Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume III/Ethical/On Prayer/Of Virgins

Chapter XXI.&#8212;Of Virgins.

But that point which is promiscuously observed throughout the churches, whether virgins ought to be veiled or no, must be treated of. For they who allow to virgins immunity from head-covering, appear to rest on this; that the apostle has not defined &#8220;virgins&#8221; by name, but &#8220;women,&#8221; as &#8220;to be veiled;&#8221; nor the sex generally, so as to say &#8220;females,&#8221; but a class of the sex, by saying &#8220;women:&#8221; for if he had named the sex by saying &#8220;females,&#8221; he would have made his limit absolute for every woman; but while he names one class of the sex, he separates another class by being silent. For, they say, he might either have named &#8220;virgins&#8221; specially; or generally, by a compendious term, &#8220;females.&#8221;