Jo Ann McNamara

The early Christian Church viewed marriage as a divinely ordained institu-
tion designed by God and strengthened by Jesus for the licit expression of
the sexual impulse, the procreation of children, and the mutual pursuit of
salvation. ¹ Ultimately it was enshrined among the seven sacraments of the
Church. But this straightforward endorsement of marriage was, from the
beginning, complicated by Paul's observation that married persons were
bound to take thought for one another, while the celibate were free to pur-
sue the service of God. Paul admitted that he had no divine warrant for his
belief that sexual continence was superior in virtue to conjugal enjoyment.
However, his conviction took hold, spread over several centuries, and
received general acceptance among the most influential Church authorities
of the fourth and fifth centuries.

From these two seemingly irreconcilable principles, the idea of chaste
marriage -- marriage without marital relations -- came to enjoy a surprising
popularity for many centuries. The prestige of this peculiar institution was
largely attributable to the fact that it was adopted by the councils of the early
Church as a desirable solution to the problem of a married clergy, whose
sexual purity was commonly seen as desirable to the perfect administration
of the sacred rites. It was, however, popular among the laity who saw it as a
means of avoiding the burdens marriage imposed, especially upon women
who encountered difficulties in attaining a celibate life.

With the institutional and legal reforms of the late eleventh and early
twelfth centuries, the anomaly was viewed with increasing disfavor. The

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