«VIRGINIS PROLES OPIFEXQUE MATRIS». — Hymn of Matins in the Common of Virgins, of unknown authorship, already present in 10th-century manuscripts. It extols the fortitude of a virgin in enduring torments and sufferings for Christ.
On the feast of a virgin who is not a martyr, the second and third strophes are omitted, and on that of a saint who is neither a virgin nor a martyr, the first three strophes are omitted.
VIRILITY. — A particular age (*v.*) of life that follows the puberal and post-puberal or internubilo-puberal phase and ends with old age (*v.*). G. Mariani defines it as the age of life characterized by the complete and harmonious development of the organism in relation to the stabilization, both in man and in woman, of all primary and secondary sexual characteristics.
Its duration is variable, and characteristic is the state of stable equilibrium that is established in the general metabolism (relationship between the anabolic and catabolic phases) and in all the interorganic and neurohormonal correlations typical of each individual type (*v.*). Undoubtedly, the phase of virility (or, better, of "maturity") is the broadest and most important both in man and in woman. It is usually subdivided into three stages: 1) rising maturity (between 21 and 35 years in woman, 25–28 and 40 in man), characterized by a progressive refinement of all individual activities, especially the psychic ones, while vegetative life is still quite intense; 2) confirmed or constant maturity (between 35 and 48–50 years in woman, 40 and 50–55 in man), an epoch of physical-psychological equilibrium in which the functions of the entire organism remain stationary: this stage most strictly corresponds to the concept of maturity outlined above; 3) declining maturity (after 48–50 years in woman, 50–55 in man), which marks the beginning of the descending parabola of life with phenomena of diminished physical and psychic activity, and passes insensibly into old age (*v.*); it is at the threshold of this age that the critical age of the climacteric (*V. CLIMATERICA, ETÀ, ETÀ*) manifests itself, especially in woman.
It is usually held that a strong excitation and an intense capacity for sexual life, linked to the full activity of the gonads and the complete development of primary and secondary sexual characteristics, is an essential characteristic of this age; but this is an inexact conception, since the activity of the gonads, as regards the formative activity of the reproductive sexual elements, begins at puberty (*V. ADOLESCENZA*). Moreover, according to Kinsey’s statistics, the peak of erotic activity would occur before the age of 20, hence at the time of puberty and during the internubilo-puberal phase. Without denying the importance of the regular functionality of the gonads in maintaining full physical maturity both in man and in woman—as shown by the phenomena of aging that appear in women at the time of the menopause—all authors agree in maintaining that not only the gonads but all the endocrine glands are of particular importance in preserving maturity, especially the pituitary and the adrenal glands. It suffices to mention, in this regard, the phenomena of profound organic decay that occur in Simmonds’ cachexia, with pluriglandular pathogenesis, or in Addison’s disease, due to adrenal atrophy (*V. ENDOCRINE GHIANDOLE*).
Virility must not be confused with virilism, a pathological or at least paranormal state in which a woman loses the characteristics of her sex and assumes those of the male sex, not only physically but also psychically; this occurs in relation to a particular idiopathic and racial disposition or to endocrine dysfunction (adrenal virilism) or to the cessation of ovarian activity (climacteric virilism).
During the phase of virility, parallel to the refinement of the individual’s somatic functions, the highest point of the evolution of psychic faculties is reached, with the development and affirmation of personality, closely linked to the individual’s constitution (*v.*), temperament (*v.*), and character (*v.*). In maturity, the more complex intellectual activities of association, discrimination, and judgment follow the primitive faculties of apperception and memory, while in the affective sphere there is moderation and balance of emotional and passionate manifestations, thus allowing the maximum psycho-physical performance of the subject.