No, really, what does it mean to be a virgin?

Our society is so focused on the deflowered that one might wag that no one today really knows. Over the years, the definition has changed somewhat to reflect, er, usage. More recent dictionaries like the Oxford Collegiate state the definition as “a person who has not had sexual intercourse,” whereas my 1973 Webster’s dictionary defines it colloquially: “free of impurity or stain”. In 1828, Webster was more direct: “a woman without carnal knowledge of a man.”

One thing seems obvious. The definition of virginity is completely anchored in the reality of sexual intercourse. And, therefore, our understanding of sex will have an impact upon our appraisal of virginity. If sex is only a physical act, then virginity is also just a physical reality, or more accurately, a physical non-reality.  Virginity only has meaning in a universe where there is a sexual act to NOT undertake.

(Translated by Gerard Hopkins. Chicago: Loyola Press. 312 pp. $12.95)

We prepare our homes for Easter by dusting away the cobwebs the dim light of winter hid and washing our windows to let the spring sun shine through clearly. Like a good spring cleaning, Lenten fasting cleans up our lives so we can see our spiritual cobwebs, then a good confession clears the way for the light of Christ’s resurrection. It sometimes takes a different point of view, in addition to a healthy dose of God’s grace, to see what really needs attention. Vipers’ Tangle is just the novel to jolt us into seeing a few more of those cobwebs.