Catholic Marriage - Remarriage of Widows

Remarriage of Widows

Remarriage was allowed by the Church in case the first spouse had died. Yet there were religious women who also rejected second marriage. One such woman was Marcella of Rome (ca.335 - 410, a widow who became a monacha, after she rejected the proposal of a Roman consul, saying: "If I had wished to marry and not to commit myself to eternal purity, I would search for a husband, not heritage." A similar road was followed by Paula of Rome (347-404), a woman of the aristocracy, who moved to the Holy Land to lead a monastic lifestyle after the death of her husband. Galla (VI. century) became a widow after only one year of marriage, but choose to become a monacha rather than to remarry. This also happened among the Greeks. Olympias (IV-V. century) became a deaconess after having been widowed at a young age and founded a monastery with a rich library next to the Hagia Sophia.

A theological defense of this practice was provided by Tertullian in his "De Monogamia." According to Tertullian's understanding, second marriage should be rejected as an evil. However, Tertullian's opinion never became the official teaching of the Church. Tertullian wrote:

"If you are a digamist, do you baptize? If you are a digamist, do you offer? How much more capital (a crime) is it for a digamist laic to act as a priest, when the priest himself, if he turn digamist, is deprived of the power of acting the priest! “But to necessity,” you say, “indulgence is granted.” No necessity is excusable which is avoidable. In a word, shun to be found guilty of digamy, and you do not expose yourself to the necessity of administering what a digamist may not lawfully administer. God wills us all to be so conditioned, as to be ready at all times and places to undertake (the duties of) His sacraments."