“Thomas Aquinas says: If your spouse, driven by lust, desires your body and demands carnal commerce, you must dissuade him from that, acting zealously, but wisely. But if that yields no fruit, and it usually does not, you must submit to him, in order that by committing a lesser sin you protect your spouse from a greater. For if unsatisfied, he is liable to run to a brothel with his lust or, God forgive, commit the sin of adultery with another man’s wife. Or seize some young boy and… May the Lord’s saints have mercy! Then you see, Sisters, that it is better to sacrifice yourselves than put your spouse at risk of a cardinal sin. He who protects his neighbour from a sin is doing good. Doing a good deed!”

“It’s worth knowing,” murmured Weronika. “I shall remember that.”

“Be quiet,” hissed Jutta.

“One must nonetheless take heed that there is no wantonness in it. The theologian William Auxerre says: Great delight accompanies carnal commerce, but he who does not experience pleasure has not committed a sin. But, regrettably, that seldom happens.”

“Damned seldom,” whispered Weronika.

“Then the one thing that can be advised is to pray. Pray zealously and continuously. But under one’s breath, quietly, so as not to offend the husband during copulation, for to offend one’s husband during copulation is not only a sin, but is also boorish.”

“Amen,” whispered one of the nuns.

“As you see, Sisters,” the prioress said gravely, “it is a knotty matter. Our second distinguished guest, Nicholas of Cusa, a theologian, scholar from Heidelberg University, a decretorum doctor from the University of Padua, a canon in Trier, where he is secretary to that archbishop, will expound more about that for you. A man young in years but greatly renowned for his piety and wisdom.”

The young man Reynevan’s age stood up. And stepped forward. He put his hands together. The stained-glass window with Saint Boniface bathed him in a beautiful light.

“A cherub,” muttered Weronika. “I’ll probably dream of him tonight.”

“I’m already dreaming of him,” whispered a novice behind Jutta. Other girls quietened her with hisses.

“Dear Sisters in Christ,” began the young theologian in a gentle voice. “Permit me. I shall not teach you, being far from omniscient myself, nor warn you, being not without sin myself. Let me simply share with you what I have in my heart.”

The expectant silence appeared to fill the entire hall.

“A truly godly person lives in contemplation,” said Nicholas of Cusa. “Free of earthly things, he turns with reverence towards eternal goodness. Then the clouded sky becomes unveiled. Suddenly, radiance flowing from God’s love pierces the open heart like a flash of lightning. In its brilliance, God’s Spirit talks to our hearts, saying: I am yours and you are Mine, I dwell in you and you dwell in Me.