Here begins the first book of the Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage. This work, originally written in Middle Dutch as Die Geestelike Brulocht, is often referred to in English as The Spiritual Espousals. The word "Adornment" (Zierde) refers to the spiritual preparation and virtues that "decorate" the soul for its union with God.

Preface. "Behold, the bridegroom comes, go out to meet him." These words are reported to us by Saint Matthew the Evangelist Matthew 25:6, from the Parable of the Ten Virgins., and Christ spoke them to his disciples and to all people in the parable of the virgins. This bridegroom is Christ, and human nature is the bride, whom God created in his own image and likeness. And he had placed her in the beginning in the most exalted, most beautiful, richest, and most fertile spot on earth, namely in Paradise. And he had subjected all creatures to her and had adorned her with graces; and he had given her a commandment so that, through obedience, she might have earned the right to be firmly united with her bridegroom in eternal loyalty, without ever falling into any hardship or sin. » Then came a deceiver, the hellish enemy (who was envious of this) in the form of a cunning serpent and deceived the woman; and both deceived the man, the primary bearer Hauptträger: literally the "head-bearer" or principal representative, referring to Adam as the head of the human race of human nature. And with deceptive counsel, he robbed nature—the bride of God; and she was driven out into a foreign land, poor and miserable, imprisoned, oppressed, and made a slave by her enemies, as if she ne— The text breaks off mid-word here ("nie-") and continues on the following page.