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St. John Chrysostom: A Beautiful Woman Without Virtue Is Like a Painted Coffin
What the video says
The video presents the sung Ordinary of the Latin Mass, performed twice in full. The text opens with the Kyrie eleison and Christe eleison, followed by the Gloria praising God and asking the Lamb of God for mercy. The Credo confesses faith in one God, the Father almighty, in Jesus Christ born of the Father before all ages, incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, rose on the third day, and will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
It continues with faith in the Holy Spirit, the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, one baptism for the remission of sins, and the resurrection of the dead. The Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei follow, ending with 'Ite, missa est' and the response 'Deo gratias'.
Key moments
- 0:00 The Kyrie eleison and Christe eleison open the Mass, asking the Lord and Christ for mercy.
The post quotes St. John Chrysostom on beauty and virtue. The saint asks his listener not to speak to him of female beauty, but rather of the virtues of the soul. He states that a beautiful woman who has not decorated herself with virtue is like a painted coffin. The quotation is offered under Orthodox hashtags, including tags for Orthodox saints, female beauty, and virtue.
The post is brief and consists of the quotation alone, with no further commentary from the author. The contrast the saint draws is between outward appearance and inward adornment: the body may be beautiful, but without virtue it is like a coffin that has been painted on the outside while holding death within. The image places the value of a woman not in her physical appearance but in the state of her soul, and it names virtue as the true decoration a person should seek.
The hashtags suggest the author shares the quote for an Orthodox audience interested in the sayings of the saints and in the topic of female beauty as the Church Fathers treated it. No discussion, replies, or additional sources appear in the post itself; it stands as a single patristic quotation on the priority of the soul's virtues over bodily beauty.
Main points
- St. John Chrysostom says: 'Don't talk to me of female beauty, rather virtues of the soul.'
- He compares a beautiful woman without virtue to a painted coffin.
- The quote contrasts outward beauty with the inward adornment of virtue.
- The post is a single quotation shared with Orthodox hashtags on saints, female beauty, and virtue.
- No commentary or discussion accompanies the quote in the post.