Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Chapter Two.
Synopsis of the Chapter.
The bridegroom had praised the bride; she, blushing with virginal modesty, reflected the praise back upon the bridegroom. Therefore the bridegroom, to attend to her modesty and bashfulness, accepts and confirms her praise, and calls Himself the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys, and then more freely derives the same praise onto the bride, since she is veiled by His praise. She in turn is more inflamed in praise and love of the bridegroom: wherefore here is a continuous, alternating, and reciprocal dialogue of the love of bride and bridegroom. For in verses one and two, the bridegroom praises both Himself and the bride. In verse three, the bride deeply loves the bridegroom, and languishes with love for Him, and suffers a fainting of the soul. In verse seven, the bridegroom forbids her to be awakened. In verse eight, the bride is called forth by the bridegroom, leaping like a stag, to the springtime delights of paradise, and is commanded to catch the foxes. Finally in verse 16, the bride gives and delivers herself entirely to the love of the bridegroom.
Vulgate Text: Song of Songs 2:1-17
1. I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys. 2. As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters. 3. As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow, whom I had desired: and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4. He brought me into the wine cellar, he set in order charity in me. 5. Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples: because I languish with love. 6. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me. 7. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the harts of the fields, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please. 8. The voice of my beloved, behold he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills: 9. My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart: behold he stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, gazing through the lattices. 10. Behold my beloved speaks to me: Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. 11. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. 12. The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land: 13. The fig tree has put forth her green figs: the vines in flower yield their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come: 14. My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall, show me your face, let your voice sound in my ears: for your voice is sweet, and your face comely. 15. Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines: for our vineyard has flourished. 16. My beloved to me, and I to him, who feeds among the lilies, 17. till the day break, and the shadows retire. Return: be like, my beloved, to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
The Voice of the Bridegroom.
Verse 1. I Am the Flower of the Field, and the Lily of the Valleys.
"I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys." The Arabic has "of the torrents": for lilies, being dry plants, delight in water; the Septuagint translates as our Vulgate; but the Tigurine version has: "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily delighting in the valleys"; Vatablus interprets Sharon as meaning "fullness" or rather "abundance": just as God, he says, is called Shaddai, that is, the bounty and plenty of all goods. For Sharon, says Adrichomius, is a city and a flat, rich, and most fertile region, very well suited for fattening flocks, and therefore the king's animals were pastured there. It extends from Caesarea of Palestine and reaches as far as Joppa. This region, as Jerome attests, according to the quality of its soil, when Peter preached, immediately germinated the fruits of faith (Acts 2:41), to which Solomon here alludes. For "flower" the Hebrew is חבצלת chabatstelet, which Pagninus, Marinus, and Vatablus translate as "rose"; the Septuagint and St. Jerome here translate it as "flower"; the same, at Isaiah 35:1, translate it as "lily"; whence the Syriac for "flower of the field" translates "lily of the most fertile place"; others translate it as "hyacinth," about which Virgil writes: "White privets fall, dark hyacinths are gathered." Indeed Hebrew names of trees, flowers, and gems are polysemous and common to many species. For "lily" the Hebrew is שושנה schoschanna, which Guidacerius here translates as "violet"; but the Chaldean and Galatinus (Book VII, ch. 5) translate it as "rose," because the rose grows among thorns, not the lily. Whence for what follows: "As the lily among thorns," they translate: "as the rose among thorns." But the Septuagint, Aquila, Symmachus at Psalm 45:1, and St. Jerome, Aben-Ezra, Rabbi Solomon, the Tigurine, Vatablus, and others here translate sosanna as "lily," from שוש shesh, that is, "six," namely the leaves with which it is adorned—
says Rabbi David. Hence also the Phoenicians and Arabs call the lily susana. Whence Athenaeus (Book XII), Eustathius on Dionysius, and others attest that Susa, the royal city of the Persians, was so named from the abundance of lilies growing there: just as the island of Rhodes was named from the rose, because it presents the appearance of a rose, and Florence from the flower; from Susanna also was named the oil called susinum, which is made from lilies, about which Pliny writes (Book XIII, ch. 1).
Furthermore the Chaldean, inverting the words, translates thus: "The assembly of Israel said: At the time when the Lord of the world places His majesty among me, I am like a green lily from the garden of delight, and my works are beautiful like the rose that is in the field of the garden of delight."
First Adequate Sense: Of Christ and the Church.
Theodoret, Nyssenus, St. Ambrose on Psalm 118, sermon 5, the Chaldean, the Hebrews, Philo of Carpathia, likewise Genebrardus, Vatablus, Luis of Leon, and Osorius hold that these are still the words of the bride, not the bridegroom. For she had said: "Our bed is flowery"; now she shows why it is flowery, namely because "I," she says, am "the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys." Or, as our Sanchez explains, with the sense reflected from Christ to the Church, as if Christ says to her: You, O bride, say the bed is flowery and that the framework of our house smells sweet, as being of cedar and cypress; but I ought to be your flower, and nothing should please you or smell sweet to you except Me. This exposition is favored by what is immediately added: "As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters." As if the bridegroom says: What wonder if I require of you, O bride, that you hold Me as your flower, as your cypress and cedar, and that nothing bloom or smell sweet for you except Me, when you hold such a place for Me that the other daughters of Jerusalem compared to you are thorns and prickly bushes, since you are adorned with the fragrance and whiteness of lilies; therefore I ask or desire nothing great or undue, since I wish to appear such to you as you yourself appear to Me. To which voice the faithful bride often sings in obedience throughout this epithalamium: "My beloved to me, and I to him."
Furthermore the Church is called the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys for various reasons. First, Philo of Carpathia offers this explanation, as if to say: I the Church am the flower of the field because of the prophecies of the prophets, and the lily of the valleys because of the Gospel which I preach; for this has a sweeter and more salutary fragrance, since it suggests not only precepts but also counsels of perfection, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who mourn," etc. And therefore Christ says: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labor not, neither do they spin. But I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these" (Matt. 6:28).
Secondly, St. Ambrose, sermon 5 on Psalm 118, verse 1, says: The Church is the flower of the field because of the fragrance of faith and other virtues; and the lily, because of the splendor of good works. The same, in his book On the Institution of Virgins, ch. 15: The Church, he says, is the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys, because in the valley of this world she exhales the grace of a good fragrance through assiduous confession of sin.
Thirdly, three Fathers cited by Theodoret hold that the Church is the flower of the field among the Jews, and the lily of the valleys among the Gentiles, as if the Church says: "I, with regard to the Gentiles, who through unbelief were deprived of natural equality and cast down by the whirlwind of vices, was like a lily rising from the lowest depths to the heights, ascending from the root through the stalk to a fitting magnitude, lest it be hidden in the depth of the valleys, but rather displays its exalted beauty; I rest upon faith in Christ, and through purification I have emerged from the confusion of vices, and upon the summit of contemplation I am adorned with the beauty of virtues."
Fourthly, others think that here the Church invites the bridegroom to the bed, that is, to the leisure and privacy of contemplation, because she herself, wandering among the nations in the activity of evangelizing, has been despised and trampled by them like a flower that grows in an open field, and like a lily in the valleys that is trodden down or plucked by all people and beasts alike.
Finally some explain it by antithesis, as if to say: I indeed, who am the bride, that is the Church of Christ, am a flower, but of the field, not of a garden, that is, common, ordinary, cheap and lowly; but you, O my bridegroom, shine with splendor and fragrance like the whitest and most fragrant lily of the valleys.
But more correctly Theodoret himself, Origen, Aponius, Cassiodorus, Bede, Anselm, Rupert, Honorius here, and St. Ambrose in the book On the Soul and Isaac (chs. 4 and 5), Cyril in On the Incarnation of the Only-Begotten (ch. 9), hold these to be the words of the bridegroom, not the bride, and this is required by what immediately follows: "As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters"; which words are the bridegroom's, not the bride's, as no one doubts. Christ therefore is the flower of the field, or, as the Hebrew has it, the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys, and therefore He makes His bed flowery for the Church (for to this He alludes), as He said shortly before, as if to say: Rightly did you say, O bride: "Our bed is flowery," but know that it is flowery not from you, but from Me: "for I am the flower of the field," etc. So Bede says: Christ therefore is the flower of the field.
First, because just as the flower is the ornament of the field, so Christ is the ornament of the world, say Origen, St. Ambrose, Bede, and others: for Christ is so much the flower and glory of the world that He contains in Himself the beauty, amplitude, and excellence of all flowers and beauties. Whence Justus of Urgel explains thus: "I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys, that is, I am the glory of the world in the virginity of the humble." Christ is therefore the flower, by reason of His extraordinary beauty and fullness of grace, by which He is fairer than the sons of men. That flower, namely, of which it is said in Isaiah 11:1: "A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him." He is a flower that never withers, whose beauty never fails, whose fragrance never diminishes, whose vigor never perishes, always equally white and ruddy, always equally fragrant, always equally full of grace and truth. So says Titelmannus.
Secondly, because just as the flower of the field is abundant and manifold, not enclosed in a garden but exposed for all to pluck and enjoy, so also is Christ.
Hear Alanus: "The field signifies the human nature of Christ; for just as in a field a variety of flowers springs up, so in the human nature of Christ there is a plurality of virtues. In it was the violet of humility, the rose of patience, the lily of chastity. The flower of this field was Christ, that is, beauty according to His divinity, because by the power of His divinity He possessed in His human nature the fullness of gifts. Moreover, the human nature of Christ is elegantly signified by the field, on account of its breadth and level surface, because in it there was no stumbling block of error. Whence it is also said of Him: The lily of the valleys. Because perfect humility was in Mary, and in the human nature of Christ, therefore the person of the Virgin, and the human nature of the Word, are called valleys, on account of the eminence of their humility; and not only valleys, but also deep valleys by reason of the likeness, because the Virgin was especially like Christ." For this reason Christ chose to be born outside the city in the field and the countryside, just as the Blessed Virgin was born in the field amid the bleating of sheep, says Damascene, Book IV On the Faith, ch. 15.
Thirdly, just as a flower in the field springs up spontaneously without seed, without plowing, so also Christ was born of a virgin without the work of a man. Just as therefore a flower has in heaven the sun as its father, and on earth the plant as its mother: so Jesus has God as His Father in heaven, and on earth the Virgin as His only mother. And just as flowers are generated by the heat of the sun and the falling of dew: so without the work of a man, with the Holy Spirit overshadowing and the dew of divine grace flowing down, this flower of Jesse came forth — the flower, that is, the glory of the field. Again, just as a flower is born from earth and manure: so Christ from a land defiled by sins germinated as the purest flower. Whence He is called צמח tsemach, that is, the Rising, namely the sprout and flower (Zechariah 3 and 6). Hear St. Ambrose, Book II On the Holy Spirit, ch. 5: "The flower of Mary is Christ, who, about to spread the good fragrance of faith throughout the whole world, germinated from the virginal womb. The flower, when cut, preserves its fragrance, and when crushed, increases it, nor does it lose it when plucked. So also the Lord Jesus on that gibbet of the cross neither withered when crushed, nor vanished when plucked; but, cut by that piercing of the lance, He bloomed more beautifully with the sacred blood of the outpoured color, He Himself knowing not how to die, yet breathing forth to the dead the gift of eternal life."
Fourthly, Christ is the flower of the field, in Hebrew saron, that is, of the plain, because on the level ground He was born humbly from the humble Virgin. Again saron, that is, most beautiful, because in Sharon, being the richest and most fertile region, as I said a little before, the roses and flowers were more beautiful and fragrant than in other places, according to Isaiah 35:2: "The glory of Lebanon is given to it, the beauty of Carmel and Sharon."
Fifthly, the flower denotes that the time of the incarnation of Christ would be spring: for in spring flowers bloom. Thus Christ was conceived and incarnated on the 25th day of March, for which reason on that day the Church celebrates the feast of so great a mystery under the name of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. So say Cassiodorus, Honorius, and St. Bernard.
Sixthly, this flower is the rose, as Vatablus and others translate it. Now what is more beautiful than the rose, what more fragrant, what more health-giving? So also Christ is the beauty, fragrance, and salvation of the world. See what I said about the rose at Sirach 24:18, on the words: "And as the planting of the rose in Jericho." Therefore the bridegroom Christ is beautiful like the reddening rose and the white lily, according to Song 5:10: "My beloved is white and ruddy."
And the Lily of the Valleys.
But here understand the true lily, not that little fragrant plant which nowadays common herbalists wrongly call lily of the valley. This lily is called "of the valleys" because lilies more easily grow in valleys, to which dew and rain flow down from the mountains, and there they are more fragrant and beautiful; for since they are dry plants, they need much moisture. So also Christ is a white and fragrant lily, born from the humble earth and the Virgin. "In the lily," says Honorius, "five things are observed: it is white, having a prominent golden color, and is fragrant, and drooping, and always bent: so Christ is white in His humanity, golden in His divinity, fragrant in His preaching, drooping in receiving penitents, bent in condescending to sinners and lifting them up." He Himself is the lily of the valleys, that is, the ornament of the faithful. For just as valleys are between two moun-
tains, so the faithful are between two laws, or between two peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles.
Secondly, the petals of the lily are most white on the outside, but inside, in the middle of the flower, a triple ray of yellow, indeed truly golden color appears: so Christ outwardly displayed His most pure humanity, but inwardly contained His golden divinity, indeed the entire Holy Trinity: "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). So Aponius says: "Christ was the flower of the field before the incarnation, because shining forth in the entire field of the heavens He was to be wondered at by the heavenly spirits; but after the incarnation He became the lily of the valleys, when He descended into the valley of tears, and brought three things: the abolition of sin, the wiping away of falsehood, and the relief of concupiscence — just as the lily displays from itself three things: whiteness, fragrance, and a remedy for all kinds of burns." And Bede: "Beautifully, he says, in the lily first the outer whiteness gradually opens, and only then is the grace of the golden color that lay hidden within revealed: because the Lord born into the world was first recognized as a sublime man by those who truly believed in Him; but as time progressed, He became known as true God." St. Ambrose in Psalm 118, sermon 5, inverting the comparison, says: In Christ, as in the lily, there was the whiteness of divinity and the redness of humanity. Here Cyril of Alexandria agrees, in On the Incarnation of the Only-Begotten, ch. 9, who explains thus, as if to say: Just as an invisible fragrance exists in the visible lily, so the incorporeal Godhead was, as it were, embodied in Christ the man through the hypostatic union.
Thirdly, St. Ambrose, Book II On the Holy Spirit, ch. 5: "Christ, he says, is the flower of the field, because like a flower crushed and torn in His Passion, He gave forth a greater fragrance."
Fourthly, great is the fecundity of the lily. For "nothing is more fruitful," says Pliny, Book XXI, ch. 5, "a single root often putting forth fifty bulbs." So what is more fruitful than Christ, from whom so many thousands, indeed millions of Christians have sprung?
Fifthly, no flower is taller than the lily: so nothing is more exalted than Christ. Hear Pliny graphically depicting the beauty of the lily, Book XXI, ch. 5: "Nor is the height of any flower greater, sometimes reaching three cubits, with an always drooping neck that cannot support the weight. Its whiteness is extraordinary, with petals on the outside striated, and gradually widening from narrow beginnings, in the shape of a basket, with lips turned back around the rim, and with a fine thread and seed; with saffron-colored filaments standing in the middle. Thus the color and fragrance are twofold, one of the calyx, another of the stamen, the difference being slight."
Mystically, Origen says: Christ was an inglorious flower to the Jews, because He was despised by them; but a glorious lily to the Gentiles, because they recognized and worshipped the glory of Christ.
Symbolically, Honorius says: The field, that is, unplowed land, is the order of virgins in the Church, whose flower is Christ, because He is their delight, crown, and reward. The valley is the order of married persons, situated between virgins and the continent, as between two mountains, whose lily Christ is, namely their brightness and joy. "And as the lily is among thorns" in beauty and fragrance: so the Church of the perfect is among the daughters of Jerusalem, that is, among the imperfect, excelling in the beauty of life and the fragrance of teaching. They are called perfect because they have left all worldly things, as the Lord says: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor" (Matt. 19:21). They are called imperfect because they still make use of the world, of whom it is said: "Your eyes saw my imperfect being, and in your book all shall be written" (Psalm 138:16).
Fifthly, Christ is the lily of the valleys, because in the valleys, that is, in the humble, He arouses the hope of future glory: for God exalts and glorifies the humble. For the lily is a symbol of hope. I gave the reason at Hosea 14:6, on the words: "Israel shall sprout like the lily." Therefore the valley of humility is the lily-garden of virginity, grace, and glory.
Finally, Christ flowers and gives forth fragrance in all the saints like a lily, namely as the lily of purity in virgins, of patience in martyrs, of humility in cenobites, of penance in penitents, of teaching in doctors, etc. Whence St. Gregory says: "Rightly does Christ call Himself a flower, who, while He exterminates the thorns of sins, adorns the mind of the bride with the beauty of His justice, and while He applies heavenly desire to the nostrils of the heart, refreshes the interior of the soul as with a fragrance."
More clearly St. Bernard, sermon 47: "A flower, he says, is virginity, a flower is martyrdom, a flower is a good deed. In the garden is virginity, in the field martyrdom, a good work in the bedchamber." And after some words: "He Himself is the flower of the garden, a virgin shoot generated from a virgin. He is also the flower of the field, a martyr, the crown of martyrs, the model of martyrdom. For He was led outside the city, He suffered outside the camp, He was raised on the wood to be gazed upon by men, to be mocked by all. He is likewise the flower of the bedchamber, the mirror and example of all beneficence."
Second Partial Sense: Of Christ and the Holy Soul.
First, Nyssenus, homily 4, teaches that Christ is the flower of the field in holy souls, which His grace makes fruitful, so that they become like the most ample and fertile field producing all species of flowers. Origen adds, homily 3 out of four, that Christ is the flower of the field for beginners and the simple, but the lily of the valleys for those advancing in the splendor of wisdom and purity. For He Himself is the brightness of the eternal light, the splendor and figure of the substance of God (Wisdom 7:26).
Secondly, Cassiodorus, Bede, and St. Ambrose, at the place already cited, say that Christ is the flower of the field in all the faithful; but the lily of the valleys, that is, of the humble, because in the humble His grace shines more brightly.
Thirdly, Ambrose, Book III On Virgins: "The flower of the field, he says, is Christ, because He frequents the simplicity of parents with a pure mind; but the lily of the valleys, because He is the flower of humility and simplicity."
Fourthly, and most fittingly, Christ is the lily in chaste and pure minds, such as those of the valleys, that is, of the humble: for the sprout and flower of humility is chastity and virginity. So St. Jerome, epistle 8 to Demetrias: "Christ, he says, as the author and prince of virginity, speaks confidently: I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys." Again, the chaste soul itself is a lily. For, as Theodoret explains: "The lily shines with outward beauty, and within contains a golden blossom. Such is the soul surrounded by the splendor of justice, and bearing in its innermost depths the spiritual gift of wisdom and knowledge."
Hence also bees, chaste and virginal creatures — since without mating they produce offspring and make honey — delight in the lily as something virginal, as Pliny attests, Book XXI, ch. 12. For this reason an angel from heaven brought to St. Cecilia and St. Valerian, who in their marriage preserved—
their virginity, crowns of roses and lilies, as their Life records. The same happened to Saints Julian and Basilissa, as is evident from their Life in Surius, on the 9th of January, and to others of the same kind and virtue. Therefore give lilies in full baskets to virgins.
Anagogically, Eucherius on III Kings says: "Christ is the lily because of the glory of the resurrection, white on the outside because of the glory of the body, but golden within because of the splendor of the soul. And indeed before the Passion the lily was as if closed, for through the Passion He was crowned with glory and honor; but after the Passion the lily opened wide, inasmuch as in His assumed humanity He displayed the power of the divine brightness which He had with the Father before the world was." Theodoret asserts that Christ was the flower of the field in His incarnation, and the lily of the valleys in His descent to the underworld: for in the underworld are the lowest valleys of the world.
Third Principal Sense: Of Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
All these things apply preeminently above all to the Blessed Virgin. But singularly, in that from her as from an unplowed field came forth a beautiful flower, namely Christ, and from her womb as from the humblest valley was born the most beautiful and fragrant lily, namely the same Christ, as I said a little above from Alanus and others.
Verse 2. As the Lily Among Thorns, So Is My Beloved Among the Daughters.
For "lily" the Chaldean, Vatablus, and others translate "rose," because the rose is thorny and grows from a thorny branch, not the lily. But Solomon does not say this lily grows from a thorny branch, but simply that it is among thorns, as if to say: Just as a lily placed among thorns shines forth, so my beloved, that is, my bride, stands out among the other women. Again, lilies often grow among brambles and thorns, as when they are planted or sown alongside thorny hedges. Whence the Septuagint translates: "As the lily in the midst of thorns, so is my close one (Aquila: my friend; the fifth edition: my beloved) in the midst of the daughters."
The Chaldean, explaining this of the captivity of the Synagogue, that is, of the sinning Jews, expounds thus, as if to say: Just as a lily is pricked by thorns, so the Synagogue is punished for her sins by the Babylonian or Roman captivity; whence he, taking these as the words of the bride, that is, of the Synagogue, translates: "But at the time when I turn aside from the ways that are right before Him, and He takes away the majesty of His holiness from me, I am compared to a rose that sprouts among thorns, by which its petals are pierced and torn: so I am pricked and torn because of the most wicked impositions in captivity, among the provinces of the peoples."
First Adequate Sense: Of Christ and the Church.
The bridegroom, in verse 1, called Himself a lily; now He ascribes the same name and praise to the bride, but with the addition of "among thorns." I explained "lily" in verse 1; here I will explain "among thorns."
First, three Fathers cited by Theodoret explain, as if to say: Just as a lily planted among thorns rises up and grows out of them, so the Church of the Gentiles was called and born from the thorns of unbelief and of the unbelieving Gentiles. Christ therefore acted like a hunting dog, says Hugo, which pursuing its quarry thrusts its head into the pricks of thorns, not fearing laceration, in order to catch the prey: He drew out the Church, like a prey hiding among thorns, that is, among the reprobate, but He endured the prickings of the thorns even to the shedding of blood, as a sign of which He wore the crown of thorns on His head upon the cross.
Secondly, and more genuinely, as if to say: Just as the lily among thorns far surpasses them in beauty, fragrance, and whiteness, so the Church surpasses all other sects of Jews, philosophers, politicians, etc. So say Origen, Theodoret, and Justus of Urgel.
Thirdly, as if to say: Just as the lily grows and thrives among thorns, so the Church thrives and flourishes in the midst of heretics and wicked Christians, who prick and wound her like thorns; but she nevertheless, like a lily, remains in her whiteness, fragrance, and splendor of doctrine and holiness, indeed amid persecutions she shines with greater fragrance and brilliance of renown. So say St. Gregory, Aponius, Philo of Carpathia, St. Bernard here, and St. Augustine in On the Unity of the Church, ch. 13. Hear Honorius: Just as I am (says the bridegroom) the lily of the valleys, namely the ornament of the humble: so you shall be, my beloved, the lily of thorns, that is, the beauty of the nations; and just as I am the lily among thorns, namely the Jews pricking and tearing Me: so you shall be, O Church—
my Church, my beloved, among the nations, the daughters of Babylon, that is, of confusion, who will prick you, tormented with many thorns, and wound you with many punishments. In the thorn three things are noted: it quickly blooms, it quickly withers, and it pricks with its thorns. So the wicked quickly flourish in riches, quickly wither in virtues, and are fit for fire, and with their evil ways they prick the good.
Anagogically, St. Augustine, Book V On Baptism against the Donatists, ch. 27, understands the bride as the Church of the elect, and the thorns as the company of the reprobate, as if to say: Just as thorns surround the lily, so the reprobate surround the elect; but the elect flourish among the reprobate with grace and glory, just as the lily among thorns: "for 'daughters,' says Rupert, when used absolutely, almost never have a good signification, as in: 'The daughters ran over the wall. But they provoked him,' etc. (Gen. 49:22), and elsewhere: 'Many daughters have gathered riches,' etc. (Prov. 31:29). And so the thorns and daughters are the blasphemies of the Jews, and the sects of the heretics." Furthermore by "daughters" he especially denotes the women of Zion, that is, the women of Jerusalem and Judea.
Second Partial Sense: Of Christ and the Holy Soul.
First, Origen, homily 3 out of four, explains thus, as if to say: Among the daughters, that is, worldly and carnal souls, which are effeminated by the pleasures of the flesh and are pricked and tormented by them as by thorns, and as daughters are born of their father the devil: the holy soul flourishes like a lily, which has no care or anxiety about food or clothing, but transfers all such care to God; wherefore by Him she is marvelously clothed and fed with fragrance and beauty. For in a similar way the pious soul is touched by no care of the flesh, but resting in the providence of God is nourished, adorned, and illumined by Him. Whence Christ, using this simile of the lily, urges the faithful not to be anxious about food and clothing (Matt. 6:28). Origen has similar things in homily 3 out of four.
Secondly, St. Ambrose, Book III On Virgins, understands the lily among thorns as compunction of heart; for thus he says: "As the lily among thorns. Does not the flower of good fragrance arise among the hardships of labors and the crushing of spirits, because God is appeased by a contrite heart?"
Thirdly, St. Gregory understands the lily among thorns as the innocence of life among the guilty: "Rightly, he says, is the bride said to be like the lily among thorns among the daughters; because while many in the Church confess Christ with words alone, but in their deeds pursue nothing but human concerns, only that soul is counted worthy of the lily's dignity which rises from the root of mortality to heavenly beauty, and guards the whiteness of purity for itself in heart and body, and refreshes all its neighbors with the fragrance of a good reputation."
Fourthly, Nyssenus, homily 4, explains thus, as if to say: Just as a lily among thorns is born and flourishes, so the holy soul amid tribulations grows in virtue and shines more brightly. And St. Ambrose, On the Institution of Virgins, ch. 14: Christ, he says, was the lily in the midst of thorns when He was in the midst of the Jews who slandered Him, accused Him, and crucified Him. Therefore by His own example He stirs the faithful to bear and overcome persecutions and tribulations of every kind with a courageous spirit. So say Cassiodorus, Aponius, and Anselm. For God has hedged this entire life with so many thorns, that is, tribulations, so that the soul, seeing itself pricked everywhere by them, may withdraw its love from all the goods of the world, as being thorny, and place it entirely in God the bridegroom. Thus thorns preserve the lily, that is, the purity and virginity of the soul. Hear St. Bernard, sermon 48, treating this matter with remarkable wisdom: "I was turned in my anguish while the thorn was being driven in (Psalm 31:4). The thorn is guilt, the thorn is punishment, the thorn is a false brother, the thorn is a wicked neighbor. As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters. O shining lily, O tender and delicate flower! The unbelieving and subversive are with you: see how carefully you walk among thorns. The world is full of thorns: they are in the ground, they are in the air, they are in your flesh. To dwell among these and not be hurt at all is of divine power, not of your own virtue. But take confidence, He says, because I have conquered the world (John 16:33). Even if therefore you see the thorns of tribulations aimed at you from every side like the prickles of thistles, let not your heart be troubled, nor let it fear, knowing that tribulation works patience, patience trial, trial hope, and hope does not confound (Rom. 5:3). Consider the lilies of the field, how among thorns they thrive and shine. If the grass, which is today and tomorrow is cast into the oven, God so protects, how much more—
will He all the more protect His beloved and dearest bride? Finally, the Lord guards all who love Him (Psalm 144:20). As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters." He then adds something that marvelously amplifies and completes the force and splendor of this lily: "It is no small title of virtue, he says, to live as a good person among the depraved, and among the malicious to preserve the whiteness of innocence and the gentleness of manners; but even more so if to those who hate peace, you show yourself peaceful, and friendly to your very enemies. This will truly vindicate for you by a certain right of its own the likeness given of the lily, which never ceases to illuminate and beautify with its own whiteness the very thorns that prick it. Does not the lily thus seem to you to fulfill in a certain way the perfection of the Gospel, by which we are to pray for those who slander and persecute us, and do good to those who hate us (Luke 6:23)? Therefore go and do likewise, and your soul will be the beloved of the Lord, and He will praise you, saying of you: As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters." Is not this a great power of the lily, a great, I say, virtue of the holy and apostolic soul, that it not only overcomes the thorns but converts them into lilies, so as to make a Paul from a Saul, a preacher from a persecutor, an angel from a demon? Fittingly St. Jerome, epistle 140 to Principia, compares St. Marcella and Asella to the lily: "You have, he says, in the study of the Scriptures and in the holiness of mind and body, Marcella and Asella: of whom the one leads you through green meadows and the various flowers of the divine books to Him who says in the Song: I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys (for Marcella was learned in Scripture, as the same Jerome teaches in epistle 16); the other, herself a flower of the Lord (Asella), may deserve to hear with you: As the lily in the midst of thorns, so is my beloved in the midst of the daughters."
Third Principal Sense: Of Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
Rupert explains thus, as if to say: Just as Christ like a lily was pierced by the thorns of the Jews and heretics, so also the Blessed Virgin was pricked and pierced by the same. "And so, he says, these thorns and daughters are the blasphemies of the Jews and the sects of the heretics: whatever thorns of this kind lacerated me, whatever daughters of this kind envied you and detracted from me. Where I was pricked by thorns, indeed nailed through with nails, you, present there, suffered with a wounded mind; and where your virginity is disparaged by the daughters, I too am enviously disparaged. But just as I indeed endured the thorns, yet overcame them: so too it shall be truly proclaimed of you, that you have destroyed all heresies." Hence St. Augustine says: "Christ Jesus offers His flesh; Mary the virgin offers her mind." In the Revelations of St. Bridget, Book VI, ch. 30, St. Agnes revealed to her that the Blessed Virgin endured as many sword-strokes through compassion as she foresaw and saw wounds and blows in her Son. Hear what St. Bridget writes about the Blessed Virgin in the Angelic Sermon, ch. 16: Just as the rose usually grows among thorns, so the Blessed Virgin grew in this world amid tribulations; and just as, when the rose grows, the thorns also grow, so this most chosen rose, Mary, the more she grew in age, the more sharply she was pricked by the thorns of ever greater tribulations: what these tribulations were, she explains in what follows.
Again, from this passage Galatinus and Bellarmine (vol. III, Book IV, ch. 15) hold that the Virgin was conceived without any original stain: for just as from a thorny plant a rose is born without thorns, in which there is a wonderful delight to the sight and sweetness to the smell, so from so many sinners was born the innocent and holy Blessed Virgin. The same may be said of the lily. Wherefore, as Blessed Peter Damian says, sermon 3 On the Nativity of the Virgin: "Born from the thorny lineage of the Jews, the purity of virginal chastity shone white in her body; the ardor of twofold charity blazed in her mind, the fragrance of good works spread everywhere, and the continuous intention of her heart reached toward the heights." For the Fathers interpret the thorns, among which the lily is said to exist and from which the rose draws its origin, as the lineage of the Mother of God, from which she herself contracted nothing harsh, nothing dreadful, but was entirely sweet and pleasant, no less than the lily and the rose. Wherefore Sedulius, in Book II On the Most Holy Virgin, sang thus: "And as among sharp thorns the soft rose rises, / having nothing to harm, and obscures its mother in glory: / so when from the stock of Eve sacred Mary came, / the new Virgin atoned for the ancient Virgin's sin: / as the thorn produced the rose, so Judea produced Mary."
The Church, praised by the bridegroom, in her custom reflects the praise back upon him; each does this in the bucolic, that is, pastoral and rural manner, borrowing the comparison from the countryside and trees. For here the bridegroom is presented as a shepherd, and the bride as a shepherdess, tending the flock and cultivating gardens, fields, and vineyards. She says therefore: You praise me, O bridegroom, for shining like a lily among thorns; but this I have from You, who first shone like an apple tree among the barren trees of the forest: for You have shared Your beauty and preeminence with me, as a bridegroom does with his bride. For the bridegroom makes his goods common to the bride, indeed her own.
The Voice of the Bride. Verse 3. As the Apple Tree Among the Trees of the Woods, So Is My Beloved Among the Sons.
"As the apple tree among the trees of the woods." The Arabic has: "As the pomegranate tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons"; Vatablus: "among the young men," as if to say: By as much as the apple tree outshines, towers above, and surpasses the other trees of the forest; by as much as it imparts a more pleasant and healthful air than they where it provides shade; by as much as apples are better than acorns; by as much as a person who eats these excels all other animals that feed on those: by so much, and indeed much more, does my heavenly bridegroom surpass all other men and beloved ones, that is, those loved and those loving. Furthermore the Chaldean translates: "Behold, as the beautiful and praiseworthy citron tree among the trees of the un-
fruitful trees, and the whole world recognizes it: so the Lord of the world was praiseworthy among the angels at the time when He was revealed on Mount Sinai, when He gave the law to His people." In Greek mallon, in Latin malus or melum, or literally melum (as Origen's translator has it, whence the Italians also call fruits mele), is a fruit tree producing poma (fruits). Now poma in the generic sense includes all fruits that have a soft rind, as nuts have a hard one: therefore figs, pears, grapes, peaches, cherries, plums, sorbs, medlars, olives, dates, etc., are all reckoned as poma.
Denis the Carthusian adds here: "Although, he says, there were many holy virgins, yet in comparison with the most blessed Virgin they seem to have been as thorns, insofar as they had some fault; and although they were clean in themselves, yet the fomes (tinder of sin) was not entirely extinguished in them: they were also thorns to others, who were pricked by concupiscence from looking at them. But the Virgin Mother of God was absolutely immune from all fault, the fomes was fully extinguished in her; and yet she was filled with intense charity: wherefore she so penetrated the hearts of beholders with her inestimable virginal chastity that she could be lusted after by no one; indeed she rather extinguished their lust for the moment."
Again, just as the lily is effective against serpents and poisons, so the invocation of the Blessed Virgin is a singular remedy in every temptation of vices, and especially of lust, as experience proves. Hear Pliny, Book XXI, ch. 19: "The roots of the lily, he says, have the property of bearing fruit against the bites of serpents when drunk in wine, and against the poison of mushrooms." Dioscorides, Book III, ch. 90, where he treats of the lily: "The leaves of the herb, he says, applied to serpent bites, bring relief; the same, boiled in water, help burns, and preserved in vinegar, help wounds." The same Dioscorides, Book XV, ch. 1, teaches that another species of lily, which in Latin is called iris and in Italian the heavenly lily, has a root which when drunk with vinegar cures the bites of venomous animals. And Petrus Matthiolus in his Commentary adds that the same root, crushed into powder and drunk with vinegar, is universally beneficial against all poisons.
First therefore the Church compares Christ the bridegroom to the apple tree, that is, the fruit tree, because just as the fruit tree, being productive, excels the rest of the barren and fruitless trees of the forest, so Christ excels all angels and men: for all of them by themselves are like fruitless trees, but by the grace of Christ and God they have ennobled their flower in many ways against the bites of serpents, and have that which bears the fruits of the virtues of grace and glory. So say Origen, Cassiodorus, Bede, and others. Furthermore, St. Bernard, sermon 48, contends that Christ is here compared to and preferred above men only, not angels, and this in the strict sense is true, as Nyssenus, Aponius, Philo of Carpathia, Rupert, and others also hold.
Secondly, just as apples breathe forth a sweet fragrance, so also Christ draws all to Himself by His fragrance and renown. Hence the apple in Hebrew is called תפוח tappuach, from the root פוח puach, that is, "he breathed out, he exhaled," because apples exhale a sweet fragrance. Hear St. Ambrose, sermon 5 on Psalm 118, verse 1: "As the apple tree among the trees of the forest. This kind of fruit has so pleasant a fragrance that it surpasses the fragrance of all other fruits. Christ therefore, fastened to the wood, like an apple hanging on a tree, poured forth the good fragrance of the world's redemption, which wiped away the stench of grievous sin and poured out the ointment of the drink of life."
Thirdly, the apple, or fruit tree, has under it various species of trees, which accordingly produce fruits and apples of different species, and these of excellent taste, color, and fragrance, such as golden apples, citrons, pomegranates, peaches, quinces, apricots, and citrus fruits: so also Christ produces all species of virtues and graces, such as virginity in virgins, martyrdom in martyrs, contemplation in contemplatives, etc.
Fourthly, Christ is truly for us the fruit and the apple, that is, the food by which we are nourished and fed — both in the teaching of the Gospel, as Theodoret, St. Ambrose, Bede, Aponius, and St. Bernard say; and properly, as Philo of Carpathia, Origen, Nyssenus, and Anselm hold, in the Eucharist. The apple, says Nyssenus, delights your senses — namely sight with color, smell with fragrance, and taste with flavor. Christ does the same. Philo of Carpathia adds that the apple gives food and also drink: so also Christ, he says, in the Eucharist gives His flesh as food and His blood—
as drink. Whence Aponius and Psellus here understand the apple as the pomegranate, from which a red and watery juice is pressed, just as from the side of Christ on the cross flowed blood and water. Hear St. Gregory: "Rightly therefore Christ is figured by the apple, and other men by the wild trees of the forest: because in Christ alone, whenever we seek the food of salvation, we find it; in His words and examples we refresh our souls with sweet and wholesome fruit. For He is the tree of life, which He bestows upon us. He is the one who, when He breathes Himself into us, feeds the soul. In others, if we find anything refreshing, we take from them not what is theirs, but what is Christ's, because whatever in them is apart from God, we undoubtedly find to be deadly for us."
Fifthly, Nyssenus, homily 4, teaches that Christ descended into the forest of this life in order to make the wild trees fruitful — that is, to make faithful people from the unfaithful, pious from the impious, chaste from the unchaste, humble from the proud: just as a branch of an apple tree grafted onto a beech or another forest tree produces its own fruits and apples in it and from it.
All these things, with the name changed, apply to the holy soul and the Blessed Virgin.
Finally, "the apple tree among the trees of the forest" is the cross, and Christ crucified in the midst of the thieves, say Aponius, Psellus, Theodoret, Rupert, and St. Bernard. And this firstly, because just as Adam sinned in the matter of the apple, eating the fruit forbidden by God, so Christ made satisfaction in the apple tree, hanging on the cross, so that where the fault had been committed, there also satisfaction would be made; and He "who conquered by the wood, would also be conquered by the wood." Secondly, because the apple tree has the appearance of a cross (just as the mast in a ship, with its yardarms and sails): for the trunk has the appearance of the upright beam; and the branches, of the crossbeam on the cross — for on the spreading branches of the apple tree, as on the crossbeam, the outstretched arms of the crucified can be nailed. Thirdly, because this is confirmed by what follows: "I sat under His shadow, whom I had desired: and His fruit was sweet to my taste," as if to say: Under the apple tree, that is, under the cross of Christ, I sat, and tasted His fruit. Fourthly, because in the opinion of many the cross of Christ was made from a palm tree: and the palm is an apple tree, because it produces dates, which since they have a sweet and soft rind, are called poma. Fifthly, because this is signified in Song 8:5, where it says: "Under the apple tree I raised you up," where more is said on this matter.
Whence Fortunatus, alluding to this, and after him the Church in the Office of the Passion and the Cross, sings thus: "Faithful cross, among all trees / a single noble tree: / No forest produces such a one / in leaf, flower, or fruit: / Sweet wood, sweet nails, / it bears a sweet burden."
The bride therefore says: "As the apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons," as if saying with St. Ignatius: "My love is crucified"; I love none but Christ crucified. And with St. Paul: "Far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. 6:14). Hear St. Ambrose on Psalm 118, sermon 5, verse 1: "These are the dwellings of the cross and burial of Christ, in which the Church was wounded, but with the wound of charity. For the wound is what Christ received; but the ointment is what He poured out; the fruit is what hung there. The Church tasted this fruit and said: And his fruit was sweet to my taste. And that you may know that the Lord is the fruit, you read above: As the apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my kinsman."
I Sat Down Under His Shadow, Whom I Had Desired: and His Fruit Was Sweet to My Taste.
The Septuagint: "In (Symmachus: under) his shadow I desired and sat down," that is, I ardently desired his shadow, and having desired it I enjoyed it, and sat most pleasantly under it; Vatablus: "whose shadow I sought, and under it I will sit"; the Arabic: "I desired to be shaded by his shadow, and I sat down."
She persists in the simile of the apple tree: for the apple tree gives a better shade than the plane tree, whose shade is nonetheless considered most pleasant, as Pliny attests, and Plato in the Phaedrus, where he presents Socrates discoursing under a plane tree: "For this plane tree, he says, is spread out with very broad branches, and is tall, and its height and shade are exceedingly beautiful and delightful," etc.
For fruit-bearing trees, such as the apple tree, as they are in themselves more temperate and pleasant than unfruitful and wild trees, so they also cast a more temperate and pleasant shade than those: add also the fruits, by which they relieve the hunger, heat, and thirst of travelers resting under them.
Note that "under the shadow" signifies the bride's betrothal: for the bride of old used to be covered with a canopy, or parasol or cloak, of the bridegroom, which signified that as a bride she was under the bridegroom's care and protection. Whence Ruth, ch. 3:9, seeking marriage with Boaz, who as the nearest kinsman was bound by the ancient law to marry her, says to him: "Spread your garment over your handmaid, for you are a near kinsman," that is, take me into your shadow, namely into your family, home, care, and protection; marry me, betroth me to yourself, and as a sign of the betrothal associate me with you under the shadow and covering of your cloak. And God says to the Synagogue, Ezekiel 16:8: "Behold your time, He says, the time of lovers: and I spread my garment over you." The same was the custom of the Gentiles. Whence Euripides, as cited by Stobaeus, introduces a father thus instructing his daughter: "When you have come under the cloak of an excellent man, leave the rest of your interests to your husband." Finally to the Blessed Virgin Gabriel said, Luke 1:35: "The power of the Most High will overshadow you," as if to say: The Holy Spirit like a bridegroom will receive you with His shadow, and in you will accomplish the hidden incarnation of the Word. The Chaldean, taking these as usual of the law given by Moses to the Synagogue and the Jews, translates thus: "For one time I desired to dwell in the shadow of His majesty; and the words of His law were sweet to my taste; and the rewards of His precepts are kept for me in the age to come."
First Adequate Sense: Of Christ and the Church.
You will ask, what is this shadow of Christ, which she seeks, and under which the Church and the holy soul joyfully sits and rests?
They respond, first, that some say it is the incarnation, that is, the incarnate Word: for this, as the sole remedy for a thousand of her ills, the Church most eagerly awaited through so many thousands of years. For the Word is light and immense radiance, whose shadow is the body and humanity assumed by Him; for this, like a shadow, conceals and veils the divinity and majesty of the Word. The humanity therefore is the shadow of the divinity, which through its thin veil dimly shines and gleams through.
Secondly, properly and genuinely, the shadow of Christ is His providence, care, and protection of the Church and the holy soul as His bride, according to Isaiah 51:16: "In the shadow of My hand I have protected you, that you may plant the heavens and found the earth." So say Origen, Nyssenus, Cassiodorus, Ambrose, Philo, St. Anselm, and others. From this power of Christ, as it were animated, the shadow of St. Peter healed all manner of sick persons (Acts 5:15). Hence Jeremiah says of Christ: "In Your shadow we shall live among the nations" (Lam. 4:20), and Hosea 14:8. The Septuagint translates: "For our couch is shady," namely the bridegroom Christ. And the Psalmist: "And in the shadow of Your wings I will hope" (Psalm 56:2).
Thirdly, the shadow of Christ is the Holy Spirit: for just as a body casts a shadow and is veiled and shaded by it, so Christ, as God, breathes forth the Holy Spirit, and is as it were veiled and covered by Him. Hence the Holy Spirit, overshadowing the Blessed Virgin, in her womb formed, organized, animated the body of Christ as man, and united it hypostatically to the Word of God (Luke 1:31); just as a hen, brooding over her eggs with the shadow of her wings, by her warmth forms the chick, gives it life, enlivens it, and hatches it, says Theophylact on Luke 1. Hear St. Gregory: "The shadow of Christ is the protection of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit overshadows the mind which He fills, because He tempers every fervor of temptations; and while the breeze of His inspiration gently touches the mind, He drives out whatever harmful heat it was enduring; and the soul which perhaps the excessive heat of vices had already made wilted, the shadow of the Holy Spirit, protecting it, refreshes, so that while it sits and rests in His inspiration, it gathers strength to run more vigorously toward eternal life."
Fourthly, Origen, Theodoret, Philo of Carpathia, and St. Ambrose on Psalm 118, sermon 5, understand by the shadow the Old Law, under which the Church says she sat before Christ, when she still dwelt in the Synagogue of Moses: for the law was the shadow of the Gospel, just as Moses was of Christ, and the Synagogue of the Church.
Fifthly, fittingly St. Bernard, sermon 48, understands by the shadow, faith, which is shadowy and obscure: for we walk by faith and not by sight, but faith leads us to the clear vision in heaven.
Second Partial Sense: Of Christ and the Holy Soul.
The holy soul does not stand but sits under the shadow of Christ crucified, that is, she constantly dwells there through meditation, prayer, and contemplation, especially when she is tormented and pressed by some temptation or tribulation, as by the burning heat of the sun: for Christ crucified communicates to her both a share of His cross and of His strength, indeed He often soothes her with great and wonderful consolations from heaven, so that she prefers to be on the cross with Christ rather than in pleasures with the world. Whence also Blessed Francis Xavier amid the labors and hardships of India so overflowed with heavenly sweetness that he cried out: "Enough, Lord, enough! For my mind in this life cannot contain so great a weight of joys." So says St. Ambrose on Psalm 118, sermon 5. This is what the Psalmist sings: "But the children of men shall put their trust under the cover of Your wings. They shall be inebriated with the plenty of Your house; and You shall give them to drink of the torrent of Your pleasure" (Psalm 35:8). Theodoret notes in the Philotheus, or History of the Holy Fathers, ch. 9, that the soul devoted to Christ crucified reveres, loves, and venerates not only Christ, but even His garment, His house, His sandals, and whatever bears any shadow of Him, however faint.
Secondly, the shadow of Christ is the sacrament of the Eucharist, for in it under the species of bread the divinity and humanity of Christ are concealed: which therefore the faithful eagerly desire, and under it they securely rest. So says St. Bernard, sermon 48.
Thirdly, the shadow of Christ is the saints: for just as a shadow is an image of the body, but thin and inadequate, so the life of the saints is an image of the life of Christ, but only shadowy and not equal to it. Therefore the pious soul, while she dwells in the company or congregation of the faithful and saints, is protected by it as by a shadow, and is warmed by their examples and counsels. So say three Fathers cited by Theodoret.
Fourthly, Origen thinks that the shadow denotes progress in virtue: for just as a shadow grows from noon to evening, so the virtue of the holy soul grows and advances day by day. Again, the shadow leads to the body. "Make yourself therefore worthy of the shadow," says Origen, "so that you may be able to receive his shadow, and its effects; then there will come to you (so to speak) his body, from which the shadow is born, and then you will taste the sweetness of his fruit, and you will say: And his fruit was sweet to my taste."
Third Principal Sense: Of Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
The shadow denotes the betrothal of the Blessed Virgin, as I said a little earlier, according to Luke 1:35: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And therefore the Holy One that shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God." This overshadowing therefore, as it were, betrothed her to the Holy Spirit, who thereupon formed in her Christ, the Holy of holies, and then filled her with the sweetest fruit of consolation and contemplation.
Again, the Blessed Virgin's shadow was not only the Holy Spirit, but also Christ: for He is called her beloved, that is, her bridegroom. For the Blessed Virgin most ardently desired His coming and incarnation: wherefore before His coming she sat under His shadow, both because from faith in Christ to be incarnated in her she drew all her grace, even the grace preceding the incarnation; and because all her hope, desire, consolation, protection, and every good was to hope for Christ about to be born, to see and love Him being born, and to enjoy Him once born.
And His Fruit Was Sweet to My Taste.
The Septuagint has: "to my mouth"; Vatablus: "and his fruit is most sweet to my palate." You will ask, what is this fruit of Christ?
I respond: the first fruit of Christ is the remission of sins, justification, grace, and virtues. Likewise the preaching of the apostles and the conversion of the nations. So says St. Ambrose on Psalm 118, sermon 5.
The second fruit of Christ is the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which St. Paul enumerates in Galatians 5:22, saying: "The fruit of the Spirit is: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness," etc. For Christ, sending the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the faithful at Pentecost, together with Him sent also these gifts and fruits. So say three Fathers cited by Theodoret.
The third fruit, real and bodily, sweet to the taste of both body and soul, is the Eucharist, with which Christ feeds us, and with its sweetness, like heavenly manna, inebriates the mind. So say Aponius, Rupert, and St. Bernard, sermon 48. For the love and benefits of Christ, such as the Eucharist, are represented here by various figures and images.
The fourth fruit of Christ is His heavenly speech and teaching, and therefore most salutary and most sweet: whence it is also called the Gospel, that is, the good and happy news, because it announces the kingdom of heaven and the way of reaching it. So say Nyssenus, homily 4, and St. Ambrose, annotation on Exodus chapter 16.
The fifth fruit is constant meditation on the law of the Lord, says Origen; and even more, the contemplation of Christ, His divinity, incarnation, passion, etc. So says St. Gregory, whom hear: "The fruitful tree is Christ Himself, planted in our heart by faith, which if our mind worthily loves and constantly cultivates, it indeed produces inwardly beautiful and useful fruits. While the mind eagerly eats these, it sets aside all the pleasures of the world for the sake of His sweetness. For it is very sweet to think of heavenly things, to fix the inner eye on eternity, so that sometimes even amid weeping the inflamed mind is pricked with compunction, and uplifted amid tears, is fed with the food of angels — that is, with wisdom itself, and the sweeter it is, the more eagerly she feeds. Hence what follows: 'He brought me into the wine cellar.'" Thus St. Mary Magdalene was fed as with heavenly manna by the contemplation of Christ, sitting at the feet of Jesus; whence she deserved to hear from Him (Luke 10:42): "Mary has chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her forever." And St. Augustine in the Soliloquies, ch. 22: "I beseech You, he says, that all things may become bitter to me, so that You alone may appear sweet to my soul." The same in the Manual, ch. 20: "The loving soul, he says, is drawn by longings, carried by desires; she hides her merits, closes her eyes to majesty, opens them to delight, placing herself in the Savior and acting confidently in Him. In love the soul withdraws and transcends the bodily senses, so that she does not feel herself who feels God. This happens when the mind, enticed by the ineffable sweetness of God, in a way steals itself from itself — indeed it is carried away and slips from itself, in order to enjoy God in delight. Nothing is so delightful, if only it were not so brief. Love gives familiarity, familiarity with God gives boldness, boldness gives taste, taste gives hunger. The soul touched by the love of God can think of nothing else, desire nothing else, but frequently sighs, saying: As the hart desires the springs of water, so my soul desires You, my God." And after some words: "Safe and firm rest for the weak and sinners is in the wounds of the Savior. Securely I dwell there: His inner parts lie open to me through His wounds; whatever I lack in myself, I take for myself from the inner parts of my Lord, because they overflow with mercy, nor are there lacking openings through which it may flow. Through the openings of the body, the secrets of the heart lie open to me, the great mystery of piety is revealed. The inner parts of the mercy of our God lie open, in which the Rising from on high has visited us. The wounds of Jesus Christ are full of mercy, full of piety, full of sweetness and charity." Thus St. Bonaventure, when visited by St. Thomas Aquinas and asked from what book he drew such wise, devout, and sweet thoughts and words that he poured forth in teaching and writing, showed him the image of Christ crucified and said: "This is the book—
from which I draw, my Father, which suggests to me all that I teach and write. For at the feet of this Crucified One, my soul draws greater lights from heaven than from all reading, disputation, and study." So our Father Ribadeneira in the Life of St. Bonaventure, from the Chronicles of St. Francis.
Anagogically, St. Bernard, sermon 48: "She says, he writes: And his fruit was sweet to my taste. Rightly had she desired the shadow of him from whom she was to receive both refreshment and nourishment. For the other trees of the forest, although they have the shade of solace, do not have the refreshment of life, nor the perpetual fruits of salvation. For there is one author of life, one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who says to His bride: I am your salvation. Not Moses, He says, gave you this bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven (John 6:32). Therefore she had desired above all the shadow of Christ, because He alone is the one who not only cools the heat of vices, but also fills with the delight of virtues."
Verse 4. He Brought Me into the Wine Cellar, He Set in Order Charity in Me.
"He brought me into the wine cellar" (the Hebrew has: "into the house of wine," for the Hebrews call a cellar, stable, chamber, indeed every vessel and receptacle, a "house"), "He set in order charity in me." Fittingly to the sequence of the drama, after the bride said: "His fruit was sweet to my taste," she adds: "The king brought me into the wine cellar," because fruit, that is, food and eating, arouses thirst, which therefore, to quench it, the bride, after eating the fruit, is brought into the wine cellar. Again, as St. Bernard rightly says, sermon 49: "Having had, he says, according to her wishes a sweet and very familiar conversation with her beloved, when he departed the bride returns to the maidens, so refreshed and inflamed by the sight and speech of him that she appeared like one intoxicated. And as if to them, astonished at the novelty and asking the reason, she replied that it was no wonder if she burned with wine, since she had entered the wine cellar; and according to the letter, so it was. According to the spirit also she does not deny being intoxicated, but by love, not by wine — unless love itself is the wine."
These therefore are the words of the bride to her companions, that is, the maidens, to whom she recounts that she was brought by the bridegroom into the wine cellar, and there having been given the wine of charity to drink, she also received the order of charity. Furthermore the Septuagint translates: "Bring me (O maidens, or rather, O companions of the bridegroom, namely the apostles and teachers) into the wine cellar, set in order charity in me," as if to say: I burn with love for the bridegroom, and therefore I am parched with spiritual dryness and thirst: therefore, O companions of the bridegroom, bring me into the wine cellar, where I may quench this thirst, and at the same time, set in order charity in me, that is, adorn me with those garments, necklaces, and all else that may make me lovable to the bridegroom, and that befit the bride of so great a bridegroom, that I may deserve to devoutly celebrate the nuptials with him. Hence also the Syriac in its manner—
First Adequate Sense: Of Christ and the Church.
The bride was led by the bridegroom from the shadow of the apple tree into the wine cellar, that is, into a place of delights and nectar, where she drinks the wine of charity, so as to receive the grace of the mysteries and the sweetness of joy, says St. Ambrose on Psalm 118, sermon 5.
You will ask, what is this wine cellar? First, Origen, homily 3 out of four, Theodoret, and others understand it as the house of wisdom, namely the schools or temples into which the faithful people are brought, so that there from teachers and preachers they may draw the wine of true wisdom, that is, of the knowledge, fear, and love of God. Hence St. Gregory and Aponius understand this cellar as Sacred Scripture, for this serves us the wine of heavenly wisdom; and through this, says St. Gregory, charity is set in order in the bride: because in its teaching one clearly learns how God and neighbor are to be loved in due order. Here the Chaldean agrees, who however in his manner applies this to the Synagogue and the law of Moses: "The assembly of Israel said: The Lord brought me into the house of the school of the teaching of Israel on Mount Sinai, that I might learn the law from the mouth of Moses the great scribe." Relevant here is that Christ calls the Old Law old wine, but the New Law and the Gospel new wine, which is put into new wineskins, and both are preserved (Matt. 9:17).
Secondly, others more rightly understand the wine cellar as the altar: for at it the priests consecrate, draw, and distribute the eucharistic wine, namely the blood of Christ, according to Christ's command. So say Nyssenus, homily 4, Psellus, Rupert, and Paschasius Radbertus, treatise On the Eucharist, ch. 11. Thus the sense is, as if to say: The king Himself, the bridegroom, brought me into the storehouse of wine, that is, He commanded me to approach the altar of God and there to take the saving cup of the Lord, which gladdens God, which gives life to man: thus in place of the vineyard which I left, I have gained cellars of finer nectar. Solomon here alludes to Proverbs 9:1: "Wisdom has built herself a house, etc. She has slain her victims, mixed her wine, and set her table." See what was said there.
Thirdly, and very aptly, the wine cellar is the gathering of the faithful in Zion, to which from heaven the fullness of the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost, by which He filled the apostles and the faithful with heavenly gifts, ardors, and fervors, so that as if drunk with the new wine of divine love they proclaimed the mighty works of God (Acts 2). So say Justus of Urgel and St. Bernard, sermon 49: "Does it not seem to you, says St. Bernard, that that house in which the disciples were gathered together was a wine cellar (Acts 2:2), when suddenly from heaven there came—
a sound, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, and fulfilled the prophecy of Joel? And did not each of them going out, inebriated with the abundance of that house and given to drink of the torrent of so great a pleasure, rightly say: Because the king brought me into the wine cellar." See the same St. Bernard, sermon 3 On Pentecost. The wine cellar therefore is the fullness of the Holy Spirit, that is, of charity and zeal.
Symbolically, three Fathers cited by Theodoret understand the wine cellar as the mystery of the incarnation, as if the Church says to the angels, or to the apostles and teachers: "Bring me into the cellar of wine, that is, teach me the divine reasons of the incarnation; for she calls God the Word 'wine,' which fills the souls of those who taste it with joy, and leads them to the Godhead. The cellar of this wine is the flesh assumed by Him; into which cellar the Church is introduced, destined to be one flesh with Christ. For thus the Apostle interprets that passage: And they shall be two in one flesh (Eph. 5:32): But I speak, he says, in Christ and in the Church; for when the Church of the faithful, partaking of the flesh and blood of Christ and becoming one body with Him, learns the reasons of the incarnation from the angels, and confirms them by her conduct, she enters the wine cellar. Having been introduced into me, set in order charity — that is, that communion of divine grace which you enjoy in order, set it in order also in me, instructing each of the faithful according to their capacity in the divine mysteries."
Mystically, Theodoret, Cassiodorus, Bede, and Anselm understand the wine cellar as the Church, in which we draw the wine of wisdom and divine love. See Hugh of St. Victor, sermon 45 of the Monastic Institutes, where he shows that individual souls are the barrels of this cellar. Whence Origen, homily 2 out of two, presents the bridegroom speaking thus to catechumens: "Bring me into the house of wine. Why do I remain outside so long? Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone opens to me, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. He speaks likewise to catechumens: Bring me in, not simply into a house, but into a house of wine. Let your soul be filled with the wine of joy, with the wine of the Holy Spirit, and thus bring me into your house — the bridegroom, the Word, Wisdom, Truth."
Second Partial Sense: Of Christ and the Holy Soul.
The wine cellar is the house of prayer and the pursuit of prayer and contemplation; for in it God sets before the faithful the wine of consolation, exultation, love, and divine fervor. So say St. Gregory, Cassiodorus, Haymo, St. Bernard, and others. Hear St. Gregory: "For what, he says, do we more fittingly understand by the wine cellar than the hidden contemplation of eternity itself? In this eternity the holy angels are inebriated by the wine of wisdom—
are inebriated, while seeing God Himself face to face, they are satiated with every spiritual pleasure. This the holy mind, if it is introduced by the bridegroom, enters after setting aside all temporal things, and in it she tastes as much as is granted her of those angelic delights. And even if, because she is still held in a corruptible body, she is not perfectly satiated, nevertheless from that little which she hastily takes, she considers how much she ought to love what she loves." And St. Bernard, sermon 49: "If anyone, he says, by praying obtains that the mind transcend into the divine mystery, whence it soon returns burning most vehemently with divine love and ablaze with zeal for justice, and indeed exceedingly fervent in all spiritual studies and duties, so that he can say with Psalm 38:4: 'My heart grew hot within me, and in my meditations a fire blazes,' this person clearly, when from the abundance of charity he has begun to pour forth the good and salutary intoxication of the wine of joy, will not unjustly be said to have entered the wine cellar. For since there are two ecstasies of blessed contemplation — one in the intellect and another in the affections, one in light and another in fervor, one in knowledge and another in devotion — the pious affection, the heart burning with love, the infusion of holy devotion, and the vehement spirit filled with zeal are surely brought from nowhere else than from the wine cellar; and to whomever it is granted to rise from prayer with an abundance of these, that person can truly say: The king brought me into the wine cellar." The same St. Bernard, sermon 23, assigns three cellars of the bridegroom: the aromatic, the ointment cellar, and the wine cellar. The first he says belongs to discipline; the second, to nature; the third, to grace. And he adds that it is called the wine cellar "because in it is stored the wine of zeal burning with charity. And he who has not yet deserved to be introduced into it should by no means preside over others. It is absolutely necessary that he who presides over others burn with this wine, just as the Doctor of the Gentiles was burning when he said (II Cor. 11:29): Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire? Otherwise you quite improperly desire to preside over those whom you do not care to benefit; and the submission of those whose salvation you do not zealously seek, you too ambitiously claim for yourself."
"Furthermore the wine that is drunk in the cellar of God is charity and love, says William. Nothing is more chaste, more flavorful, more warm than this wine: more chaste, because the more it is drunk, the more it extinguishes the thirst of concupiscence; more flavorful, because it gives a taste of how sweet the Lord is, and therefore gladdens the heart of man; more warm, because like fire it inflames the minds of the devout, burns the inmost parts and hearts, powerfully inebriates the soul, and brings it even to forgetfulness of self: truly such drunkards will possess the kingdom of God."
The mystics, or contemplatives, understand by the cellars the inmost and supreme union of the soul — not just any soul, but of the bride, that is, of an extraordinarily holy and contemplative soul — with Christ in the Eucharist, which is achieved not only through the common affection of charity, but also through the effect and the real conjunction of the purest minds with Christ; which is perfected in the depths of the heart, and as it were in the center of the soul, by an intimate and ineffable act of love and mutual embrace, to which from the former state one sometimes happily passes through the singular goodness of God, just as in divine prayer one sometimes passes from contemplation to real union with God, and even to an embrace. They say that this most blessed union is nothing other than an intimate manifestation of the very presence of Christ hidden in this Sacrament, not so much through vision and revelation, as through the sweetest embraces, by which He so ineffably and gently draws the soul close that she most certainly perceives His real presence, His kisses and embraces, and tastes His goodness and ineffable sweetness at its source.
This wonderful union, if considered from the side of Christ, is nothing other than the inflowing, or manifestation, of Christ Himself secretly existing in the Sacrament, yet showing Himself to the most purified minds under the aspect of the highest light, and by a certain ineffable contact reaching to the flesh and spirit: which contact is nothing other than the sweetest embrace and kiss of Christ, by which He caresses His most beloved bride. From the side of the soul, it is a mutual embrace, which is followed by an experiential perception of Christ Himself, through which spiritual sweetness is possessed in God Himself. This perception, moreover, corresponds to no person's merits or disposition, since it is a grace freely given, and bestowed by the sheer generosity of Christ upon very few. So from St. Cyprian, St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure, and others, our Salianus, Book XI On the Love of God, ch. 12.
Far more intimately, profoundly, delightfully, and ineffably do the blessed souls unite with God through the beatific vision and love, by which they are plunged and absorbed in the Divinity as in an ocean of happiness and of all good things, so that they can think, will, love, and desire nothing other than God or for the sake of God.
Third Principal Sense: Of Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
Rupert asserts that the Blessed Virgin was brought into the wine cellar when, the wine running out at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, she procured the most delicate wine for the guests through Christ's miracle; and at the wedding of the whole world, that is, in the entire human race, she procured through Christ the mystical wine, namely the incorruption of souls and the immortality of bodies. "He brought me therefore into the wine cellar, he says, and set in order charity in me, that is, He made me understand that He had come for this purpose: to convert the watery weakness of the human race into His wine, that is, into the strength of His immortality, and that I ought to prefer the divine will to my affections. For this is to have ordered charity: to wish indeed that such a beloved one should not die, but to desire even more the salvation of the entire human race."
He Set in Order Charity in Me.
In Hebrew דגלו עלי אהבה dighlo alai ahava, that is, "his banner over me is love"; the Septuagint seems to have read (as some also now read) with a different vowel pointing דגלו dighlu, that is, "set as a banner" or "set in order"; whence they translate: "set in order charity over me"; and Symmachus: "heap up charity upon me"; and St. Ambrose, sermon 5 on Psalm 118: "establish in me love"; and the ancient rabbis: "make illustrious" or "magnify charity upon me." Our translator, omitting the final letter ו vav, seems to have read דגל dagal, that is, "he raised a banner," that is, "he erected a standard," which means: "he set in order charity in me." But it is not necessary to resort to this: for from the Hebrew dighlo alai ahava, that is, "his banner over me is love," if you supply the verb "is," you can rightly translate: "his banner over me is love," that is, "he raised a banner of love over me," or "he erected the standard of charity over me," which our translator aptly renders: "he set in order charity in me," in the sense I shall shortly give. The Septuagint, however, supplying the optative or imperative "let it be" or "may it be," translate: "let his banner over me be love" — supply and propose: "Cause his banner over me to be love, that is, set as a banner, or set in order charity over me." The Septuagint are followed by Symmachus, St. Ambrose, and the rabbis; but St. Jerome, Book III on Zechariah, ch. 14, reads: "place charity upon me"; the Syriac: "they set in order toward me, or against me, love"; finally the Arabic: "they ordained against me a trial, or test."
You will ask why our translator and the Septuagint translate the Hebrew דגל dagal, that is, "he set up a banner" or "he raised a standard," as "he set in order"? I respond that "he set in order" is here a military term, and signifies the ranks of armies, camps, and battle lines. For the entire force and strength of an army consists in its proper ordering, which if maintained, victory is assured; but if the ranks are thrown into confusion, its defeat and ruin are certain. Hear Vegetius, Book II On Military Affairs, ch. 13: "The ancients, because they knew that in battle, once the engagement had begun, the ranks and battle lines are quickly thrown into disorder, to prevent this from happening, divided their cohorts into centuries, and assigned individual standards to each century, so that from which cohort or which century each man came was written on that standard, so that soldiers reading or looking at them could not in any tumult stray from their tent-mates."
The same, ch. 20, teaches that the Romans deposited part of the soldiers' pay at the standard of each soldier's own cohort, so that the soldiers would fight more bravely for it, knowing they were fighting for their own wages. The bride therefore says: The bridegroom, bringing me into the wine cellar and giving me the wine of charity to drink, so filled and strengthened me with it that he seemed to have mustered and arranged within me a strong army and a robust battle line, with which against all enemies, persecutions, temptations, tribulations—
I might bravely and wisely fight against concupiscences and vices, conquer them, and triumph unconquered over them. For the various duties and acts of charity are like many soldiers of charity, who joined together form its army. Whence Symmachus translates: "heap up charity upon me."
Furthermore, just as the strength of an army consists in the correct disposition and ordering of soldiers, so the strength of charity consists in the correct distribution and ordering of its duties and acts. For first God must be loved, then for God's sake one's own soul, third one's neighbor, and each in his proper degree and order: for first parents both bodily and spiritual are to be loved, then brothers, next kinsmen, then the rest of mankind, each in his own degree and order. But if you invert the order of charity, you lose and overthrow charity. "He set in order charity in me" therefore is nothing other than if she had said: He stationed me under the banner of charity, He commanded me to serve in this order. Rightly our translator, as well as the Septuagint, used the word "ordering," both because, as St. Augustine says, Book XV, ch. 22 of the City of God, "perfect and true virtue is nothing other than the order of love"; and because the bride by these words meant this: I have not been maddened by that sweet nectar, concupiscence does not boil up in me, I am not driven to frenzy or wandering about in a Bacchic rage; but I am fully self-possessed, my love is sober, and I fully maintain the proper estimation, disposition, and order of things and persons, because I follow charity as my guiding star; this is always well-ordered, no less than a battle line drawn up with its standards. For charity places God in the first rank, itself in the second, and neighbors in the third; and among these latter, some in the vanguard, some in the center, some in the rear guard. So say Nyssenus, Aponius, Honorius, and others here, as well as St. Fulgentius, Book I to Monimus, ch. 20, St. Augustine or whoever is the author (for the style differs from St. Augustine's) of the book On the Substance of Love, chs. 4 and 5, and from them Delrio.
Here is relevant the distribution of offices, as of soldiers, in the Church, and the ordered rank, about which the Apostle says (I Cor. 12:4): "There are divisions of graces, but the same Lord: and there are divisions of works, but the same God, who works all things in all." And after some verses, verse 28: "And God indeed has set some in the Church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then the graces of healings, helps, governments, kinds of tongues, interpretation of speeches."
Furthermore from the Hebrew דגל dagal, that is, "he raised a banner," multiple meanings can be drawn, and they are rich and profound. First, Vatablus translates: "His (the bridegroom's) banner toward me is love." For commanders are accustomed to draw soldiers after them by a banner; so the bridegroom drew the bride to himself and to his camp by love as by a banner.
Secondly, just as on a captured citadel the victor's banner is raised, in which his emblem is displayed: so the bride, conquered by the bridegroom's benefits, has been captured and possessed by them, so that charity, which is the bridegroom's banner, is now raised above her. Whence the Chaldean translates: "And I received the banner of his commandments upon me in love, and I said: All things that the Lord has commanded, I will do and obey."
Thirdly, Gislerius says, as if to say: The bridegroom, bringing me into the house of wine, into the house of love and pleasure, raised up in me a love that I would follow in all things; He set before me the one I was to follow and keep unharmed perpetually, just as soldiers follow and protect their standard.
Fourthly, Sotomayor says, as if to say: Just as in a well-ordered battle line soldiers, legions, cohorts, and squadrons are accustomed to look upon the standard, or standard-bearer, for victory and glory: so I always hold my bridegroom as the fixed target of my love, and I direct and measure all my actions toward him, that they may be pleasing to God, honorable and well-ordered, and finally worthy of glory, according to that which Paul commanded (I Cor. 10:31): "Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all things to the glory of God."
Furthermore the banner of the charity of Christ is the banner of the cross. For on the cross Christ displayed unconquered and supreme charity, both toward God and toward men; whence through it He triumphed over sin, death, the devil, and hell. Wherefore Constantine the Great carried before his camp against Maxentius and other tyrants this banner of the cross, which had been shown to him in heaven with this inscription: "In this sign you will conquer," and called it the labarum, as if the end of labors, that is, he named it the end and termination; for by it he overthrew all his enemies, as Eusebius attests, Book I On the Life of Constantine, ch. 22 and following.
Fifthly, Titelmannus from the Chaldean translates: "His bond, or joint to me, is charity," as if to say: The bridegroom is intimately joined to me through charity, and is as it were glued together, as pages are glued together.
Sixthly, the Rabbis translate: "He made charity illustrious in me," or "his emblem toward me is love," as if to say: The bridegroom loves me not in a common way, but in a distinguished manner; for he has shown me distinguished and extraordinary offices of love. Or He has infused into me a great, distinguished, and burning charity by which I might love him in return.
Seventhly, most forcefully of all, our Sanchez with the Syriac translates: "He marshaled love against me like a bannered army, that is, drawn up in battle lines and standards," as if to say: I could not resist the bridegroom's forces, because he poured out all the forces of love upon me, because he overwhelmed me with his services and benefits, and as it were pierced and wounded me with the arrows of love. Therefore, conquered, pierced, and overwhelmed by love, I give and devote my whole self to the victor. The battle line which the bridegroom ordered against me, and with which, equipped, he undertook to storm my heart, consists of those things that powerfully entice one to return love: above all, the gentlest manners of my bridegroom himself, his singular devotion to me, his generous spirit, his extraordinary beauty, his loving blandishments, his exquisite gifts, and the bridal vineyard.
of the two banners: one is Christ's, the other Lucifer's, and each enlists soldiers and summons whomever he can to his own standard. The ensign of Christ's banner is charity, Lucifer's is cupidity. Furthermore, in the wine cellar of each, both are drunk; where again there is an allusion to those who enlist soldiers: for they lodge in taverns and there, plying wine to those who arrive, they entice them to enroll in military service. Again, the Cossacks, the Dutch, and many others, when they wish to undertake something arduous and dangerous, are accustomed to set out barrels of wine (and sometimes even burnt wine) for the soldiers, so that, inflamed with wine, they may set aside the fear of death and charge boldly against the enemy. So Christ gives us His blood to drink in the Eucharist, so that, intoxicated with love of Him, we may generously rush into death and martyrdom, if need be.
Tropologically, charity surpasses all other virtues, and raises its standard above all, summoning all to it; and if they follow that standard, they transcend all things and heap upon themselves great praise and merit, as the Apostle teaches, 1 Cor. 13:4: "Charity," he says, "is patient, is kind," etc. Hence charity orders the other virtues as battle lines of God: In first place it puts faith; second, humility; third, hope; fourth, penance; fifth, patience; sixth, mercy, etc. Again, this order of charity establishes the virtues themselves and makes them firm and solid. Whence St. Ambrose, on Psalm 118, sermon 5, verse 1, reads, "Establish in me love," and explains it thus: "Good encampments (a military station and fortification) are where the fullness of charity is."
Gregory of Nyssa, however, in homily 4, referring the Greek word τάξατε to military ranks, translates it both as "order" and as "establish and confirm": "Since," says the bride, "she who was first beloved was counted among enemies on account of disobedience, now having returned to the same life, joined to the Lord through charity, she now says: Confirm this grace for me, and make it stable and immovable, you friends of the bridegroom, by your zeal and diligence preserving in me the inclination toward what is better."
Finally, the arms, that is, the services of charity, are invincible, nor can anyone resist them, according to chapter 8:6: "Love is strong as death, jealousy is hard as hell, etc. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers overwhelm it." Indeed, even the philosophers felt the same: "If you wish to be loved," he says, "love."
To play Pylades, let someone play Orestes: This is not done with words; Marcus, if you would be loved, love.
Do you wish, therefore, to overcome an enemy, indeed to subjugate him, and make him your friend? Anticipate him with kindnesses and benefits: for thus "you will heap coals of fire upon his head," Rom. 12:20.
Hence St. Augustine, in book XV of the City of God, chapter 22, teaches that virtue is nothing other than the order of love, nor is vice anything other than the disorder of love. For every creature, he says, since it is good, and
can be loved well and badly: well, namely, when due order is preserved; badly, however, when order is disturbed, etc. Whence it seems to me that the brief and true definition of virtue is the order of love, on account of which in the holy Song of Songs the bride of Christ, the city of God, sings: 'Set love in order in me.' When therefore the order of this charity, that is, of affection and love, was disturbed, the sons of God neglected God and loved the daughters of men. By these two names each city is sufficiently distinguished." For in the city of God there is the order of love, but in the city of the devil there is the disorder of love: because the pious love God above all things, and all creatures for the sake of God; but the impious love creatures more -- for example, honor, gold, pleasures -- than the Creator. Moreover, because this order of charity is difficult, therefore the Church and the holy soul asks from the angels and holy men: "Set love in order in me," according to the Septuagint. Whence St. Jerome, epistle 8 to Marcella: "Love," he says, "has no order, and impatience knows no measure; whence in the Canticle it is commanded as something difficult: Set love in order in me."
To this St. Bernard adds, in sermon 49, who by the ordering of charity understands discretion, which tempers and directs zeal: "Indeed," he says, "zeal without knowledge is always found to be less effective and less useful; and very often it is even felt to be quite harmful. Therefore, the more fervent the zeal, the more vehement the spirit, and the more profuse the charity, the more vigilant the knowledge needed, which may restrain zeal, temper the spirit, and order charity."
Furthermore, Aponius teaches that charity is ordered in the Church when she has learned it from the contemplation of the supreme order that exists in the Holy Trinity: "In which order of charity," he says, "what else must we believe to be first instilled, except that one should believe and acknowledge that the Father must be named first, in whom the Son always exists, as a word in a voice; second, the Son, in whom the Father always exists; third, the Holy Spirit, who is proven by true reason to proceed from the voice and the word, from the Father and the Son, according to that at the beginning of the Decalogue: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart; the second order is: With all your soul; the third order is: With all your strength."
For more on the order of charity and its ordering, see St. Bernard, sermons 49 and 50, where he assigns this order of love: that the love of God be placed before the love of man, and among men themselves, the more perfect before the weaker, heaven before earth, eternity before time, the soul before the flesh. And he adds that charity always places the better in first rank of affection, but not in act: for in act, greater love and care must be given to those in greater need, and to those whose care has been entrusted to you, than to outsiders, even if they are holier. But hear a few things from many: "Give me a man who with ordered love attends to things, despising the earth, looking up to heaven, using this world as though not using it, and distinguishing between things to be used and things to be enjoyed by a certain intimate taste of the mind,
All these things can easily be applied both to the holy soul and to the Blessed Virgin, in whom charity was so well ordered that she would rather have her Son die than that souls should perish. Hear Rupert, who presents her speaking thus: "He had long ago taught me the order of charity, so that I would indeed bear the sorrow and the sword of just grief in my mind or soul, yet I would not wish the plan of God to be averted, of things that would redound to His glory and honor, and to the perpetual salvation of the human race."
Verse 5. Support me with flowers, surround me with apples: because I languish with love.
For "surround me with apples," the Hebrew has "spread me out among fruits"; the Zurich translation, "spread apples under me"; Vatablus, "strengthen me with apples"; the Septuagint, "pack me in among apples"; the Scholastics, "surround me with apples"; others, "heap fruits for me," namely fragrant ones, such as golden apples, citrons, pomegranates; the Syriac, "they placed me in delights, they surrounded me with apples, because I am weak with love." For "flowers," the Hebrew has אשישות (ascischoth), which Hebraists translate as "flagons, cups, goblets of wine." But the bride was already filled with wine in the wine cellar. Therefore our translator better renders it "flowers," both because flowers correspond to apples, and because those suffering from fainting are accustomed to revive their spirit and breath with a gentle and sweet fragrance, such as that of flowers. Whence the Septuagint also translates it μύρος, that is, "with ointments," which are made from fragrant flowers; where however Origen notes: "In the Greek," he says, "it reads: Confirm me with myrrh; naming myrrhin as a certain kind of tree, which the Latins, thinking it was called myrrh, translated as ointments." Origen therefore for μύρος, that is ointments, reads μύρραις, that is, trees of myrrh, that is, the flower or tear of myrrh: for the flower revives the languishing with its fragrance, not the tree. In the homily translated by St. Jerome, however, another interpreter is cited as reading ananthinis; and ananthe is the flower of the vine, or wild grape, when it blooms. See Dioscorides, book V, chapter 3, and book I, chapter 57.
Again, Symmachus clearly translates it: "make me recline among flowers." It seems therefore that our translator, as well as the Septuagint and Symmachus, interprets the Hebrew asisoth as flowers, perhaps from the root שוש (sos), meaning "he rejoiced"; for flowers are the joy of spring, the laughter of the fields, the delight of nature and of man. So, in Isaiah 16:7, it is said: "To those who rejoice (in Hebrew אשישים, lauscischim) over the walls of baked brick," as our translator and Symmachus render it, so that asisoth denotes whatever gladdens and brings joy. Or certainly our translator took אשישות (asisoth) for ציצות (tsitsoth), meaning flowers: for the letters ש and צ, being related and of almost the same sound, are sometimes interchanged. The initial Aleph is taken as a heemantic and formative element of the noun, not as a radical: therefore asisoth here is the same as tsitsoth, that is, flowers. Finally, asisoth properly signifies foundations or supports, which in this passage are to be understood as things that sustain in languor, namely things that revive and recall the soul from fainting: and such are flowers and similar fragrant things.
The bride in the wine cellar so filled herself with the wine of divine love that, when the bridegroom departed, from the vehemence of love she lost consciousness, grew faint, and collapsed. She therefore calls her companions and cries out to them: Bring help, bring flowers and fruits to me as I totter, so that by their fragrance I may recall my fleeing spirit, and by their heaping up, as if by a throne and cushions, I may be raised up and held upright. So the Church began to languish after Jesus, having instituted in her the venerable Sacrament of His body and blood, sent the Holy Spirit, who inflamed the hearts of the faithful with an incredible ardor of charity and martyrdom and a fervent zeal to lead as many others as possible with them to eternal glory. For hence those cries bursting from the very marrow: "I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Who will deliver me from this body of death? I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. You know, Lord, that I love You." So St. Bernard, sermon 51: "After all these things," he says, "when the bridegroom departs as is his custom, she declares that she languishes with love, that is, on account of love. For the more gracious she had found his presence, the more troublesome she afterwards felt his absence. The withdrawal of what you love is indeed the increase of desire; and what you desire more ardently, you suffer more grievously when deprived of. She therefore asks in the meantime to be comforted with the fragrance of flowers and fruits, until he returns again, whose delay she endures most painfully."
with fruits, about which the text speaks here, to be sustained and supported: because upon flowers and fruits, that is upon the bridegroom's bosom, she reclines and rests.
Furthermore, John the Carmelite explains it thus, as if the bride says to her companions: Sustain me, who am suffering a fainting of the soul on account of my bridegroom, who is the flower of the field and the apple tree among the trees of the forest. Surround me with apples, that is, encircle me with my bridegroom as with a wall of fire, so that by his burning I may gradually be set ablaze, until a desired fire consumes me, like the phoenix devoting itself to death. The bride therefore seems to emulate the phoenix, whose nature, when it is about to die, is to gather sprigs of aromatic trees and the tops of flowers, to construct a nest in which, lying down, it is burned by the kindled fire. It gathers sprigs of cinnamon, amomum, frankincense, and similar shrubs, spikes of nard and similar flowers. So the bride asks that from the apple tree and the flowers of the field, according to the sense explained, a nest be arranged for her, in which lying down she may await death, about to pass through the fire of the bridegroom, about to die to herself, and to be transferred into the life of the bridegroom.
Second, three Fathers cited by Theodoret, Philo of Carpathia, and Gregory of Nyssa understand by flowers and apples the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and especially the gift of fortitude, which strengthens the tottering soul. Moreover, Philo explains "surround me with apples" as meaning: "Bury me among the number of the just." Others understand by flowers and apples the heavenly consolations that God sends to holy souls in their desolation.
Third, Titelmann explains plainly and genuinely: The flowers and apples, he says, are the most sweet and honeyed words and deeds of Christ, by whose memory and meditation the Church and the pious soul, languishing with desire for Him, sustains and strengthens itself, until it sees Him face to face and enjoys His presence, just as a bride languishing with love for her absent bridegroom consoles herself with his words and promises and letters and little gifts, which she keeps with her, and beguiles the time until he returns and speaks with her face to face.
To this Theodoret adds, who by flowers, or as he himself reads from the Septuagint, ointments and apples, understands the memory of Christ: "Support me with ointments," that is, he says, strengthen me and fortify me with the sweetness of the bridegroom, lest anything shake and unsettle me. Heap upon me that constant fragrance, lest I forget the bridegroom and stray to other things. With apples, that is, with the bridegroom's fruits, surround me, so that sitting in his shade and anointed with his ointments and heaped with his fruit, I may preserve a perpetual memory of him: for I am wounded with love for him, since he himself is the chosen arrow that pierces souls.
Here also pertains the explanation of St. Ambrose in Psalm 118, sermon 5, who by flowers and apples understands the memory and meditation of Christ crucified; for this sustains and strengthens the failing soul, as one fixed to the cross of Christ: "These," says St. Ambrose, "are the dwelling places and burial of Christ, in which the Church was wounded: the oint-
ment is what He poured out; the apple is what hung [on the tree]." And St. Bernard, in the treatise On Loving God, near the beginning, understands by apples the passion, and by flowers the resurrection of Christ.
Tropologically, St. Gregory understands by flowers the faithful who are beginners, and by apples those who are progressing and the perfect: "By flowers," he says, "are designated all the tender and beginning faithful; by apples, the perfect faithful. For the bride, because she languishes with love, desires to be supported with flowers and surrounded with apples, because while she afflicts herself with the desire for eternity, while she searches with all anxiety how she may arrive there, since she finds perfection absolutely not while she lives in the flesh, she rests, wearied in her desire. And in this alone she rejoices, if she looks around herself and sees those whom she herself benefits, or in whose progress she can receive consolation from her languor." He has the same more fully in book II on Ezekiel, homily 15. So too Cassiodorus, Justus, Anselm, and St. Bernard, sermon 51, whom hear: "Support me with flowers, etc. When what is loved is present, love thrives; it languishes when absent. This is nothing other than a certain weariness of impatient desire, which must necessarily affect the mind of one who loves intensely when the beloved is absent, while wholly in expectation, it considers any haste to be slowness. And therefore she asks that the fruits of good works with the fragrances of faith be heaped up for her, in which she may rest while the bridegroom delays."
To this Origen adds, who says that the Church reclines upon catechumens as upon flowers, and upon the holy faithful as upon apples and trees. And Aponius: The Church, he says, desires to be supported by flowers, that is, by pure and chaste souls: and by apples, that is, by the apostles, who sprout from Christ as from an apple tree through their teaching.
Finally, Rupert, applying these words to the Blessed Virgin, asserts that she desires to be supported by flowers, that is, by acts of faith, and by fruits, that is, by good works.
BECAUSE I LANGUISH WITH LOVE. The Hebrew: "because I am weak with love"; the Septuagint: "because I am wounded with love"; Symmachus: "for I am wounded with a love potion." These derive the Hebrew חולה (chola) not from חלה (chala), meaning "he was infirm," but from חלל (chalal), meaning "he wounded, he killed": for often verbs with quiescent ayin-vav are interchanged with verbs doubling the ayin, that is, the second radical letter; thus chol or chala are interchanged with chalal, and vice versa, and each borrows from the other its tenses, conjugation, and inflection.
Moreover, that languor arises from intense love, and indeed a disease by which the body wastes, withers, and pines away -- which is therefore called eros, that is, love, or the disease of love -- physicians teach, and it is evident from the example of Amnon, who was dying of love for Tamar, 2 Kings 13:2. So also the son of Seleucus, sick with love, was wasting away; and the physician Erasistratus shrewdly detected this disease, unknown to all others, from the unusual pulse of his arteries, as Plutarch attests in his Life of Demetrius, and Valerius Maximus, book V, chapter 7.
Moreover, that the animal spirits are nourished by fragrant things such as flowers, and that failing strength is restored and renewed through the sweet breath of a fragrant object drawn in through smell, physicians and natural philosophers teach, such as Hippocrates, in his book On Nutrition, near the end; and Galen, On the Usefulness of Respiration, chapter 5, where he asserts that a significant part of nourishment is supplied to the animal spirit through deep inhalation through the nostrils; and Avicenna, treating of the cure of fainting, affirms that the spirit is especially nourished by good odors.
You will ask: what are the flowers and apples with which the bride asks to be supported?
First, our Sanchez and John the Carmelite understand Christ Himself, who in verse 1 called Himself the flower of the field, the lily of the valleys, and the apple tree among the trees of the forest. The bride therefore says: "Support me with flowers," etc., as if to say: Place me in the bosom and embrace of the bridegroom. Which she immediately explains more fully, describing what kind of support those flowers will be, and what that surrounding with fruits will be, when she says: "His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me." Which is nothing other than to be sustained and supported by flowers and
Note, this languor arises from a melting; and this melting is an effect of love, by which the soul itself is soothed and softened, so that the thing it most ardently desires may be imprinted upon it through a kind of embrace and penetration. For this to happen, the soul wholly opens up and lies exposed, so that as if with open pores it may absorb the beloved object, just as fresh bread is wont to absorb water. But from this melting, by which the soul gapes toward the bridegroom, there follows another effect of love, most painful indeed, which is called languor, and which she expressly notes, saying: "Because I languish with love." This languor therefore arises in the faithful soul when it is so entirely carried away into love of the bridegroom and, as if melted, dissolves, that completely forgetful of itself it knows not what is happening to it, and lies as if stupefied and insensible to all things that go on here below, unable to see or willing to see anything else, or hear, or taste, except its beloved; so that it says with the Apostle, Galatians 2:20: "I live, yet not I: but Christ lives in me." Which languor of love also seems to be signified in what follows through the melting of the soul, the same bride saying: "My soul melted when he spoke," Song of Songs 5:6.
Indeed, Plato defines love thus: "Love is the ardor of a soul dead in its own body, living in another's." The bride drew this languor of charity from the wine cellar of the Eucharist and the Holy Spirit: just as St. Catherine of Siena felt the same after the sacred Communion, as did similar holy virgins. Wherefore St. Felicula, foster-sister of St. Petronilla, when the torturers said, "Deny that you are a Christian, and you will be released," replied: "I will not deny it; now I have begun to see my lover, in whom my love is fixed." Boethius says beautifully: "O happy race of men, if the love by which heaven is governed were to govern your souls!" Blessed Philip Neri: "Wounded with the love of God," says the author of his Life, "he languished continually; and his heart burned with such ardor that, when it could no longer be contained within its own boundaries, the Lord miraculously enlarged his breast by raising and distending two of his ribs."
Furthermore, St. Bernard here, and more clearly in the treatise On Loving God near the beginning, explains this languor as a failing of love: "These apples," he says, "these flowers, with which the bride asks to be surrounded and supported in the meantime -- I believe she feels that the force of love in her can easily grow lukewarm and languish in a way, if it is not continually fostered by such incentives."
But the rest generally understand this languor as an excess of charity, by which the soul wastes away from desire for God and grows thin in the flesh, according to that verse: "My flesh and my heart have fainted, O God of my heart," Psalm 72:26. Hear St. Gregory, book II on Ezekiel, sermon 15: "What then are the bridal chambers in the holy Church, if not the hearts of those in whom the soul is joined through love to the invisible bridegroom, so that it burns with desire for Him; no longer covets the things of this world; reckons the length of the present life as punishment; hastens to depart, and to rest in the vision of the heavenly bridegroom through the embrace of love? The death therefore by which
such a soul is such that it receives no consolation from the present life, but sighs from the very marrow for the one it loves, burns, pants, is anxious. Even the health of its own body becomes worthless to it, because it is pierced through with the wound of love. Whence in the Canticle it says: 'I am wounded with love.' But it is a bad health of the heart that knows not the pain of this wound; but when the soul has begun to pant for heavenly desire and to feel the wound of love, it becomes healthier from the wound, which previously was sick from health." So too Aponius, Justus of Urgel, Anselm, and others judge that this languor proceeds from an immense desire for eternal life and union with Christ in heaven. Whence it is clear that this languor of the bride was joined with sleep and ecstasy, from what the bridegroom adds: "I adjure you, etc., do not stir up or awaken the beloved."
To this purpose is that saying of St. Jerome, epistle 22 to Eustochium: "Let us also love Christ, and let us always seek His embraces, and every difficulty will seem easy; and wounded by His dart, let us say at every passing moment: 'Woe is me, that my sojourn is prolonged!'" So wounded with charity was St. Augustine, as is evident from the Soliloquies, chapter 1, and Confessions, book IX, chapter 2: "You had pierced our heart," he says, "with Your charity; and we bore Your words transfixed in our inmost parts, and the examples of Your servants, whom You had made from dark to bright, and from dead to living, heaped together in the bosom of our thought, burned and consumed the heavy torpor, lest we sink to the depths, and they kindled us mightily, so that every blast of contradicting tongue from cunning lips could set us more fiercely ablaze, not extinguish us.
Tropologically, Philo of Carpathia and Ambrose in Psalm 118, sermon 5, teach that the Church and the pious soul are wounded with charity when they willingly endure persecutions, beatings, wounds, and martyrdom for love of Christ.
Finally, the Blessed Virgin after Christ's ascension into heaven languished with desire and love for Him, says Rupert, and was thus gradually dissolved by this languor, and at last died without fever or any other disease, as Francis Suarez and other weighty theologians hold. The Blessed Virgin herself revealed this to St. Bridget, book VI: "I prepared myself," says the Mother of God, "for my departure by going around to all the places, according to my custom, in which my Son had suffered: and when one day my soul was suspended in admiration of divine charity, then my soul in that very contemplation was filled with such exultation that it could scarcely contain itself, and in that very contemplation my soul was loosed from my body."
The mystics and contemplatives refer these things to the highest degree of contemplation and, as it were, ecstatic love: for, as Dionysius the Carthusian says, treatise On the Fountain of Light, article 18: "From such an excess of contemplation, and from the rush, ardor, and boiling over of love, there are generated by an overflow
a certain languor, weakness, grief, and emaciation in the sensitive part and in the body, an aversion to bodily food, an inability to use or move the limbs and senses, and a rigidity of the whole body. Nor in these holy acts does the mind notice the passage of time or perceive delays; rather, in them the soul marvels most intensely, and the holy soul cannot marvel enough at the charity, piety, condescension, and munificence of God toward it and in it, with which He so lovingly and intimately, so graciously and generously, reveals Himself to it, communicates, applies, and pours Himself into it." See our Alvarez de Paz at the end of volume III, where he treats fully of contemplation and assigns fifteen of its degrees: the first is the intuition of truth; the second, the withdrawal of the powers to the interior of the soul; the third, spiritual silence; the fourth, quiet; the fifth, union; the sixth, the hearing of God's speech; the seventh, spiritual sleep; the eighth, ecstasy; the ninth, rapture; the tenth, bodily apparition of Christ and the saints; the eleventh, imaginary apparition of Christ and the saints; the twelfth, intellectual vision of God; the thirteenth, vision of God in darkness; the fourteenth, wondrous manifestation of God; the fifteenth, clear and intuitive vision, which St. Augustine, St. Thomas, and some others attribute to St. Paul, when he was caught up to the third heaven, where he heard secret words which it is not lawful for man to speak. So St. Francis, languishing and dying from desire for God and heaven, sang like a nightingale and a swan his swan song: "Bring my soul out of prison: the just await me until You reward me"; and failing with the languor of love and gasping for Christ, he died. Blessed Teresa is likewise recorded to have died of similar languor from intense desire for Christ. O holy! O joyful! O blessed death, which gives life to the dying, beatifies and glorifies the loving!
Wherefore whoever truly loves Christ and languishes with love for Him, let him frequently sigh for Him, and aspire to Him through burning affections of the mind, and continually shoot forth ejaculatory prayers of love, like fiery arrows, together with the bride, toward Him. Again, Richard of St. Victor asserts that the summit and apex of charity is an insatiable or violent love, whose three degrees he assigns: the first is wounding love. The heart is said to be wounded by love when, pierced through by the arrow of love, it intimately burns, glows, pants, groans, and sighs, unable to restrain itself on account of the vehemence of love; whence it also happens that one often grows pale and wastes away with love; the second is called binding love, namely when the soul is so bound by the love of God that it meditates on nothing else, forgets all other things, and in whatever it does, whatever it says, always offers itself to the Lord who is present; for it gazes upon Him with the mind, retains Him in perpetual memory, thinks of Him sleeping and waking. Therefore this binding and most intimate union follows upon the wounding, by which the mind thirsts for God alone, gazes upon Him alone, finds nothing sweet except the one Lord, rests in Him alone; is refreshed by Him alone; if anything else should present itself that does not serve this one
it at once expels it; it crushes and violently drives away all desires, pursuits, and activities that do not lead to attaining the longed-for goal of its desire. But when it is given to enjoy its one beloved, then, believing itself to abound in all goods, it admits nothing else. After this follows the third degree of violent love, which causes languishing: this languor arises when, from this vehemence of love, the mind is caught up into God, who is an abyss of light, so that the human soul at this moment in time, forgetful of all external things, utterly loses knowledge of itself and passes entirely into its God.
Verse 6. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.
SHALL EMBRACE, that is, "may embrace," as the Syriac translates. For the Hebrews often use the future tense in place of the optative, which they lack. Whence Vatablus translates: "may his left hand be placed under my head, and may his right hand, that of the bridegroom himself, embrace me": for lovers, for example parents with the little children whom they love tenderly, are accustomed to place their left hand under the head, and then to embrace the whole body with their right hand and draw it to their bosom and breast, as if to say: In like manner, let the bridegroom embrace me with his left and right hand, and thus let him bind me most tightly to himself in the circle of his arms, as well as of his love. Whence Symmachus translates: "let his right hand be wrapped around me." He alludes to the dining and wedding couches on which the guests would recline, so that the one in front would place his left hand under the head of the one following, thus receiving him in his bosom, so that he could then embrace him with his right hand if he wished. So St. John at the Last Supper reclined in the bosom of Christ, which was a sign of the greatest love.
The bride, languishing with love and having suffered a fainting spell, as if in ecstasy desires to be supported by the fragrance of flowers and fruits, but not content with these as being of too little power to overcome her languor, she immediately sighs for the beloved, since He alone can cure her languor. She says therefore, as Hortolanus puts it: Alas, I am tottering! My bridegroom, bring help, save me, I beg you! My head is nodding; please, place your left hand under it. My limbs are dissolving with cold; I pray you, embrace me around the middle with your powerful right hand; in your bosom, lest I collapse, cherish me. In you alone I cast myself; in you I place all my faith and hope. You, who alone can, support with your spirit my spirit, broken by the fear of impending evils; strengthen my weak flesh with your immense power, so that my spirit, my soul, and my body may remain whole for you always, and be preserved for you until your return to me.
First Adequate Sense: Concerning Christ and the Church.
You will ask: what do the left hand and the right hand signify? The left hand denotes lesser benefits; the right hand, greater ones. First, then, the left hand denotes the humanity of Christ, the right hand His divinity: for the left is the symbol of weakness and weak humanity; the right, of strength and most mighty divinity. The humanity of Christ supported the head of the Church, that is, Adam, when it raised him and his descendants who had fallen into sin, and restored them to grace and justice. Again, the same supported the head, that is, the faith of the Church, for obtaining the remission of sins, justice, and salvation; for the humanity and passion of Christ conferred all these things: so Origen and St. Bernard, sermon 4 on the Feast of All Saints.
Second, the left hand designates the grace of the present life, the right hand the glory of the future and eternal life, as if to say: May Christ by His grace in this life direct me and advance me to the glory of eternal happiness, so that there the right hand of His divinity may embrace me and grant me the crown of the eternal kingdom. The left hand of the bridegroom, therefore, is placed under the head for merit; the right hand embraces for the crown. So Cassiodorus, Carpathius, Bede, and St. Bernard, sermon 4 on the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord, where he says thus: "The left hand lifts up, the right hand receives. The left hand heals and justifies; the right hand embraces and beatifies. In his left hand are merits; in his right hand rewards are contained; in the right hand, I say, are delights; in the left are medicines."
Hence again the same St. Bernard here, in sermon 51, taking this verse not in an optative but in an effective sense, explains it thus, as if to say: The left hand of Christ now sustains my head through grace; but His right hand will embrace me in heaven through glory; for the present grace is a certain pledge of heavenly glory, and the merits of this life give a sure hope of future reward: "She does not say," says St. Bernard, "'embraces' but 'will embrace me,' so that you may know that she is so far from ungrateful for the first grace that she has anticipated the second with an act of thanksgiving."
Third, St. Ambrose in Psalm 118, sermon 14, on verse 5, by the left hand understands earthly and temporal goods, and by the right hand, heavenly and eternal: "Both arms of the bridegroom," he says, "are extended toward useful things; yet each hand has something proper to itself. In the right hand is length of life; in the left, riches and glory." Proverbs 3:16: "The left rewards with present things, the right with future ones: the left is under the head of the bride, the right above, which embraces the whole bride. And so the left is, as it were, the support of present rest, and therefore the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head, because, being rich, He became poor." These are the words of St. Ambrose scattered throughout that passage. So too Bede and St. Thomas, who by the left hand understands the prosperity of this life, and by the right hand eternal life. Where he notes that the head of the bride is sustained by the left hand; yet she is not abandoned by the right, and the left is below the head, the right above; because these lower things ought to be so subject that they do not call us away from eternal things, nor press down the head, but rather lift it up and rouse us to the love of Him who has so generously bestowed them upon us. Thus
and Justus of Urgel, St. Anselm, and St. Gregory, whom hear here: "By the left hand of the bridegroom the present life is designated; by the right hand, eternal life. By the head of the bride, the mind, which governs the soul, is understood. But the left hand of the bridegroom is said to be under the head of the bride, and his right hand will embrace her, because she always places temporal life beneath her mind; but she desires to embrace eternal life in every way. For those things which she sees, she magnanimously tramples underfoot with a lofty mind, and occupies herself with heavenly duties. She tolerates these out of necessity; for those she sighs, bound as if by the right arm of the bridegroom with supreme desire. And when she enters somewhat into them, she rests with delight, and out of love for this rest she utterly spurns worldly tumults. Thus the bridegroom loves her more when she is at rest, and repels all the wicked from disturbing her," saying: "I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem," etc. Here applies Proverbs 3:16: "Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory." See the commentary there.
Fourth, the left hand signifies adversity; the right hand, prosperity: the head of the Church consists of bishops and prelates, the body consists of the rest of the faithful. Therefore Christ embraces holy prelates with His left hand, that is, He exercises and perfects them through adversity; but the faithful He embraces with His right hand, that is, He soothes and advances them through prosperity and consolation.
Here is pertinent what Xenophon writes, book VIII of the Cyropaedia, that Cyrus wished that the princes loyal to him should recline at his left, since the left is more exposed to ambush than the right, or rather so that they might be closer to his heart, for the heart inclines to the left: in like manner pastors and prelates are at the heart of Christ, because they are supremely at His heart and in His care, inasmuch as the salvation of the faithful depends on them.
Fifth, the left hand is the old law, because it sustains the head of the Church, since it points to the true Messiah, that is, Christ the Savior, and bears witness to Him; the right hand is the new law, whose grace encompasses and binds the whole Church, so that by its efficacy it may keep and fulfill the whole law: therefore the new law supplements and perfects the old, just as the right hand makes up for and strengthens the weakness of the left, as is clear from Matthew 5 and following. Again, the old law is denoted by the left, because it was a law of fear and punishments; the new, by the right, because it is a law of love and of grace and of eternal glory. So St. Jerome on Zechariah chapter 4, and Eucherius, book II on Genesis.
Finally, the primary bride in the Canticle is the humanity of Christ, which the Word betrothed to Himself as a friend and bride in the incarnation, and embraced with His left and right hand, that is, on every side, as I said in the Prooemium, chapter 8.
Second Partial Sense: Concerning Christ and the Holy Soul.
First, Theodoret, and three anonymous commentators cited by him, and St. Bernard, sermon 51, by the left hand understand the threat of punishment; by the right hand, the promise of the kingdom; for by both Christ draws the soul to Himself and joins it to Himself: "There is a time, however," says St. Bernard, "when our mind is oppressed in a servile manner by fear of punishment; and then the left hand must be said to be not under the head, but over the head: nor can the soul so affected say at all: 'His left hand is under my head.' But if, making progress from this
spirit of servitude she passes into a more worthy disposition of spontaneous obedience, inasmuch as she is now motivated by rewards rather than constrained by punishments; and even more so if she is moved by the love of the good itself: then she will undoubtedly be able to say that his left hand is under my head, inasmuch as she has overcome that servile fear, which is on the left side, with a better and more excellent disposition of soul, and by worthy desires has drawn near even to the right hand itself, in which are all the promises, the Prophet saying to the Lord: 'Delights at Your right hand forevermore,' Psalm 15:11; whence, having conceived a sure hope, she speaks with confidence: 'And his right hand will embrace me';" and then, exulting, she says with the Psalmist, Psalm 4:9: "'In peace in this very thing I will sleep and rest: especially since there is at hand the reason that follows: Because You, O Lord, have singularly established me in hope.'" These are the words of St. Bernard. In the same place he understands more literally by the left and right hand every kind of protection by which God guards and embraces the soul that pants for Him. "Therefore," he says, "He does not endure the distress of His beloved: He is present, for He cannot delay, being summoned by such great desires. And because He had found her, while He was absent, faithful in works and solicitous for gain -- namely in this, that she had ordered flowers and fruits to be gathered for herself -- He has also returned this time with a more generous reward of grace. Finally, with one of His arms He supports the head of her as she lies down, and prepares the other for an embrace, that He may cherish her in His bosom. Happy the soul that reclines upon the breast of Christ and rests between the arms of the Word."
Here is pertinent the Chaldean version: When, he says, the people of the house of Israel walked through the desert, clouds of glory surrounded them from the four winds of the world, so that neither heat, nor sun, nor rain, nor hail should have dominion over them. For the pillar of cloud protecting the Hebrews in the desert was a type of the protection by which the Holy Spirit protects the faithful of Christ in the Church.
Second, Aponius expounds these words in three ways: first, he refers them to the martyrs, whom Christ sustains with His left hand, that is, with the promise of the heavenly kingdom, and embraces and strengthens with His right hand, that is, with His grace and help: "For all torments," he says, "and death itself undertaken for Christ are delights for holy souls in order to acquire eternal joys; where the Church, dissolved in delights, rejoices to be held in the embrace of her beloved Christ, so that she may be worthy to suffer the cruelty of torments for the sake of her Maker.
Second, to the holy soul, as if she herself says: Christ sustains me with the left hand of compunction, lest I turn aside to the left of the flesh and concupiscence; with the right hand of tribulations He contains me, lest I slip to the right of pride. Third, as if to say: The left hand of Christ, that is, the shield of faith, is under my head; His right hand, that is, the sword of prayer, embraces and arms me.
The mystics and contemplatives take this maxim as referring to the highest degree of contemplation, by which the soul is intimately united to God through contemplation of the intellect and through the ardor of the will, and reciprocally clasps and embraces Him, as it were, with these two arms. For then God draws the heart and, caressing it with His arms, as it were, of illumination and enkindling, draws it to a certain higher and purer embrace of love. And as here knowledge is more subtle, so too a nobler affection thrives, which does not cling to divine delights, but, the soul having passed beyond all these, desires to rest in the bare arms of God. By these, the heart is dilated from the greatness of the pleasure, and in a way opens up and gapes with its pores exposed, and is wounded; and sometimes this wound is wont to grow so severe, and the impulse of love to increase so much, that the human heart cannot equal such growth, and succumbs to it in a most blessed death -- a kind of death that befell some of the most blessed: the Mother of God, St. Teresa, and certain others.
Third Principal Sense: Concerning Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
First, Rupert by the left hand understands the consolations that God granted to the Blessed Virgin in this life; such as seeing the Holy Spirit descend upon herself and the apostles, the Gospel preached throughout the whole world, the nations converted to Christ, etc. "And his right hand will embrace me," that is, the glory of the Father, in which He Himself is, will entirely surround and fill me, when He shall have led me out of and taken me from this present world: that right hand, namely, which the Psalmist intimates, saying: "Delights at Your right hand forevermore," Psalm 15:11.
Second, William the Little, and following him Delrio, by the left hand understand the bitterness of Christ's passion, by the head the mind of Mary, and by the right hand the joy of the resurrection. She therefore said: "I languish with love," because in the passion this languor of the mother openly manifested itself. She sees, he says, with a mind divinely illumined, how usefully and salutarily her most sweet Son dies; how brief will be the delay He makes in death, and how gloriously He will triumph after a little while. And behold, on account of this: "His left hand is under my head"; for it does not overpower my head, so that reason should yield to emotion, and I should mourn my Son as one about to descend into corruption, not as one having the power to lay down His life and take it up again. I am most certain that His right hand will embrace me, that the glory of His resurrection will quickly gladden me; it will not merely touch but embrace, not as the passion grieved for a short time, so also the resurrection
will gladden merely in passing and for an hour; but, having rent the sackcloth of my grief, it will surround me with perpetual joy. For His brief death, brief mourning for me; but because, rising from the dead, He now dies no more, the maternal charity in me will enjoy immortal joy.
The Voice of the Bridegroom.
Verse 7. I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and deer of the fields, do not stir up or awaken the beloved until she herself wills.
For "beloved," the Hebrew has אהבה (ahava), which signifies both "beloved" and "love"; whence Vatablus translates: "do not awaken love," that is, the bride who loves and is loved supremely; for the abstract is used for the concrete by epistasis to signify the vehemence of love in the bride, which is so great that she seems to be not so much one loving and loved, but rather pure love itself. Whence the Syriac for "beloved" translates "the essence of love," or "the very being of love"; the Arabic, "love."
The bride, languishing with love, fell into a sleep and a fainting of the soul, wholly carried away into desire for the bridegroom; therefore, carried by the young maidens to a little bed, she fell asleep in it. The bridegroom therefore adjures her companions not to awaken her from this holy and sweet sleep, but to allow her to rest in it until she awakens of her own accord, by which adjuration he shows how pleasing this sleep of love is to him. For the languor of love is a sweet sleep of love; therefore she remained in this bed of sleep, and did and said all things that follow to the end of this chapter; for in the following chapter, namely chapter 3, verse 1, she herself says: "In my little bed through the nights I sought him whom my soul loves." So Origen, Aponius, and others. The Septuagint translates: "I adjured you by the powers and strengths of the field, if you should stir up and re-awaken (Ambrose, on Psalm 118, sermon 3: 'raise up and stir up'; the Scholiast: 'awaken from sleep') love until she wills." By "powers," whether potencies and strengths, or "fortitudes of the field," understand plants, trees, and shrubs, and whatever is beautiful and excellent in the field.
The Chaldean, in his customary way referring these things to Moses and the Hebrews journeying to Canaan, translates thus: "After these things it was said to Moses in prophecy from the face of the Lord, that he should send messengers to explore the land; and when they returned from exploring, they disparaged the land of Israel, and they tarried forty years in the desert. Moses opened his mouth and spoke thus: I adjure you, congregation of Israel, by the Lord of hosts and by the strengths of the land of Israel, do not presume to ascend to the land of Canaan until there is a will from the face of the Lord, and the whole generation of warriors is consumed and they die from the midst of the camp; just as your brothers, the sons of Ephraim, acted presumptuously, who went out of Egypt thirty years before the appointed end had come, and fell into the hand of the Philistines who dwelt in Gath, and they killed them: but wait until the time of forty years, and afterward your sons shall enter and possess it."
First Adequate Sense: Concerning Christ and the Church.
The bridegroom adjures, that is, solemnly charges with a threat or imprecation -- namely Christ -- the daughters of Jerusalem, that is, the Jews, scribes, and leaders (whence in Hebrew for "you" it is אתכם, etchem, masculine, as if to say: You, O citizens of Jerusalem, you, O Jews), not to disturb the faith, peace, and progress of the Church arising in Judea and fervent in faith, as if to say: Let it suffice you that you raged against me as you pleased. I do not yet permit you to rage against my most sweet bride, whom I have received into my faith and protection, and whom I have commanded to be at ease in her soul. Behold, she prays at home, surrounded by the guard of angels: by these holy minds I charge you solemnly not to trouble her as she prays, nor to make a disturbance to one sleeping peacefully in confidence of my faith and promises, or to cause any difficulty, unless you wish to provoke the heavenly armies, by whom you would pay the penalties of your crimes. For they see more keenly than the gazelles themselves, and perceive your plans however secret they may be. Far swifter than gazelles and deer, they rush to their clients' aid most speedily and bring help. All are ministering spirits, sent by me for the guardianship and service of my Church, for the sake of those who shall inherit salvation, Hebrews 1:14. For just as I once expelled the Canaanites from Judea through angels for your benefit, so I will likewise expel you from it through them for the benefit of my Church, if you resist her, that is, her apostles and faithful Christians. Therefore let my Church take her just sleep of peace and devotion, and rest as long as she wills, obtain the kingdom of heaven, and reign therein peacefully. So Hortolanus, Titelmann, and others.
Again, you may apply this maxim to the apostles sitting in Zion after the ascension of Christ, devoted to silence and prayer until the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, filled with whom, voluntarily breaking their silence, they began to publicly proclaim the mighty works of God and Christ, and this at the command of Christ: "Sit," He says, "in the city until you are clothed with power from on high," Luke 24:49. Therefore Christ forbids anyone from disturbing the quiet of the apostles until the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Moreover, Christ properly warns the daughters of Jerusalem, that is, individual faithful, especially the more imperfect and frivolous, not to disturb the peace of the Church with unbecoming behavior, scandals, schism, or tumult, until she herself wills, that is, perpetually -- for she will always will peace. So Delrio.
Furthermore, take the gazelles and deer of the fields literally as they sound: for this is a hunter's oath, by which the bridegroom, as a rural and countryside shepherd, adjures the hunters by the deer and gazelles which they themselves hunt in the fields and forests, after the manner of the daughters, that is, the maidens of Tyre, whose neighbors the Jews are, who devoted themselves to hunting, according to that verse of Virgil, Aeneid 1:
It is the custom of Tyrian maidens to carry the quiver.
Such was Diana. For we are accustomed to swear by the things most dear to us, and for hunters, deer are most dear, Genesis 49:21. Hence the Septuagint translates: "by the powers and strengths, or fortitudes, of the field," that is, by everything that is powerful or strong in the fields and forests, or by all the fruitfulness of the fields and whatever is born or nourished from them, or by everything that is dear and pleasant to you (for this is what the Hebrew צבי, tsevi, means) in the field, as if to say: If you violate this execratory adjuration of mine, O Jews, by persecuting the Church and faithful Christians, it will happen that your deer will perish, your gazelles will be barren, your fields will likewise turn to stone and become barren, and what you have sown, Titus and the Romans will reap; and finally your entire region will be devastated and overthrown, as indeed happened.
Mystically, by deer and gazelles understand either the angels, who like fawns run with wondrous speed through the fields of the world and through every corner of the Church, for the service of the faithful and the salvation of the elect, and who dwell on the mountains, that is, in the heavens, and like gazelles see most keenly all things that are done in the Church and provide for the faithful all things opportune for salvation: so Origen, Philo of Carpathia, Gregory of Nyssa, and others. Or the prophets and patriarchs, on account of the eminence of their knowledge and the loftiness of their conduct, by which like deer they ascended with the Blessed Virgin the mountains of the virtues: so Theodoret and Rupert. Or the apostles and doctors, who teach heavenly things and strive to send men to heaven: so Aponius. Or "holy souls stripped of their bodies," says St. Bernard, "on account of their exceedingly keen sight and the swiftness of their leaping": for with their minds they leap to the mountains of the heavens and the hills of eternity: so Rupert. Moreover, St. Anselm explains it thus, as if to say: If you wish to have the natures of the gazelle and deer that the saints have, I adjure you not to sin, and not by your disobedience to disturb the soul that is languishing with love and persisting in contemplation from that quiet. He then extensively describes the nature and qualities of the gazelle, and applies them to the saints and to contemplatives.
Second Partial Sense: Concerning Christ and the Holy Soul.
Christ adjures all, first, not to hinder or disturb in any way by words or deeds the quiet, pursuit of virtue, and progress of the holy soul, as it strives toward the heavenly Jerusalem as its citizen and daughter, but that each should rejoice in the progress of another as if it were his own, says Aponius. Justus of Urgel adds that we are here taught that good works ought to be voluntary, not compelled: "For then," he says, "the beloved is not stirred up until she herself wills, when the vows of the saints are offered to the Lord with a spontaneous will."
Second, the sleep of the soul is the forgetfulness of human affairs, so that it may attend wholly to God and heaven, such as anchorites, monks, and religious practice: for, as St. Basil says, interrogation 6, in the Rules discussed at greater length: "Self-denial is nothing other than the supreme forgetfulness of all things of the former life, and a withdrawal from one's own will." God loves this kind of sleep greatly, and commands others with a severe warning not to disturb it for any reason whatever. If by deer you understand angels, it is a pious thought, says Sanchez, which meditates that by this adjuration it is asked of the maidens not to cause any trouble to the angels who with great zeal, and perhaps with prolonged effort, have led the bride so that she may rest in the bosom of the bridegroom: and not to deprive them of both a great pleasure and the fruit of their labor. Let those who are a scandal to others see here how gravely they provoke and offend God, from whose embrace the bride is torn away, and the angels, by whose effort it was also achieved that, forgetting all others, she might love and care for the one bridegroom alone.
Third, the sleep of the soul is prayer, meditation, contemplation, ecstasy. Therefore Christ forbids that his Martha, busy with activity, should call his Magdalene away from this sleep of piety as though she were idle. Whence John the Carmelite explains it thus, as if to say: "I charge you solemnly, daughters of the Church, by myself, who am like gazelles and deer, not to dare to awaken the soul which I am catching up to myself in ecstasy or in any life-giving sleep, for the purpose of caring for the salvation of others, until, at my command, she herself wills." So Cassiodorus, Bede, Anselm, and St. Gregory, whom hear: "Deer and does are held to be clean animals. What then do we understand by deer and gazelles, if not faith, hope, and charity? For while we keep these clean for ourselves, through them we ascend the lofty mountains of contemplation. But the holy soul of the bride of Christ desires to rest from all the disturbances of the world; she desires to sleep in holy leisure in the bosom of the bridegroom, with earthly desires lulled to sleep, so that she even sometimes grows weary of necessary conversations, and rejoices only in the conversation of the bridegroom alone, the more quietly, the more serenely. But those who are carnal in the Church sometimes importune her as she sleeps, wishing to entangle her in the business of the world, because they consider her life useless, seeing that she abstains from their cares." And after some further words: "These are forbidden under the weight of an adjuration from awakening the beloved, lest they, that is, should disturb the mind which girds itself to attend to God and strives to adhere only to spiritual pursuits in the heavenly Jerusalem, as its citizen
and daughter, should hinder or disturb her in any way by words or deeds, but let each rejoice in the progress of another as in his own, says Aponius. And yet not all care for neighbor is forbidden to her: because indeed every perfect soul must discern both when to devote itself to heavenly contemplation and when to serve the needs of neighbors. This permission to attend to God the bride most willingly receives, and immediately embraces the word of the bridegroom and says: 'The voice of my beloved,' etc. And St. Bernard, sermon 51: 'Great,' he says, 'and stupendous is the condescension that He makes the contemplating soul rest in His bosom, and moreover guards her from troublesome cares, and protects her from the restlessness of activities and the annoyances of business, and does not permit her to be awakened at all, except at His own will.' He continues at length, sermon 51: 'Let my soul die the death (of the just, as Balaam said, Numbers 23:10), even if one may say, of the angels, so that, surpassing the memory of present things, it may strip itself not only of the desires for inferior and bodily things, but even of their likenesses, and may have a pure conversation with those with whom there is a likeness of purity. Such an excess, I think, is called contemplation, either solely or especially. For not to be held by the desires for things while living is of human virtue; but not to be involved with the likenesses of bodies while contemplating is of angelic purity.' And after some further words: 'You err if you think you can find this side of it the place of rest, the secret of solitude, the serenity of light, the dwelling of peace; but give me one who has arrived there, and I unhesitatingly confess that he is at rest, who may rightly say: Return, my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has been bountiful to you,' Psalm 114:7.
Moreover, the Septuagint translates: "I adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers (others, by the armies) and by the strengths of the field, if you should stir up and re-awaken her love, until she wills," as if these were the words not of the bridegroom, but of the bride, by which she adjures the young maidens to stir up her love and not to let it sleep or grow sluggish until he himself wills, that is, so that she may subject her charity to the will of the bridegroom. The bridegroom desires to be loved by all; for He came to cast fire upon the earth, and what does He will but that it be kindled? Luke 12:49. So Origen, Theodoret, and three Fathers. But this interpretation is at odds with the Vulgate as well as with the Hebrew, in which it is clear that these are the words of the bridegroom about the bride: תחפץ (technais), meaning "she will will," which is feminine.
Wherefore, the exposition of Psellus, who followed the Septuagint, also corresponds less with the Hebrew and the Vulgate; he holds that here the holy soul begs help from gazelles, that is, from the angels, so that it may attain salvation and the perfection of charity (which is the sole will of God); and that of Gregory of Nyssa, homily 4, who thinks it is signified here that in the pursuit of charity we ought to imitate the angels until the will of God, which is that all men be saved, is fulfilled. And St. Augustine (or whoever is the author) in the Speculum, chapter 3, volume III, who holds that here the Church stirs up the faithful to martyrdom, which is the summit of charity, to which Christ wishes to advance them. And of three anonymous commentators cited by Theodoret, who hold that here the wise soul exhorts the weaker ones to bear Christ in mind for so long, until He Himself deigns to grant them the clear vision of Himself. And of St. Ambrose in Psalm 118, sermon 5, who thinks it is said here that Christ was raised into the light through the incarnation, and raised again through the resurrection: whence by the gazelles and deer he understands Christ Himself: "Or," he says, "Christ is stirred up in those who first come to faith; He is re-awakened in those who, after having come, fell asleep. Christ therefore sleeps in the negligent; He is stirred up in the saints."
The mystics and contemplatives refer these words to the prayer which they call "of quiet," because in it all the faculties of the soul are at rest: in which, says Blessed Teresa, the soul in a certain wondrous manner understands that God is now near and, as it were, contiguous to it, so that with slight effort it could attain divine union. The prayer of quiet, therefore, is that by which the mind sleeps, as it were, in God, with the point of the will alone operating almost imperceptibly in the one who loves, just as a half-sleeping infant sucks the breast of its mother, and if it is removed, it wakes up and cries, and by its crying shows how great a good it has lost, which while sleeping it seemed not to appreciate or feel. For the whole soul enters into itself and gathers itself around God, so that it seems neither to feel nor to hear, and to be asleep and half-dead, until it returns to itself; then, having experienced it, it perceives how great a good it has lost. In this prayer, therefore, the soul's own mind and will, as it were, sleep and die, and pass into the divine, and are moved and directed by it, just as one who sails is moved not by himself (because he rests and even sleeps) but by the ship, as it were, resting while being carried to his homeland and desired port. Such a one is therefore like a child sleeping
Second Part of the Canticle, or Second Act of the Drama,
In Which the Adolescence and Growth of the Church Is Described, Up to Chapter III Verse 6, Just as the Infancy of the Church Was Described from Chapter I to This Point.
This adolescence of the Church was after Pentecost, when the apostles, having received the Holy Spirit, set out to the nations and everywhere founded churches. See what was said in the Prooemium, chapter 3.
The Voice of the Bridegroom.
Verse 8. The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. Verse 9. My beloved is like a gazelle, or a young deer: behold, he stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattices.
THE VOICE OF MY BELOVED! BEHOLD, HE COMES LEAPING UPON THE MOUNTAINS, BOUNDING OVER THE HILLS. The Hebrew מקפץ (mekappets) means "contracting himself over the hills": for those who wish to leap strongly and far contract their limbs and strength so as to leap more powerfully. Vatablus translates: "running swiftly over the hills."
MY BELOVED IS LIKE A GAZELLE, OR A YOUNG DEER. The Chaldean in his customary way refers these words to the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt: "When," he says, "the people of the house of Israel dwelt in Egypt, their cry ascended to the high heavens; then the glory of the Lord was revealed to Moses on Mount Horeb, and He sent him to Egypt to redeem them and lead them out from the oppression of subjection to the Egyptians: and the appointed time was shortened on account of the merits of the fathers, who are compared to mountains, and He reduced the time of servitude by one hundred and ninety years on account of the justice of the mothers, who are compared to hills, verse 9. The certain one of Israel said: In the time when the glory of the Lord was revealed in Egypt on the night of the Passover, and He slew every firstborn, He ascended upon the swiftest lightning, and ran like a gazelle and like a young deer, and protected our houses."
First Adequate Sense: Concerning Christ and the Church.
The bride, carried to her little bed in her languor of love and falling asleep there, heard indistinctly and faintly the voice of the bridegroom coming and leaping over the mountains, that he might hasten to the bride languishing with love; therefore this voice of his was sent from afar, and hence was faint and soft, as St. Ambrose teaches, sermon 6 on Psalm 118, verse 1. Whether this was the voice of the bridegroom commanding the young maidens to be silent, lest they awaken the bride with any noise, as St. Gregory and St. Bernard hold. Or some other voice, as Origen holds. Whence, recognizing by the indication of love the voice of her beloved, the bride exulting exclaims: Behold, my beloved is here! For this is the voice of my beloved that I hear, who, as I see, bears the greatest care for me and does nothing else but to foster my love,
my tranquility, peace, and every good, and to promote them: therefore, like a fawn and gazelle, he most swiftly leaps over mountains and hills to be present to me and come to my aid. So John the Carmelite: "The voice of my beloved," he says, "which alone could do this, sounded with its divine power and awakened me."
This maxim can be expounded in three ways. First, concerning the incarnation of Christ, as if to say: I, the Christian Church, now arising at the birth of Christ in the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, the apostles and disciples, languishing with love for Christ and sighing that He Himself should redeem the human race from sin and death, I now begin to hear His voice both preaching in His own person and through John the Baptist, as three Fathers cited by Theodoret hold: for John's voice was the voice of Christ; whence he himself says: "The voice of one crying (namely Christ) in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord," Isaiah 40:3 and Matthew 3:3. Behold, therefore, the Son of God comes in the flesh to redeem me and betroth me to Himself: "Leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills." By the mountains and hills understand all the orders of angels, which Christ, leaping from heaven to earth, leaped over and placed Himself beneath them all, being made man, according to that verse of David: "You made him a little less than the angels," Psalm 8:6, and Hebrews 2:7; and as St. Bernard says, sermon 55: "As a fawn indeed the child appeared, who was born for us." So too Cassiodorus and Bede: Christ, they say, is a fawn, because He was made the most humble among men, and as Isaiah says, chapter 53:3, the lowest of men. St. Anselm adds that Christ is a fawn because He is weighed down by no mass of flesh and is adorned with all virtues, just as a fawn is distinguished by spots. He is also called a gazelle, says Justus of Urgel, on account of the likeness of sinful flesh that He assumed. Or by the mountains and hills understand the holy patriarchs and prophets: because through the midst of very many generations, says Titelmann, after the long succession of preceding Fathers, at last born of a virgin He appeared to the world. For He leaped over, as it were, as many mountains and hills as the diverse generations of preceding Fathers that came before Him, from whom He proceeded according to the flesh. He leaped, namely, from that lofty mountain, the father of our faith Abraham, to his son Isaac, from him to his son Jacob, and thence to others, and as if by individual leaps He drew nearer to our mortality: at last He appeared manifest in our mortal flesh. The principal leap, therefore, which is mentioned here, is that wondrous descent of God to men --
See Rupert, who applies all these things to the silence, contemplation, and ecstasy of the Blessed Virgin. Again, apply these to her confidence and resignation to the providence of God, by which, knowing herself to be supremely at the heart and in the care of God and Christ her Son, she rested and slept securely between His arms, as in His bosom, both during the passion and cross of Christ, and during the persecution of the apostles and the Church after Christ's death by the Jews, and in all doubts and adversities.
Christ therefore, like lightning, passing over the mountains — that is, the angels — and the hills — that is, the patriarchs — and all the generations of the Fathers, says St. Bernard, Sermon 54, leaped down into the most pure womb of the Virgin, and into the manger. From there He leaped into Egypt, says Gregory of Nazianzus; and returning thence, He leaped onto the cross; from the cross and the tomb He leaped back into heaven. Hear St. Ambrose on Psalm CXVIII, Sermon 6, verse 1, who thus introduces the bride speaking: "I desire charity to be aroused in me; I consider myself wounded by charity, and charity itself hastens all the more to me. I said: Come! He leaps and bounds. I ask Him to come with grace; He works increases of graces; and as He comes, He brings with Him increases of grace; and by coming He acquires, because He Himself also studies to please His beloved. He leaps over the heights to ascend to the bride: for the bride's chamber is the tribunal of Christ. He leaps over the Church, He bounds over the Synagogue. He leaps over the gentiles, He bounds over the Jews. Let us behold Him leaping. He leaps from heaven into the Virgin, from the womb into the manger, from the manger into the Jordan, from the Jordan to the cross, from the cross into the tomb, from the tomb into heaven." And after many things that he interposes: "He leaps over the Church, which is the house of bread, because He strengthens the hearts of the faithful. Fittingly like a young doe, because the gazelle feeds on the heights. She is called Dorcas from derkein, 'to see,' for the vision of gazelles is sharper. What is more fitting for Christ, who saw the Father, whom no one has seen? Or if anyone has seen in Christ, the Son Himself revealed. Fittingly like a young stag, as a son in whom the force of His father's nature has grown strong, so that hidden things do not escape Him, serpents flee, and poisons do not harm."
Christ therefore leaped down from heaven to the ground and into the mire, and from the mire leaped back into heaven. So Cassiodorus, St. Gregory, Bede, and others.
Second, it can be explained of the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, as if to say: The apostles and faithful, after Christ's ascension into heaven, shut up in Zion for fear of the Jews and devoting themselves to prayer and contemplation, on the day of Pentecost perceived the help and voice of Christ coming, when He sent upon them the Holy Spirit. For then "suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each of them: and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in various tongues, as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance," Acts II, 2. Wherefore, armed with this Spirit, they annulled and overcame the threats of the Jews and the chief priests, and indeed subjected all nations to Christ.
Moreover, with the Holy Spirit, the Son Himself descended, together with the Father, upon the apostles: for the three Persons are consubstantial with one another, and what one works outwardly, the other two also work. Whence Christ, about to go into heaven, promised the apostles, saying, John XIV, 18: "I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you" — namely with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, say Rupert and St. Cyril, Book IX on John, chapter XLV. Finally, the Holy Spirit was, as it were, the voice of Christ, which through the mouths of the apostles preached and propagated the faith of Christ throughout the whole world; whence Christ says of Him: "He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is mine and will announce it to you," John XVI, 14.
Finally, the Holy Spirit made the apostles leap over the mountains and hills — that is, over all the turnings of their journeys, all difficulties, all persecutions and tribulations, all impediments to the Gospel — so that they might spread the faith of Christ and the Church throughout the whole world. Whence St. Gregory here says that Christ is like a gazelle leaping upon the mountains and bounding over the hills, because by the patience of His work He transcended all the saints, when He raised Himself from death, sent the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, and converted the nations to Himself. Gregory of Nyssa says Christ leaped over the mountains because He subjected the demons to Himself. Origen says it was because He subjected all the kingdoms of the world and all kings, however exalted, to His faith. Theodoret says it was because He overturned the altars and temples of idols which had been erected on the mountains. Whence Symmachus translates: ascending against the mountains, leaping against the hills. Finally, Solomon up to this point has described the infancy of the Church, but here he depicts its adolescence and growth up to chapter III, 6, as I said in the Prooemium: and this began at Pentecost, and was thereafter further increased.
Third, Christ leaps over the mountains and hills when, in any persecution and adversity of the Church, He is most swiftly present from heaven like lightning, extends counsel and help, and causes her to overcome and transcend all things, in accordance with that promise and oracle of Christ: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," Matthew XVI, 18. And: "I am with him in tribulation: I will deliver him and glorify him," Psalm XC, 15.
Second Partial Sense: On Christ and the Holy Soul.
Christ through holy inspirations leaps into the soul; the mountains and hills are the faculties of the soul elevated by God's grace and aspiring to heavenly things. First, therefore, Christ leaps into the intellect, when like a sun He sends into it rays of heavenly light, so that it may see how great a good, how useful, how beautiful, how delightful is the work of virtue — for example, of charity, religion, contempt of the world, martyrdom, chastity, patience, humility, etc. Second, from the intellect He leaps into the will, inspiring in it the spurs of warmth — that is, the impulses of holy love — by which it may love and ardently desire the work of virtue. Third, He leaps into the imagination and the sensitive appetite, sending into it spiritual joy, so that it may not resist the intellect and the will, but rather comply with them.
and drives it to embrace this work. Fourth, He leaps into the hands and feet and all the senses and members, when He impels them to carry out in deed the good work conceived in the mind, however difficult and arduous, according to that word of Isaiah, chapter XL, 31: "Those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall take wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not faint" — generously and eagerly overcoming and transcending all mountains and hills, that is, all difficulties and impediments. Hear St. Ambrose on Psalm CXVIII, verse 6, Sermon 6: "He exulted as a giant to run the course. His going forth is from the height of heaven, and His circuit even to the height thereof: nor is there anyone who can hide himself from His heat. Therefore He leaps now also, and now He runs from the heart of the Father over His saints, from east to west, from north to south. He it is who ascends above the sunset, He above the heavens of heavens to the east. He ascends above the mountains, He above the hills. Would that I, wretched as I am, might say — let my soul say: Behold, He comes, and He comes not upon earthly things, not upon the valleys, but He comes leaping upon the mountains. For God is the God of mountains. Where then does He leap? He leaps upon the mountains. If you are a mountain, He leaps upon you. He leaps upon Isaiah, He leaps upon Jeremiah, He leaps upon Peter, John, James. Mountains are round about Him. If you cannot be a mountain, nor have the strength, be at least a hill, so that Christ may ascend upon you, and if He bounds over, let Him bound, so that the shadow of His passing may guard you."
Therefore Christ, leaping into the soul, "is like a gazelle and a young stag." First, on account of His swiftness, which He likewise communicates to the soul, when He makes it swift in carrying out its pious resolution. Second, because like a gazelle He has the keenest sight, with which He surveys all things, provides all things beneficial for the soul, removes harmful things, and communicates the same ability to the soul itself, so that it may first thoroughly foresee and consider all that must be done. So Theodoret and St. Bernard, Sermon 54. For gazelles have the keenest eyes: whence in Greek they are called dorkades from derkein, that is, "to see."
Third, because just as deer with their breath draw serpents from their dens and devour them — whence they are called elaphos from elain ophin, that is, "from extracting the serpent" — so likewise Christ manifests, crushes, dispels, and destroys all temptations of the flesh, the world, and the devil which the enemy suggests to the soul. So Philo of Carpathia. Fourth, Christ the Judge will be like a gazelle, because with the keenest sight He will see and judge all the hidden words, thoughts, and deeds of men. Whence St. Bernard, Sermon 55: "But you who desire the coming of the Savior, fear the scrutiny of the Judge; fear the eyes of the gazelle; fear Him who says through the Prophet: And it shall be in that time: I will search Jerusalem with lamps, Zephaniah I, 12. He has keen sight: His eye will leave nothing unsearched. He will search the reins and hearts, and the very thought of man shall give praise to Him, Psalm V, verse 10. What kind of column in Babylon, if scrutiny remains for Jerusalem?" And after some passages: "It is greatly to be feared that, when it comes to this, under so subtle an examination many of our acts of justice (as they are considered) may appear to be sins. There is, however, one thing: if we judge ourselves, we shall not be judged, I Corinthians XI, 32. Good judgment, which withdraws and hides me from that strict and divine judgment. I utterly dread falling into the hands of the living God." Hebrews chapter X, 31.
Fifth, Origen says: Christ and the saints are gazelles in contemplation; deer in action, by which they kill serpents — that is, they mortify passions and vices. Physicians assert, he says, that there is a certain humor within the internal organs of the gazelle which dispels dimness of the eyes and sharpens even the dullest sight. Fittingly Christ is compared to it, because He not only sees the Father Himself, but also causes Him to be seen by others whose sight He has cured.
Hear St. Gregory, Homily 29 on the Gospel: "Behold, He comes leaping upon the mountains — for in coming for our redemption, He made certain leaps, so to speak. Do you wish, dearest brothers, to recognize His leaps? From heaven He came into the womb; from the womb He came into the manger; from the manger He came to the cross; from the cross He came into the tomb; from the tomb He returned to heaven. Behold, so that He might make us run after Him, the Truth manifested in the flesh gave us certain leaps to follow. Because He exulted as a giant to run His course, that we might say to Him from the heart: Draw us after You: we will run in the fragrance of Your ointments. Therefore, dearest brothers, we must follow with our heart to where we believe He has ascended in body. Let us flee earthly desires; let nothing in lowly things delight us any longer, we who have our Father in heaven."
Morally, from this Aponius concludes that a pious soul in times of tranquility should always keep the ear of the heart raised and attentive, so that it may carefully receive the voice of Christ, whether speaking through preachers or through Himself inspiring good desires in the mind, and therefore devote itself to prayer, to obtain the grace by which to carry these out and put them into practice. For, as Gregory of Nyssa says, this voice and inspiration of Christ does not stand still or remain, but like a young stag leaps over and passes by.
Third Principal Sense: On Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
Christ, bounding over the mountains and hills of the patriarchs, leaped into the womb of the Virgin and from her took on flesh, when "the Word was made flesh," as I have already said. Whence He Himself says: "Before the hills I was brought forth," Proverbs VIII, 25. In this matter He outran in speed the gazelles — that is, the angels — and even Gabriel the messenger himself, as the same archangel testified, says St. Bernard, Sermon 54, when he said: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. What? He whom you just left in heaven, you find in the womb? He has leaped — not merely flown, but flown over and beyond the wings of the winds. You are surpassed, O Archangel; He who sent you has leaped past you." The same St. Bernard, Sermon 4 On the Ascension, teaches that Christ leaped upon various mountains of virtues. He went, he says, from virtue to virtue, that the God of gods might be seen in Zion: thus on Mount Tabor He was transfigured; on a mountain He chose the apostles and promulgated the Gospel; on a mountain He spent the night in prayer; on Mount Calvary He was crucified; from the Mount of Olives He ascended into heaven; upon Mount Zion He sent the Holy Spirit. Again, Christ caused the Blessed Virgin to leap in the mountains, when He continually impelled her to lofty acts of virtue, and especially when He urged her to go into the hill country to greet Elizabeth.
Tropologically, St. Bernard, Sermon 54: Christ, he says, leaps upon the mountains — that is, upon the humble; for humility alone exalts, humility alone is a mountain and true loftiness. He bounds over the hills — that is, over the proud, whom pride has made hills, but not mountains: "Because God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble," I Peter, chapter V, verse 5.
John the Carmelite takes it differently: Christ, he says, leaps upon the mountains when He visits those who are greater in charity; He bounds over the hills — that is, those not so sublime — and does not bestow the same delight upon them, but as it were passes them by. So also St. Bernard, in the passage already cited, and Cassiodorus, Bede, Origen, and St. Ambrose, in the book On Isaac and the Soul, chapter IV: "Upon souls of greater grace He leaps," he says; "those of lesser grace He bounds over, etc., who with weak hearts cannot receive His power." And St. Anselm: "Leaping upon the mountains — that is," he says, "setting His feet and dwelling in the perfect, and also making them leap, as He did Paul, whom from a persecutor He quickly made the greatest preacher. Bounding also over the hills, inferior to the mountains, in which, although God does not leap as in the perfect, He nonetheless bounds over them; because He shows them a certain knowledge of His mysteries, though not so full."
Again, Origen says that Christ leaps upon the mountains — that is, upon the eminent teachers and saints — when in them, through the abundance of doctrine, He becomes "a fountain of water springing up to eternal life," John chapter IV, 14. And Cassiodorus: "He is said to make His leaps upon these mountains and to bound over these hills, because the Lord is accustomed to illuminate the hearts of the sublime with the frequent grace of His visitation; and it is beautifully said that He does not remain upon these hills, but leaps, or bounds over them; because the sweetness of interior contemplation, however lofty it is on account of the knowledge of heavenly things, is equally brief and rare on account of the heaviness of minds still held down by the weight of the flesh."
Symbolically, Origen takes the mountains to mean the New Testament, the hills the Old: for in the reading of Sacred Scripture and its meditation Christ is found, and He leaps into minds. Hence Philo of Carpathia says Christ leaped over the prophets and bounded over the apostles; St. Bernard, however, says He leaped upon the mountains — that is, among the angels, patriarchs, and prophets — and upon the hills, when He appeared to some from among the people.
Anagogically, Justus of Urgel takes the voice of the beloved to mean the trumpet of the archangel, who at the end of the world will cry out: "Arise, you dead, and come to judgment." Whence Aponius says: Christ is like a gazelle, which has whiteness on its hind parts, because in the future age He will display His presence. And St. Bernard, Sermon 55: Christ, he says, is like a young stag and a gazelle on account of His mercy toward the elect and His judgment upon the reprobate: for the young stag signifies the desire of one leaping to the heights; the gazelle, judgment.
Morally, let Christians learn here from Christ to ascend like gazelles to the mountains of prayer and all virtues, and to be swift, cheerful, and agile for every act of beneficence and every good work: for, as St. Ambrose says: "The grace of the Holy Spirit knows no slow undertakings;" for He is a consuming fire, "who (therefore) makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire," Hebrews chapter I, verse 7. Truly Ecclesiasticus, chapter XXXI, verse 27: "In all your works be swift, and no infirmity shall come to you." See what was said there.
Verse 9: Behold, He Stands Behind Our Wall, Looking Through the Windows, Gazing Through the Lattice.
For "looking," the Hebrew is maschgiach, that is, gazing intently and with attentive observation — that is, watching, carefully observing all the gestures, actions, and words of the bride, and this studiously and exactly. The Hebrew metsits means "blossoming," or bursting forth and shining like a flower, and showing itself slightly and offering itself to view "through the lattice." Fittingly the beautiful head, face, and eyes of the bridegroom are compared to a flower; because the head is adorned with hair as if with flowers, the face is rose-colored, and the eyes shine in their orbits like flowers in their calyx. For just as flowers, says Luysius, when they first burst forth appear more joyful and brilliant to us than when they have unfolded their circle of petals, and do not then appear entire but only show the tips of their buds — so the bridegroom, more beautiful than any flower and every rose, seemed to have put his head in the window and opened his rose-colored mouth.
The Septuagint translates: ekkoptōn dia tōn diktyōn, that is, "gazing through the nets" — that is, through latticed windows, or through the lattice. St. Ambrose, Sermon 6 on Psalm CXVIII, reads: "appearing above the nets." St. Jerome, Book III on Isaiah, chapter XII: "appearing through the nets." It signifies that the bridegroom, hastening to the bride, gazed clearly at her through the cracks and lattice of the house, but was not seen by her — indeed he offered himself to be viewed by her only obscurely through the lattice, so as to arouse in her a greater reverence and desire for himself, and in turn to present himself to her honestly, modestly, and bashfully. So St. Bernard. For those who look through lattice see others clearly, but they themselves can be seen by others only dimly and faintly. So Origen. Whence the Arabic translates: "gazing through the cracks."
First Adequate Sense: On Christ and the Church.
This passage in its meaning fully coheres with the preceding one; hence in the Bible it is joined with it in the same verse. It should therefore be explained in conformity with that. Thus Cassiodorus, Bede, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory, St. Bernard, and others, who explain the preceding passage of the Incarnation of Christ, explain this one likewise of the same: For the wall of the incarnate Word, or of the divinity, is His humanity, by which He conceals His divinity, as if to say: The Son of God, coming in the flesh, standing behind it as behind a wall, gazes through its eyes and senses, as through latticed windows, upon the Church and her faithful; and through them the flower and beauty of His divinity shines through and gleams, but faintly, obscurely, in part, and as if halved. Wherefore Christ as God perfectly, clearly, and immediately beholds us; but we behold Him only through a shadow — that is, through cracks and lattice, namely through His humanity we perceive His divinity. God therefore, being born as man in the flesh, was metsits — that is, an emerging, budding, and blossoming rose — which, opening itself and gradually unfolding, displayed in shadowy fashion through the lattice of its petals (that is, through theandric operations, as St. Dionysius says in On the Divine Names — that is, divine-human actions proceeding from the God-man, or from the incarnate Word) the rose-colored face and most sweet fragrance of His divinity latent within, while Christ the man concealed His divinity behind the wall — that is, with His body as intermediary — yet in such a way that He faintly and in part, as through lattice, displayed it for viewing, as He did in the Transfiguration, in miracles, and in His other divine works. But in heaven He will display His divinity without lattice — that is, clearly and face to face for the blessed to behold.
In this life, therefore, the lattice of His humanity tempered the light and splendor of His divinity, so that He could speak and act with men without dazzling their sight — just as He appeared to Moses and the Hebrews covered by darkness and the pillar of cloud, Exodus chapters XIII and XX. So Cassiodorus and the others already cited, and St. Bernard, Sermon 56, who also explains the word "stands": He stood, he says, by the power of His divinity, though by the weakness of His flesh He fell, as He Himself said: The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak, Matthew chapter XXVI, verse 41. Hear St. Gregory here: "Christ incarnate stood, as it were, behind our wall, because in the assumed humanity the divinity lay hidden. And because human weakness could not bear His immensity if He were to display it, He interposed the obstacle of the flesh; and whatever great thing He wrought among men, He did while hiding, as it were, behind a wall. But he who looks through windows and lattice is partly seen and partly conceals himself: So also the Lord Jesus Christ, when He worked miracles by the power of His divinity and endured lowly things through the weakness of His flesh, looked out as through a window and lattice; because while hiding in one respect, He appeared for who He was in another." And St. Bernard, Sermon 56: "Furthermore, by the lattice and windows through which He is said to look, he means (I believe) the senses of the flesh and human affections, through which He gained experience of all human needs. For He Himself bore our weaknesses and carried our sorrows, Isaiah LIII, 4. Therefore He used human affections and bodily senses as openings and windows, so that having been made man He might know human miseries by experience, and become merciful." And after some passages: "He found as many openings in our ruinous wall, full of cracks, as He experienced in His own body the trials of our weakness and corruption."
Second, this passage is more aptly explained, in connection with what follows, of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit. For Christ manifested Himself to the apostles through the Holy Spirit sent by Him, through the fiery tongues as through lattice, through which He clearly beheld the apostles; but the apostles beheld Him only obscurely. Again, refer this passage to the Eucharist, which began to be frequented by the faithful especially after the coming of the Holy Spirit. For in the Eucharist Christ beholds us clearly through the sacramental species of bread and wine, as through lattice — not only with the eyes of the mind but also of the body, as many theologians hold — not only His divinity but also His humanity. But He is seen by us only through faith and in enigma — that is, through the sacramental species, and much more through the consolations, illuminations, and spiritual tastes which He bestows upon those who receive Him, so great and so sublime that they seem not only to see Christ with their eyes but also to savor and taste Him with the palate of the mind, as happened to St. Francis, St. Monica, St. Catherine of Siena, and other saints.
Here the version of the Chaldean is relevant, who explains these words of the paschal lamb; for this was an explicit type of the Eucharist: "And He protected," he says, "our houses, in which we were, and He stood behind our walls, and He looked through the windows, and He gazed through the lattice, and He saw the blood of the Passover victim, and the blood of circumcision which was impressed upon our doors, and He gazed down from the high heavens; and He saw His people, who were eating the victim of the solemnity roasted with fire together with the entrails, and with wild lettuce and unleavened bread, and He spared us, and He did not give power to the destroying angel to destroy us."
Third, take this passage of any coming of Christ whatsoever, by which He visits, protects, defends, and enlightens the Church and the faithful, especially in persecution or tribulation, as if to say: Christ after the Ascension
into heaven, clothed with the light of glory as with a garment, from there gazes upon the Church, as through lattice, and comes to her aid and provides for all things; and He is not seen by her except through the effects of grace, protection, and assistance. So Aponius, who likewise teaches the manner in which Christ now shows Himself and now hides Himself from the Church and the afflicted soul: "The soul," he says, "has invisible enemies who invisibly and incessantly attack it, surrounding it within the enclosure of its own mind; and they reduce it to such a prison of vices that it can make no progress at all in running the way of God's commandments, until He, recalled by its prayers, comes as if hidden and stands and watches its struggle; and yet He does not show Himself, lest, with the enemies completely routed and the battle ceased, it perish from the torpor of idleness. But He looks as through windows, lending the aid of His vision, so that the soul may regain the strength to resist, and the enemy's attack, with its terror diminished, may somewhat subside. He looks through the windows — that is, through the senses by which the soul carries out its bodily thoughts, if they are not polluted by filth."
Second Partial Sense: On Christ and the Holy Soul.
The lattice here can be understood not only of the bridegroom, about which I have already spoken, but also of the bride — that is, of the soul. Christ therefore is like the sun, which desires to illuminate with its light and to kindle with the warmth of its charity all the faithful; but the wall of the flesh, of concupiscence, and of our sins stands in the way, which does not admit these rays. Christ therefore, in His immense thirst for souls, searches out the cracks and lattice — that is, every occasion by which He may penetrate through pious images, sermons, discourses, and inspirations into the eyes and ears, and thence into the mind, and instill His light and warmth there. So Aponius, Bede, Rupert, and St. Bernard, Sermon 56. Hear Origen, Homily 2 from the pair, who, reading from the Septuagint, "appearing above the nets," says: "Where the bridegroom does not look, there death is found ascending, as we read in Jeremiah: Behold, death has ascended through your windows. When you look upon a woman to lust after her, death has already ascended through your windows. Appearing above the nets. Understand that you walk in the midst of snares and pass beneath threatening machines. Everything is full of nets. The devil has filled all things with snares. But if the word of God comes to you and begins to appear above the nets, you will say: Our soul has been snatched like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters. The snare is broken, and we are freed. The bridegroom therefore appears above the nets, making a way for you. Jesus descended to earth and subjected Himself to the nets of the world." St. Ambrose has similar things in Psalm CXVIII, Sermon 6, verse 3, where among other things he says that Christ appears above the nets — that is, above sins — because He alone is immune from them, and therefore He dissolves the sins of all others.
Hence St. Anthony saw the whole world spread with snares, into which souls flying from earth to heaven fell, and they were caught like birds and fish in a net. For this reason, groaning and crying out: "Lord, who will escape these snares?" he heard: "Humility." So St. Athanasius in his Life.
Again, just as parents and teachers pretend to go away, and then hide behind the door and wall, so that through the cracks, lattice, or bars they may see what the children and students are doing when they think themselves free and observed by no one — and if they see them modestly applying themselves to their studies, they reward them; but if they see them casting aside their books, chattering, playing, and fighting, they punish them — so likewise Christ, departing to heaven, hides there as it were, and from there observes through the cracks all our deeds, words, and thoughts, so that seeing all He is seen by none, to this end: that He may reward those who act well and punish those who act badly. Moreover, Christ at times shows Himself present to the soul through grace and consolation, by which He soothes it, and then the soul is cheerfully borne toward every good; for as St. Bernard says: "He rides sweetly whom the grace of God carries." But sometimes He, as it were, departs from the soul and absents Himself, when He leaves it in mental desolation, dryness, and temptation, to observe its struggle: and if He sees it constant in good, He at once hastens to it, helps it, and consoles it.
So when St. Anthony was in a fierce struggle with demons appearing in the form of wolves, lions, tigers, vipers, and serpents, He seemingly abandoned him for a short time; but when Anthony fought bravely, He at once appeared in brilliant light, and when Anthony complained and said: "Lord, where were You?" He answered: "Anthony, I was here, and I was watching you fight." So St. Athanasius in his Life. So St. Stephen, struggling with the Jews, "looking up to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing (to fight for him) at the right hand of God," Acts VII.
Mystically, Justus of Urgel says: Christ looked through the windows and lattice when, with His side pierced by a lance and blood and water flowing from it, He conferred the sacraments upon the Church.
Symbolically, by the wall Origen, Theodoret, and Philo understand Sacred Scripture: for through its letter, as through a latticed wall, we gaze upon God hidden and speaking within it, and God through it speaks to us, instructs us, consoles us, exhorts us, strengthens us, etc. Hence Philo of Carpathia takes the wall to mean the Law, the windows the prophets, and the nets the apostles, to whom Christ said: "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men," Matthew chapter IV, 19.
Again, the same Origen and St. Ambrose, on Psalm CXVIII, Sermon 2, verse 3, take the wall to mean the structure of good works: for Christ secretly beholds, directs, promotes, and perfects this. The three Fathers cited by Theodoret take the lattice or nets to mean the interconnection of virtues, for these, fortified by their mutual interweaving, ward off the entrance of birds — that is, of demons.
Third Principal Sense: On Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
Christ, incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, as if behind the wall of the womb, looked upon her, and He was perceived and beheld by her. Again, Christ from the womb of His mother gazed upon St. Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist and filled them with the Holy Spirit, by which it came about that St. John, hidden in Elizabeth's womb, recognized Christ hidden in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, and reverenced and adored Him, according to that word: "For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy," Luke chapter I, 44.
Tropologically, St. Bernard, Sermon 56, takes the lattice, which is narrower, to mean compunction: for through this and into this the bridegroom looks, because "a contrite and humbled heart, O God, You will not despise," Psalm L, 19. By the windows, which are wider, he understands the voice of exultation and praise. "But if," he says, "at times with heart expanded in charity through the consideration of divine condescension and compassion, it pleases us to release the soul into the voice of praise and thanksgiving, I think that I open for the bridegroom standing behind the wall not a narrow but a very ample window, through which (unless I am mistaken) He looks all the more willingly, the more the sacrifice of praise honors Him." Theodoret has similar things.
Anagogically, Christ in this life stands behind the wall of our flesh; but at death, when it is dissolved, He will clearly present Himself to our soul to be seen and enjoyed face to face. So Origen, Cassiodorus, Bede, and St. Augustine, Confessions XIII, chapter X. Hear St. Bernard, Sermon 56: "Our sins," says Scripture, Isaiah LIX, 2, "separate between us and God. And would that only one wall of the body stood in my way, and that the only obstacle I suffered were what is sin in the flesh, and that not many walls of vices stood between us. For I fear that besides what is in nature, I have added very many from my own iniquity, by the interposition of which I have distanced the bridegroom from me excessively, so that if I wished to speak truly, I would confess that He stands behind walls rather than behind a wall." And after many passages: "Nothing of this sort was to be feared by the soul of Paul, for whom only one single wall stood between him and the sight and embrace of the beloved — namely the law of sin, which he found in his members. This is the concupiscence of the flesh, from which he was utterly unable to be free as long as he was in the flesh. With this one wall interposed, he was not far from his pilgrimage from the Lord; whence he also longed, crying out, Romans VII, 24: Who will deliver me from this body of death? — knowing that through the shortcut of death he would immediately attain to life."
Verse 10: Behold, My Beloved Speaks to Me: Arise, Make Haste, My Love, My Dove, My Beautiful One, and Come.
In Hebrew: "My beloved answered and said to me: Arise for yourself, etc., come for yourself," where the word "for yourself" is redundant twice: for the sense is simply: arise and come. Note that "answered" implies that the bride, when she noticed the bridegroom standing behind the wall and looking through the lattice, had invited him with whispered words, or nods and gestures, to enter the house and converse with her in person. The bridegroom answered this invitation by saying he did not wish to enter the house, but rather to call the bride forth to himself in the field and vineyard, since spring was now approaching, in which all things grow green and bloom: therefore it was time for rustic work, pruning vines, gathering figs, etc. Moreover, St. Bernard, Sermon 57: "He comes," he says of the bridegroom, "in the angels; He hastens in the patriarchs; He draws near in the prophets; He is present in the flesh; He looks forth in miracles; He speaks in the apostles. Or thus: He comes with the affection and zeal of showing mercy; He hastens with the zeal of helping; He draws near by humbling Himself; He is more intimately present; He looks to the future; He speaks, teaching and persuading about the kingdom of God. Such, then, is the coming of the bridegroom."
Then St. Bernard continues to teach how vigilantly we should observe, together with the bride, the coming of the bridegroom. For he who says with the Psalmist, Psalm XXIV, 15: "My eyes are always on the Lord;" and: "I set the Lord always before me," Psalm XV, 8: "shall he not receive blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Savior?" Psalm XXIII, 3. He will surely be visited frequently, nor will he ever be ignorant of the time of his visitation, however secretly and stealthily He who visits in spirit may come, being, as it were, a bashful lover."
First Adequate Sense: On Christ and the Church.
Christ the bridegroom calls forth the primitive Church as His bride — that is, the apostles, having now received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost — to cultivate the vineyards, that is, the churches of Judea and the other nations. He says therefore: Arise from the bed of your rest; enough has been given to sleep and bed; hasten to evangelize. "My love" — that is, my bride — "come" to set out through Judea and the other provinces, to win souls for Me and to lead all nations to Me and to My faith and worship. For it befits you to be like Me, your bridegroom, who was sent by the Father into the world to evangelize the kingdom of God, as Isaiah foretold, chapter LXI, 1 and 2: "The Spirit of the Lord," he says, "is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me: He has sent Me to bring good tidings to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, to proclaim liberty to captives and release to the imprisoned, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God: to console all who mourn." This therefore was the golden age of the Gospel, which succeeded the iron age and yoke of the Mosaic Law, to which the Church is now invited — that is, the apostles and apostolic men — to evangelize intrepidly and ardently everywhere among the nations.
MY DOVE. — The apostles evangelizing are compared to doves. First, for their brightness and simplicity, according to that word of Christ, Matthew X, 16: "Be wise as serpents and simple as doves." Second, for their swiftness, because they most rapidly flew through the whole world evangelizing. Third, for their fidelity: for a dove, joined as it were in marriage to its mate, keeps faith with him and looks to no other. So the apostles were faithful to Christ in hunger, thirst, persecution, etc., even unto death and martyrdom. Fourth, for their fecundity: for a dove lays eggs and produces young every month, while other birds produce chicks only once a year. So the apostles bore very many children for Christ, for "their sound went forth into all the earth," Psalm XVIII, 5; whence Isaiah, foreseeing them, chapter LX, verse 8, exclaims in admiration: "Who are these who fly like clouds, and like doves to their windows?" See what was said there. Fifth, the dove is a symbol of purity, chastity, and innocence: for the dove shrinks from filth, and drinks no water unless it is pure and clear; whence Varro, On Agriculture, Book III, chapter VII: "The water that flows in should be pure, from which the doves may drink and wash themselves: for these birds are very clean."
Sixth, the dove is most indulgent toward its offspring and brood; hence it is a living image of the pious mother Church toward all, but especially toward the children and household of the faith, whom she has begotten through the laver of regeneration. For (as those who have written about nature relate) the dove even plucks out its own feathers to warm its young: for building its nest in harsh cold and placing its offspring in it, it does not hesitate to pull out its own plumage, so that the little ones may lie more softly — with the result that the mother herself often wastes away from the cold. The Church does the same. Hear Paul, I Thessalonians II, 7 and 8: "When we might have been burdensome to you as apostles of Christ, we became little ones in your midst, as a nurse cherishing her children. So desirous of you, we were eager to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own souls, because you had become most dear to us."
MY BEAUTIFUL ONE. — The apostles were beautiful with every grace and the adornment of virtues, and therefore by evangelizing they attracted all to themselves and to Christ, according to that word — see what was said there. St. Ambrose speaks beautifully in his book On Isaac and the Soul, IV: "Arise," he says, "come, my near one — that is, arise from the pleasures of the world, arise from earthly things, and come to Me, you who still labor and are burdened, because you are anxious about the things of the world. Come above the world, come to Me, because I have conquered the world. Come near to Me, already beautiful with the splendor of eternal life, already a dove — that is, gentle and meek — already entirely full of spiritual grace." And St. Bernard, Sermon 57: "Indeed," he says, "she is fittingly called a friend, who diligently and faithfully wins gains for the bridegroom by preaching, counseling, and ministering. Fittingly a dove, who nonetheless, groaning and supplicating in prayer for her own faults, does not cease to obtain divine mercy for herself. Fittingly also beautiful, who, shining with heavenly desire, clothes herself with the splendor of supernal contemplation, but only at those hours when she conveniently and fittingly can." Then he teaches that these three qualities are represented by Martha serving, Lazarus as if groaning beneath the stone, and Mary contemplating.
Second Partial Sense: On Christ and the Holy Soul.
First, Christ rouses the pious soul from the sleep of ease, negligence, and faintheartedness, and commands it to arise, to ascend the higher degrees of charity and virtue, to strive for loftier things, and to make continual progress in God's grace, love, and service. For the perfection of this way and life consists in continuous and perpetual progress — namely that the just person follow God who calls, and day by day strive more and more to become like His purity and holiness, and thus deserve to receive in heaven an everlasting rest and a more illustrious crown of glory. "Arise," therefore — that is, lift yourself up — after the manner of one rising, strive for higher things; running, make haste, and like a dove fly to the nest through increases of charity. O bride, truly beautiful, for whom both the adornment of virtues and the readiness of action bestow beauty. Go forth and come to Me — that is: "In your splendor and beauty, advance prosperously." This is what the Psalmist says: "Blessed is the man whose help is from You: he has disposed ascents in his heart, in the valley of tears, in the place which he has set. For the lawgiver shall give a blessing; they shall go from virtue to virtue: the God of gods shall be seen in Zion," Psalm LXXXIII, verse 6.
Wherefore, the holier a person is, the more he aspires to greater holiness and strenuously strives: for it is a sign of lesser holiness — indeed, of declining and perishing holiness — to be unwilling to advance in it, but to wish to remain in one's present state and degree; which is impossible: for to be unwilling to advance is to be willing to decline, as St. Bernard teaches, Epistle 154. Whence St. Paul, Philippians III, 13, after so many struggles and races: "Brothers," he says, "I do not consider that I have attained. But one thing: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus;" and he adds: "Let us then, as many as are perfect, be thus minded." And Romans chapter XII, verse 11: "Not slothful in zeal: fervent in spirit: serving the Lord." So Origen, Homily 2: "Why arise?" he says. "Why hasten? I endured for you the fury of the storms; I received the waves that were due to you. My soul was made sorrowful for you even unto death. I rose from the dead, having broken the gates of death and dissolved the chains of hell. Therefore I say to you: Arise and come." And Gregory of Nyssa, Homily 5: "Arise, come, my near one, my beautiful one, my dove. She hears the command; she is confirmed by the word; she is aroused; she approaches; she draws near. She is made beautiful; she is called a dove: beautiful, because approaching God, she has received in herself, like a mirror, the image of divine beauty; and she is called a dove, because she is beautiful on account of the received image of the Holy Spirit. A soul becomes a friend by knowing God; beautiful by preserving the humility of Christ; and she becomes a dove, because, seeking nothing of earthly desires except the cheapest food and bodily clothing, but always maintaining the simplicity of doves, she associates herself with the Holy Spirit."
And St. Gregory: "On account of faith," he says, "Christ calls His bride a friend; a dove, on account of simplicity; beautiful, on account of good works, etc. He therefore exhorts her to arise and come, because it is fitting that whoever hastens to the love of Christ should cast off the torpor of the flesh as much as possible, and gird himself speedily to attain eternal things."
Second, Cassiodorus, Bede, and St. Anselm hold that the soul is here called from the leisure of contemplation to the business of action, from rest to struggle and the dust of combat, from the lot of Magdalene to the lot of Martha, to devote itself to the salvation of its neighbors, to make them likewise and lead them to heaven. Hear St. Bernard, Sermon 57: "Finally the bride hears the command to arise and hasten, doubtless to the winning of souls. For true and chaste contemplation has this quality: that the mind, which it has vehemently inflamed with divine fire, it sometimes so fills with zeal and desire to win for God those who would similarly love Him, that it most willingly interrupts the leisure of contemplation for the pursuit of preaching. And again, having obtained its wishes to some extent in this regard, it returns all the more ardently to the same, the more fruitfully it remembers having interrupted it; and likewise, having tasted the sweetness of contemplation, it runs back more vigorously with its accustomed eagerness to pursue its usual gains."
Moreover, St. Bernard notes, Sermon 58, that the text does not say "go" but "come" (indeed Gregory of Nyssa reads: "come willingly" — although "willingly" is not in the Hebrew, it is understood), because Christ does not command imperiously, but sweetly invites to the labors of the active life. Then St. Bernard asks why the bridegroom, who just before forbade the bride to be awakened from sleep, now himself awakens her and calls her out to labors — just as Christ during the Passion, briefly indulging sleep to the apostles weighed down by long vigil, immediately interrupted it saying: "Rise, let us go: behold, he who will betray me is at hand," Matthew chapter XXVI, verse 46. And he answers: "Recognize," he says, "the alternations of holy rest and necessary action; and that in this life there is no abundance of contemplation, nor long duration of leisure, where the more pressing and urgent usefulness of duty and work demands. In His accustomed way, therefore, the bridegroom, once He perceives that the beloved has rested a little in His own bosom, does not hesitate to draw her again to what seems more useful. Not, however, as one unwilling (for He would never do what He had forbidden), but to be drawn by the bridegroom means, for the bride, to receive from Him the desire by which she is drawn — the desire for good works, the desire to bear fruit for the bridegroom: for to her, to live is the bridegroom, and to die is gain."
Anagogically, the dove is a symbol of the contemplative, heavenly, and blessed life; whence Varro, Book III On Agriculture, holds that the dove gets its name from the ridges of the farmhouse on which it is accustomed to dwell. Thus in the Life of St. Marina we read that a dove placed a crown upon her in martyrdom and said: "Peace to you, handmaid of God: now be confident, receiving the heavenly crown from the hand of the Most High." Again, an angel in the form of a dove carried the soul of St. Amator into heaven, as is related in the Life of St. Germanus, chapter V. St. Benedict saw the soul of his sister St. Scholastica ascend to heaven in the form of a dove, as his Life records. The soul of St. Spes the abbot also flew to heaven like a dove, so that "God might show by this very form with how simple a heart that man had served Him," says St. Gregory, Book IV of the Dialogues, chapter X. So also the dove, gazing with fixed eye upon Blessed Beatrice of Este, foretold her passing from this life to the heavenly one, as Bernardo Scardeone relates in her Life. So also a dove alighting upon the head of St. Fabian announced him as more worthy of the pontificate, and therefore to be chosen. The same dove, alighting upon the neck of St. Chrysostom as he celebrated Mass, declared his holiness and heavenly life. St. Radegund, invoked by shipwrecked sailors and circling the ship in the form of a dove, freed them from danger, as her Life records. More examples of this kind involving doves are recounted by Aldrovandus in his work On the Dove, page 404 and following. Finally, at the baptism of Christ, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Him from heaven and rested there, Luke III, 22.
Third Principal Sense: On Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
Rupert holds that by these words is signified the immense desire of the Word to assume flesh from the Blessed Virgin, and that thereby she is invited to give her consent immediately to the angel Gabriel announcing this to her. "You," he says, "my love through humility, my dove through charity, my beautiful one through chastity, etc. Come then, Mary, come: for Eve fled to her hiding places. Come and believe the angel who brings good tidings: for Eve believed the serpent whispering. Come and crush the head of the serpent: for Eve was enticed by the head, delighted by the belly, and bound by the tail of the serpent. Come and say: Behold the handmaid of the Lord — for Eve, hiding and defending herself alike, said: The serpent deceived me and I ate. This is the voice of my beloved, and this is what He says to me: Arise, hasten, and come. Arise through faith, hasten through hope, come through charity."
Again, by these words: "Arise, hasten," Christ calls the Blessed Virgin, first, so that even though pregnant she may arise and go with haste into the hill country to greet Elizabeth and serve her. Moreover, so that she may journey to Bethlehem and there give birth to Christ, as in the homeland of David and in the house of bread: for Christ is the bread of angels as well as of men.
Finally, many hold that by these words Christ most sweetly invited His mother at death to come to Him in heaven: wherefore she breathed forth her most holy soul not with sorrow, but with desire and love of Christ.
Verse 11: For Now the Winter Is Past, the Rain Is Over and Gone. Verse 12: The Flowers Have Appeared in Our Land, the Time of Pruning Has Come: the Voice of the Turtledove Has Been Heard in Our Land.
This is a periphrasis of spring and its vernal charm, to which the bridegroom calls the bride from her bed into the fields and vineyards for their cultivation. For in spring the winter with its cold, snow, frost, and rain has passed; flowers appear; vines and shrubs are pruned; the turtledove and other birds sing. For turtledoves hide themselves so completely in caves throughout the winter that no one can assert that they have seen a turtledove in winter, as Aristotle testifies, Book VIII of the History of Animals, chapter XVI. Therefore when the turtledove appears, it is a certain sign that winter has passed and spring is beginning. In a similar way Ovid paints the spring, Book I of the Fasti:
All things then bloom; then is the new season of time, And from the pregnant shoot the new bud swells. Now the tree is covered with newly formed leaves, And the grass of the seed comes forth to the surface of the soil; The birds soothe the warm air with their harmonies, And the flock sports and luxuriates in the meadows. Then come the gentle suns; the unknown swallow appears, And fashions her muddy work beneath the lofty beam.
Take "flowers" to mean not those of grapevines, but of violets, hyacinths, tulips, etc., for vines do not flower until they are pruned. In Hebrew the word is nitsanim, which signifies not only flowers but also the first sprouts — that is, the first berries and buds germinating from stalks and bushes, which can also be understood here of vines. For "pruning," the Hebrew is zamir, which Vatablus and other Hebraists render as "singing": for in spring the nightingales and other birds sing. For the root zamar properly means "to prune" or "to cut" vines and trees; from there it is metaphorically transferred to musical cutting — that is, to song, in which voices are cut into certain turns, measures, and tones to produce a modulation pleasing to the ears. Hence mizmor means a psalm and psalmody; and the Arabs call zambra a chorus of singers. But our translator better renders it "pruning": both because the voice of the turtledove sufficiently signifies the singing of birds; and because the Septuagint, the Chaldean, Aquila, and Symmachus translate it as "pruning"; and because the bride is invited here to the cultivation of vines — namely to pruning — so that they may produce abundant grapes and wine; and finally, because we see that at the beginning of spring vines are pruned before the vernal equinox, before they bud and flower, and Pliny teaches that vinedressers must do this, Book XVIII, chapter XXVI: "Have the pruning finished by the equinox," he says; and he adds that this must be done before the cuckoo begins to sing; and the cuckoo sings at the beginning of spring, as Aristotle testifies, Book IX of the History of Animals, chapter XLIX. Whence Oppian calls the cuckoo the first herald of spring. And Columella, Book IV On Agriculture, chapters X and XIV: "There are two seasons for pruning," he says; "but better (as Virgil says) is spring, before the shoot puts forth buds, because when full of sap it takes a clean, light, and even cut, and does not resist the pruning-hook."
Moreover, our Sanchez takes this pruning to mean not of grapevines, but of balsam: for the small balsam tree, when cut with bone or glass, drips a most sweet and fragrant opobalsam, as Pliny testifies, Book XII, chapter XXV, and Hegesippus, Book IV, chapter XVII. For Solomon's finest vineyards were in the field of Engedi, in which alone balsam used to be found. By "pruning" he understands, by metonymy, the teardrop or drop itself that flows from the cutting — that is, the opobalsam itself. But this drips not at the beginning of spring, but in advanced spring, around the solstice, when summer begins. This fittingly corresponds to Christ, who dripped the opobalsam of doctrine, charity, and holiness in His life, and of blood and water by which we are washed, on the cross; whence Ecclesiasticus, chapter XXIV, 21, says: "My odor is like unmixed balsam." But here the subject seems to be the beginning of spring, when winter and rain have first passed and the turtledove and birds begin to sing; therefore the pruning of vines and shrubs seems to be more simply understood here. I grant, however, that here not only the beginning of spring but also advancing and mature spring, and even summer itself, is understood: for the apostles, who are indicated here, began to preach after Pentecost, as I shall now say.
The Chaldean, referring these words in his usual way to the Jews freed from Egypt, translates thus: "For behold, the time of subjection, which is like winter, has ceased; and the years which I spoke to Abraham between the pieces have been shortened; and the dominion of the Egyptians, which is compared to continual rain, has passed and gone, and you shall no longer see them forever." Verse 12: "But Moses and Aaron, who are compared to palm branches, appeared to perform miracles in the land of Egypt; and the time of the pruning of the firstborn arrived; and the voice of the Holy Spirit of redemption, which I spoke to Abraham your father. For you have now heard what I said to him: And also the people whom they shall serve, I will judge; and afterward they shall go out with great substance; and now I will do what I swore to him by my word."
First Adequate Sense: On Christ and the Church.
Christ the bridegroom calls forth the primitive Church as His bride — that is, the apostles having now received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost — to cultivate the vineyards, that is, the churches of Judea and the other nations. He says therefore: Now the winter — that is, the rigor and fear of the Mosaic Law, says Origen, Theodoret, and St. Gregory — and the cold and frost of the infidelity of the nations have passed; the rain of errors and vices has gone away, because the vernal sun, namely the Holy Spirit, has shone forth, who with His warmth drove away both the winter and the rain, and with the south wind of His grace blowing, produced in our land the flowers of the saints, as the first believers were, and of the martyrs, such as the Holy Innocents, St. James, St. Stephen, and their companions. The time of pruning has therefore come, in which you, O apostles, may cut away with the sword of faith the ignorance and infidelity of the Jews and gentiles and every desire for temporal things, so that they may produce the fruits of good works.
THE VOICE OF THE TURTLEDOVE HAS BEEN HEARD IN OUR LAND. — The turtledove here — solitary, chaste, and moaning — was St. John the Baptist, says Gregory of Nyssa, whose voice and life were nothing other than the groaning and preaching of repentance: "Do penance," he said, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," Matthew III, 2, and Luke III, 3. John therefore was the end of the Old Law and the beginning of the Gospel, according to that word of Christ: "The Law and the prophets were until John: from that time the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone presses into it," Luke chapter XVI, verse 16. Again, the "voice of the turtledove" was the preaching of St. Peter and the apostles. Whence, having heard it, the Jews, repenting of the death of Christ whom they had killed, said: "What shall we do, brothers? Peter said to them: Do penance, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit," Acts chapter II, verse 37. He said the same to Cornelius the Centurion, who, being the first among the gentiles to be converted to Christ by St. Peter, opened the door for the apostles to visit and convert all nations, Acts chapter X, verse 32. The time of the New Law was therefore the springtime of the Gospel, in which Christ, like a sun, with the warmth of His grace dispersed all the winter of infidelity and concupiscence, and produced the flowers and fruits of good works. Hence there then appeared the flowers of the martyrs, the prunings — that is, the mortifications and austerities — of the religious and anchorites, and the turtledoves of widows and virgins who castrated themselves for the love of Christ for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. For the turtledove is a model of chastity, say Aponius, St. Bernard, and others. Indeed St. Augustine, Homily 33 among the 50, and St. Jerome, Book I Against Jovinian, and St. Ambrose, in the book On Isaac, chapter IV: "Where formerly," he says, "was impurity, there is chastity." So also Cassiodorus, Bede, Anselm, Rupert, and others. Moreover, by the flowers Origen understands any believers, Aponius the innocents slain for Christ, and St. Ambrose, on Psalm CXVIII, Sermon 6, the apostles: "Good flowers," he says, "are the apostles, who poured forth the fragrance of their diverse writings and works."
By the voice of the turtledove Cassiodorus, Bede, and Rupert understand the preaching of the apostles; Philo of Carpathia, that of Paul; St. Cyril, Book XV On Adoration, that of Christ; St. Gregory, that of the Church.
Second Partial Sense: On Christ and the Holy Soul.
First, Christ calls the sinful soul to repentance and righteousness, saying: Arise from the bed of sin; for now the winter of sins and the rain of concupiscence have passed. For My grace has dawned upon you, which may warm you with love and produce the flowers and fruits of repentance and virtue, so that you may become beautiful like a dove for your God.
Therefore three acts of penance are noted here: namely, contrition through the flowers; confession through the voice of the turtledove; and satisfaction through the pruning. For the act of contrition is like a gleaming flower of faith, hope, and charity, from which is born the fruit of justification. The voice of the turtledove
For the turtledove, most chaste, persisting constantly in moaning for its dead mate, is an image of persevering love, as St. Basil teaches, Homily 8 on the Hexaemeron; St. Ambrose, Book V on the Hexaemeron, 13; and Gregory of Nazianzus, in his Oration to the Virgin, says:
The turtledove, widowed of its mate, Seeks the deceased with constant groaning and lamentation. O truly wise bird!
So St. Augustine groans, sighs, and yearns toward God in his Meditations, especially chapter XXXVI, where among other things he says: "Give me a clear sign of Your love, an ever-flowing fountain of tears, so that those very tears may bear witness to Your love in me; let them reveal, let them declare how much my soul loves You, since from the overwhelming sweetness of Your love it cannot contain its tears, etc. Give me watering from above and watering from below, that my tears may be my bread day and night."
is the mournful confession of the penitent; the pruning is the satisfaction, by which through fasts, tears, and other penal works past guilt is chastised, and the occasion of future sin is cut off and removed.
To this point it is relevant that the turtledove is a symbol of penance: for after the death of its mate it perpetually moans and grieves; it never sits on a green branch as before, but always on a dry one; it never looks at itself in the water, lest the image and memory of its dead companion come to mind; nor does it drink clear and limpid water as before, but turbid and muddy water — indeed, it stirs clear water with its foot before drinking, as natural philosophers relate, and Sanchez after them. Whence Battista Mantuanus:
Just as when its chamber's partner is lost, through the fields The turtledove flies alone, nor drinks in bright waters, Lest it be saddened by the sight of its former companion's image, Nor is it said to settle on a green trunk thereafter.
Second, Christ calls the holy soul from idleness and torpor to the pursuit of virtue and good works — namely, to produce the flowers of almsgiving, the pruning of fasting and mortification, and the voice of the turtledove — that is, prayer and meditation; likewise pious groans and sighs flowing from a devout heart full of love, by the prompting of the dove — that is, of the Holy Spirit — of which the Apostle says, Romans chapter VIII, verse 26: "The Spirit Himself pleads for us with unutterable groans." Whence St. Bernard, Sermon 59: "The voice of the turtledove — why not of turtledoves? Perhaps the Apostle resolves this where he says: Because the Spirit Himself pleads for the saints with unutterable groans, Romans VIII, 26. So it is: He Himself puts on groaning, who makes others groan, and however many there may be whom you hear groaning thus, the voice of one sounds through the lips of all."
He adds that the turtledove denotes lovers of silence and solitude, and consequently of prayer and groaning: for the turtledove loves solitude. In solitude, indeed, Christ speaks to the heart, says Origen — or rather Hosea, II, 14. Moreover, how desires must be mortified by constant and continuous mortification, since they always sprout again from ingrained corrupt nature, St. Bernard beautifully teaches, Sermon 58. Furthermore, as St. Ambrose says, Book II of the Apology of David, chapter III: "There is a winter not of the season but of the mind, which strips the fertile field of the soul of every flower, when cold steals into the spirit, when the vigor of the soul fades, when the strength of perception is loosened, when excessive moisture floods into the mind, when the inner vision grows dim." Gregory of Nyssa vividly depicts this winter, Homily 5, where he also says that the soul sanctified by Christ's grace brings forth the flowers of virtues, and will bring forth fruit in due season. So also Cassiodorus, Origen, Bede, Anselm, and Bernard take the flowers to mean virtues — that is, the beginnings of holiness.
Third, the voice of the turtledove is to moan, and by moaning to sigh toward God; whence Virgil:
Nor shall the turtledove cease to moan from the lofty elm.
Anagogically, the holy soul is here called from the exile of this life to the heavenly homeland and glory. Christ therefore says to it: Come into my chamber, my bride, O holy soul; the winter of sluggish mortality has already passed; the rain of fleeting concupiscence, and equally of hardships, persecutions, anxieties, and worries, which in this life constantly pour down upon men like rain from heaven, has now gone and departed; the flowers of heavenly glory now appear; the time of pruning — in which all the roots of vices and miseries are cut away from you through death — has arrived; the voice of the turtledove, with which you have many times sighed and groaned for this redemption of your body, has been heard. Come then, enter into the place of glory and blessed immortality. So St. Gregory: "The flowers are said to have appeared in the land, because when holy souls depart from their bodies, they are received in heaven. And because in this life, though it was winter, they did not grow torpid from good work, as soon as they departed they flourished gloriously in the land of the living. Therefore it rightly follows: The time of pruning has come, because the more ample the number of the elect gathered in heaven, the more quickly the reprobate are pruned from the Church like useless branches, so that the world may be ended sooner." And shortly after: "What is signified by the turtledove but the Church? What by the land of the bridegroom but that blessed life? But the voice of the turtledove is said to have been heard in the land of the bridegroom, because while the holy Church prays for its desire, it is most mercifully heard by Christ in heaven." So also Origen, Justus of Urgel, Theodoret, and others, who take the winter to mean the disturbances and tribulations of this life, and the rain to mean the storms of vices. St. Gregory adds, Homily 16 on Ezekiel, that the flowers are foretastes of heavenly glory, which the saints draw from God in this life, and especially at death: "Then," he says, "the flowers appear in the land, because when the soul has begun to taste certain first-fruits of the sweetness of eternal blessedness, it goes out, as it were, already smelling the flowers, and what it will have more abundantly in fruit after it has departed."
Furthermore, St. Ambrose, Sermon 6 on Psalm CXVIII, reads for "the time of pruning" the time of cutting, "in which," he says, "the ripe grain is stored in the barns, and he who reaps receives his reward." Whence Philo of Carpathia also says this is the time of death.
Third Principal Sense: On Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
At the beginning of spring — namely on March 25, near the equinox — the angel Gabriel, announcing to the Blessed Virgin the conception of Christ, and she giving her consent, the Word was made flesh. Then therefore the long winter of the prophets and the harshest law passed away; the rain of sins and of the wrath and threats of God departed; and a most delightful spring appeared, blooming with the flowers of grace, reconciliation, and the remission of sins, and the opening of heaven, when the sun of justice, Christ the Lord, arose. Then likewise was the time of pruning — that is, of grace and penance — through which the wicked habits of sinners are cut away and the harmful delights of concupiscence are severed. For through it the spiritual circumcision is made in the spirit, of which the circumcision of the Jews in the flesh was the type and shadow, Romans II, 29. Then the voice of the turtledove — that is, of the most chaste Virgin sighing for the Incarnation of Christ — was heard: "Behold," she said, "the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word," Luke I, 35. So Rupert. Again, the voice of the turtledove was the exultation of John in his mother's womb, when she was greeted by the Blessed Virgin already pregnant with Christ, Luke I, 41. Moreover, the voice of the turtledove was the voice of Anna the widow, who at 83 years of age, not departing from the temple, spoke of Christ to all who awaited the redemption of Israel, says Justus of Urgel. The flowers of Judea can also be called Christ, says Origen, and John already conceived in his mother's womb.
Furthermore, the Fathers hold that here is described the most blessed time in which Christ in the flesh (for the flesh and humanity of Christ is the primary bride of the Word here, as I said in the Prooemium, chapter II) conversed with the Jews, and in spring — namely at Passover — suffered and rose again. So Cassiodorus, Bede, Origen, Theodoret, Gregory of Nyssa, Philo, Aponius, Rupert, and Bernard, Sermon 58, who teaches that the time of winter for the apostles was from the Passion of Christ until the coming of the Holy Spirit, who dissolved the winter — that is, the cold of fear and torpor — with the ardor of His charity, and converted it into a divine spring and summer. By the rain he understands the blasphemies of the Jews, the traditions of the Pharisees, the loquacity of the philosophers, the erroneous doctrines of the heretics, and all turbulent spirits. "Christ," says St. Bernard, "rose from the earth like a flower and appeared, and with Him many bodies of the saints, like many flowers, rose and appeared to many." Whence a Christian poet thus depicts the spring of nature and of Christ:
In spring the budding fields are renewed, Buds return on the vine-shoot, and the leaf Grows green in the groves; the grass grows young In every garden. The vernal season flourishes before its time; All the beauty and grace of the year's spring, Spring, acceptable to those above, is the origin Of things and of seasons. God sent His messenger to Mary In spring; then on the cross Christ conquered the infernal foes, And took away the blade of Fate.
Finally, Hugh of St. Victor, in his Sermon On the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, near the end of volume II, teaches that the voice of the turtledove is the voice of love with which the Blessed Virgin burned: "The voice of the turtledove," he says, "sings of love and devotion, and the turtledove has a singular devotion, for which it sings: joy to the one present, affection to the one absent. Therefore the voice of the turtledove is entirely about love, and the turtledove knows nothing besides love; and its love is singular, which joins no second to the one alone; and eternal, which adds no second to the first. Therefore the voice of the turtledove sings of love, and the song of love is the voice of the turtledove, and hearts burn at the voice of the turtledove. It is one thing that the voice of the turtledove sounds, and it always sounds and resounds that same thing, and never grows weary. It always sings the same, because it always loves the same. And who will be worthy to hear the voice of the turtledove? It sings in solitude, and the turtledove always loves solitude, because it seeks a singular love." And after a few words: "O beautiful one among the daughters of Jerusalem, you heard the voice of the turtledove; you heard and understood. He was speaking within, and you were within; therefore you heard and understood, and you said: The voice of my beloved! For you understood that it was the voice of the beloved, and that it was about love; for you would not have understood unless you had loved, because it was a word of love, and it could not be understood except by one who loves. The beloved was speaking, and He was speaking to His beloved, and love was being commended. Since, therefore, you heard the voice of the beloved and understood the love, delay no longer; arise swiftly."
Verse 13: The Fig Tree Has Put Forth Its Green Figs; the Vines in Blossom Have Given Their Fragrance. Arise, My Love, My Beautiful One, and Come.
THE FIG TREE HAS PUT FORTH ITS GREEN FIGS; THE VINES IN BLOSSOM (Symmachus: the flower of the vine has given forth) HAVE GIVEN THEIR FRAGRANCE. ARISE, MY LOVE, MY BEAUTIFUL ONE, AND COME. — The Septuagint: the fig tree has produced its buds; the vines in blossom have given their fragrance. For "in blossom," the Greek is kyprizousai, that is, "producing cypress-like bloom" — that is, flowering and giving fragrance like cypress. Green figs (grossi) are the first figs, which sometimes fall unripe, but give a sample and hope of the maturity and perfection of the rest; sometimes they ripen and are sweet and pleasant, as Columella testifies, Book V, chapter X. Therefore understand the green figs here as either falling away or, rather, ripening: for in Hebrew the word is pag, whence the Latin ficus. Some Hebrews derive pag from panag, with the middle nun elided, meaning "he delighted": for fresh figs are a delight to the mouth and stomach, especially the green figs, or first ripe ones, of which Micah chapter VII says: "My soul desired the early figs." For "in blossom" the Hebrew is semadar, which signifies the flower or husk of the vine when it begins to form seeds and produces tiny grains of grapes. Here is what I said at the preceding verse: that here is noted not only the beginning of spring, but spring advancing, or mature spring; for the fig trees put forth their green figs, and the vines flower and form seeds in mature spring.
He names the fig tree and the vine above all other trees, because their fruits — namely figs and grapes — are the sweetest and most excellent: for the fruit of all other trees has something watery, raw, and uncooked; the fig alone, on account of its warmth, has nothing raw, but everything mature and thoroughly cooked. Nor does it have any stones or pits, but pure juice, edible and sugary, or honey-like. Whence a certain person used to say that a fig is a purse of honey. With these fruits the bridegroom invites the bride from her bed into the field and vineyard.
First Adequate Sense: On Christ and the Church.
When the apostles preached in the spring — namely at Pentecost and thereafter — "the fig tree put forth its green figs" — that is, many Jews were converted to Christ — and "the vines in blossom (that is, the nations beginning to believe) gave their fragrance" of holy life, reputation, and example, and from this the hope of great fruitfulness — that is, of the conversion of absolutely all nations. Now, just as some green figs ripen, but very many fall unripe: so few of the Jews were constant in the faith; for very many of them fell away from the faith and relapsed into Judaism. For Christ by His preaching converted many from the crowd; but the greater part of them fell away out of fear of the chief priests and scribes, especially when they saw Christ suffer, be crucified, and die. Similarly, John the Baptist by his austerity and the power of his preaching converted many Jews, but many of them relapsed into their former crimes. Whence Christ, speaking of John in John V, says: "He was a burning and shining lamp; but you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light" — as if signifying that their conversion had been only temporary. Some indeed John himself reproached for not believing sincerely: "Brood of vipers," he said, "who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance," etc.
Moreover, how few of those who believed in Christ while He preached remained faithful is evident from the fact that even while He was still preaching, many of His disciples went back, so that He turned and said to the twelve: "Do you also wish to go away?" John VI, 68. When He was handed over to His Passion, He was abandoned even by these very twelve, and denied by almost all, while the whole multitude of the Jews cried out loudly before Pilate: John chapter XIX, 15, and Matthew chapter XXVII, 25: "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify, crucify Him. His blood be upon us," etc. Finally, how unripe was that fruit and green fig of Jewish repentance is clear from what Paul said to the Jews: "It was necessary that the kingdom of God be spoken to you first; but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the gentiles," Acts XIII, 46. But truly the "vines in blossom gave their fragrance" most gratefully: since the peoples of the nations dispersed throughout the whole world, who up to the coming of Christ had been unfruitful, as if in a perpetual winter of idolatry, at the preaching of the holy apostles immediately began to blossom, and in blossoming poured forth a most sweet and grateful fragrance into the nostrils of the Lord of Hosts, which by the breath of their virtue and fame far surpassed all the burnt offerings and incense of the Old Law. So St. Gregory, Gregory of Nyssa, Cassiodorus, Bede, Philo, Anselm, Rupert, and St. Bernard. Christ Himself represented this same thing in deed, when being hungry He sought fruit from a fig tree and, finding none, cursed it, saying: "May fruit never be born from you forever: and the fig tree immediately withered," Matthew XXI, 19. For this fig tree, as well as the one that the master ordered cut down because of its barrenness, Luke XIII, 6, represented the Synagogue — that is, the dryness and reprobation of the Jews in the faith — as St. Jerome, Gregory, Hilary, and the rest of the Greek and Latin Fathers teach with unanimous consent.
Hear St. Ambrose, Book VII on Luke, chapter XIII, comparing the fig tree with other trees: "Other trees," he says, "bear flowers before fruit, and designate the coming fruits with the foretelling of their bloom. This tree alone from the beginning puts forth fruits instead of flowers. In other trees the flower is knocked off and the fruit is born; in this tree fruits fall so that other fruits may succeed; therefore those earlier ones, being empty of fruit, emerge in place of a flower." Then applying the same to the Jews and gentiles: "Consider now," he says, "the worship and dispositions of the Jews, who, like the first fruits of the poorly fruitful Synagogue, fell like green figs in the manner of those that slip away, so that the fruits of our race, destined to last forever, might succeed them. For the first people of the Synagogue, being weak at the root with barren works, was unable to draw the richness of natural wisdom. And therefore it fell as useless fruit, so that from the same tendrils of the fruitful tree, from the richness of the ancient religion, the new people of the Church might emerge. Therefore he who was, ceased to be, so that he who was not might begin. Yet the first of Israel, whom the branch of a stronger nature had raised up under the shadow of the law and the cross, colored in the bosom of both with a double sap, by the example of the ripening green fig, surpassed the rest with the beauty of the finest fruits, to whom it is said: You also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel," Matthew XIX, 28.
Here is relevant the exposition of St. Anselm: The fig tree put forth its green figs — that is, he says, the precepts of the Old Law, like useless fruits, fell away. For as St. Bernard says, Sermon 60: "And truly, what was not unripe in that nation? Neither its deeds certainly, nor its affections, nor its understanding, nor even the rite it had in worshiping God. For its deeds were entirely in wars, its affections entirely in gains, its understanding in the thickness of the letter, its worship in the blood of cattle and herds." He then adds that this production of green figs by the Synagogue of the Jews was complete: "When it killed Christ, then its wickedness was fulfilled, according to what He Himself had foretold to them: Fill up the measure of your fathers, Matthew XXIII, 32. Whence on the cross, about to give up His spirit: It is finished, He said, John XIX, 30. Oh, what a completion this accursed fig tree gave to its green figs, and was thereafter condemned to eternal barrenness!" And after many passages: "From that time, therefore, it could be said that the fig tree put forth its green figs, since the legitimate customs of that people had begun to be, as it were, on the point of passing out, so that, according to the ancient prophecy, the old would be cast out when the new came upon them, Leviticus XXVI, 10. No differently indeed than the way green figs fall and give way to good figs sprouting up." Then St. Bernard adds that, just as serpents are put to flight by the fragrance of a flowering vineyard, so demons were put to flight by the fervor of the first Christians; and he adds: "Moreover, if the vineyard is the soul, and the flower is the work, and the fragrance is reputation, what is the fruit? Martyrdom. And truly the fruit of the vine is the blood of the martyr." So also St. Gregory: "The fig tree, he says, put forth its green figs, because Holy Church sent her martyrs ahead to the eternal homeland." So also Aponius.
Symbolically, the fig tree is Christ and the cross of Christ. First, because the fig tree has sparse, scattered, and lowly branches and leaves: so Christ and the cross were vile in outward appearance to the worldly and despised. Second, because the fig tree emits no flowers, but immediately gives fruits in place of flowers, and these most sweet; so Christ immediately gave the sweetest fruits, when He saved the Jews and the gentiles. Third, because many hold that the forbidden fruit which Adam ate was a fig: so Theodoret, Gennadius, Isidore, and others whom I cited, Genesis III, 6. It was fitting, therefore, that the cross of Christ either be made from the wood of a fig tree or be signified by it, so that the fig which had given death to the disobedient Adam and his posterity might give life to the obedient Christ and Christians. Hence Belon, who traveled through the Holy Land and the entire East, Book II of Observations, LXXXVIII, suggests that the material of Christ's cross was fig wood, since this tree was common in Palestine and also common in carpenters' workshops — though others think differently, as I shall say at chapter VII, verse 8. The vines are the apostles, because, lowly and transplanted from the whole world, they produced abundant grapes and the wine of the conversion of the nations for God and Christ.
Second Partial Sense: On Christ and the Holy Soul.
The fig tree and vine to be cultivated by every faithful person is the soul: for if properly cultivated, it will give the sweetest figs of meekness, patience, almsgiving, sweetness of manners and speech; and grapes, and the wine of charity, which inflames the mind and intoxicates with the love of God. Hence that word of Proverbs XXVII, 18: "He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruits." See what was said there. Hear St. Bernard, Sermon 60: "I say, moreover, through the grace of God that is in us, that we have both fig trees and vineyards. Fig trees, indeed, those who are sweeter in their conduct; vineyards, those who are more fervent in spirit. Everyone who conducts himself among us in a common and sociable manner, and not only lives without complaint among the brothers, but also with great sweetness makes himself enjoyable to all in every office of charity — shall I not most fittingly say that he performs the role of a fig tree?" And after many passages: "Now those who are vineyards show themselves more severe to us than sweet, acting in a vehement spirit, zealous for discipline, reproving vices most sharply, most fittingly adapting to themselves the words: Did I not hate those who hate You, O Lord, and pine away before Your enemies? Psalm CXXXVIII, 21; likewise: Zeal for Your house has consumed me, Psalm LXVIII, 10. And to me indeed the former seem to excel in love of neighbor, the latter in love of God."
More generally, Theodoret takes the green figs to mean the first fruits of faith in the soul, which will be followed by the fruits of good works. Moreover, what the green figs are, St. Bernard at the beginning of Sermon 60 explains thus: "Truly the fig tree is the people who are fragile in flesh, small in understanding, humble in spirit, whose first fruits (to play upon the word) are indeed gross and earthly. For it is not the common pursuit to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, Matthew VI, 33; but, as the Apostle says, Matthew VI, 23, to think about the things of the world, how to please wives, or they their husbands: such will have tribulation of the flesh. But in the end we do not deny that they will attain the fruits of faith, if they make a good final confession, and especially if they redeem the works of the flesh with almsgiving. Therefore the first fruits of the common people are not even fruits, no more than the green figs of fig trees," which are useful for nothing except as certain harbingers of the fruits to come; but they fall unripe and give place to those that must ripen, being themselves quite unable to grow.
Anagogically, the fig tree and vine represent the sweetness of the heavenly homeland: for there God will refresh us with heavenly figs and divine wine, according to that promise of Christ: "And I dispose to you a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table," Luke chapter XXII, 29, and "I say to you: I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of My Father," Matthew XXVI, 29. Hence Christ also represented the end of the world and the day of judgment and resurrection through the fig tree: "Look at the fig tree," He said, "and all the trees: when they now produce fruit from themselves, you know that summer is near. So also you, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near," Luke XXI, 29.
Here the version of the Chaldean is relevant, who refers these words to the entry of the Hebrews into the Promised Land, where each one sat quietly and happily under his vine and fig tree. For this entry was a type of the entrance into the land of the living — that is, into heaven. Hear the Chaldean: "The assembly of Israel, which is compared to early figs, opened its mouth and spoke a song over the sea of reeds, and even children and infants praised the Ruler of the age with their tongues. At once the Ruler of the age said to them: Arise for yourself, O congregation of Israel, my beloved and my beautiful one, go hence to the land which I swore to your fathers."
Moreover, just as green figs precede the ripe figs and herald their fruitfulness, so good acts of virtue are heralds of the sweetest fruits which we shall enjoy in heaven: so Gregory of Nyssa. Hence again Origen, Homily 4 from the four, takes the flowering vines to mean the angels, who "bestow upon men," he says, "their fragrance — that is, the good of doctrine and instruction — by which they instruct and imbue souls until they come to perfection and begin to become capable of God." And after some passages: "The angelic virtues," he says, "with which all the elect and blessed will be associated in the resurrection — who will be like the angels of God — these are the flowering vines and vineyards, which impart their fragrance to each soul, and the grace which it first received from the Creator and has now recovered after losing it, and with the sweetness of heavenly fragrance drive away at last the stench of mortality and corruption cast off from them."
Third Principal Sense: On Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
"The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel," says the prophet Isaiah, chapter V, 7. The vineyards, therefore — that is, the prophets and patriarchs, says St. Bernard — "worshiped Christ who was to be born and die in the flesh, but they did not then give their same fragrance, because they did not display in the flesh the One whom they had foreseen in the spirit. They did not give their fragrance, because they did not make public their secret, waiting for it to be revealed in its own time. But they gave it afterward, when through the successions of generations they had brought forth into the world, by a virginal birth, Christ being born from them according to the flesh. Then indeed, I say, those spiritual vineyards gave their fragrance, when the kindness and humanity of God our Savior appeared, Titus III, 4, and the world began to have present the One whom few had foreseen while still absent." And after some passages: "It is said, therefore, that the vineyards gave their fragrance, whether because faithful souls spread a good reputation about themselves everywhere, or because the oracles and revelations of the Fathers were made manifest to the world, and their fragrance went out into all the earth, as the Apostle says, I Timothy III, verse 16: And manifestly great is the sacrament of piety, which was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, appeared to angels, was preached to the nations, believed in the world, taken up in glory." Hence the three Anonymous authors cited by Theodoret take the flower of the vineyards — that is, of the Church — to mean the three Magi, who were the firstfruits of the believing nations, when they came to Bethlehem to the Mother of God and offered Christ frankincense as to God, gold as to a king, and myrrh as to a mortal who was to die for the salvation of mankind.
ARISE, MY LOVE, MY BEAUTIFUL ONE, AND COME. — By this repetition, says Gregory of Nyssa, the soul is aroused to always progress in virtue and advance in spirit: "For he who truly rises," says Gregory of Nyssa, Homily 5, "will never lack the opportunity to always be rising; nor will the broad and wide space of the field ever be exhausted for him who runs toward the Lord, for completing the divine course. For one must always be rising and being awakened, and never cease approaching by the course. Therefore as often as He says: 'Arise and come,' so often, by the Word, ascents toward what is better are added to the things that follow." St. Bernard, however, Sermon 61: "The bridegroom," he says, "commends his great love by repeating the words of love. For repetition is the expression of affection, and the fact that he again urges the beloved to the labor of the vineyards shows how concerned he is for the salvation of souls: for you have already heard that the vineyards are souls."
Verse 14: My Dove in the Clefts of the Rock, in the Hollow of the Wall, Show Me Your Face; Let Your Voice Sound in My Ears, for Your Voice Is Sweet and Your Face Is Comely.
MY DOVE IN THE CLEFTS OF THE ROCK, IN THE HOLLOW OF THE WALL (in Hebrew: "in the secret place of that step or stairway"; Vatablus: "in the recess of the stairs or in the hiding place of the stairway" — that is, of the spiral staircase, that is, of Christ, he says, through which we ascend to Christ), SHOW ME YOUR FACE. — The Septuagint of the Vatican: "you, my dove, in the covering (St. Ambrose and Origen: in the veil) of the rock near the outer wall"; St. Ambrose, Sermon 6 on Psalm CXVIII: "near the fortification"; the Complutensian: "come, my dove, in the shelter of the rock"; the Syriac: "in the covering of the hedge, clinging to the outer wall, show me your appearance." For wild doves do not nest in dovecotes like domestic ones, but in the clefts of rocks and in the hollows of walls — that is, of rubble, heaped stones, and ruined walls — as if to say: Remember, O bride, that you and I alike are rural shepherds, who like a free, wild dove dwell in the countryside among the ruins of buildings and rocks. Therefore go out from the house and city and come with me to the field, where we shall happily work the land, feed, and delight ourselves. Whence Origen holds that what is noted here is not the starting point but the destination — that is, the place to which the bride, at the invitation of the bridegroom, should come, as if to say: Come to dwell with me in the clefts of the rock. "He adds this," he says, "to show her the place to which she should come, which place is situated under the covering and shelter of the rock. Let it be the same place, not so much near the wall as near a certain outer wall; for an outer wall is when beyond the walls that surround the city another wall is built, and it is a wall before the wall."
Thus the sense will be, as if to say: Come, O bride, and go out from the house and city into the fields; there in shady shelters carved from the rock we shall dwell at rest and in joy. So also Rupert and St. Bernard, whom hear: "Do not fear, O bride, as though this work of the vineyards to which we urge you should impede or interrupt the business of love. There will certainly be some use in it for what we equally desire. Vineyards, after all, have walls, and resting places pleasing to the modest."
More aptly, our Sanchez holds that what is noted here is the starting point: for the bride is called out from the clefts of the rock into the open air of the vineyards, to breathe the free air from the free and clear sky. The bride, he says, timid and concerned for her own comfort, confining herself at home on account of the harsh cold of winter, hiding like a dove in the clefts of the rock, shrinks from the inclemency — which she thinks severe — of the open sky and the hard ground. She does not dare to spend the night outdoors with the bridegroom; she loves her bed, and there she warms and indulges herself, just as certain wild animals in their dens and creeping creatures in their caverns avoid the hardships of winter weather. From this retreat and softness, therefore, the bridegroom calls the bride, affirming that he has provided sufficiently so that there is nothing in these nuptials that she need fear. For although in the field one must endure rain, heat, toils, and sorrows — indeed, death itself for the salvation of souls — yet the love of Christ crucified for us makes all these things sweet, and beneath the bitterness of the cross God has hidden honey and manna of wondrous delight. Having tasted and tested this, the bride, sensing how sweet the cross of Christ is, of her own accord calls the bridegroom into the field of labor and the cross, chapter VII, 11.
Moreover, the Chaldean refers these words to the Hebrews shut in by mountains and rocks when they crossed the Red Sea: "When," he says, "the impious Pharaoh pursued the people of the house of Israel, the assembly was like a dove shut in the clefts of the rock, which a serpent presses from within and a hawk presses from without. So the assembly of Israel was shut in from the four parts of the world, since before them was the sea, and behind them the enemy pursued, and on both sides of them were deserts full of fiery serpents, which bit and killed the children of men with their venom. But at once it opened its mouth in prayer before the Lord, and a voice descended from the high heavens, and spoke thus: You, O congregation of Israel, who are compared to a pure dove, and are hidden in the enclosure of the clefts of the rock and in the hiding places of the stairs, show me," etc.
First Adequate Sense: On Christ and the Church.
Christ calls forth the Church, stricken with fear of the Jews and hiding like a dove in the caves of the rock — that is, the apostles sheltering in Zion after the ascension of Christ and devoted to prayer and meditation on the Passion of Christ — by sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, making them courageous and strong, He calls them out to come into public, and there in the fields and towns to show their face to all and make the voice of preaching heard — a voice sweet to Him and salutary to its hearers. So in former times, during the reigns of the emperors Decius, Gallienus, and Diocletian who persecuted the faithful, pontiffs and Christians used to hide in caves, caverns, and crypts, which still exist in subterranean Rome and strike sacred awe into those who view them.
Therefore, by the clefts of the rock, symbolically the Fathers understand the five wounds of Christ (for He is the rock, I Corinthians X, 4). Indeed Zechariah, chapter III, 9, saw a stone with eyes, carved with sculpture — that is, Christ in His Passion cut with His wounds and marks: see what was said there. So St. Gregory: "By the clefts of the rock," he says, "I would willingly understand the wounds of the hands and feet of Christ hanging on the cross; and by the hollow of the wall I would say, in the same sense, the wound of the side made by the lance. And rightly is the dove said to be in the clefts of the rock and in the hollow of the wall, because when in the recollection of the cross she imitates the patience of Christ, while she brings His wounds back to memory for the sake of example, she is, as it were, a dove in the clefts. Thus the simple soul finds in the wounds nourishment by which to grow strong. Yet by the clefts of the rock, the mysteries of the Incarnation of Christ can also be signified, and by the hollow of the wall, the protection of angelic guardianship can be figured."
And Rupert: "And they shall look upon Me (says Zechariah, chapter XII, 10), whom they have pierced: for the nails and lance of Christ are the wounds of my soul. In them I dwell and moan like a dove in the clefts of the rock, on account of the piercing of the nails; in the hollow of the wall, on account of the wound of the side. For Christ is the rock and the wall: for being mortal and capable of suffering He was a wall, but when He rose from the dead He is the most solid rock." So also Cassiodorus, Bede, Justus, Anselm, and Aponius, who says that St. Thomas dwelt absorbed in these wounds of Christ, when Christ appeared after the Resurrection and, showing them, Thomas exclaimed: "My Lord and my God."
Hear St. Bernard, Sermon 61: "The clefts of the rock," he says, "are the wounds of Christ — rightly indeed: for the rock is Christ. Good clefts, which establish faith in the Resurrection and the divinity of Christ. My Lord and my God, he said, John XX, 28. Whence was this oracle brought back, if not from the clefts of the rock? In these the sparrow has found a home, and the turtledove a nest where it may place its young.
Thus also Aponius understands by the holes of the rock the four Gospels, and by the cavity of the wall the doctrine of the apostles, through which the Church and the faithful soul arrives at the knowledge and worship of God. And St. Ambrose in Psalm CXIII, sermon 6, following the Septuagint: "Come, he says (O Church, O soul espoused to Christ), according to the Gospel, the bulwarks of your faith are the deeds of Christ, the supports of your walls are the words of the Lord, the passion of the Lord's body is your strength." Nyssenus and the three Anonymous authors cited by Theodoret say similar things, as does Philo of Carpathia who says we are here called to the fortress of the rock, that is, to the Gospel, by which we are fortified against all the snares of the devil, whose outer wall is the Old Law. We are therefore fortified by both laws, the new as well as the old.
St. Jerome, however, in book I Against Jovinian, says that Christ is for us a most firm rock and outer wall, according to that passage, Isaiah XXVI, 1: "The city of our strength is Zion; the Savior will set up a wall and outer wall in it."
Second Partial Sense: Concerning Christ and the Holy Soul.
St. Bernard, sermon 61, asserts that pious and religious souls dwell in the holes of the rock (whence indeed the Essenes under St. Mark, and the anchorites in caves and crypts, devoted themselves to prayer and the praises of God), that is, by meditating on the wounds of Christ; and the martyrs by imitation, and by suffering with Christ and for Christ: "The benign commander, he says, wills that the devoted soldier's face and eyes be raised to His wounds, so that from this He might lift up his spirit, and by His own example render him stronger for endurance. For he will not feel his own sufferings while he gazes upon the wounds of Christ. The martyr stands exulting and triumphing, though his entire body be torn; and while the iron probes his sides, not only bravely but eagerly he watches the sacred blood bubbling forth from his flesh. Where then is the soul of the martyr? Surely in safety, surely in the rock, surely in the innermost parts of Jesus, in the wounds that lie open for entrance. If he were in his own flesh, the probing iron would surely feel it; he would not bear the pain, he would succumb and deny. But now, dwelling in the rock, what wonder if he has become as hard as the rock?" Then, amplifying further, he adds: "Nor is this surprising, if an exile from the body does not feel bodily pains. Nor does numbness cause this, but love. For the senses are subordinated, not lost. Nor is the pain absent, but it is overcome, it is despised. Therefore from the rock comes the martyr's strength, whence he is fully able to drink the cup of the Lord. And this inebriating cup, how glorious it is! Psalm XXII, 5. Glorious, I say, and pleasant, no less to the emperor watching than to the soldier triumphing. For the joy of the Lord is our strength. Why should he not rejoice at the voice of the bravest confession? And indeed He seeks it with desire: Let your voice sound (He says) in My ears. Nor will He delay in repaying the favor according to His promise: that immediately whoever confesses Him before men, He Himself will confess him before His Father." Matthew X, 36.
By the cavity of the wall, moreover, the same St. Bernard, sermon 62, together with Cassiodorus, Bede, and Anselm, understands the communion of saints and the guardianship of the blessed angels and men, who protect the pious and the elect, so that through them the losses of the fallen angels, namely the demons, may be restored in the heavenly fatherland, and this is accomplished through the wounds and merits of Christ. In the meditation and invocation of these, therefore, he asserts that the pious soul ought to dwell. "It will be permitted, he says, for each one of us, even in this time of our mortality, to secure for himself, in whatever part he wishes, the caverns of the heavenly wall, now indeed to revisit the patriarchs, now to greet the prophets, now to mingle with the senate of the apostles, now to be joined to the choirs of martyrs, but also to survey with the full eagerness of mind the stations and dwelling places of the blessed powers, from the least angel up to the cherubim and seraphim, according as each one's devotion may lead him."
Symbolically, St. Anselm understands by the holes of the rock the benign providence, mercy, and protection of Christ, to which the holy soul flees and under which it lies hidden in safety.
Anagogically, St. Bernard understands by the rock and the wall, and its cavity and holes, the secret of the heavenly glory of God and the blessed, in which the pious soul dwells by contemplation. For he says thus: "It is clear that there are two kinds of contemplation: one concerning the state and happiness and glory of the heavenly city, in which that great multitude of heavenly citizens is occupied either in activity or in rest. The other concerning the majesty, eternity, and divinity of the King Himself. The former is in the wall; the latter in the rock." And Origen, following the Septuagint: "The soul, he says, is called out beyond the wall and led to the outer wall, when, casting aside the things that are seen and temporal, it strives toward the things that are not seen and are eternal: and the way is shown to it to be traveled under the covering of the rock," that is, under the firm and solid doctrines of Christ. If, therefore, the soul is covered and veiled by the doctrine and faith of Christ, it can safely arrive at that secret place where, with face unveiled, it may contemplate the glory of the Lord." Then, after several intervening remarks, he adds: "We can still add this about the place of the outer wall, that the outer wall is the bosom of the Father, in which the Only-begotten Son, placed there, narrates all things to His Church, whatever things are contained in the secret and hidden bosom of the Father. Whence also one who was taught by Him said: No one has ever seen God; the Only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. There, therefore, Christ calls His spouse, that He may teach her all things that are with the Father, and say: Because I have made known to you all things that I have heard from My Father. And: Father, I will that where I am, there My servant also may be," John III, 26.
Third Principal Sense: Concerning Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
Christ was incarnate in the cavity of the wall, that is, in the hidden place of the Virgin's womb, according to that passage, Isaiah LI, 1: "Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the cavity of the pit from which you were cut," and He was born in the hole of the rock, that is, in the cave of Bethlehem, which had been cut from rock, according to that passage: "And she laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for Him in the inn," Luke II, 7. Whence St. Jerome, epistle 18 to Marcella, inviting her to Bethlehem, where he himself was living with St. Paula: "With what words, he says, with what voice shall I describe the cave of the Savior, and that manger where the infant cried, to be honored more by silence than by any humble speech." And after some remarks: "Behold, in this small hole of the earth (Bethlehem) the Creator of the heavens was born, here He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, here He was seen by shepherds, here He was pointed out by the star, here He was adored by the Magi," etc.
Rupert refers these things to John the Baptist, who, existing in the cavity, that is, in his mother's womb, hearing the voice of the Blessed Virgin greeting his mother Elizabeth, leaped for joy, because through her, recognizing, loving, and adoring Christ conceived in her womb, he was cleansed from original sin and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Finally, by the hole of the rock can be understood the sepulcher of Christ, which was hewn from rock, from which He gloriously rose again. For this place, as well as Mount Calvary, where the cross of Christ had been fixed in the rock, and the other places in which Christ had suffered, the Blessed Virgin frequently and devoutly visited and traversed, so that she seemed almost to dwell in them.
SHOW ME YOUR FACE, LET YOUR VOICE SOUND IN MY EARS: FOR YOUR VOICE IS SWEET, AND YOUR FACE IS BEAUTIFUL.
Nyssenus, Philo, and Psellus consider that the bride is speaking here, and that she is requesting the bridegroom's presence and conversation. Then, says Philo, Christ showed His beautiful face when the Word was made flesh and when He was transfigured; and His sweet voice when He called the laborers, restored health, and forgave sins. But all the rest assert that these are words of the bridegroom to the bride, who desires and requests that the bride uncover her veiled face, hidden by the covering of the rock, and show it bare and clear, says Origen, so that in her, as in a mirror, the bridegroom may behold his own image, says Theodoret, and so that he may polish, adorn, and perfect her, and lead her to pure heavenly contemplation, as Origen wishes, according to that passage: "But we all, with face unveiled, beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord," II Corinthians III, 18: for by these words Christ calls back the timid apostles hiding in Zion, so that at Pentecost they may boldly show their face to the people and preach the Gospel to them, as I said a little before: for what we do for our neighbors out of love for God, we do for God, according to that saying of Christ: "As long as you did it for one of the least of these My brothers, you did it for Me," Matthew XXV, 40.
Whence St. Ambrose, Psalm CXVIII, sermon 6, verse 6, reading: "Show me your face, and make known your voice, because your voice is sweet, and your face is beautiful: Sweet, he says, is the voice, because confession is made by the mouth unto salvation; and beautiful is the face, because it does not blush at its Author, it is not confounded by its Redeemer. She therefore shows her face, bearing before her the sign of the cross; and she makes known her voice, taking up the authority of preaching."
Therefore let powerful preachers, after the manner of the apostles, come forth to the pulpit from the holes of the rock, that is, from the solitude of prayer and meditation on the passion of Christ, so that they may preach Christ crucified fearlessly with great ardor of piety and spirit. Let them therefore show their face, that is, let them preach with an eye solely on Christ, not for their own profit, and let them turn their face from all creatures and direct it toward the one God through prayer, so that they may be enlightened by Him and conform their face, that is, their manner of life, to Him, just as Moses, conversing with God on Sinai, received from Him a horned face, that is, horns of light shining upon his face. Whence the Chaldean translates: show me your appearance, and your good works: make your voice heard, for your voice is sweetness in prayer in the house of the small sanctuary, and your appearance is beautiful in good works.
The bridegroom therefore here demands from the Church the display of purity of faith and works, as a beautiful face, and the preaching of heavenly doctrine, as a sweet voice. So say Cassiodorus, St. Gregory, Bede, Origen, Theodoret, Anselm, and others. Hear St. Gregory: "For what do we understand by the face, if not faith, by which we are known by God? And what by the voice, if not preaching? But the bridegroom commands the bride to show him her face, because whoever says he has faith must exercise himself in good works, so that the interior faith may become known through exterior works; and it is also necessary that the voice of preaching follow the works, because whoever perfectly extends himself in holy works, the consequence is that he should exhort his neighbors to do the same. Therefore it follows: For your voice is sweet, and your face is beautiful. For then both the voice pleases and the face is adorned, when preaching follows works, and again good works accompany preaching." And Cassiodorus: "Show me, he says, your face," which I gave you in baptism, and when I cleansed you from every sin. "Let your voice, he says, sound in My ears," so that it may proceed from the sincere intention of My love, so that you preach for no other reason than for Me.
Aponius, however, refers these words to the Jews converted by the apostles: "At the teaching of the apostles, he says, the Church, as from the cavern of unbelief, began with compunction of heart to show her face to the Creator, and she who had defiled her face by the fall of so great a crime, persecuting the Lord of majesty, stained with the blood of the Just One which she had poured upon herself by her own voice, saying: His blood be upon us, now turning to Him she says: Show me Your face, let Your voice sound in my ears, etc. And thus her voice, which had recalled a horrible, choked, bitter and lamentable voice hoarse with impiety, saying: Crucify, crucify; by such a draught and medicinal cup of the blood of Christ which they had shed, was renewed to melodious sweetness, confessing belief in God whom she had condemned as a man before Pilate."
Symbolically, the beautiful face signifies the beauty and comeliness of the holy mind conversing with God: for this is the face of man not external, but internal; the voice, however, signifies the pious groans and sighs of the mind toward God: both are most pleasing and delightful to God, so much so that God feeds and delights Himself with them, according to that passage: "And the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride, and your God shall rejoice over you," Isaiah LXII, 5. Both make the preacher powerful and effective. Hear St. Bernard, sermon 62: "For how much the preaching of truth with purity of mind pleases Him, He shows when He immediately adds: For your voice is sweet. For that it does not please if the face displeases, He demonstrates when He immediately adds: And your face is beautiful. What is the beauty of the interior face, if not purity? In many people this has pleased without the voice of preaching, but the latter without the former has pleased in no one. To the impure, truth does not reveal itself, wisdom does not entrust itself. What then do they speak, who have not seen? What we know, He says, we speak, and what we see we testify. Do you then dare to testify to what you have not seen, and to speak of what you do not know? Do you ask whom I call impure? He who seeks human praise, who does not offer the Gospel free of charge, who preaches the Gospel in order to eat, who considers piety a source of gain, who does not seek the fruit, but the gift."
Moreover, Rupert most fittingly applies these words to the Blessed Virgin: "Show Me, he says, your face," and by showing it correct what Eve sinned, who hid her face from Me in the midst of the tree of paradise, namely in the very thing in which she sinned, inasmuch as she took pleasure in her sin and defended her sin. "She did not show Me her face," when I said: Where are you? Her voice did not sound in My ears, the voice of confession which should have sounded at least when I said: Why have you done this? just as also when I blessed her saying: "Increase and multiply;" no voice sounded in My ears, for she sang no canticle of thanksgiving for so great a benefit, by which I was making her the mother of so great a generation, to possess so great an inheritance of the kingdom of God. You, show Me, as indeed you do show, your face. Let your voice sound in My ears, the voice, I say, of confession and thanksgiving. For your voice is sweet in this, that you are My dove, and attentive to the holes of the rock; like a dove you have a moan for a song, singing you moan, moaning you sing, and that very exultation with which your spirit exulted in God your Savior is full of groans, full of tears." "Your face" moreover "is beautiful," because your faith is great, your humility is great. These are the exact words of Rupert, with some omissions for brevity's sake. Now, to the letter, Nicephorus from St. Epiphanius, book II of the History, chapter XXIII, thus depicts the face of the Holy Virgin: "A face not round and pointed, but somewhat longer, etc. She was entirely free from pride, simple, and by no means adorning her countenance, bearing nothing of softness about her, but cultivating preeminent humility." The face of Christ was similar, for Christ, lacking a father, took after His mother. Hear Nicephorus, book I, chapter XL: "He did not have a round or pointed face, but such as His mother's was, inclining slightly downward, and moderately ruddy; bearing gravity and prudence joined with gentleness, and a placidity free from anger. In all things, finally, He was most like His divine and immaculate mother."
Anagogically, by these words Christ calls the pious soul from the cavern of this life to heavenly glory, as I said above: for the face of such a soul is purged from every stain, even venial, and is therefore beautiful; the voice also is sweet, because it is the voice of thanksgiving, exultation, and jubilation.
VERSE 15. CATCH US THE LITTLE FOXES THAT DESTROY THE VINEYARDS; FOR OUR VINEYARD HAS BLOSSOMED.
CATCH US THE LITTLE FOXES THAT DESTROY (the Septuagint: that exterminate; Symmachus: that corrupt) THE VINEYARDS: FOR OUR VINEYARD HAS BLOSSOMED. The Septuagint: and our vineyards are budding, that is, they germinate and blossom like henna plants; the Arabic: and our vineyard will blossom, once the little foxes that corrupt them are caught. The word 'little' should be referred to the foxes, as is clear from the Hebrew, Greek, and Vulgate: wherefore it is surprising that Origen, Philo of Carpathia, and others refer 'little' to the vineyards. Judea abounds in foxes, as is evident from the three hundred foxes that Samson caught, Judges XV, 4. Now foxes above other wild animals harm vineyards, both because they dig under and uproot them, and because they plunder and devour the grapes; but little foxes, being mischievous and not having sufficient strength to uproot the vines, when the vines are tender and blossoming, they nip, gnaw, and pluck the blossoms, and dig up the earth around the roots, so that the vines, deprived of moisture and exposed to the sun, are burned by its rays and wither; moreover, small foxes, having grown larger, uproot the vines entirely. Furthermore, little foxes, being inexperienced, can easily be deceived and caught, but having grown larger, not so: for they are extremely cunning, according to that saying: "An old fox is not caught by a snare."
Finally, he commands that foxes be caught while they are small and weak in strength; for foxes breed in the spring when the vineyards are in bloom: therefore if you neglect to catch and exterminate them then, they will multiply greatly. Moreover, Pliny, book XXIII, chapter VIII, writes that foxes are killed by bitter almonds: "They say, he writes, that if they eat them and it does not happen that they can lap water nearby, they die." The Chaldean understands by the foxes the Amalekites, who tried to impede the progress of the Hebrews into the Holy Land, and were therefore captured and slain by Moses and Joshua, Exodus chapter XVII, 13.
First Adequate Sense: Concerning Christ and the Church.
Christ commands the Church, that is, the apostles, that in the preaching of the Gospel and the establishment of vineyards, that is, of Churches, they should catch the little foxes, that is, the heretics already beginning to spring up: for these craftily, like foxes, subvert the faith and the Church; such in the time of the apostles were the Judaizers, who wanted to mix with the Gospel and observe circumcision and the other precepts of the Old Law. Likewise Simon Magus, the first heresiarch, Menander, Basilides, Carpocras, Ebion, the Gnostics, etc.: therefore their frauds and errors, while they are still small and hold only a few, He commands to be detected and refuted by arguments, says St. Bernard, not by arms, and to be exterminated, lest they grow strong and pervade and corrupt the whole Church like leaven. So say St. Gregory, Cassiodorus, Aponius, Origen, Bede, Theodoret, St. Anselm, and others generally.
Hear St. Augustine on Psalm LXXX: "Foxes signify the crafty, and especially the fraudulent heretics, deceitful, hiding in cavernous windings, and deceiving, stinking with a foul odor. Against which odor the Apostle says: We are the good odor of Christ to God in every place. These foxes are signified in the Song of Songs, where it is said: Catch us the little foxes exterminating the vineyards, hiding in tortuous caverns. Catch for us, convict for us: for you catch the one whom you convict of falsehood." For, as St. Bernard says: "When deceit is exposed, when fraud is opened up, when falsehood is convicted, then most rightly is it said that the little fox that was destroying the vineyards has been caught." So Ezekiel, chapter XIII, 4: "Your prophets, Israel, he says, were like foxes in the desert. They see vain things and divine lies, saying: Thus says the Lord, when the Lord has not sent them."
Moreover, how these foxes, that is, heretics, are to be caught, St. Augustine teaches thus, on Psalm LXXX: "Foxes usually have such dens that they enter from one side and exit from the other. At both openings the fox-catcher placed his nets. Tell me, is it from heaven, or from men? They sense that he has stretched his nets on both sides to catch them, and they say among themselves: If we say from heaven, he will say to us: Why then did you not believe? For he bore testimony to Christ. If we say from the earth, the people will stone us, because they hold him as a prophet." And after a few intervening words: "Let us see if we too can catch some little foxes: let us set our nets at both openings, so that wherever the fox tries to exit, it may be caught. For example, to a Manichaean who makes for himself a new God, and places in his heart what does not exist, let us say and ask him: Is the substance of God corruptible, or incorruptible? Choose what you wish, exit where you wish, but you will not escape. If you say corruptible, you will be stoned not by the people, but by yourself: If however you say God is incorruptible; how did the incorruptible fear the nation of darkness? What was the nation of corruption going to do to the incorruptible?"
Cassiodorus and Bede note that after vineyards in the plural, the vineyard is named in the singular when it says: "Our vineyard has blossomed," because all the particular Churches come together and form one common and universal Church. St. Bernard, sermon 64, presses the word 'us,' when he says: "Catch us the foxes. He could, he says, have said: Catch for me; but he preferred 'for us,' delighted by the fellowship. O sweetness, O grace, O power of love! Has the highest of all thus become one of all? Who has done this? Love, which knows not dignity, rich in dignity, powerful in affection, effective in persuasion. What is more forceful? Love triumphs over God. Yet what is so non-violent? It is love. What is this power, I ask, so forceful unto victory, so conquered unto violence? Finally He emptied Himself, so that you might know it was love, that fullness was poured out, that height was made equal, that singularity was associated."
Second Partial Sense: Concerning Christ and the Holy Soul.
Foxes are the fraudulent suggestions which the devil, the flesh, or the world suggests to the soul under the appearance of good, to lead it to evil: for vice cloaks itself with the veil of virtue, for Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, II Corinthians XI, 14: therefore these must be caught immediately when they arise and are still small, so that their fraud, deceit, and error may be detected, lest when they have grown and been strengthened they cannot be caught and uprooted. Nyssenus notes that the demons who tempt man are not called lions, bears, or tigers, but foxes, and little ones at that, because their powers are small and weak, so that they can be immediately repelled and overcome by a noble and steadfast man; but they are armed with the cunning of foxes: therefore their cunning must be cleverly tracked down and dispersed. St. Bernard adds that they are called little because their suggestions are subtle, and visible only to those who are sharp of mind. Hear St. Bernard, sermon 63: "For a wise man, his life is his vineyard, his mind, his conscience. For the wise man will leave nothing uncultivated, nothing neglected within himself." And after some remarks: "And good is the vineyard of the just man, indeed the just man himself is a good vineyard, whose virtue is the vine, whose action is the branch, whose wine is the testimony of conscience, whose tongue is the winepress of expression: Finally our glory is this, he says, the testimony of our conscience, II Corinthians, chapter I, verse 12. Do you see that nothing lies idle in the wise man? Speech, thought, conduct, and whatever else comes from him, why should not all of it be God's field, God's building, and the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts? What, finally, can perish from such a man, when even his leaf does not fall? Yet such a vineyard will never lack attacks, never lack ambushes. Indeed where there are many riches, many are those who devour them, Ecclesiasticus V, 10. The wise man will be careful to guard his vineyard no less than to cultivate it, nor will he allow it to be devoured by foxes." Then, in sermons 64 and 65, he recounts various examples of these foxes, such as that Monk who left the monastery to convert his parents, but did not gain them and lost himself; and of others who leave the monastery to preach, or to live alone for themselves and God; and of others who associate with women under the pious pretext of instructing them in spiritual matters; but soon the spirit passes into the flesh; for, as in sermon 63 St. Bernard wisely says: "To be always with a woman and not to know a woman, is this not greater than raising the dead? What is less, you cannot do; and what is greater, do you want me to believe you?"
Second, little foxes are relaxations of the rule and discipline in small matters, for example, when in a monastery or college the breaking of silence is overlooked, the appropriation of small things, not asking permission, slight disobediences, etc. For unless these are corrected, they creep forward, grow, and become great, so that at last they overturn all rule and discipline; therefore one must do what the wise man advises: Resist at the beginning: the remedy is prepared too late, when the evil has grown strong through long delays.
Whence St. Bernard, sermon 63, asserts that besides foxes, cold too is harmful to vines; for it scorches and dries them: so cold, that is, torpor creeping upon the religious, scorches and dries his virtue; for from this, he says, soon, as happens in the body with those who have fevers, a certain rigor of the soul sets in, and vigor weakens, languor of strength is feigned, horror of austerity is intensified, fear of poverty troubles, the spirit contracts, grace is withdrawn, the length of life is drawn out, reason is lulled to sleep, the spirit is extinguished, the newness of fervor cools, wearisome tepidity grows heavy, fraternal charity grows cold, pleasure flatters, false security deceives, old habit calls back. What more? The law is ignored, right is renounced, what is holy is proscribed, the fear of the Lord is abandoned. Finally the hands are given over to shamelessness, that reckless act is presumed upon, that shameful one, that most disgraceful one, that leap full of ignominy and confusion from excess into the abyss, from the pavement into the dunghill, from the throne into the sewer, from the heavens into the mud, from the cloister into the world, from paradise into hell. It is not the time to demonstrate the beginning and origin of this plague, or by what skill it may be avoided, or by what virtue it may be overcome."
Third, little foxes are detractors and whisperers, as well as flatterers, who tear apart the vineyards, that is, communities and societies, and subvert the souls of the faithful. So St. Bernard, sermon 63: "The worst fox, he says, is the hidden detractor, but no less wicked is the smooth flatterer. The wise man will beware of these, he will take pains, as far as is in his power, to catch those who do such things, but to catch them with kindnesses and acts of service, with salutary warnings, and with prayers to God for them. He will not cease to heap such coals of fire upon the head of the slanderer, and likewise upon the flatterer, until (if it is possible) he may remove from the heart of the one his envy, and from the other his pretense, fulfilling the command of the bridegroom who says: Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vineyards."
Third Principal Sense: Concerning Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
Herod the Ascalonite was a fox, wanting to treacherously kill Christ; whence he sent the Magi to Bethlehem so that they might explore the place of Christ's birth and report it to him: for he pretended that he too wished to adore Christ, so that by this means he might capture and kill Him; but he was deceived by the Magi, since they, having received a heavenly response in a dream not to return to Herod, went back to their country by another way, Matthew III, 12. Whence the son of this Herod the Ascalonite, Herod Antipas, of equally foxlike character as his father, is called a fox by Christ: "Go, He says, tell that fox," Luke XIII, 32. So Rupert: "Do you not see, he says, that this wild beast (the savage Herod) has bitten the tender branches, that this cruel beast killed the infants in Bethlehem of Judea, the city of David? Catch, catch them, for our vineyard has blossomed, etc. Its fruit is still a blossom and not yet a cluster of grapes, it has not yet ripened, and therefore it is excessively harmful to the vineyard for its flower to be cut down or destroyed. Let it first grow and let the fruit come forth from the flower, let the Gospel be established and let it be known from signs and wonders that the Holy of Holies has come, and this will be the flower having come to fruition and the grape cluster having ripened. Then if such a cluster is cut down, let it be preserved and carried on the pole of the cross, so that by the experience of resurrection and of its sweetness it may be known what sort of land, what sort of kingdom His is, to which these little foxes that destroy the vineyards do not belong."
VERSE 16. MY BELOVED IS MINE, AND I AM HIS, WHO FEEDS AMONG THE LILIES.
The Hebrew reads: who feeds in lilies, that is, who pastures his flock in pastures excelling in the abundance, color, and fragrance of lilies. The Chaldean translates: "In that time they were converted in repentance; then Moses the prophet stood and prayed before the Lord, and Joshua the minister who was girded went forth from under those clouds of the glory of the Lord, and with him righteous men, who are like roses in their works, and they waged wars against Amalek, and broke him and his people in the name of the Lord, who slew and crushed them with the edge of the sword."
First Adequate Sense: Concerning Christ and the Church.
Cassiodorus and Bede consider the bride to be praying here, as if to say: Would that my beloved were mine, or present to me, and I to him! Would that my beloved might deign to be joined to me by the bond of charity, and I to him by the bond of obedience, complying with his commands! says Cassiodorus. But all the others consider the bride here not to be wishing, but asserting and affirming: My beloved is mine, and I am his, according to the meaning I shall now give. From verse 8 and 10 up to this point, the bride, having suffered a fainting fit of love while reclining in her bed, reported the words of the bridegroom, by which he calls the bride to himself in the field and vineyard for labors on behalf of the salvation of souls, and at the same time testifies to his tender love for her: now the bride, speaking in her own person, repays love for love, and shows herself ready to obey the bridegroom's call and go forth to the vineyard for labor, and says: "My beloved is mine, and I am his;" because just as he "feeds among the lilies," so I too am most zealous for lilies, that is, for brightness and purity: "My beloved is mine," understand, he gives himself wholly to me; whence I too eagerly give my whole self to him, indeed I actually do give myself, to him alone I devote myself, serve, and strive to please. Therefore what he wills, I also will; he wills that I pass from the bed to the field, from leisure to labor, and this same thing I also will: for his willing and not-willing are my willing and not-willing. Symmachus translates, in the genitive: and I am his, as if to say: I am wholly the bridegroom's, just as the bridegroom is wholly mine, and so he is what I am, so that we seem to be not so much two as one and the same. For a friend is another self, and lovers have as it were one heart and one soul: for the soul of the lover is more where it loves than where it gives life, that is, it is more in the beloved than in the lover himself.
Hence in the eyes of the law the bridegroom and bride are considered one and the same person, according to that saying: "The two shall be in one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church," Ephesians V, 31: for just as the essence of marriage consists in the mutual consent of the spouses to the marriage; so the union of Christ and the Church, like that of bridegroom and bride, consists in mutual love and in the consent of the mystical marriage, namely that Christ loves and wishes to have no other bride than the Church; and the Church in turn loves and wishes to have no other bridegroom than Christ; from which then follows mutual living together, and mutual services and duties throughout all of life; all these things are signified by 'my beloved is mine, and I am his,' as if to say: Because Christ loved me first as His bride, therefore I in turn love Him as my bridegroom, indeed His love preceded mine and is its cause.
"For I do not love Him of myself, because He, loving me first, inspired in me His own love through prevenient grace, according to that passage: 'Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of water in the word of life, that He might present to Himself a glorious Church,' Ephesians V, 25. Depart therefore, evil foxes, who attempt to separate the Church from Christ by deceit. For I the Church keep faith with Christ my bridegroom, so that I love none but Him; He in turn keeps faith with me, so that He has no beloved but me, and wishes to have no other bride. St. Bernard, sermon 68, notes that the bride, namely the Church, and the holy soul, says these things in the absence of the bridegroom Christ; says them, I say, not to the young maidens, but to herself, and from the abundance of affection, not so much speaking as pouring forth the abundance of love; and therefore her words are broken, incomplete, imperfect, and are to be supplied thus: My beloved is mine, that is, He is wholly intent upon me, and I in turn am wholly intent upon Him. 'He is for me,' says St. Bernard, 'because He is kind and merciful; I am for Him, because I am not ungrateful. He gives me grace upon grace, I return Him thanks for grace; He serves my liberation, I serve His honor; He serves my salvation, I serve His will; He is for me, and not for another, because I am His one dove; I am for Him, and not for another.' And earlier, admiring this condescension of Christ, he exclaims: 'How admirable it is that she claims His attention as if it were her own, saying: My beloved is mine? Nor content with this, she proceeds further to boast that she responds to Him as if on equal terms, repaying the favor. For it follows: And I am His. An extraordinary saying, 'And I am His.' No less extraordinary, 'My beloved is mine'; except that both together are more extraordinary than either alone. O what dares a pure heart, and a good conscience, and unfeigned faith! He is intent on me, she says. Is that majesty so intent on this one, to whom belongs equally the government and administration of the universe; and is the care of the ages transferred to the sole affairs, indeed the leisure, of this love and desire? Precisely so. For she is the Church of the elect, of whom the Apostle says, II Timothy II, 10: I endure all things, he says, for the elect. And who doubts that the grace and mercy of God are upon His saints, and His regard upon His elect? Therefore we do not deny providence to other creatures: the bride claims His special care for herself.'"
The same St. Bernard, in the sermon for the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mary, near the end says that by these words is signified the struggle of love, in which the bridegroom wrestles with the bride, conquers, and is conquered.
To these are added the expositions of other Fathers: of Nyssenus, which is as follows: "I have seen face to face Him who always remains, and who for my sake from my sister the Synagogue arose in human nature, and in Him I rest, and I become His dwelling;" of Philo of Carpathia: The Church says, he states: "My beloved is mine," that is, He gives me wisdom, and I will give Him my heart; He gives me wisdom from heaven, and I will repay Him the fruit of faith, hope, and charity from the Gentiles: for I feel myself to be vehemently loved by Him, and therefore I will most firmly always cling to Him. Of Theodoret: Just as the bridegroom has preferred me to all, so I prefer Him to all, I do not allow myself to be joined to another; from those who are called foxes and fraudulent, I recoil: for it is absurd that I, who am so greatly loved and adorned, should not respond to my lover in love with all my might. Similar to these seems what was written by the Apostle, I Corinthians VI, 13: "The body, however, is not for fornication but for the Lord: and the Lord for the body." Of Justus of Urgell: "Christ has the Church in His body, and the Church has Christ as her Head, which connection, because it cannot be severed, she rightly said: My beloved is mine."
Second Partial Sense: Concerning Christ and the Holy Soul.
The holy soul says to Christ, says Theodoret: "My beloved lives for me; and I live for Him, not for myself," as St. Paul says, Galatians II, 20. Aponius moreover: "My beloved, says the holy soul, grants me the grace of vocation, the gift of redemption, the most illustrious freedom of adoption. And what do I give Him? Obedience of will, the zeal for preserving integrity which He implanted by nature. What does He give me? The singular example of preserving virginity, by being born through a Virgin. And what do I give Him? Singular joy by being born anew through baptism, by keeping His precepts with my whole heart, by imitating the angelic and heavenly nature, so that the untouched body may return to paradise, which He brought into the world by being born from the untouched womb of His mother. For just as the devil is fattened on the bloody rage and execrable filth of lust; so Christ feeds on the lilies of mercy, gentleness, and chastity." St. Gregory expounds more briefly and clearly, as if to say: "I steadfastly hold the friendship of my Beloved, because I feel His steadfast benevolence toward me; because while I have His kindness as familiar, whatever I hear His barking enemies saying against Him is bitter to me, and while I see what He is like in His constant presence; if enemies bring forth any error from the truth which I have known in seeing Him, I do not depart." Finally, the love of Christ is a virgin, because it is directed purely and virginally toward the one Christ, according to that saying of Paul: "I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ," II Corinthians XI, 2.
St. Bernard asks, sermon 69: Since Christ is the bridegroom of many, indeed of all holy souls, how can He be wholly intent upon each one? And he responds: "First, because the divinity of the bridegroom, being of a most simple nature, has the quality of regarding many as one, and one as many. He will not be many for the multitude, nor few for the fewness; neither divided for diversity, nor restricted to one; neither anxious at cares, nor disturbed or troubled at concerns. Thus indeed intent upon one, yet not held back; thus upon many, yet not distracted."
An apt example is found in the rational soul: for this entirely loves, informs, and animates all and each of the parts of its body, so that it is entirely in the body, and entirely in each of its parts; so God gives His entire love to all, and His entire love to each individual saint. Bernard then adds that Christ, coming to the soul He espouses, brings with Him the Father and the Holy Spirit, so that they likewise may espouse the soul, according to that passage: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our dwelling with him," John XIV, 23. "What does it mean, says Bernard, for the Word to come to the soul? To instruct it in wisdom. What does it mean for the Father to come? To move it to the love of wisdom, so that it can say: Because I have become a lover of His beauty, Wisdom VIII, 2: to love belongs to the Father, and therefore the coming of the Father is proved by the infused love."
He then adds the signs of the coming of the Word and the Father: "If I sense, says Bernard, that my understanding is being opened so that I comprehend the Scriptures, or that the word of wisdom is as it were bubbling up from within, or that mysteries are being revealed from above by infused light, or certainly that a most generous bosom of heaven is being spread open to me, and more abundant showers of meditations are flowing from above into my mind: I do not doubt that the bridegroom is present. For these riches belong to the Word, and from His fullness we have received them. And if there simultaneously pours into me a certain humble but rich devotion of inward sprinkling, so that the love of acknowledged truth generates in me a necessary hatred of vanity and contempt, lest perhaps knowledge puff me up, or the frequency of visitations exalt me; then I thoroughly feel that I am being dealt with in a fatherly manner, and I do not doubt that the Father is present. If moreover I shall have persevered in always responding (as far as is in me) with worthy affections and actions to this condescension, and the grace of God shall not have been empty in me; He will also make His dwelling with me, the Father nourishing as well as the Word instructing." He then asks whence the soul knows that the bridegroom is wholly intent upon her, so that she dares to say: "My beloved is mine," and he responds that she knows this "from the fact that she feels herself to love, and to love vehemently, she does not doubt that she is also loved no less vehemently, and from her singular intention, solicitude, care, effort, diligence, and zeal, with which she unceasingly and ardently watches how she may please God, she recognizes all these same things without doubt in Him, remembering His promise: In whatever measure you measure, it shall be measured to you," Matthew chapter VII, 2. And after some remarks: "Nor does she who loves doubt that she is loved. So it is. Love begets a well-deserving soul, and the anticipatory mention of it makes the soul attentive, and solicitude makes it solicitous. For by some I know not what kinship of nature, once the face has been unveiled and one gazes at the glory of God in emulation, it becomes necessary to be conformed to it, and to be transformed into the same image."
Well-known is that saying of the comedian: "Every lover is insane."
Third Principal Sense: Concerning Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
The Blessed Virgin could say to Christ: You alone are to me my uniquely beloved Son, and I am to You a most beloved mother (indeed even as a father), who feeds among the lilies of my virginity and that of Joseph my husband; for it was fitting that from this virginal marriage You should be born, as the son of virginity, indeed its leader and standard-bearer; this is what Isaiah the prophet says, chapter VII, verse 14: "Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel," that is, God with us: so says Rupert. Hear St. Anselm, book On the Excellence of the Virgin, chapter IV: "The love, he says, which a father and mother individually owe to their son; the love also which a son individually owes to his father and mother, that Son of the true Virgin owes to His mother alone: for just as other sons are born from father and mother, so her Son was born from her as sole mother. Therefore the love of this mother for her Son, and of this Son for His mother, exceeds all the loves of parents for children, or of children for parents."
Again, Abbot Guerric, sermon 2 On the Assumption: "Come, he says, my chosen one, and I will place My throne in you. You shared with Me what it is to be human; I will share with you what it is to be God." And Blessed Peter Damian, sermon 2 On the Nativity, having reviewed three ways in which God is in every creature, adds: "In a fourth way He is present in one creature, namely Mary His mother, by identity, because He is the same with her. Let every creature here be silent and tremble, and scarcely dare to gaze upon the immensity of so great a dignity. The Lord dwells in the Virgin, with whom He has identity of one nature."
Finally, St. Bernard, sermon 71: "For me, he says, it is good to cling to God. Good indeed, if you cling in every respect. Who is it that perfectly clings to God, unless he who, remaining in God as beloved by God, has nevertheless drawn God into himself by loving? Therefore, when man and God cling to each other on every side, and they cling on every side because they are intimately and mutually bound to each other by love, by this I would unhesitatingly say that God is in man and man is in God." This above all applies to the Blessed Virgin. The same St. Bernard, sermon 29: "The love of Christ is a chosen arrow, which not only pierced Mary's soul, but also passed through it, so that it might leave no portion in her virginal breast empty of love, but that she might love with her whole heart, her whole soul, her whole strength, and be full of grace." These are Bernard's words. And Hugh of St. Victor, whose words St. Thomas reports, Opuscule VIII: "Because in the heart of the Virgin, he says, the love of the Holy Spirit burned with singular ardor, therefore in her flesh He worked wonders, to such a degree that from her was born God and man. Luke I, 35: That which is born of you, the Holy One, shall be called the Son of God."
St. Bernard gives the reason: "What wonder, he says, if Mary loves above all, who is beloved above all?" Sophronius gives many other reasons, sermon On the Assumption: "Consider, he says, and weigh how many sorrows the Blessed Virgin suffered after Christ's ascension to heaven; consider with what love she was tormented, with what desire this virgin burned, as she turned over in her mind all the things she had heard, seen, and known, with what incessant ardor of pious love she was consumed! With what impulses of heavenly secrets she was moved, filled with the Holy Spirit! Because even though she loved Christ with her whole heart, her whole soul, and her whole mind, nevertheless, absent from His presence, she was daily inflamed with new affections of desire, all the more powerfully as she was inwardly illuminated by divine visitations, whom the grace of the Holy Spirit had wholly filled, whom divine love had wholly set ablaze, so that in her there was nothing that worldly affection could violate, but a continuous ardor and intoxication of the love poured forth by Him who was both her Lord and her Son. Perhaps therefore we believe that out of exceeding love she dwelt in the place where He is said to have been buried, so that her inner love might feed on pious gazing, not that she was seeking the living among the dead, but that she might console herself with the sight, and embrace with the embraces of her mind Him whom she had borne. The love of Christ gave birth to desire, and the desire, growing, was as it were renewed with fresh ardors."
Who feeds among the lilies. For 'lilies' the Hebrew has schoschannim, which the Chaldean and some Hebraists translate as 'roses,' as I said above. Symmachus translates 'flowers': in Hebrew it reads, who feeds in lilies. He feeds, that is, both the sheep and himself, that is, he is fed, as our translator renders it; although 'is fed' is sometimes taken for 'feeds,' as if it were a deponent verb. The Septuagint has poimainon, that is, acting as shepherd in the lilies; Symmachus: and I am his who feeds among the flowers, that is, who pastures the sheep with the brightness of gleaming lilies. It could also be translated from the Hebrew as: who feeds the lilies, that is, nourishes and fosters virgins as well as virginity and the other virtues, or who is fed by lilies, that is, delights in virgins as well as in virtues. He feeds among the lilies, that is, he feeds in the most joyful and beautiful pastures, such as those adorned with lilies blooming among the herbs. The Hebrew roe, and the Greek poimainon, that is, to feed or to act as shepherd, indicates that Christ diligently performs toward the Church and faithful souls all the duties of a good shepherd, namely to hold her in tender love, to procure food, to be familiarly present to her, to lead out to pasture and lead back, to feed, give drink, care for, govern, defend from wolves and thieves even at the risk of His own life, and to perform all the other duties of a shepherd, which the Psalmist describes in Psalm XXII, 2, and Christ in John X, 9. Christ therefore both feeds and is fed among the lilies, that is, among chaste, pure, and holy souls, especially virgins; He feeds them with His doctrine, example, grace, sacraments, indeed with Himself in the Eucharist.
Hear St. Ambrose on Psalm CXVIII, sermon 14, verse 1: "The divine sacraments are good pastures. There you pluck the new flower that has given the good fragrance of resurrection; you pluck the lily, in which is the splendor of eternity; you pluck the rose, that is, the blood of the Lord's body. Good pastures also are the books of Sacred Scripture, in which we are fed by daily reading, in which we are refreshed and restored when we taste what has been written, or more frequently ruminate on what we have barely sipped. The flock of the Lord is fattened by these pastures. Good also are the pastures of Christ, who feeds among the lilies, that is, in the splendor of the saints." Nyssenus adds: "This is the good Shepherd, who feeds His flock not with hay, but with the Holy Spirit signified by the purity and fragrance of lilies." Theodoret agrees, who considers the pastures of Christ to be called lilies because they are bright, rich, sweet, and fragrant like lilies. The same author, however, further says that Christ feeds among the lilies when through holy teachers He promulgates His most pure laws.
Again, Christ not only actively feeds, but is also passively fed among the lilies, that is, He delights in pure and chaste minds, especially virgins, and in their purity, virginity, and virtues. So say St. Gregory, Cassiodorus, Bede, Justus, Anselm, and the other Latin authors. "What are designated by lilies, says St. Gregory, if not pure souls? These, while they retain the brightness of chastity, by the good repute of their fame give a sweet fragrance to all their neighbors. The bridegroom therefore feeds among the lilies, because without doubt He delights in the chastity of souls, who both preserve in themselves the purity of the flesh, and by their pure thoughts please Him, and give to their neighbors the sweetness of fragrance as it were by their example."
Hence that hymn of St. Ambrose, which the Church uses in the Office of Virgins: You who feed among the lilies, Surrounded by the choirs of Virgins, Adorning Your brides with glory.
Christ, says St. Bernard, sermon 70, as God reigns above the stars, as man is fed, not on lilies, but among lilies: "For He who in the highest is Lord, in the lowest is beloved, reigning above the stars, and loving within the lilies." Then he teaches that these mystical lilies are truth, gentleness, justice, and the other virtues, but two especially, namely continence and innocence; for among these Christ feeds and delights, according to that passage, Psalm XLIV, 5: "Proceed prosperously and reign for the sake of truth, gentleness, and justice:" indeed "as many virtues, so many lilies, says Bernard. What limit is there to virtues with the Lord of virtues? And if the fullness of virtues is in Christ, so also of lilies. And perhaps for this reason He called Himself a lily, because He wholly dwells among lilies, and all things that are His are lilies: His conception, birth, manner of life, words, miracles, sacraments, passion, death, resurrection, ascension. Which of these is not bright, and does not most sweetly give fragrance? So great, finally, was the brightness of heavenly light that shone forth in His conception from the abundance of the Holy Spirit coming upon her, that not even the holy Virgin herself would have borne it, had she not been overshadowed by the power of the Most High. Moreover, His birth was made bright by the uncorrupted virginity of His mother, His manner of life by innocence of life, His words by truth; His miracles by purity of heart, His sacraments by the mystery of piety, His passion by the willingness to suffer, His death by the freedom not to die, His resurrection by the fortitude of the martyrs, His ascension by the fulfillment of promises."
The same author, sermon 71, teaches that Christ feeds among the lilies, that is, amid the pure observance of His laws: "Therefore, he says, He is never without lilies who is always without vices, because He is entirely and always bright, beautiful in form beyond the sons of men. You therefore who hear or read these things, take care to have lilies with you, if you wish to have this dweller among lilies dwelling in you. Let your work, your study, your desire proclaim itself to be lilies, a certain moral brightness and fragrance of things themselves. Morals too have their colors, they have their fragrances, etc. The intention of the heart and the judgment of conscience give color to your work," and the fragrance of good repute.
And after several intervening remarks: "The bridegroom therefore, since He is virtue, takes pleasure in virtues; and since He is a lily, He willingly dwells among lilies; and since He is brightness, He delights in the bright. And perhaps this is what it means to be fed among the lilies: to delight in the brightness and fragrance of virtues. And indeed He was once fed bodily at the home of Mary and Martha, reclining even in body among lilies (I mean those women, for they were lilies), while He nevertheless refreshed His spirit with the devotion and virtues of these women."
He then teaches that for Christ feeding is the same as being fed, because He Himself feeds us with His grace and virtues, and by the same He is fed and delighted: "But in feeding, I think, He is nonetheless Himself fed, and indeed with the foods which He gladly eats, namely our progress. For the joy of the Lord is our strength. And so, when He feeds He is fed, and when He is fed He feeds, simultaneously refreshing us with His spiritual joy, and rejoicing in our equally spiritual progress. His food is my repentance, His food is my salvation, His food is I myself, etc. I am chewed when I am corrected, swallowed when I am instructed, digested when I am changed, absorbed when I am transformed, united when I am conformed." The same St. Bernard, in the sermon on the Nativity of the Blessed Mary, near the end explains differently: "Note, he says, that He seems to indicate a place, not food, nor does He express by what He is fed, but among what. For perhaps He is fed not by the food but by the company of lilies; He does not eat lilies, but He dwells among them; indeed lilies please more by their fragrance than their taste, and are more suited to sight than to eating. Moreover, although the just man sprouts like a lily, the bridegroom is not fed on a single lily, nor does He take pleasure in singularity. Finally, hear Him dwelling among lilies: Where, He says, two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in their midst. Matthew XVIII, 20. Jesus always loves what is in the midst; the Son of Man, the mediator of God and men, always rejects byways and reclining places."
Moreover, Christ feeds souls in diverse ways, each according to its inclination, state, and disposition: therefore to subjects He gives obedience, to superiors the prudence of governing, to virgins the love of virginity, to the married the affection of conjugal chastity and the strength to bear the different ways of a spouse, of children and servants; to martyrs He gives unconquered constancy in torments, to doctors keenness in teaching, to preachers effectiveness in preaching, to the rich the impulse to patience, etc.
VERSE 17. UNTIL THE DAY BREATHES AND THE SHADOWS DECLINE. RETURN: BE LIKE, MY BELOVED, A ROE OR A YOUNG STAG UPON THE MOUNTAINS OF BETHER.
UNTIL THE DAY BREATHES, AND THE SHADOWS DECLINE (the Septuagint: are moved, that is, are removed), (this refers back to what preceded: 'My beloved is mine, who feeds among the lilies;' although some refer it to what follows): RETURN: BE LIKE, etc., as I shall say shortly. Note the word 'breathes' applied to the day: for in the morning, when light and day arise, a gentle breeze customarily breathes, which the sun rising in the dawn produces by its heat, as it were in the dew of the breeze: for it dissolves and stirs the vapors collected by the cold of night, and from them produces gusts and winds; therefore Theodoret less correctly explains it as if to say: 'Until the day breathes,' that is, until the heat of the day passes, and the dew of salvation breathes. Now the Hebrew iaphuach therefore means breathe, breathe upon, breathe through, breathe again, breathe out, and this is what the Greek diapneuse means in the Septuagint, as if to say: The whole day, that is, throughout this whole time of life, 'my beloved is mine, and I am his,' and throughout this whole time he 'feeds among the lilies.' But our translator more aptly translates 'breathes,' for when the day breathes, the shadows and nocturnal darkness come to an end. Wherefore, more fittingly, St. Gregory and others generally consider the shadow here to mean the night; for the night is shadowy, and is as it were mere shadow, which declines, that is, fails and, as the Hebrew has it, flees, that is, vanishes when the sun rises at dawn, but gradually and little by little: for the more the sun ascends, the more the shadows diminish, so that at midday there is almost no shadow: again, when the sun rises, the day breathes, not when it sets, for then it expires and comes to an end.
Symbolically, St. Bernard, sermon 72, understands by the shadows the demons, who on the day of judgment will be made to bow down before the elect and the blessed, that is, they will be subjected, and as the conquered will be subjected to the conquerors. Likewise he again understands by the day the beatific vision, through which all the shadows of errors, pretenses, and ignorances will be dispelled. Finally, he adds that the fullness of eternal happiness is signified by the word 'breathes.' "Therefore, he says, this will be the fullness of the breathing day. It, I say, will add to the measure of the inspired fullness, to the abundance of the inspiring day, working an exceeding weight of glory beyond measure, so that the superabundant addition of glorification may overflow into the bodies. For this reason it is called not 'breathing' but 'breathing upon,' because it adds to the inspiring, the Holy Spirit signifying this through the added preposition 'ad': because those whom the former illuminates within, the latter adorns without; and He clothes them with the robe of glory." And after some remarks: "Since therefore two days precede in us, one indeed inspiring for the life of the body; the other breathing again in the grace of sanctification, and moreover a third remains, breathing upon in the glory of the resurrection; it is clearly evident that what has gone before in the Head will one day be fulfilled in the body, assuredly a great mystery of godliness, and the testimony of the Prophet who says: He will revive us after two days: on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight, Hosea chapter VI, verse 3."
Moreover, the punctuation which is in the Hebrew Bibles, whose author is not Solomon but the later rabbis or Masoretes, connects these words, until the day breathes and the shadows decline, with what follows, return, be like, my beloved; and this connection is also fitting, and gives good sense, as will be evident to one examining the meanings about to be given and combining these words, 'until the day breathes,' with them.
First, some understand by the day the Gospel, by the shadows the Old Law, which was a type and shadow of the Gospel, as if to say: When the light of the Gospel appears, the shadows will vanish, that is, the typical observances and ceremonies of the Old Law: so Justus of Urgell and St. Augustine, oration Against the Jews, chapter VI.
Second, others understand by the day the clear knowledge of truth and eternity; for when the holy soul has attained this, it puts to flight and drives from itself the shadows of the vanity of temporal things: so Nyssenus.
Third and truly, by the day understand the future life and glory, by the shadows the darkness and troubles of the present life, as if to say: Christ feeds among the lilies, that is, He dwells among pure souls, as long as the shadows of this life last: for, when the day of glory shall have breathed and shone forth, He will dwell among the blessed in the splendors of the saints. For if in the valley of tears He feeds among lilies, among what and how great lilies will He feed in the day of the eternal nuptials and glory? Christ now feeds me among the lilies of chastity and grace; but when the day of happiness shall have breathed, He will feed me among the lilies of charity and glory; then the love of the absent bridegroom will be turned into joy and the enjoyment of His presence; then faith will be changed into sight, hope into reality, charity into brightness, trouble into glory, death into life, corruption into incorruption, mourning into jubilation. So say St. Gregory, Cassiodorus, Bede, St. Bernard, and the rest. Here therefore the pious soul, pressed by love of the body, groans and sighs, until the day of blessed eternity breathes, and the shadows of wretched mortality decline: "For here indeed is night, says St. Gregory. But there will be day, because here we are dim in the vision of truth, but there God Himself, the whole truth, will shine upon our minds." Moreover, St. Bernard, sermon 71, says that Christ in this life is fed on lilies, that is, on virtues, because here they are mixed, rough, and imperfect; in heaven He will drink deeply of them, because there they will be clear, purified, subtle, and perfect.
Some, together with our Sanchez, consider the phrase 'the shadows decline' to be a periphrasis for evening; for in the evening, after midday when the sun is declining, the shadows lengthen, according to that line of Virgil: And greater shadows fall from the lofty mountains. Whence Aquila too for 'until the day breathes' translates, 'until the day ceases'; for in the evening, while the day ceases, it breathes forth gusts and winds. Whence Pliny, book II, chapter XLVII: "The sun, he says, both increases and restrains the winds, increasing them at rising and at setting;" and Aristotle in the Problems, section XXV, question IV: "The wind, he says, begins either at the rising or at the setting of the sun." Hence Virgil: "The breezes blow toward the night." Whence from the Hebrew it can be translated, until the day expires, that is, comes to an end: for Hebrew words are simple, and therefore are taken for all compound forms, which the Hebrews lack.
RETURN: BE LIKE, MY BELOVED, A ROE OR A YOUNG STAG UPON THE MOUNTAINS OF BETHER.
First Adequate Sense: Concerning Christ and the Church.
Various authors here assign various meanings. The first is, as if the bride were saying: I see, O my bridegroom, that you delight in feeding your flocks in the forests and mountains, such as the mountains of Bether; for there you feed among the lilies, and there you invite and call me forth saying: 'Arise, make haste, my love'; therefore, to satisfy your zeal for souls as well as mine, return quickly and swiftly, like a roe and a young stag; in Hebrew sob, that is, go about, survey, and visit our flocks, namely the Christian faithful, who feed in Bether, that is, in division, that is, who dwell in divided places and particular churches spread throughout the whole world, and feed them with your holy doctrine, grace, consolation, inspiration, sacraments, etc. So say Theodoret and the three Anonymous authors cited by him, Psellus, and Philo of Carpathia, who consider the bride here to be beseeching the bridegroom to return to the pastures, so that all the faithful may enjoy and be illuminated by his presence, and that he may bestow upon them his sweetness and love.
The second meaning is plainer and fuller, as if the bride were saying: I do indeed permit, and even desire, O bridegroom, that you visit, instruct, strengthen, and perfect our faithful scattered throughout the whole world; but I would wish this to be done expeditiously and swiftly, that you may run through them quickly, like a roe or a young stag, to this end: that, having visited them, you may immediately return to me: for I deeply desire your presence, nor can I be satisfied with it, and it is more fitting for the bridegroom to be present and attend to the bride, that is, for Christ to be present to the universal Church, rather than to particular churches. This meaning is demanded by the word 'return,' as our translator and the Septuagint render it: it also looks back to what was said in verse 8: 'The voice of my beloved. Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills,' so that he may immediately fly to me, who have already fainted from love, sustain me, and restore me to myself: therefore my beloved is like a roe and a young stag." So say St. Bernard, Bede, and others. Hear St. Bernard, who here notes that the inability to control love knows no shame; for the bride recalls the bridegroom immediately, to whom she had shortly before given permission to depart. "The untimely recall, he himself says, sermon 74, is a sign of great love on the one hand and great lovableness on the other;" and sermon 73: "Excessive love causes this. For it is love that, triumphing and taking captive in itself all sense of shame, the measure of propriety, the counsel of deliberation, begets a certain neglect and a certain carelessness of all modesty and timeliness. For see now how she demands that he return, though he has scarcely even begun to go. She even asks him to hasten, and indeed to run, like some wild animal of the forest running swiftly, for example, a roe or a young stag. This is the tenor of the letter, and this is the portion of the Jews."
You will ask, what are the mountains of Bether? I respond that they are the mountains of Bethel (as the Arabic version translates), where Jacob saw a ladder stretched from earth to heaven, by which angels ascended and descended to God leaning upon the ladder, and therefore, anointing the place with oil, he consecrated it and called it Bethel, that is, the house of God, Genesis XXVIII, 12 and 19. Now the mountains of Bethel are called the mountains of Bether, that is, of division, because they are divided and split, so that they contain many intermediate cities and valleys, and consequently many mountains as it were cut into various hills, so that roes may leap from one to another. Whence by the Septuagint they are called mountains of koilomaton, that is, of hollow places. Some read kyklomaton, that is, mountains of circuits, to which access is not easy, but one must circle around them through winding paths for a long time before reaching the summit; for such places are sought by roes and young stags, to be safe from hunters. St. Ambrose, book III On Virgins, reads with the Syriac, mountains of aromatics: for they are so called here, chapter VIII, verse 14, since these mountains abound in aromatic herbs. Hear Adrichomius in the Description of the Holy Land, page 16, number 43: "Bethel, or Bether, are fertile mountains, wooded and planted with trees; full of grass and aromatic herbs, and therefore deer, roes, and young stags frequent their summits, which are mentioned in the Song of Songs."
Symbolically, therefore, the mountains of Bethel or Bether aptly represent the universal Church divided and distinguished into various particular churches: for the Church is 'the mountain of the house of the Lord on the top of the mountains,' Isaiah II, 2; because by its faith, hope, doctrine, conversation, and heavenly contemplation it surpasses all the sects of the Jews, heretics, and pagans, and so seems to dwell no longer on earth but in heaven with the blessed, according to that saying: 'Our citizenship is in heaven,' Philippians III, 20. Wherefore all these especially represent monasteries and colleges of religious: first, because the monastery and the cloister is Bether, that is, a place divided and separated from the company of the secular; second, because the mountains of Bether are steep and rough, and interrupted by cavities and rough places; third, just as roes and young stags flee to these precipitous and inaccessible mountains to be safe from dogs and hunters, so likewise religious flee to cloisters, so that there they may be secure and removed from the temptations and dangers of the world. There, therefore, Christ feeds among the lilies of purity, which grow on the mountains of Bether, that is, of separation, prayer, and contemplation. The Chaldean version supports this, which explains it thus of the holy patriarchs: 'And the Lord wished to destroy them from the world, except that there was before Him the memory of His oath, which He swore in His word to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were most swift in His worship, like a roe and a young stag; and also because of the offering which Abraham offered his son Isaac on Mount Moriah, and before this he had given Him his offerings, and had divided them equally.'"
Hence Philo of Carpathia understands by the mountains of the valleys, as the Septuagint translates, the eminent saints and righteous; for they are mountains by the excellence of their virtue, which rises above the world and all worldly things, and they are also valleys by their humility, by which they humbly receive the doctrine and grace of God, like rain from heaven, as valleys receive it. So also Ambrose, sermon 14 on Psalm CXVIII. The three Anonymous authors cited by Theodoret understand by the mountains of the valleys the teachers who far surpass and excel their disciples, just as mountains surpass valleys, as if to say: "Show yourself like them, coming to those masterful souls which, among disciples depressed by the waves of perturbations, excel like mountains, where you may drive away and put to flight those pestiferous beasts which have dug up the natural equality of unformed souls and established their lairs in them, and so restore to them their original equality."
On the contrary, Theodoret and Nyssenus, homily 6, understand by the mountains of the valleys the proud among the humble, as Nyssenus says: "See as the roe does, You who look upon the thoughts of men; destroy the generation of sin, as the young stag destroys the serpent. Run most swiftly, O divine Word, to the mountains of the valleys: for whatever exalts itself against the truth is an abyss, not a mountain; a hollow, not a rising summit. If You run to these, every valley shall be filled, and every mountain of this kind shall be brought low."
To this is added St. Anselm, who thinks the Church here prays to Christ to help her laboring in the conversion of the unfaithful: "Return, he says, that is, condescend to these, and inspire them inwardly, because otherwise our labor will be fruitless: Return, and be like a roe, etc. The nature of the roe and the young stag is that although they dwell on the summits of mountains, they nevertheless descend to the hills so as to be seen by those below. For since Christ dwells on the mountains, that is, in those who are eminent for their virtues, He is asked to descend from them, and through them to bring knowledge to the lowly."
Second Partial Sense: Concerning Christ and the Holy Soul.
Christ from time to time seems to depart from the holy soul, either because of her defects and venial falls, or to test her faith and constancy, or to increase the desire for Himself in her, and to advance and perfect the soul in spirit, while He leaves her without relish, without consolation, without joy, dry and parched, in desolation, persecution, temptation, sadness, darkness, or similar affliction of soul or body. Therefore the soul, pricked by this goad and sighing more ardently for her bridegroom Christ, calls out for His return and aid: Return to me, O my beloved, and like a roe or a young stag run swiftly to me, so that You may console me, help me, strengthen me, confirm me, and advance me.
Our author Sanchez adds that the pious soul, having learned that she has placed many impediments in the way of love, and conscious of her own weakness, trusting little in herself, prays the bridegroom that although he wanders over the mountains of Bether, that is, amid rough and winding places and a thousand other impediments which could slow down one who is eager and hastening toward every duty; he should nevertheless bear these patiently, and with a spirit utterly indomitable for enduring these things, and with a gentleness utterly admirable for pardoning, devour these annoyances, leap over these obstacles, and at last, although through Bether, that is, through rough and harsh terrain, arrive directly and quickly at her.
And Louis of Leon: The faithful soul, he says, asks that when the shadows decline, that is, when the day has already inclined toward its setting, and the darkness of dangers and temptations rushes in, she should be helped without any delay: "Be like, she says, a roe and a young stag." This, without metaphor, David literally and properly said in Psalm LXIX, 2: "Lord, make haste to help me," and again, Psalm XXX, 3: "Lord, hasten to deliver me." And this is said by the bride not only to incite God and urge Him to hasten to bring help, but also to admonish us that at the very first beginning of an evil thought, as soon as an evil desire begins to enter the mind, at the first sight of the enemy, indeed at the first rumors and suspicions of war, before any disturbance and tumult arises in us through negligence, we should lift our eyes to heaven and turn our heart entirely to God, repeating with tears: "Return, my beloved: be like a roe and a young stag;" and commending our salvation to Him most ardently, let us ask Him to hasten and hurry to deliver us not only from evil, but even from the suspicion of evil. To this is added Cassiodorus, who explains, as if to say: O Christ, who through the flesh which as a little one like a young stag You assumed, ascended like a roe to the heights of heaven, visit us with Your consolation and grace, enlighten and gladden us.
Moreover, how God visits the holy soul, St. Bernard teaches first, sermon 74, and this from experience, by which he asserts that he frequently felt this visitation of God in his own soul: "Living, he says, and effective is the Word of God, namely Christ, and as soon as He came within, He awakened my sleeping soul, moved and softened and wounded my heart, which was hard and stony and sick. He also began to uproot and destroy, to build and plant, to water what was dry, to illuminate what was dark, to open what was shut, to inflame what was cold, and moreover to make the crooked straight and the rough into smooth paths; so that my soul blessed the Lord, and all that is within me blessed His holy name. Thus therefore the Word, the bridegroom, entering into me from time to time, never made His entrance known by any signs, not by voice, not by appearance, not by His step." And after some remarks which he interposes on this subject, he adds: "From the renewal and reformation of the spirit of my mind, that is, of my interior man, I perceived in some measure the beauty of His comeliness, and from the contemplation of all these things together I was struck with awe at the multitude of His greatness. But because all these things, when the Word has departed, just as if you were to remove the fire from a boiling pot, immediately begin to lie torpid and cold with a kind of languor; and this is for me the sign of His departure. My soul must needs be sad until He returns again, and my heart grows warm again within me as usual: and this is the sign of His return."
Second, Aponius says the bridegroom departs when he chastises the sins of the bride, that is, of the soul; and returns when, appeased by repentance, he is reconciled to her: "The prolonged absence, he says, of Christ in the Church occurs when He permits tribulation to be brought upon the people for their chastisement; but His return is when, inclined by prayers toward mercy, He runs back more swiftly to the footsteps of His loving-kindness than He had leaped forth in punishment; made like the course or custom of the roe and the young stag, whose nature it is that when a sound echoes before them in the mountains, thrown back from behind, while they think something is coming to meet them, they return with swifter course to the place from which they had departed. And this is the reason why, though provoked by enemies, they do not wish to abandon their accustomed dwelling, just as Christ also, although provoked and exasperated by the sins of men, did not abandon the accustomed dwelling of His loving-kindness."
Mystically, Justus of Urgell considers this to signify the ascension of Christ to heaven: "When the Church, he says, suggests that the beloved return, and says He is like a roe and a young stag, she shows that Christ's ascension to heaven is to be compared to swift and clean animals. For these with swift course leap over the heights of mountains; and Christ surpassed all heights; and well is it added 'over the mountains of Bethel,' that is, the house of God, because He was exalted above all the saints." Aponius, however, considers that here the Church prays that Christ, having died, may rise from death: "Over the mountains of Bethel, he says, because she prays for Him to return, in whose territory Christ was crucified, it is shown that the swiftness of the resurrection to be celebrated on the third day was prophesied."
Tropologically, Bede judges that here the pious soul tending toward perfection asks that Christ show her a foretaste of heavenly happiness: "I beseech You, he says, to return from Your general instruction more often to illuminate more sublimely the hearts of the perfect, and just as the roe or the young stag is a rare but delightful sight to those who observe it in the mountains; so may You place in lofty minds whatever traces of Your greatness. I pray that the sweetness of immortal life, which You promise to all my members in the recompense, You may reveal to some even on the journey, though to be glimpsed from afar. Moreover, the name of the mountains fits the minds of those who have learned to open the eyes of their hearts to the contemplation of heavenly things, when it says 'upon the mountains of Bether,' which is interpreted as 'the rising house' or 'the house of watchings.'"
Anagogically, St. Gregory considers that here the pious soul asks Christ to come quickly to judgment, so that in it she along with the pious may attain glory, and the wicked who afflict the pious may receive hell: "The Beloved, he says, then departed from us bodily, when after the resurrection He ascended to heaven; but He will return when at the end of the world, all human bodies having been raised, He will be manifested in judgment: this manifestation the holy souls here request. Then Christ, truly like a roe and a young stag, will appear upon the mountains of Bether, because He will come to judgment in the same form of humanity which He took from the Church, designated by the roe, when in this world from the line of the fathers He was humbly born as a young stag; and then He will tower above all the greatest, who excel like mountains in the Church, which is the house of God, more sublime than all." St. Bernard says similar things, sermon 73.
Third Principal Sense: Concerning Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
Rupert considers that the Blessed Virgin here asks of Christ, now dead, that He hasten His resurrection like a young stag, and not remain in the tomb for a complete three days, that is, 72 hours, but that He shorten it, so that after 33 hours He may immediately rise again: "Return quickly, she says, do not delay, because my soul desires You, etc. The time of three days is indeed brief, but for Your beloved and Your dove, yearning and groaning with a wounded heart, it is not enough, my beloved, for You to hasten. Abbreviate this very three-day period, and in returning be like a roe and a young stag, that is, be most swift in completing Your course; in the heart of the earth, that is, in Your sepulcher, do not spend the full three days. It suffices to fulfill the truth of the Scriptures if You spend a small part of the first day, that is, the last three hours, and some part of the third, namely six hours, which is half the night, along with the second day, that is, the Sabbath, lying in the tomb. For three complete days are seventy-two hours. This would be too long." He then adds another numerical reason: "Let thirty-three hours suffice, a number composed of two threes, a ten, and a unit. The Blessed Trinity, against whom the first man sinned, must be appeased in You, through You, and of Yourself, my beloved, my flesh and my blood, my God and my Lord; but let this be done most quickly and with great haste, as the roe or the young stag is most swift in the mountains; according to Your name, by which You were commanded to be called through the Prophet: Make haste to strip the spoils, hasten to plunder. Therefore, having scarcely waited thirty-three hours, return over the mountains of Bether, that is, rise again and appear to the princes of the house of God, namely Your apostles and to me, whose great desire You are, most of all, as theirs also, indeed even much more than theirs."
The same Rupert considers the Blessed Virgin here to be praying for the conversion of her people, namely the Jews: "Return, he says, be like a roe upon the mountains of Bethel, that is, near the fathers of the house of God, for this is what Bethel means." As if to say: Have mercy on the Jews, for they are the children of Abraham and the holy patriarchs, who were Bethel, that is, the house, family, and Church of God.
Again, the Jews are the mountains of Bether, that is, of division and separation; because through pride they divided and separated themselves from the faith of the patriarchs, who believed in the Christ to come, and consequently from God, from the Church, from heaven, from salvation, and from every good.
Likewise the Blessed Virgin still prays for sinners, who like the mountains of Bether have through sin proudly separated themselves from God and God's grace, as if to say: Return, O beloved, to the soul that was once Yours, which is now tyrannically possessed by the devil; look with the lynx-like eyes of a roe upon its most wretched servitude and the tyranny by which it is oppressed by the devil, and like a young stag -- for deer by their breath draw out and kill serpents, as Pliny attests, book VIII, chapter XXXII -- draw forth from the caverns of these souls the hellish creatures, not so much serpents as monstrous dragons, who dwell in the mountains of Bether, that is, in the pride of division, namely in proud hearts, as well as in hell, where on account of their pride they are divided and cut off from God and heaven for all eternity.