Scripture:
Judith 10:4 – “and she made herself up provocatively for the charming of
the eyes of men, all who would cast eyes upon her”
Judith 16:5–9 – The omnipotent Lord set them aside
with the hand of a female.
For their mighty one did not capitulate to young men,
nor did sons of the Titans strike him,
nor did towering Giants set upon him;
but Judith the daughter of Merari
undid him with the beauty of her face.
For she stripped off the dress of her widowhood
for the eminence of those who are weary in Israel.
She daubed her face with an anointing,
and she put up her hair in a turban,
and she took a linen stole for the seduction of him.
Her sandal caught his eye,
and her beauty captivated his soul;
the scimitar passed through his throat.
Church Fathers:
If, then, He takes away anxious care for clothes and food, and superfluities in general, as unnecessary; what are we to imagine ought to be said of love of ornament, and dyeing of wool, and variety of colors, and fastidiousness about gems, and exquisite working of gold, and still more, of artificial hair and wreathed curls; and furthermore, of staining the eyes, and plucking out hairs, and painting with rouge and white lead, and dyeing of the hair, and the wicked arts that are employed in such deceptions?Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.264
So those women who wear gold, occupying themselves in curling at their locks, and engaged in anointing their cheeks, painting their eyes, and dyeing their hair, and practicing the other pernicious arts of luxury, decking the covering of flesh, in truth, imitate the Egyptians, in order to attract their infatuated lovers. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.272
Unawares the poor wretches destroy their own beauty, by the introduction of what is spurious. At the dawn of day, mangling, racking, and plastering themselves over with certain compositions, they chill the skin, furrow the flesh with poisons, and with curiously prepared washes, thus blighting their own beauty. Wherefore they are seen to be yellow from the use of cosmetics, and susceptible to disease, their flesh, which has been shaded with poisons, being now in a melting state. So they dishonor the Creator of men, as if the beauty given by Him were nothing worth. As you might expect, they become lazy in housekeeping, sitting like painted things to be looked at, not as if made for domestic economy. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.272
But there are circumstances in which this strictness may relaxed. For allowance must sometimes be made in favor of those women who have not been fortunate in falling in with believing husbands, and adorn themselves in order to please their husbands. But let desire for the admiration of their husbands alone be proposed as their aim. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.285
Nor are the women to smear their faces with the ensnaring devices of wily cunning. But let us show to them the decoration of sobriety. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.286
But why are we a (source of) danger to our neighbor? Why do we import concupiscence into our neighbor? …Are we to paint ourselves out that our neighbors may perish? Where, then, is (the command), “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.19
For they who rub their skin with medicaments, stain their cheeks with rouge, make their eyes prominent with antimony, sin against HIM. To them, I suppose, the plastic skill of God is displeasing! In their own persons, I suppose, they convict, they censure, the Artificer of all things! For censure they do when they amend, when they add to, (His work;) taking these their additions, of course, from the adversary artificer. That adversary artificer is the devil. For who would show the way to change the body, but he who by wickedness transfigured man’s spirit? He it is, undoubtedly, who adapted ingenious devices of this kind; that in your persons it may be apparent that you, in a certain sense, do violence to God. Whatever is born is the work of God. Whatever, then, is plastered on (that), is the devil’s work. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.20-21
But are sincerity and truth preserved, when what is sincere is polluted by adulterous colors, and what is true is changed into a lie by the deceitful dyes of medicaments? Your Lord says, “You canst not make one hair white or black;” and you, in order to overcome the word of your Lord, will be more mighty than He, and stain your hair with a daring endeavor and with profane contempt. With evil presage of the future, you make a beginning to yourself already of flame-colored hair; and sin (oh, wickedness!) with your head – that is, with the nobler part of your body! And although it is written of the Lord, “His head and His hair were white like wool or snow,” you curse that whiteness and hate that hoariness which is like to the Lord’s head. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.434
Meanwhile, it adorns itself with extraordinary skill, striving to present an appearance that is not its own. It applies colors to itself and, with various artificial cosmetics from the hands of beautifiers, masks its true face under foreign features—not to be what nature made it, but what a fleeting whim suggests when it gazes into the mirror.
One moment, it enhances certain features; the next, it destroys what it once found pleasing; then, it alters them again, or even creates entirely new ones. Thus, through its own handiwork, it becomes a multi-headed Hydra of appearances, striding about with shameless boldness—because under its painted layers, it can no longer blush. It is a stranger to the love of its household, a stranger to the love of a husband, a stranger even to itself—for whatever constantly changes can neither be known nor be true.
Furthermore, it never loves God, for it knows that He is an enemy of its deeds. Instead, it is a slave of the devil, for it has claimed his kingdom as its own. Indeed, it has even created gods, bringing forth those through whom or in whose names the devil is worshiped—gods whose very acts reveal their origin. Zeno of Verona (A.D. 362-371), Book 1, Treatise 4: Chastity, Chapter 3
And you, widow, why do you desire a second marriage, when you see that the Apostle already imposes a restriction on the first? For it is he who says: “The time is short; from now on those who have wives should live as if they had none… for the form of this world is passing away.” (1 Corinthians 7:29, 31)
At the time when this command of the Apostle was given—four hundred or more years ago—people were still stronger in body, and Christians were still very few. Why, now that nearly the entire world is Christian and human vitality has diminished in this aging world, should I soften the harshness of truth with flattering words and not rather fully explain how perfectly the worship of God must be observed?
All the more so, since it is written in Solomon’s wisdom: “If your children increase, do not rejoice over them unless they have the fear of God; and do not take joy in their lives! Better is one child who fears God than a thousand godless children.” (Sirach 16:1-3)
Under such circumstances, I ask you, widow—you who are often as eager for marriage as an inexperienced young girl—did you lose a good husband or a bad one? Come now, answer!
If you lost a bad husband, yet still wish to marry again, then you deserve to be beaten by an even worse one. If you lost a good one, then preserve the seal of faithfulness to him! The one to whom you yourself bear witness as good does not deserve the dishonor you bring upon him by seeking another.
Where is that first day of marriage, which, in your longing for each other, seemed to both of you to pass more slowly than other days? Where is the solemn sacrifice of your precious virginity, which was so sweet to you both? Where is the love that, in a marriage of mutual respect and unity, does not die even when one partner outlives the other?
Are you not the woman who washed the lifeless body of your husband with your tears, dried it with your kisses, and covered it with the hair you cut off? Did you not bear the marks of grief on your cheeks, the bruises on your chest from striking yourself in sorrow, covered more in filthy ashes than in mourning garments? Yes, I say, were you not the one who shook heaven itself with your cries, declaring that you could not live a single moment longer after losing such a husband?
Were you not the one whose sighs, stifled by sorrow, whose breath, failing in agony, and whose body, collapsing to the ground, caused the mourners to wonder whether they should weep more for the dead man or for you, the dying widow?
If you now have thoughts of remarriage, then all of that was mere pretense!
And what is this now? Look—you return to your beauty treatments, you once again borrow the color from the cosmetic jar that you had so recently condemned! Look—you carefully groom your hair once more, you exchange the ashes of mourning for the powder of vanity! You conceal your tears beneath the black paint of antimony; you place golden chains around the neck you once wished to hang in despair. You consult the mirror like an oracle, wondering how best to ensnare a new suitor!
But no matter what you do—you will never be a virgin again.
And this I know: for one who changes their appearance and behavior for the sake of another, there is little left before they become a monstrosity. Zeno of Verona (A.D. 362-371), Book 1, Treatise 5: Chastity, Chapter 4