Why a Monk Should Flee Women and Bishops

That is why there is an old saying of the fathers still current, though I cannot repeat it without shame on my own part, since I could not avoid my own sister nor escape the hands of the bishop: a monk ought by all means to flee from women and bishops. For neither will allow a man, once joined to them in close company, to care any longer for the quiet of his cell, or to go on with pure eyes in divine contemplation through his insight into holy things. [a]