A Wedding without Pomp

But let us see how, once he had received her, the marriage was celebrated. Did he bring along cymbals and pipes and dancing and drums and flutes and all the rest of such display? None of these. He took her alone and departed, with the angel accompanying her and traveling with them—the angel whom his master had begged God to send with him when he left the house.

So the bride was led away without hearing flutes or lyres or any of those things, but with countless blessings from God upon her head, a crown brighter than any diadem. She went not clothed in garments of gold, but in chastity, reverence, hospitality, and every other virtue. She went not in a covered carriage or with any other such display, but seated on a camel.

For in ancient times young women possessed not only virtue of soul but also great physical hardiness. Their mothers did not raise them as mothers do now, corrupting them in countless ways with frequent baths, applications of perfumes, painted cosmetics, soft clothing, and other things, making them softer than they ought to be. Instead they trained them in every kind of hardiness. For this reason their bodily bloom was strong and genuine, because it was natural rather than manufactured or cultivated. They also enjoyed sound health, and their beauty was extraordinary because no illness troubled the body and all softness had been driven away. Labor, hardship, and doing things with their own hands drove away weakness and provided strength and health with great security. For this reason they were also more desirable and attractive to their husbands, because such discipline had made not only their bodies but also their souls better and more chaste.