“The third benefit of the observance of God's commandments is the attainment of heavenly rewards. Whence it is said in Proverbs: "Keep my commandments, and you shall live; and my law as the pupil of the eye." This is the reason why God gave the observance of commandments to man when he was in paradise.”

“These articles of our faith were not composed out of human opinion but are the principal points collected out of the whole of Scripture to complete a single doctrinal formulation of the faith. And in like manner as the mustard seed contains numbers of branches-to-be within its tiny grain, so also this creed embraces in a few phrases all the religious knowledge contained in the Old and New Testaments together. Look now, brethren, and "hold the traditions," which are now being imparted to you, and "write them on the table of your hearts."”

“It is proper that until we reach maturity, virtue of the soul be within us and personal, but when we reach full maturity so that we are capable also of teaching others, let us then no longer enclose virtue within our bosom as a wife but as a sister, let us unite her also with others who wish her. For to those who are perfect the divine Word says, "Say that wisdom is your sister."”

“For from the window of my house I looked through the lattice, etc. Aptly, however, does Solomon say he looked from the window of his house through the lattice, to judge the deeds of the little ones. For one who looks from a window through the lattice can fully consider what is done outside, yet those outside cannot see the one looking within. For this is what the Apostle says: The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself judged by no one (1 Cor. I). From the window therefore, and so on. It is clear according to the letter, that the gaze of wise teachers diligently observes the actions of the weak and the strong; but the eternal wisdom of God looks from heaven, and sees all the sons of men.”

“With a provocative movement of a prostitute, with a disrupted gait through delights, with wandering eyes, and with playful darting of her eyelids, she captures the precious souls of young men (for the eye of a prostitute is a snare of a sinner), and with doubtful perception, she accosts anyone passing by in the corner of her house, with charming words, causing the hearts of young men to flutter, restless at home, wandering in the streets, prodigal with kisses, cheap in modesty, rich in attire, painted cheeks. For indeed, since it cannot possess true beauty of nature, it entices with the appearance of affected beauty through false dyes, not truth. Adorned with a company of vices and surrounded by a chorus of wickedness, the leader of crimes attacks the wall of the human mind with such contrivances of words: 'Peace offering is to me; today I fulfill my vows.' For this reason, I have advanced to meet you, desiring to find your face. I have woven my bed with fine linen and spread carpets from Egypt. I have spread my bed with saffron, and my house with cinnamon. Come, let us enjoy friendship until dawn; come, and let us wrestle with desire. For through the mouth of Solomon we see this form of harlot expressed. For what is more similar to harlotry than secular pleasure, which enters through the window of its house, tempting the eyes with its first enticements; and it quickly penetrates if you, looking out into the street, namely the public ways of those passing by, do not direct the gaze of your mind to the internal mysteries of the law. She certainly is the one who, like a kind of bed woven with stronger ties, has entangled us in the bonds of a community, so that whoever reclines on it is bound; and she covers the surface of her body with the veil of shameful deceit, to seduce the minds of young men in the absence of her husband, that is, by disregarding the law. For the law is absent for those who commit sins, for if it were present, they would not commit them; and therefore it says: For my husband is not at home: he has taken the longest journey, with a bundle of money received in his hand. What shall I say this is, except perhaps because the rich think there is nothing that does not yield to their money, and they want the law to be for sale in their favor? Pleasure spreads its own scents, because it does not have the scent of Christ, it displays treasures, promises kingdoms, guarantees continuous loves, offers unknown sexual encounters, disciplines without a tutor, conversations without a monitor, a life without worries, soft sleep, insatiable desire. Seducing him, she said, with many flattering words, and binding him with the snares of her lips, she led him home. But he, following her, is caught in a trap.... There, there was a commotion of feasting, the clamor of those singing, the violence of those arguing, the harmony of those dining, the noise of those dancing, the laughter of those laughing, the applause of those reveling, everything confused, nothing in the order of nature.”

“And behold, a woman meets him in the attire of a harlot, etc. These all clearly relate to the literal sense of harlotry; however, heretical doctrine attempts to deceive anyone it finds careless and foolish. It indeed appears in harlot's attire, because it shines with unclean eloquence. It is prepared to capture souls, for it spiritually kills whomever it can associate with it.”

“I have woven my bed with cords, etc. Beds that are woven with cords, or according to another translation, with withes, are usually softer than those made of wood, leather, or any other material. Therefore, with a bed woven with cords, the harlot designates the softness of resting. And on carpets embroidered from Egypt, she also tempts the allurements of the eyes, with which, by a nefarious sight, she more easily penetrates to seduce the mind's secrets. But since by the name of cords divine precepts are sometimes figured, which restrain us from our pleasures binding us with religion, the heretics promise their listeners that they are preparing a beneficial bedding with the weaving of heavenly words, in which they may rest with a free heart from the tumults of vices. But in truth, they construct with those cords a pit of perdition, where their feet and hands being perpetually bound, they are condemned. Concerning which the Lord says in the Apocalypse: And I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her fornication. Behold, I throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her will be in great tribulation (Apoc. II). On those embroidered carpets from Egypt are understood the ornament of eloquence and the cunning of dialectic art, which took its origin from the pagans, through which the heretical mind boasts that it has woven the fabric of its evil deed as a harlot.”

“I have scented my bed with myrrh, etc. They promise that they have such fragrances of heavenly virtues, by which they consecrate their hearts and those of their followers as if in beautiful bedchambers; so that they may say with the Apostle: For we are the pleasant fragrance of Christ to God (II Cor. II).”

“In these words, "after many days he will return home," Paul (who in the spirit perceived the plan of the divine economy) refers to the last enemy which is to be destroyed, that is, death. That enemy is the man of wickedness that Solomon will describe as one who took in his hand "a bag of money," that is, humanity. When [humanity] sins again and again, it allows itself to disregard the fear of God. It [only] becomes distressed when the human race is brought to the point of trials. Otherwise, if it never envisioned any fear of God at all, it would have perished in an instant.”

“The "cemphus" is a kind of wild sea-bird, which has so immoderate an impulse to sexual enjoyment, that its eyes seem to fill with blood in coition; and it often blindly falls into snares, or into the hands of men. To this, therefore, he compares the man who gives himself up to the harlot on account of his immoderate lust; or else on account of the insensate folly of the creature, for he, too, pursues his object like one senseless. And they say that this bird is so much pleased with foam, that if one should hold foam in his hand as he sails, it will sit upon his hand. And it also brings forth with pain.”

“And again in his speech Solomon also reprehendeth him that is led after his lust like a foolish person, and who lacketh the knowledge which should fight against his passions. "He goeth after her like a simple man, and as an ox that goeth to the slaughterer, and as a dog to the fetters, and as a stag into whose liver an arrow hath pierced." And this foolishness is worthy of blame, because it ministereth not unto good but unto evil things, and it is not right, properly speaking, that it should be called simpleness—although the Book calleth it so because it is contrary to the mark which is laid down by it—but folly, and madness, and senselessness, and the destruction of what is seemly. And this our discourse doth not urge this kind of simplicity upon a man, nor that he should ignorantly submit to every voice, and be persuaded by the deceit of every doctrine.”

“You have seen her mischief. Wait not to admit the rising of lust; for her death is everlasting. And for the rest, by her words, her arguments in sooth, she wounds, and by her sins she kills those who yield to her. For many are the forms of wickedness that lead the foolish down to hell. And the chambers of death mean either its depths or its treasure. How, then, is escape possible?”

“And all the mighty men were slain by her. As Solomon himself, the wisest of men, as Samson, the strongest, as David, the most gentle, were ensnared by the trap of women, just as Origen was by heretical doctrine, whom whoever denies to have been a master of the Church after the apostles, while he thought rightly, errs.”

“Her house is the way down to Sheol, etc. But also concerning the Church, it says: The gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matt. XVI). Indeed, the innermost parts of death, the most severe torments of hell, are said to be sharper and darker, by which it is evident that heretics and fornicators are to be submerged. Just as it is said concerning the saints suffering adversities for the Lord in this life: And the jailer put them in the inner dungeon, that is, a more atrocious, fouler, and darker place.”