Hrotsvitha

“ It will be but praiseworthy discretion on your part to loosen the bridle of strict observance for the sake of bringing back a soul.
ABRAHAM. I am the more eager to try now I know you approve.
EPHREM. He Who knows the secret places of the heart can tell with what motive every action is done. That scrupulous and fair Judge will not condemn a man for relaxing our strict rule for a time and descending to the level of weaker mortals if by so doing he can make more sure of rescuing an errant soul.
ABRAHAM. Help me with your prayers. Pray that I may not be caught in the snares of the devil. ”

“ EPHREM. That is better.
ABRAHAM. She wears a hair shirt, and subdues her flesh with continual vigils and fasts. She is making the poor frail body obey the spirit by the most rigorous discipline.
EPHREM. Only through such a severe penance can the stains left by the pleasures of the flesh be washed away.
ABRAHAM. Those who hear her sobs are cut to the heart, and the tale of her repentance has turned many from their sins.
EPHREM. It is often so.
ABRAHAM. She prays continually for the men who through her were tempted to sin, and begs that she who was their ruin may be their salvation. ”

“ The fall and repentance of Mary, the niece of the hermit Abraham, who, after she has spent twenty years in the religious life as a solitary, abandons it in despair, and, returning to the world, does not shrink from becoming a harlot. ”

“ Do they say that she, whom I brought up to be Thy bride, gives herself to strange lovers?
FRIEND. It comes naturally to harlots.
ABRAHAM. If you are my friend, get me a saddle-horse somewhere and a soldier's dress. I am going to get into that place as a lover. ”