For as the putrid humours and matter of flesh, and all those things which corrupt it, are driven out by salt , in the same manner all the irrational appetites of a virgin are banished from the body by divine teaching. For it must needs be that the soul which is not sprinkled with the words of Christ , as with salt , should stink and breed worms, as King David, openly confessing with tears in the mountains, cried out, My wounds stink and are corrupt, because he had not salted himself with the exercises of self-control, and so subdued his carnal appetites, but self-indulgently had yielded to them, and became corrupted in adultery . And hence, in Leviticus, Leviticus 2:13 ; Mark 9:40 every gift, unless it be seasoned with salt , is forbidden to be offered as an oblation to the Lord God.