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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: whole self, figure, look and voice in a fashion to charm him,
answered, "Be thou joined with me in the bonds of wedlock, and I
will joyfully follow out thy behests."
"In vain, O Lady," said he, "hast thou made this hard request.
For though I earnestly care for thy salvation, and long to heave
thee from the depth of perdition, yet to pollute my body through
unclean union is grievous for me, and utterly impossible."
She, seeking to make the way straight and smooth for him, cried,
"Why dost thou, who are so wise, talk thus? Wherefore speakest
thou of it as of defilement and shameful intercourse? I am not
unacquainted with the Christian books: nay, I have met with many
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