A man that breaks wedlock, saying thus in his heart, Who sees me? I am compassed about with darkness, the walls cover me, and no body sees me; what need I to fear? the most High will not remember my sins:
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 23:18 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 23
Cyril of Jerusalem
AD 386
Let us be careful about our bodies. Let us also not misuse them as though they were not our own. Let us not say, like the heretics do, that this vesture of the body does not belong to us. Instead, let us take care of it as our own, for we must give account to the Lord of all things done through the body. Do not say, No one sees me. Do not think that there is no witness of what you did. More often than not, there is no human witness, but he who made us"an unerring witness"remains faithful in heaven, and sees what you are doing. And the stains of sin also remain in the body. For as when a wound has gone deep into the body, even if there has been healing, the scar remains, so sin wounds soul and body, and the marks of its scars remain in all. And they are removed only from those who receive the washing of baptism. The past wounds therefore of soul and body God heals by baptism; against future ones let us one and all jointly guard ourselves, that we may keep this vestment of the body pure and may not, for practicing fornication and sensual indulgence or any other sin for a short season, lose the salvation of heaven but may inherit the eternal kingdom of God; of which may God, of his own grace, deem all of you worthy.
