Question IX: On virginity

We treated above of Chastity, insofar as it is the matter of a vow; now we shall contemplate its every kind of integrity, insofar as it is immune from every corruption of mind and body: the Seraphic Doctor treats of it in various places, and especially in the Diaeta, tit. 4. where he places it on an ivory throne among the other virtues, doubtless because, like ivory, Chastity is cold against concupiscence; solid, by persevering firmly; and shining white, by living innocently; whence just as ivory wrapped in a linen cloth preserves it from burning, so Chastity, while it is fostered within in the mind, wards off from without the fire of the body. Next the Holy Doctor shows that Virginity obtains the hundredfold fruit, since it is more excellent than chastity, whether conjugal or widowed; for conjugal Chastity claims for itself only the thirtyfold fruit; widowed chastity the sixtyfold; but virginal chastity obtains the hundredfold; which moreover attains to God in a threefold manner, namely by running, through good operation, by swimming, through intense devotion, and by flying, through supernal contemplation; and thus the Virgins follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, as is said Apocal. 14.