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Bernard of Clairvaux — commentary on Scripture

📅 September 1, 2026

1 Corinthians 1:30 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

Of course this devotion to the humanity of Christ is a gift, a great gift of the Spirit. I have called it carnal with comparison to that other love which does not know the Word as flesh so much as the Word as wisdom, as justice, truth, holiness, loyalty, strength, and whatever else could be said in this manner. Christ is truly all these things. "He became for us the wisdom of God, and justice, and sanctification and redemption." Take as an example two men: one of them feels a share in Christ's sufferings, is affected and easily moved at the thought of all that he suffered; he is nourished and strengthened by the sweetness of this devotion to good and honest and worthy actions. But the other is always aflame with zeal for justice, eager for the truth and for wisdom. His life, his habits are saintly, ashamed of boasting, avoiding criticism, never knowing envy, hating pride. He not only flees all human glory but shrinks from it and avoids it, every stain of impurity both in body and soul he loathes and eradicates; finally he spurns every evil as if naturally, and embraces what is good. If you would compare the feelings of these two men would it not appear how the latter was superior in respect to the former, whose love was somehow more carnal?

1 Corinthians 2:12 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

All of these indeed could say with felicity and truth: "It is the only Son who is in the Father's bosom who has made it known to us." And this revelation -- what can you call it but a kiss? But it was the kiss of the kiss, not of the mouth. Listen if you will know what the kiss of the mouth is: "The Father and I are one;" and again: "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." This is a kiss from mouth to mouth, beyond the claim of any creature. It is a kiss of love and of peace, but of the love which is beyond all knowledge and that peace which is so much greater than we can understand. The truth is that the things that no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, were revealed to Paul by God through his Spirit, that is, through him who is the kiss of his mouth. That the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son signifies the kiss of the mouth. But the kiss of the kiss we discover when we read: "Instead of the spirit of the world, we have received the Spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts that he has given us."

1 Corinthians 6:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

Living in the Spirit of the Son, let such a soul recognize herself as a daughter of the Father, a bride or even a sister of the Son, for you will find that the soul who enjoys this privilege is called by either of these names. Nor will it cost me much to prove it, the proof is ready to hand. They are the names by which the Bridegroom addresses her: "I come into my garden, my sister, my bride." She is his sister because they have the one Father; his bride because joined in the one Spirit. For if marriage according to the flesh constitutes two in one body, why should not a spiritual union be even more efficacious in joining two in one spirit? And hence anyone who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

1 Corinthians 6:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 59

You see that even majesty yields to love? So it is, brothers; love looks up to no one, but neither does it look down on anyone. It regards all equally, who love one another perfectly, and in itself it tempers together the lofty and the lowly; not only making them equals, but one. Perhaps you still think that God is excepted from this rule of love; but "he who clings to God is one spirit" (1 Cor 6:17). Why do you marvel at this? He himself was made as one of us. I have said too little: not as one, but one. It is a small thing to be equal to men: he is man. Thence he claims our land for himself, but as a homeland, not as a possession. Why should he not claim it? Thence comes his bride, thence the substance of his body; thence the Bridegroom himself; thence "two in one flesh." If one flesh, why not also one homeland?

1 Corinthians 11:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

St Paul says: "God is the head of Christ," so in speaking of Christ we may understand the head as referring to his divinity, and it is beyond doubt that he who offers thanks anoints the head, because he makes contact with God, not man. I do not mean that he who is God is not also man, for the one Christ is both God and man; I mean that all things which are good, even those of which man is the agent, really come from God rather than man.

1 Corinthians 12:11 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

This is brought forth in the soul of the one who has sown for himself unto justice: the presumed pardon of sins, if indeed the pardon itself is attested by the efficacy of grace received for living more holily henceforth. Everyone among you who feels these things being worked within himself knows what the Spirit speaks, whose voice and working never disagree with one another. Therefore he understands the things that are said, because what he hears outwardly he feels inwardly. For he who speaks in us and works in you is one and the same Spirit, dividing to each as he wills: to some indeed to speak, to others to work what is good.

1 Corinthians 12:23 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

For actual charity prefers inferior things, affectual prefers superior things. For indeed in a well-affected mind there is no doubt, for example, that the love of God is set 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. Yet in a well-ordered action, the opposite order is often, or even always, found. For concerning care for our neighbor we are both more urgently pressed and more frequently occupied; and we attend to weaker brethren with more diligent care; and to the peace of earth rather than the glory of heaven we attend by the right of humanity and by necessity itself; and by the restlessness of temporal cares we are scarcely permitted to perceive anything of eternal things; and to the ailments of our body, with care of the soul set aside, we attend almost continuously; and indeed to our very weaker members we assign the more abundant honor, according to the judgment of the Apostle (1 Cor 12:23): by this in a certain way fulfilling the word of the Lord, concerning which you have: "The last shall be first, and the first last" (Mt 20:16). Finally, who doubts that one who prays speaks with God? Yet how often are we thence led away and torn away at the command of charity, on account of those who are in need of our work or word? How often does pious quiet piously yield to the tumult of business? How often is a book put down with good conscience, so that one may sweat at the work of the hands? How often, for the sake of administering earthly things, do we most justly abstain from celebrating the very solemnities of the Mass? The order is reversed: but necessity has no law. Actual charity therefore follows its own order according to the command of the head of the household, beginning from the last (Mt 20:8). Surely it is pious and just, for it is no respecter of persons; nor does it consider the value of things, but the necessities of men.

1 Corinthians 16:22 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

"If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema." Truly, I ought to love the one through whom I have my being, my life, my understanding. If I am ungrateful, I am unworthy too. Lord Jesus, whoever refuses to live for you is clearly worthy of death, and is in fact dead already. Whoever does not know you is a fool. And whoever wants to become something without you, without doubt that man is considered nothing and is just that. For what is man, unless you take notice of him? You have made all things for yourself, O God, and whoever wants to live for himself and not for you, in all that he does, is nothing.

1 John 3:18 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

Therefore through the second, works are done, and in it charity resides -- not that affectual charity, which, seasoned with the salt of wisdom, growing rich, brings to the mind a great multitude of the sweetness of the Lord; but rather a certain actual charity, which even if it does not yet sweetly refresh with that sweet love, nevertheless vehemently inflames with a love of that very love. "Let us not love," he says, "in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth" (1 Jn 3:18). Do you see how he carefully proceeds in the middle between vicious and affectionate love, distinguishing from each equally this actual and salutary charity? He receives in this love neither the pretense of a lying tongue, nor in turn does he demand the taste of affecting wisdom. "Let us love," he says, "in deed and in truth": namely that we be moved to good works more by a certain impulse of living truth than by the affection of that savory charity.

1 John 4:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

Good Jesus, the chalice you drank, the price of our redemption, makes me love you more than all the rest. This alone would be enough to claim our love. This, I say, is what wins our love so sweetly, justly demands it, firmly binds it, deeply affects it. Our Savior had to toil so hard in this, in fact in making the whole world the Creator did not labor so much. Then he spoke and they were made; he commanded and they were created. But in saving us he had to endure men who contradicted his words, criticized his actions, ridiculed his sufferings, and mocked his death. See how much he loved us. Add to this the fact that he was not returning love but freely offering it. For who had given him anything first, that it should be returned to him? As St John said: "Not that we had loved him, but that he first loved us." He loved us even before we existed, and in addition he loved us when we resisted him. If he had not loved his enemies, he could not have had any friends, just as he would have had no one to love if he had not loved those who were not.

1 Peter 4:8 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

Therefore I shall go for myself to the place of refuge from the face of the fury of the Lord, to that zeal of piety sweetly burning and efficaciously atoning. Does not charity atone? And powerfully so. I have read that it covers a multitude of sins. But I say: Is it not fit and sufficient for casting down and humbling every exaltation of the eyes and of the heart? Most especially: for it is not exalted, it is not puffed up.

1 Samuel 15:22 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 19

You do not wish to be content with the common life. The regular fast is not enough for you, nor the appointed vigils, nor the imposed discipline, nor the measure which we apportion to you in clothing and food; you prefer private practices to the common ones. You who once entrusted the care of yourselves to us—why do you again interfere with yourselves? For that own will of yours, with which, as your consciences bear witness, you have so many times offended God—behold, now again you have it as your teacher, not me. She teaches you not to spare nature, not to yield to reason, not to comply with the counsel or example of your elders, not to obey us. Or do you not know that "obedience is better than sacrifices"? Have you not read in your Rule that whatever is done without the will or consent of the spiritual father will be reckoned to vainglory, not to merit?

1 Timothy 5:23 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 30

In vain do certain ones flatter themselves with the example of Paul, who urged his disciple not to drink water but to use a little wine on account of his stomach and his frequent infirmities (1 Tim 5:23). They ought to attend first indeed that the Apostle by no means urged a thing of this kind upon himself, nor did the disciple equally demand it for himself. Then that this was intimated not to a monk, but to a bishop, whose life was absolutely necessary to the still tender and newborn Church. This was Timothy. Give me another Timothy; and I will feed him, if you wish, even with gold, and give him balsam to drink. But you dispense to yourself, having pity on yourself. Your own dispensation toward yourself is suspect to me, I confess; and I fear that you are being deceived under the cover and name of discretion by the prudence of the flesh. I want you at least to be advised of this, that if the authority of the Apostle so pleases you regarding drinking wine, do not omit the "little" which he added.

2 Corinthians 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

If, I say, he shall have come in this, in this I shall know that he is not alone, but that his Father also has come with him. For what is so fatherly? On this account indeed he is called not only Father of the Word, but also Father of mercies, because it is innate in him always to have mercy and to spare.

2 Corinthians 3:18 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

2 Corinthians 5:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

Afterwards he showed them a higher degree of love when he said, "It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing." I think Paul had reached this level when he said: "Even if we once knew Christ in the body, we know him thus no longer." Therefore in this human devotion there is in the meantime consolation for whomever does not as yet have the Spirit which gives life, at least who do not have him in the same way as those who say: "A Spirit before our face is Christ the Lord," and again: "If we once knew Christ in the flesh we know him thus no longer." For there is no love of Christ at all without the Holy Spirit, even if this love is in the flesh, and without its fullness.

2 Corinthians 10:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

For the Father loves the Son, and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of the Word, he always has at hand to cast down and to destroy, whether by sending zeal or by directing it: of which the former is of mercy, the latter of judgment. Therefore the devil was judged in fury, because his iniquity was found to be unto hatred; but man's unto wrath, and therefore he is chastised in wrath. Thus every height has been crushed, both that which puffs up and that which casts down, the Father indeed being zealous for the Son. For in both cases there is an injury to the Son: both from the usurped power against the power of God, which he himself is; and from the knowledge presumed from elsewhere than from the wisdom of God, which he no less is. Does not charity atone? And powerfully so. I have read that it covers a multitude of sins. But I say: Is it not fit and sufficient for casting down and humbling every exaltation of the eyes and of the heart? Most especially: for it is not exalted, it is not puffed up.

2 Corinthians 11:14 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 19

You had received a good spirit; but you do not use it well. I fear that in place of this one you may receive another, who under the appearance of good may trip you up; and you who began by the spirit may be brought to completion by the flesh. Or do you not know that the angel of Satan often disguises himself as an angel of light? God is Wisdom, and he wills to be loved not only sweetly but also wisely.

2 Samuel 18:33 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 26

And let no one trouble me, saying that I ought not to be so affected; since the kindly Samuel over a reprobate king (1 Sam. 16:1), and the pious David over a parricide son, satisfied their affection, and not to the injury of faith, not in reproach of the judgment on high. Absalom my son, Absalom my son, said the holy David (2 Sam. 18:33): and behold, more than Absalom is here. The Savior also, seeing the city of Jerusalem, and foreseeing its ruin, wept over it (Lk. 19:41). And shall I not feel my own present desolation? Shall I not grieve over my fresh and grievous wound? He wept in compassion, and shall I not dare to weep in suffering? And surely at the tomb of Lazarus he neither rebuked those who wept, nor forbade weeping; moreover he wept with those who wept: And Jesus wept, it says (Jn. 11:35). Those tears were witnesses indeed of nature, not signs of distrust. Finally, the dead man also came forth soon at the voice of him who wept, lest you should think at once that the feeling of one who grieves is a prejudice against faith.

Acts 5:29 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

Peter, who had been corrected, later when the sad prophecy was repeated, no longer objected to death but promised he would die with him. But he could not fulfill this promise because he had not yet reached that third degree where he would love with all his strength. Taught to love with his whole soul, Peter was still weak. He was well instructed but not well prepared, aware of the mystery but afraid of bearing witness to it. Obviously that love was not as strong as death which still yielded before it. Later, robed with strength from on high according to the promise of Jesus Christ, Peter began to love with such strength that when forbidden by the Council to proclaim the holy Name, he boldly answered those who gave the order: "We must obey God rather than men." Then finally he attained the fullness of love, when for love's sake he would not spare even his own life.

Acts 5:41 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

But let us take a look at those who may rightly boast of possessing an abundance of it. "They left the presence of the Sanhedrin glad to have had the honor of suffering humiliation for the sake of the name of Jesus." They whose gentleness remained unshaken in the face both of reproaches and blows, had surely been filled from the overflowing richness of the Spirit. For they were rich in the charity that no amount of self-giving can exhaust; out of its resources they easily found what sufficed to offer up "fat holocausts." Those drenched hearts of theirs poured out at random a holy unction, with which they were more fully imbued, when they proclaimed in various languages, according as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech, the marvels of God. And surely we must believe that an abundance of these same ointments was lavished on those of whom St Paul says: "I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ. I thank him that you have been enriched in so many ways, in all speech and in all knowledge; the witness to Christ has indeed been strong among you, so that you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit." How I wish that I were able to offer thanks for similar graces on your behalf, that I might see you men rich in virtue, prompt to sing God's praises, overflowing with an increasing wealth of this spiritual anointing in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Acts 20:24 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 30

"I fear none of these things," he says, "nor do I make my soul more precious than myself" (Acts 20:24). An excellent appraiser of things, who judges that nothing of his own should be preferred to himself. How many have preferred a small and worthless sum of money to their own salvation! Paul did not even prefer his soul. "I do not," he says, "make it more precious than myself." Therefore you make a distinction between yourself and your soul? Prudently indeed you are of more worth to yourself than anything that is yours. But how is your soul not you? I judge that because Paul already at that time walked in the spirit, and in his mind consented to the law of God because it is good (Rom 7:16); for this reason he deemed this very mind of his, as a certain principal and supreme part of himself, worthy to be designated rather by the name of himself than of any possession of his; but the remainder, which is established to be of an inferior nature and therefore to cling to the inferior and cheaper essence, which is the body; not only by the office of vivifying and giving sensation, but also by the desire of nourishing and cherishing: this, I say, being sensual and carnal, the spiritual man, judging it unworthy of the appellation of himself, reckoned it should rather be counted among his possessions than that he should be personally expressed through it.

Amos 6:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

And if I may speak of those who have undertaken the direction of souls, how many there are today who reveal their lack of the requisite qualities! Only with a feeling of pain can I speak of this subject at all -- how they melt down in the furnace of their covetousness the insults endured by Christ, the spittle, the scourging, the nails, the lance, the cross, his death itself, and squander them in the pursuit of shameful gain. The very price of the world's redemption is bundled into their purses; and only in this do they differ from Judas Iscariot, that he reckoned the total value of these things at a paltry sum of money, while they, with a more ravening greed, demand riches beyond counting. They display an insatiable passion for gains that they constantly fear to lose, and bewail after they have lost. In this love of money they find their rest, provided they are ever free from the anxiety of securing, or even further increasing, what they have acquired. Neither the peril of souls nor their salvation gives them any concern. They are certainly devoid of the maternal instinct. Grown fat, gross, bloated to excess on the heritage of the crucified Christ, "about the ruin of Joseph they do not care at all."

Deuteronomy 6:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

See for yourself if those three commands are not prescribed in the law when God says: "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul and your whole strength." It seems to me, if no more suitable meaning for this triple distinction comes to mind, that the love of the heart relates to a certain warmth of affection, the love of the soul to energy or judgment of reason, and the love of strength can refer to constancy and vigor of spirit. So love the Lord your God with the full and deep affection of your heart, love him with your mind wholly awake and discreet, love him with all your strength, so much so that you would not even fear to die for love of him. Your affection for your Lord Jesus should be both tender and intimate, to oppose the sweet enticements of sensual life. Sweetness conquers sweetness as one nail drives out another. No less than this keep him as a strong light for your mind and a guide for your intellect, not only to avoid the deceits of heresy and to preserve the purity of your faith from their seductions, but also that you might carefully avoid an indiscreet and excessive vehemence in your conversation. Let your love be strong and constant, neither yielding to fear nor cowering at hard work. Let us love affectionately, discreetly, intensely. We know that the love of the heart, which we have said is affectionate, is sweet indeed, but liable to be led astray if it lacks the love of the soul. And the love of the soul is wise indeed, but fragile without that love which is called the love of strength. So then, to love with your whole heart, your whole soul and your whole strength means not being led astray by allurements, or seduced by lies, or broken by injuries.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80

The soul was made not only to the image, but also to the likeness. You ask in what it is like? Hear first concerning the image. The Word is truth, is wisdom, is justice: and this is the image. Of what? Of justice, of wisdom, and of truth. For this image is justice from justice, wisdom from wisdom, truth from truth, as it were light from light, God from God. The soul is none of these things, because it is not the image. Yet it is capable of them, and desirous of them, and perhaps on that account it is to the image. A lofty creature, bearing the mark of majesty indeed in its capacity, and of rectitude in its desire. We read that "God made man upright," which also its great capacity, as has been said, proves. For it is necessary that what is to the image agree with the image, and not participate in vain in the name of the image, just as the image itself is not called image by a mere or empty name.

Ecclesiastes 9:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

Ecclesiastes 12:13 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

"Fear God, and keep his commandments," it is said, "for this is the whole duty of man." So if this is all, without this, man is nothing.

Ephesians 1:4 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 78

In this so magnificent work of our salvation there are three certain things which God the author claims for himself, and in which he prevents all his helpers and co-workers: predestination, creation, inspiration. Of these, predestination — I do not say from the beginning of the Church, but not even from the beginning of the world — had its beginning, not indeed from this or that time: it is before time. Moreover creation is with time; inspiration already happens in time, where and when God wills. Indeed, according to predestination the Church of the elect was never not with God. If an unbeliever marvels at this, let him hear what he may marvel at more: she never was not pleasing, never was not beloved. Why should I not boldly speak the secret which that ready reporter of heavenly counsels opened to me from the heart of God? I speak of Paul, who, as with many other things, so also this secret from the riches of his goodness was not afraid to divulge: "He blessed us," he says, "with every spiritual blessing, in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless in his sight in love"; and he adds: "Who predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ in himself, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he made us accepted in the beloved Son" (Eph 1:3-6). Nor is there any doubt that these things are said in the voice of all the elect: and they themselves are the Church. In that therefore so profound bosom of eternity, before she came forth into the light and work of this creation, who among even the blessed spirits would have been able in any way to find her, unless eternity itself, which is God, had willed to reveal her?

Ephesians 1:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 78

Ephesians 2:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

But both heights were cast down, yet in man more gently, since he who does all things in weight and measure so judged it. For with the angel punished—nay, damned—in fury, man felt only wrath and not fury. For when he was wrathful, he remembered mercy. On this account his seed are children of wrath, and not of fury, to this present day. If I were not born a child of wrath, there would be no need to be born again; if I were born a child of fury, it would either not have happened or not have profited to be born again.

Galatians 2:20 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 30

I judge that because Paul already at that time walked in the spirit, and in his mind consented to the law of God because it is good (Rom 7:16); for this reason he deemed this very mind of his, as a certain principal and supreme part of himself, worthy to be designated rather by the name of himself than of any possession of his; but the remainder, which is established to be of an inferior nature and therefore to cling to the inferior and cheaper essence, which is the body; not only by the office of vivifying and giving sensation, but also by the desire of nourishing and cherishing: this, I say, being sensual and carnal, the spiritual man, judging it unworthy of the appellation of himself, reckoned it should rather be counted among his possessions than that he should be personally expressed through it. "When I say 'me,'" he says, "understand that which is more excellent in me, in which I also stand by the grace of God, that is, the mind and reason. When I speak of 'my soul,' take it in the lower sense, that which you see accommodated to animating the flesh, and even joined to it in concupiscence. That I was this, but now am no longer, I acknowledge, because I no longer walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit" (Rom 8:4). "I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). According to the mind, I; according to the flesh, not I. For what if the soul even now desires carnally? "It is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me" (Rom 7:17). And therefore I would call what in me savors carnally not indeed myself, but nevertheless mine, and that nothing other than the soul itself. For truly the carnal affection of the soul is a portion of it, and the life which it administers to the body. This soul, therefore, Paul despised in comparison with himself, prepared for the Lord's sake not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem, and so to lose his soul according to the Lord's counsel.

Galatians 4:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

Felicitous, however, is this kiss of participation that enables us not only to know God but to love the Father, who is never fully known until he is perfectly loved. Are there not surely some among you who at certain times perceive deep within their hearts the Spirit of the Son exclaiming: "Abba, Father"? Let that man who feels that he is moved by the same Spirit as the Son, let him know that he too is loved by the Father. Whoever he be let him be of good heart, let his confidence never waver. Living in the Spirit of the Son, let such a soul recognize herself as a daughter of the Father, a bride or even a sister of the Son, for you will find that the soul who enjoys this privilege is called by either of these names.

Galatians 6:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

For the foolish woman believed him who promised, but who was deceiving: "You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Had he not already first deceived himself, he who had persuaded himself that he would be like the Most High? For he who thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, deceives himself.

Genesis 3:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

Hebrews 1:14 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 19

The angelic creature gazes with the unreflected keenness of mind upon the great abyss of the divine judgments, and, blessed with the ineffable delight of their supreme equity, glories moreover that these are committed to execution through its ministry and made manifest; and therefore it rightly loves the Lord Christ. "Are they not all," he says, "ministering spirits, sent for ministry on behalf of those who receive the inheritance of salvation?" Furthermore, the archangels (that we may attribute to them something more distinctive than to those who are simply angels) are, I believe, wonderfully delighted that they too are admitted more intimately to the counsels of the eternal Wisdom, and that through them those same counsels are dispensed each to its proper place and time with supreme governance. And this is the reason that they too love the Lord Christ.

Hosea 10:12 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

I do not say, however, that knowledge of letters is to be despised or neglected, which adorns the soul and instructs it, and makes it able to instruct others also. But those two things ought and are expedient to come first, in which the preceding argument declared the sum of salvation to consist. And see whether he was not contemplating and teaching this order who said: Sow for yourselves unto justice, reap the hope of life; and then at last, he says, illuminate for yourselves the light of knowledge. He placed knowledge last, as a painting, which cannot stand upon an empty surface; and therefore he set those two things before it and placed them beneath it, as if he were laying something solid beneath a painting. I shall now attend to knowledge in safety, if first through the benefit of hope I shall have received security of life. You therefore have sown for yourself unto justice, if from true knowledge of yourself you have been awakened to fear God, have humbled yourself, have poured forth tears, have lavished alms, and have given yourself over to other works of piety, if you have afflicted your body with fasts and vigils, if you have wearied your breast with beatings and heaven with cries. For this indeed is to sow unto justice.

Isaiah 14:14 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

Both meditated iniquity, affecting height: the one, of power; the other, of knowledge. For the foolish woman believed him who promised, but who was deceiving: "You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Had he not already first deceived himself, he who had persuaded himself that he would be like the Most High? For he who thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, deceives himself. Therefore the devil was judged in fury, because his iniquity was found to be unto hatred; but man's unto wrath, and therefore he is chastised in wrath. Thus every height has been crushed, both that which puffs up and that which casts down, the Father indeed being zealous for the Son. For in both cases there is an injury to the Son: both from the usurped power against the power of God, which he himself is; and from the knowledge presumed from elsewhere than from the wisdom of God, which he no less is.

Isaiah 51:23 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80

Why does he not know, unless because, bending himself down to these lowest and earthly things, he heaps up earth for himself? Assuredly he does not know, concerning those things which he commits to the earth, for whom he gathers them: whether for the moth that destroys, or for the thief that digs through; for the enemy that plunders, or for the fire that devours. And thence that lamentable voice from the psalm belongs to the wretched man bending himself down and brooding over the things that are upon the earth: "I am made wretched and bowed down utterly; all the day long I went about in sadness." In himself indeed he experiences the truth of that sentence of the Wise Man: "God made man upright, but he has entangled himself in many sorrows." And immediately the voice of mockery comes to him: "Bow down, that we may pass over."

James 1:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

The spices of this second ointment, on the contrary, are not produced on our earth at all, we seek to gain them for ourselves from afar. I mean that all that is good, everything that is perfect, is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light. For this ointment is made from the gifts of God bestowed on the human race. Happy the man who makes it his business to gather these carefully for himself and keep them in mind with due thanksgiving. When they shall have been pounded and refined in the heart's receptacle with the pestle of frequent meditation, all of them fused together in the fire of holy desire, and finally enriched with the oil of gladness, you will have an ointment more excellent than the former, and far more precious.

Jeremiah 17:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

All things which are good, even those of which man is the agent, really come from God rather than man. "It is the spirit," we are told, "that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer." Hence there is a curse on the man who puts his trust in man, for although our whole hope rightly depends on God made man, it is not because he is man but because he is God.

John 1:18 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

Unhesitatingly I answer: "It is the only Son, who is in the Father's bosom who has made it known." But he has made it known, I will say, not to the sorry and unworthy creature that I am, but to John, the Bridegroom's friend, whose words these are; and not only to him but to John the Evangelist also, the disciple Jesus loved. For his soul was pleasing to the Lord, entirely worthy both of the name and the dowry of a bride, worthy of the Bridegroom's embraces, worthy that is, of leaning back on Jesus' breast. John imbibed from the heart of the only-begotten Son what he in turn had imbibed from the Father.

John 3:8 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 59

And hear from the Gospel, that the Holy Spirit has a voice. "The Spirit," he says, "breathes where he wills, and you hear his voice; and you do not know whence he comes or where he goes" (Jn 3:8). Even if that one did not know, who, a dead teacher, was teaching the dead the letter that kills; let us know, who, having been translated from death to life through the life-giving Spirit, prove by certain and daily experience, with him illuminating us, that our prayers and groanings come from him, and go to him, and there find mercy in the eyes of God. For when would God make void the voice of his own Spirit? But he himself knows what the Spirit desires, because he intercedes according to God for the saints.

John 4:35 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 78

But hear her preparer himself, as it were pointing her out with his finger to the watchmen, but under another figure. "Lift up your eyes," he says, "and see the fields, that they are white already," that is, prepared, "for harvest" (Jn 4:35). From this the householder invites laborers to the work, when he has now perceived that all things are so prepared that without much labor of their own they can glory and say, "we are God's co-workers" (1 Cor 3:9). For what are they going to do? Namely, seek the bride, and announce to her whom they have found concerning the beloved. For they will not seek their own glory, but the glory of the bridegroom, since they are friends of the bridegroom. And for this they will not labor much with her: she is at hand, and already with all devotion she seeks him; so greatly has her will been prepared by the Lord.

John 6:63 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

Afterwards he showed them a higher degree of love when he said, "It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing." Perhaps this was also true of the Prophet who said: "A Spirit before our face is Christ the Lord." When he adds: "Under his shadow we will live among the heathens," he seems to me to speak on behalf of the beginners, in order that they may at least rest in the shade since they know they are not strong enough to bear the heat of the sun. They may be nourished by the sweetness of his humanity since they are not yet able to perceive the things which are of the Spirit of God. The shade of Christ, I suggest, is his flesh which overshadowed Mary and tempered for her the bright splendor of the Spirit. Therefore in this human devotion there is in the meantime consolation for whomever does not as yet have the Spirit which gives life. For there is no love of Christ at all without the Holy Spirit, even if this love is in the flesh, and without its fullness.

John 6:63 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

I do not mean that he who is God is not also man, for the one Christ is both God and man; I mean that all things which are good, even those of which man is the agent, really come from God rather than man. "It is the spirit," we are told, "that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer." Hence there is a curse on the man who puts his trust in man, for although our whole hope rightly depends on God made man, it is not because he is man but because he is God.

John 8:44 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

But ignorance of yourself begets pride in you in this way: when your deceived and deceiving thought falsely tells you that you are better than you are. This indeed is pride, this is the beginning of all sin, when you are greater in your own eyes than before God, than in truth. And therefore he who first sinned this great sin (I speak of the devil), of him it was said that he stood not in the truth, but is a liar from the beginning; because what he was in his own thought, he was not in truth. What if he had disagreed with truth in this, that he thought himself lesser and lower than the truth held him to be? His ignorance would without doubt excuse him, and he would not at all be reckoned proud, nor would his iniquity be found so much to be for hatred, as his humility perhaps for grace.

John 10:30 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

Listen if you will know what the kiss of the mouth is: "The Father and I are one;" and again: "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." This is a kiss from mouth to mouth, beyond the claim of any creature. It is a kiss of love and of peace, but of the love which is beyond all knowledge and that peace which is so much greater than we can understand. The truth is that the things that no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, were revealed to Paul by God through his Spirit, that is, through him who is the kiss of his mouth. That the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son signifies the kiss of the mouth. But we must make a clearer distinction between the two. He who received the fullness is given the kiss of the mouth, but he who received from the fullness is given the kiss of the kiss. Paul was certainly a great man, but no matter how high he should aim in making the offer of his mouth, even if he were to raise himself right into the third heaven," he would still of necessity find himself remote from the lips of the Most High. He must abide content within the limits of his capacity, and since he cannot of himself reach that glorious countenance, let him humbly ask that it may lean down to him, that, the kiss be transmitted from on high. He however who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, since he could dare to say: "The Father and I are one," because he was joined to him as an equal and embraced him as an equal -- he does not beg for a kiss from an inferior position; rather on equally sublime heights mouth is joined to mouth, and by a prerogative that is unique he receives the kiss from the mouth. For Christ therefore, the kiss meant a totality, for Paul only a participation; Christ rejoiced in the kiss of the mouth, Paul only in that he was kissed by the kiss.

John 11:35 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 26

John 12:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

However, if we say that this invisible and spiritual ointment was symbolized by the visible ointment with which the sinful woman, as the Gospel describes, visibly anointed the corporeal feet of God, we cannot regard it as entirely worthless. For what do we read in the Gospel? "The house," it says, "was full of the scent of the ointment." It trickled from the hands of a courtesan, pouring over the feet, the body's extremities; and yet it was not so paltry, not so contemptible, as to prevent the house's being filled with the power of its aroma, the sweetness of its scent. So if we consider how great the fragrance with which the Church is perfumed in the conversion of one sinner, what a sweet smell of life leading to life each penitent can become! Provided that his repentance is wholehearted and visible to all, may we not with equal assurance say of him: "The house was full of the scent of the ointment." We can even say that this perfume of repentance reaches to the very abodes of the blessed in heaven because we have the witness of Truth itself that there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.

John 12:25 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 30

For what else sounded to you from the lecture hall of Christ, when just a little while ago it was proclaimed: "He who loves his soul shall lose it"? (Jn 12:25.) "He shall lose it," he said, whether by laying it down as a martyr, or by afflicting it as a penitent. Although it is a kind of martyrdom to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the spirit; milder indeed in horror than that in which the limbs are cut by the sword, but more troublesome by reason of its duration. Do you see that by this judgment of my Master the wisdom of the flesh is condemned, through which either one flows away into the excess of pleasure, or even a good state of bodily health is desired beyond what is fitting? Indeed, that true wisdom does not flow out into pleasures, you have heard from the Wise Man, that it is "not even to be found in the land of those who live pleasantly" (Job 28:13). But he who found it says: "Beyond health and all beauty I loved wisdom" (Wis 7:10). If beyond health and beauty, how much more beyond pleasure and baseness?

John 14:9 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

The bride has no doubt that if he will reveal himself to anybody, it will be to her. Therefore, she dares to ask for this kiss, actually for that Spirit in whom both the Father and the Son will reveal themselves to her. For it is not possible that one of these could be known without the other. That is why Christ said: "To have seen me is to have seen the Father;" and John in his turn: "No one who has the Father can deny the Son, and to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well." From these declarations it is clearly evident that the Father cannot be known apart from the Son, nor the Son apart from the Father.

John 14:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

John 14:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

But that this rather pertains to actual charity seems to appear most especially from this: that when the Lord had said, "Love your enemies," he at once adds concerning works: "Do good to those who hate you" (Lk 6:27). Likewise Scripture: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink" (Rom 12:20). And here you have what concerns act, not affection. But hear likewise the Lord commanding also concerning love of himself: "If you love me," he says, "keep my words" (Jn 14:15). And here too we are sent to works by the enjoined observance of commandments. But he would have warned about works superfluously, if love had already been in the affection.

John 14:23 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

So great is the condescension of the Word, so great the benevolence of the Father of the Word toward a well-disposed and well-ordered soul (which is itself the gift of the Father and the work of the Word), that the soul which they have preceded and prepared for themselves with such a blessing, they deign also to honor with their presence, and in such a way that they not only come to it, but also make their abode with it. For it does not suffice to show themselves, unless they also grant free access to themselves. What is it for the Word to come to a soul? To instruct it in wisdom. What is it for the Father to come? To dispose it to the love of wisdom, so that it can say: "I have become a lover of her beauty." To love is the Father's nature: and therefore the coming of the Father is proved from the love that has been poured in. What would instruction do without love? It would puff up. What would love do without instruction? It would go astray. If I should feel that understanding is being opened to me, so that I understand the Scriptures, or the word of wisdom as it were bubbling up from within, or the light poured in from above revealing mysteries, or indeed a certain most ample bosom of heaven being unfolded to me, and richer showers of meditations flowing in upon my mind from on high: I do not doubt that the Bridegroom is present. For these are the riches of the Word, and from his fullness we receive these things. But if at the same time there shall have poured itself in a certain humble yet rich devotion of intimate sprinkling, so that the love of recognized truth begets in me a certain necessary hatred of vanity and contempt for it, lest perhaps either knowledge puff up, or the frequency of visitations exalt me: then I feel assuredly that I am being dealt with in a fatherly manner, and I do not doubt that the Father is present. But if I shall have persevered in always responding, as far as it is in me, to this condescension with worthy affections and acts, and the grace of God with me shall not have been empty: then both the Father who nourishes and the Word who instructs shall make their abode with me also.

John 14:28 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

When the disciples were sad at the departure of their Master just before his ascension, after they had heard him talk about this subject, they heard him say: "If you loved me you would rejoice because I am going to the Father." How can he say this? Didn't they love him when his departure made them so sad? In a way they loved him, and in another way they did not. Their love was more tender than prudent, it was sensual but not reasonable; they loved with the whole heart but not with the whole soul. What they loved was not for their own welfare, and so he said to them: "It is good for you that I am going," correcting not their feelings but their foresight.

John 15:13 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

Later, robed with strength from on high according to the promise of Jesus Christ, Peter began to love with such strength that when forbidden by the Council to proclaim the holy Name, he boldly answered those who gave the order: "We must obey God rather than men." Then finally he attained the fullness of love, when for love's sake he would not spare even his own life. Truly "greater love than this no man has, than that he lay down his life for his friends." Even if Peter did not actually surrender his life then, he did offer it.

John 15:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

Nor is John the only one, it is true also of all to whom the Angel of the Great Counsel said: "I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father." Paul drank of it, because the Good News he preached is not a human message nor did he receive it through men, it is something he learned only through a revelation of Jesus Christ. All of these indeed could say with felicity and truth: "It is the only Son who is in the Father's bosom who has made it known to us." And this revelation -- what can you call it but a kiss? But it was the kiss of the kiss, not of the mouth.

John 16:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

They could not even bear to hear a word of his approaching passion and death, although this was to be their salvation. Even after it had all happened they could not gaze upon the glory of his ascension without deep sorrow. This is why Christ said to them: "Because I have said this to you sadness has filled your hearts." So it was only by his physical presence that their hearts were detached from carnal loves.

John 16:7 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

John 17:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

Rightly therefore did Christ point out that one achieves supreme happiness not by knowing any one of them, but by knowing both, when he said: "Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." As a consequence, those who follow the Lamb are said to have his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads, which is to be glorified by this twofold knowledge. But one of you may interpose and say: "Therefore knowledge of the Holy Spirit is not necessary, because when he said eternal life consisted of the knowledge of the Father and Son, he did not mention the Holy Spirit." True enough; but where there is perfect knowledge of the Father and the Son, how can there be ignorance of the goodness of both; which is the Holy Spirit? For no man has a complete knowledge of another until he finds out whether his will be good or evil. So, although it has been said: "Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent," still, if that act of mission demonstrates the good pleasure both of the Father lovingly sending his Son and of the Son freely obeying the Father, then the Holy Spirit is not passed over in complete silence, for he is implied in the mention of so immense a grace. The Holy Spirit indeed is nothing else but the love and the benign goodness of them both.

John 20:22 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

And hence the bride, although otherwise so audacious, does not dare to say: "Let him kiss me with his mouth," for she knows that this is the prerogative of the Father alone. What she does ask for is something less: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth." Do you wish to see the newly-chosen bride receiving this unprecedented kiss, given not by the mouth but by the kiss of the mouth? Then look at Jesus in the presence of his Apostles: "He breathed on them," according to St John, "and he said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" That favor, given to the newly-chosen Church, was indeed a kiss. That? you say. That corporeal breathing? O no, but rather the invisible Spirit, who is so bestowed in that breath of the Lord that he is understood to proceed from him equally as from the Father, truly the kiss that is common both to him who kisses and to him who is kissed. Hence the bride is satisfied to receive the kiss of the Bridegroom, though she be not kissed with his mouth. For her it is no mean or contemptible thing to be kissed by the kiss, because it is nothing less than the gift of the Holy Spirit. If, as is properly understood, the Father is he who kisses, the Son he who is kissed, then it cannot be wrong to see in the kiss the Holy Spirit, for he is the imperturbable peace of the Father and the Son, their unshakable bond, their undivided love, their indivisible unity.

Lamentations 4:20 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

Even though he took a body, his love was never sensual, but always in the wisdom of the Spirit. "A Spirit before our face is Christ the Lord," jealous of us but with the jealousy of God, not man, and certainly not like that of the first man, Adam, for Eve. So those whom he sought after in a body, he loved in the spirit and redeemed in power.

Luke 1:34 — Sermons, On The 'Missus Est', Homily IV

Thus animated to cast out fear by a spirit of faith, she said to the angel: "How shall this be done, for I know not man?" She doubts not the fact, but only inquires about the manner of its accomplishment. She says not "Will it be done?" but "How will this be done?" As if she would say: "Since my Lord knows, and my conscience bears me witness, that His handmaid has made a vow to know no man, by what law shall it please Him to work this wonder? If I must break my vow that I may bring forth such a Son, I rejoice on account of the Son, but I grieve because of my vow. Nevertheless, His will be done. If, however, as a Virgin I may bring forth this Son and it is not impossible if He so will it then I shall know that He hath had regard to the humility of His handmaid. How, then, shall this be done, for I know not man?"

Luke 2:24 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 59

Nor do groanings alone commend the turtledove; chastity also commends it. By the merit of this chastity indeed it was worthy to be given as an offering for the virginal birth. For so you have it: "A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons" (Lk 2:24). And although elsewhere indeed the Holy Spirit is usually designated by a dove; yet because it is a lustful bird, it was not fitting that it be offered in sacrifice to the Lord, except at that age when it would not know lust. But no age is specified for the turtledove, because its chastity is recognized at every age.

Luke 2:51 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 19

Have you not read in the Gospel what pattern of obedience the boy Jesus handed on to holy children? For when he had remained in Jerusalem and had said that he must be about the things that are his Father's, yet when his parents did not agree, he did not disdain to follow them to Nazareth—the Master following disciples, God following human beings, the Word and Wisdom following a carpenter and a woman. What? The sacred history even adds: "And he was," it says, "subject to them." How long will you be wise in your own eyes? God entrusts and subjects himself to mortals; and you still walk in your own ways?

Luke 6:27 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

Luke 14:9 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

For if we could clearly know in what state God holds each one of us, we should neither depart above nor below, acquiescing in the truth in all things. But now, because this counsel has placed darkness as its hiding place, and the word is hidden from us, so that no one knows whether he is worthy of love or of hatred, more justly and more safely surely, according to the counsel of Truth itself, we choose for ourselves the last place, from which afterward we may be led up higher with honor, than we presume a higher place, from which we must soon withdraw with shame. There is therefore no danger, however much you humble yourself, however much you think yourself less than you are, that is, less than the truth holds you to be. But it is a great evil and a dreadful danger if you exalt yourself even slightly beyond the truth, if in your thought you set yourself before even one person whom the truth perhaps judges to be your equal, or even your superior. For just as if you were passing through a doorway whose lintel, to speak so as to be understood, were too low, it would not harm you however much you stooped; but it would harm you if you raised yourself even a finger's breadth more than the measure of the door allows, so that you would strike and be bruised with your head battered; so in the soul there is plainly no humiliation however great to be feared, but rather the slightest self-exaltation rashly presumed is to be dreaded and exceedingly feared. Wherefore do not compare yourself, O man, to those greater, nor to those lesser, nor to any, nor to one. For what do you know, O man, whether that one person whom you perhaps consider the most vile and most miserable of all, whose most wicked and singularly foul life you shudder at, and on that account you think him to be despised not only in comparison with yourself, who perhaps already trust that you live soberly, and justly, and piously, but also in comparison with all other sinners as the most sinful of all -- what do you know, I say, whether by the change of the right hand of the Most High he is to be better than both you and them in himself, and indeed in God already is? And for this reason he willed us to choose not a middling place, not even the second to last, not even a place among the last, but: sit down, he says, in the last place; so that you alone sit as the last of all, and do not, I will not say place yourself before anyone, but do not presume even to compare yourself to anyone.

Luke 14:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

Luke 15:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

So if we consider how great the fragrance with which the Church is perfumed in the conversion of one sinner, what a sweet smell of life leading to life each penitent can become! Provided that his repentance is wholehearted and visible to all, may we not with equal assurance say of him: "The house was full of the scent of the ointment." We can even say that this perfume of repentance reaches to the very abodes of the blessed in heaven because we have the witness of Truth itself that there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner. Rejoice then, you penitents; do not be afraid, you fainthearted ones.

Matthew 1:18 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 78

We read of Mary that "she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:18). But I think the bride of the Lord has something similar in this respect to his mother. For unless she also had been found as having from the Holy Spirit, she would by no means have so familiarly inquired from those who found her concerning him whose Spirit that is. She did not wait for them to declare for what purpose they had come; she herself spoke, and indeed from the abundance of the heart: "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" She knew that blessed were the eyes that had seen, and marveling at those who had seen, she was saying: Are you those to whom it was given to see him whom so many kings and prophets wished to see and did not see? Are you those who merited to behold Wisdom in the flesh, Truth in a body, God in a man?

Matthew 7:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

It is not, I think, that such a soul should any longer be afraid to say: "My beloved to me"; for from the fact that it feels itself loving, and loving vehemently, it does not doubt that it is loved no less vehemently in return; and from its own singular intention, solicitude, care, effort, diligence, and zeal, with which it incessantly and ardently watches over how to please God, it recognizes without doubt all these same things equally in him, remembering his promise: "In what measure you shall have measured, it shall be measured to you again"; except that the prudent Bride is more cautious in drawing the requital of grace to her own side, knowing that she was rather preceded by the beloved. Hence it is that she puts forward his work first: "My beloved," she says, "to me, and I to him." Therefore from her own dispositions she recognizes what is in God; nor does she doubt that she is loved, she who loves.

Matthew 7:12 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

So it is necessary that you also receive in this way the command that you love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:39), even if it is not so openly expressed. Or do you not finally judge it sufficient for fulfilling this commandment concerning love of neighbor, if you perfectly observe that which is rightly prescribed to every man by the law of nature: "What you do not wish done to you, do not do to another"? (Tob 4:16.) And likewise: "Whatever you wish that men should do to you, do also to them" (Mt 7:12).

Matthew 9:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 59

For while each holy soul was sighing for the presence of Christ, bearing with difficulty the delay of the kingdom, greeting from afar the desired homeland with groans and sighs: does it not seem to you that any soul that had so acted on earth was fulfilling the role of the groaning and most chaste turtledove? From that time therefore and henceforth the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. Why should not the absence of Christ move me to frequent tears and daily groaning! "Lord, before you is all my desire, and my groaning is not hidden from you" (Ps 37:10). "I have labored in my groaning," you know; but blessed is he who was able to say: "I will wash my bed every night, with my tears I will drench my couch" (Ps 6:7). And not only for me, but also for all who love his coming, these groanings have been experienced. For this is what he himself was saying. "Can the sons of the bridegroom mourn," he says, "as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they will mourn" (Mt 9:15); as if he were saying: And then the voice of the turtledove will be heard.

Matthew 10:37 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

The measure of such love is this: its sweetness seizes the whole heart, and draws it completely from the love of all flesh and every sensual pleasure. Really this is what it means to love with the whole heart. If I prefer to the humanity of my Lord someone joined to me by ties of blood, or some sensual pleasure, this would obviously prove that I do not love with my whole heart since it is divided between its own interests and the love of the one who taught me as a man, both by his words and examples. Would I not seem to give my love partly to him and partly to my own? As he once said: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." To put it briefly, to love with the whole heart means to put the love of his sacred humanity before everything that tempts us, from within or without. Among these temptations we must also count the glory of the world, because its glory is that of the flesh, and those who delight in it without a doubt are men of the flesh.

Matthew 10:39 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 30

Everyone who is perfect will be able to say: "My own vineyard I have not kept"; in that sense, indeed, in which the Savior speaks in the Gospel, "Whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it" (Mt 10:39). Fit indeed and worthy to be set as keeper in the vineyards is he whom the care of his own vineyard does not impede or delay from the diligence and solicitude of those committed to him; while he does not seek the things that are his own, nor what is useful to himself, but what is useful to many. For this reason indeed that care was entrusted to Peter in so many vineyards which were of the circumcision, because the man was prepared to go both "to prison and to death" (Lk 22:33), to such a degree was he not held back by love of his own vineyard, that is, of his own soul, from attending to the care of those entrusted to him. Deservedly also to Paul among the Gentiles was entrusted so vast a forest of vineyards, because he too was found to be by no means anxious in the custody of his own vineyard; so that he was prepared not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem "for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 21:13). Finally: "I fear none of these things," he says, "nor do I make my soul more precious than myself" (Acts 20:24). An excellent appraiser of things, who judges that nothing of his own should be preferred to himself.

Matthew 16:19 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

Peter therefore shall enter, who received the keys. Yet not alone: for he will also introduce me, if he shall have willed it, and will exclude another whom perhaps he shall have willed, in the knowledge and power given to him from above. And what are these keys? The power of opening and closing, and the discernment between those to be excluded and those to be admitted. And the treasures are not in the serpent, but in Christ. And therefore the serpent could not give the knowledge which he did not have; but he who had it, gave it. Nor indeed could the serpent have the power which he did not receive; but he who received it, had it. Christ gave, Peter received, and was neither puffed up by the knowledge, nor to be cast down on account of the power. Why? Because in neither does he exalt himself against the knowledge of God, who desired none of these things apart from the knowledge of God.

Matthew 16:23 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

When he was speaking about his approaching death, Peter who loved him so dearly, tried to stand in the way. When, as you remember, he rebuked him, what was it but his imprudence that he was correcting? Finally what did he mean in saying: "You do not mind the things of God," except: you do not love wisely, you are following your human feeling in opposition to the divine plan. He even called him Satan because although it was in ignorance, he was impeding salvation in trying to prevent the Savior's death.

Matthew 16:25 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 30

And indeed more prudently do you lose it in order to keep it, than keep it in order to lose it. "For whoever would save his soul, shall lose it" (Mt 16:25). What do you say here, you observers of foods, neglecters of character? Hippocrates and his followers teach to save souls in this world; Christ and his disciples, to lose them. Which of the two do you choose to follow as master? But he makes himself obvious who argues thus: this harms the eyes, this harms the head, and that harms the chest or the stomach. Certainly each one brings forth into the open what he has learned from his own master. Have you read these distinctions in the Gospel, or in the prophets, or in the letters of the apostles? "Flesh and blood have surely revealed this wisdom to you, not the Spirit of the Father"; for this is "the wisdom of the flesh." But hear what our physicians think of it. "The wisdom of the flesh," they say, "is death"; likewise: "The wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God" (Rom 8:6-7). Ought I to have set before you the opinion of Hippocrates or Galen, or surely from the school of Epicurus? I am a disciple of Christ; I speak to disciples of Christ: if I introduce a foreign doctrine, I myself have sinned. Epicurus and Hippocrates, the one puts forward the pleasure of the body, the other good physical condition; my Master preaches contempt for both. The life of the soul in the body, which the one with utmost zeal inquires whence to sustain, the other whence even to delight, and teaches others to inquire, the Savior counsels even to lose.

Matthew 19:12 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 59

From these things it is gathered that the voice of the turtledove is also the preaching of chastity. For in the beginning this voice was not heard on earth, but rather that one: "Increase and multiply and fill the earth" (Gen 1:28). In vain indeed would the voice of chastity have sounded, when the homeland of those rising again had not yet been revealed: in which far more happily "men will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven" (Lk 20:35-36). You would say that there was a time for that voice, when every barren woman in Israel was subject to a curse, when the Patriarchs themselves had several wives at the same time, when a brother was compelled by the law to raise up offspring for a brother who had died without children. But when the commendation of those eunuchs "who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of God" (Mt 19:12) sounded from the mouth of the heavenly turtledove; and likewise the counsel of another, that same most chaste turtledove, concerning virgins everywhere prevailed (1 Cor 7:25), then for the first time it could be truly said, that "the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land."

Matthew 19:27 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

Notice that the love of the heart is, in a certain sense, carnal, because our hearts are attracted most toward the humanity of Christ and the things he did or commanded while in the flesh. The heart that is filled with this love is quickly touched by every word on this subject. Nothing else is as pleasant to listen to, or is read with as much interest, nothing is as frequently in remembrance or as sweet in reflection. I think this is the principal reason why the invisible God willed to be seen in the flesh and to converse with men as a man. He wanted to recapture the affections of carnal men who were unable to love in any other way, by first drawing them to the salutary love of his own humanity, and then gradually to raise them to a spiritual love. Were they not at just this level when they said: "See, we have left everything and have followed you"? It was only by the love of his physical presence that they had left everything.

Matthew 20:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

Matthew 22:37 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

But affectual charity is not so: for it draws its order from the first things. For it is wisdom, through which certainly each thing savors as it is: so that, for example, what is of greater value by nature, the affection itself also feels to be of greater value; lesser things less, the least things least. And that order of charity truth makes; but this order the charity of truth claims for itself. For charity is true in this also, that those who are in greater need receive first: and in turn in this truth appears dear, if we hold in affection the order which truth holds by reason. If therefore you love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole strength (Mt 22:37); and leaping beyond that love of love, with which actual charity is content, by a more fervent affection, you receive at close range the divine love itself, toward which that is a step, having received the Spirit in fullness, and wholly catch fire: God surely savors to you, even if not altogether worthily as he is (which indeed is impossible for every creature), yet certainly as your capacity for savoring is. Then you will also savor to yourself as you are, when you perceive that you have absolutely nothing for which you may love yourself except insofar as you are God's: since you have poured out the whole of that for which you love, into him. You will savor, I say, to yourself as you are, when by the very experience of your love, and the affection which you will have toward yourself, you find that you are worthy of nothing that might be loved by you yourself, except on account of him, without whom you yourself are nothing.

Matthew 22:39 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

Philippians 2:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80

You have indeed concerning him who is the image, that "being in the form of God, he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God." Where certainly both his rectitude in the form of God, and his majesty in the equality, are indicated to you: so that when rectitude is compared to rectitude, and greatness to greatness, that which is to the image and the image may appear to correspond to each other harmoniously on both sides; just as the image also no less corresponds in both respects to him whose image it is. For he is the one of whom you have heard holy David singing in the psalms, now indeed: "Great is our Lord, and great is his power"; and now: "The Lord our God is upright, and there is no iniquity in him." From this upright and great God, his image has it that it too is upright and great: the soul has it, which is to the image.

Philippians 2:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

"Lord, who is like you?" Who, if not the brightness and figure of your substance? Who, if not your image? He alone in your form, he alone did not consider it robbery to be equal to you, the Most High Son of the Most High. How is he not equal? Indeed you and he are one. His seat is at your right hand, not beneath your feet. How does anyone dare to invade the place of your Only-begotten? Let him be cast down. He sets his seat on high; let the seat of pestilence be overturned.

Philippians 3:13 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

There is a charity in act, and there is one in affection. And concerning that which is of work, I think the law was given to men and a commandment was formed: for who so possesses it in affection as it is commanded? Therefore the one is commanded for merit, the other is given as a reward. We do not deny that divine grace can grant its beginning indeed, and its progress, to be experienced even in the present life; but its consummation we firmly reserve for future happiness. How then was it right to command what was in no way to be fulfilled? Or if it pleases you more that the commandment was given concerning affectual charity, I do not contend about that, provided that you too agree with me that it could in no way be fulfilled in this life by any man, or could have been. For who would dare arrogate to himself that which Paul himself confesses he has not comprehended? (Phil 3:13.) Nor was the weight of the precept, exceeding the powers of men, hidden from the teacher; but he judged it useful that they be reminded of their own insufficiency from this very thing, and that they might know clearly toward what end of righteousness they ought to strive with their powers. Therefore by commanding impossible things he did not make men transgressors, but humble, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be made subject to God; because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before him (Rom 3:19-20). For receiving the commandment, and feeling our transgression, we shall cry out to heaven, and God will have mercy on us: and we shall know in that day, that not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us (Titus 3:5).

Proverbs 8:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

For indeed he says: "I love those who love me, and those who watch for me at dawn will find me." You see how he not only makes you certain of his love, if indeed you love him, but also of his solicitude, which he bears for you, if he has perceived you solicitous for him. Do you watch? He also watches. Rise up in the night at the beginning of your watches, hasten to anticipate even the watches themselves as much as you will; you will find him, you will not precede him. Rashly in such a matter you attribute to yourself something either prior or greater; he both loves more and loved before.

Proverbs 9:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80

Having taken occasion from the difference between the image and the soul which is made to the image, I thought it worthwhile to make this excursus, so that if any perhaps have at some time drunk something from stolen waters, which seem sweeter, having taken the antidote, they may vomit it up, and with the stomach of the mind purged, approaching what remains to be said concerning the likeness according to our promise, they may now draw purer things in joy not from our own, but from the fountains of the Savior, the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God blessed above all things forever.

Proverbs 31:31 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

Psalms 18:25 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

The love of God begets the love of the soul, and his preceding intention makes the soul intent, and his solicitude makes it solicitous. For I know not by what closeness of nature, once the soul shall have been able to behold the glory of God with face unveiled, it is necessary that it soon be conformed to it and transformed into the same image. Therefore, as you shall have prepared yourself for God, so it is necessary that God appear to you. "With the holy he will be holy, and with the innocent man he will be innocent." Why not equally with one who loves, a lover; and with one who is at leisure, at leisure; and with one who is intent, intent; and solicitous with one who is solicitous?

Psalms 18:45 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80

And so through the greatness which it retains even when uprightness is lost, man passes through as an image, limping as it were on one foot, and become an alien son. For of such I believe it was said: "The alien sons have lied to me, the alien sons have grown old, and they have limped from their paths." Fittingly they are called alien sons: for sons, on account of the greatness they have retained; aliens, on account of the uprightness they have lost. Nor would he have said "they limped," but rather "they fell," or something similar, if men had entirely put off the image.

Psalms 34:8 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

Nor do I say this so that we should be without affection, and with a dry heart move only our hands to works. I have read among the other great and grievous evils of men which the Apostle writes, this also numbered: namely to be without affection (Rom 1:31). But there is an affection which the flesh begets; and there is one which reason rules; and there is one which wisdom seasons. The first is that which the Apostle says is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be (Rom 8:7); the second is that which he affirms on the other hand to be consenting to the law of God, because it is good (Rom 7:16); nor is there any doubt that the contentious and the consenting differ from each other. But the third is far distant from both, which both tastes and savors that the Lord is sweet (Ps 34:8), eliminating the first and rewarding the second. For the first indeed is sweet, but base; the second is dry, but strong; the last is rich, and sweet.

Psalms 38:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80

And thence that lamentable voice from the psalm belongs to the wretched man bending himself down and brooding over the things that are upon the earth: "I am made wretched and bowed down utterly; all the day long I went about in sadness." In himself indeed he experiences the truth of that sentence of the Wise Man: "God made man upright, but he has entangled himself in many sorrows." And immediately the voice of mockery comes to him: "Bow down, that we may pass over."

Psalms 39:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

Psalms 39:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80

The soul is great in that it is capable of eternal things, and upright in that it desires heavenly things: the soul which does not seek or savor the things that are above, but the things that are upon the earth, is plainly not upright, but crooked, even though on account of this it does not cease to be great, remaining as it does even so capable of eternity. For it will never at any time not be capable of eternity, even if it never shall have been actually possessing it, so that it may be as it is written: "Surely man passes through as an image"; yet only in part, so that the eminence of the Word may be apparent from its very wholeness. For in what respect could the Word fall from being great or upright, since it so possesses these things that it is what it has? Or it is in part for this reason: lest, if the soul were deprived of the whole, no hope of salvation would remain. For if it should cease to be great, it would also cease to be capable. For the greatness of the soul, as I said, is estimated from its capacity. But what could it hope for, of which it were not capable? And so through the greatness which it retains even when uprightness is lost, man passes through as an image, limping as it were on one foot, and become an alien son. For of such I believe it was said: "The alien sons have lied to me, the alien sons have grown old, and they have limped from their paths." Fittingly they are called alien sons: for sons, on account of the greatness they have retained; aliens, on account of the uprightness they have lost. Nor would he have said "they limped," but rather "they fell," or something similar, if men had entirely put off the image. But as things stand, according to greatness indeed man passes through as an image; but as far as uprightness is concerned, as one limping, he is troubled and cast down from the image, Scripture speaking thus: "Surely man passes through as an image; but indeed he is troubled in vain." In vain altogether: for it follows: "He heaps up treasure, and knows not for whom he gathers it." Why does he not know, unless because, bending himself down to these lowest and earthly things, he heaps up earth for himself? Assuredly he does not know, concerning those things which he commits to the earth, for whom he gathers them: whether for the moth that destroys, or for the thief that digs through; for the enemy that plunders, or for the fire that devours.

Psalms 45:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

For the favor of the kiss bears with it a twofold gift, the light of knowledge and the fervor of devotion. He is in truth the Spirit of wisdom and insight, who, like the bee carrying its burden of wax and honey, is fully equipped with the power both of kindling the light of knowledge and infusing the delicious nurture of grace. Two kinds of people therefore may not consider themselves to have been gifted with the kiss, those who know the truth without loving it, and those who love it without understanding it; from which we conclude that this kiss leaves room neither for ignorance nor for lukewarmness. So therefore, let the bride about to receive the twofold grace of this most holy kiss set her two lips in readiness, her reason for the gift of insight, her will for that of wisdom, so that overflowing with joy in the fullness of this kiss, she may be privileged to hear the words: "Your lips are moist with grace, for God has blessed you forever."

Psalms 45:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

But we have witness too from the Father, how lovingly and how courteously he gives her the name of daughter, and nevertheless invites her as his daughter-in-law to the sweet caresses of his Son: "Listen, daughter, pay careful attention: forget your nation and your ancestral home, then the king will fall in love with your beauty." See then from whom this bride demands a kiss. O soul called to holiness, make sure that your attitude is respectful, for he is the Lord your God, who perhaps ought not to be kissed, but rather adored with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalms 45:11 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

Psalms 50:23 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

For this ointment is made from the gifts of God bestowed on the human race. Happy the man who makes it his business to gather these carefully for himself and keep them in mind with due thanksgiving. When they shall have been pounded and refined in the heart's receptacle with the pestle of frequent meditation, all of them fused together in the fire of holy desire, and finally enriched with the oil of gladness, you will have an ointment more excellent than the former, and far more precious. Enough proof can be found in the words of him who said: "Whoever makes thanksgiving his sacrifice honors me." No one doubts that the recalling of favors is an incentive to praise. Furthermore, since the only thing that Scripture says of the former ointment is that God does not despise it, it follows that the second one, which especially glorifies him, is the more highly commended. Therefore the former is applied to the feet, the latter to the head. St Paul says: "God is the head of Christ," so in speaking of Christ we may understand the head as referring to his divinity, and it is beyond doubt that he who offers thanks anoints the head, because he makes contact with God, not man. I do not mean that he who is God is not also man, for the one Christ is both God and man; I mean that all things which are good, even those of which man is the agent, really come from God rather than man. "It is the spirit," we are told, "that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer." Hence there is a curse on the man who puts his trust in man, for although our whole hope rightly depends on God made man, it is not because he is man but because he is God. Therefore the first ointment is applied to the feet, the second to the head, because the humiliation of a broken heart fittingly corresponds to the lowliness of the flesh, and honor is owed to majesty. See then what an ointment I have been describing for you, with which he before whom even the Principalities stand in awe, does not disdain to be anointed on the head. Rather does he regard it as a matter of signal honor, for he says: "Whoever makes thanksgiving his sacrifice honors me."

Psalms 51:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

A soul entangled in many sins can prepare for itself a certain ointment once it begins to reflect on its behavior, and collects its many and manifold sins, hems them together and crushes them in the mortar of its conscience. It cooks them, as it were, within a breast that boils up like a pot over the fire of repentance and sorrow. Here then is one ointment which the sinful soul should provide at the beginning of its conversion and apply to its still smarting wounds, for the first sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. And even though the sinner be poor and in want, devoid of the means to compound a better and more precious ointment, let him make sure in the meantime to prepare at least this one, no matter how degenerate the materials, because God will not scorn this crushed and broken heart. The more despicable he believes his offering to be because of his consciousness of sin, the more acceptable it will appear to God.

Psalms 92:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80

Psalms 111:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

No one is saved without knowledge of himself, from which indeed the mother of salvation, humility, arises, and the fear of the Lord, which itself, just as it is the beginning of wisdom, so also is the beginning of salvation. No one, I say, is saved without that knowledge, who yet has the age and faculty of knowing. This I say on account of little children and the mentally deficient, whose case is different. What if you are ignorant of God? Can there be hope of salvation with ignorance of God? Not even this. For you can neither love one whom you do not know, nor possess one whom you have not loved. Know yourself therefore, that you may fear God; know him, that you may likewise appease him. In the one you are initiated into wisdom, in the other you are also brought to perfection, because the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and the fullness of the law is love. Both ignorances therefore must be guarded against by you, just as without the fear and love of God salvation cannot exist. The rest are indifferent, having neither salvation if they are known, nor damnation if they are not known.

Psalms 122:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

But shall the hope of so great a joy be without joy? Rejoicing in hope, says the Apostle. And David said not that he would rejoice but that he had rejoiced, because he hoped he would go into the house of the Lord. He did not yet hold life, but he had assuredly reaped the hope of life; and he was experiencing in himself the truth of the Scripture that testifies that not only the reward but the very expectation of the just is joy.

Psalms 126:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

Whoever among you therefore, after those bitter and tearful beginnings of his conversion, rejoices that he has breathed again into hope and, lifted up on the wings of grace, has flown forth into a certain serenity of heavenly consolation; he indeed already reaps, receiving the temporal fruit of his tears; and he himself has seen God and has heard the voice of him who says: Give to her from the fruits of her hands. For how has he not seen God, who has tasted and seen that the Lord is sweet? How sweet and gentle you were felt to be, Lord Jesus, by him to whom not only were his sins forgiven by you, but also the gift of holiness was granted; and not that alone, but moreover the promise of eternal life was added to the heap of good things! Happy is he who has already reaped so much, having in the meantime indeed his fruit in sanctification, but the end eternal life! Rightly he who wept upon finding himself rejoiced upon seeing the Lord; at whose merciful regard he has already lifted up such great sheaves: remission, sanctification, hope of life. O how true is the word that is read in the Prophet: They that sow in tears shall reap in exultation. Where both kinds of knowledge are briefly comprehended: the knowledge of ourselves indeed sowing in tears; but the knowledge of God reaping in joy.

Psalms 126:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

Good works are the seeds, good pursuits are the seeds; tears are the seeds. They went, he says, and wept, casting their seeds. But what? Shall they weep forever? Far from it! But they shall come with exultation, carrying their sheaves. Rightly with exultation, when they carry back the sheaves of glory. This, you say, will be at the resurrection on the last day, and the waiting is too long. Do not be broken in spirit, do not fail from faintheartedness of spirit; you have in the meantime from the first fruits of the Spirit what you may reap in exultation for the present. Sow, he says, for yourselves unto justice, reap the hope of life. He does not send you now to the last day, when the thing will already be in reality and not in hope; but he speaks of the present. Truly great is the joy and much and exceedingly great the exultation, when life shall have come.

Psalms 127:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

He whose gaze is held by the darkness cannot see the light. Bitterness holds him in its grip, the unpleasant recollection of his sins preoccupies his memory to the exclusion of every joyful thought. It is to souls like this that the Prophet says: "It is vain for you to rise before light." He points out that it is useless for you to aspire to the contemplation of truths that give delight, until the sins that disquiet you have been blotted out in the light of consolation.

Psalms 139:21 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

Now indeed your neighbor, whom you are truly bound to love as yourself, that he too may savor to you as he is, will surely savor to you no differently than you to yourself, who is what you are: for he is a man. You therefore who love yourself only because you love God; consequently all who similarly love him, you love as yourself. Furthermore an enemy, since he is nothing, inasmuch as he does not love God: he cannot indeed be loved as yourself, who love God; yet you will love him so that he may love. But it is not the same thing, to love so that he may love, and to love because he loves. Accordingly that he too may savor to you as he is, he will savor to you, not indeed for what he is, since he is certainly nothing; but for what he perhaps will be in the future -- which is close to nothing, inasmuch as it still hangs in doubt. For concerning one of whom it is established that he will never return to the love of God, he must savor to you not close to nothing, but altogether nothing, inasmuch as he is nothing for eternity. That one therefore excepted, who is now not only not to be loved, but moreover to be held in hatred, according to that: "Did I not hate those who hated you, O Lord, and waste away on account of your enemies?" (Ps 139:21.) For the rest, charity -- rightly ambitious in this respect -- permits that not even the most hostile man be denied some small measure of affection. Who is wise, and will understand these things?

Psalms 147:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80

Revelation 21:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 78

Plainly, her whom he foreknew from eternity, whom he chose, whom he loved, whom he created, it was not reasonable for her to be declared found by the same one. Yet that she was prepared by him so that she might be found, I will say confidently. For he who saw bore witness, "and we know that his testimony is true" (Jn 19:35). "I saw," he says, "the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending from heaven, prepared by God as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev 21:2): and he was one of the watchmen who guard the city.

Romans 2:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

Woe also to those who are of Adam, who, born children of wrath, by diabolical obstinacy turn for themselves wrath into fury, the rod into a staff, nay into a hammer. For indeed they treasure up wrath for themselves in the day of wrath. But wrath accumulated—what is it but fury? They have sinned the sin of the devil, and they are struck down by the sentence of the devil.

Romans 3:20 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

Romans 5:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

Furthermore, this revelation which is made through the Holy Spirit, not only conveys the light of knowledge but also lights the fire of love, as St Paul again testifies: "The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us." And that is perhaps the reason why, in the case of those who, knowing God, yet refused to honor him as God, we do not read that they knew by a revelation of the Holy Spirit; for even though they possessed knowledge they did not love. As St Paul states: "God has shown himself to them," but he does not add: "through the Holy Spirit," lest those impious minds should usurp to themselves the kiss of the bride. They were content with the knowledge that gives self-importance, but ignorant of the love that makes the building grow.

Romans 5:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 19

When the bride received the gift poured into her, they at once perceived the fragrance—they who could by no means be far from the mother; and filled with that sweetness they say: "The love of God has been poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Therefore the bride, commending their devotion, says: "This, O bridegroom, is the fruit of your poured-forth name, that therefore the young maidens have loved you." For they perceive it as poured forth, since they could not grasp it whole; therefore they have loved you. For the pouring forth makes the name graspable, the grasping makes it lovable—but only for the young maidens. Those who are more capacious rejoice in it whole, and have no need of the pouring forth.

Romans 5:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

When therefore this twofold knowledge has gone before in us, knowledge that may perhaps have grown up afterward does not at all puff up, since it can bring nothing of earthly advantage or honor that is not indeed inferior to the hope conceived, and to the joy of hope already more deeply rooted in the soul. But hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Therefore that hope does not put to shame, because this love pours in certainty. For through this love the Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are children of God. What then could come to us from our knowledge, however great, that would not be less than this glory, by which we are numbered among the children of God? I have said too little: not even the world itself and its fullness can be regarded in comparison with it, even if the whole of it should fall to any one of us as a possession.

Romans 5:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

He was not returning love but freely offering it. For who had given him anything first, that it should be returned to him? "Not that we had loved him, but that he first loved us." He loved us even before we existed, and in addition he loved us when we resisted him. According to the witness of St Paul: "Even when we were still his enemies we were reconciled to God through the blood of his Son." If he had not loved his enemies, he could not have had any friends, just as he would have had no one to love if he had not loved those who were not.

Romans 7:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

Romans 7:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 30

"When I say 'me,'" he says, "understand that which is more excellent in me, in which I also stand by the grace of God, that is, the mind and reason. When I speak of 'my soul,' take it in the lower sense, that which you see accommodated to animating the flesh, and even joined to it in concupiscence. That I was this, but now am no longer, I acknowledge, because I no longer walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit" (Rom 8:4). "I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). According to the mind, I; according to the flesh, not I. For what if the soul even now desires carnally? "It is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me" (Rom 7:17). And therefore I would call what in me savors carnally not indeed myself, but nevertheless mine, and that nothing other than the soul itself. For truly the carnal affection of the soul is a portion of it, and the life which it administers to the body.

Romans 8:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 78

Without which veil indeed of universal confusion no one of the sons of men entered this life, with one assuredly excepted, who enters without stain. Emmanuel he is, who nevertheless himself also, being from us, for our sakes clothed himself in the likeness, not the reality, of our curse and our sin. For thus you have it, that "he appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, so that from sin he might condemn sin in the flesh" (Rom 8:3). For the rest, the entrance is one for all in all respects, for the elect, I say, and the reprobate. For there is no distinction. All have sinned, and all wear the hood of their shame. On account of this therefore, even though the Church already existed as created among created things, not even so could she be found or recognized by any creature, meanwhile lying hidden in a wondrous twofold manner, both within the bosom of blessed predestination and within the mass of wretched damnation.

Romans 8:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 30

"Flesh and blood have surely revealed this wisdom to you, not the Spirit of the Father"; for this is "the wisdom of the flesh." But hear what our physicians think of it. "The wisdom of the flesh," they say, "is death"; likewise: "The wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God" (Rom 8:6-7). Ought I to have set before you the opinion of Hippocrates or Galen, or surely from the school of Epicurus? I am a disciple of Christ; I speak to disciples of Christ: if I introduce a foreign doctrine, I myself have sinned. Epicurus and Hippocrates, the one puts forward the pleasure of the body, the other good physical condition; my Master preaches contempt for both. The life of the soul in the body, which the one with utmost zeal inquires whence to sustain, the other whence even to delight, and teaches others to inquire, the Savior counsels even to lose. For what else sounded to you from the lecture hall of Christ, when just a little while ago it was proclaimed: "He who loves his soul shall lose it"? (Jn 12:25.) "He shall lose it," he said, whether by laying it down as a martyr, or by afflicting it as a penitent. Although it is a kind of martyrdom to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the spirit; milder indeed in horror than that in which the limbs are cut by the sword, but more troublesome by reason of its duration. Do you see that by this judgment of my Master the wisdom of the flesh is condemned, through which either one flows away into the excess of pleasure, or even a good state of bodily health is desired beyond what is fitting?

Romans 8:7 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 30

Romans 8:7 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

Romans 8:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

Romans 8:26 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 59

But if many are groaning, what does the mention of one signify? "The voice of the turtledove," it says. Why not "of turtledoves"? Perhaps the Apostle resolves this, where he says that "the Spirit himself intercedes for the saints with unutterable groanings" (Rom 8:26). So it is. He himself is introduced as groaning, who makes others groan. And however many they be whom you hear groaning thus, the voice of one sounds through the lips of all. Why not his, who forms that very voice in the mouth of each according to the needs of each? Finally, "to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for profit" (1 Cor 12:7). His own voice makes each one manifest and indicates his presence. And hear from the Gospel, that the Holy Spirit has a voice. "The Spirit," he says, "breathes where he wills, and you hear his voice; and you do not know whence he comes or where he goes" (Jn 3:8). Even if that one did not know, who, a dead teacher, was teaching the dead the letter that kills; let us know, who, having been translated from death to life through the life-giving Spirit, prove by certain and daily experience, with him illuminating us, that our prayers and groanings come from him, and go to him, and there find mercy in the eyes of God. For when would God make void the voice of his own Spirit? But he himself knows what the Spirit desires, because he intercedes according to God for the saints.

Romans 10:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

What would instruction do without love? It would puff up. What would love do without instruction? It would go astray. Indeed they were going astray, those of whom it was said: "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." It does not befit the Bride of the Word to be foolish; moreover, the Father does not tolerate one who is puffed up. For the Father loves the Son, and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of the Word, he always has at hand to cast down and to destroy.

Romans 12:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 19

God is Wisdom, and he wills to be loved not only sweetly but also wisely. Whence the Apostle says: "Let your worship be rational." Otherwise the spirit of error will most easily deceive your zeal, if you neglect knowledge; nor does the cunning enemy have a more effective device for removing love from the heart than if he can bring it about that one walks in it carelessly and not with reason.

Romans 12:12 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

Romans 12:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

The mouth of Paul is a mighty and unfailing fountain, ever open to us all; and as I have often done before, so now too I draw from its resources in my attempt to interpret the breasts of the bride. "Rejoice," he said, "with those who rejoice, and be sad with those who sorrow." In these few words we find the description of a mother's affections, because she shares both health and sickness with her children. She cannot avoid being conformed to them in the depths of her being in these experiences. Therefore, following Paul's guidance, I shall assign these two affective movements to the bride's two breasts, compassion to one, joyful sympathy to the other. For if she were not prompt to rejoice with those who rejoice, and ready to be sad with those who sorrow, her breasts would still be undeveloped; she would be no more than a girl too immature to marry. Should a person devoid of these affective qualities be confided with the direction of souls, or the work of preaching, he will do no good to others and great harm to himself.

Romans 12:20 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

Romans 13:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

SIR 1:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

Consider therefore now with me how great the care and solicitude with which we ought to repel from ourselves both these ignorances, of which the one begets the beginning of every sin, the other the consummation; just as of the two kinds of knowledge on the other side, the one begets the beginning of wisdom, the other the perfection: the one the fear of the Lord, the other love. But this concerning the two kinds of knowledge was shown above. Now see concerning the ignorances. For just as the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, so the beginning of all sin is pride; and just as the love of God claims for itself the perfection of wisdom, so despair claims for itself the full consummation of all wickedness. And just as from knowledge of yourself the fear of God comes into you, and from knowledge of God the love of God likewise; so on the contrary, from ignorance of yourself comes pride, and from ignorance of God comes despair.

SIR 10:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

Song of Songs 1:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 1

SERMON 1 ON THE TITLE OF THE BOOK The instructions that I address to you, my brothers, will differ from those I should deliver to people in the world, at least the manner will be different. The preacher who desires to follow St Paul's method of teaching will give them milk to drink rather than solid food, and will serve a more nourishing diet to those who are spiritually enlightened: "We teach," he said, "not in the way philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us: we teach spiritual things spiritually." And again: "We have a wisdom to offer those who have reached maturity," in whose company, I feel assured, you are to be found, unless in vain have you prolonged your study of divine teaching, mortified your senses, and meditated day and night on God's law. Be ready then to feed on bread rather than milk. Solomon has bread to give that is splendid and delicious, the bread of that book called "The Song of Songs." Let us bring it forth then if you please, and break it. 2. Now, unless I am mistaken, by the grace of God you have understood quite well from the book of Ecclesiastes how to recognize and have done with the false promise of this world. And then the book of Proverbs - has not your life and your conduct been sufficiently amended and enlightened by the doctrine it inculcates ? These are two loaves of which it has been your pleasure to taste, loaves you have welcomed as coming from the cupboard of a friend. Now approach for this third loaf that, if possible, you may always recognize what is best. Since there are two evils that comprise the only, or at least the main, enemies of the soul: a misguided love of the world and an excessive love of self, the two books previously mentioned can provide an antidote to each of these infections. One uproots pernicious habits of mind and body with the hoe of self-control. The other, by the use of enlightened reason, quickly perceives a delusive tinge in all that the world holds glorious, truly distinguishing between it and deeper truth. Moreover, it causes the fear of God and the observance of his commandments to be preferred to all human pursuits and worldly desires. And rightly so, for the former is the beginning of wisdom, the latter its culmination, for there is no true and consummate wisdom other than the avoidance of evil and the doing of good, no one can successfully shun evil without the fear of God, and no work is good without the observance of the commandments. 3. Taking it then these two evils have been warded off by the reading of choice books, we may suitably proceed with this holy and contemplative discourse which, as the fruit of the other two, may be delivered only to well prepared ears and minds. Before the flesh has been tamed and the spirit set free by zeal for truth, before the world's glamour and entanglements have been firmly repudiated, it is a rash enterprise on any man's part to presume to study spiritual doctrines. Just as a light is flashed in vain on closed or sightless eyes, so "an unspiritual person cannot accept anything of the Spirit of God.'' For "the Holy Spirit of instruction shuns what is false," and that is what the life of the intemperate man is. Nor will he ever have a part with the pretensions of the world, since he is the Spirit of Truth. How can there be harmony between the wisdom that comes down from above and the wisdom of the world, which is foolishness to God, or the wisdom of the flesh which is at enmity with God? I am sure that the friend who comes to us on his travels will have no reason to murmur against us after he has shared in this third loaf. 4. But who is going to divide this loaf? The Master of the house is present, it is the Lord you must see in the breaking of the bread. For who else could more fittingly do it ? It is a task that I would not dare to arrogate to myself. So look upon me as one from whom you look for nothing. For I myself am one of the seekers, one who begs along with you for the food of my s…

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 3

SERMON 3 ON THE KISS OF THE LORD'S FOOT, HAND, AND MOUTH 1. Today we read in the book of experience. Turn to yourselves, and let each one attend to his own conscience concerning the things that are to be said. I would like to discover whether it has been given to any of you ever to say with full conviction: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth" (Song 1:1). For it is not given to any and every man to say this from the heart; but if anyone has even once received a spiritual kiss from the mouth of Christ, his own experience surely urges him on, and he gladly seeks it again. I think that no one can even know what it is unless he who receives it: for it is a hidden manna, and only he who eats will still hunger. It is a sealed fountain, with which no stranger may share; but only he who drinks will still thirst. Hear one who has experienced it, how he seeks it again. "Restore to me," he says, "the joy of your salvation" (Ps 50:14). Let not, therefore, a soul like mine, burdened with sins, still subject to the passions of its own flesh, which has not yet tasted the sweetness of the spirit, ignorant of and wholly inexperienced in the joys of the interior life, presume to claim this for itself. 2. I shall show, however, to such a soul a place in the way of salvation fitting for it. Let it not rashly rise up to the mouth of the most serene Bridegroom, but let it lie trembling with me at the feet of the most severe Lord, and with the publican, trembling, let it look upon the earth and not upon the heavens (Lk 18:13), lest the face accustomed to darkness, confounded by the luminaries of heaven, be overwhelmed by the glory, and, struck back by the unaccustomed splendors of majesty, be wrapped again in the blindness of a denser darkness. Do not let that place seem vile or contemptible to you, O whatever sort of soul you may be, where the holy sinful woman laid aside her sins and put on holiness. There the Ethiopian woman changed her skin, and restored to a new whiteness, she then confidently and truthfully answered those who reproached her with the word: "I am black, but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem" (Song 1:4). Do you wonder by what art she was able to do this, or by what merits she obtained it? Receive it in few words. She wept bitterly, and drawing long sighs from her inmost depths, she was shaken within herself by wholesome sobs, and vomited forth her bitter humors. The heavenly physician came to her aid most swiftly: for "swiftly runs his word" (Ps 147:15). Is the word of God not a potion? It is indeed, and a strong and powerful one, "searching hearts and reins" (Ps 7:10). For "the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints also and marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts" (Heb 4:12). By the example, therefore, of this blessed penitent, cast yourself down, you too, O wretched one, that you may cease to be wretched; cast yourself down, you too, upon the earth; embrace the feet, appease with kisses, water with tears, by which, however, you wash not him but yourself, and you may become one of the flock of the shorn ones ascending from the washing (Song 4:2); so indeed may you not dare to lift up your face, suffused as it is with shame and grief, until you hear, you also: "Your sins are forgiven you" (Lk 7:37-48); until you hear: "Arise, arise, O captive daughter of Zion; arise, shake yourself from the dust" (Isa 52:1-2). 3. Having thus received the first kiss at the feet, you should not presume at once to rise up to the kiss of the mouth, but there shall be for you a step toward it, a certain other intermediate kiss, which you shall receive in the second place upon the hand: of which receive also such an account. If Jesus says to me: "Your sins are forgiven you," unless I cease to sin, what will it profit? I have put off my tunic; if I put it on again, how much have I advanced? If again I soil my feet, which I had washed, will the washi…

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 4

SERMON 4 THE KISS OF THE LORD'S FEET, HANDS AND MOUTH Yesterday our talk dealt with three stages of the soul's progress under the figure of the three kisses. You still remember this, I hope, for today I intend to continue that same discussion, according as God in his goodness may provide for one so needy. We said, as you remember, that these kisses were given to the feet, the hand and the mouth, in that order. The first is the sign of a genuine conversion of life, the second is accorded to those making progress, the third is the experience of only a few of the more perfect. The book of Scripture that we have undertaken to expound begins with this last kiss, but I have added the other two in the hope that you will attain a better understanding of the last. I leave it to you to judge whether this was necessary, but I do really think that the very nature of the discourse clearly suggests that they be included. And I should be surprised if you did not see that she who said: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth," wished to make a distinction between the kiss of the mouth and another or several other kisses. It might have been enough for her to have said simply: "Let him kiss me." Why then should she distinctly and pointedly add: "with the kiss of his mouth," a usage that is certainly not customary? Is it not that she wished to indicate that this kiss at the summit of love's intimacy is not the sole one? People normally say, do they not: "Kiss me," or "Give me a kiss"? Nobody adds the words: "with your mouth," or, "with the kiss of your mouth." When we wish to kiss somebody, we do not have to state explicitly what we want when we offer our lips to each other. For example, St John's story of Christ's reception of the traitor's kiss simply says: "He kissed him," without adding "with his mouth or with the kiss of his mouth." This is normal procedure then both in speech and in writing. We have here three stages of the soul's growth in love, three stages of its advance toward perfection that are sufficiently known and intelligible to those who have experienced them. There is first the forgiveness of sins, then the grace that follows on good deeds, and finally that contemplative gift by which a kind and beneficent Lord shows himself to the soul with as much clarity as bodily frailty can endure. 2. Perhaps I should here attempt a better explanation of my reason for calling the first two favors kisses. We all know that the kiss is a sign of peace. If what Scripture says is true: "Our iniquities have made a gulf between us and God," then peace can be attained only when the intervening gulf is bridged. When therefore we make satisfaction and become reconciled by the re-joining of the cleavage caused by sin, in what better way can I describe the favor we receive than as a kiss of peace? Nor is there a more becoming place for this kiss than at the feet; the amends we make for the pride of our transgressions ought to be humble and diffident. 3. But when God endows us with the more ample grace of a sweet friendship with him, in order to enable us to live with a virtue that is worthy of such a relationship, we tend to raise our heads from the dust with a greater confidence for the purpose of kissing, as is the custom, the hand of our benefactor. It is essential however that we should not make this favor the occasion of self-glorification, we must give the glory to him from whom it comes. For if you glory in yourself rather than in the Lord, it is your own hand that you kiss, not his, which, according to the words of Job, is the greatest evil and a denial of God. If therefore, as Scripture suggests, the seeking of one's own glory is like kissing one's own hand, then he who gives glory to God is quite properly said to be kissing God's hand. We see this to be the case among men. Slaves beg pardon of their offended masters by kissing their feet, and the poor kiss their benefactor's hand when they receive an alms. 4. This poses a problem for…

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 5

SERMON 5 ON THE FOUR KINDS OF SPIRITS 5 As you know, spirits can be divided into classes: that of the animal, that of man, that of the angel, and that of God who created all the others. Each of these, with one exception, needs a body or a body's likeness, either for its own sake or for the sake of others or for both. The exception is he whom every creature, whether corporeal or spiritual, is called on to acknowledge in sentiments like the Psalmist: "You are my God because you have no need of my goods (Ps 15,2)." If we consider the animal we see that its spirit, its life principle, cannot even exist without a body. When the animal dies its soul ceases to live at the same moment that it ceases to impart life. We indeed continue to live after the body's death, but only by means of the body do we gain those merits that lead to a life of blessedness. St Paul sensed this, saying: "The invisible things of God are understood through the things he has made (Rm 1,20)." All creatures that he has made, creatures that possess a body and are therefore visible, can be understood by our minds only through the body's instrumentality. Therefore our souls have need of a body. Without it we cannot attain to that form of knowledge by which alone we are elevated toward the contemplation of truths essential to happiness. If one of you will object that baptized infants who die before acquiring a knowledge of the material creation are believed nevertheless to enter heaven, I shall reply briefly that this is a gift of grace, not a reward of merit. For the moment this discussion deals with normal processes, not with the special interventions of God. 2. Let us now study the case of heavenly spirits. We can be absolutely sure that these have a need of bodies from those divinely inspired words: "Are they not all spirits whose work is service, sent to help those who will be the heirs of salvation?" (He 1,14) How will it be possible for them to fulfill this service without a body, especially among beings who possess bodies? Is it not true that only creatures with bodies can run to and fro and pass from place to place ? Do we not know on unimpeachable authority that angels have frequently acted that way? You recall how they were seen by the patriarchs of old, how they entered their tents, shared their meal, and had their feet washed. And so we see that though both animal and angelic spirits have need of bodies, it is not for their own sakes but in order to render some service to others. 3. The animal kingdom is destined by nature to serve, and that service is fulfilled in alleviating the temporal and physical needs of man; the animal spirit or soul is limited by time, it dies with the body. You know then "the slave does not continue in the house forever," but those who treat him well will discover that the usage of this temporal service will redound to eternal rewards. The angel, however, in the freedom of his spirit, applies himself with eagerness to the demands of his duty, which is to bring prompt and swift assistance to us mortals in our striving for the blessings that are to come. He knows that we are destined to be fellow-citizens with him; and co-heirs of the bliss of heaven. Therefore both the animal and the angel need bodies that they might be of help to us, the first that he may give us the service appropriate to his nature, the second that he may lovingly support us. What benefit they themselves may derive from a body I cannot see, at least with regard to eternal life. The spirit of the animal can indeed perceive corporeal things by means of the body, but is this body of such potential value to him that the material world which he experiences through the senses enables him to advance to a knowledge of spiritual and intellectual truths? Surely not. On the other hand, within the limits of its corporeal and temporal service, the body does provide a gateway to a knowledge of these truths for those who transmute their usage of the things of time into…

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 6

SERMON 6 ON THE SUPREME AND UNCIRCUMSCRIBED SPIRIT, WHO IS GOD: AND IN WHAT WAY MERCY AND JUDGMENT ARE CALLED THE FEET OF THE LORD 1. That the following sermon may cohere with the preceding one, do you retain what was given above, that the supreme and uncircumscribed Spirit alone does not need the instrument or service of a body for everything that he wishes to do or to have done? Let us therefore securely grant to God alone, as true immortality, so also true incorporeality: that he alone among spirits so far transcends every corporeal nature that he needs no body whatsoever for any work whatsoever, content with a spiritual nod alone, when he wills, for whatever things he wills to accomplish. Therefore that majesty alone is the one which needs the work of no corporeal instrument, neither on account of itself nor on account of another, at whose omnipotent decree every work is unhesitatingly at hand, every lofty thing bows down, every adversity yields, every creature complies, even with no bodily or spiritual aid intervening or assisting. He teaches and admonishes without a tongue; he gives and holds without hands; without feet he runs and comes to the aid of those who perish. 2. He was doing these things also with the fathers in earlier ages; men were experiencing his diligent benefits, but the benefactor was hidden from them. He indeed was reaching from end to end mightily; but disposing all things sweetly, he was not perceived by men. And they rejoiced in the good things of the Lord; and the Lord of Sabaoth, because he judged all things with tranquility, they utterly did not know. They were from him, but not with him; through him they lived, but not for him; from him they had wisdom, but not of him—alienated, ungrateful, senseless. Hence at length it came about that what they were, what they lived, what they understood, they did not attribute to the Author, but ascribed to nature, or certainly, what was more foolish, to fortune; many also arrogated many things to their own industry and virtue. How much did seducing spirits usurp for themselves! How much was given to the sun and the moon! How much was attributed to lands and waters! How much even was assigned to the manufactured and wrought works of mortals! To herbs, shrubs, and the most minute and worthless seeds worship was offered as to divinities. 3. Alas! Thus men lost and exchanged their glory for the likeness of a calf that eats hay (Ps 105:20). God, having pity on their errors, graciously going forth from the shady and thick mountain, set his tabernacle in the sun (Ps 18:6). He offered flesh to those wise in the flesh, through which they might learn to understand the spirit as well. For while in the flesh and through the flesh he does works not of the flesh but of God, indeed commanding nature and overcoming fortune, making foolish the wisdom of men, and conquering the tyranny of demons, he manifestly shows himself to be the one through whom the same things were also done before, when they were done. In the flesh, I say, and through the flesh, powerfully and openly working wonders, speaking salutary words, suffering indignities, he evidently shows that he himself is the one who powerfully, but invisibly, had founded the ages, wisely governed them, and kindly protected them. Finally, while he preaches the gospel to the ungrateful, gives signs to the unbelieving, and prays for his own crucifiers, does he not clearly declare himself to be the one who with his Father daily makes his sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust? (Mt 5:45) For this is what he himself was saying: If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe (Jn 10:37). 4. Behold, he opens the mouth of his flesh, teaching the disciples on the mountain, who in silence teaches the angels in the heavens. Behold, at the touch of his bodily hand leprosy is healed, blindness is driven away, hearing is restored, the mute tongue is loosed, the disciple nearly drowne…

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

SERMON 8 THE HOLY SPIRIT: THE KISS OF THE MOUTH As I promised yesterday, and as you well remember, today we are to speak of the supreme kiss, that of the mouth. You must listen with more than usual attention to a theme that is sweet to the spirit above all others, that is so rare an experience and more difficult to understand. I think I should begin by considering the higher truths, and it seems to me that a kiss past comprehension, beyond the experience of any mere creature, was designated by him who said: "No one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." For the Father loves the Son whom he embraces with a love that is unique; he who is infinite embraces his equal, who is eternal, his co-eternal the sole God, his only-begotten. But the Son's bond with him is not less affectionate, for it led him even to death, as he himself testifies: "That all might know that I love the Father, rise, let us go." And he went forth, as we know, to his passion. Now, that mutual knowledge and love between him who begets and him who is begotten -- what can it comprise if not a kiss that is utterly sweet, but utterly a mystery as well? 2. For my part I am convinced that no creature, not even an angel, is permitted to comprehend this secret of divine love, so holy and so august. Does not Paul proclaim from his own experience that this is a peace which passes all understanding, even that of the angels? And hence the bride, although otherwise so audacious, does not dare to say: "Let him kiss me with his mouth," for she knows that this is the prerogative of the Father alone. What she does ask for is something less: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth." Do you wish to see the newly-chosen bride receiving this unprecedented kiss, given not by the mouth but by the kiss of the mouth? Then look at Jesus in the presence of his Apostles: "He breathed on them," according to St John, "and he said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" That favor, given to the newly-chosen Church, was indeed a kiss. That? you say. That corporeal breathing? O no, but rather the invisible Spirit, who is so bestowed in that breath of the Lord that he is understood to proceed from him equally as from the Father, truly the kiss that is common both to him who kisses and to him who is kissed. Hence the bride is satisfied to receive the kiss of the Bridegroom, though she be not kissed with his mouth. For her it is no mean or contemptible thing to be kissed by the kiss, because it is nothing less than the gift of the Holy Spirit. If, as is properly understood, the Father is he who kisses, the Son he who is kissed, then it cannot be wrong to see in the kiss the Holy Spirit, for he is the imperturbable peace of the Father and the Son, their unshakable bond, their undivided love, their indivisible unity. 3. He it is then who inspires the daring spirit of the bride, he it is whom she trustingly petitions to come to her under the guise of a kiss. But this boldness in her request is justified by something that she knows. For when the Son said: "No one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son," he added: "and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." But the bride has no doubt that if he will reveal himself to anybody, it will be to her. Therefore, she dares to ask for this kiss, actually for that Spirit in whom both the Father and the Son will reveal themselves to her. For it is not possible that one of these could be known without the other. That is why Christ said: "To have seen me is to have seen the Father;" and John in his turn: "No one who has the Father can deny the Son, and to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well." From these declarations it is clearly evident that the Father cannot be known apart from the Son, nor the Son apart from the Father. Rightly therefore did Christ point out that one achieves supreme happiness not by knowing any one…

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 7

SERMON 7 INTIMACIES OF THE LOVE OF GOD I can see now that I involved myself in more work when I thoughtlessly laid myself open to your questions! After I had introduced the subject of the first kiss I went on to explain, rather protractedly, the spiritual feet of God with their signification and names. Now you proceed to ask about the hand to which the second kiss is given. Well -- I submit! I must try to comply with your wishes; and even more than you wish; I shall treat not only of one hand but of two, each under a particular name. One I shall call liberality because it gives generously; the other fortitude because it powerfully defends whatever it gives. One who will not be found ungrateful must kiss each of these hands, in order to acknowledge and praise God as the giver and conserver of all-good things. I should think that by now I have said enough about these two kisses, so we shall pass on to the third. 2. "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth," she said. Now who is this "she"? The bride. But why bride? Because she is the soul thirsting for God. In order to clarify for you the characteristics of the bride, I shall deal briefly with the diverse affective relationships between persons. Fear motivates a slave's attitude to his master, gain that of wage-earner to his employer, the learner is attentive to his teacher, the son is respectful to his father. But the one who asks for a kiss, she is a lover. Among all the natural endowments of man love holds first place, especially when it is directed to God, who is the source whence it comes. No sweeter names can be found to embody that sweet interflow of affections between the Word and the soul, than bridegroom and bride. Between these all things are equally shared, there are no selfish reservations, nothing that causes division. They share the same inheritance, the same table, the same home, the same marriage-bed, they are flesh of each other's flesh. "This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body." The bride for her part is bidden to "forget her nation and her ancestral home," so that the bridegroom may fall in love with her beauty. Therefore if a love relationship is the special and outstanding characteristic of the bride and groom, it is not unfitting to call the soul that loves God a bride. Now one who asks for a kiss is in love. It is not for liberty that she asks, nor for an award, not for an inheritance nor even knowledge, but for a kiss. It is obviously the request of a bride who is chaste, who breathes forth a love that is holy, a love whose ardor she cannot entirely disguise. For note how abruptly she bursts into speech. About to ask a great favor from a great personage, she does not resort, as others do, to the arts of seduction, she makes no devious or fawning solicitations for the prize that she covets. There is no preamble, no attempt to conciliate favor. No, but with a spontaneous outburst from the abundance of her heart, direct even to the point of boldness, she says: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth." 3. Does not this seem to you to indicate that she wished to say: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides you." Her love is surely chaste when it seeks the person whom she loves, and not some other thing of his. It is a holy love, the impulse of an upright spirit rather than of carnal desire. And it is an ardent love, blinded by its own excess to the majesty of the beloved. For what are the facts? He is the one at whose glance the earth trembles, and does she demand that he give her a kiss? Can she be possibly drunk? Absolutely drunk! And the reason? It seems most probable that when she uttered those passionate words she had just come out from the cellar of wine; afterwards she boasts of having been there. David in his turn cried out to God concerning people such as the bride: "They shall be inebriated with the plenty of your house; and you w…

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 9

SERMON 9 ON THE BREASTS OF THE BRIDEGROOM 1. Let us come now to the book, and give an account of the reason and sequence of the bride's words. For they hang suspended, and totter precipitously without a beginning. And therefore we must set forth what they may fittingly cohere with. Let us suppose, then, that those whom we have called the companions of the bridegroom had come now also to the bride, for the sake of visiting and greeting her, as yesterday and the day before; and that they found her murmuring and weary, wondered at the cause, and addressed her, as it were, in this manner: What new thing has happened? Why do we see you sadder than usual? What is the cause of this unexpected murmuring? Surely when you went, turned away and estranged, after your lovers, with whom it went badly for you, compelled at last to return to your former husband, did you not press with many prayers and tears that you might at least deserve to touch his feet? I recall it, she says. What then? Having obtained that, and at the same time having received in the kiss of the feet pardon for your offenses, did you not again grow impatient, and by no means content with so great a condescension, but desirous of greater familiarity, petition and obtain a second grace as well, with the same urgency as before, so that in the kiss of the hand you gained not a few and not small virtues? I do not deny it, she says. And they: Indeed, are you not the one who used to swear and protest that if ever it were given you to attain to the kiss of the hand, it would be enough for you; that you would ask for nothing further? I am. What then? Perhaps you will allege that something of those things you had received has been taken away? Nothing. Or do you fear that what you had presumed upon, the pardon granted to you regarding your former evil manner of life, will be demanded back? No. 2. Come then, tell us how we might satisfy you. I will not rest, she says, unless he kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Thanks for the kiss of the feet, thanks also for the kiss of the hand; but if he has any care for me, let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth (Song 1:1). I am not ungrateful, but I love. I have received, I confess, things greater than my merits, but certainly less than my desires. I am carried by desire, not by reason. Do not, I ask, accuse me of presumption, where affection urges. Modesty indeed protests; but love overcomes. Nor am I unaware that the honor of the king loves judgment (Ps 98:4); but headlong love neither waits for judgment, nor is tempered by counsel, nor is bridled by modesty, nor is subject to reason. I ask, I entreat, I demand: let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Behold, by his own grace, for many years now I take care to live chastely and soberly, I devote myself to reading, I resist vices, I apply myself frequently to prayer; I keep watch against temptations, I recall my years in the bitterness of my soul. I consider myself to live without complaint, as far as it is in me, among the brethren; I am subject to the higher powers, going out and coming in at the command of my elder. I do not covet what belongs to others; rather I have given both my goods and myself. In the sweat of my face I eat my bread: yet what is in all these things stands entirely upon habit, of sweetness there is nothing. What am I but, according to the prophet, a heifer of Ephraim taught to love the threshing? (Hos 10:11). Finally, in the Gospel, he who does only what he ought to do is reckoned an unprofitable servant (Lk 17:10). Perhaps I fulfill the commandments in some fashion; but my soul is like a land without water in them. Therefore, that my holocaust may be made fat: let him kiss me, I pray, with the kiss of his mouth. 3. Very many of you also, as I recall, are accustomed to complain to me in your private confessions about this kind of languor of an arid spirit and dullness of a stolid mind, that they are unable, namely, to penetrate the high and subtle things of…

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 2

SERMON 2 VARIOUS MEANINGS OF THE KISS During my frequent ponderings on the burning desire with which the patriarchs longed for the incarnation of Christ, I am stung with sorrow and shame. Even now I can scarcely restrain my tears, so filled with shame am I by the lukewarmness, the frigid unconcern of these miserable times. For which of us does the consummation of that event fill with as much joy as the mere promise of it inflamed the desires of the holy men of pre-Christian times? Very soon now there will be great rejoicing as we celebrate the feast of Christ's birth. But how I wish it were inspired by his birth! All the more therefore do I pray that the intense longing of those men of old, their heartfelt expectation, may be enkindled in me by these words: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth." Many an upright man in those far off times sensed within himself how profuse the graciousness that would be poured upon those lips. And intense desire springing from that perception impelled him to utter: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth," hoping with every fiber of his being that he might not be deprived of a share in a pleasure so great. 2. The conscientious man of those days might repeat to himself: "Of what use to me the wordy effusions of the prophets? Rather let him who is the most handsome of the sons of men, let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. No longer am I satisfied to listen to Moses, for he is a slow speaker and not able to speak well. Isaiah is a man of unclean lips, Jeremiah does not know how to speak, he is a child ; not one of the prophets makes an impact on me with his words. But he, the one whom they proclaim, let him speak to me, "let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth." I have no desire that he should approach me in their person, or address me with their words, for they are "'a watery darkness, a dense cloud;" rather in his own person "let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth;" let him whose presence is full of love, from whom exquisite doctrines flow in streams, let him become "a spring inside me, welling up to eternal life." Shall I not receive a richer infusion of grace from him whom the Father has anointed with the oil of gladness above all his rivals, provided that he will bestow on me the kiss of his mouth? For his living, active word is to me a kiss, not indeed an adhering of the lips that can sometimes belie a union of hearts, but an unreserved infusion of joys, a revealing of mysteries, a marvelous and indistinguishable mingling of the divine light with the enlightened mind, which, joined in truth to God, is one spirit with him. With good reason then I avoid trucking with visions and dreams; I want no part with parables and figures of speech; even the very beauty of the angels can only leave me wearied. For my Jesus utterly surpasses these in his majesty and splendor. Therefore I ask of him what I ask of neither man nor angel: that he kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Note how I do not presume that it is with his mouth I shall be kissed, for that constitutes the unique felicity and singular privilege of the human nature he assumed. No, in the consciousness of my lowliness I ask to be kissed with the kiss of his mouth, an experience shared by all who are in a position to say: "Indeed from his fullness we have, all of us, received." 3. I must ask you to try to give your whole attention here. The mouth that kisses signifies the Word who assumes human nature; the nature assumed receives the kiss; the kiss however, that takes its being both from the giver and the receiver, is a person that is formed by both, none other than "the one mediator between God and mankind, himself a man, Christ Jesus." It is for this reason that none of the saints dared say: "let him kiss me with his mouth," but rather, "with the kiss of his mouth." In this way they paid tribute to that prerogative of Christ, on whom uniquely and in one sole instance the mouth of the word was pressed, that moment…

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 1

SERMON 1 ON THE TITLE OF THE BOOK 5. Tell us, I beg you, by whom, about whom and to whom it is said: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth.'' How shall I explain so abrupt a beginning, this sudden irruption as from a speech in mid-course? For the words spring upon us as if indicating one speaker to whom another is replying as she demands a kiss whoever she may be. But if she asks for or demands a kiss from somebody, why does she distinctly and expressly say with the mouth, and even with his own mouth, as if lovers should kiss by means other than the mouth, or with mouths other than their own ? But yet she does not say: "Let him kiss me with his mouth"; what she says is still more intimate: "with the kiss of his mouth." How delightful a ploy of speech this, prompted into life by the kiss, with Scripture's own engaging countenance inspiring the reader and enticing him on, that he may find pleasure even in the laborious pursuit of what lies hidden, with a fascinating theme to sweeten the fatigue of research. Surely this mode of beginning that is not a beginning, this novelty of diction in a book so old, cannot but increase the reader's attention. It must follow too that this work was composed, not by any human skill but by the artistry of the Spirit, difficult to understand indeed but yet enticing one to investigate.

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

SERMON 10 THE BREASTS AND THEIR PERFUMES I do not pretend that, left to myself, I can make any new discovery, for the reason that I lack sufficient depth of understanding and powers of penetration. But the mouth of Paul is a mighty and unfailing fountain, ever open to us all; and as I have often done before, so now too I draw from its resources in my attempt to interpret the breasts of the bride. "Rejoice," he said, "with those who rejoice, and be sad with those who sorrow." In these few words we find the description of a mother's affections, because she shares both health and sickness with her children. She cannot avoid being conformed to them in the depths of her being in these experiences. Therefore, following Paul's guidance, I shall assign these two affective movements to the bride's two breasts, compassion to one, joyful sympathy to the other. For if she were not prompt to rejoice with those who rejoice, and ready to be sad with those who sorrow, her breasts would still be undeveloped; she would be no more than a girl too immature to marry. Should a person devoid of these affective qualities be confided with the direction of souls, or the work of preaching, he will do no good to others and great harm to himself. How utterly shameful then, if he should intrude himself into these tasks! 2. But we must return to the subject of the bride's breasts, and see how the milk of one differs in kind from that of the other. Joyful sympathy yields the milk of encouragement, compassion that of consolation, and as often as the spiritual mother receives the kiss, so often does she feel each species flowing richly from heaven into her loving heart. And you may see her unhesitatingly nourishing her little ones with the milk of these full breasts, from one the milk of consolation, from the other that of encouragement, according to the need of each. For example, if she should notice that one of those whom she begot by preaching the Good News is assailed by temptation, that he becomes emotionally disturbed, is reduced to sadness and pusillanimity and therefore no longer capable of enduring the force of the temptation, will she not condole with him, caress him, weep with him, comfort him, and bring forward every possible evidence of God's love in order to raise him from his desolate state? If, on the contrary, she discovers that he is eager, active, progressive, her joy abounds, she plies him with encouraging advice, fans the fire of his zeal, imparts the ways of perseverance, and inspires him to ever higher ideals. She becomes all things to all, mirrors in herself the emotions of all and so shows herself to be a mother to those who fail no less than to those who succeed. 3. And if I may speak of those who have undertaken the direction of souls, how many there are today who reveal their lack of the requisite qualities! Only with a feeling of pain can I speak of this subject at all -- how they melt down in the furnace of their covetousness the insults endured by Christ, the spittle, the scourging, the nails, the lance, the cross, his death itself, and squander them in the pursuit of shameful gain. The very price of the world's redemption is bundled into their purses; and only in this do they differ from Judas Iscariot, that he reckoned the total value of these things at a paltry sum of money, while they, with a more ravening greed, demand riches beyond counting. They display an insatiable passion for gains that they constantly fear to lose, and bewail after they have lost. In this love of money they find their rest, provided they are ever free from the anxiety of securing, or even further increasing, what they have acquired. Neither the peril of souls nor their salvation gives them any concern. They are certainly devoid of the maternal instinct. Grown fat, gross, bloated to excess on the heritage of the crucified Christ, "about the ruin of Joseph they do not care at all." There is no pretense about a true mother, the breasts that she displa…

Song of Songs 1:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 12

SERMON 12 ON THE PRECIOUS OINTMENT OF PIETY; AND ON THE REVERENCE TO BE SHOWN BY SUBJECTS TOWARD THEIR PRELATES 11. But hear a brief word on the present chapter. Whoever both inebriates with words and is fragrant with good deeds, let him consider it said to himself: Because your breasts are better than wine, fragrant with the best ointments (Song 1:1-2). And for these things who is sufficient? Who among us possesses even one of these fully and perfectly, so that he is not at times both more barren in speaking and more lukewarm in doing? But there is one who rightly and without doubt glories in this praise: the Church, assuredly, who from her universality never lacks both that with which she may inebriate and that with which she may be fragrant. For what is lacking to her in one, she has in another, according to the measure of the gift of Christ and the moderation of the Spirit, who distributes to each as he wills (Eph 4:7; 1 Cor 12:11). The Church is fragrant in those who make friends for themselves from the mammon of unrighteousness; she inebriates in the ministers of the word, who pour the wine of spiritual joy upon the earth and make it drunk and bring forth fruit in patience. She boldly and securely calls herself the bride, inasmuch as she truly has breasts better than wine and fragrant with the best ointments. And even if none of us may presume to claim this for himself, so that anyone should dare to call his soul the bride of the Lord; yet since we are of the Church, who rightly glories in this name and in the reality of the name, not without right do we claim a share in this glory. For what we all together possess fully and entirely, each one of us without contradiction shares in. Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus, who have deigned to unite us to your most dear Church, not only that we might be faithful, but that we might also be joined to you in the manner of a bride in joyful, chaste, and eternal embraces, we too with unveiled face beholding your glory, which is yours equally together with the Father and the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 19

SERMON 19 ON THE NATURE, MANNER, AND PROPERTIES OF THE LOVE OF THE ANGELS TOWARD GOD, DISCUSSED ACCORDING TO EACH OF THE ANGELIC ORDERS Still the bride speaks words of love, still she goes on further pursuing the praises of the bridegroom; and she provokes grace while she shows that the grace she had already received had not been empty in her. For hear what she adds next: "Therefore," she says, "the young maidens have loved you exceedingly" (Song 1:3). As if she were to say: Not in vain nor to no purpose has your name been emptied out, O bridegroom, and poured forth upon my breasts; for therefore the young maidens have loved you exceedingly. On account of what? On account of the name poured forth, and on account of the breasts perfused from it. For from this indeed they were aroused to love of the bridegroom, from this they received the capacity to love. When the bride received the gift poured into her, they at once perceived the fragrance—they who could by no means be far from the mother; and filled with that sweetness they say: "The love of God has been poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us" (Rom 5:5). Therefore the bride, commending their devotion, says: "This, O bridegroom, is the fruit of your poured-forth name, that therefore the young maidens have loved you." For they perceive it as poured forth, since they could not grasp it whole; therefore they have loved you. For the pouring forth makes the name graspable, the grasping makes it lovable—but only for the young maidens. Those who are more capacious rejoice in it whole, and have no need of the pouring forth. 2. The angelic creature gazes with the unreflected keenness of mind upon the great abyss of the divine judgments, and, blessed with the ineffable delight of their supreme equity, glories moreover that these are committed to execution through its ministry and made manifest; and therefore it rightly loves the Lord Christ. "Are they not all," he says, "ministering spirits, sent for ministry on behalf of those who receive the inheritance of salvation?" (Heb 1:14). Furthermore, the archangels (that we may attribute to them something more distinctive than to those who are simply angels) are, I believe, wonderfully delighted that they too are admitted more intimately to the counsels of the eternal Wisdom, and that through them those same counsels are dispensed each to its proper place and time with supreme governance. And this is the reason that they too love the Lord Christ. Those blessednesses also which are called Virtues—perhaps so named because, divinely ordained to search out and marvel at with blessed curiosity the hidden and perpetual causes of mighty works and prodigies—powerfully produce from all the elements signs upon the earth, of what kind and when they will: and they therefore, not undeservedly, burn with ardor to love the Lord of hosts and Christ the power of God. For it is a thing full of sweetness and grace to behold in Wisdom herself the uncertain and hidden things of wisdom; it is no less full of honor and glory that the workings of causes hidden in the Word of God should be directed through their hands to be beheld and marveled at by the world. 3. But those spirits also who are named Powers, while they delight to behold and magnify the divine omnipotence of our Crucified One, reaching mightily everywhere, receive the power to cast out and defeat the opposing powers of demons and of men, on behalf of those who receive the inheritance of salvation. Do not these too have a most just cause to love the Lord Jesus? There are also above these the Principalities, who, contemplating him more deeply and clearly perceiving him to be the principle of the universe and the firstborn of all creation, are therefore endowed with such dignity of principality that they have power throughout the whole earth, as if from some supreme hinge of things, to change and order kingdoms and principalities and whatever dignities at their jud…

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 11

SERMON 11 THANKSGIVING FOR CHRIST'S SAVING WORK I said at the end of my last sermon, and I have no hesitation in repeating it, that I long to see you all sharing in that holy anointing, that religious attitude in which the benefits of God are recalled with gladness and thanksgiving. This involves a twofold grace: it lightens the burdens of the present life, makes them more supportable for those who can give themselves with joy to the work of praising God; and nothing more appropriately represents on earth the state of life in the heavenly fatherland than spontaneity in this outpouring of praise. Scripture implies as much when it says: "Happy those who live in your house and can praise you all day long." It was with a special reference to this anointing that the Prophet exclaimed: "How good, how delightful it is for all to live together like brothers; fine as oil on the head." These words do not seem applicable to the first anointing. Though that is good in itself, it is not by any means pleasant; because the recollection of one's sins begets bitterness rather than pleasure. Nor do those involved in it live together, since each one bewails and mourns over his own particular sins. Those, however, who are employed in the work of thanksgiving are contemplating and thinking about God alone, and so they cannot help but dwell in unity. That which they do is good because they offer to God the glory that is most rightly his; and it is also pleasant, since of its very nature it gives delight. 2. And for that reason my advice to you, my friends, is to turn aside occasionally from troubled and anxious pondering on the paths you may be treading, and to travel on smoother ways where the gifts of God are serenely savored, so that the thought of him may give breathing space to you whose consciences are perplexed. I should like you to experience for yourselves the truth of the holy Prophet's words: "Make the Lord your joy and he will give you what your heart desires." Sorrow for sin is indeed necessary, but it should not be an endless preoccupation. You must dwell also on the glad remembrance of God's loving-kindness, otherwise sadness will harden the heart and lead it more deeply into despair. Let us mix honey with our absinthe, it is more easily drunk when sweetened, and what bitterness it may still retain will be wholesome. You must fix your attention on the ways of God, see how he mitigates the bitterness of the heart that is crushed, how he wins back the pusillanimous soul from the abyss of despair, how he consoles the grief-stricken and strengthens the wavering with the sweet caress of his faithful promise. By the mouth of the Prophet he declares: "For my praise I will bridle you, lest you should perish." By this he seems to say: "Lest you should be cast down by excessive sadness at the sight of your sins, and rush despairingly to perdition like an unbridled horse over a precipice, I shall rein you in, I shall curb you with my mercy and set you on your feet with my praises. Then you will breathe freely again in the enjoyment of my benefits, overwhelmed though you be by evils of your own making, because you will find that my kindness is greater than your culpability." If Cain had been curbed by this kind of bridle he would never have uttered that despairing cry: "My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon." God forbid! God forbid! His loving mercy is greater than all iniquity. Hence the just man is not always accusing himself, he does so only in the opening words of his intercourse with God; he will normally conclude that intercourse with the divine praises. You can see therefore that the order of the just man's progress is expressed in the words: "After reflecting on my behavior, I turn my feet to your decrees," that is, he who has endured grief and unhappiness in following his own ways can finally say: "In the way of your decrees lies my joy, a joy beyond all wealth." Therefore, if you are to follow the just man's example,…

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

SERMON 20 THREE QUALITIES OF LOVE I would like to begin with a word from St Paul: "If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema." Truly, I ought to love the one through whom I have my being, my life, my understanding. If I am ungrateful, I am unworthy too. Lord Jesus, whoever refuses to live for you is clearly worthy of death, and is in fact dead already. Whoever does not know you is a fool. And whoever wants to become something without you, without doubt that man is considered nothing and is just that. For what is man, unless you take notice of him? You have made all things for yourself, O God, and whoever wants to live for himself and not for you, in all that he does, is nothing. "Fear God, and keep his commandments," it is said, "for this is the whole duty of man." So if this is all, without this, man is nothing. Turn toward yourself, O God, this little that you have granted me to be; take from this miserable life, I beg you, the years that remain. In place of all that I lost in my evil way of living, O God, do not refuse a humble and penitent heart. My days have lengthened like a shadow and passed without fruits I cannot bring them back, but let it please you at least if I offer them to you in the bitterness of my soul. As for wisdom -- my every desire and intention is before you -- if there were any in me, I would keep it for you. But, God, you know my stupidity, unless perhaps it is wisdom for me to recognize it, and even this is your gift. Grant me more; not that I am ungrateful for this small gift, but that I am eager for what is lacking. For all these things, and as much as I am able, I love you. 2. But there is something else that moves me, arouses and enflames me even more. Good Jesus, the chalice you drank, the price of our redemption, makes me love you more than all the rest. This alone would be enough to claim our love. This, I say, is what wins our love so sweetly, justly demands it, firmly binds it, deeply affects it. Our Savior had to toil so hard in this, in fact in making the whole world the Creator did not labor so much. Then he spoke and they were made; he commanded and they were created. But in saving us he had to endure men who contradicted his words, criticized his actions, ridiculed his sufferings, and mocked his death. See how much he loved us. Add to this the fact that he was not returning love but freely offering it. For who had given him anything first, that it should be returned to him? As St John said: "Not that we had loved him, but that he first loved us." He loved us even before we existed, and in addition he loved us when we resisted him. According to the witness of St Paul: "Even when we were still his enemies we were reconciled to God through the blood of his Son." If he had not loved his enemies, he could not have had any friends, just as he would have had no one to love if he had not loved those who were not. 3. His love was sweet, and wise, and strong. I call it sweet because he took on a human body, wise because he avoided sin, strong because he endured death. Even though he took a body, his love was never sensual, but always in the wisdom of the Spirit. "A Spirit before our face is Christ the Lord," jealous of us but with the jealousy of God, not man, and certainly not like that of the first man, Adam, for Eve. So those whom he sought after in a body, he loved in the spirit and redeemed in power. How sweet it is to see as man the Creator of humanity. While he carefully protected nature from sin, he forcefully drove death from that nature also. In taking a body he stooped to me, in avoiding sin he took counsel with himself, in accepting death he satisfied the Father. A dear friend, a wise counselor, a strong helper. Should I not willingly entrust myself to the one who had the good will, the wisdom, the strength to save me? He sought me out, he called me through grace; will he refuse me as I come to him? I fear neither force nor fraud which can snatch me from his hand.…

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 22

SERMON 22 ON THE FOUR OINTMENTS OF THE BRIDEGROOM AND THE FOUR CARDINAL VIRTUES If the ointments of the bride are as precious and exquisite as you have heard them portrayed, how matchless must those of the Bridegroom be! And though any exposition of mine will fail to do justice to them, we must accept that their power is great and their grace efficacious, since their odor alone is enough to make not only the maidens but even the bride run. As you notice, she has not dared to make any such promise about her own ointments. She does indeed rejoice that they are flawless; but she does not say that they have inspired her to run, or that they will do so. This she attributes solely to the Bridegroom's ointments. But if the merest fragrance of these so excites her that she must run, what would the consequences be if she should experience the ointment itself being poured out in her? What wonder if she should even fly! But some of you must want to say: "Desist now from praising these gifts. When you begin to explain them we shall see clearly enough what they are." But no. I make no such promise. For believe me, I have not as yet decided whether I ought to express all the thoughts that suggest themselves. My opinion is that the Bridegroom has a varied and plentiful stock of perfumes and ointments. Some are solely for the pleasure of the bride who enjoys more intimate and familiar relations with him: others are wafted out to the maidens; and others again reach out to strangers afar off, so that "nothing can escape his heat." For although "the Lord is good to all," he is especially kind to those who live in his house, and the more one is assimilated to him by a virtuous life and an upright will, the more sensitive I think he will be to the fragrance of the newer perfumes and the sweeter ointments. 2. In matters of this kind, understanding can follow only where experience leads, and I shall be the last to intrude rashly where the bride alone may enter. The Bridegroom knows the delights with which the Holy Spirit charms the one he loves, the inspirations with which he reanimates her affections, the perfumes that enhance her loveliness. Let her be as a fountain entirely his own, unshared by any stranger, untouched by unworthy lips: for she is "a garden enclosed, a sealed fountain," though rivulets flow from it into the streets. These I may use, though I want no trouble or ingratitude from anyone if I offer what I draw from a public source. I shall even pay myself a mild compliment in this matter, for no small effort and fatigue are involved in going out day by day to draw waters from the open streams of the Scriptures and provide for the needs of each of you, so that you may have at hand spiritual waters for every occasion, for washing, for drinking, for cooking of foods. God's word is a water of the wisdom that saves; when you drink it you are made clean, as the Lord himself points out: "You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you." The word of God, winged with the Holy Spirit's fire, can cook the raw reflections of the sensual man, giving them a spiritual meaning that feeds the mind, and inspiring him to say: "My heart became hot within me, and as I meditated a fire burst forth." 3. Far from disapproving of those whose purer mind enables them to grasp more sublime truths than I can present, I warmly congratulate them, but expect them to allow me to provide a simpler doctrine for simpler minds. How I wish that all had the gift of teaching: I should be rid of the need to preach these sermons! It is a burden I should like to transfer to another, or rather I should prefer that none of you would need to exercise it, that all would be taught by God, and I should have leisure to contemplate God's beauty. Now however I must confess, not without tears, that I have no time to seek after God, much less to contemplate him; no time to see the king in his beauty seated upon the Cherubim, on a throne raised aloft; to see him in th…

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 10

SERMON 10 THE BREASTS AND THEIR PERFUMES 4. Now I shall try to explain the nature of the ointments of which the breasts are redolent, and so I ask the aid of your prayers that I may benefit my hearers by a worthy expression of the thoughts that inspire me. Just as the breasts of the Bridegroom differ from those of the bride, so do the ointments with which they are perfumed. In the previous sermon I have indicated the place in which I hope to speak of the Bridegroom's breasts. Here we must concentrate on the ointments of the bride with an attention worthy of the scriptural eulogy that commends them not merely as good but as the best. I mention several kinds of ointments, so that given a choice, we may select the ones that seem especially appropriate to the breasts of the bride. There is the ointment of contrition, that of devotion and that of piety. The first is pungent, causing some pain; the second mitigates and soothes pain; the third heals the wound and rids the patient of the illness. And now let us discuss each of these more extensively. 5. A soul entangled in many sins can prepare for itself a certain ointment once it begins to reflect on its behavior, and collects its many and manifold sins, hems them together and crushes them in the mortar of its conscience. It cooks them, as it were, within a breast that boils up like a pot over the fire of repentance and sorrow, so that it can exclaim with the Prophet: "My heart became hot within me. As I mused the fire burned." Here then is one ointment which the sinful soul should provide at the beginning of its conversion and apply to its still smarting wounds, for the first sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. And even though the sinner be poor and in want, devoid of the means to compound a better and more precious ointment, let him make sure in the meantime to prepare at least this one, no matter how degenerate the materials, because God will not scorn this crushed and broken heart. The more despicable he believes his offering to be because of his consciousness of sin, the more acceptable it will appear to God. 6. However, if we say that this invisible and spiritual ointment was symbolized by the visible ointment with which the sinful woman, as the Gospel describes, visibly anointed the corporeal feet of God, we cannot regard it as entirely worthless. For what do we read in the Gospel? "The house," it says, "was full of the scent of the ointment." It trickled from the hands of a courtesan, pouring over the feet, the body's extremities; and yet it was not so paltry, not so contemptible, as to prevent the house's being filled with the power of its aroma, the sweetness of its scent. So if we consider how great the fragrance with which the Church is perfumed in the conversion of one sinner, what a sweet smell of life leading to life each penitent can become! Provided that his repentance is wholehearted and visible to all, may we not with equal assurance say of him: "The house was full of the scent of the ointment." We can even say that this perfume of repentance reaches to the very abodes of the blessed in heaven because we have the witness of Truth itself that there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner. Rejoice then, you penitents; do not be afraid, you fainthearted ones. I am speaking to those of you who have recently come to us from the world, who have renounced your sinful ways and are inevitably gripped by the bitterness and confusion of the repentant soul that, like the pain of fresh wounds, torment and distract beyond bearing. Safely may your hands drip with the bitterness of myrrh in the course of this salutary anointing, because God will not scorn this crushed and broken spirit. This kind of anointing, that not only inspires men to amend their lives but even makes the angels dance for joy, must not be easily spurned nor cheaply priced. 7. But there is another ointment, more precious still, compounded of far superior elements. To obta…

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 12

SERMON 12 ON THE PRECIOUS OINTMENT OF PIETY; AND ON THE REVERENCE TO BE SHOWN BY SUBJECTS TOWARD THEIR PRELATES 1. I recall having set forth two ointments for you. One of contrition, embracing many sins; the other of devotion, containing many benefits: both salutary, but not both sweet. For the first is felt to be stinging, because the bitter remembrance of sins moves one to compunction and causes pain, while the second is soothing, the contemplation of divine goodness giving consolation and calming pain. But there is an ointment that far surpasses both of these: and this I would call the ointment of piety, because it is made from the needs of the poor, from the anxieties of the oppressed, from the troubles of the sorrowful, from the faults of those who transgress, and lastly from the miseries of all the wretched, even if they be enemies. These ingredients seem despicable; but the ointment that is compounded from them is above all aromatics. It is healing: for blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Mt 5:7). Therefore the many miseries collected and beheld with the eye of piety, these are the ingredients from which the best ointments are composed, worthy of the breasts of the bride, pleasing to the senses of the bridegroom. Happy the soul that has taken care to enrich and fatten itself with the collection of such aromatics, pouring upon them the oil of mercy and cooking them down with the fire of charity. Who, do you think, is the joyful man who shows mercy and lends (Ps 111:5), ready to feel compassion, prompt to help, judging it more blessed to give than to receive: easy to forgive, slow to grow angry, refusing utterly to take revenge, and in all things regarding the needs of his neighbors equally as his own? O whatever soul you are who is so disposed, so imbued with the dew of mercy, so overflowing with the bowels of piety, so making yourself all things to all, so becoming to yourself as a vessel that is destroyed, that you may be at hand everywhere and always to meet the needs of others and to aid them; so at last dead to yourself that you may live for all: you plainly and happily possess the third and best ointment, and your hands have dripped with the liquor of every sweetness. It shall not be dried up in the time of evil, nor shall the heat of persecution drink it up: but God shall always be mindful of all your sacrifice, and your holocaust shall be made fat. 2. There are men of wealth in the city of the Lord of hosts: I ask whether these ointments may be found among any of them. And the first to present himself to me, as he is wont to do everywhere, is Paul, the vessel of election, truly an aromatic vessel, a fragrant vessel, filled with every kind of spice-powder. For he was the good fragrance of Christ unto God in every place (2 Cor 2:15). Surely the breast that had been so moved by the care of all the churches was spreading far and wide the fragrance of great sweetness. See indeed what ingredients and what aromatics he had heaped up for himself. Every day, he says, I die, by your glory (1 Cor 15:31); and again: Who is made weak, and I am not weak? who is scandalized, and I am not on fire? (2 Cor 11:29). And with many such things, which are well known to you, that rich man abounded in compounding the best ointments. For it was fitting that the breasts which suckled the members of Christ should be fragrant with the finest and purest aromatics, those breasts of which Paul was assuredly the mother, giving birth again and again, until Christ should be formed in them (Gal 4:19), and the members be conformed to their head. 3. Hear also of another rich man, how he had at hand choice ingredients from which to compound the best ointments. The stranger, he says, did not remain outside. My door was open to the traveler (Job 31:32); likewise: I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and I broke the jaws of the wicked, and snatched the prey from his teeth (Job 29:15-17). If…

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 15

SERMON 15 THE NAME OF JESUS Wisdom is a kindly spirit, and easy of access to those who call upon him. Quite often he anticipates their request and says: "Here I am." Listen now to what, because of your prayers, he has revealed to me about the subject we postponed yesterday; be ready to gather the ripe fruit of your intercession. I put before you a name that is rightly compared to oil, how rightly I shall explain. You encounter many names for the Bridegroom scattered through the pages of Scripture, but all these I sum up for you in two. I think you will find none that does not express either the gift of his love or the power of his majesty. The Holy Spirit tells us this through the mouth of one of his friends: "Two things I have heard: it is for God to be strong, for you, Lord, to be merciful." With reference to his majesty we read: "Holy and terrible is his name;" with reference to his love: "Of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved." Further examples make it clearer still. Jeremiah says: "This is the name by which he will be called: 'the Lord our righteous one'" -- a name suggesting power; but when Isaiah says: "His name will be called Emmanuel," he indicates his love. He himself said: "You call me Master and Lord." The first title implies love, the second majesty. Love's business is to educate the mind as well as to provide the body's food. Isaiah also said: "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, the Mighty One, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." The first, third and fourth signify majesty, the others love. Which of these therefore is poured out? In some mysterious way the name of majesty and power is transfused into that of love and mercy, an amalgam that is abundantly poured out in the person of our Savior Jesus Christ. The name "God" liquefies and dissolves into the title "God with us," that is, into "Emmanuel." He who is "Wonderful" becomes "Counselor"; "God" and "the Mighty One" become the "Everlasting Father" and the "Prince of Peace." "The Lord our righteous one" becomes the "gracious and merciful Lord." This process is not new: in ancient times "Abram" became Abraham and Sarai became "Sara"; and we are reminded that in these events the mystery of the communication of salvation was pre-figured and celebrated. 2. So I ask where now is that warning cry: "I am the Lord, I am the Lord," that resounded with recurring terror in the ears of the people of old. The prayer with which I am familiar, that begins with the sweet name of Father, gives me confidence of obtaining the petitions with which it continues. Servants are called friends in this new way, and the resurrection is proclaimed not to mere disciples but to brothers. Nor am I surprised if, when the time has fully come, there is an outpouring of Jesus' name as God fulfills what he had promised through Joel, an outpouring of his Spirit on all mankind, since I read that a similar event took place among the Hebrews in former times. But I feel that your thoughts fly ahead of my words, that you already guess what I intend to say. How is it, I ask, that God's first answer to Moses' question was: "I Am Who I Am," and "I Am has sent me to you"? I doubt if even Moses himself would have grasped its import if it had not been poured out. But it was poured and he understood it; and not only poured but poured out, for an inward pouring had already occurred: the citizens of heaven already possessed it, the angels knew it. Now it is sent abroad, and what was infused into the angels as an intimate secret was poured out upon men, so that henceforth they could justly proclaim from the earth: "Your name is oil poured out," if the obstinacy of a thankless people did not prevent it. For he had said: "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." 3. Run then, O pagans, salvation is at hand, that name is poured out which saves all who invoke it. The God of the angels calls himself the God of men. He pour…

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 18

SERMON 18 THE TWO OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT "Your name is oil poured out." Of what truth of our interior life does the Holy Spirit wish to assure us by means of this text? He refers to the experience of a twofold operation, one by which he inwardly strengthens the virtues that lead us to salvation, the other by which he outwardly endows us with serviceable gifts. The former is of benefit to ourselves, the latter to our neighbors. For example, faith, hope and charity are given to us for our own sake, without them we cannot be saved. But the gift of wise and learned speech, the power to heal, to prophesy, and endowments of this kind without which we can fully achieve our own salvation, are undoubtedly meant to be used for our neighbor's salvation. And these operations of the Holy Spirit, that we take note of either in ourselves or in others, are named from their method of functioning: we call them infusion and effusion. To which of them may we suitably apply the words: "Your name is oil poured out"? Is it not to effusion? If he had meant infusion he would have said "poured in." When the bride says: "Your name is oil poured out," she refers to the perfumes sprinkled on her breasts, attributing their scent to the Bridegroom's name, as if it were an unguent poured on her breasts. Any man who perceives that he is endowed with an exterior grace enabling him to influence others, can also say to the Lord: "Your name is oil poured out." 2. At this point we need to be warned not to give away what we have received for our own welfare, nor to retain for ourselves what must be expended for others. For example, you keep for yourself what belongs to your neighbor, if along with your full endowment of interior virtues you are also adorned with the external gifts of knowledge and eloquence, and, through fear or sloth or ill-judged humility, smother this gift of speech that could be of help to so many, in a useless and even pernicious silence; for "the people's curse is on the man who hoards the wheat." On the other hand, you squander and lose what is meant to be your own if, before you are totally permeated by the infusion of the Holy Spirit, you rashly proceed to pour out your unfulfilled self upon others; you contravene the law which says: "You must not put the first-born of your herd to work, nor shear the first-born of your flock." You deprive yourself of the life and salvation which you impart to another if, lacking right intention and inspired by self you become infected with the poison of worldly ambition that swells into a deadly ulcer and destroys you. 3. The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then discharges the overflow without loss to itself. He knows that a curse is on the man who allows his own property to degenerate. And if you think my opinion worthless, then listen to one who is wiser than I: "The fool," said Solomon, "comes out with all his feelings at once, but the wise man subdues and restrains them." Today there are many in the Church who act like canals, the reservoirs are far too rare. So urgent is the charity of those through whom the streams of heavenly doctrine flow to us, that they want to pour it forth before they have been filled; they are more ready to speak than to listen, impatient to teach what they have not grasped, and full of presumption to govern others while they know not how to govern themselves. I am convinced that no degree of the charity that leads to salvation may be preferred to that suggested by the Wise Man: "Have pity on your own soul, pleasing God." If I have but a little oil, sufficient for my own anointing, do you suppose I should give it to you and be left with nothing? I am keeping it for myself, utterly unwilling to proffer it to anyone except at the Prophet's bidding. And should any of you, thinking me to be better than I seem or th…

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 9

SERMON 9 ON THE BREASTS OF THE BRIDEGROOM And not only are they better than wine, but also fragrant with the finest ointments; because not only do you nourish those present with the milk of inward sweetness, but you also sprinkle the absent with the pleasing fragrance of a good reputation, having a good testimony both from those within and from those without. You have, I say, milk within and ointments without; since indeed there would be none whom you might refresh with milk, if you did not first attract them by the fragrance. Then the praise of the breasts is heaped further with the fragrance of ointments: that they not only feed by the savor of their words, but are also sweet-smelling by the reputation of their deeds.

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 16

13. And now, thus compunct and thus confessed, and therefore assured of your own life, you are also assured, I think, that it is by no means with an empty name that Jesus is called, he who was able and willing to work such things in you, and that he did not follow in vain after the staff he had sent ahead. He did not come emptily, because he did not come empty. For how could he be empty, in whom the fullness dwelt? For the Spirit was not given to him by measure. And so he came in the fullness of time, thereby indicating that he came full. Rightly full, whom the Father anointed with the oil of gladness above his companions; he anointed him and sent him full of grace and truth. He anointed that he might anoint. All have been anointed by him who merited to receive from his fullness. Therefore he says: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to announce good tidings to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, to proclaim release to the captives and opening to the imprisoned, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. He was coming, as you hear, to anoint our bruises and soothe our pains; and therefore he came anointed, he came meek and mild, and of great mercy to all who call upon him. He knew he was descending to the sick, and he presented himself as was fitting. And since the infirmities were many, the provident physician took care to bring many medicines also. He brought the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. 14. You see how many vials full of heavenly fragrances the physician has prepared for healing the wounds of that wretched man who fell among robbers? They are seven in number, perhaps suited to arousing those seven yawnings spoken of before. For the spirit of life was in the vials. From these indeed he poured oil into my wounds; he poured wine also, but less than oil. For so it was fitting for my infirmities, that he should exalt mercy above judgment, just as oil floats above wine when poured in. He brought therefore five measures of oil, but only two of wine. For wine was only fear and fortitude; the remaining five designate oil by their proper sweetness. In the spirit of fortitude indeed, like a mighty man flushed with wine, he descended to the underworld, shattered the gates of bronze, and broke the bars of iron; he bound the strong man and seized the vessels of captivity. He descended also in the spirit of fear, but as one to be feared, not as one afraid. 15. O Wisdom! With what great art of healing you restore the health of my soul with wine and oil, strongly sweet, and sweetly strong! Strong for me, and sweet to me. For you reach from end to end mightily, and you order all things sweetly, repelling the enemy and cherishing the weak. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; I will sing psalms and confess your name, and I will say: Your name is oil poured out. Not wine poured out (for I do not wish you to enter into judgment with your servant), but oil, because you crown me with mercy and compassions. Oil indeed, which, since it floats above all liquids with which it is mixed, clearly designates that name which is above every name. O name most sweet and most delightful! O name most glorious, most chosen and most exalted, and superexalted forever! This is truly the oil that makes glad the face of man, that anoints the head of the one who fasts, so that he does not feel the oil of the sinner. This is the new name that the mouth of the Lord has named. Which was also spoken by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. By this name not only the Jew, but whoever shall call upon it shall be saved; so far and wide has it been poured out. This the Father gave to the Son, the Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 17

SERMON 17 ON THE WAYS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE ENVY OF THE DEVIL Do you think we have advanced far enough into a sphere that is holy to God, in unraveling this wonderful mystery, or should we dare follow the Holy Spirit into still more secret places to search for meanings that may yet be attained? For the Holy Spirit searches not only the minds and hearts of men but even the depths of God; so whether it be into our own hearts or into the divine mysteries, I shall be secure in following him wherever he goes. He must keep watch over our hearts and our minds, lest we think him present when he is not, and follow the erratic light of our own feelings instead. He comes and goes as he wills, and no man can easily discover whence he comes and whither he goes. Ignorance of this will not lessen our hopes of salvation; but to be ignorant of when he comes and when he goes would certainly involve risk. Unless we use the utmost vigilance in attending to these gift-laden visits of the Holy Spirit, we shall neither desire him when he seems absent nor respond to him when present. If he withdraws from us to stimulate us to a more eager search for him, how shall we seek for him if we do not perceive his absence? Or when he comes to animate us, how shall we give him the welcome due his majesty if his visit passes unnoticed? The man who is indifferent to his absence will be led astray by other influences; the man who is blind to his coming cannot offer thanks for the visit. 2. When Elisha perceived that his master was about to be taken away from him, he asked for a favor. He obtained it, as you know, only on the condition that he would see him as he was being taken. This is an allegory recorded for our instruction. This story of the prophets carries both a lesson and a warning, to make us vigilant and careful about the work of salvation ceaselessly performed in our inmost being with all the skill and sweetness of the Holy Spirit's artistry. If we do not wish to be deprived of a twofold gift, let us make sure that this heaven-sent Director, who can teach us all things, is never taken away from us without our knowledge. Let him never find us unprepared when he comes, but always with faces uplifted and hearts expanded to receive the copious blessing of the Lord. Let him find us like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage-feast, for he never comes empty-handed from heaven's richly-laden table. Therefore we must watch, even hour by hour, for we do not know at what hour he will come and depart again. The Holy Spirit comes and goes, and if a man can stand firmly only with his support, it follows that he must fall when abandoned by him; fall, yes, but never fatally, since the Lord supports him by the hand. Persons who are spiritual or whom the Holy Spirit purposes to make spiritual, never cease to experience these alternations; he visits them every morning and tests them at any moment. For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again, provided that he falls in the daytime and so is able to see his fall, to know that he has fallen, to make up his mind to rise and look for a helping hand, and say: "Your favor, Lord, stood me on a peak impregnable; but then you hid your face and I was terrified." 3. It is scarcely possible to avoid doubts about the truth when we lack the light of the Holy Spirit; but it is another thing to hanker after erroneous opinions which a man might easily guard against if he would acknowledge his ignorance, as Job did when he said: "And even if it be true that I have erred, my error remains with myself." Ignorance, an evil mother, has borne two evil daughters, falsehood and doubt, the first is the more reprobate, the other more an object of compassion; the first more pernicious, the other more troubled. When the Holy Spirit speaks, both of these yield, for he speaks not merely the truth but the certain truth. He is the Spirit of truth with whom falsehood cannot be reconciled; and the spirit of wi…

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 13

SERMON 13 OUR THANKSGIVING AND GOD'S GLORY Just as the sea is the ultimate source of wells and rivers, so Christ the Lord is the ultimate source of all virtue and knowledge. For who has power to endow us with virtues if not he who is the King of Glory? And what are we told in the canticle of Anna but that God himself is the Lord of all knowledge? Hence from him as from a well-head comes the power to be pure in body, diligent in affection and upright in will. Nor is this all. From him too come subtlety of intellect, splendor of eloquence, urbanity of bearing; from him, knowledge and words of wisdom. Indeed in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Shall I add still more? Chaste thoughts, just judgments, holy desires -- are they not all streams from that one spring? If the waters that surround us inevitably return to the sea by hidden underground channels, only to gush forth again without fail and without weariness for the refreshing of our sight and the relief of our needs, why should not those spiritual streams return unerringly and without ceasing to their native source, and flow back without interruption to irrigate our souls? Let the rivers of grace circle back to their Fountain-Head that they may run their course anew. Let the torrent that springs in heaven be channeled back to its starting point, and be poured on the earth again with fertilizing power. You ask how this will be done. It will be done in accord with Paul's advice: "In all things give thanks to God." If you can credit yourself with wisdom or with virtue, realize that the credit is due rather to Christ, who is the Power and the Wisdom of God. 2. "Who is so mad," you say, "as to presume otherwise?" Actually nobody. Even the Pharisee gives thanks, although his justice merits no praise from God. And if, as the Gospel points out, his act of thanksgiving does not increase his grace, why is this so? Because the pieties that our mouths proclaim will not justify the pride of our heart in the sight of him who is repelled by the arrogant. "God is not mocked, O Pharisee. What do you have that was not given to you?" "Nothing," he says, "and therefore I offer thanks to the giver." "But if there is really nothing, then you had no antecedent merit to warrant your reception of the things of which you boast. And if you admit this, then in the first place it is futile to give yourself airs at the expense of the publican who does not possess as much as you because he has not received as much. Secondly, make sure you realize that God's gifts are entirely his own; if you attribute to yourself some of the glory and honor that are his, you may deservedly be convicted of fraud, of attempting to defraud God. If you brazenly boast of gifts as though they were your own, I should prefer to believe you are deceived, not that you wish to defraud. It is an error I should hope to correct. But when you make thanksgiving, you manifest that you regard nothing as your own, you wisely acknowledge that your merits are really God's gifts. When you despise others, however, you betray the inner reality of your condition, you are speaking from a double heart, with one lending your tongue to a lie, with the other usurping the honor due to truth. Never would you judge the publican more despicable than yourself if you did not consider that you are more honorable than he. But how will you reply to the principle laid down by the Apostle: 'Honor and glory to the only God?' How reply to the angels who in their teaching distinguish between what God reserves for himself and what he is willing to share with men? Their song is: 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to men of good-will.' Do you not perceive that the Pharisee, in offering thanks, honors God with his lips but in his heart pays tribute to himself? And so, through force of habit more than by intention or inclination, you will hear people of all sorts pronouncing words of thanks, for even the wickedest persons wi…

Song of Songs 1:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 14

SERMON 14 ON THE CHURCH OF THE FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS, AND ON THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE FAITHLESS JEWS 1. God is known in Judah, in Israel his name is great (Ps 75:2). The people of the nations who walked in darkness saw a great light (Isa 9:2), which was in Judah and in Israel, and wished to draw near and be illuminated, so that those who were once not a people might now be a people (1 Pet 2:10); and that one cornerstone might receive both walls coming from different directions into itself, and henceforth the place of his peace might be established. Moreover, the voice of the one inviting gave confidence, which had already sounded forth: Rejoice, O nations, with his people (Deut 32:43 LXX; Rom 15:10). Therefore she wished to draw near; but the Synagogue forbade it, declaring the Church from the nations to be unclean and unworthy, reproaching her with the dregs of idolatry and the blindness of ignorance, and was saying: For you, by what merit? Do not touch me. Why? she replies. Is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the nations? (Rom 3:29). And if merit is certainly lacking to me, yet compassion is not lacking to him. Is he only just? He is also merciful. Lord, let your mercies come upon me, and I shall live; and again: Your mercies are many, O Lord; give me life according to your judgment (Ps 118:77, 156); which, tempered as it is, is mercy. What will the just and merciful Lord do, when one glories in the law and applauds herself for justice, neither needing mercy but despising the very one who does need it; while the other, on the contrary, acknowledges her own offenses, confesses her unworthiness, refuses judgment, and begs for mercy? What, I say, will the judge do, and that judge, for whom both to judge and to show mercy are each so familiar that neither is more familiar than the other? What indeed could be more fitting than that each should receive according to her own desire: judgment for the one, mercy for the other? The Jew seeks judgment, and let him have it; but let the nations honor God for his mercy. And this is the judgment: that those who despise God's merciful justice and wish to establish their own (which indeed does not justify but accuses), should be left to that justice of their own, to be crushed rather than justified. 2. For it is from the law, which never led anyone to perfection; it is a yoke which neither they themselves nor their fathers were ever able to bear. But the Synagogue is strong; she cares not for a light burden nor a sweet yoke. She is healthy; she has no need of a physician, nor of the anointing of the Spirit. She trusts in the law; let it deliver her if it can. But the law was not given that could give life; moreover, it even kills: For the letter kills (2 Cor 3:6). Therefore, he says, I say to you: You shall die in your sins (Jn 8:24). This, therefore, is the judgment, O Synagogue, which you demand for your error. Blind and contentious, you are abandoned until the fullness of the nations (whom you proudly spurn and enviously repel) enters in, and she too may come to know the God who is known in Judah, and that his name is great in Israel. For to this end Jesus came into this world for judgment: that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind (Jn 9:39). In part, however; for the Lord will not cast off his people (Ps 93:14), wholly preserving for himself as a seed the apostles and the multitude of believers, whose heart was one and soul was one. But neither will he cast them off in the end, being about to save the remnant. For again he will take up Israel his servant, and will remember his mercy (Lk 1:54), so that not even there may mercy as a companion desert the judgment, where she herself finds no place. Otherwise, if he had repaid according to merits, it would be judgment without mercy for him who shows no mercy (Jas 2:13). For Judah has much oil of divine knowledge, and she keeps it enclosed within herself as in a sealed vessel, greedy to retain it. I ask, a…

Song of Songs 1:4 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 21

SERMON 21 HOW THE BRIDE, THAT IS THE CHURCH, DESIRES TO BE DRAWN AFTER THE BRIDEGROOM, THAT IS CHRIST 1. "Draw me after you, in the odor of your ointments we will run." What? Does the bride then have need to be drawn, and that after the bridegroom? As if she were unwilling to follow him, and did not follow willingly. But not everyone who is drawn is drawn unwillingly. For it does not displease a weak or feeble person, namely one who cannot go by himself, to be drawn to the bath or to dinner, even though it displeases the guilty one to be drawn to judgment or to punishment. Indeed she who also asks for this wishes to be drawn; but she would not ask if she were able to follow the beloved by herself as she would wish. But why is she not able? Shall we confess that the bride too is weak? If any one of the young maidens called herself weak and asked to be drawn, we would by no means be surprised. But as for the bride, who seemed to be able, as one strong and perfect, to draw even others: to whom does it not sound harsh that she too should have need to be drawn, as though she were weak or feeble? Of what soul, then, shall we be confident that it is strong and sound, if we have consented that she is weak who, on account of her singular perfection and more excellent virtue, is called the bride of the Lord? Or perhaps the Church said this when she beheld her beloved ascending, longing to follow him and to be taken up with him in glory? Although even a soul of however great perfection, so long indeed as she groans under this body of death and is held enclosed in the prison of this evil age, bound by necessities, twisted by sins, must of necessity rise more slowly and sluggishly to the contemplation of sublime things, nor has she entirely free liberty to follow the bridegroom wherever he goes. Hence that tearful voice of the one groaning: "Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?" Hence that suppliant prayer: "Lead my soul out of prison." Let her say, therefore, let even the bride say with groaning: "Draw me after you"; because the body that is corrupted weighs down the soul, and the earthly habitation presses down the mind that thinks upon many things. Or does she say this desiring to depart and be with Christ, especially when she sees those for whose sake it seemed necessary for her to remain in the flesh making good progress, already loving the bridegroom and standing secure in charity? For she had said beforehand: "Therefore the young maidens have loved you." Now, therefore, as if she were to say, "Behold, the young maidens love you, and loving you they cling firmly to you, and they have no further need of me, and there is no reason for me to tarry any longer in this life"; therefore she says, "Draw me after you." 2. This I would accept, if she had said, "Draw me to you." But now, because she says "after you," she seems to me rather to be asking that she might be able to follow the footsteps of his way of life, that she might be able to emulate his virtue and hold fast the rule of his life and grasp the discipline of his conduct. For in these things especially there is need of help, by which she might be able to deny herself and take up her cross and so follow Christ. Here the bride absolutely needs to be drawn, and certainly to be drawn by none other than by him who says: "Without me you can do nothing." I know, she says, that I can by no means reach you except by walking after you; but neither can I do even this unless helped by you: and therefore I pray that you draw me after you. Blessed indeed is the one whose help is from you; he has disposed ascents in his heart in the valley of tears, destined at some time to reach you in the mountains of joys. How few are willing to go after you, O Lord Jesus! And yet there is no one who does not wish to reach you, since all know that delights are at your right hand forevermore. And therefore all wish to enjoy you, but not likewise to imitate you; they desir…

Song of Songs 1:4 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 22

SERMON 22 ON THE FOUR OINTMENTS OF THE BRIDEGROOM AND THE FOUR CARDINAL VIRTUES 8. What should he have done for you and has not done? He gave sight to the blind, set captives free, led the wanderers back, reconciled sinners. Who would not run spontaneously and eagerly after him who sets men free from error, overlooks their blundering, bestows merits by his mode of life and acquires rewards for them by his death? What excuse can anyone have for not running in the fragrance of your perfumes, except that the fragrance has not reached him? But the fragrance of your life has gone into every land, because "the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord," and his compassion is over all that he has made. Therefore the man who fails to perceive this life-giving fragrance that permeates all places, and does not run on that account, must be dead or even corrupt. Fragrance signifies fame. When the fragrance of his fame arrives it excites men to run, it leads to the experience of inward grace, to the reward of vision. The joyous throng who attain to it shout all together: "As we have heard so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts." If we run after you, Lord Jesus, it is entirely because of the meekness associated with your name, because you do not spurn the poor nor recoil from the sinner. You did not reject the repentant thief, the weeping sinner, the importunate Canaanite woman, the woman caught in adultery, the man who sat at the customs house, the humble tax collector, the disciple who denied you, the man who persecuted your followers, even those who crucified you. We run in the fragrance that these diffuse. The fragrance of your wisdom comes to us in what we hear, for if anyone needs wisdom let him but ask of you and you will give it to him. It is well known that you give to all freely and ungrudgingly. As for your justice, so great is the fragrance it diffuses that you are called not only just but even justice itself, the justice that makes men just. Your power to make men just is measured by your generosity in forgiving. Therefore the man who through sorrow for sin hungers and thirsts for justice, let him trust in the One who changes the sinner into a just man, and, judged righteous in terms of faith alone, he will have peace with God. Your holiness, for its part, is sweetly and richly radiated not only by your mode of life, but even by your conception. You have neither committed sin nor been contaminated by it. Repentant sinners therefore who wish to attain to that holiness essential for the vision of God, should listen to your warning: "Be holy, for I am holy." Let them pay attention to your ways for you are just in all your ways and holy in all your doings. Finally, how many are inspired to run by the sweet odor of your redemption! When you are lifted up from the earth you draw all things to yourself. Your Passion is the ultimate refuge, a remedy that is unique. When our wisdom lets us down, when our righteousness falls short, when the merits of our holiness founder, your Passion becomes our support. Who would presume that his own wisdom, or righteousness or holiness suffices for salvation? "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our sufficiency is from God." Therefore when my strength is spent I shall not be troubled, I shall not lose heart. I know what I shall do: I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. Enlighten my eyes, O Lord, that I may learn what is pleasing to you at all times, and then I am wise. "Remember not the sins of my youth, or my transgressions," and then I am righteous. "Teach me your way," and then I am holy. And yet, unless your blood cries out on my behalf, I am not saved. To obtain all these gifts we run after you: forgive us, because we cry after you. 9. All of us do not run with equal ardor in the fragrance of all the perfumes; some are more eager for the study of wisdom, others concentrate on doing penance in the hope of pa…

Song of Songs 1:4 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 23

SERMON 23 ON THE THREE MODES OF CONTEMPLATION CONCERNING GOD, UNDER THE FIGURE OF THREE STOREROOMS 1. "The king has brought me into his storerooms." Behold whence the fragrance, behold whither one runs. She had said that one must run, and in what one must run; but whither one must run, she had not said. Therefore to the storerooms one runs, and one runs in the fragrance which proceeds from them, the bride with her accustomed sagacity perceiving it beforehand and desiring to be brought into the fullness thereof. But what ought we to think concerning these storerooms? Let us consider them meanwhile as certain fragrant places belonging to the bridegroom, full of aromatics, filled with delights. For in a storehouse of this kind, the choicer things from a garden or from a field are stored away to be preserved. Thither, therefore, they run together. Who? Souls fervent in spirit. The bride runs, the maidens run; but she who loves more ardently runs more swiftly, and arrives sooner. Arriving, she suffers not, I say, repulsion, but not even delay. Without delay it is opened to her, as to one of the household, as to a most beloved one, as to one specially cherished and singularly pleasing. But the maidens, what of them? They follow from afar; for since they are still weak, they cannot run with the same devotion as the bride, nor altogether imitate her desire and fervor; and therefore, arriving later, they remain outside. But the charity of the bride does not rest, nor does it grow insolent, as is customary, with her successes, so that she should forget them, but rather consoles and exhorts them to patience, that they might bear with equanimity both their own rebuff and her absence. And so she announces to them the joy she has received, for no other reason, truly, than that they might rejoice with her, while they trust that whatever grace has come to the mother will by no means be alien from them. For she does not so attend to her own advancement as to neglect the care of them; nor does she think her own progress should be furthered by their loss. To whatever heights, therefore, she is raised above them by the prerogative of merits, by charity without doubt and by devoted solicitude she must always be with them. Indeed she ought to imitate her bridegroom, who both seeks the heavens and nonetheless promises that he will be on earth with his own even to the consummation of the age. So also she, however much she advances, however far she is promoted, in care, in providence, and in affection is never removed from those whom she has begotten in the Gospel, never forgets her own offspring. 2. Let her therefore say to them: Rejoice, take confidence. The king has brought me into his storerooms: consider that you also have been brought in together. I seem to have been brought in alone; but it will not profit me alone. All my progress is the progress of you all: I advance for you, I will share with you whatever more I may have merited beyond you. Do you wish to know without doubt that she spoke in this sense and with this affection? Hear what they respond. "We will exult and rejoice in you." In you, they say, we will exult and rejoice: for in ourselves we do not yet deserve it. And they add, "Mindful of your breasts," that is, we bear it patiently until you come, knowing that you will return to us with breasts full. Then we trust we shall exult and rejoice, mindful meanwhile of your breasts. What they add, "more than wine" (Song 1:4), signifies that they are still indeed, on account of their imperfection, assailed by the memory of carnal desires, which are designated by wine; yet that these same desires are overcome by the memory of the abundance of sweetness which they have already experienced flowing from the breasts. I would speak about the breasts, if I did not remember having said enough above (Sermon 9). Now indeed you see how they presume upon the mother, how they reckon her gains and joys as their own, consoling the injury of their own r…

Song of Songs 1:4 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 24

SERMON 24 DETRACTION AND MAN'S RIGHTEOUSNESS 2. We ought to begin, if I be not mistaken, with the words: "The righteous love you." Before we begin to explain what this means, let us take a look at its origin, see who spoke it. For we are expected to understand what the author omits to say. Perhaps it is better to assign it to the maidens, as a continuation of their previous conversation. For when they said: "We will exult and rejoice in you as we remember your breasts, more delightful than wine," it is certain they were speaking to their mother; and they continued with the words: "The righteous love you." I think they may have said this because of members of their party who were not of the same mind although they traveled in their company, who insisted on their own way, their lives being neither simple nor sincere. These were filled with envy of their mother's unique glory and took occasion to murmur against her on the grounds that she alone had entered the storehouses. This is the situation described in the Apostle's words: "Danger from false brothers." It is against their reproaches that she is later compelled to justify herself with the answer: "I am black but lovely, daughters of Jerusalem." It is because of these murmurers, these blasphemers, that the good and the simple, the humble and the meek, try to console the bride by telling her: "The righteous love you." "Do not be disturbed," they say, "by the wicked words of these blasphemers, because the righteous do love you." When we are reviled for doing good by evil-minded men, it is a sweet consolation if the righteous love us. The esteem of the good and the testimony of our conscience make full amends for lying mouths. "My soul glories in the Lord, let the humble hear." Let the humble rejoice, he said; let me but please the humble and I shall bear with equanimity whatever the envy of wicked men may fling in my face. 3. I think this to be the meaning of the appendage: "The righteous love you." Nor is it mere fantasy, for in almost any group of young maidens I find some who curiously watch the bride's actions, not to imitate but to disparage them. They are embittered by their elders' good deeds, they feed on what is evil. You may see them walking apart, banding together, sitting in a huddle and immediately unleashing their wanton tongues in odious gossip. They are linked, one to the other, without an air space between them, so great is the desire to smear or listen to the smear. They combine in intimate groups whose end is slander, their unions promote disunion. Among themselves they develop most mischievous friendships, and equally impelled by unanimous malevolence, fete each other in a camaraderie of spite. Herod and Pilate once behaved just like this, for the Gospel says of them that "they became friends with each other that very day," that is, on the day of the Lord's passion. When they meet thus together it is not to eat the Lord's supper, but rather to offer to others "the cup of demons" and to drink of it themselves. They bear on their tongues the virus of death for their fellows, and gladly welcome the death that enters by their own ears. When with prattling mouths and itching ears we busy ourselves in administering the poisoned cup of slander to each other, we fulfill the Prophet's words: "Death has climbed in at our windows." I have no wish to be trapped in the plots of detractors, for the Apostle tells us they are hated by God: "Detractors, hateful to God." God himself through the Psalm confirms this judgment: "Him who slanders his neighbor secretly, I will destroy." 4. No wonder if he should, since this vice is known to assail and victimize more bitterly than the others the love which is God, as you can see for yourselves. For every slanderer first of all betrays that he himself is devoid of love. And secondly, his purpose in slandering can only be to inspire hatred and contempt in his audience for the victim of his slander. The venomous tongue strikes a blow…

Song of Songs 1:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 26

1. Like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon (Song 1:4). We must begin from here, because this is where the preceding sermon left off. You are waiting to hear what this means, and how it is fitted to the chapter treated most recently, since it is a comparison. For this could have been subjoined in such a way that both parts of the comparison answer only to what had preceded there: I am black. But it could also be so that those two things answer to these two, that is, each to each. The former sense is simpler, the latter more obscure. But let us attempt both: and first indeed this one, which appears more difficult. The difficulty, however, is not in the first two, but only in the last two. For Kedar indeed, which is interpreted as "darkness," seems openly enough to agree with blackness; but the curtains of Solomon do not so readily agree with beauty. Furthermore, who does not see that tents likewise converge into the same agreement? For what are tents, if not our bodies, in which we are pilgrims? For we have not here a lasting city, but seek one that is to come (Heb. 13:14). But we also wage war in them, as in tents; altogether violent toward the kingdom. Finally, the life of man upon earth is a warfare (Job 7:1); and as long as we wage war in this body, we are pilgrims from the Lord, that is, from light. For the Lord is light; and insofar as anyone is not with him, to that extent he is in darkness, that is, in Kedar. Let him therefore recognize as his own that mournful cry: Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the dwellers of Kedar, my soul has been long a sojourner (Ps. 119:5-6). Therefore this habitation of our body is not the dwelling of a citizen, nor the house of a native; but either the tent of a soldier, or the stable of a traveler. This body, I say, is a tent, and a tent of Kedar, which indeed defrauds the soul in the meantime of the sight of the uncircumscribed light, as though by interposing itself; nor does it allow it to be seen at all, except through a mirror indeed and in an enigma, but not face to face (1 Cor. 13:12). 2. Do you see whence the blackness of the Church, whence some rust has clung even to the most beautiful souls? From the tent of Kedar, surely; from the exercise of laborious warfare, from the long duration of a wretched sojourn, from the straits of a sorrowful exile, from the fragile and heavy body, in short; because the body which is corrupted weighs down the soul, and the earthly dwelling presses down the mind that thinks upon many things (Wis. 9:15). For this reason they also desire to be dissolved, so that, freed from the body, they may fly away into the embraces of Christ. Whence also one of the wretched, groaning, used to say: Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom. 7:24). She who is of this sort knows indeed that she cannot in the tent of Kedar be entirely free from spot or wrinkle, not even from the smallest blackness; and she desires to depart, that she may be able to strip herself bare. And this is the reason why the bride called herself black like the tents of Kedar. But how then beautiful, like the curtains of Solomon? But I sense something lofty and sacred wrapped up in these curtains, which I by no means dare to touch at all, except indeed at the nod of him who has stored it away and sealed it. For I have read: He who is a searcher of majesty shall be overwhelmed by glory (Prov. 25:27). I refrain therefore and defer. In the meantime it will be your concern to obtain the usual favor by your prayers; that we may return all the more eager, the more confident, to that which requires more attentive minds. And perhaps the devout one who knocks will find what the rash searcher could not. Although indeed both grief commands an end, and the calamity which I suffer.

Song of Songs 1:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 3

SERMON 3 ON THE KISS OF THE LORD'S FOOT, HAND, AND MOUTH 2. Do not let that place seem vile or contemptible to you, O whatever sort of soul you may be, where the holy sinful woman laid aside her sins and put on holiness. There the Ethiopian woman changed her skin, and restored to a new whiteness, she then confidently and truthfully answered those who reproached her with the word: "I am black, but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem" (Song 1:4). Do you wonder by what art she was able to do this, or by what merits she obtained it? Receive it in few words. She wept bitterly, and drawing long sighs from her inmost depths, she was shaken within herself by wholesome sobs, and vomited forth her bitter humors. The heavenly physician came to her aid most swiftly: for "swiftly runs his word" (Ps 147:15). Is the word of God not a potion? It is indeed, and a strong and powerful one, "searching hearts and reins" (Ps 7:10). For "the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints also and marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts" (Heb 4:12). By the example, therefore, of this blessed penitent, cast yourself down, you too, O wretched one, that you may cease to be wretched; cast yourself down, you too, upon the earth; embrace the feet, appease with kisses, water with tears, by which, however, you wash not him but yourself, and you may become one of the flock of the shorn ones ascending from the washing (Song 4:2); so indeed may you not dare to lift up your face, suffused as it is with shame and grief, until you hear, you also: "Your sins are forgiven you" (Lk 7:37-48); until you hear: "Arise, arise, O captive daughter of Zion; arise, shake yourself from the dust" (Isa 52:1-2).

Song of Songs 1:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 28

1. You remember, I believe, to which and to whose curtains of Solomon I judged the beauty of the bride to be compared, if indeed the likeness given from these is to be referred to the commendation and display of beauty. But if it should be thought rather to refer to blackness, as also that concerning the tents of Kedar: nothing indeed occurs to me concerning curtains of Solomon of this kind, except those which the king was perhaps accustomed to use for the purpose of a tent, whenever it pleased him to dwell in tents; which certainly, if any such there were, must without doubt have been dark and foul, inasmuch as they were exposed to the daily sun and to the injuries of frequent rains. Nor was this without purpose, but so that the ornament which was stored within might be kept more bright. By this example the bride does not deny her blackness, but excuses it; nor does she count as a reproach whatever appearance charity may form and the judgment of truth may not disapprove. For who is weak, and he is not weak with him? Who is scandalized, and he does not burn? (2 Cor 11:29.) She puts on the blemish of compassion, so that in another she may lighten or heal the disease of suffering; she grows black out of zeal for radiance, for the gain of beauty. 2. The darkening of one makes many bright — not when one is stained by guilt, but when one is affected by care. It is expedient, he says, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish (Jn 11:50): it is expedient that one should be darkened for all in the likeness of sinful flesh, and that the whole nation should not be condemned by the blackness of sin: that the splendor and figure of the substance of God should be veiled in the form of a servant for the life of a servant: that the radiance of eternal life should grow black in the flesh, for the purging of the flesh: that he who is beautiful in form beyond the sons of men, for the illumination of the sons of men should be darkened in his passion, disfigured on the cross, made pale in death: that altogether there should be in him no form nor comeliness, so that he might acquire for himself a beautiful and comely bride, the Church, without spot and without wrinkle. I recognize the skin of Solomon — nay rather, I embrace Solomon himself in his black skin. Solomon too has blackness, but in his skin; outwardly black, in his skin black, not within: otherwise all the glory of the king's daughter is from within (Ps 44:3, 14). Within is the radiance of divinity, the beauty of virtues, the splendor of glory, the purity of innocence: but the more despicable color of weakness covers these things; and his countenance is as it were hidden and despised, while he is tempted in all things according to the likeness without sin. I recognize the form of a darkened nature; I recognize those tunics of skin, the garb of the first parents when they sinned (Gen 3:21). For he darkened himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and found in habit as a man (Phil 2:7). I recognize under the skin of the kid, which signifies sin, both the hand which did no sin, and the neck through which no evil thought passed; and therefore no guile was found in his mouth (Isa 53:9). I know that you are gentle by nature, meek and humble of heart, pleasant in appearance, sweet in spirit, and indeed anointed with the oil of gladness above your companions (Ps 44:8). Whence then are you now hairy and rough like Esau? Whose wrinkled and foul image is this, and whence come these hairs? They are mine: for the hairy hands express the likeness of a sinner. I recognize these hairs as my own; and in my skin I see God my Savior. 3. Yet it was not Rebecca who thus clothed him, but Mary; one so much worthier to receive the blessing, as she who bore him was holier. And rightly in my garb; because the blessing is claimed for me, the inheritance is sought for me. For he had heard: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for you…

Song of Songs 1:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 27

My brothers, our friend has gone back to his homeland, we have paid the full tribute of human affection to his memory, so I take up again the instruction which I then discontinued. As he is now in the state of happiness it is improper to prolong our mourning for him, it is out of place to appear in tears before a man enjoying a banquet. Even though we do shed tears in our troubles, our grief should not be excessive, or it will seem to express our regret for the service we have lost rather than our love for him. To think that the one we love is in a state of bliss must ease the pain of our bereavement; to realize that he is with God must make his absence from us more bearable. And so, trusting in the aid of your prayers, I shall attempt to throw light on the secret hidden by those curtains that portray the beauty of the bride. We touched on this, as you recall, but did not delve into it, though we had discussed and discovered how she is black like the tents of Kedar. But in what way can she be beautiful like the curtains of Solomon, as if Solomon in all his glory could even remotely resemble the beauty of the bride, or possessed anything to match the splendor of her adornment? Even if I were to say that these mysterious curtains refer to the quality of blackness as well as to the tents of Kedar, I should perhaps be correct; there are arguments to support this, as I shall show later. But if we suppose that the beauty of any sort of curtains is to be compared to the glory of the bride, then we need the help for which you have been praying, if we are to be worthy to unveil this mystery. For must not outward loveliness, no matter how radiant, seem to an enlightened mind to be cheap and ugly, when compared with the inward beauty of a holy soul? What qualities can we find within the framework of this passing world that can equal the radiance of a soul that has shed its decrepit, earthly body, and been clothed in heaven's loveliness, graced with the jewels of consummate virtue, clearer than mountain air because of its transcendence, more brilliant than the sun? So do not look back to the earthly Solomon when you wish to investigate the ownership of those curtains whose beauty delights the bride because so like her own. 2. What does she mean then by saying: "I am beautiful like the curtains of Solomon"? I feel that here we have a great and wonderful mystery, provided that we apply the words, not to the Solomon of this Song, but to him who said of himself: "What is here is greater than Solomon." This Solomon to whom I refer is so great a Solomon that he is called not only Peaceful—which is the meaning of the word Solomon—but Peace itself; for Paul proclaims that "He is our Peace." I am certain that in this Solomon we can discover something that we may unhesitatingly compare with the beauty of the bride. Note especially what the Psalm says of his curtains: "You have spread out the heavens like a curtain." The first Solomon, though sufficiently wise and powerful, did not spread out the heavens like a curtain; it was he, rather who is not merely wise but Wisdom itself, who both created them and spread them out. It was he, and not the former Solomon, who spoke these words of God his Father: "When he set the heavens in their place, I was there." His power and his wisdom were undoubtedly present at the establishing of the heavens. And do not imagine that he stood by idle, as merely a spectator, because he said "I was there," and not "I was cooperating." Search further on in this text and you will find that he clearly states he was with him arranging all things. Therefore he said: "Whatever the Father does, the Son does too." He it was who spread out the heavens like a curtain, a curtain of superlative beauty that covers the whole face of the earth like a huge tent, and charms our human eyes with the variegated spectacle of sun and moon and stars. Is there anything more lovely than this curtain? Anything more bejeweled than the heavens? Yet e…

Song of Songs 1:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 25

I mentioned in the previous sermon that the bride was compelled to give an answer to her envious assailants, who seemed to be physically part of the group of maidens, but alienated from them in spirit. She said: "I am black but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem." It would appear that her dark skin is the object of their slanderous taunting. But we cannot help noting her patience and kindness. She not only refrained from hurling back curse for curse, but gave them a friendly answer, calling them daughters of Jerusalem when for their wickedness she might properly have called them daughters of Babylon, or daughters of Baal, or any other disreputable name. She had learned from the Prophet, and from Christ himself, the teacher of gentleness, that the crushed reed must not be broken nor the wavering flame be quenched. Hence she decided not to provoke to further outbursts people who had already so upset themselves, nor to add fuel to the fires of envy that tormented them. Conscious of her obligation even to the foolish, she took pains to be peaceful with those who hated peace. She preferred therefore to soothe them with a kind word, because she felt it her duty to labor for the salvation of the weak rather than gratify personal spite. Perfection of this kind is commendable for all, but is the model for prelates who wish to be worthy. Good and faithful superiors know that they have been chosen, not for the vain prestige of holding office, but to take care of ailing souls. And when they detect the presence of inward discontent by the voicing of complaints, even to the point of insult and contumely, they must see themselves then as physicians, not masters, and rather than retaliate, prepare a medicine for the fevered mind. This is why the bride addressed the scornful and malevolent maidens as daughters of Jerusalem; her soothing words would captivate the malcontents, calm their anger and banish their envy. It is written: "A peaceful tongue appeases strife." Nor did she give them a false name, for in a certain sense these are truly daughters of Jerusalem. For whether because of the sacraments of the Church which they carelessly receive with the good, or because of a communal profession of faith, or the bodily unity of all the faithful, or even the hope of future salvation from which they are never wholly excluded as long as they live and of which they must not despair here below however recklessly they live, they are not unfittingly called daughters of Jerusalem. Let us next examine what was meant by saying: "I am black but beautiful." Is this a contradiction in terms? Certainly not. These remarks of mine are for simple persons who have not learned to distinguish between color and form; form refers to the shape of a thing, blackness is a color. Not everything therefore that is black is on that account ugly. For example blackness in the pupil of the eye is not unbecoming; black gems look glamorous in ornamental settings, and black locks above a pale face enhance its beauty and charm. You may easily verify this in any number of things, for instances abound in which you will find beautiful shapes with disagreeable colors. And so the bride, despite the gracefulness of her person, bears the stigma of a dark skin, but this is only in the place of her pilgrimage. It will be otherwise when the Bridegroom in his glory will take her to himself "in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing." But if she were to say now that her color is not black, she would be deceiving herself and the truth would not be in her. So there is no reason to be surprised that she said: "I am black," and yet nonetheless gloried that she is beautiful. How can she be other than beautiful since it is said to her: "Come my beautiful one"? Since she is invited to come, she has not yet arrived. So no one should think that the invitation was addressed to a blessed one who reigns without stain in heaven, it was addressed to the dark lady who was still toiling along th…

Song of Songs 1:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 30

SERMON 30: HOW THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE OR THE ELECT SOULS ARE SIGNIFIED BY VINEYARDS, OF WHICH THE CHURCH IS CALLED THE KEEPER; AND ON THE PRUDENCE OF THE FLESH, WHICH IS DEATH. 1. "They set me as keeper in the vineyards" (Song 1:6). Who? Those very assailants of yours whom you just mentioned? Listen and understand, whether she does not confess herself to have been promoted by those very ones from whom she also suffered. Nor is it a wonder, however, if indeed the intention of correcting was the cause of the fighting. For who does not know that many have been many times assailed in a friendly and useful manner? How many do we daily experience advancing to better things, being promoted to higher things, by the pious assaults of their superiors? Therefore let us rather demonstrate, if we can, in what manner war was waged against the Church by the sons of her mother, both with hostile intent and with useful harm. For this is more delightful, when those who intend to harm are beneficial even against their will. Both senses, indeed, the foregoing interpretation holds: since there were not lacking those who emulated her both well and badly, fighting with different intention; but both were profitable to her. In the end she glories to have profited so much from those things which she suffered from her rivals, that in place of one vineyard, which they seemed to have taken from her, she rejoices that she has been set over many. This, she says, they accomplished for me by fighting against me and against my vineyard, who say: "Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof" (Ps 137:7), so that I exchanged one for many. For this is what she adds, "My own vineyard I have not kept": as though appending the reason whence it befell her, that she was set as keeper no longer in one, but in many. And the letter indeed stands thus. 2. But if we follow it simply, content with that alone which it seems to sound on the surface, we shall think ourselves to be reading in Holy Scripture about those bodily and earthly vineyards which we daily see receiving from the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, whence they pour forth wine, in which is wantonness: and so we shall seem to have brought forth nothing, I do not say worthy of the Lord's bride, but not even anything fitting for any of the rest, from so holy and divine a Scripture. For what agreement is there between brides and the keeping of vineyards? But even if it be thought fitting, whence shall we show that the Church was ever assigned to such an office? "Does God care about vineyards?" But if in a spiritual sense we interpret vineyards as Churches, that is, faithful peoples, according to the meaning of the prophet who says, "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel" (Isa 5:7), it will begin perhaps to become clear to us how it is by no means unworthy of the bride to be made keeper in the vineyards. 3. I think that no small prerogative moreover will appear even in this very thing, if anyone more diligently takes care to observe how much she has everywhere throughout the world extended her borders into vineyards of this kind from that day when she was assaulted and driven out from Jerusalem by the sons of her mother, together with that first new plantation of hers; I mean the multitude of believers, of whom it is read that they were "of one heart and one soul" (Acts 4:32). And this is the one which she now confesses she has by no means kept, but not unto foolishness to herself. For she was not so uprooted from there in the persecution that she was not planted elsewhere, and let out to other farmers who would render its fruits in their seasons. Not at all, it did not perish, but migrated; it even grew and was enlarged, as one whom the Lord blessed. Finally, lift up your eyes, and see if "the mountains are not covered with its shadow, and its branches the cedars of God; if it has not stretched forth its branches unto the sea, and its shoots unto the river" (Ps 80:10-11). Nor is i…

Song of Songs 1:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 28

13. Whence the bride also adds: Do not consider me because I am dark, for the sun has discolored me (Song 1:5), that is: Do not mark me as deformed, because you see me less flourishing, less adorned according to the glory of the world, on account of the pressing persecution. Why do you reproach the blackness which the heat of persecution, not the shame of conduct, has brought? Or does she call the sun the zeal for justice, with which she is kindled and girded against the wicked, saying to God: The zeal for your house has consumed me (Ps 68:10)? And that saying: My zeal has made me waste away, because my enemies have forgotten your words; and also: Fainting has seized me because of sinners who abandon your law (Ps 118:139, 53); likewise: Have I not hated those who hate you, O Lord, and wasted away over your enemies? (Ps 138:21.) She also carefully observes that saying of the Wise Man: You have daughters, he says? Do not show a cheerful face to them (Sir 7:26): so that to the lax and soft and those who flee discipline, she might display not the brightness of serenity, but the darkness of severity. Or to be discolored by the sun is to burn with fraternal charity, to weep with those who weep, to be weak with the weak, to burn at the scandals of individuals. Or thus: The Sun of justice has discolored me, Christ, with whose love I languish. That languor is a certain destruction of color, and a failing in the desire of the soul: whence she also says: I remembered God, and was delighted, and I was exercised and my spirit failed (Ps 76:3). Therefore, like a burning sun, the ardor of desire discolors her who sojourns in the body, while it makes her impatient with the repulse as she yearns for the face of glory, and the delay torments the lover. Who among us so burns with holy love that, out of desire to see Christ, he disdains and puts aside every color of present glory and joy, proclaiming to him with that prophetic voice: And I have not desired the day of man, you know (Jer 17:16); likewise with holy David: My soul refused to be comforted (Ps 76:7); that is, she disdains to be colored with the empty joy of present goods? Or certainly, the sun has discolored me, by the comparison, that is, of its own splendor, since drawing near to it, I from that very nearness discover myself dark, find myself black, despise myself as foul. Otherwise indeed I am beautiful; why do you call me dark, when I yield only to the beauty of the sun itself? But the things which follow seem rather to agree with the former sense. For when she adds: The sons of my mother fought against me, she openly signifies that she has suffered persecution. But from this we shall begin another discourse, because the things which we have received on this occasion concerning the glory of the Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, can suffice, by the gift of him who is God blessed for ever. Amen.

Song of Songs 1:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 29

SERMON 29: ON DISCORD IN THE CHURCH AND IN COMMUNITIES 1. "My mother's sons turned their anger to me." Annas and Caiaphas, and Judas Iscariot, were sons of the Synagogue; and from the Church's very origin these fought with great bitterness against her, daughter of the Synagogue though she was, and hanged Jesus, her Founder, on a tree. In that moment God fulfilled through their agency what he had formerly foretold through the Prophet: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." And perhaps it is the voice of that Church we hear in the song of Hezekiah: "My life is cut off, as by a weaver; while I was yet but beginning he cut me off." It is about these and others of that same race who are known to have opposed the Christian name, that the bride complains when she says: "My mother's sons turned their anger on me." Well did she call them sons of her mother and not of her father, for they did not have God for their father but the devil; they were murderers, just as he was a murderer from the beginning. Hence she does not say: "my brother," or "the sons of my father," but: "My mother's sons turned their anger on me." If she had failed to make this distinction, even the Apostle Paul would seem to be included among those of whom she complains, for he once persecuted the Church of God. But because while living as an unbeliever he had acted in ignorance, he received the grace of mercy; and so he exemplified that he had God for father, that he was a brother of the Church both on his Father's side and on his mother's side. 2. Take note how she accuses by name only her mother's sons as if they alone were at fault. But has she not also suffered very much from strangers? For the Prophet says: "Often since I was young have men attacked me," and "they scored my back with scourges." Why then do you complain so particularly about your mother's sons, when you are so well aware that men of various races have so often assailed you? "If you take your seat at a great man's table, take careful note of what you have before you." Brothers, we are seated at the table of Solomon. Who is more wealthy than Solomon? I do not refer to earthy riches, although Solomon has plenty even of these; but I want you to contemplate the table now before you that is spread with heaven's own delicacies. Refreshments both spiritual and divine are set before us here. "Take careful note, therefore," he said, "of what you have before you, knowing that you must in turn prepare a similar table." And so, with all possible care, I study what is set before me in these words of the bride, and for my own instruction and security take note that persecution by members of the household is alone mentioned by name, whereas she passes over in silence numerous and grave trials which she is known to endure all over the world from every nation under heaven, from pagans, from heretics and schismatics. Aware as I am of the discernment of the bride, I know it was neither by chance nor through forgetfulness that she omitted these. The truth is that she expresses her grief so openly about what hurts her so acutely, and what she thinks we must use all vigilance to avoid. And what is it that hurts her? It is domestic quarreling, dissension within. In the Gospel you are clearly informed of this from our Savior's own mouth when he says: "A man's enemies will be those of his own household." The Prophet speaks in like manner: "Even my intimate friend, who shared my table, rebels against me." And again: "Were it an enemy who insulted me, I could put up with that; had a rival got the better of me, I could hide from him. But you, a man one with me, my leader and my friend, who enjoyed my meals with me," that is to say: I feel more keenly, I bear more painfully, what I have to suffer from you, my guest and companion. You know who makes this complaint, and about whom. 3. You can see that the bride complains about her mother's sons with a similar sorrow and in a similar spir…

Song of Songs 1:7 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 3

SERMON 3 ON THE KISS OF THE LORD'S FOOT, HAND, AND MOUTH 6. To you, Lord Jesus, to you rightly has my heart said: "My face has sought you; your face, O Lord, I will seek." For you made me hear your mercy in the morning, when, as I lay first in the dust and kissed your reverend footsteps, you forgave what I had lived badly. Moreover, in the progress of the day you gladdened the soul of your servant, when next in the kiss of the hand you also granted the grace of living well. And now what remains, O good Lord, except that now in the fullness of light, in the fervor of the spirit, graciously admitting me also to the kiss of the mouth, you would fill me with joy with your countenance? Show me, O sweetest one, O most serene one, show me where you pasture, where you rest at midday.

Song of Songs 1:7 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 32

HOW CHRIST IS RECEIVED BY THE HOLY SOUL AS A BRIDEGROOM, AND BY THE WEAK SOUL AS A PHYSICIAN. LIKEWISE ON THE DIFFERENCE OF THOUGHTS, WHENCE THEY ARISE. 1. "Show me where you pasture, where you lie down at midday" (Song 1:7). Here we are, from here we proceed. But before this vision and address begins to be treated, I think the other visions that preceded it should be briefly recapitulated, how they may be spiritually fitted to us according to the desires and merits of each, so that, having grasped those -- if indeed this be granted -- a readier understanding may shine forth in the discussion of this one also. But this is most difficult. For even if those words by which the visions or likenesses themselves are described seem to sound of bodies and bodily things, nevertheless the things ministered to us in them are spiritual, and on that account their causes and reasons must also be sought in the spirit. And who is fit to investigate and comprehend so many affections and advances of the soul, to which this so manifold grace from the presence of the Bridegroom is dispensed? Yet if we enter into ourselves, and the Holy Spirit deigns to show us in his light what he does not disdain to work continually in us by his operation, I think we shall not remain altogether without understanding in these things. For I am confident that we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may know the things that have been given to us by God (1 Cor 2:12). 2. Therefore if for any of us it is good to cling to God, as with the holy Prophet (Ps 73:28), and -- to speak more plainly -- if anyone among us is so a man of desire that he longs to be dissolved and to be with Christ, and longs vehemently, and thirsts ardently, and meditates unceasingly: he will assuredly receive the Word in no other way than in the form of a bridegroom at the time of visitation, at that hour, namely, when he feels himself clasped inwardly by certain arms of wisdom, and thence infused with the sweetness of holy love. For the desire of his heart will be granted to him, even while he is still a pilgrim in the body, yet in part, and that for a time, and a brief time. For when, after vigils and prayers and much labor and a shower of tears, the sought-for one is present, suddenly, while he is thought to be held, he slips away; and again, to the one weeping and pursuing, he comes to meet, and allows himself to be grasped, but by no means to be retained, while suddenly once more he flies away, as it were, from the hands. And if the devoted soul persists with prayers and weeping, he will return again, and will not defraud her of the will of her lips; but again he will presently disappear, and will not be seen, unless he is sought again with the whole desire. Thus therefore, even in this body, there can be frequent joy from the presence of the Bridegroom, but not fullness; because although the visitation gladdens, the alternation troubles. And the beloved must needs endure this so long, until once the burden of the bodily mass has been laid down, she herself too flies away, lifted on the wings of her desires, freely making her way through the fields of contemplation, and with unencumbered mind following the Beloved wherever he goes. 3. Nor yet even in his passing will he be thus present to every soul, but only to that one whom great devotion, and vehement desire, and the sweetest affection prove to be a bride, and worthy, one to whom the Word, coming with the grace of visitation, will put on beauty, taking the form of a bridegroom. For he who is not yet found so disposed, but rather struck with compunction at the remembrance of his deeds, speaking in the bitterness of his soul says to God: "Do not condemn me" (Job 10:2); or perhaps is even still perilously tempted, drawn away and enticed by his own concupiscence: such a one does not seek a bridegroom, but a physician; and therefore he will receive not kisses indeed or embraces, but only remedie…

Song of Songs 1:7 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 31

"Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon?" The Word, who is the Bridegroom, often makes himself known under more than one form to those who are fervent. Why so? Doubtless because he cannot be seen yet as he is. That vision is unchanging, because the form in which he will then be seen is unchanging; for he is, and can suffer no change determined by present, past or future. Eliminate past and future, and where then is alteration or any shadow of a change? For whatever evolves out of the past and does not cease to move toward future development, passes through the instant that is the present, but one cannot say: it is. How can one say: it is, when it never remains in the same state? That alone truly is, which is neither altered from its past mode of being nor blotted out by a future mode, but "is" alone is predicated of it impregnably and unchangeably, and it remains what it is. No reference to the past can deny that it is from all eternity, nor any reference to the future that it is for all eternity. In this way it proves that it truly is, that is, it is uncreated, interminable, immutable. When he therefore who exists in this manner - who, furthermore, cannot be one moment in this form, another in that - is seen just as he is, that vision endures, as I have said, since no alteration interrupts it. This is the moment when that one denarius mentioned in the Gospel is given in the one vision that is offered to everyone who sees. For as he who is seen is immutable in himself, he is present immutably to all who contemplate him; to these there is nothing more desirable that they wish to see, nothing more enticing that they could see. Can their eager appetite, then, ever grow weary, or that sweetness ebb away, or that truth prove deceptive, or that eternity come to a close? And if both the ability and will to contemplate are prolonged eternally, what is lacking to total happiness? Those who contemplate him without ceasing are short of nothing, those whose wills are fixed on him have nothing more to desire. 2. But this vision is not for the present life; it is reserved for the next, at least for those who can say: "We know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Even now he appears to whom he pleases, but as he pleases, not as he is. Neither sage nor saint nor prophet can or could ever see him as he is, while still in this mortal body; but whoever is found worthy will be able to do so when the body becomes immortal. Hence, though he is seen here below, it is in the form that seems good to him, not as he is. For example, take that mighty source of light, I speak of that sun which you see day after day; yet you do not see it as it is, but according as it lights up the air, or a mountain, or a wall. Nor could you see even to this extent if the light of your body, the eye, because of its natural steadiness and clearness, did not bear some degree of likeness to that light in the heavens. Since all the other members of the body lack this likeness, they are incapable of seeing the light. Even the eye itself, when troubled, cannot approach the light, because it has lost that likeness. Just as the troubled eye, then, cannot gaze on the peaceful sun because of its unlikeness, so the peaceful eye can behold it with some efficacy because of a certain likeness. If indeed it were wholly equal to it in purity, with a completely clear vision it would see it as it is, because of the complete likeness. And so when you are enlightened you can see even now the Sun of Justice that "enlightens every man who comes into this world," according to the degree of the light he gives, by which you are made somehow like him; but see him as he is you cannot, because not yet perfectly like him. That is why the Psalmist says: "Come to him and be enlightened, and your faces shall never be ashamed." That is very true, provided we are enlightened as much as we need, so that "with…

Song of Songs 1:7 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 33

"Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it to lie down at noon." But another voice, that of Job, says: "Tell me why you judge me like this?" This man does not complain of the judgment, he merely queries its cause, seeking to gain knowledge from his afflictions rather than be destroyed by them. Still another man made a similar request: "Make your ways known to me, O Lord, teach me your paths." What he means by paths he reveals in another text: "He leads me in the path of righteousness." Therefore the man who longs for God does not cease to seek these three things, righteousness, judgment, and the place where the Bridegroom dwells in glory: the path in which he walks, the wariness with which he walks, and the home to which he walks. About this home the Prophet says: "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord;" and again: "O Lord, I love the beauty of your house, and the place where your glory dwells." Of the remaining two he says: "Righteousness and judgment are the preparation of your throne." The man who is in earnest rightly seeks these three things, since they are the throne of God and the preparation of his throne. By a special privilege of the bride, all these gifts beautifully and equally concur in the crowning of her virtues: she receives loveliness from the habit of righteousness, prudence from her knowledge of judgments, and chastity from her desire for the presence or glory of her Bridegroom. Such are the gifts that are fitting for a bride of the Lord: beauty, knowledge and chastity. Therefore the petition which I have placed last concerns the Bridegroom's dwelling-place. She asks him whom her soul loves to reveal to her where he pastures his flock, where he makes it lie down at noon. 2. But take note in the first place how exquisitely she distinguishes spiritual love from carnal desire, when, in her wish to draw her Beloved's attention by her affection rather than by his name, she does not say simply, "whom I love," but "O you whom my soul loves," thereby indicating that her love is spiritual. Consider carefully then, what it is that gives her so much pleasure in the place of pasture. Nor must you overlook the reference to the hour of noon, nor above all that she looks for a place where he who feeds the flock also lies down, a sign of great security. It would seem that the expression "lie down" is used to indicate that in this place there is no need to stand and keep watch for the safety of the flock, since the flock freely wanders in the meadows while the shepherd lies down and rests in the shade. Happy the place in which the sheep move to and fro at will, and no one to frighten them! Who will grant that you and I together may be fed on the mountains, along with the ninety-nine sheep who, we read, were left there when their shepherd went down for the one who had strayed? It was because he had left them in a safe place that he was able to undertake a long journey without hesitation, and hence he could afford to lie down securely. What can the bride do but yearn for that place of rest, of security, of exultation, of wonder, of overwhelming joy. But alas! unhappy me, far from it as I am, and saluting it from afar, the very memory of it causes me to weep with the affection expressed by those exiles: "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion." Let me cry out both with the bride and with the Prophet: "Praise your God, O Zion! for he strengthened the bars of your gates; he blesses your sons within you." Who would not be filled with vehement longing to be fed in that place, on account of its peace, on account of its richness, on account of its super-abundance? There one experiences neither fear nor distaste, nor any want. Paradise is a safe dwelling-place, the Word is sweet nourishment, eternity is wealth beyond calculation. 3. I too have the Word, but the Word made flesh; and the Truth…

Song of Songs 1:8 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 34

In Which Humility and Patience Are Treated 1. "If you do not know yourself, O beautiful one among women, go forth, and go after the flocks of your companions, and pasture your kids beside the tents of the shepherds" (Song 1:7). Once holy Moses, because he presumed much upon the grace and familiarity which he had found with God, aspired to a certain great vision, so that he said to God: "If I have found grace in your eyes, show me yourself." But he received in place of it a vision far inferior, from which nevertheless he might at some time arrive at the very one he desired (Ex 33:13-23). The sons of Zebedee also, walking in the simplicity of their heart, dared something great themselves, but were likewise brought back to the step by which one must ascend (Mt 20:21-23). So too now the bride, since she seems to ask for a great thing, is indeed checked by a rather severe response, but one plainly useful and faithful. For it is necessary that one striving toward higher things think humbly of himself, lest, while he is raised above himself, he fall from himself, unless he has been firmly established in himself through true humility. And because the greatest things are by no means obtained except by the merit of humility, therefore he who is to be advanced is humbled by correction, and by humility he merits. You therefore, when you see yourself humbled, take this as a sign entirely for the good, as an indication that grace is drawing near. For as the heart is exalted before a fall (Prov 16:18), so it is humbled before exaltation. Indeed you read both in Scripture, namely that God both resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (Jas 4:6). Did he not, after all, when he judged that his servant Job, after his remarkable triumph and so great and so proven a patience, should be rewarded with a generous blessing, first take care to humble him in many and searching interrogations, and so prepare the way for the blessing? (Job 38ff.) 2. But it is a small thing if, when God humbles us through himself, we then accept it willingly, unless when he does this also through another, we are similarly wise. Wherefore receive a wonderful lesson of this matter from holy David. Once he was cursed even by a servant; but he did not feel the heaped-up injury, because he foresaw the grace. "What have I to do with you, sons of Sarvia?" he said (2 Sam 16:10). O truly a man after God's own heart, who thought he should be angry with the one avenging him rather than with the one reproaching him! Whence also with a clear conscience he spoke: "If I have repaid those who rendered evil to me, let me rightly fall empty before my enemies" (Ps 7:4). He therefore forbade the restraining of the cursing reviler, reckoning the curses as gain. And he adds: "The Lord sent him to curse David" (2 Sam 16:10). Utterly after God's heart, he who drew his judgment from the heart of God. The cursing tongue raged, and he was attending to what God was doing in secret. The voice of the one cursing was in his ears, and his mind inclined itself to blessing. Was God in the mouth of the blasphemer? By no means! But he used him for humbling David. Nor was this hidden from the Prophet; for God had manifested to him the uncertain and hidden things of his wisdom (Ps 50:8), and therefore he says: "It is good for me that you have humbled me, that I may learn your statutes" (Ps 118:71). 3. You see that humility justifies us? I said humility, and not humiliation. How many are humiliated who are not humble? Some are humiliated with resentment, others patiently, others even gladly. The first are guilty, the next are innocent, the last are just. Although innocence too is a portion of justice, yet the consummation of it is found in the humble person; and he who can say, "It is good for me that you have humbled me," he is truly humble. He who tolerates it unwillingly cannot say this; still less, he who murmurs. To neither of these do we promise grace because he is humiliated: although indeed the…

Song of Songs 1:8 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 38

Ignorance of God Leads to Despair; the Beauty of the Bride 1. To what then does ignorance of God lead? We must begin here, for this is where, as you will recall, we finished yesterday. What does it lead to? I have already told you: despair. Now I shall explain how. Imagine a man who decides to take stock of his way of life, who, unhappy in his sinful conduct, wants to reform and abandon his evil and carnal ways. If he does not know how good God is, how kind and gentle, how willing to pardon, will not his sensually-inspired reason argue with him and say: "What are you doing? Do you want to lose this life and the next? Your sins are too grave and too many; nothing that you do, even to stripping the skin from your flesh, can make satisfaction for them. Your constitution is delicate, you have lived softly, a lifetime's habits are not easily conquered." Dismayed by these and similar arguments, the unhappy man quits the struggle, not knowing how easily God's omnipotent goodness could overthrow all these obstacles, since he wills that no man should perish. Instead there is final impenitence, the greatest crime of all, an unforgivable blasphemy. In his agitation he is either swallowed up by excessive sadness and lost in a deep depression from which he will never have the consolation of emerging, in accord with scripture's saying that the wicked man shows only contempt when caught in the midst of evils; or he will dissimulate, flatter himself with false reasonings and, as far as in him lies, surrender irrevocably to the world, to find his pleasure and delight in what advantages it offers. But just when he believes that he has peace and security, misfortunes of all kinds will overwhelm him and he will not escape. Thus despair, the greatest evil of all, follows on ignorance of God. 2. The Apostle says that there are some who have no knowledge of God. My opinion is that all those who lack knowledge of God are those who refuse to turn to him. I am certain that they refuse because they imagine this kindly disposed God to be harsh and severe, this merciful God to be callous and inflexible, this lovable God to be cruel and oppressive. So it is that wickedness plays false to itself, setting up for itself an image that does not represent him. What are you afraid of, you men of little faith? That he will not pardon your sins? But with his own hands he has nailed them to the cross. That you are used to soft living and your tastes are fastidious? But he is aware of our weakness. That a prolonged habit of sinning binds you like a chain? But the Lord loosens the shackles of prisoners. Or perhaps angered by the enormity and frequency of your sins he is slow to extend a helping hand? But where sin abounded, grace became superabundant. Are you worried about clothing and food and other bodily necessities so that you hesitate to give up your possessions? But he knows that you need all these things. What more can you wish? What else is there to hold you back from the way of salvation? This is what I say: you do not know God, yet you will not believe what we have heard. I should like you to believe those whom experience has taught, for "if you do not believe you will not understand." Not everyone however, has faith. 3. God forbid that we should think the bride has been admonished on the grounds of ignorance of God, for she has been gifted not merely with great knowledge of him who is both her Bridegroom and God, but with his friendship and familiar intercourse. She has enjoyed his frequent colloquys and kisses, and with a daring born of this intimacy can say to him: "Tell me where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon." It is not he that she demands to be shown, but the place where his glory dwells, although his domicile and his glory are no other than himself. But he thinks fit to reprove her on account of her presumption, and hints that she lacks self-knowledge by judging herself ready for a vision so great: in her excitement she…

Song of Songs 1:8 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 37

On the Twofold Knowledge and the Twofold Ignorance, and on the Evils or Losses Which They Beget 1. I think we have no need now to exhort you to be watchful, since without doubt that reproving sermon is keeping you awake, being still recent, which yesterday was charitably delivered by us and well awakened some of you. You hold then in memory that I hold your assent: that no one is saved without knowledge of himself, from which indeed the mother of salvation, humility, arises, and the fear of the Lord, which itself, just as it is the beginning of wisdom, so also is the beginning of salvation. No one, I say, is saved without that knowledge, who yet has the age and faculty of knowing. This I say on account of little children and the mentally deficient, whose case is different. What if you are ignorant of God? Can there be hope of salvation with ignorance of God? Not even this. For you can neither love one whom you do not know, nor possess one whom you have not loved. Know yourself therefore, that you may fear God; know him, that you may likewise appease him. In the one you are initiated into wisdom, in the other you are also brought to perfection, because the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and the fullness of the law is love. Both ignorances therefore must be guarded against by you, just as without the fear and love of God salvation cannot exist. The rest are indifferent, having neither salvation if they are known, nor damnation if they are not known. 2. I do not say, however, that knowledge of letters is to be despised or neglected, which adorns the soul and instructs it, and makes it able to instruct others also. But those two things ought and are expedient to come first, in which the preceding argument declared the sum of salvation to consist. And see whether he was not contemplating and teaching this order who said: Sow for yourselves unto justice, reap the hope of life; and then at last, he says, illuminate for yourselves the light of knowledge. He placed knowledge last, as a painting, which cannot stand upon an empty surface; and therefore he set those two things before it and placed them beneath it, as if he were laying something solid beneath a painting. I shall now attend to knowledge in safety, if first through the benefit of hope I shall have received security of life. You therefore have sown for yourself unto justice, if from true knowledge of yourself you have been awakened to fear God, have humbled yourself, have poured forth tears, have lavished alms, and have given yourself over to other works of piety, if you have afflicted your body with fasts and vigils, if you have wearied your breast with beatings and heaven with cries. For this indeed is to sow unto justice. Good works are the seeds, good pursuits are the seeds; tears are the seeds. They went, he says, and wept, casting their seeds. But what? Shall they weep forever? Far from it! But they shall come with exultation, carrying their sheaves. Rightly with exultation, when they carry back the sheaves of glory. This, you say, will be at the resurrection on the last day, and the waiting is too long. Do not be broken in spirit, do not fail from faintheartedness of spirit; you have in the meantime from the first fruits of the Spirit what you may reap in exultation for the present. Sow, he says, for yourselves unto justice, reap the hope of life. He does not send you now to the last day, when the thing will already be in reality and not in hope; but he speaks of the present. Truly great is the joy and much and exceedingly great the exultation, when life shall have come. 3. But shall the hope of so great a joy be without joy? Rejoicing in hope, says the Apostle. And David said not that he would rejoice but that he had rejoiced, because he hoped he would go into the house of the Lord. He did not yet hold life, but he had assuredly reaped the hope of life; and he was experiencing in himself the truth of the Scripture that testifies that not only the rewa…

Song of Songs 1:8 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 36

The Acquiring of Knowledge 1. Here I am as I promised; here I am, both in compliance with your request and to give to God the service I owe him. Three reasons therefore compel me to speak to you: fidelity to my promise, brotherly love, and the fear of the Lord. If I refuse to speak, my own mouth condemns me. But what if I do speak? Then I dread a similar judgment, that my mouth will condemn me as one who speaks but fails to accomplish. Help me therefore with your prayers that I may always speak as I ought, and act in accord with my words. You are aware that I propose to speak today of ignorance, or rather of different kinds of ignorance. You remember I mentioned two kinds, one with regard to ourselves, the other with regard to God. And I warned that we must beware of these two, because both are reprehensible. It remains for me now to expound this more clearly and at greater length. But first I think we must try to discover if all ignorance is reprehensible. It seems to me that this is not true - nor does all ignorance occasion loss - since there are various and countless things of which one may know nothing without detriment to salvation. If you are ignorant of the craftsman's art, for example that of the carpenter or mason, or any other craft practiced by men for the purposes of the present life, does this prevent your being saved? But while unacquainted with any of the liberal arts though not denying that they may be learned and practiced for honorable and useful ends - how many people are saved by living well and doing good, those whom the Apostle mentions in the Epistle to the Hebrews, men who were dear to God not because of knowledge of literature but because of a good conscience and a sincere faith? They all pleased God in their lives by the merits of their lives, not by their knowledge. Peter and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee, and all the other disciples, were not chosen from a school of rhetoric or philosophy; and yet through them the Savior made his salvation effective throughout the world. Unlike a certain holy man who made this claim for himself, it was not because their wisdom surpassed that of all other living men, but because of their faith and meekness, that he made them his friends, sanctified them, and appointed them teachers. And when they revealed to the world the paths of life, it was not with sublime language or the polished words of human wisdom. Rather it pleased God, since the world in its wisdom did not recognize him, that through the foolishness of their preaching believers should be saved. 2. Perhaps you think that I have sullied too much the good name of knowledge, that I have cast aspersions on the learned and proscribed the study of letters. God forbid! I am not unmindful of the benefits its scholars conferred, and still confer, on the Church, both by refuting her opponents and instructing the simple. And I have read the text: "As you have rejected knowledge, so do I reject you from my priesthood;" read that the learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue as bright as stars for all eternity. But I recall reading too that knowledge puffs up, and "the more the knowledge, the more the sorrow." There are then different kinds of knowledge, one contributing to self-importance, the other to sadness. Which of the two do you think is more useful or necessary to salvation, the one that makes you vain or the one that makes you weep? I feel sure you would prefer the latter to the former, for vanity but pretends to health whereas pain expresses a need. Anyone who thus demands is on the way to being saved, because the one who asks receives. Furthermore, Paul tells us that he who heals the brokenhearted abhors the proud: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Paul also said, "By the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think more than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment." He does not forbid thinking, but inor…

Song of Songs 1:8 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 35

The Bridegroom Reproves the Bride — Two Kinds of Ignorance 1. "If you do not know yourself, go forth." What a hard and bitter reproof: "Go forth." This is the kind of language that slaves hear from masters smarting with anger, or slave-girls from mistresses they have gravely offended: "Get out of here, get away from me, clear out of my sight, away from this house." And this kind of harsh and bitter expression, extremely reproachful, is now used by the Bridegroom against his beloved, but with this condition: if she does not know herself. Nothing he could say was more warranted to frighten her than the threat that she should go forth. And you can see this if you think well on the place she is to go forth from and where she is told to go. From where and to where, if not from the spirit to the flesh, from things that are the soul's delight to desire of earthy pleasures, from the inward repose of the mind to the world's clattering bustle where worry allows no peace; in all of which there is nothing but toil and sorrow and spiritual suffering. The soul has been taught by the Lord and received the power to enter into itself, to long for the presence of God in its inmost depths, to seek his face continually -- for God is a spirit, and those who seek him ought to walk by the promptings of the Spirit rather than of the flesh, lest they live according to the flesh. Would that soul regard a temporary experience of hell as more horrible, more punitive, than having once tasted the sweetness of this spiritual desire, to have to go out again to the allurements or rather the irksome demands of the flesh, and be involved as before in the insatiable prurience of the body's senses? Ecclesiastes says: "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing." Listen to a man who has experienced the things I speak of: "The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him." To attempt to turn this holy man away from that good, would cause him to feel as if driven out of Paradise, from the very gateway to glory. Listen to another man with a similar experience: "My heart says to you: 'My face has sought you;' your face, O Lord, I shall seek." Whence he said: "It is good for me to adhere to God;" and he addresses his soul with the words: "Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you." Therefore I say to you: There is nothing so feared by a man who has once received this favor, than, abandoned by grace, to have to go out again to the fleshly consolations, which are really desolations, and to endure once more the tumult of physical desire. 2. "Go forth and pasture your kids:" it is a terrible, an awe-inspiring threat. As much as to say: know yourself unworthy of that familiar and sweet contemplation of things heavenly, things of the spirit, divine things. Therefore go forth from that heart of yours which has been my sanctuary, where it was your custom to drink sweet draughts from the secret, holy teachings of truth and wisdom; be like a woman of the world, become entangled in pandering to the nourishment and delights of your flesh. Since through them sin enters the soul like death through the windows, he calls the restless, wanton senses of the body kids, which signifies sin -- at the judgment they are to be placed on the left. The words that follow in the text, "beside the shepherds' tents," agree suitably with this interpretation. For unlike lambs, kids are fed not above but beside the shepherds' tents. Even though during the days of their service here below they dwell in tents set upon the earth and made of earth, namely, their own bodies, shepherds who are worthy of the name are accustomed to feed the flocks of the Lord with food from the heavenly pastures, not from the earth; it is the Lord's will that they preach, not their own. The kids however, the bodily senses, do not need heavenly things, but staying beside the shepherds' tents, they choose their foods from all the material good…

Song of Songs 1:9 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 39

"To my company of horsemen amid Pharaoh's chariots have I likened you, O my love." For a start we are free to infer from these words that the Fathers prefigured the Church, and that the mysteries of our salvation were foreshown to them. The grace of baptism that both saves men and washes sins away, is clearly expressed in the exodus of Israel from Egypt, when the sea performed that twofold marvel of service in providing a passage for the people and taking vengeance on their enemies. "Our fathers were all under the cloud," said St Paul, "and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea." But as usual I must show the sequence of the words, the connection between the present text and those we have already dealt with, and draw from them as well as I can some consoling doctrine to improve our lives. So when the bride is harshly rebuked for her presumption, lest she succumb to sadness, she is reminded of the favors she has already received and promised that others are to come. He even acknowledges again her beauty and calls her his love. "My love," he says, "if I have spoken to you harshly, do not suspect me of hating you or of being spiteful, for the very gifts with which I have honored and adorned you are clear signs of my love for you. Far from intending to withdraw them I shall add still more." Or he could say it this way: "My love, do not be disappointed that your request is not being answered now; you have already received quite a lot from me, and even greater favors will be yours if you follow my directions and persevere in my love." The text may thus be linked up with the previous ones. 2. Now let us see what those gifts are that he says he has bestowed on her. The first is that he has compared her to his horsemen amid Pharaoh's chariots: by putting to death all the flesh's sinful tendencies he has freed her from the bondage of sin, just as his people were freed from the slavery of Egypt when the chariots of Pharaoh were overturned and swallowed up in the sea. That is surely a very great mercy, and I shall not be foolish if I wish to glory in having received it. I speak only the truth. I declare and will go on declaring: "If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have found its dwelling in hell." I am neither ungrateful nor forgetful, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. But this is as far as I compare myself with the bride. As for the rest, by a unique privilege after her deliverance she has been accepted as his beloved and adorned with a splendor befitting the Lord's own bride, but for the present time only on the cheeks and neck. She has been promised necklaces for ornamentation, made of costly gold, inlaid with beautiful silver. Can anyone not be entirely pleased with such an endowment? Firstly his mercy sets her free, secondly he favors her with his love, thirdly he makes her clean and pure, and finally he promises to enrich her with gems of rarest quality. 3. I have no doubt that some of you understand what I am saying from your own experience, which enables you even to anticipate my words. But running through my mind is the verse: "The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple," and because of these I feel that a little more extensive treatment is justified. For wisdom is a kindly spirit that is pleased with a teacher who is kind and diligent, who, despite his anxiety to gratify his intelligent students, does not hesitate to adapt himself to the backward ones. Wisdom herself says that they who explain her shall have life everlasting, a reward I would by no means be deprived of. For even those matters whose meaning seems obvious have certain aspects that can be obscure, and time is not wasted in discussing them in more detail with capacious and quick-witted minds. 4. But now let us take a look at the comparison drawn from Pharaoh and his army and the horsemen of the Lord. The comparison is not between the two armies, they are merely the basis of it…

Song of Songs 1:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 40

"Your cheeks are beautiful as the turtle dove's." The bride's modesty is a delicate thing; and I feel that at the Bridegroom's reproof a warm flush suffused her face, so heightening her beauty that she immediately was greeted with: "Your cheeks are beautiful as the turtle dove's." You must not give an earthbound meaning to this coloring of the corruptible flesh, to this gathering of blood-red liquid that spreads evenly beneath the surface of her pearly skin, quietly mingling with it to enhance her physical beauty by the pink and white loveliness of her cheeks. For the substance of the soul is incorporeal and invisible, possessing neither bodily limbs not any visible coloring. Try then as best you can to grasp the nature of this spiritual entity by means of a spiritual insight; and to conserve the fittingness of the proposed comparison take note that the mind's intention is the soul's face. The quality of work is evaluated from the intention, just as the body's beauty from the face. We may see in this flush on the cheek an unassuming disposition in which virtue and beauty thrive and grace increases. "Your cheeks then are beautiful as the turtle dove's" When describing her beauty he referred as is customary to her face, for when a person's beauty is praised the normal thing to say is that she has a beautiful or comely face; though I cannot see what was the purpose of speaking of cheeks in the plural except that it cannot have been without a purpose. For the one who speaks is the Spirit of Wisdom, who performs no action, not even the smallest, in vain, nor speaks except according to his nature. Whatever it be, there is a reason why he prefers to speak of cheeks in the plural than of face in the singular. And unless you can offer something better, I shall give you my view of the reason. 2. The intention which we have referred to as the face of the soul must have two elements: matter and purpose, what you intend and why. It is from these two that we judge the beauty or deformity of the soul, and hence the person in whom they are found correct and pure may justly and truly be told: "Your cheeks are beautiful as the turtle dove's." But she who lacks one of these cannot be complimented that her cheeks are beautiful as the turtle dove's, because of her partial deformity. Much less can it be suitably said to one who possesses neither of these qualities. But all this will become more clear by giving examples. If, for instance, a person makes up his mind to pursue the truth, and that solely from a love of truth, is it not obvious that for him both matter and motive are equally correct and that he had achieved the right to be told that his cheeks are beautiful as the turtle dove's, since on neither cheek does an unbecoming blemish appear? But if his reason for pursuing the truth is self-glorification or the attainment of some worldly advantage, then even though one of his cheeks should seem perfectly formed, I feel you would not hesitate to consider him partially deformed because of the baseness of the motive that disfigures the other cheek. But if you discover a man who has no good motives, who is entangled in the net of sensual desire, a glutton and voluptuary like those whose god is the belly, who glory in their shame, whose minds are set on earthly things: what of him? If his intention is vitiated both in matter and motive will you not judge him to be totally repellent? 3. Therefore to direct one's mind completely to worldly pursuits rather than toward God is the sign of a worldly person whose cheeks are totally devoid of beauty. To direct one's mind as it were toward God but not for the sake of God, betrays the attitude of the hypocrite, one of whose cheeks may seem attractive because of a vaunted concern for God, but whose presence nullifies every form of attractiveness and contaminates the whole with its ugliness. Again, if one directs one's mind to God solely or chiefly because of the necessities of the present life, I cannot say…

Song of Songs 1:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 41

1. "Your neck is like jewels" (Song 1:9). The neck is accustomed to be adorned with jewels, not to be compared to them. But let those do this for whom, because beauty does not inhere of their own, it is necessary to beg from elsewhere that by which they may feign themselves beautiful. For the neck of the bride is so beautiful in itself, and so becomingly formed as if by nature, that it does not require adornment from without. For what need is there to apply the cosmetics of foreign colors, when its own and, as it were, innate beauty suffices, to such a degree that it can even equal the splendor of those very jewels which are sought for adorning? This indeed is what he who said it wished to be understood, who said that the jewels by no means hang from the neck, as is customary, but rather that the neck itself is like jewels. Now the Holy Spirit need not be invoked by us, that just as by his condescension he granted us to find the spiritual cheeks of the bride, so also he may deign to reveal her spiritual neck. And to my understanding indeed (because it falls to me to speak what I perceive) nothing in the meantime shines forth more plausible or probable than that the intellect itself of the soul is designated by the name of the neck. You too, I think, will approve of the same, if you attend to the rationale of the likeness. For does it not seem to you that the intellect performs, in a certain manner, the function of the neck, through which your soul conveys into itself the vital nourishment of the spirit, and pours it forth into certain inward parts of its character and affections? This neck of the bride, therefore, that is, her pure and simple intellect, since it shines sufficiently of itself with the naked and open truth, has no need of adornment; but rather it becomingly adorns the soul, like a precious jewel, and for this reason is described as like jewels themselves. A good jewel is truth, a good jewel is purity or simplicity, plainly a good jewel is to be wise unto sobriety. The intellect of the philosophers or of the heretics does not have in itself this splendor of purity and truth: and therefore they take great care to color and paint it with the trappings of words and the cunning of syllogisms, lest, if it appear naked, the shamefulness of its falsity also appear.

Song of Songs 1:11 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 41

2. There follows: "We will make you chains of gold, studded with silver." If he had said, "I will make," in the singular, and not in the plural, "we will make," I would have pronounced absolutely and without doubt that the Bridegroom also spoke this. But now consider whether we might not more fittingly and suitably assign it to his companions, as if consoling the bride with such a promise, that until she arrives at the vision of him, for whom she so burns with desire, they will make for her beautiful and precious chains, which are ornaments of the ears. And this, I believe, for the reason that faith comes from hearing; and as long as one walks by faith and not by sight, effort must be given rather to instructing the hearing than to exercising the sight. For in vain is the eye strained which has not been purified by faith, since the abundance of seeing is promised only to those who are pure of heart (Mt 5:8). But it is written: "Purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9). Since therefore faith comes from hearing, and from faith comes the purification of sight, rightly they were intent on adorning the ears, since hearing, as reason has taught, is the preparation for sight. "You, O bride," they say, "are gaping for the brightness of the beloved to be beheld; but that belongs to another time. We give for the present ornaments to your ears, which will be for you in the meantime a consolation, and also a preparation for this very thing you ask for," as if they say to her that word of the prophet: "Hear, O daughter, and see" (Ps 44:11). "You desire to see, but hear first. Hearing is a step toward seeing. Therefore hear, and incline your ear to the ornaments which we make for you, so that through the obedience of hearing you may arrive at the glory of vision. We give to your hearing joy and gladness. For it is not ours to give to the sight (in which is the fullness of joy and the fulfillment of your desire), but it belongs to him whom your soul loves. He himself, that your joy may be full, will show himself to you; he himself will fill you with gladness with his countenance. You in the meantime accept these chains for consolation from our hand; but for the rest, delights are in his right hand forevermore." 3. One must consider what kind of chains they offer her. "Golden," he says, "and studded with silver." Gold is the splendor of divinity, gold is the wisdom that is from above. They promise that with this gold they will fashion certain shining tokens, as it were, of truth, those to whom this ministry belongs, heavenly goldsmiths, and insert them into the inner ears of the soul. Which I do not think to be anything other than to weave certain spiritual likenesses, and in these to bring the most pure senses of divine wisdom before the sight of the contemplating soul, so that she may see, at least through a mirror and in a riddle, what she is not yet able in any way to behold face to face. Divine are the things we speak of, and utterly unknown except to those who have experienced them; how, namely, in this mortal body, while faith still holds its place, and the substance of the clear light is not yet revealed, nevertheless the contemplation of pure truth already at times presumes to perform its part within us, even if only in part; so that it is permitted for even one of us, to whom this has been given from above, to borrow that word of the Apostle: "Now I know in part"; likewise, "We know in part, and we prophesy in part" (1 Cor 13:12, 9). But when something more divine has flashed upon the mind that exceeds in spirit, swiftly and as if with the speed of a flashing light, whether for the tempering of the excessive splendor or for the purpose of instruction, immediately, I know not whence, there appear certain image-like likenesses of lower things, suitably fitted to the divinely infused senses, by which that most pure and most brilliant ray of truth, being in a certain way overshadowed, both becomes more tolerable to the soul itself,…

Song of Songs 1:12 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 42

SERMON 42 — FRATERNAL CORRECTION: TWO KINDS OF HUMILITY "While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance." These are the bride's words that we have left until today. This is the answer she gave when rebuked by the Bridegroom, not to the Bridegroom however but to his companions, as can easily be gathered from the words themselves. For since she does not address him directly and say: "When you were on your couch, O King," but: "when he was on his couch," it is clear that she does not speak to him but of him. Try to imagine therefore how the Bridegroom, seemingly after he had reproved or repulsed her, sees the blush of shame that covers her cheeks and departs from the room to give her the opportunity to express her feelings freely. If, as often happened, she yielded more than was becoming to dismay and depression, his companions would console and re-assure her. Not that he omits to do this himself, but he waits for the opportune moment. And to show clearly how pleasing to him she was even while correcting her, for she bore that correction becomingly and in the proper spirit, he could not depart till he had praised the beauty of her cheeks and neck in words that came from his heart. Hence those who remain with her, knowing what the Lord has in mind, try to charm her out of her sadness and present her with gifts. Her words then are addressed to them. This is how they fit within the context. 2. But before attempting to extract the kernel of spiritual truth from this shell, I make one brief remark. Happy the Superior who finds a reaction to his reprimand similar to the example given here. Far more desirable that there should never be a need to reprimand! That would be the better thing. But because "we all make many mistakes," and duty obliges me to correct those who err, I may not remain silent; and indeed love impels me to act. And if, in the fulfilling of my duty, I do correct someone only to see that my reprimand fails entirely to achieve its purpose, echoing its futility back to me like a javelin that strikes and recoils, what do you think, brothers, are my feelings then? Am I not frustrated! Am I not angered! Because of my own lack of wisdom let me quote the words of a Master: "I am caught in a dilemma and know not what to choose." Should I be complacent about what I have said because I have done my duty, or perform a penance for what I have said because I have failed in my purpose? For I wished by overthrowing an enemy to rescue a friend, and did not do so; rather the contrary happened, I have offended him and set him deeper in the wrong. He now despises me. "They will not listen to you," said the Prophet, "because they will not listen to me." Note the greatness of him who is involved in this contempt. Do not imagine that you have despised only me. The Lord has spoken, and what he said to the Prophet he also said to the Apostles: "He who despises you, despises me." I am neither prophet nor apostle, but I dare to say that I fulfill the role both of prophet and apostle; and though far beneath them in merits I am caught up in similar cares. Even though it be to my great embarrassment, though it put me at serious risk, I am seated on the chair of Moses, to whose quality of life I do not lay claim and whose grace I do not experience. What then? That one must withhold respect for the chair because the man sitting there is unworthy? But even though the Scribes and Pharisees be seated on it, Christ has said: "Do what they tell you." 3. Quite often impatience is joined to the contempt, so that the man rebuked not only neglects to amend but is even angry with his corrector, like a madman who spurns his doctor's hand. What extraordinary perversity! While refusing to be angry with the archer who shot him, he is angry with his physician! That one who shoots in the dark at the upright of heart has now shot the death-blow into your own self; and you fail to react against him? Yet you are annoyed with me when all I want i…

Song of Songs 1:13 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 43

1. "A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; he shall abide between my breasts" (Song 1:12). Before he was king, now he is beloved; before on the royal couch, now between the breasts of the bride. Great is the power of humility, to which even the majesty of the Godhead so easily inclines itself. Quickly the name of reverence was changed into the word of friendship: and he who was far off was in a short time made near. "A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me." Myrrh, a bitter thing, signifies hard and harsh tribulations. Foreseeing that these threaten her on account of her beloved, she speaks this rejoicingly, confident that she will endure all things manfully. "The disciples went away rejoicing from the presence of the council, because they were counted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus" (Acts 5:41). Therefore, indeed, she calls her beloved not a bundle but a little bundle, because she considers light for the sake of his love whatever labor and sorrow may threaten. Rightly a little bundle, because "a child is born to us" (Isa 9:6). Rightly a little bundle, because "the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom 8:18). For "that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation," he says, "works for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor 4:17). There shall be therefore for us at some time an immense heap of glory, which is now a little bundle of myrrh. Is it not a little bundle, whose "yoke is sweet and whose burden is light"? (Mt 11:30.) Not because it is light in itself (for neither is the harshness of suffering light, nor the bitterness of death), but light nevertheless to one who loves. And therefore she does not say only: "A bundle of myrrh is my beloved"; but: "To me," she says, who love him, he is a little bundle. Whence she also names him beloved, showing that the force of love overcomes the trouble of all bitternesses, and because "love is strong as death" (Song 8:6). And so that you may know that she glories not in herself but in the Lord, and that she presumes strength not from her own power but from the help of the Lord; she says that he will abide between her breasts, to whom she may securely sing: "Even if I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear evils, because you are with me" (Ps 22:4). 2. I remember that in one of the earlier sermons (Sermon 10, no. 1) I defined the two breasts of the bride as congratulation and compassion, according to the teaching of Paul, who says: "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" (Rom 12:15). But since, moving amid adversity and prosperity, she knows that dangers are not absent from either side; she wishes to have her beloved in the midst of these breasts of hers, so that, fortified by his continuous protection against both, neither happy things may exalt her nor sad things cast her down. You also, if you are wise, will imitate the prudence of the bride, and will not suffer this little bundle of myrrh, so dear, to be torn away from the center of your breast even for an hour; always retaining in memory and revolving in constant meditation all those bitter things which he endured for you, so that you too may be able to say: "A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; he shall abide between my breasts." 3. And I, brothers, from the beginning of my conversion, in place of the heap of merits which I knew I lacked, took care to gather this little bundle for myself and to place it between my breasts, collected from all the anxieties and bitternesses of my Lord: first, indeed, from those necessities of his infancy; then from the labors which he endured in preaching, the fatigues in traveling about, the vigils in praying, the temptations in fasting, the tears in showing compassion, the snares in conversing; and lastly, the perils among false brothers, the reproaches, the spittings, the blows, the mockeries, the insults, the nails,…

Song of Songs 1:13 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 42

Nor was the bride ungrateful for that favor. For hear: no sooner is she possessed by the ardor then she professes herself ready to endure any evil for the sake of his name, for the following text runs: "My beloved is to me a bunch of myrrh that lies between my breasts." But I feel too weak to speak any further. I shall say that under the name of myrrh she includes all the bitter trials she is willing to undergo through love of her beloved. Some other time we shall continue with the remainder of the text, provided that the Holy Spirit will be attentive to your prayers and enable me to understand the words of the bride, since he himself has inspired and composed them in a way befitting the praises of him whose Spirit he is, the Church's Bridegroom, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God blessed for ever. Amen.

Song of Songs 1:14 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 44

1. "My beloved is to me a cluster of Cyprus in the vineyards of Engaddi" (Song 1:13). If the beloved is in myrrh, how much more in the sweetness of the cluster. Therefore my Lord Jesus, as myrrh to me in death, as a cluster in the resurrection, has tempered himself for me as a most wholesome drink, in tears in due measure. He died for our sins and rose again for our justification (Rom 4:25), that being dead to sins we might live to righteousness (1 Pet 2:24). And so you, if you have wept for your sins, you have drunk bitterness; but if you have already breathed again in hope of life by a holier way of living, the bitterness of myrrh has been changed for you into wine, which gladdens the heart of man. And perhaps this is what was signified by the fact that wine mixed with myrrh was offered to the Savior on the cross, and therefore he would not drink it, because he thirsted for this. You therefore, after the bitternesses of myrrh, as I said, experiencing the wine of joyfulness, not rashly may you also say: "My beloved is to me a cluster of Cyprus in the vineyards of Engaddi." Engaddi has a twofold interpretation, and both serve a single meaning. For it is called "fountain of the kid," and "baptism of the Gentiles"; and it openly designates the tears of sinners. It is also called "eye of temptation," which equally sheds tears; and watches over the temptations that are never at all absent from the life of man upon earth. But the people of the Gentiles also, who walked in darkness, could never by themselves recognize the snares of temptations, and therefore could not escape them, until through the grace of him who enlightens the blind, they received the eyes of faith; until they came to the Church, which has the eye of temptation; until they delivered themselves to spiritual men for instruction, who, enlightened by the spirit of wisdom and taught also by their own experience, can truly say that we are not ignorant of the wiles of the devil, and his designs (2 Cor 2:11). 2. They report that in Engaddi small balsam trees grow, which are cultivated by the inhabitants in the manner of vineyards: and from this perhaps he called them vineyards. Otherwise what would a cluster of Cyprus be doing in the vineyards of Engaddi? Who has ever transported clusters from vineyards into vineyards? For wine is customarily carried from elsewhere to where it is lacking, not to where it is already present. Therefore he calls the vineyards of Engaddi the congregations of the Church, which has the liquor of balsam, the spirit of gentleness, in which it tenderly fosters the tenderness of those who are still little ones in Christ, and consoles the sorrows of penitents. But also if any brother has been overtaken in some fault, the churchman who has already received this spirit will take care to instruct such a one presently in the same spirit of gentleness, considering himself, lest he also be tempted (Gal 6:1). In this type the Church has been accustomed even bodily to anoint with material oil all who are to be baptized. 3. But since the wounds of him who fell among thieves, and was carried upon the beast of the body of the compassionate Samaritan to the inn of the Church, receive healing not in oil alone but in wine and oil together (Lk 10:30-34): the spiritual physician needs also the wine of fervent zeal together with the oil of gentleness, to whom it assuredly belongs not only to console the fainthearted but also to correct the unruly. For if he shall see that the one who was wounded, that is, who sinned, is by no means amended by the gentle and mild exhortations that have been bestowed upon him, but rather is perhaps even abusing his gentleness and becoming more negligent through his patience, and falling asleep in his sin even more securely: when the oil of such sweet admonitions has been frustrated, it will be necessary indeed to use more biting remedies and to pour in the wine of compunction; that is, to deal with him by harsh rebukes and invectiv…

Song of Songs 1:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 45

"Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold you are beautiful; your eyes are as doves" (Song 1:15). Beautifully, most excellently, from love, the presumption of the bride; from love, the indignation of the bridegroom. The outcome of the matter proves this. For presumption was followed by correction, correction by amendment, amendment by reward. The beloved is present, the master is removed, the king disappears, dignity is laid aside, reverence is set down. For haughtiness yields where affection grows strong. And just as once Moses spoke as a friend to a friend (Ex 33:11), and the Lord responded: so also now between the Word and the soul, as if between two neighbors, a most familiar conversation is carried on. Nor is this surprising. From one fountain of love there flows to both the loving of one another, the cherishing of each other equally. Therefore words sweeter than honey fly back and forth, mutual glances full of all sweetness are exchanged between them, holy signs of love. And so he calls her his love, pronounces her beautiful, repeats that she is beautiful, receiving the same in return from her. Nor is the repetition idle, for it is a confirmation of love, and perhaps it hints at something to be inquired into. Let us seek the twofold beauty of the soul: for this is what it seems to me to hint at. The beauty of the soul is humility. I do not say this of myself, since the prophet said before me: "You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed" (Ps 50:9); by a humble herb that purges the breast signifying humility. With this the king and prophet trusts to be washed after his grievous fall, and so to recover a certain snow-white brightness of innocence. But in one who has gravely sinned, humility, even if it is to be loved, is nevertheless not to be admired. But if someone retains innocence, and nonetheless joins humility to it, does he not seem to you to possess a twofold beauty of soul? Holy Mary did not lose her holiness, and she did not lack humility: and therefore the King desired her beauty, because she joined humility to innocence; and so: "He has regarded," she says, "the humility of his handmaid" (Lk 1:48). Therefore blessed are they who keep their garments clean, namely those of simplicity and innocence, if yet they also add the putting on of the beauty of humility. Assuredly she who is found to be of this kind will hear: "Behold you are beautiful, my love, behold you are beautiful." Would that you would say even once to my soul, Lord Jesus: "Behold you are beautiful." Would that you would keep humility for me! for I have kept the first garment badly. I am your servant. For I do not dare to profess myself a friend, I who do not hear the testimony of my beauty with a repetition. It suffices me if I hear it once. But what if even this is in question? I know what I will do: as a servant I will venerate his love, I, a deformed little man, will admire the abundant beauty in her; I will rejoice at the voice of the bridegroom, who is himself admiring so great a beauty. Who knows if at least from this I may find grace in the eyes of his love, so that by her grace I too may be found among the friends? And so the friend of the bridegroom stands, and rejoices with joy because of the voice of the bridegroom. Behold his voice is in the ears of the beloved: let us hear and let us rejoice. They are present to one another, they speak together; let us stand likewise: let no care of this world, no enticement of the body, withdraw us from this conversation. "Behold," he says, "you are beautiful, my love, behold you are beautiful." "Behold" is a word of admiration, the rest is of praise. Rightly to be admired, she for whom lost holiness did not bring humility, but rather preserved holiness admitted it. Rightly she is found beautiful, from whom neither beauty was absent. A rare bird upon the earth, either not to lose holiness, or for holiness not to exclude humility: and therefore blessed is she who retained both. And so…

Song of Songs 1:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 46

"Our little bed is flowering, the beams of our houses are of cedar, our paneled ceilings are of cypress" (Song 1:16-17). She sings a wedding hymn, describing the couch and the chambers in beautiful speech. She invites the Bridegroom to rest. For this is better: to rest and to be with Christ. Yet it is necessary to go out to gain profits for the sake of those who are to be saved. But now, having found the opportunity, as she thinks, she announces that the chamber is adorned, and pointing to the little bed as if with her finger, she invites the beloved, as I have said, to rest, and not enduring the burning of her heart with those going to Emmaus, she draws him to the lodging of her mind, compels him to stay the night with her (Lk 24:29, 32), and speaks with Peter: "Lord, it is good for us to be here" (Mt 17:4). Now let us inquire what these things contain spiritually. And in the Church indeed I consider the bed in which one rests to be the cloisters and monasteries, in which one lives quietly, free from the cares of the world and the anxieties of life. And this bed is shown to be flowering when the conduct and life of the brethren shines forth, sprinkled as it were with certain sweet-smelling flowers, by the examples and institutions of the fathers. But note how beautifully the entire state of the Church is comprehended in one brief little verse: namely the authority of prelates, the beauty of the clergy, the discipline of the people, the quiet of monks. In the contemplation of all these things, when all is rightly ordered, holy mother Church rejoices, and then she also offers them for the beloved to behold, when she refers all things to his goodness, as the author of all, attributing nothing of all these things to herself. For when she says "our" and "of our," it is not a sign of usurpation but of love: because, namely, by the confidence of exceeding charity, she considers nothing of him whom she greatly loves to be alien to her. For she does not think herself to be excluded from the companionship of the Bridegroom or from the sharing of his rest, she who has always been accustomed to seek not what is her own but what is his: and this is the reason why she has dared to declare as common to herself and the Bridegroom alike whether the little bed or the houses. For she said: "Our little bed," and "the beams of our houses," and "our paneled ceilings": boldly associating herself in possession with him to whom she does not doubt she is joined in love. Not so she who has not yet renounced her own will, but lies by herself, dwells by herself: or rather not by herself, but lives luxuriously in company with harlots -- I mean the lusts of the flesh -- with whom she squanders her goods, and the portion of substance that she demanded be divided for her (Lk 15:12-13). Moreover, you who hear or read these words of the Holy Spirit, do you think you are able to apply any of these things that are said to yourself, and to recognize in yourself something of the happiness of the bride, which is sung in this love-song by the Spirit himself, lest it be said to you also that you hear his voice and do not know whence it comes or where it goes? Behold, perhaps you yourself also desire the quiet of contemplation, and you do well: only do not forget the flowers with which you read that the bed of the bride is sprinkled. Therefore take care that you too likewise surround yours with flowers of good works, that you anticipate the holy leisure as fruit with the exercise of virtues as flower. Otherwise you will want to drowse in quite delicate leisure, if you do not seek rest as one who has been exercised, and, neglecting the fruitfulness of Leah, desire to delight yourself in the embraces of Rachel alone. But also the order is reversed if one demands the reward before the merit, and takes food before the labor, since the Apostle says: "He who does not work, let him not eat" (2 Thess 3:10). "From your commandments I have gained understanding," he says (Ps…

Song of Songs 1:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 45

I do not think, brothers, I do not think this vision is a mediocre one, nor common to all, even though it be inferior to that by which he is to be seen in the future. For notice from what follows. For it continues: "Behold you are beautiful, my beloved, behold you are beautiful." You see how high she stands, and to what sublime peak of mind she has raised herself, who claims the Lord of all things as her own beloved by a certain special right. For notice how she does not simply say, "Beloved"; but, "my beloved," she says, so as to designate him as her own. A great vision indeed, from which she has grown to such confidence and authority, that she knows the Lord of all not as lord, but as beloved. For I judge that on this occasion there were by no means brought to her senses the images of the flesh, or of the cross, or any other likenesses of bodily infirmities. For in these, according to the prophet, "there was in him no form nor beauty" (Isa 53:2). But she, having beheld him, now pronounces him beautiful and comely, signifying that he appeared to her in a better vision. For mouth to mouth, as once with holy Moses (Ex 33:11), he speaks with the bride; and openly, not through riddles and figures, she sees God. And so she pronounces with her mouth such as she beholds with her mind, in a vision plainly sublime and sweet. Her eyes saw the king in his beauty, yet not as king, but as beloved. Let someone indeed have seen him upon a throne high and elevated; and let another testify that he appeared to him face to face: yet it seems to me that the preeminence in this matter lies with the bride, because there the one seen is read to be the Lord, here, the beloved. For thus you have it: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated" (Isa 6:1); and likewise: "I saw the Lord face to face, and my soul was saved" (Gen 32:30). "But if I am Lord," he says, "where is my fear?" (Mal 1:6). But if to them the revelation was made with fear; because where there is the Lord, there is fear: I for my part, if the choice were given, would so much more willingly, so much more dearly embrace the vision of the bride, inasmuch as I perceive it was made in the better affection, which is love. For fear has punishment, but perfect love casts out fear (1 Jn 4:18). Much indeed it matters whether one appears terrible in his counsels over the sons of men (Ps 65:15), or appears beautiful in form beyond the sons of men (Ps 44:5). "Behold you are beautiful, my beloved, and comely." These words plainly resound with love, not with fear. But perhaps thoughts ascend in your heart, and you ask doubtfully within yourself, saying: By what reasoning are words of the Word spoken to the soul referred to, and again of the soul to the Word, so that she heard the voice of him speaking to her, and testifying that she is beautiful, and in turn immediately returned the same praise to her praiser? How can these things be? For we speak by a word, the word does not speak. Likewise the soul has no means by which to speak, unless the mouth of the body forms words for her to speak. You ask well: but consider that a spirit speaks, and what is said must be understood spiritually. Whenever therefore you hear or read that the Word and the soul converse together, and behold one another; do not imagine that bodily voices pass between them, just as neither do bodily images of the speakers appear. Hear rather what you are to think in matters of this kind. The Word is a spirit, and the soul is a spirit, and they have their tongues, by which they address one another and indicate their presence. And the tongue of the Word indeed is the favor of his condescension: but that of the soul, the fervor of devotion. The soul that does not have this is tongueless and speechless, and there can be no conversation at all between her and the Word. Therefore when the Word moves his tongue of this kind, wishing to speak to the soul, the soul cannot fail to perceive it. For the word of God is living and…

Song of Songs 1:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 46

"Our little bed is flowering, the beams of our houses are of cedar, our paneled ceilings are of cypress" (Song 1:16-17). She sings a wedding hymn, describing the couch and the chambers in beautiful speech. She invites the Bridegroom to rest. For this is better: to rest and to be with Christ. Yet it is necessary to go out to gain profits for the sake of those who are to be saved. But now, having found the opportunity, as she thinks, she announces that the chamber is adorned, and pointing to the little bed as if with her finger, she invites the beloved, as I have said, to rest, and not enduring the burning of her heart with those going to Emmaus, she draws him to the lodging of her mind, compels him to stay the night with her (Lk 24:29, 32), and speaks with Peter: "Lord, it is good for us to be here" (Mt 17:4). Furthermore, understand the houses as the assemblies of Christian people, whom those who are placed in high position, that is, Christian leaders of both orders, like beams strongly bind together the walls by imposing just laws, lest each one living by his own law or will, like leaning walls and fences pushed down, should fall apart from one another, and so the entire structure of the building should collapse and be scattered. But the paneled ceilings, which hang firmly from the beams and adorn the houses remarkably, I think designate the gentle and disciplined manners of a well-ordered clergy, and their duly administered offices. For how shall the orders of clergy and their ministrations stand, if they are not sustained by the beneficence and munificence, and protected by the power of rulers, as by beams? But as for the fact that the beams are described as of cedar and the paneled ceilings as of cypress, the nature of these species of wood without doubt contains something that corresponds to the aforesaid orders. And cedar indeed, since it is an incorruptible and also a fragrant wood, and of tall stature, sufficiently indicates what sort of men ought to be chosen for the role of beams. Therefore it is necessary that those who are set over others be strong and steadfast, and also long-suffering in hope, lifting the summit of their mind toward things above, who also, spreading everywhere the good odor of their faith and conduct, can say with the Apostle: "For we are the good fragrance of Christ to God in every place" (2 Cor 2:15). Cypress likewise, a wood equally of good fragrance and similarly incorruptible, shows that anyone of the clergy ought to be of incorrupt life and faith, so that he may deservedly be assigned to the beauty of the house and the adornment of the paneling. For it is written: "Holiness befits your house, O Lord, for length of days" (Ps 93:5). Where indeed both the beauty of holiness and the perseverance of unfailing grace are expressed. Therefore it is necessary that the man who is taken up for the ornament and beauty of the house be adorned with good character; and although he himself is always within, he should nevertheless have a good testimony also from those who are without. There are also other things in the nature of these woods that correspond to what is being discussed spiritually, but for the sake of brevity I pass over them. But note how beautifully the entire state of the Church is comprehended in one brief little verse: namely the authority of prelates, the beauty of the clergy, the discipline of the people, the quiet of monks. In the contemplation of all these things, when all is rightly ordered, holy mother Church rejoices, and then she also offers them for the beloved to behold, when she refers all things to his goodness, as the author of all, attributing nothing of all these things to herself. For when she says "our" and "of our," it is not a sign of usurpation but of love: because, namely, by the confidence of exceeding charity, she considers nothing of him whom she greatly loves to be alien to her. For she does not think herself to be excluded from the companionship of the Bridegr…

Song of Songs 2:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 47

"I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys" (Song 2:1). I think this looks back to what the bride had commended concerning the little bed sprinkled with flowers. For lest she should ascribe to herself those flowers, by which the little bed appeared adorned and the bridal chamber beautified, the Bridegroom declares that he is the flower of the field; and that the flowers do not come forth from the bridal chamber, but from the field; and that by his gift and by participation in him is produced what shines and what gives fragrance. Lest therefore anyone should be able to reproach her and say: "What do you have that you have not received? And if you have received it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?" (1 Cor 4:7), he himself, as much an eager lover as a kind instructor of his beloved, piously and graciously shows her to whom she ought to attribute the splendor, about which she was glorying, and the sweet fragrance of the little bed. "I am the flower of the field," he says: from me is that in which you glory. Most wholesomely are we admonished also from this passage, that we ought by no means to glory: "and if anyone glories, let him glory in the Lord" (2 Cor 10:17). And this according to the letter: now let us examine, with the help of him of whom it speaks, the spiritual understanding that lies hidden therein.

Song of Songs 2:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 71

The Bridegroom, then, is a lily, but not a lily among thorns, since he has no thorns who committed no sin. Indeed he declared the bride to be a lily among thorns; since even she, if she should say that she has no thorns, deceives herself, and the truth is not in her. But he professed himself indeed a flower and a lily, yet not among thorns. Rather he says: "I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys" (Song 2:1-2). And there is no mention of thorns, because he alone among men has no need to say: "I was turned in my affliction, while the thorn was fastened in me" (Ps 31:4). Therefore he is never without lilies, who is always without vices; because he is wholly and always radiant, beautiful in form beyond the sons of men (Ps 44:3). You therefore who hear or read these things, take care to have lilies in your possession, if you wish to have this dweller among lilies dwelling in you.

Song of Songs 2:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 48

"As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters" (Song 2:2). Not good daughters who prick. Observe the most wretched offspring of that land of ours which was cursed. "When," he says, "you shall have cultivated it, it will bring forth thorns and thistles for you" (Gen 3:18). Therefore, as long as the soul is in the flesh, it dwells indeed among thorns; and it is necessary that it suffer the restlessness of temptations and the stings of tribulations. But if it is itself a lily according to the word of the Bridegroom, let it see how watchful and solicitous it ought to be over the guarding of itself, surrounded on all sides by thorns, extending their stings from every direction. For the tenderness of the flower in no way endures even the slightest prick of a thorn, but as soon as it is pressed even slightly, it is pierced. You perceive how rightly and necessarily the prophet exhorts us to serve the Lord in fear (Ps 2:11); and likewise the Apostle, to work out our own salvation with fear and no less trembling (Phil 2:12). They held assuredly by their own experience the truth of this judgment, inasmuch as they were friends of the Bridegroom, who in no way at all doubted that the words pertained to their own souls: "As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters." Finally one of them says: "I was turned in my affliction, while the thorn was fastened in me" (Ps 31:4). Well fastened, he who was thereby turned. Well are you pricked, if you are pricked with compunction. Many, when they feel the punishment, correct the fault; and such a one can say: "I was turned in my affliction, while the thorn was fastened in me." A thorn is fault, a thorn is punishment, a thorn is a false brother, a thorn is an evil neighbor. "As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters." O gleaming lily! O tender and delicate flower! Unbelievers and subverters are with you: see how cautiously you walk among thorns. The world is full of thorns: they are in the earth, they are in the air, they are in your flesh. To dwell among these and not be harmed in the least belongs to divine power, not to your own virtue. "But be confident," he says, "because I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33). Even if, therefore, you perceive the stings of tribulations, as of thistles, directed at you from every side, let not your heart be troubled nor let it fear, knowing that tribulation works patience, patience works proving, proving works hope, and hope does not confound (Rom 5:3-5). Consider the lilies of the field, how they flourish and shine among thorns. If God so guards the grass which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven (Mt 6:28-30), how much more his beloved and most dear bride? Finally, "the Lord guards all who love him" (Ps 144:20). "As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters." It is no small title of virtue indeed, to live as a good person among the depraved, and to retain the brightness of innocence and the gentleness of conduct among the malicious: and all the more if you show yourself peaceful to those who hate peace, and a friend to enemies themselves. This indeed will rightly claim for you the likeness given of the lily, by a certain right of special property, because it does not cease to illuminate and adorn with its own brightness the very thorns that prick it. Does not the lily seem to you thereby to fulfill in a certain way the perfection of the Gospel, by which we are commanded to pray for those who calumniate and persecute us, and to do good to those who hate us? (Lk 6:27-28.) Therefore do you likewise, and your soul will be a beloved of the Lord, and he will praise you concerning yourself, saying that "as the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters."

Song of Songs 2:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 71

Song of Songs 2:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 48

There follows: "As the apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons." The bride returns the exchange of praise to the Bridegroom who commends her, from whom to be praised is to be made praiseworthy, and to praise whom is to understand and admire the praiseworthy one. And just as her praise was figured by the Bridegroom from an eminent flower, so in return she too demonstrates his singular glory and eminence from an excellent tree. Yet it moves me concerning this tree, that it does not seem to be of so great an excellence as some of the others: and therefore less worthily taken up for the purpose of the similitude, inasmuch as it would not suffice to fulfill the exchange of praise. "As the apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons." Indeed the bride herself does not seem to have esteemed it highly, she who took care to exalt it only among the trees of forests, that is, among sterile trees bearing no fruits suitable for human food. Why therefore, with better and nobler trees passed over, was the mediocrity of this tree brought forward to form the Bridegroom's praise? Was he who did not receive the Spirit by measure to receive praise by measure? For this similitude given from that tree makes it seem that he who has no equal has a superior. What shall we say to these things? I confess, it is a small praise, because it is the praise of the small one. For it is not in this place that the "great Lord and exceedingly to be praised" (Ps 144:3) is proclaimed, but the small Lord and exceedingly to be loved, the little one indeed "who has been born for us" (Isa 9:6). Therefore it is not majesty that is extolled here, but humility that is commended; and worthily and reasonably that which is weak and foolish of God is preferred to the strength and wisdom of men. For they themselves are the wild and fruitless trees of the forest, because, according to the Prophet, "all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one" (Ps 13:3). "As the apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons." Alone among the trees of the forest the Lord Jesus is a tree bearing fruit, according to his humanity assuredly, even if set above men, yet "made lower than the angels" (Ps 8:6). For in a wondrous manner, having been made flesh, he both subjected himself to the angels, and remaining God, he retained the angels subject to himself. Finally: "You shall see," he says, "the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (Jn 1:51): because in one and the same man Christ Jesus they both tend his weakness and stand in awe of his majesty. Because therefore to the bride that which he diminished of himself tastes sweeter, she more willingly extols his grace, sets forth his mercy, stands amazed at his condescension. It therefore pleased her to admire the man among men, not God among angels, as the apple tree excels among the trees of the forest, and not indeed among the plantings of gardens. Nor does she think that his praises are diminished, where the goodness of piety is exalted from the consideration of weakness. For in the measure that she tempers her praises in one respect, in that same measure she praises the more in another respect, pursuing less the glory of his dignity, so that the grace of his condescension may stand out. As therefore the Apostle says that what is foolish and weak of God is wiser and stronger than men (1 Cor 1:25), but not than angels; and as the Prophet proclaims him beautiful in form "above the sons of men" (Ps 44:3), and not above the angels; so she certainly, speaking in the same spirit, wished in this place under the type of a fruit-bearing tree and the trees of the forest to exalt the God-Man above all the grace of men, but not above the excellence of the angels. "As the apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons." And rightly "among the sons"; because, though…

Song of Songs 2:4 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 49

How Charity Is Ordered Through Discretion, So That All the Members of the Church, That Is, the Elect, May Be Bound Together With One Another. 1. "The king has brought me into the wine cellar, he has ordered charity in me" (Song 2:4). As indeed the letter of the proposed chapter seems to sound, after having enjoyed a sweet and quite familiar conversation with the beloved according to her desires, when he departed the bride returns to the young maidens, so refreshed and inflamed by the sight and speech of him that she appeared like one drunk. And as though they were astonished at the novelty and seeking the cause, she replied that it was not at all strange if she burned with wine, who had entered into the wine cellar. And according to the letter it is so. According to the spirit also she does not deny being drunk, but with love, not with wine, except that love is wine. "The king has brought me into the wine cellar." When the bridegroom is present and the bride directs her speech to him, then he is called bridegroom or beloved, or "him whom my soul loves," she says; but speaking of him to the young maidens, she names him king. Why is this? I believe it is because it befits the bride, loving and beloved, to use more familiarly the names of love, as pertains to herself, while the young maidens, as those needing discipline, must be pressed by the reverential word of majesty. 2. "The king has brought me into the wine cellar." What this wine cellar may be, I pass over saying, because I recall having already said it. Nevertheless, if the discourse is referred to the Church, when the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, were thought by the people to be drunk with new wine, then Peter, standing as it were the friend of the bridegroom on behalf of the bride, in the midst of them said: "These are not, as you suppose, drunk" (Acts 2:15). Observe meanwhile that he did not deny them to be drunk altogether, but drunk as they were supposed by those people. For they were drunk, but with the Holy Spirit, not with new wine. And as though they were testifying to the people that they had indeed been brought into the wine cellar, Peter again said on behalf of all: "But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 'And it shall be in the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams'" (Acts 2:16-17). Does not that house seem to you to have been a wine cellar, in which the disciples were gathered together, when suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting (Acts 2:2), and fulfilled the prophecy of Joel! And could not each one of them, going out inebriated from the abundance of that house, and given to drink from the torrent of so great pleasure, deservedly say: "The king has brought me into the wine cellar"? 3. But you also, if with your spirit gathered, with a sober mind and free from cares, you should enter alone into the house of prayer, and standing before God at one of the altars, you should touch the gate of heaven with the hand of holy desire, and being presented to the choirs of saints, your devotion penetrating (since indeed the prayer of the just penetrates the heavens), in their very presence you should, pitiable as you are, bewail the miseries and calamities which you suffer; with frequent sighs and unutterable groanings you should reveal your necessity, entreat for mercy; if, I say, you should do this, I am confident in him who said, "Ask, and you shall receive" (Mt 7:7), that if you persevere knocking, you shall not go out empty. But when you have returned to us full of grace and charity, and, fervent in spirit, you cannot conceal the gift received, which you will communicate without envy; and you shall be to all, in the grace that has been given to you, not only pleasing but perhaps even to be wondered at; you too…

Song of Songs 2:4 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50

On the Twofold Charity, Namely Actual and Affectual; and Its Ordering. 1. You perhaps expect the following verses to be treated, thinking the little verse which was most recently treated to be finished. But I am contriving something else: for I have something yet to set before you from the fragments of yesterday's banquet, which I had gathered for myself lest they perish. But they will perish if I set them before no one: for if I wish to have them for myself alone, I myself shall perish. Therefore I do not wish to defraud your gluttony, which I know well, of these things: especially since they are from the dish of charity, sweet insofar as they are subtle, savory insofar as they are small. Otherwise it is exceedingly contrary to charity to defraud of charity itself. And so here I am: "He ordered charity in me" (Song 2:4). 2. There is a charity in act, and there is one in affection. And concerning that which is of work, I think the law was given to men and a commandment was formed: for who so possesses it in affection as it is commanded? Therefore the one is commanded for merit, the other is given as a reward. We do not deny that divine grace can grant its beginning indeed, and its progress, to be experienced even in the present life; but its consummation we firmly reserve for future happiness. How then was it right to command what was in no way to be fulfilled? Or if it pleases you more that the commandment was given concerning affectual charity, I do not contend about that, provided that you too agree with me that it could in no way be fulfilled in this life by any man, or could have been. For who would dare arrogate to himself that which Paul himself confesses he has not comprehended? (Phil 3:13.) Nor was the weight of the precept, exceeding the powers of men, hidden from the teacher; but he judged it useful that they be reminded of their own insufficiency from this very thing, and that they might know clearly toward what end of righteousness they ought to strive with their powers. Therefore by commanding impossible things he did not make men transgressors, but humble, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be made subject to God; because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before him (Rom 3:19-20). For receiving the commandment, and feeling our transgression, we shall cry out to heaven, and God will have mercy on us: and we shall know in that day, that not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us (Titus 3:5). 3. And this I would have said, if indeed we agreed that affectual charity was commanded by law. But that this rather pertains to actual charity seems to appear most especially from this: that when the Lord had said, "Love your enemies," he at once adds concerning works: "Do good to those who hate you" (Lk 6:27). Likewise Scripture: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink" (Rom 12:20). And here you have what concerns act, not affection. But hear likewise the Lord commanding also concerning love of himself: "If you love me," he says, "keep my words" (Jn 14:15). And here too we are sent to works by the enjoined observance of commandments. But he would have warned about works superfluously, if love had already been in the affection. So it is necessary that you also receive in this way the command that you love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:39), even if it is not so openly expressed. Or do you not finally judge it sufficient for fulfilling this commandment concerning love of neighbor, if you perfectly observe that which is rightly prescribed to every man by the law of nature: "What you do not wish done to you, do not do to another"? (Tob 4:16.) And likewise: "Whatever you wish that men should do to you, do also to them" (Mt 7:12). 4. Nor do I say this so that we should be without affection, and with a dry heart move only our hands to works. I have read among the other great and grievous evils of men which the Ap…

Song of Songs 2:4 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 23

In moral discipline likewise three things are to be noticed, as it were three cells in one storeroom. And perhaps for this reason she said storerooms in the plural, and not storeroom, thinking of this number of cells. Further on, indeed, she glories in having been brought into the "wine cellar" (Song 2:4). We therefore, because we read, "Give occasion to a wise man, and he will become wiser" (Prov 9:9), having the occasion from the name which the Holy Spirit saw fit to impose on this cell, let us impose names also on the other two: "aromatic" on one, and "ointment" on the other. Now however observe that all things with the bridegroom are found to be healthful, all things sweet: wine, ointments, spices. Wine, as Scripture attests, "gladdens the heart of man" (Ps 104:15). No less does one read that the face is made cheerful by oil (ibid.), in which indeed the powder of spices is infused to make ointments. Spices are not only pleasing by the sweet fragrance of their scent, but also useful by their healing power. Rightly does the bride exult that she has been brought in there, where so great an abundance of grace overflows. For as for the wine cellar too, I judge it to bear no other reason for its name than that in it is stored the wine of zeal fervent in charity. And no one at all who has not yet merited to be brought into it ought to preside over others. He who presides over others must absolutely burn with this wine, just as the Teacher of the Gentiles was burning when he said: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I do not burn?" (2 Cor 11:29). Otherwise you quite improperly desire to preside over those whose good you do not seek; and you far too ambitiously claim for yourself the subjection of those for whose salvation you are not zealous. This cell I have also named of grace; not that anyone can obtain even the other two entirely without grace, but on account of the fullness which is singularly perceived in this one. For indeed "the fullness of the law is charity," and "he who loves his brother has fulfilled the law" (Rom 13:10, 8). Yet he easily fulfills both who has perfectly attained discretion, the mother of virtues, and is nevertheless inebriated with the wine of charity to the contempt of his own glory, to the forgetfulness of his very self, and not to seeking the things that are his own; which is obtained solely and wondrously by the instruction of the Holy Spirit within the wine cellar. For the virtue of discretion without the fervor of charity lies inert, and vehement fervor without the tempering of discretion falls headlong.

Song of Songs 2:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 51

How the Bride Asks That the Fruits of Good Works Be Heaped Up for Her Together with the Flowers and Fragrances of Faith; Likewise on Hope and Fear. 1. "Sustain me with flowers, surround me with apples, because I languish with love" (Song 2:5). Love has grown, because more incentives of love than usual have come forth. For you see how great on this occasion was the abundance not only of seeing, but also of conversing. The vision itself appears granted with a more serene countenance, and the speech was more pleasant, and the conversation longer and more drawn out. Nor was she only delighted by the conversation, but she also gloried in his praise. Besides this, she was refreshed by the shadow of him whom she had desired, fed with his fruit, given drink from his cup. For she is not to be thought to have gone out thirsty from the wine cellar, into which she just now most recently glories that she was brought; nay rather she was thirsty, because "he who drinks me," he says, "will thirst yet again" (Sir 24:29). After all these things, with the Bridegroom withdrawing in his customary manner, she declares that she languishes with love, that is, on account of love. For the more gracious she had experienced his presence, the more burdensome she afterward felt his absence. For the withdrawal of the thing you love is the increase of desire; and what you desire more ardently, you lack more painfully. She asks therefore to be sustained in the meantime by the fragrances of flowers and fruits, until he returns again, whose delay she endures most grievously. And this is the order of the words. 2. Now let us attempt, with the Spirit of truth as guide, to draw out the spiritual fruit that is in them. And if it is the common Church of the saints that is received here as speaking, we are designated in the flowers and fruits; but also all who have been converted from the world in the whole world. In the flowers indeed the new and still tender manner of life of beginners is shown; in the fruits, however, the strength of those advancing and the maturity of the perfect. Surrounded by these, the mother, on pilgrimage and bearing fruit, for whom to live is Christ, and to die is gain, surely bears more equably the burden of her delay, since, according to Scripture, she is given of the fruit of her hands, as from the firstfruits of the spirit, and her works praise her in the gates (Prov 31:31). But if according to the moral sense you wish both of these to be assigned to you in a single soul, both flowers and fruits; understand faith as the flower, and the deed as the fruit. Nor unfittingly, as I think, will this seem to you, if you consider how, in the likeness of a flower necessarily preceding the fruit, a good work too must be preceded by faith. Otherwise, without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6), as Paul attests, or rather as he himself equally teaches: "Everything that is not from faith is also sin" (Rom 14:23). And so neither fruit without flower, nor good work without faith. But also faith without works is dead (Jas 2:20); just as a flower also appears uselessly where fruit does not follow. "Sustain me with flowers, surround me with apples, because I languish with love." Therefore from good works rooted in unfeigned faith, the mind accustomed to rest receives consolation, as often as the light of contemplation is withdrawn from it, as is its wont. For who, I do not say continuously, but even for any length of time, while remaining in this body, enjoys the light of contemplation? But as often as, as I have said, one falls from the contemplative life, so often does one retreat into the active life, from there assuredly about to return more familiarly into the same, as from a nearby place; since these two are mutual companions, and they dwell together equally; for Martha is the sister of Mary. For even if one falls from the light of contemplation, one does not however in any way suffer oneself to fall into the darkness of sin, or the sl…

Song of Songs 2:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 51

5. There follows: "His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me." And moreover this too I recall having discussed more abundantly in the aforesaid little work; but let us mark the order of the discourse. It is clear that the Bridegroom is present again, I believe, so that by his presence he may raise up the one who languishes. For how would she not regain strength in his presence, whom his absence had cast down? Therefore he does not endure the distress of his beloved: he is present, nor indeed can he delay, summoned by such great desires. And because he had found her, while he was absent, faithful to works and solicitous for gains, in the fact, namely, that she had commanded flowers and fruits to be gathered for her; he has also returned this time with a more generous recompense of grace. And so with one of his arms he supports the head of the one lying down, preparing the other for an embrace, that he might warm her in his bosom. Happy the soul that reclines upon the breast of Christ, and rests between the arms of the Word. "His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me." She does not say, "embraces"; but, "shall embrace me," so that you may know her to be so far from ungrateful for the first grace, that she has anticipated the second with thanksgiving. 6. Learn not to be slow or sluggish in returning thanks; learn to give thanks for each individual gift. "Consider carefully," he says, "what is set before you" (Prov 23:1), so that, namely, no gifts of God may be defrauded of their due thanksgiving; not great ones, not moderate ones, not small ones. For we are commanded to gather up the fragments lest they perish (Jn 6:12); that is, not to forget even the smallest benefits. Does not that which is given to an ungrateful person perish? Ingratitude is the enemy of the soul, the emptying of merits, the scattering of virtues, the loss of benefits. Ingratitude is a burning wind, drying up for itself the fountain of piety, the dew of mercy, the streams of grace. For this reason, then, the bride, as soon as she felt the grace from the left hand, gave thanks, not waiting for the fullness that is in the right hand. For indeed, where she has mentioned that the left hand was already under her head, she did not follow this by saying that she was likewise embraced by the right; but, "shall embrace me," she said. 7. But what do we think the left hand and the right hand are to the Word, the Bridegroom? Does that which is called the word of man have in itself bodily parts of this kind, divided and with distinct lineaments, distinguishing between left and right? How much more does he, who is both of God and is God, the Word, admit of absolutely no variety, but is who he is (Exod 3:14), in his nature indeed so simple that he has no parts, so one that he has no numbers. For he is the wisdom of God, of which it is written: "And of his wisdom there is no number" (Ps 146:5). But if what is invariable is necessarily also incomprehensible, and therefore also ineffable; where, I ask, will you find words with which you may either worthily describe that majesty, or properly express it, or fittingly define it? Yet let us speak as best we can of what we perceive as best we can of it, the Holy Spirit revealing it. We are taught by the authority of the Fathers and the custom of the Scriptures that it is permitted to borrow fitting likenesses from known things; but also not to invent new words, but to borrow known ones, with which those same likenesses may be clothed worthily and fittingly. Otherwise you will ridiculously attempt to teach unknown things through unknown things. 8. Therefore because by right and left, adversity and prosperity are usually designated: it seems to me that in this place one may understand the left hand of the Word as the threat of punishment; the right hand, however, as the promise of the kingdom. But there are times when our mind is pressed down in servile fashion by the dread of pu…

Song of Songs 2:7 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 52

1. "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the deer of the fields, that you do not rouse or cause to awaken the beloved, until she herself wills" (Song 2:7). The young maidens are forbidden: for he calls these the daughters of Jerusalem, because, even if they are delicate and soft, and as if still weak with womanly affections and actions, they nevertheless cling to the bride in the hope of advancing and of setting out for Jerusalem. They are forbidden, therefore, from the disturbance of the sleeping bride, lest, namely, they presume to awaken her in any way contrary to her own will. For the most sweet Bridegroom has placed his left hand under her head, according to the things that have been set forth above, so that he might cause her to rest and sleep in his bosom. And now, as the Scripture proceeds in turn, he himself, as her guardian, most graciously and most benevolently watches over her, lest, disturbed by the frequent and minor needs of the young maidens, she be forced to awaken. This is the literal coherence of the text. But indeed that adjuration made by the gazelles and the deer of the fields seems to have nothing at all of reasonable consequence according to the letter; to such a degree does the spiritual understanding claim it entirely for itself. But in whatever way that may stand, in the meantime it is good for us to be here, and to contemplate for a little while the goodness, sweetness, and condescension of the divine nature. For what, O man, have you ever experienced sweeter among human affections, than is now expressed to you from the heart of the Most High? And it is expressed by him who searches the deep things of God, and cannot be ignorant of what is in him, because he is his Spirit; nor can he speak anything other than what he has seen with him, since he is the Spirit of truth. 2. And indeed there is not lacking in our kind one who has merited to be made glad, blessed by this gift, and to have had in himself the experience of this most sweet mystery; unless, however, we entirely refuse to believe the passage of Scripture that is before us, where the heavenly Bridegroom is manifestly shown to be most vehemently zealous for the rest of a certain beloved of his, anxious to guard her sleeping in his own arms, lest she be perhaps disturbed from her most sweet sleep by some trouble or unrest. I cannot contain myself for joy, that that majesty does not at all disdain to incline itself to our weakness in so familiar and sweet a fellowship, and that the supreme Deity does not despise entering into marriage with an exiled soul, and showing to her the affection of a bridegroom seized with most ardent love. Thus, thus I do not doubt it is in heaven, as I read on earth, and the soul will feel for certain what the page contains, except that the page is not sufficient at all to express how much the soul will then be able to receive, nor even how much it already can. What, do you think, will she receive there, who here is endowed with such great familiarity, that she feels herself embraced by the arms of God, cherished in the bosom of God, guarded by the care and zeal of God, lest while sleeping she be awakened by anyone, until she awakens of her own accord?

Song of Songs 2:7 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 51

10. "If you sleep between the midst of the lots, the wings of the dove are silvered" (Ps 67:14). Which I think was said for this reason: that there is a place between fear and security, as between the left and the right, namely the middle place of hope, in which the mind and conscience, with the soft bedding of charity laid beneath, rests most sweetly. And perhaps in what follows in this very canticle, this place will have been designated, where in the description of the litter of Solomon among other things you have: "The middle he spread with charity on account of the daughters of Jerusalem" (Song 3:10). For he who feels himself singularly established in hope no longer serves in fear, but rests in charity. And so the bride rests and sleeps, on whose behalf it is said: "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the deer of the fields, that you do not rouse or cause to awaken the beloved, until she herself wills." Great and astonishing 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 disturbances of actions and the annoyances of business; nor does he allow her to be awakened at all, except indeed at her own will.

Song of Songs 2:8 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 53

"The voice of my beloved." The bride, seeing the new modesty of the young maidens, and their modest fear, namely that they had newly begun not to dare to intrude upon her holy leisure, nor to presume to be troublesome to her as she rested in contemplation, as yesterday and the day before: she recognizes that this had come about for her by the care and work of the Bridegroom; and exulting in spirit, whether on account of their progress, in that they are restrained from excessive and superfluous restlessness, or on account of her own freer quiet henceforth to come, or even on account of the condescension and favor of the Bridegroom, who so zealously guards this very rest of hers, and with such great zeal defends her most sweet leisure—nay, her most fervent pursuits—she says that the voice of her beloved does this, made unto them for this purpose. For indeed he who presides over others in solicitude scarcely ever, or rarely, securely attends to himself, while he always fears to cause a lack of himself to his subjects, and not to please God, in that he prefers his own quiet and the sweetness of contemplation to the common advantage. But no small joy and security accrues from time to time to one sweetly resting, when, from a certain fear and reverence toward her divinely sent into the hearts of subjects, she understands that her rest is pleasing to God, who causes them to bear their own necessities with a more equable spirit rather than dare rashly to disturb the welcome leisure of their spiritual father. For the just trepidation of the little ones manifestly indicates that they have heard within, as it were, the threatening and rebuking voice, without doubt, of him who speaks in the prophet: "I who speak justice" (Isa 63:1). His voice is his inspiration, and the striking of just fear. Having discovered this voice, therefore, the bride, rejoicing and exulting, says: "The voice of my beloved." She is a friend, and rejoices with joy on account of the voice of the Bridegroom. And she adds: "Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills." Having discovered from the hearing of the voice the presence of the beloved, she without delay directs her well-curious eyes to see him whom she had heard. Hearing leads to sight, because faith comes from hearing (Rom 10:17), by which hearts are cleansed so that God may be seen: for thus you have: "Cleansing their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9). She sees therefore the one coming, whom she had heard speaking, the Holy Spirit observing also here that order which is described in the Prophet thus: "Hear, O daughter, and see" (Ps 44:11). And that you may more surely notice that it is not by chance or accident, but rather by design and purpose, that hearing is here placed before seeing; see whether this order of words is not found observed also by holy Job, where he speaks thus to God: "By the hearing of the ear I heard you, and now my eye sees you" (Job 42:5). But also where the Holy Spirit is recalled to have descended upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost, is not hearing described as having preceded sight? For it says: "Suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a rushing mighty wind"; and below: "And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire" (Acts 2:2, 3). And here therefore the coming of the Holy Spirit is reported to have been perceived first by hearing, then by sight.

Song of Songs 2:8 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 54

On the same chapter which was treated in yesterday's sermon, I am about to speak also another understanding which I have reserved for today: do you examine it, and choose what is better. There is no need to repeat what came before, which I do not think has slipped your mind in so short a time. If it has, however, what was said has been written down and taken down with a stylus, just as the other sermons, so that what has perhaps slipped away may easily be recovered. Therefore receive these other things. "Behold, he comes," she says, "leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills" (Song 2:8). She speaks of the Bridegroom: who indeed leaped upon the mountains at that time, when, sent by the Father to preach good tidings to the poor, he did not disdain to perform the office of Angels, being made the Angel of great counsel, he who was the Lord. He descended to the earth by himself, who was accustomed to delegate others: by himself the Lord made known his salvation, by himself in the sight of the nations he revealed his justice (Ps 97:2). Since, therefore, all are, according to Paul's declaration, ministering spirits, sent for service on account of those who receive the inheritance of salvation (Heb 1:14); he who was above them was made among them as one of them, concealing the injury, heaping up the grace. But hear him: "I came," he says, "not to be served, but to serve, and to give my life for many" (Mt 20:28). Which indeed no one else has been found to have done, so that all who have been seen to minister, he himself has surpassed in devoted and faithful services. A good minister, who ministered his flesh as food, his blood as drink, his soul as a price. Good indeed, who, eager in spirit, fervent in charity, devoted in piety, not only leaps upon the mountains, but also bounds over the hills, that is, surpasses and conquers them in the eagerness of his ministering, inasmuch as God his God anointed him with the oil of gladness beyond his companions (Ps 44:8): in which indeed he singularly exulted as a giant to run his course. And so he bounded over Gabriel, and arrived before him at the Virgin, the same archangel bearing witness, when he said: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28). What? Him whom you just left in heaven, now you find in a womb. How? He flew and flew ahead upon the wings of the winds. You are vanquished, O archangel: he who sent you before him has bounded over you. Or certainly he was leaping upon the mountains, when in angels he appeared of old to the fathers: which indeed seems to agree more properly with the letter. For he does not say, "leaping onto the mountains"; but, "upon the mountains," so that he himself may seem to leap in them, who makes and gives them to leap; just as he speaks in the prophets, works in the just, when he bestows words on the former, and works on the latter. Add that some of them bore his person, so that each one of them spoke, not as an angel, but as the Lord. For example, that angel who was speaking with Moses said, not, "I am of the Lord," but, "I am the Lord," and repeated this very frequently. He was leaping therefore upon the mountains, that is, in the angels, in whom he both spoke and exhibited his presence to men. For he was leaping to men, but in angels, not in himself; not in his own nature, but in a subject creature. For he who leaps goes from place to place: which does not apply to God. Therefore upon the mountains, that is, in the angels, he leaped, who could not in himself; and he leaped all the way to the hills, that is, the patriarchs and prophets, and the other spiritual men of the earth. But he bounded over the hills also, since he deigned not only to speak and appear in angels to great and spiritual men, but also to some of the people, and even to some women as well. Or by hills he means the aerial powers, which are no longer counted among the mountains, for the reason that they have flowed down from the height of virtues through pride; nor yet…

Song of Songs 2:9 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 55

"My beloved is like a gazelle and a young stag" (Song 2:9). This depends on the preceding verse. For him whom she had just described as leaping and hastening, she consequently compares to a gazelle and a young stag. Aptly indeed, because this kind of animal is swift in running and agile in leaping. Moreover the discourse is about the Bridegroom, and the Word is the Bridegroom. And the Prophet says of God that "his word runs swiftly" (Ps 147:15); surely fitting to this place, where the Bridegroom, who is the Word of God, is described as leaping and springing over, made like therefore to a gazelle and a young stag. And this is the reason for the likeness. Add, however, lest any portion of the likeness itself, however small, remain without a soul, that the gazelle indeed excels not only in swiftness of running, but also in sharpness of sight. Which indeed properly regards that part of the narrative in which the Bridegroom is reported to appear not only leaping, but also springing over; because unless with a keen and penetrating gaze he could not at all, especially while running, discern upon whom he should leap and whom he should spring over. Otherwise the comparison with the young stag alone could have sufficed to designate the swiftness of one hastening; for it is known to carry itself with a more rapid course. But now, because this Bridegroom, even if as one ardently loving he seems to rush headlong into the embraces of his beloved, nevertheless knows how to direct his steps, or rather his leaps, with prudent consideration, cautious as to where he ought to set his foot: it was assuredly necessary that the likeness be given not only of the young stag but also of the gazelle, so that through the former the desire of the one saving, and through the latter the judgment of the one choosing, might be expressed. For Christ is just and merciful, savior and judge: and because he loves, he wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4); and because he judges, he knows who are his (2 Tim 2:19), and he himself knows whom he has chosen from the beginning (Jn 13:18). Therefore let us in the meantime perceive these two goods of the Bridegroom, namely mercy and judgment, as commended to us by the Holy Spirit in these two animals, so that in testimony of the integrity and perfection of our faith, we too, imitating the Prophet, may sing to the Lord of mercy and judgment (Ps 100:1). But I do not doubt that other things too can be shown from the nature of these animals by those who are curious about and knowledgeable of such matters, which could be usefully and fittingly applied to the Bridegroom: but these, as I think, can suffice to give the reason for the likeness introduced. Beautifully, however, the Holy Spirit gave the likeness not of a stag, but of a young stag, in which he both made mention of the Fathers, from whom Christ according to the flesh, and recalled the infancy of the Savior. For as a young stag there appeared "the little one who was born for us" (Is 9:6). 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 day, I will search Jerusalem with lamps" (Zeph 1:12). He is of keen sight; his eye will leave nothing unsearched. "He will search the hearts and minds" (Ps 7:10), and the very thought of man will confess to him (Ps 75:11). What is safe in Babylon, if scrutiny awaits Jerusalem? For I think the prophet in this place designated by the name Jerusalem those who in this age lead a religious life, imitating the manners of that heavenly Jerusalem by an honest and ordered way of life, as far as their powers allow; and not like those who are of Babylon, ruining their life in the disturbance of vices and the confusion of crimes. Indeed the sins of those are manifest, going before them to judgment, and they need not scrutiny, but punishment. But my sins, who seem to be a monk and a Jerus…

Song of Songs 2:9 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 56

"Behold, he himself stands behind the wall, looking through the windows, gazing through the lattices" (Song 2:9). According to the letter indeed he seems to say that he who was seen approaching with leaps had drawn near even to the dwelling of the bride, and standing behind the wall was peering in more curiously through the windows and cracks, and bashfully did not presume to thrust himself in. According to the spirit, however, he is understood to have drawn near no less, but in another way, in such a manner assuredly as it was fitting both for the heavenly Bridegroom to act and for the Holy Spirit to speak. For the true and spiritual understanding will admit nothing that would be unbecoming either to the author or to the narrator. Therefore he drew near to the wall when he adhered to flesh. The flesh is the wall, and the drawing near of the Bridegroom is the incarnation of the Word. Furthermore, the lattices and windows through which he is said to look are, as I suppose, the senses of the flesh and human affections, through which he took up experience of all human necessities. For "he himself bore our weaknesses, and he himself carried our sorrows" (Is 53:4). Therefore he used human affections and bodily senses as openings and windows, so that, having been made man, he might know the miseries of men by experience, and might become merciful. He knew even before, but in another way. For the Lord of hosts himself knew the virtue of obeying, and yet, as the Apostle attests, "he learned obedience from the things which he suffered" (Heb 5:8). In this manner he also learned mercy, even though the mercy of the Lord is from eternity. The same teacher of the nations teaches this also, where he asserts that he was "tempted in all things according to likeness, without sin, that he might become merciful" (Heb 4:15). Do you see that he was made what he was, and learned what he knew, and sought for himself among us cracks and windows, through which he might explore our calamities more diligently? And he found as many openings in our ruinous wall full of cracks as he felt experiences of our weakness and corruption in his own body. Thus therefore the Bridegroom was standing behind the wall and looking through windows and lattices. And rightly standing, because he alone truly stood in the flesh who did not experience the sin of the flesh. We can also faithfully hold this, that he stood by the power of divinity who fell by the weakness of the flesh, as he himself said: "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mt 26:41). But I think that also that other passage lends support to this meaning, which holy David, as a prophet of the Lord and prophesying, spoke of the Lord in this mystery; and indeed speaking of Moses, but looking to the Lord. For he himself is the true Moses, who truly came through water, and not in water only, but in water and blood. And so the aforementioned prophet said: "He said that he would destroy them" (for he was speaking of the Father), "if Moses his chosen one had not stood in the breach in his sight, to turn away his wrath, lest he destroy them" (Ps 105:23). In what way, I ask, did Moses stand in the breach? How, I say, did he either stand, if he was broken; or if he stood, how was he broken? But I will show you, if you wish, who truly stood in the breach. I know no other who could do this, except my Lord Jesus, who certainly was living in death, who, broken in body on the cross, was standing by divinity with the Father; in the one supplicating with us, in the other propitiating with the Father. And he was standing behind the wall, since what lay prostrate in him was manifest in the flesh, and that by which he stood was hidden in him as if behind the flesh; one and the same indeed, man manifest and God hidden.

Song of Songs 2:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 58

"Arise, make haste, my friend, my dove, my beautiful one, and come" (Song 2:10). Who says this? Without doubt the Bridegroom. And is he not the one who a little before was so earnestly forbidding the beloved to be awakened? By what agreement then does he now command not only that she arise, but also that she hasten? Something similar from the Gospel comes to mind. For on that very night in which the Lord was betrayed, when he had at last commanded the disciples who were with him, fatigued by the prolonged vigils, to sleep and to rest, in that very hour he said: "Arise, let us go; behold, he who will betray me has drawn near" (Mt 26:46). Now likewise in almost one and the same moment he both forbids the bride to be awakened and awakens her, saying: "Arise and come." What then does so sudden a change of will or counsel mean? Do we suppose that the Bridegroom acted from levity, and willed something before which he shortly after did not will? Not at all. But recognize those alternations which I commended to you above, if you remember, and not once only, alternations namely of holy repose and necessary action; and that in this life there is no abundance of contemplating nor length of leisure, where the more pressing and more urgent usefulness of duty and work presses upon us. After his custom, therefore, when the Bridegroom perceives that the beloved has rested a little in his own bosom, he does not delay to draw her again to those things which seemed more useful. Not however as though she were unwilling: for what he forbade to be done, he himself would by no means do. But for the bride to be drawn by the Bridegroom is to receive from him the desire by which she is drawn, the desire for good works, the desire to bear fruit for the Bridegroom; since for her to live is the Bridegroom, and to die is gain. And this is a vehement desire, which urges her not only to arise but also to arise hastily: for thus you have it: "Arise, make haste, and come." And it comforts her not a little that she hears "come" and not "go": understanding by this that she is not so much sent as led, and that the Bridegroom would come equally with her. For what would she reckon difficult with him as companion? "Set me," she says, "beside you, and let the hand of whomever fight against me" (Job 17:3); likewise: "If I shall walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear evils, for you are with me" (Ps 22:4). She is therefore not awakened against her will, since it is first brought about that she wills: which is nothing other than an infused eagerness for holy gain. She is also animated toward the enjoined work, and is rendered more eager by the opportunity of the time. "It is the time for doing," he says, "O bride, because the winter has passed, when no one could work. The rain also, which having made a flood covered the earth, impeded cultivation, and either destroyed what had been sown or prevented sowing; this rain, I say, has run off, has departed and receded; flowers have appeared in our land, signifying indeed that the springtime mildness is at hand, the convenience for working, the nearness of crops and fruits." Then he adds where and what must first be worked: "The time of pruning has arrived" (Song 2:11-12). She is led therefore to cultivating the vineyards: which, in order that they may repay the vine-dressers with more abundant fruits, it is above all necessary that the sterile branches be cast off, the noxious ones cut down, the superfluous ones pruned. These things according to the letter.

Song of Songs 2:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 57

"Behold, my beloved speaks to me" (Song 2:10). See the advances of grace, and mark the degrees of divine condescension. Attend to the devotion and skill of the bride, with what vigilant eye she observes the advent of the bridegroom, and thereafter gazes upon all his movements more diligently. He comes, he hastens, he draws near, he is present, he looks upon her, he speaks to her; and none of these moments escapes the industry of the bride, anticipating each with her awareness. He comes in the angels, he hastens in the patriarchs, he draws near in the prophets, he is present in the flesh, he looks upon her in miracles, he speaks in the apostles. Or thus: He comes with the affection and zeal of showing mercy, he hastens with the eagerness of bringing aid, he draws near by humbling himself, he is present to those of the present time, he looks ahead to those of the future, he speaks teaching and persuading concerning the kingdom of God. Thus therefore is the advent of the bridegroom. Blessings and riches of salvation are with him, and all things that pertain to him overflow with delights, abounding surely in joyful and salutary sacraments. Moreover she who loves, watches and observes. And blessed is she whom the Lord shall find watching. He will not pass her by, nor will he go past her, but he will stand and speak to her, and he will speak words of love: he will speak indeed as a beloved. For thus you have it: "Behold, my beloved speaks to me." Rightly "beloved," who comes to speak words of love, and not of reproach. For she is not of those who are justly reproached by the Lord, that they knew how to discern the face of the sky, but did not at all recognize the time of his coming (Mt 16:3). For this bride, so skillful, and prudent, and well-watchful, both saw him coming from afar, and noticed him leaping on account of his haste, and most vigilantly observed him leaping over the proud, that he might draw near to his humble one through humility; and at last, when he was already standing and hiding himself behind the wall, she nonetheless recognized his presence, and also perceived him looking through the windows and lattices; and now, as a reward for such great devotion and religious solicitude, she hears him speaking. For indeed if he had looked upon her and had not at all spoken, that look could have been suspect, lest perhaps it were of indignation rather than of love. For he looked upon Peter, and did not make a word to him: and therefore Peter perhaps wept (Lk 22:61-62), because he who was looking upon him was silent. But this bride, since after his gaze she also merited his address, not only does not weep, but even glories with joy, crying out: "Behold, my beloved speaks to me." You see that the gaze of the Lord, although it always remains the same in itself, is nevertheless not always of the same efficacy; but it conforms itself to the merits of each one whom he regards, and to some indeed it strikes fear, but to others it rather brings consolation and security. For he looks upon the earth and makes it tremble, whereas on the other hand he looked upon Mary and poured grace into her. "He has regarded," she says, "the humility of his handmaid; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (Lk 1:48). These are not the words of one weeping or trembling, but of one rejoicing. He looked upon the bride similarly in this place, and she neither trembled nor wept after the manner of Peter, because she did not savor of the earth, as he did; but he gave joy in her heart, testifying by his address with what affection he had regarded her.

Song of Songs 2:11 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 58

Furthermore, the winter time, which he signifies has passed, seems to me to designate that period when the Lord Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, because they had conspired against him, wishing to kill him. Whence also he said to certain ones: "My time has not yet come; but your time is always ready"; and again: "Go up yourselves to this feast; I am not going up" (Jn 7:1-10). Yet he went up afterward himself also, not openly, but as it were in secret. From that time, then, and thenceforth until the coming of the Holy Spirit, by which the sluggish hearts of the faithful grew warm again, as by fire, which the Lord sent upon the earth for this very purpose (Lk 12:49), it was winter. Will you deny that it was winter then, when Peter sat at the coals, his heart no less frozen than his body? Finally: "It was cold," it says (Jn 18:18). A great cold indeed had gripped the heart of the one denying. Nor is it surprising, since the fire had been taken from him. For a little before he was burning with no small zeal, being as yet close to the fire, who, with sword drawn, lest he lose the fire, cut off the ear of the servant. But it was not the time of pruning: and therefore he hears: "Put your sword back in its place." For it was the hour and the power of darkness: and if any of the disciples then raised the sword either of iron or of the word, he was either to be cut down by iron and would gain no one, nor bring forth any fruit; or certainly he was to be compelled by the sword of fear to deny, and so rather he himself would perish, according to the word of the Lord which he added immediately, saying thus: "All who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Mt 26:51-52). For who among the rest would stand undaunted before the dreadful image of death, when the chief himself was trembling and yielding, he who had been fortified by the encouraging voice of his commander, and forewarned to strengthen the others? (Lk 22:32.) But neither he nor they had yet clothed themselves with power from on high; and on this account it was not safe for them to go out into the vineyards, to wield the hoe of the tongue, and to prune the vines with the sword of the Spirit, to cleanse the branches, that they might bear more fruit. Finally, the Lord himself was silent in the Passion, and when questioned on many things did not answer (Mt 27:12), having become, according to the Prophet, "like a man not hearing, and not having reproofs in his mouth" (Ps 37:15). But he said: "If I shall tell you, you will not believe me; and if I shall also question you, you will not answer me" (Lk 22:67-68): knowing that the time of pruning had not yet arrived, and that his vineyard would in no way respond to the labors expended, that is, would bring back no fruit of faith or of good works. Why? Because it was winter in the hearts of the faithless, and certain wintry rains of malice had occupied the earth, readier to smother than to foster the seeds of the word that had been cast; but also to frustrate all the labor that should be equally expended on the cultivation of the vineyards.

Song of Songs 2:12 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 59

1. "The voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land" (Song 2:12). I can by no means any longer conceal the fact that behold, for a second time, he who is from heaven speaks of the earth: assuredly so condescendingly, so companionably, as if he were one from the earth. This is the Bridegroom: who, when he had said beforehand that flowers had appeared in the earth, added "our"; and now no less: "The voice," he says, "of the turtledove has been heard in our land." Shall then a manner of speaking so unusual for God, not to say unworthy, be without reason? Nowhere, as I think, will you find him having spoken thus of heaven, nowhere elsewhere of earth. Attend therefore, how great a sweetness it is for the God of heaven to say, "in our land." You also, O earth-born and sons of men, hear; "the Lord has done great things for us" (Ps 125:3). Much has he to do with the earth, much with the bride, whom he was pleased to take to himself from the lands. "In our land," he says. This word plainly does not sound of sovereignty, but of partnership, of familiarity. As a Bridegroom he says this, not as a Lord. What? He is the Creator, and he reckons himself a partner! Love is speaking, which knows no lord. This is indeed a song of love, and it was fitting that it be supported by none other than amatory expressions. God also loves, nor does he have this from elsewhere, but he himself is the source whence he loves. And therefore he loves more vehemently, because he does not so much have love, as he himself is this very thing. But those whom he loves, he has as friends, not as servants. Finally, from a master he becomes a friend: for he would not have called his disciples friends, if they were not such. 2. You see that even majesty yields to love? So it is, brothers; love looks up to no one, but neither does it look down on anyone. It regards all equally, who love one another perfectly, and in itself it tempers together the lofty and the lowly; not only making them equals, but one. Perhaps you still think that God is excepted from this rule of love; but "he who clings to God is one spirit" (1 Cor 6:17). Why do you marvel at this? He himself was made as one of us. I have said too little: not as one, but one. It is a small thing to be equal to men: he is man. Thence he claims our land for himself, but as a homeland, not as a possession. Why should he not claim it? Thence comes his bride, thence the substance of his body; thence the Bridegroom himself; thence "two in one flesh." If one flesh, why not also one homeland? "The heaven of heaven is the Lord's," it says, "but the earth he has given to the sons of men" (Ps 113:16). Therefore as Son of Man he inherits the earth, as Lord he subjects it, as Creator he administers it, as Bridegroom he shares it. For by saying "in our land," he plainly renounced exclusive ownership, but did not refuse partnership. And let this suffice concerning the fact that the Bridegroom used so kindly a word, that he deigned to say, "in our land." Now let us consider the rest.

Song of Songs 2:12 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 58

Now let us see what is spiritually to be understood by us from this quasi-historical figure. That the vineyards are souls or Churches, and at the same time what the reason for this is, I have already told you, and you have heard, nor do you need to hear it again. To revisiting these, then, to correcting, instructing, and saving them, the more perfect soul is invited, one who has received that ministry not by her own ambition but called by God, as was Aaron. Furthermore, what is this invitation itself, if not a certain inward stirring of charity piously urging us to be zealous for the salvation of our brothers, zealous for the beauty of the house of the Lord, for the increase of his gains, the increase of the fruits of his righteousness, the praise and glory of his name? Whenever, therefore, he who has the charge of governing souls, or who by office must devote himself to the study of preaching, perceives his inner man to be moved by such devout affections toward God, let him understand for certain that the Bridegroom is present, that he is being invited by him to the vineyards. For what purpose, unless to uproot and to destroy, and to build and to plant? But since for this work, as also for every thing under heaven, not every time is available and fit, he who invites adds that the time of pruning has arrived. He who said this knew it was at hand: "Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation; giving no offense to anyone, that our ministry may not be blamed" (2 Cor 6:2-3). Without doubt he was admonishing them to prune and cut away the vicious and superfluous, and indeed everything that could give offense and impede the fruit of salvation, knowing that the time of pruning had arrived. Therefore he also said to a certain faithful cultivator of vineyards: "Rebuke, reprove, exhort" (2 Tim 4:2); enjoining in the first and second of these pruning or uprooting, and in the last, planting. And these things the Bridegroom spoke through the mouth of Paul concerning the time for working. But hear what he spoke through his own mouth concerning the consideration of times, under indeed a different figure and name of things, when the bride was new. "Do you not say," he says, "that there are yet four months and the harvest comes? Behold, I say to you: Lift up your eyes and see the regions, for they are already white for the harvest" (Jn 4:35); likewise: "The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few: pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest" (Mt 9:37-38). Just as there, therefore, he was showing that the time for reaping the harvests of souls was at hand, so also here he announces that the time for pruning the equally intelligible vineyards, that is, souls or Churches, has arrived; wishing perhaps that this distinction be made between the two things by the diversity of terms, that by harvests we understand the peoples, and by vineyards the congregations of saints dwelling together.

Song of Songs 2:13 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 60

On the Unbelief of the Jews, by Which They Filled Up the Measure of Their Fathers in Killing Christ. 1. "The fig tree has put forth its green figs" (Song 2:13). The present passage depends on what preceded. For he had said that the time of pruning had come, asserting this both from the flowers that were already appearing and from the voice of the turtledove that had been heard. He affirms the same thing still further from the production of green figs; because the evidence of the season is taken not only from the flowers and the voice of the turtledove, but is taken also from the fig tree. For the air is not other than more clement when the fig tree has put forth its green figs. The fig tree has no flowers, but in place of flowers it sends forth green figs at the time when the other trees bloom. And just as flowers appear and pass away, useful for nothing except that they are certain forerunners of the fruit to follow, so also the green figs. They arise, but they fall prematurely, and give place to the fruits that are to ripen, being themselves in no way fit for eating. And from this therefore, as I said, the Bridegroom takes the evidence of the season, and the argument of his persuasion, that the bride should not be slow to go to the vineyards, because the labor is not lost that comes in due season. And the letter indeed is thus. 2. But what does the spirit say? That plainly in this place we may look not upon a fig tree, but upon a people: for God has care for men, not for trees. Truly a fig tree is the people, fragile in flesh, small in understanding, humble in spirit, whose first fruits, that we may meanwhile play upon the name, are certainly gross and earthly. For it is not the pursuit of the common people to seek first the kingdom of God and his justice (Mt 6:33); but, as the Apostle says, to think about the things of the world, how they may please their wives, or they their husbands. "Those of this kind will have tribulation of the flesh" (1 Cor 7:33, 28); but in the last things we do not deny that they will attain the fruits of faith, if they have had a good final confession, and especially if they have redeemed the works of the flesh with almsgiving. Therefore the first fruits of the common people are no more fruits than the green figs of fig trees. Finally, if they shall afterward have brought forth worthy fruits of repentance (for "that which is spiritual is not first, but that which is natural" [1 Cor 15:46]), it shall be said to them: "What fruit did you have then in those things of which you are now ashamed?" (Rom 6:21). 3. Yet in this place I do not think it free to interpret this of just any people: one is pointedly expressed. For he did not say "they put forth," as if speaking of many; but as if of one, he says, "the fig tree put forth its green figs"; and, as I understand it, she who is the people of the Jews. How much does the Savior seem to speak parabolically against this people in the Gospel? As is that saying: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard" (Lk 13:6) etc.; likewise: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees" (Lk 21:29); and to Nathanael it was said: "When you were under the fig tree, I saw you" (Jn 1:48). And again he curses the fig tree, because he did not find fruit on it (Mk 11:13-14). Rightly a fig tree, which, although it came forth from the good root of the patriarchs, nevertheless never wished to grow up on high, never to lift itself from the ground, never to correspond to its root in the loftiness of its branches, the nobility of its flowers, the fruitfulness of its fruits. Badly indeed do you agree with your root, O tree small, twisted, and knotted. For the root is holy. What appears in your branches that is worthy of it? "The fig tree," he says, "has put forth its green figs." You did not draw these from your noble root, O wicked seed. What is in it is from the Holy Spirit; and therefore is altogether subtle and sweet. From where do you have these green figs? And truly wh…

Song of Songs 2:13 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 59

10. There follows: "The fig tree has put forth its green figs." Let us not eat of them: for they are not fit for eating on account of their unripeness. They have the appearance of good figs, but the likeness, not the flavor, perhaps designating hypocrites. Let us not cast them away, however; perhaps at another time we will have need of them. Otherwise they will fall of themselves easily enough, and before their time, "like grass upon the rooftops, which withers before it is plucked up" (Ps 128:6); which I believe is said of hypocrites. Not without reason, however, was mention made of them in the wedding song. They will without doubt be of some use, even if not for eating. Many things besides food are necessarily provided at weddings. I indeed consider this matter so far from something to be passed over, that whatever it is, I am unwilling to discuss it within the constraints of the closing of this sermon; but I defer it to another day and a freer hour. Whether indeed it is necessary, you will then be able to judge: only let your prayers obtain for me the opportunity and the ability to set forth what I think, for your own edification, to the praise and glory of the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ the Lord, who is over all things God blessed forever. Amen.

Song of Songs 2:13 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 61

"Arise, my love, my bride, and come" (Song 2:13). The Bridegroom commends his great love by repeating words of affection. For repetition is an expression of feeling: and that he again urges the beloved to the labor of the vineyards shows how anxious he is for the salvation of souls. For you have already heard that the vineyards are souls. Let us not linger needlessly on things that have been said. See what follows. Yet nowhere, as I recall, in this entire work had he yet openly called her bride, except now when they go to the vineyards, when the wine of charity is being approached. When this has come and been perfected, it will make a spiritual marriage; and they will be two, not in one flesh, but in one spirit, as the Apostle says: "He who clings to God is one spirit" (1 Cor 6:17).

Song of Songs 2:14 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 61

There follows: "My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the wall, show me your face, let your voice sound in my ears." He loves and continues to speak words of love. Again he calls her dove as a term of endearment; he says she is his, and claims her as his own: and what he himself was accustomed to be more earnestly asked by her, he now in turn requests both her presence and her conversation. He acts as a bridegroom; but as a modest one, he blushes at what is public, and resolves to enjoy his delights in a secluded place, namely in the clefts of the rock and in the hollows of the wall. Suppose therefore the Bridegroom to speak thus: Do not fear, my love, as though this labor of the vineyards to which we exhort you should impede or interrupt the business of love. There will certainly be some use in it for what we both desire. The vineyards indeed have walls, and these have retreats pleasant to the modest. This is the play of the letter. Why should I not call it play? For what serious thing does this sequence of the letter have? What is heard outwardly is not even worthy of hearing, unless the Spirit inwardly aids the weakness of our understanding. Let us therefore not remain outside, lest we seem to be rehearsing the enticements of shameful loves, which God forbid! Bring chaste ears to the discourse that is in hand concerning love; and when you think of the lovers themselves, you ought to understand not a man and a woman, but the Word and a soul. And if I should say Christ and the Church, it is the same; except that by the name of the Church is designated not one soul, but the unity of many, or rather the unanimity. Nor indeed should you think the clefts of the rock or the hollows of the wall to be hiding places of workers of iniquity, lest any suspicion at all should arise concerning works of darkness. Another has expounded this passage thus, interpreting the clefts of the rock as the wounds of Christ. Rightly indeed; for the rock is Christ. Good clefts, which build up faith in the resurrection and the divinity of Christ. "My Lord," he says, "and my God" (Jn 20:28). Whence was this oracle brought back, if not from the clefts of the rock? In these the sparrow has found herself a house, and the turtledove a nest where she may place her young (Ps 83:4); in these the dove protects herself, and fearlessly beholds the hawk circling about. And therefore he says: "My dove in the clefts of the rock." The voice of the dove: "Upon a rock he has exalted me" (Ps 26:6); and likewise: "He has set," she says, "my feet upon a rock" (Ps 39:3). A wise man builds his house upon a rock, because there he fears neither the injuries of winds nor of floods (Mt 7:24-25). What good thing is not in the rock? Upon the rock I am exalted, upon the rock I am secure, upon the rock I stand firmly. Secure from the enemy, strong against falling; and this because I am exalted from the earth. For everything earthly is uncertain and prone to falling. Let our way of life be in heaven, and we shall fear neither to fall nor to be cast down. The rock is in heaven; in it is firmness and security. "The rock is a refuge for hedgehogs" (Ps 103:18). And truly, where is there safe and firm security and rest for the weak, if not in the wounds of the Savior? So much the more securely do I dwell there, as he is more powerful to save. The world rages, the body presses, the devil lies in ambush: I do not fall; for I am founded upon a firm rock. I have sinned a great sin: my conscience will be troubled, but it will not be confounded, because I will remember the wounds of the Lord. For indeed "he was wounded for our iniquities" (Is 53:5). What is so deadly that it cannot be loosed by the death of Christ? If therefore so powerful and so efficacious a remedy comes to mind, I can no longer be terrified by any malignity of disease. And therefore it is clear that he erred who said: "My iniquity is greater than that I should deserve pardon" (Gen 4:13). Except that he was n…

Song of Songs 2:14 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 62

"My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the wall" (Song 2:14). Not only in the clefts of the rock does the dove find a safe refuge; she finds it also in the hollows of the wall. But if by the wall we understand not a heap of stones, but the communion of saints, let us see whether perhaps he has called the hollows of the wall the places, as it were left empty, of the angels who fell through pride: inasmuch as these are to be filled up from among men, as ruins to be repaired from living stones. Whence the apostle Peter says: "Coming to the living stone, you also as living stones are being built up into spiritual houses" (1 Pet 2:4-5). Nor do I think it beside the point, if we understand the guardianship of the angels to serve in the place of a wall in the vineyard of the Lord, which is the Church of the predestined, since Paul says: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth for service on behalf of those who are to inherit salvation?" (Heb 1:14), and the Prophet: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him" (Ps 33:8). And if this is agreeable, the sense will be that two things console the Church in the time and place of her pilgrimage: from the past indeed, the memory of the passion of Christ; and from the future, that she thinks and trusts she will be received into the lot of the saints. Both of these, as if having eyes before and behind, she gazes upon with insatiable desire; and each view is exceedingly welcome to her, each is a refuge for her from the tribulation of evils and sorrow. Full is the consolation, when she knows not only what is to be hoped for, but also on what ground this may be presumed. A joyful and not uncertain expectation, which has been confirmed by the death of Christ. Why should she tremble at the greatness of the reward, when she considers the worth of the price? How gladly does she visit in mind the clefts through which the price of the most sacred blood flowed for her! How gladly does she traverse the hollows and lodgings and mansions which are many and diverse in the house of the Father, in which she may place her children according to the diversity of the merits of each! And now indeed, since this alone is possible for the present, she rests in these by memory alone, already putting on in her mind the heavenly habitation which is from above. But there will come a time when she will fill up the ruins, when she will inhabit the hollows both in body and in mind; when the empty dwellings which the ancient inhabitants abandoned she will illuminate by the presence of her whole company, nor will any hollow appear any longer at all in the heavenly wall, thenceforth rejoicing in its happy perfection and integrity. Or, if you prefer this more, we shall say that these hollows are not found by studious and pious minds, but made. In what way, you ask? By thought and ardent desire. For the pious wall yields to the desire of the soul, as a softer wall would yield; it yields to pure contemplation, it yields to frequent prayer. Indeed "the prayer of the righteous penetrates the heavens" (Ecclus 35:21). It will not, to be sure, cut through the spacious heights of this corporeal air, as if by some rowing of its wings like a flying bird, nor will it pierce through the solid and lofty summit of the firmament itself like a sharp sword: but there are heavens that are holy, living, rational, who "declare the glory of God," who with a certain favorable piety willingly incline themselves to our prayers, and with their affections curved at the touch of our devotion receive us into their inmost depths, whenever we knock upon them with a worthy intention. For "to him who knocks it will be opened." It will be permitted therefore to each one of us, even in this time of our mortality, to hollow out for ourselves, in whatever part we wish, hollows in the supernal wall; now indeed to revisit the patriarchs, now truly to greet the prophets, now to mingle with the senate of the apostles, now to be i…

Song of Songs 2:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 66

"Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vineyards" (Song 2:15). Behold, I go after these foxes. They are the ones who pass beyond the way and who plunder the vineyard. They are not content to desert the way, unless they can also lay waste the vineyard, adding transgression. It is not enough for them to be heretics, unless they be also hypocrites, so that sin may be sinful beyond measure. These are they who come in sheep's clothing to strip the sheep bare and to despoil the rams. Does not each of these things seem to you to have been fulfilled, where both the people have been robbed of their faith and the priests of their people? Who are these robbers? They are sheep in garb, foxes in cunning, wolves in deed and in cruelty. These are they who wish to seem good, not to be so; who wish not to seem evil, but to be so. They are evil, and they wish to seem good, lest they be evil alone; they fear to seem evil, lest they be insufficiently evil. For malice openly practiced has always done less harm, and no good man was ever deceived except by the pretense of goodness. And so they strive to appear good, for the ruin of the good; they do not wish to appear evil, so that more license may be given to their malignity. For it is not their way to cultivate virtues, but to color over vices with a certain vermilion, as it were, of virtues. And so the impiety of superstition they entitle with the name of religion. Innocence they define as merely not harming openly, thereby claiming for themselves only the color of innocence. As a covering for their turpitude, they mark themselves with the vow of continence. Moreover, they consider turpitude to consist only in having wives: whereas the only case in which turpitude in intercourse is excused is that which is with a wife. They are rustic men and unlearned, and altogether contemptible: but there is no dealing negligently with them, I tell you. For they advance greatly unto impiety, and their speech spreads like a cancer (2 Tim 2:16-17). And so the Holy Spirit did not neglect this, who once prophesied concerning them so manifestly, the Apostle saying: "Now the Spirit manifestly says that in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error and to doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared, forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving" (1 Tim 4:1-3). It was precisely these, precisely these he was speaking of. These forbid to marry, these abstain from foods which God created, concerning which we shall see afterward. But now see whether this is not properly a mockery of demons and not of men, according to what the Spirit had foretold. Inquire of them the author of their sect; they will give you none. What heresy has not had from among men its own heresiarch? The Manicheans had Mani as their founder and teacher, the Sabellians Sabellius, the Arians Arius, the Eunomians Eunomius, the Nestorians Nestorius. So all the other plagues of this kind are known to have had, each one, individual masters, men from whom they drew both their origin and their name. By what name or title will you designate these? By none; since their heresy is not from man, nor did they receive it through man. Far be it, however, that it should be through a revelation of Jesus Christ; rather and without doubt, as the Holy Spirit foretold, it is through the insinuation and fraud of demons, "speaking lies in hypocrisy, forbidding to marry!" In hypocrisy plainly and with fox-like craftiness they speak this, feigning that they say it from love of chastity, which they have rather devised for the sake of fostering and multiplying turpitude. Yet the matter is so much in the open that I wonder how any Christian man could ever have been persuaded of it, except that these are either so bestial that they do not perceive how he who condemns marriage gives free rein to every uncleanness; or else so full of wickedness…

Song of Songs 2:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 63

"Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vineyards: for our vineyard has flourished" (Song 2:15). It is clear that the visit to the vineyards was not made in vain, since foxes were found there destroying them. This indeed is according to the letter. But what does the Spirit say? Before all things, certainly, let us thoroughly reject from this explanation the common and customary sense of the letter, as being inept and tasteless, and plainly unworthy to be received in Scripture so holy, so authoritative. Unless perhaps someone is so senseless and dull of mind that he considers it a great thing to have learned from it, after the manner of the children of this age, to take care of earthly possessions, to guard and defend vineyards from the incursions of beasts, lest perchance the fruit of wine, in which is excess, should happen to be lost; and at the same time the labor and expense should perish. A great loss indeed, that we should therefore read the holy book with such zeal and such great veneration, because we are taught in it to guard vineyards from foxes, lest in cultivating them our purses be emptied in vain, if we have been lazy in guarding them! You are not so unlearned, nor so devoid of spiritual grace, as to think so carnally. Therefore let us seek these things in the spirit. There indeed we find, with a sound understanding and a sense no less worthy, both flourishing vineyards and destroying foxes, in capturing or removing which we labor both more honorably and more fruitfully. Or do you doubt that we must attend far more vigilantly to keeping our minds than to keeping our crops; that we must watch far more carefully against spiritual wickednesses on account of the former, than against cunning little foxes on account of the latter? But now these spiritual vines, as well as foxes, must be shown by me. It will be your concern, sons, for each one to look after his own vineyard, when from my discussion he shall have perceived in what things and from what things he must especially be on guard. To the wise man his own life is a vineyard, his own mind, his own conscience. For a wise man will leave nothing in himself uncultivated or deserted. Not so the fool. You will find everything neglected in him, everything lying prostrate, everything uncultivated and squalid. There is no vineyard for the fool. How can there be a vineyard, where nothing planted, nothing worked upon anywhere is to be seen? The whole life of the fool grows wild with thorns and thistles: and is it a vineyard? Even if it was one, it is no longer, having been reduced indeed to a wasteland. Where is the vine of virtue? Where is the cluster of good work? Where is the wine of spiritual joy? "I passed by the field of the lazy man," he says, "and by the vineyard of the foolish man: and behold, nettles had filled the whole of it, and thorns had covered its surface, and the stone wall was broken down" (Prov 24:30-31). You hear the wise man mocking the fool, because the goods of nature and the gifts of grace, which he had perhaps received through the washing of regeneration, as though that first vineyard of his, which God and not man had planted, he reduced by negligence into a non-vineyard. Finally, there cannot be a vineyard where there is no life. For that the fool lives, I would judge to be death rather than life. How can there be life with barrenness? A tree that is dry and turned to barrenness, is it not judged to be dead? And dead branches they are. "And he killed," it says, "their vines with hail" (Ps 78:47); showing that those which were condemned to barrenness were deprived of life. So the fool, by the very fact that he lives uselessly, is living yet dead. To the wise man alone, therefore, does it belong to have, or rather to be, a vineyard, who has life. He is a fruit-bearing tree in the house of God, and therefore a living tree. Since indeed wisdom itself, by which he is called and is wise, is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her (Prov 3:18). Wh…

Song of Songs 2:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 64

I am present to my promise. "Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vineyards: for our vineyard has flourished" (Song 2:15). Foxes are temptations. It is necessary that temptations come. For who will be crowned, unless he has competed lawfully? (2 Tim 2:5.) Or how will they compete, if there is no one to attack them? You therefore, coming to the service of God, stand in fear, and prepare your soul for temptation (Sir 2:1), certain that all who wish to live piously in Christ will suffer persecution (2 Tim 3:12). Moreover, temptations are diverse, according to the diversity of times. And indeed upon our beginnings, as upon the tender flowers of newly planted vines, the force of cold presses down openly, which we mentioned in the other sermon, and we made beginners cautious against this plague. But now against the holier pursuits of those who are advancing, the opposing powers indeed do not at all dare to set themselves openly, but are accustomed to lie in ambush in secret, like certain deceitful little foxes; in appearance indeed virtues, but in reality vices. How many, for example, who had entered the ways of life, who had progressed to better things, who were well and securely proceeding and advancing upon the paths of justice, have I found to have been shamefully supplanted by the fraud, O the shame! of these foxes, and to bewail too late the fruits of virtues suffocated within themselves! I myself saw a man running well; and behold a thought: was it not a little fox? To how many, he says, could I share the good of which I alone enjoy, if I were in my homeland, with brothers and relatives, acquaintances and friends? They love me, and would easily consent to one persuading them. Why this waste? I shall go there, and save many of them, and myself likewise. Nor need I fear in a change of place. For so long as I do good, what does it matter where? except that there it is without doubt more profitable, where I may live more fruitfully. What more? He goes, and perishes, wretched man, not so much an exile returning to his homeland, as one having returned to the vomit of the flesh. And the unhappy man lost himself, and acquired none of his own. Behold one little fox, namely that deceptive hope which he had in the gaining of his own people. You too can by yourself find or notice in yourself other and yet other foxes similar to this one, if you are not negligent. But do you wish me to show you yet one more? I will do it, and I will demonstrate a third and a fourth as well, if I find you vigilant to catch those which you may have noticed in your own vineyard from among these. Sometimes the soul of someone who is advancing well, when he has felt something of heavenly grace more lavishly sprinkled upon him, is seized by the desire of preaching, not indeed to parents and relatives, according to that word: "Immediately I did not acquiesce to flesh and blood" (Gal 1:16); but as if more purely, more fruitfully, and more strongly, indiscriminately to strangers and to all. Altogether cautiously! Indeed he fears to incur the prophetic curse, if the grain which he has received in secret he should hide among the peoples (Prov 11:26): and to act contrary to the Gospel, unless what he has heard in his ear he should preach upon the rooftops (Mt 10:27). It is a fox, and one more harmful than the former by as much as it comes more secretly. But I catch it for you. First Moses says: "You shall not plow with the firstborn of the ox" (Deut 15:19). Paul interpreting this says: "Not a neophyte, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the judgment of the devil" (1 Tim 3:6): and again, "Nor does anyone," he says, "take the honor to himself, but he who is called by God as Aaron" (Heb 5:4); likewise he himself says: "How shall they preach unless they are sent?" (Rom 10:15.) And we know that the duty of a monk is not to teach, but to mourn. From these and similar texts collected together I weave a net for myself, and I catch the fox, lest it destroy…

Song of Songs 2:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 65

I have discussed two sermons for you on one chapter: I prepare a third, if you are not weary of hearing. And I think it necessary. For as regards our own domestic vineyard, which you are, I consider that in two sermons I have done enough to fortify it against the wiles of the threefold kind of foxes, who are flatterers, detractors, and certain seductive spirits, skilled and accustomed to introduce evils under the appearance of good. But not so for the Lord's vineyard. I speak of that one which has filled the earth, of which we too are a portion: a vineyard exceedingly great, planted by the hand of the Lord, redeemed by his blood, watered by his word, propagated by grace, made fruitful by the Spirit. Therefore, caring more for my own, I have profited less for the common good. But I am moved on behalf of it by the multitude of those who demolish it, the fewness of those who defend it, and the difficulty of the defense. The concealment creates the difficulty. For although the Church has always had foxes from its beginning, all were quickly discovered and caught. The heretic contended openly (for he was chiefly a heretic because he desired to conquer openly), and he was overcome. Thus those foxes were easily caught. For what did it matter if, when the truth was set in the light, the heretic, remaining in the darkness of his obstinacy, alone withered outside, bound fast? No less was the fox considered caught, when the impiety was condemned and the impious one was cast out, thenceforth to live for display, not for fruit. From this, according to the prophet, his were "breasts that are dry, and a barren womb" (Hos 9:14); because an error publicly refuted does not sprout again, and an exposed falsehood does not germinate. What shall we do with these most malignant foxes, that they may be caught, who prefer to harm rather than to conquer, and do not even wish to appear, but to creep? All heretics have always had one single intention: to seize glory from the singularity of their knowledge. This one alone, more malignant and more cunning than the other heresies, feeds on the losses of others, neglectful of its own glory. Taught, I believe, by the examples of the ancients, which, once betrayed, were unable to escape but were immediately caught, it is careful to work the mystery of iniquity by a new kind of malice, all the more freely as it is more hidden. Finally, as it is said, they have appointed hiding places for themselves, they have strengthened for themselves an evil speech. Swear, forswear; do not betray the secret. Yet on other occasions they do not consent to swear even slightly at all, on account of that saying from the Gospel: "Do not swear, neither by heaven, nor by the earth" (Mt 5:34-35), etc. O foolish and slow of heart, plainly filled with the Pharisaic spirit, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! (Mt 23:24). It is not lawful to swear, and it is lawful to perjure? Or is it only in this one matter that both are lawful? From what passage of the Gospels do you produce for me this exception, you who, as you falsely boast, do not pass over even an iota? It is clear that you both superstitiously observe the rule about swearing, and shamefully presume upon perjury. O perversity! That which was counseled as a precaution, namely, not to swear, this they observe so contentiously as though it were a commandment: and that which was established by immovable law, namely, that one must not perjure, this they dispense as though indifferent, according to their own will. No, they say, but lest we make public the mystery. As if it were not the glory of God to reveal a word. Or do they begrudge God his glory? But I rather believe that they blush to disclose it, knowing it to be inglorious. For they are said to do unspeakable and obscene things in secret, since indeed the hind parts of foxes also stink. But I pass over what they would deny: let them answer to what is manifest. Do they, according to the Gospel, take care not to give wh…

Song of Songs 2:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 68

1. Hear now what we deferred yesterday, hear my joy which I have felt. And it is yours: hear it rejoicing. In one word of the bride I felt this, and as it were caught the scent of something hidden, to be set forth for you today all the more festively, inasmuch as it comes more seasonably. The bride has spoken, and she said that the bridegroom attends to her. Who is the bride, and who is the bridegroom? He is our God: and she, if I dare say it, is we ourselves, together indeed with the remaining multitude of captives, whom he himself knows. Let us rejoice: this is our glory; we are those to whom God attends. How great, however, is the disparity. What are the earthborn and the sons of men before him? According to the prophet, so they are as though they were not, and as nothing and emptiness are they accounted by him (Isa 40:17). What then does this comparison between ones so unequal mean? Either she glories beyond measure, or he loves beyond measure. How admirable it is that she claims his attention for herself as though it were her own, saying: "My beloved is mine"! Nor content with this, she proceeds to glory further, that she responds to him as though from an equal standing, that she complies, that she repays in kind. For there follows: "And I am his" (Song 2:16). A bold word, "and I am his." No less bold, "my beloved is mine": except that bolder than either is both together. 2. O what does a pure heart dare, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned! "He attends to me," she says. Is it so, that that majesty, upon which the governance and administration alike of the universe falls, is attentive to this one; and the care of the ages is transferred to the sole business, or rather the sole leisure, of this love and desire? It is plainly so. For she is the Church of the elect, concerning whom the Apostle says: "All things for the sake of the elect" (2 Tim 2:10). And who doubts that the grace and mercy of God is upon his saints, and his regard upon his elect? (Wis 4:15). Therefore we do not deny providence to the other creatures: but the bride claims the care for herself. "Does God care about oxen?" (1 Cor 9:9). Nor is there any doubt that we can say the same of horses, of camels, of elephants, and of all the beasts of the earth: likewise also of the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky; lastly, of every thing that is upon the earth, with the sole exception of those to whom it is said: "Casting all your care upon him, for he himself cares for you" (1 Pet 5:7). Does it not seem to you as if it were said in these words: Attend to him, because he himself attends to you? And observe whether the apostle Peter (for they are his words) did not himself also observe the order of the bride's words. For he does not say: "Casting all your care upon him, so that he may care for you"; but "because he himself cares for you": openly showing thereby that the Church of the saints is not only how beloved, but also that she was beloved first. 3. It is established that the word which the Apostle spoke about oxen does not pertain to her: for he who loved her and gave himself for her has care of her. Is not this that wandering sheep, whose care was set above even the care of the flocks above? At length, those having been set aside, the shepherd descended to this one, sought her diligently, and when found did not lead her back but carried her back: he brought into the heavens new festivities of joy with her and on her account, the peoples of the angels having been invited to the solemnity (Lk 15:4-7, 10). What then? He deigned to carry her back on his own shoulders; and will he not have care of her? Therefore she is not ashamed to say: "The Lord is concerned for me" (Ps 39:18). Nor does she consider herself to err when she likewise says: "The Lord will repay on my behalf" (Ps 137:8); and if there is anything else of the kind that seems to signify the care of God concerning her. Hence it is that she calls the Lord of hosts her beloved, and glories…

Song of Songs 2:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69

"My beloved to me, and I to him." The preceding discourse assigned this voice to the universal Church, on account of the promises of life made to her by God, both of the life which now is and of the life to come; the question now before us concerns the individual soul, because one soul cannot arrogate to itself what the whole body dares to claim, nor in any way draw that claim to itself. If it is not permitted, let us therefore refer it to the Church in such a way that it applies by no means to a single person; and not only this voice, but also the remaining voices similar to it, speaking great things. But if anyone thinks it is permitted, I do not refuse; yet it matters to whom: for it is not permitted to just anyone. Assuredly the Church of God has her spiritual ones, who not only faithfully, but also confidently deal in this matter, speaking with God as with a friend, their conscience bearing witness to the glory that is his. Who they are is known to God alone; but you, hear what manner of person you ought to be, if you wish to be such. What I shall say, however, is not as one who has experienced it, but as one who desires to experience it. Give me a soul loving nothing besides God, and that which is to be loved on account of God; for whom to live is Christ, not only now but for a long time already; whose study and leisure it is to set the Lord always before its sight; whose one will—not to say great will—and whose capacity it is to walk carefully with the Lord its God: give me, I say, such a soul, and I do not deny it worthy of the Bridegroom's care, of the regard of his majesty, of the favor of him who rules, of the solicitude of him who governs; and if it should wish to glory, it will not be foolish, provided that he who glories, glories in the Lord. Thus in what many dare, one also dares, but for a different reason. How great, do you think, is the grace of familiarity that arises from this abiding between the soul and the Word, how great the confidence that follows from the familiarity? It is not, I think, that such a soul should any longer be afraid to say: "My beloved to me"; for from the fact that it feels itself loving, and loving vehemently, it does not doubt that it is loved no less vehemently in return; and from its own singular intention, solicitude, care, effort, diligence, and zeal, with which it incessantly and ardently watches over how to please God, it recognizes without doubt all these same things equally in him, remembering his promise: "In what measure you shall have measured, it shall be measured to you again"; except that the prudent Bride is more cautious in drawing the requital of grace to her own side, knowing that she was rather preceded by the beloved. Hence it is that she puts forward his work first: "My beloved," she says, "to me, and I to him." Therefore from her own dispositions she recognizes what is in God; nor does she doubt that she is loved, she who loves. So it is. The love of God begets the love of the soul, and his preceding intention makes the soul intent, and his solicitude makes it solicitous. For I know not by what closeness of nature, once the soul shall have been able to behold the glory of God with face unveiled, it is necessary that it soon be conformed to it and transformed into the same image. Therefore, as you shall have prepared yourself for God, so it is necessary that God appear to you. "With the holy he will be holy, and with the innocent man he will be innocent." Why not equally with one who loves, a lover; and with one who is at leisure, at leisure; and with one who is intent, intent; and solicitous with one who is solicitous? For indeed he says: "I love those who love me, and those who watch for me at dawn will find me." You see how he not only makes you certain of his love, if indeed you love him, but also of his solicitude, which he bears for you, if he has perceived you solicitous for him. Do you watch? He also watches. Rise up in the night at the beginning of yo…

Song of Songs 2:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 71

1. The end of the preceding sermon is the beginning of this one. The Bridegroom, then, is a lily, but not a lily among thorns, since he has no thorns who committed no sin. Indeed he declared the bride to be a lily among thorns; since even she, if she should say that she has no thorns, deceives herself, and the truth is not in her. But he professed himself indeed a flower and a lily, yet not among thorns. Rather he says: "I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys" (Song 2:1-2). And there is no mention of thorns, because he alone among men has no need to say: "I was turned in my affliction, while the thorn was fastened in me" (Ps 31:4). Therefore he is never without lilies, who is always without vices; because he is wholly and always radiant, beautiful in form beyond the sons of men (Ps 44:3). You therefore who hear or read these things, take care to have lilies in your possession, if you wish to have this dweller among lilies dwelling in you. Let your work, your pursuit, your desire: let a certain moral radiance and fragrance of the things themselves declare them to be lilies. Customs too have their colors, and they have their odors. For in spiritual things color and odor are not the same thing, no more than in bodily things. Therefore let conscience be consulted regarding the color, and reputation regarding the odor. "You have made our odor to stink before Pharaoh and his servants," say those men (Ex 5:21), speaking of opinion. Moreover, the intention of the heart and the judgment of conscience give color to your work. Vices are black, virtue is radiant. Between the one and the other, conscience, when consulted, discerns. The sentence of the Lord stands concerning the evil eye and the bright one (Mt 6:22-23), because he fixed certain boundaries between bright and black, and divided the light from the darkness. Therefore what proceeds from a pure heart and a good conscience is radiant, and is virtue; but if a good reputation has also followed, then it is a lily, since it lacks neither the radiance of a lily nor its fragrance. 2. Moreover virtue, even if not made greater on that account, is nevertheless made more beautiful and more illustrious. But if there is a blemish in the conscience, neither will that which proceeds from it be free from blemish. For if the root is in vice, so also is the branch. And accordingly, whatever it may be that a vitiated root produces from itself not without the transmission of vice — for example, a word, an action, a prayer — even if reputation seems to applaud, it is not something that ought to be called a lily; because even if the fragrance seems to agree, the color does not. For how can there be a lily with a blemish of impurity? Nor indeed will reputation be able to vindicate for virtue what conscience has convicted of being vice. Virtue will indeed be content with the radiance of conscience, where the fragrance of reputation cannot follow: but the fragrance of reputation will not suffice even to excuse the vice of a discolored conscience. Yet the man of virtue will always provide, so far as it lies in him, for good things, not only before God, but also before men (Rom 12:17), that he may truly be a lily. 3. But there is also a radiance of the soul that comes from the forgiveness of God, as he himself says through the prophet: "If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow; and if they be red as a little worm, they shall be as white wool" (Isa 1:18). And there is a radiance which he puts on who shows mercy with cheerfulness. For if you look upon that man whom the Prophet depicts as a joyful man, who shows mercy and lends (Ps 111:5), does he not seem to you to have imparted from that very joyfulness of mind a certain radiance to the face, and equally to the work, of his compassion? Just as, on the other hand, if someone gives out of sadness and as if out of necessity, he displays in hand and countenance not a radiant but a gloomy color. And therefore God loves a…

Song of Songs 2:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 70

1. "My beloved is mine, and I am his, who feeds among the lilies" (Song 2:16). Who would now charge her with presumption or insolence, if she says she has entered into fellowship with him who feeds among the lilies? Even if he fed among the stars, by the sole fact that he fed, I know not what greatness could appear in having friendships or familiarity with one of this sort. Something altogether ignoble and lowly sounds in the word "to feed." But now, since he is declared to feed among the lilies, this addition of lowliness further removes and drives away the charge of recklessness. For what are lilies? According to the word of the Lord, grass, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven (Mt 6:28-30). How great is this one who feeds on grass, as though one of the lambs or calves? And indeed a lamb, and a fatted calf. But perhaps you have more watchfully noticed that it is not pasture that is designated in this place, but a place: for it was not said that he feeds on lilies, but among lilies. So be it. He does not eat grass like an ox; yet to dwell in the grass and to recline upon the grass as one of the crowd, what eminence can this have? And what glory to her, to have as beloved one who does this? And according to the letter indeed, the modesty and prudent caution of the bride in speaking sufficiently appears, she who disposes her words in judgment, and tempers the glory of things by the modesty of her words. 2. But otherwise she is not ignorant that the one who is fed and the one who shepherds are one and the same; he who dwells among the lilies and he who reigns above the stars. Yet she more gladly recalls the lowly things of her beloved, on account of humility indeed, as I said; but more so because he began to be beloved from the time he also began to feed. And not only from that time, but on account of that. For he who is Lord in the highest is beloved in the lowest; reigning above the stars, and loving among the lilies. He loved also above the stars, because nowhere and never could he not love, because he is love; but until he descended to the lilies and was found to feed among the lilies, he was neither loved nor made beloved. What? Was he not loved by the patriarchs and prophets? He was: but not before he was seen by them also to feed among the lilies. For indeed they did see him whom they foresaw; unless someone is so devoid of the Spirit as to think that one who sees in the Spirit sees nothing. Whence then are they called Seers, for so the prophets were named (1 Sam 9:9), if they saw nothing? Hence it is that they wished to see him whom they did not see. For they could not have wished to see in the body him whom they had not seen in the Spirit. But I say: Were all of them prophets? As if all wished to see, or the faith belonged to all. But indeed those who saw were either prophets or those who gave assent to the prophets. For to have believed is to have seen. For not only he who sees through the spirit of prophecy, but also he who sees through faith, if someone should say that he too sees in the Spirit, does not seem to me to err. 3. And so that he who feeds all deigned to descend to the lilies and to feed among the lilies, this made him beloved, because he could not be loved before he was known. And on this account, when mention was made of the beloved, beautifully that too was recalled which was the cause of love and recognition. This refreshment among the lilies is to be sought in the Spirit: for to think of a bodily one is ridiculous. Indeed the lilies themselves, being spiritual, must be demonstrated by us, if we are able. I think we must also say this: whence the beloved feeds among the lilies -- whether on the lilies themselves, or on other herbs or flowers hidden among the lilies? And in these matters that seems more difficult to me, that he is said to feed, not to shepherd. For that he shepherds, there is no doubt, nor indeed is it unworthy of him: but to feed implies need, and not even spiritually d…

Song of Songs 2:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 72

Song of Songs 2:16 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 67

1. "My beloved to me, and I to him" (Song 2:16). Thus far the words of the Bridegroom. May he himself be present, so that worthily, to his own glory and for the salvation of ourselves, we may be able to search out the words of his Bride. For they are not such as can be considered and examined by us, as would be worthy, unless he himself shall have been the guide of the word. For they are as sweet in grace as they are fruitful in meaning, and indeed as profound in mysteries. To what shall I liken them? To some one dish of a feast, which excels with a certain threefold grace: delicious in flavor, solid in nourishment, efficacious as medicine. So, I say, so each and every word of the Bride: both from the fact that it sounds sweetly, it soothes the affection; and from the richness of its meanings it fattens and nourishes the mind; and from the depth of its mysteries, while it exercises the understanding more, it terrifies it more, and in a wondrous way heals the swelling of inflating knowledge. For if any one of those who seem to themselves to be learned shall have given himself rather curiously to the scrutiny of these words, when he has seen the powers of his intellect succumb and has perceived every understanding reduced to captivity, will he not, humbled, be compelled to that utterance, so that he says: "Your knowledge has become wonderful beyond me; it is strengthened, and I cannot attain to it" (Ps 138:6)? And now indeed, what a mark of sweetness does the beginning of her words set forth! For see what a beginning she has given. "My beloved," she says, "to me, and I to him." The utterance seems simple, since it sounds sweetly; but about this more will be seen later. 2. Now indeed she begins from love, she continues about the beloved, indicating that she knows nothing else except the beloved. It is clear whom the discourse concerns; but with whom, not so. For it is not permitted to feel as though it were with him, since he himself is no longer present. Nor is this doubtful: for soon she seems to call him back, and as if to cry out after him from behind: "Return," she says, "my beloved." Whence we are led to conjecture nothing other than that, his words being finished, he has again in his manner absented himself, and she has remained speaking nonetheless about him, who is never absent from her. So it is: she retained on her lips him who did not depart from her heart, not even when he was departing. For what goes out from the mouth comes from the heart, and from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Lk 6:45). Therefore she speaks of the beloved, as one truly beloved and truly worthy of being loved, because she loves much. We ask with whom she speaks: for about whom, we know. And no one occurs to us, unless perhaps the young maidens, who cannot be absent from their mother when the Bridegroom has departed. But it is better, as I think, to understand her as having spoken rather with herself and not with another, especially since the speech itself is found to be broken and not fully connected, plainly insufficient for giving understanding to a hearer, on account of which we especially speak with one another. "My beloved to me," she says, "and I to him." Nothing more? The discourse hangs; nay, it does not hang, but it fails. The hearer is held in suspense, not instructed, but raised up. 3. What is this that she says, "He to me, and I to him"? We do not know what she is saying, because we do not feel what she feels. O holy soul, what is he, your beloved, to you, and what are you to him? What, I ask, is this exhibition and return of favor, running back and forth between you so familiarly and so favorably? He to you, and you in turn to him. But what? Are you the same thing to him that he is to you, or something different? If you speak to us, if you speak to our understanding, declare plainly what you feel. How long do you hold our souls in suspense? Or according to the prophet, is your secret yours alone? (Is 24:16.) So it is:…

Song of Songs 2:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 72

1. "My beloved is mine, and I am his, who feeds among the lilies: until the day breathes, and the shadows decline" (Song 2:16-17). Only the last part of this chapter remains to be treated, and I hesitate at the very entrance as to which of the two preceding parts I should most fittingly join it to: for I can indifferently assign it to either. For whether you say: "My beloved is mine, and I am his until the day breathes, and the shadows decline," with only "who feeds among the lilies" interposed; or following the order of the text, "who feeds among the lilies, until the day breathes, and the shadows decline": you assign it not unfittingly to either. This indeed matters, that if you join "until" to the first, you must understand it as inclusive; if to the middle part, you must take it as exclusive. Suppose, for example, that the Bridegroom indicates that he will then feed among the lilies when the day has breathed: will he likewise also cease to attend to the bride, or she to him? Far from it! They will persevere with each other forever, except that then more happily, because more intensely; then more intensely, because more freely. Let this "until," therefore, be of the same kind as that one in Matthew, where it is narrated that Joseph did not know Mary until she bore her firstborn son (Mt 1:25): for neither did he know her afterward. Or certainly of the same kind as that in the psalm: "Our eyes are toward the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us" (Ps 122:2): for they will not be turned away when he begins to have mercy. Or like that saying of the Lord to the apostles: "Behold I am with you even to the consummation of the age" (Mt 28:20): for neither will he afterward not be with them. But this holds true only if you refer "until" to "my beloved is mine, and I am his." If, however, you prefer it to look to "who feeds among the lilies," it will have to be taken in another sense. Moreover, it will be shown with more labor how the beloved then ceases to feed when the day has breathed. For indeed if that day is the day of the resurrection, why would it not all the more delight him to feed among lilies there, where there will be a far greater abundance of them? And let these things be said for the sake of fitting the sequence of the text. 2. Now attend with me: although the whole kingdom is gleaming with lilies, and the Bridegroom is in their midst and delighting, nevertheless there is no reason to say that he also feeds, at least not in the way he was accustomed to before. For where now are the sinners whom Christ might incorporate into himself, chewed and bitten, as it were, by certain teeth of more austere discipline, namely by affliction of the flesh and contrition of the heart? But neither will the Word the Bridegroom any longer demand food for himself from any deeds or works of obedience, where all business is leisure, and the whole matter will consist solely in contemplation and love. And indeed his food is to do the will of his Father; but here, not there. For what would he do with what is already done? And it is established that it will then be perfect. For then at last it is for all the saints to prove what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God. And certainly after what is perfect, nothing remains to be done. It remains henceforth to enjoy, not to be made; to experience, not to labor; to live by it, not to be exercised in it. Is this not the very thing which, taught indeed by the Lord, we ask with the most urgent prayer to be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven (Mt 6:10), so that the fruit of it may now delight, and the doing of it not weary? Therefore there will be no food of work for the Bridegroom the Word, because every work must necessarily cease where wisdom is more fully perceived by all. For those who are lessened in action perceive it (Sir 38:25). 3. But let us see now whether what we say can stand also according to that interpretation by which to feed among the lilies is taken by some to…

Song of Songs 2:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 73

1. "Return; be like, my beloved, to a roe or to a young hart of the stags" (Song 2:17). What? Just now he goes, and now you call him back? What sudden thing has emerged in so short a time? Has she forgotten something? Indeed she has forgotten everything that is not he, herself as well. For although she is not devoid of reason, she is nevertheless not at this moment, as it seems, in possession of reason. Nor does any sense of modesty at all appear in her feelings, which she perhaps has in her character. Intemperate love does this. For it is love that, triumphing over and captivating every sense of shame, the measure of propriety, and the counsel of deliberation, produces 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 yet begun to go. She even asks him to hasten, and indeed to run like some wild creature of the forests running swiftly, namely a roe, or a young hart of the stags. This is the tenor of the letter, and this is the portion of the Jews. 2. But I, just as I have received from the Lord, will search out for myself the spirit and the life in the deep bosom of the sacred eloquence; and this is my portion, who believe in Christ. Why should I not draw out a sweet and saving feast of the spirit from the barren and tasteless letter, as grain from the chaff, a kernel from the shell, marrow from the bone? I have nothing to do with this letter which, when tasted, savors of flesh, and when swallowed, brings death; but indeed what is hidden in it is from the Holy Spirit. Moreover the Spirit speaks mysteries, as the Apostle testifies (1 Cor 14:2); but Israel holds the very veil of the mystery in place of the veiled mystery. Why, unless because the veil is still placed over his heart? Thus what the letter sounds is his; what it signifies is mine; and through this, his is the ministry of death in the letter, mine is life in the spirit. For the spirit is what gives life (Jn 6:64): for it gives understanding. Is not understanding life? "Give me understanding, and I shall live," the Prophet says to the Lord. Understanding does not remain outside, does not cling to the surface, does not, like a blind man, feel about the exterior; but it searches the depths, accustomed to snatch from thence with all eagerness the most precious spoils of truth and to carry them off for itself, and to say with the Prophet to the Lord: "I will rejoice over your words, as one who finds great spoils" (Ps 118:144, 162). For thus the kingdom of truth suffers violence, and the violent seize it (Mt 11:12). But that elder brother, who coming from the field held the figure of the old and earthly people, who, taught to love the threshing for the sake of the earthly inheritance, groans anxiously with worn brow under the heavy yoke of the law, and bears the burden of the day and the heat. He, I say, because he had no understanding, stands outside even now, and does not wish, even when invited by the father, to enter the house of the feast, defrauding himself until now of participation in the music, and the dancing, and the fatted calf (Lk 15:25-30). Wretched is he who refuses to experience how good it is and how pleasant for brothers to dwell in unity. And let these things be said for the distinction between the portion of the Church and the portion of the Synagogue, so that the blindness of the latter may become more manifest from the prudence of the former, and the happiness of the former may stand out from the pitiable foolishness of the latter. 3. Now let us examine the words of the bride, and let us attempt so to express the chaste affections of holy love, that nothing devoid of reason, nothing unbecoming or importunate may appear to have remained at all in the sacred eloquence. And if that hour should come to mind, when the Lord Jesus (for he is the bridegroom) was passing from this world to the Father (Jn 13:1), and at the same time what his own domestic Church was t…

Song of Songs 2:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 71

So then the Bridegroom loves to be fed among lilies, that is, in clean and bright hearts. But for how long? "Until the day breathes and the shadows decline." This is a shadowy and dense place: let us not enter this forest of a profound sacrament except in the clear light of day.

Song of Songs 2:17 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 74

1. "Return," she says (Song 2:17). It is clear that he whom she calls back is not present; yet that he had been present, and that not long before: inasmuch as he who is still going away seems to be called back. An untimely calling-back, a sign of great love on the one part, and of great loveliness on the other. Who are these cultivators of charity, and such untiring pursuers of the business of love, of whom the one follows after, the other urges on, so restless a love? And indeed it falls to me, as I remember my promise, to assign this passage to the Word and the soul; but for this to be done worthily even for a little while, I confess that I need the help of the Word itself. And certainly this discourse would have been more fitting for one more experienced, and more privy to holy and secret love; but I cannot fail in my office, nor entirely disappoint your desires. I see my peril, and I do not avoid it; you compel me. You utterly compel me to walk in great things and in wonders above me. Alas! how I fear lest presently I hear: "Why do you declare my delights, and take up my sacrament through your mouth?" Yet hear me, a man who trembles to speak, and cannot be silent. Perhaps the very trembling itself will excuse my boldness; but more so your edification, if it shall result. And perhaps these tears will likewise be seen. "Return," she says. Good. He was going away; he is called back. Who will unseal for me the sacrament of this changeableness? Who will worthily explain for me the going and returning of the Word? Does the Bridegroom act with fickleness? Whence, whither can he come or go again, who fills all things? What local motion, finally, can he have, who is a spirit? Or what motion at all, of whatever kind, do you ascribe to him who is God? For he is altogether unchangeable. 2. But let him who can grasp this, grasp it. Let us, however, walking cautiously and simply in the exposition of the sacred and mystical utterance, follow the custom of Scripture, which speaks wisdom hidden in mystery with our words; which, while it uses figures, insinuates God through our affections; which, by known likenesses of sensible things, as if by certain cups of cheaper material, pours forth to human minds those things which are precious, unknown, and invisible of God. Let us therefore follow also the custom of the chaste utterance, and say that the Word of God, God the Bridegroom of the soul, both comes to the soul as he wills and again leaves her: provided only that we perceive these things to happen by the perception of the soul, not by any motion of the Word. For example, when she perceives grace, she recognizes his presence: when she does not, she laments his absence, and again seeks his presence, saying with the Prophet: "My face has sought you; your face, O Lord, I will seek" (Ps 26:8). Why should she not seek? For indeed, with so sweet a Bridegroom withdrawn from her, she will not in the meantime care — I do not say to desire, but not even to think of — anything else. It remains therefore that she diligently seek the absent one, and call back the departing one. Thus then the Word is called back, and called back by the desire of the soul, but of that soul to which he has once granted the sweetness of himself. Is not desire a voice? And a powerful one. Indeed: "The desire of the poor the Lord has heard" (Ps 9:17). Therefore, as the Word departs, the one continuous voice of the soul in the meantime is its continuous desire for him, as one continuous "Return," until he comes. 3. And now give me a soul which the Word the Bridegroom is accustomed to visit frequently, to which familiarity has given boldness, tasting has given hunger, contempt of all things has given leisure: and I will unhesitatingly assign to this soul alike the voice and the name of bride; nor will I at all judge the passage which is in hand to be alien from her. For such a one is presented here as speaking. For she who calls him back proves without doubt that she has de…

Song of Songs 3:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 85

On the Seven Necessities on Account of Which the Soul Seeks the Word: Which Soul, at Last Reformed, Approaches to Contemplate and Enjoy His Sweetness. 1. "In my bed I sought him whom my soul loves" (Song 3:1). To what end? It has been said, and to repeat it would be superfluous: yet on account of certain ones who were not present when it was treated, I say something briefly, and what perhaps not even those who were present will be wearied to hear. For not everything could be said then. The soul seeks the Word, to whom it may consent for correction, by whom it may be illuminated for knowledge, upon whom it may lean for virtue, by whom it may be reformed to wisdom, to whom it may be conformed for beauty, to whom it may be married for fruitfulness, whom it may enjoy for delight. On account of all these causes the soul seeks the Word. I do not doubt that there are also very many others: but these occur to me in the meantime. Anyone, if it be to his heart, will be able easily to notice others and yet others in himself. For many are our turnings away, and many and infinite are the necessities of the soul, and of its anxieties there is no number. But the Word more richly and more fully superabounds in good things, inasmuch as it is Wisdom conquering malice, conquering evils with good things. And now receive the explanation of these which I have set forth. And first, what is first: see how the soul consents to correction. We read the Word speaking in the Gospels: "Be consenting," he says, "to your adversary while you are with him on the way, lest perchance he hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the torturer" (Mt 5:25). What could be more prudent? It is the counsel of the Word, unless I am mistaken, declaring itself an adversary, because it is opposed to our carnal desires, when it says: "Always they err in heart" (Ps 94:10). You therefore who hear these things, if trembling you begin to wish to flee from the wrath to come, I believe you will be anxious how you may consent to this adversary, who seems to threaten that wrath against you so terribly. But this is impossible unless you dissent from yourself, unless you oppose yourself, unless in grave and vigilant struggle you yourself fight against yourself indefatigably; lastly, unless you bid farewell to ingrained habit and inborn inclination. This indeed is hard. If you attempt it by your own powers, it will be as if you try to stop the rush of a torrent with one of your fingers, or to turn the Jordan itself back again. What will you do? Seek the Word to whom you may consent, with the Word itself causing you to consent. Flee to him who is your adversary, through whom you may become such that he is no longer your adversary, so that he who was threatening may become gentle, and infused grace may be more effective for changing you than intense wrath. 2. This is the first necessity, as I think, on account of which the soul begins to seek the Word. But if you do not know what he wills to whom you already consent in will, will it not also be said of you that you have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge? (Rom 10:2). And lest you think this a light matter, remember that it is written: "He who is ignorant will be ignored" (1 Cor 14:38). Do you wish to know what I advise also in this necessity? What I advised in the first. By my counsel you will go now also to the Word, and it will teach you its ways, lest not indeed by willing, but by being ignorant of the good, while you run, it happen that you run off course and wander in the pathless waste, and not on the way. For the Word is light. Indeed "the declaration of words gives light and gives understanding to the little ones." Blessed are you, if you too say: "Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths" (Ps 118:130, 105). Not a little has your soul progressed, whose will has been changed, whose reason has been illuminated, so that it both wills the good and knows it. In the one it received life, in the other sight.…

Song of Songs 3:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 75

God Is to Be Sought at the Due Time, in the Due Manner, and in the Due Place. And That Now Is the Acceptable Time, in Which Each One Can Find God for Himself through Good Works, and Work Out His Own Salvation. 1. "In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves" (Song 3:1). The Bridegroom has not returned at the voice and wish of her who called him back. Why? So that desire might grow, so that affection might be tested, so that the business of love might be exercised. It is therefore indeed a dissimulation, not an indignation. But it remains that he must be sought, if perchance the one sought may be found, who did not come when called, since the Lord says: "Everyone who seeks, finds" (Mt 7:8). Moreover the word of recall is this: "Return; be like, my beloved, a gazelle or a young stag" (Song 2:17). When he did not return at this voice, certainly for those reasons which have been stated, then she who loves, having been made more eager, soon gave herself over with all avidity to seeking him. And first indeed she seeks him in the bed, but by no means finds him. She rises from there, goes about the city, goes and returns through the streets and lanes, and he does not appear nor show himself. Those who happen to be encountered are asked, and nothing certain is reported. Nor is this a search and a frustration of one time only or one night only, since she says that "I sought by nights." What desire and ardor is this, that rising by night she does not blush at the public way, runs through the city, inquires openly and everywhere about the beloved, and can be turned from tracking his paths by no reasoning, impeded by no difficulty, held back neither by love of timely rest, nor by a bride's modesty, nor even by fear of the night? And yet in all these things she has been frustrated up to this point from her desire. Ask what this pertinacious and prolonged defrauding means -- this nurse of weariness, fuel of suspicions, torch of impatience, stepmother of love, mother of desperation. If this is still dissimulation, it is excessively burdensome. 2. Granted that the dissimulation was piously and usefully maintained for a time, as long as the matter was still only one of calling or calling back. But now when he is sought, and sought so earnestly, what further can dissimulation accomplish? If the question is about carnal bridegrooms and shameful loves, as the literal surface seems to have prefigured -- and if such things can happen among them -- it is not my concern; let them see to it themselves. But if it is fitting for me to respond and satisfy, according to whatever small ability I have, the minds and affections of souls seeking the Lord, then something vital must surely be drawn forth from Holy Scripture, in which they trust that they have life -- something vital, and indeed spiritual -- so that the poor may eat and be satisfied, and their hearts may live. And what is so much the life of hearts as my Lord Jesus Christ, of whom he who lived by him said: "When Christ, your life, shall appear, then you also shall appear with him in glory" (Col 3:4)? Let him therefore come into our midst, so that it may be truly said to us as well: "But in the midst of you stands one whom you do not know" (Jn 1:26). Although I do not know how the Bridegroom, who is Spirit, would not be known by spiritual persons, who have indeed so advanced in the spirit that they can say with the prophet: "Christ the Lord is a Spirit before our face" (Lam 4:20); and with the Apostle: "And if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer" (2 Cor 5:16). Is this not the one whom the bride was seeking? He truly is the Bridegroom, both loving and lovable. He, I say, is truly the Bridegroom; just as his flesh is truly food, and his blood is truly drink (Jn 6:56): and everything that is of him truly is, since he himself is nothing other, assuredly, than Truth itself. 3. But this Bridegroom -- why is he not found when sought, since he is sought…

Song of Songs 3:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 81

On the Fitness and Likeness of the Soul to the Word According to Identity of Essence, Immortality of Life, and Freedom of Choice. 1. The affinity of the soul to the Word was inquired into before, and that indeed necessarily. For what agreement is there between so great a majesty and so great a poverty, that in the manner and love of spouses, as if on equal terms, that sublimity and that humility should be reported to embrace one another? For if we say this truly, there is a very joyful confidence; if falsely, a very punishable audacity. Therefore it was necessary to inquire about the fitness of these two: and indeed much has already been found, but not all. For who, even if exceedingly dull, does not see how closely the image and that which is according to the image look upon one another from nearby? Of which two things, one was assigned to one and the other to the other by yesterday's discourse, if you recall. Nor was the closeness demonstrated there only from the image, but also from the likeness, except that in what or in which things that likeness chiefly consists has not yet been declared by us. Come, let us now attend to this declaration, so that the more fully the soul recognizes its own origin, the more it may blush at having a degenerate life; or rather, what it discovers to have been vitiated by sin in its nature, it may strive to reform by diligence; so that, governing itself worthily of its lineage, by God's gift indeed, it may confidently approach the embraces of the Word. 2. Let it observe therefore, from this inborn character of the divine likeness, that there belongs to it that natural simplicity of its own substance, by which for it to be is the same as to live, even if not the same as to live well or to live blessedly, so that there is a likeness, not an equality. A close step, yet still a step. For it is not of one and the same excellence or equal height, to have being be the same as living, and likewise to have being be the same as living blessedly. Therefore if the latter belongs to the Word on account of its sublimity, and the former to the soul on account of likeness, with the eminence of the Word preserved, the affinity of natures is manifest, the prerogative of the soul is manifest. And that what is said may become more plain: to God alone, being is the same as blessed being; and this is the first and purest simplicity. But the second is like to this, namely to have being be the same as living; and this belongs to the soul. From this, even if from a lower step, one can ascend not only to living well, but even to living blessedly: not because even then being will be the same as blessed being for the one who has arrived there; inasmuch as one may thus glory on account of the likeness, yet on account of the disparity may always have cause for all one's bones to say: "Lord, who is like you?" (Ps 35:10). Nevertheless a good step for the soul, from which alone one ascends to the blessed life. 3. For there are living things, and of these two kinds: those that sense and those that do not sense. Furthermore, sensible things are preferred to insensible, and to both is preferred the life by which one both lives and senses. Life and a living thing will not stand equally on one step; much less life and those things which are without life. The soul is life, living indeed, but not from any other source than itself; and on that account not so much a living thing as life itself, if we speak properly of it. Hence it is that when infused into a body it vivifies it, so that the body, from the presence of life, is not life but a living thing. Whence it is clear that not even for a living body is living the same as being, since it can be and yet not live at all. Much less will those things which are devoid of life rise to this step. But neither will everything that is called or is life straightaway be able to reach this point. There is the life of cattle, there is also the life of trees: the one endowed with sense, the o…

Song of Songs 3:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 82

How the Soul, Remaining Like God, Was Nevertheless Made Unlike through Sin in Simplicity, Immortality, and Freedom. 1. What does it seem to you? Can we now return to the order of exposition from which we digressed, since the affinity of the Word and the soul is now clear, for the demonstration of which indeed the digression itself was made? We could, as it seems to me, if I did not sense that some small measure of doubt still remained in the things that have been said. I wish to steal nothing. I do not willingly pass over what I think useful to you. And how should I dare to do so, especially concerning those things which I receive on your behalf? I know a certain man who once, while speaking, was retaining and reserving for himself something from the things which the Spirit was suggesting, with a mind not indeed unfaithful, but insufficiently trusting, so that he might have something to say when he would treat the matter again; and behold a voice came to him, as indeed it seemed to him: "As long as you hold on to that, you will not receive another." What if he had retained it, not providing for his own want, but envying the progress of the brethren? Would not even that very thing which he seemed to have be taken away from him, and rightly so? May God ever keep this far from your servant, as indeed he has always done. May that unfailing fountain of saving wisdom deign to flow abundantly for me continually, just as without envy I have communicated to you and poured back whatever he himself has deigned to pour into me until now. If I defraud you, from whom shall I not fear to be defrauded myself? Not even from God. 2. There is therefore in the things that have been said something which, as I fear, could give offense, if it is not smoothed out. And, unless I am mistaken, there are some standing here to whom what I wish to say has caused a scruple. That threefold likeness of the Word, which we assigned to the soul, or rather which we observed to be stamped upon it — do you recall that it also appeared to us to belong to it inseparably? This indeed may seem to conflict with certain testimonies of the Scriptures, as for example, that passage in the Psalms: "Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and was made like to them" (Ps 48:13, 21); and likewise that: "They exchanged their glory for the likeness of a calf that eats grass" (Ps 105:20); but also what was said plainly in the person of God: "You thought wickedly that I would be like you" (Ps 49:21); and many other passages which seem concordantly to assert that the likeness of God in man was destroyed after sin. What therefore shall we say to these things? That those three things do not at all exist in God, and so other things must be sought in which we may assign the likeness? Or that they do indeed exist in God, but not in the soul, and that thus neither is the likeness found in these? Or that they exist also in the soul, but can also not be present, and therefore are not inseparable? Far from it! They are both in God and in the soul, and they are always present; nor is there reason for us to regret having said any of these things, so entirely is the whole supported by undoubted and most absolute truth. But what Scripture speaks of concerning the unlikeness that was made, it does not speak because this likeness was destroyed, but because another was drawn over it. The soul did not at all strip off its native form, but put on over it a foreign one. That one was added, this one was not lost; and what came upon it was able to obscure the inborn likeness, but not to destroy it. Finally: "Their foolish heart was darkened," says the Apostle (Rom 1:21); and the prophet: "How is the gold become dim, the finest color changed?" (Lam 4:1). He laments the gold darkened, but it is gold nonetheless; the finest color changed, but the foundation of the color not uprooted. The simplicity remains in its foundation utterly unshaken, but it scarcely…

Song of Songs 3:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 86

On the Caution and Modesty of the Bride Seeking the Word; and on the Commendation of Modesty. 1. There is no reason why it should now be asked of me why the soul seeks the Word: this has been sufficiently and more than sufficiently made known above. Come, let us pursue the remaining matters of the present chapter, at least those which pertain to morals. Here first observe the modesty of the bride, than which I know not whether anything more pleasing can be observed in the morals of men. This I wish first of all to take up in a certain way in our hands, and as it were to pluck a certain beautiful flower from this place, and set it before our young men. Not because it should not also be retained with all zeal in a more advanced age, for it is certainly the ornament of all ages; but because the grace of tender modesty shines forth more fully and more beautifully in a more tender age. What is more lovable than a modest youth? How beautiful is this, and how splendid a gem of morals in the life and countenance of a youth! How true and by no means doubtful a messenger of good hope, an indicator of good disposition! It is a rod of discipline for him, which, hanging over shameful affections, restrains the motions of a slippery age and checks its frivolous acts and curbs its insolent ones. What is so much a fugitive from foul speech, and from all baseness thereafter? It is the sister of continence. No sign is equally manifest of dove-like simplicity: and therefore also a witness of innocence. It is a lamp of the chaste mind, shining perpetually, so that nothing base or unbecoming may attempt to remain in it which it does not immediately expose. Thus, an expunger of evils and a champion of innate purity, it is the special glory of conscience, the guardian of reputation, the adornment of life, the seat of virtue, the first-fruits of the virtues, the praise of nature, and the badge of all that is honorable. That very blush of the cheeks, which perhaps shame has brought on, how much grace and beauty it is accustomed to bring to a suffused countenance! 2. To such a degree is modesty a natural good of the soul, that even those who do not fear to act wickedly are nevertheless ashamed to be seen doing so, as the Lord says: "Everyone who does evil hates the light" (Jn 3:20). But also those who sleep, sleep by night; and those who are drunk, are drunk by night (1 Thess 5:7): hiding in darkness the works of darkness, works indeed worthy of hiding places. There is a difference, however, in that the hidden things of disgrace, which the modesty of these men blushes not to have but to expose, the modesty of the bride does not at all cover, but spits out, but drives away. Therefore the Wise Man says: "There is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that brings glory" (Sir 4:25). The bride seeks the Word modestly indeed, because in bed, because by night; but this modesty has glory, not sin. She seeks this for the purification of conscience, she seeks it for testimony, so that she may say: "This is my glory, the testimony of my conscience" (2 Cor 1:12). "In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves" (Song 3:1). Modesty, if you observe, is marked for you both by place and by time. What is so friendly to a modest soul as secrecy? Moreover, both the night and the bed hold secrecy. Finally, those wishing to pray are commanded to enter their chamber (Mt 6:6), certainly for the sake of secrecy. This indeed is for caution, lest before those who are praying human praise steal the fruit of prayer and frustrate its effect. But you are taught modesty no less by this saying. What is so proper to modesty as to avoid one's own praises, to avoid boasting? It is clear that with purpose the Son and master of modesty enjoined upon those praying to seek secrecy. What is so unbecoming, especially for a youth, as a display of holiness? And yet from this age above all a fitting and timely beginning of religion is rightly taken, as Jeremiah says: "It is good for…

Song of Songs 3:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 83

How the Soul, However Much Corrupted by Vices, Can Still Return Through Chaste and Holy Love to the Likeness of the Bridegroom, That Is, of Christ. 1. As much as the regular hour permitted, which we have appointed for ourselves for speaking, this period of three days has been spent in demonstrating the affinity of the Word and the soul. What profit is there in all this labor? Surely this. We have taught that every soul, though burdened with sins, entangled with vices, captured by allurements, captive in exile, imprisoned in the body, stuck in the mud, fixed in the mire, fastened to its members, nailed at the calves, stretched out with occupations, contracted with fears, afflicted with sorrows, wandering with errors, anxious with solicitudes, restless with suspicions, and lastly a stranger in the land of enemies, according to the voice of the prophet, defiled with the dead, reckoned among those who are in hell (Bar 3:11); though, I say, thus condemned, and thus despaired of, we have taught nevertheless that this soul can discover in itself, not only that from which it may breathe again into the hope of pardon, into the hope of mercy; but also that from which it may dare to aspire to the nuptials of the Word, may not tremble to enter into a covenant of fellowship with God, may not be afraid to draw the sweet yoke of love with the King of angels. For what may it not safely dare before him, whose distinguished image it perceives in itself, whose illustrious likeness it knows in itself? What, I say, should it fear from his majesty, when confidence is given it from its origin? It need only take care to preserve the nobility of its nature by the honesty of its life, or rather let it strive to adorn and decorate the heavenly beauty, which is originally in it, with certain worthy colors of conduct and affections. 2. For why should diligence slumber? A great gift of nature in us is indeed this very thing: which if it should fail to carry out its part, will not all that remains of nature in us be entirely disturbed, entirely covered over as if by a certain rust of antiquity? This indeed is an injury to the Author. And assuredly for this reason the Author himself, God, willed that the mark of divine nobility be perpetually preserved in the soul, so that the soul may always have in itself from the Word that by which it is admonished either to stand with the Word, or to return, if it has been moved. Not moved as if migrating in places, or walking with feet, but moved (as indeed it belongs to a substance that is certainly spiritual to be moved by its own affections, or rather defections) it goes from itself in a certain way into something worse, when it makes itself unlike itself by the depravity of life and conduct, rendering itself degenerate: which unlikeness, however, is not an abolition of nature, but a vice, elevating the good of nature itself by comparison with itself as much as it defiles it by conjunction with itself. But indeed the return of the soul is its conversion to the Word, to be reformed through him, to be conformed to him. In what? In charity. For he says: "Be imitators of God, as most beloved children; and walk in love, as Christ also loved you" (Eph 5:1-2). 3. Such conformity weds the soul to the Word, when, namely, to him to whom it is similar by nature, it shows itself no less similar by will, loving as it has been loved. Therefore, if it loves perfectly, it has been wedded. What is more delightful than this conformity? What more desirable than charity, by which it comes about that, not content with human instruction, through yourself, O soul, you confidently approach the Word, constantly cling to the Word, familiarly question the Word, and consult it about every matter, as much daring in desire as you are capable in understanding? Truly this is the contract of a spiritual and holy marriage. I have said too little, a contract: it is an embrace. An embrace indeed, where to will the same thing and to not will the same…

Song of Songs 3:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80

A Subtle Disputation Concerning the Image, or the Word of God, and the Soul Which Is to the Image: and Concerning the Error of Gilbert, Bishop of Poitiers. 1. Certain of you, as I have learned, bear it with less than a fair spirit that behold, now for several days, while it delights us to dwell upon the wonder and admiration of the mysteries, the discourse which we have administered has been seasoned either with no salt of moral teaching, or with exceedingly little. This indeed is beyond our custom. But may it be permitted to revisit those things which have been said? I do not proceed unless I first review all things. Come, say, if you remember, from what place in Scripture this defrauding began, that I may take up the matter again from there. It is mine to repair the losses — nay, it is the Lord's, from whom we presume all things. From what beginning, then, must we resume? Perhaps from this: "In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves" (Song 3:1)? Unless I am mistaken, it is from there. From that point and onward my one concern has been, having dispersed the dense fog of these allegories, to bring into the light the secret delights of Christ and the Church. Therefore let us return to investigating the moral senses. For what shall be profitable to you cannot be wearisome to me. And this will fittingly be done if the things that have been said concerning Christ and the Church we assign no less to the Word and the soul. 2. But someone says to me: Why do you join these two together? For what has the soul to do with the Word? Very much in every way. First indeed, because there is so great a kinship of natures, that the one is the image, and the other is made to the image. Then, because likeness bears witness to the kinship. For the soul was made not only to the image, but also to the likeness. You ask in what it is like? Hear first concerning the image. The Word is truth, is wisdom, is justice: and this is the image. Of what? Of justice, of wisdom, and of truth. For this image is justice from justice, wisdom from wisdom, truth from truth, as it were light from light, God from God. The soul is none of these things, because it is not the image. Yet it is capable of them, and desirous of them, and perhaps on that account it is to the image. A lofty creature, bearing the mark of majesty indeed in its capacity, and of rectitude in its desire. We read that "God made man upright" (Eccl 7:30), which also its great capacity, as has been said, proves. For it is necessary that what is to the image agree with the image, and not participate in vain in the name of the image, just as the image itself is not called image by a mere or empty name. You have indeed concerning him who is the image, that "being in the form of God, he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God" (Phil 2:6). Where certainly both his rectitude in the form of God, and his majesty in the equality, are indicated to you: so that when rectitude is compared to rectitude, and greatness to greatness, that which is to the image and the image may appear to correspond to each other harmoniously on both sides; just as the image also no less corresponds in both respects to him whose image it is. For he is the one of whom you have heard holy David singing in the psalms, now indeed: "Great is our Lord, and great is his power" (Ps 146:5); and now: "The Lord our God is upright, and there is no iniquity in him" (Ps 91:16). From this upright and great God, his image has it that it too is upright and great: the soul has it, which is to the image. 3. But I say: Does the image, then, have nothing more than the soul which is to the image, since we assign greatness and uprightness to the latter as well? Very much more. The soul received these according to measure, the image according to equality. Is this not more? Consider also another thing. To the soul, both of these were bestowed either by creation or by gracious condescension; to the image, by generation. And that this is mor…

Song of Songs 3:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 84

That the Soul Seeking God Has Been Anticipated by Him: and What That Seeking Is, in Which It Has Already Been Anticipated by Him. 1. "In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves" (Song 3:1). It is a great good to seek God. I consider this second to none among the goods of the soul. It is first among gifts, last among advances. It is added to by no virtue, and it yields to none. To which would it be added, when none precedes it? To which would it yield, which is rather the consummation of all? For what virtue can be ascribed to one not seeking God, or what limit to one seeking God? "Seek his face always," it says (Ps 104:4). I think that not even when he has been found will there be a ceasing from seeking. God is sought not by steps of the feet, but by desires. And assuredly a blessed finding does not extinguish holy desire, but extends it. Surely the consummation of joy is not the consumption of desire? It is rather oil to it: for desire itself is the flame. So it is. Joy will be fulfilled; but of desire there will be no end, and therefore neither of seeking. But consider, if you can, this zeal of seeking without want, and desire without anxiety. Assuredly presence excludes the one, and abundance the other. 2. Now see why I have said these things first. It is so that every soul among you that seeks God, lest it twist a great good into a great evil for itself, may know that it has been anticipated in this, and was sought before it was seeking. For thus from great goods not the least evils are accustomed to arise, when, made distinguished by the good things of the Lord, we use his gifts as if they were not given, and do not give glory to God. So indeed those who seemed greatest on account of the grace received are reckoned least before God on account of the glory not rendered back. But I spare you. I have used more modest words, "greatest" and "least"; but what I feel I have not expressed. I wrapped the distinction; I myself will lay it bare: I ought to have said "best" and "worst." For truly and without doubt, each one is worst to the degree that he is best, if he ascribes to himself that very thing by which he is best. This indeed is the worst thing. But if someone should say: "Far be it! I acknowledge, by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor 15:10); yet strives to capture petty glory for the grace he has received; is he not a thief and a robber? Let him who is of this sort hear: "Out of your own mouth I judge you, wicked servant" (Lk 19:22). What is more wicked than a servant usurping for himself the glory of his lord? 3. "In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves." The soul seeks the Word, but one that was first sought by the Word. Otherwise, once having gone forth or been cast out from the face of the Word, its eye will not return to see good things, unless it is sought again by the Word. As if indeed our soul were anything other than a spirit going and not returning, if it were left to itself. Hear the fugitive and the wanderer, what she laments and what she asks: "I have gone astray," she says, "like a sheep that has perished: seek your servant" (Ps 118:176). O man, you wish to return? But if the matter rests in the will, why do you cry for help? Why do you beg from elsewhere for what you have in abundance yourself? It is plain that she wills, and cannot: she is a spirit going and not returning, even if that one is further gone who does not even will. Although I would not say that the soul which desires to return and asks to be sought is altogether abandoned or forsaken. For whence does this will come to her? From this, unless I am mistaken: that she has already been visited and sought by the Word. Nor was this seeking idle, which produced the will without which there could be no return. But it does not suffice to be sought once: so great is the languor of the soul, and so great the difficulty in returning. For what if she wills? The will lies prostrate where the ability does not support it. For: "To…

Song of Songs 3:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 76

"Through the streets and squares I will seek him whom my soul loves" (Song 3:2). Still she understands as a little one. I think she supposed that he, having gone forth from the tomb, would have immediately gone into public, so that as usual he might teach the peoples, and heal the sick, and manifest his glory in Israel, if perhaps they would receive him rising from the dead, who had promised they would receive him descending from the cross. But he had completed the work which the Father had given him to do: which indeed she ought to have understood from the voice of him hanging on the cross, that voice, namely, by which, about to expire forthwith, he said: "It is finished" (Jn 19:30). There was no reason now that he should again entrust himself to the crowds, who were not even so perhaps going to believe in him. And he was hastening to the Father, who would say to him: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool" (Ps 110:1). For more powerfully and more divinely, when he shall have been lifted up from the earth, he will draw all things to himself. But she thought he was to be sought through the streets and squares, eager for enjoyment but ignorant of the mystery. Again therefore, frustrated, she returns saying: "I sought him, and I did not find him"; so that the word which he spoke might be fulfilled: "Because I go to the Father, and you will no longer see me" (Jn 16:16). Perhaps she says: How then will they believe in him whom they will not see? As if faith were from sight, and not rather from hearing. What great thing is it to believe what you have seen? And not to deny the trust of your own eyes, what praise does it merit? But if what we do not see we hope for, we await it through patience; and patience is merit. "Blessed, indeed, are those who have not seen, and have believed" (Jn 20:29). Therefore, so that the merit of faith may not be emptied, let him withdraw himself from sight, giving place to virtue. Moreover, it is time that he now betake himself into his own. You ask, into what that is his own? Into the right hand of the Father. For he will not consider it robbery to be equal with God, since he is in the form of God (Phil 2:6). Therefore let this be the place of the Only-Begotten; in which all his injury may be seen to be repelled. Let him sit alongside, not below, so that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. In this the equality of majesty will appear, if you look up to him as neither inferior to the Father nor posterior. But she meanwhile notices none of these things: but as if drunk with love, running here and there, she seeks with her eyes him whom the eye no longer touches, but faith. For she does not think that Christ must enter into his glory in any other way, unless first, with the glory of the resurrection becoming publicly known to the world, impiety is confounded, the faithful exult, the disciples glory, the peoples are converted, and at last he himself is glorified by all, since from the presence of him rising the truth of him who had foretold these things would have become clear to all. You are mistaken, O bride. Indeed these things must come to pass, but in their own time. But now, in the meantime, see whether perhaps it is more worthy and more consonant with heavenly justice: if what is holy is not given to dogs, and pearls to swine; if rather, according to the Scripture, the ungodly is taken away so that he may not see the glory of God (Isa 26:10); if faith is not defrauded of its merit, which is then indeed known to be more proven when what is not seen is believed; if that which is hidden from the unworthy is kept in the possession of faith for those who are worthy, so that those who are in filth may be filthy still, and the just may be justified yet more (Rev 22:11), if they do not slumber from weariness. Let the heavens and the heavens of heavens waste away and be confounded from their expectation, if the Father almighty himself is not any longer frustrated o…

Song of Songs 3:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 75

And I said: "I will rise and go about the city; through the lanes and streets I will seek him whom my soul loves." Observe even now that she is lying down who says: "I will rise." This is entirely fitting. Why would she not rise, having learned of the resurrection of the beloved? Moreover, O blessed one, if you have risen with Christ, you ought to have understanding of the things that are above; and you must seek Christ not below but above, where he sits at the right hand of the Father (Col 3:1-2). But "I will go about," you say, "the city." To what end? "The impious walk in a circle." Leave that to the Jews, for whom their own prophet prophesied this, that "they will suffer hunger like dogs, and will go about the city" (Ps 58:7). And if you enter the city, according to another prophet, "behold, those wasted with hunger" (Jer 14:18): which certainly would not be the case if the bread of life were in it. He rose from the heart of the earth, but he did not remain upon the earth. He ascended to where he was before. For he who descended is the same one who ascended, the living bread which came down from heaven, the very Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God blessed above all things forever. Amen.

Song of Songs 3:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 77

Come now, we are free! We said in yesterday's sermon what sort of guides we would wish to have on this way in which we walk, not what sort we have. We find them far dissimilar. Not all are friends of the bridegroom whom you see today standing on this side and that beside the bride, and who, as the common saying goes, seem to escort her, as it were. Very few there are who do not seek the things that are their own, out of all her dear ones. They love gifts, and cannot at the same time love Christ; because they have given their hand to mammon. Behold how they go about sleek and adorned, clothed round about with variety, as a bride coming forth from her chamber. Would you not, if you should suddenly catch sight of one of them coming from afar, think it was the bride rather than the bride's guardian? But whence do you think this overflowing abundance of possessions, this splendor of garments, this luxury of tables, this heaping up of silver and golden vessels flows to them, if not from the goods of the bride? Hence it is that she is left poor, and destitute, and naked, with a countenance pitiable, unkempt, rough, and bloodless. On this account it is not in this time to adorn the bride, but to despoil her; not to guard her, but to destroy her; not to defend her, but to expose her; not to instruct her, but to prostitute her; not to feed the flock, but to slaughter and devour it, the Lord saying of them: "Who devour my people as the food of bread" (Ps 53:4); and: "Because they have eaten up Jacob and laid waste his place" (Ps 79:7); and in another prophet: "They shall eat the sins of my people" (Hos 4:8); as if he were to say: They exact the wages of sins, and do not expend upon sinners the solicitude that is owed. Which one will you give me from among the number of prelates, who does not watch over emptying the purses of his subjects more than over extirpating their vices? Where is he who by praying bends the wrath; who preaches the acceptable year of the Lord? We speak of lighter matters; a more grievous judgment awaits the more grievous. Without cause, however, do we linger over either these or those, because they do not hear us. But even if these things which we say should perchance be committed to writing, they will disdain to read them; or if by chance they do read them, they will be indignant at me, although more rightly they should do this to themselves. Therefore let us leave these men, not finders of the bride but sellers; and let us rather seek out those by whom the bride says she was found. And indeed these men of ours have obtained the place of those men's ministry, but not the zeal. All desire to be successors, few to be imitators. O would that they were found as vigilant for the care as they run eagerly to the chair! They would indeed be vigilant, carefully keeping her who was found by those men and entrusted to themselves. Nay rather, they would be watchful for their own sakes, and would not suffer it to be said of them: "My friends and my neighbors drew near against me and stood" (Ps 38:11). A just complaint altogether, and one to be applied to no age more justly than to our own. It is a small thing for our watchmen that they do not guard us, unless they also destroy us. For sunk in a deep sleep of forgetfulness, at no thunder of the Lord's threatening do they awake, so as to tremble even at their own danger. Hence it is that they do not spare their own, who do not spare themselves, destroying and perishing alike. But indeed who are those watchmen by whom the bride declares herself to have been found? The apostles, surely, and apostolic men. Truly these are they who guard the city, that is, the very Church which they found, and the more vigilantly, because they now perceive her to be in more grievous danger at this time, from an evil that is indeed domestic and intestine, as it is written: "And the enemies of a man are those of his own household" (Mic 7:6). For they do not leave destitute of their patronage her for…

Song of Songs 3:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 76

But someone says: How will she believe without a preacher, since faith is from hearing, and hearing through the word of preaching? (Rom 10:14, 17.) God will provide for this. And behold, already at hand are those who may instruct and form the new bride, who is to be wed to the heavenly Bridegroom, in what is fitting, and teach her the faith, and hand on to her the pattern of piety and religion. For hear what she adds: "The watchmen who guard the city found me." For who are these watchmen? Those, surely, whom the Savior in the Gospel pronounces blessed, if, when he comes, he finds them watching (Lk 12:37). How good are these watchmen, who while we sleep keep vigil for us, as those who will render an account for our souls! How good are these guardians, who, watchful in spirit and spending the night in prayers, shrewdly scout out the ambushes of the enemy, anticipate the counsels of the wicked, detect their snares, elude their traps, scatter their nets, frustrate their machinations! These are lovers of the brethren and of the Christian people, who pray much for the people and for the whole holy city. These are they who, greatly solicitous for the Lord's sheep committed to them, give their heart to watching from early morning for the Lord who made them, and pray in the sight of the Most High. And they watch, and they pray, knowing their own insufficiency in guarding the city, and that unless the Lord guards the city, in vain does he watch who guards it (Ps 127:1). Moreover, since the Lord so commands: "Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation" (Mk 14:38); it is clear that without this twofold exercise of the faithful, and the zeal of the watchmen, neither the city, nor the bride, nor the sheep can be secure. You ask for the difference among these? They are one. The city on account of its gathering together, the bride on account of her love, the sheep on account of their meekness. Do you wish to know that the bride is the same as the city? "I saw," he says, "the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev 21:2). Likewise this will clearly appear to you also regarding the sheep, if you recall how that first guardian (I speak of Peter), when the sheep were first committed to him, was at the same time attentively admonished regarding love. Which a wise creditor would by no means have done with so great care, unless he felt himself to be the bridegroom, his own inmost conscience testifying this to him. Hear these things, friends of the bridegroom, if indeed you are friends. But I have said too little, friends: they must be the closest of friends, who are endowed with the privilege of so great a familiarity. Not idly was it repeated so many times: "Peter, do you love me?" (Jn 21:15-17), in the commissioning of the sheep. And indeed I think it was signified in the same way as if Jesus had said to him: Unless your conscience bears testimony to you that you love me, and greatly and perfectly love me, that is, more than your possessions, more than your own, more even than yourself, so that this number of my repeated questioning may be fulfilled, by no means take up this charge, nor involve yourself with my sheep, for whom assuredly my blood was shed. A terrible word, and one that could shake even the fearless hearts of any tyrants. Therefore attend to yourselves, all of you who have been allotted the work of this ministry; attend, I say, to yourselves, and to the precious deposit which has been entrusted to you. It is a city: be vigilant for its custody and concord. It is a bride: attend to her adornment. They are sheep: see to their pasture. And these three will perhaps not unfittingly be said to pertain to that threefold questioning of the Lord. Moreover, the custody of the city, to be sufficient, will be threefold: from the violence of tyrants, from the fraud of heretics, from the temptations of demons. The adornment of the bride consists in good work…

Song of Songs 3:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 78

That the Bride, That Is the Church of the Elect, Was Predestined by God Before the Ages, and Prevented by Him So That She Might Seek Him and Be Converted. 1. At the word "finding," if I remember rightly, we stopped there and lingered, hearing somewhat scrupulously that the bride said she had been found by her preachers. Moreover the causes of our hesitation and doubt were expressed by us, and it seemed that something needed to be inquired into; but it could not be explained at the close of the sermon, by which we were already being pressed. What remains, except that we now pay the debt? In the explanation of a great mystery — I speak of that which the Doctor of the nations interpreted as being in Christ and in the Church, the holy and chaste marriage (Eph 5:32) — that itself is the work of our salvation: in it, I say, three cooperate with one another; God, angel, man. And God indeed, why should he not work and have care for the nuptials of his beloved Son? He himself truly does so, and with his whole will. And assuredly he would suffice by himself alone, even without the assistance of these others; but they without him can do nothing. Therefore what he enlisted from them into the work of this ministry, he did not seek as a solace for himself, but sought their advancement. For to men indeed he placed merits in the work, according to that saying: "The laborer is worthy of his hire" (Lk 10:7); and because "each shall receive according to his own labor" (1 Cor 3:8), whether he who plants in faith, or he who waters what has been planted. But when he uses the ministry of angels for the salvation of the human race, does he not cause that angels be loved by men? For that men are loved by angels can be most especially perceived from this, that the angels are not ignorant that the ancient losses of their city are to be repaired from among men. Nor indeed was it fitting that the kingdom of charity be governed by any other laws than the pious and mutual loves of those who are to reign together, and their pure affections toward one another and toward God. 2. But there is much difference in the manner of working, according, of course, to the dignity of each worker. God indeed does what he wills by the sole facility of willing itself, without exertion, without motion, without regard to place or time, or cause, or person. For he is the Lord of hosts, who "judges all things with tranquility" (Wis 12:18). He is also Wisdom "disposing all things sweetly" (Wis 8:1). Moreover the angel does not work without motion, both local and temporal, yet without exertion. But man is free from neither the exertion of spirit nor the motion of body and soul in working. In short, he is commanded to work out his own salvation "with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12), and to eat his bread "in the sweat of his face" (Gen 3:19). 3. These things having been thus explained, consider now with me that in this so magnificent work of our salvation there are three certain things which God the author claims for himself, and in which he prevents all his helpers and co-workers: predestination, creation, inspiration. Of these, predestination — I do not say from the beginning of the Church, but not even from the beginning of the world — had its beginning, not indeed from this or that time: it is before time. Moreover creation is with time; inspiration already happens in time, where and when God wills. Indeed, according to predestination the Church of the elect was never not with God. If an unbeliever marvels at this, let him hear what he may marvel at more: she never was not pleasing, never was not beloved. Why should I not boldly speak the secret which that ready reporter of heavenly counsels opened to me from the heart of God? I speak of Paul, who, as with many other things, so also this secret from the riches of his goodness was not afraid to divulge: "He blessed us," he says, "with every spiritual blessing, in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before…

Song of Songs 3:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 79

1. "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" O love headlong, vehement, burning, impetuous, who does not allow anything to be thought of besides yourself, who disdains all other things, who despises everything besides yourself, content with yourself! You confound all order, you disregard custom, you know no measure; everything that seems to belong to propriety, to reason, to modesty, to counsel or judgment, you triumph over in yourself, and you bring into captivity. Behold, everything that this one thinks, and that she speaks, sounds of you, smells of you, and of nothing else: so thoroughly have you claimed for yourself both her heart and her tongue. She says: "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" As if indeed these men should know what she herself is thinking. You ask about him whom your soul loves? And does he not have a name? And indeed who are you, and who is he? And these things I have said thus on account of the singularity of the speech, and the remarkable carelessness of the words, by which the present Scripture appears quite unlike the rest. Whence in this epithalamium the words are not to be weighed, but the affections. Why is this so, unless because holy love, which is established to be the one subject of this whole volume, is not to be judged by word or tongue, but by work and truth? Love speaks everywhere: and if anyone desires to gain knowledge of these things which are read, let him love. Otherwise, he who does not love approaches in vain to hear or read the song of love: since a cold heart can in no way grasp the fiery speech. For just as one who does not know Greek does not understand one speaking Greek, nor one who is not Latin one speaking Latin, and so with the rest; so the tongue of love will be barbarous to one who does not love, and it will be as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal (1 Cor 13:1). But these men (I speak of the watchmen), since they too have received from the Spirit that they might love, know what the Spirit speaks, and since the voices of love are perfectly well known to them, they have ready at hand to respond in a like tongue, that is, in the pursuits of love and the offices of devotion.

Song of Songs 3:4 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 79

2. And so they send her forth, thus briefly instructed concerning that which she seeks, so that she says: "A little while after I had passed beyond them, I found him whom my soul loves." Well does she say "a little while," because they made a shortened word for her, handing on the symbol of faith. And what follows is of this nature. It was necessary indeed that the bride pass through them, through whom she might come to know the truth; but yet also to pass beyond them. For unless she had passed beyond even them, she would not have found him whom she was seeking. And do not doubt that she was persuaded of this by them. For they did not preach themselves, but their Lord Jesus, who without doubt is both above them and beyond them. Whence he also says: "Pass over to me, all you who desire me" (Sir 24:26). Nor was it sufficient to pass through, but she is taught also to pass beyond. For he whom she was tracking had passed beyond. For he had not only passed from death to life, but had passed beyond to glory. Why should it not have been necessary for her likewise to pass beyond? Otherwise she could not have laid hold of one whom she was not following by the same footsteps wherever he had gone. 3. And that what I say may be clearer: if my Lord Jesus had indeed risen from the dead, but had by no means ascended to the heavens, it could not be said of him that he had passed beyond, but only that he had passed through; and accordingly it would only be necessary for the bride seeking him to pass through, not to pass beyond. But now, since by rising he had already passed through, and had added to pass beyond, namely by ascending; rightly did she too declare that she had not merely passed through, but had passed beyond, she who had followed him by faith and devotion even to the heavens. Therefore, to believe the resurrection is to pass through; to believe also the ascension is to pass beyond. And perhaps (what I remember having said on one of these days when I was treating the subject) she knew the former, but did not know the latter. Therefore, instructed by them concerning what she lacked, namely that he who had risen had also ascended, she too ascended likewise, that is, she passed beyond, and she found. Why should she not have found, reaching with the mind to where he is in body? "A little while after I had passed beyond them." And well does she say "them": for both them and all other members of his which are upon the earth, our head has preceded and transcended by two steps, by the resurrection, as we have already said, and by the ascension. For Christ is the firstfruits. But if he has preceded, so has our faith. For where would it not follow him? If he ascends into heaven, it is there; if he descends into hell, it is present; and if he takes his wings at dawn, and dwells in the uttermost parts of the sea, "there," it says, "your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me" (Ps 139:8-10). Has not finally, according to this, the almighty and supremely good Father of the bridegroom raised us up together and made us sit together at his right hand in the heavenly places? And this for what the Church said, that she had passed beyond them; since she also passed beyond herself, standing by faith where she has not yet arrived in reality. I consider it also plain why she preferred to say that she had passed beyond, rather than that she had passed through. And let us pass on to what follows. 4. "I held him, nor will I let him go, until I bring him into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her who bore me." So it is: from that time forward the Christian race does not fail, nor faith from the earth, nor charity from the Church. The floods came, the winds blew, and they beat upon it, and it did not fall, because it was founded upon the rock (Mt 7:25). But the rock is Christ. And so neither by the wordiness of philosophers, nor by the cavils of heretics, nor by the swords of persecutors has she been able, or will she ever be ab…

Song of Songs 3:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 7

Joined therefore as you are in songs of praise with heaven's own singers, since you too are citizens like all the saints, and part of God's household, sing wisely. As food is sweet to the palate, so does a psalm delight the heart. But the soul that is sincere and wise will not fail to chew the psalm with the teeth as it were of the mind, because if he swallows it in a lump, without proper mastication, the palate will be cheated of the delicious flavor, sweeter even than honey that drips from the comb. Let us with the Apostles offer a honey-comb at the table of the Lord in the heavenly banquet. As honey flows from the comb so should devotion flow from the words; otherwise if one attempts to assimilate them without the condiment of the Spirit "the written letters bring death." But if like St. Paul you sing praises not only with the spirit but with the mind as well, you too will experience the truth of Jesus' statement: "The words I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life;" the truth too of the words of Wisdom: "My spirit is sweet above honey." Doing this your soul shall be delighted in fatness, you will find your holocaust acceptable; you will conciliate the king, give pleasure to his princes and win the favor of the whole assembly above. And when they smell this sweet fragrance in the heavens, they will surely say of you too: "What is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, breathing of myrrh and frankincense and every perfume the merchant knows?" "The princes of Judah," the Psalmist exclaimed, "are their leaders, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali;" the angelic princes are the leaders of those whose work is the praise of God; who live lives of continence, lives of contemplation. Our angelic princes know how pleasing to their King are the praises of psalmody, the fortitude of chaste souls, the singleness of purpose of contemplatives; and they are eager to discover in us these and other first-fruits of the Spirit, which are none other than the first and purest fruits of wisdom. You are not unaware that in Hebrew the word Judah means one who praises or makes acknowledgment, the word Zebulun, a fortified dwelling, and Naphtali, a swift hind, whose powers of agile leaping signify the ecstatic ardors of the contemplative mind. As the hind penetrates the wood's dark avenues, so does the contemplative spirit penetrate the obscure meanings of things. And finally we have God's own words: "Whoever offers praise, his sacrifice honors me."

Song of Songs 3:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 51

There is a place between fear and security, as between the left and the right, namely the middle place of hope, in which the mind and conscience, with the soft bedding of charity laid beneath, rests most sweetly. And perhaps in what follows in this very canticle, this place will have been designated, where in the description of the litter of Solomon among other things you have: "The middle he spread with charity on account of the daughters of Jerusalem" (Song 3:10). For he who feels himself singularly established in hope no longer serves in fear, but rests in charity.

Song of Songs 4:7 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 38

That is reserved for you at the end of all things, when I shall take you, all glorious, to myself, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Do you not know that as long as you live in the body you are exiled from the light? With your beauty still incomplete how can you consider yourself fit to gaze on beauty in its totality? And why should you want to see me in my splendor, while you still do not know yourself? Because if you had a better knowledge of yourself you would know that, burdened with a perishable body, you cannot possibly lift up your eyes and fix them on this radiant light that the angels long to contemplate. The time will come when I shall reveal myself, and your beauty will be complete, just as my beauty is complete; you will be so like me that you will see me as I am. Then you will be told: "You are all fair my love, there is no flaw in you." But for now, though there is some resemblance, there is also some want of resemblance, and you must be content with an imperfect knowledge. Be aware of what you are, do not hanker after truths that are too high for you, nor for experiences beyond your power to bear. Otherwise, you do not know yourself, O beautiful among women — for ever I give you the title beautiful, but beautiful among women, with a beauty that is imperfect. When the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.

Song of Songs 4:12 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 47

Virginity is a flower, martyrdom is a flower, a good work is a flower. Virginity in the garden, martyrdom in the field, good work in the bridal chamber. And well is virginity in the garden, to which modesty is familiar, shunning the public, rejoicing in hiding places, enduring discipline. For the flower is enclosed in a garden, which in the field is exposed and in the bridal chamber is scattered. And you have: "A garden enclosed, a fountain sealed" (Song 4:12). Which indeed signifies the enclosure of modesty in the virgin, and the guarding of inviolate sanctity: if nevertheless she be such a one as is holy both in body and in spirit.

Song of Songs 5:1 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8

Song of Songs 5:2 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 23

There is a place with the bridegroom from which he decrees his judgments and arranges his counsels, he who is the governor of the universe, establishing laws for every creature, weight and measure and number. And this place is high and secret, but by no means quiet. For even though he, as far as he is concerned, disposes all things sweetly, he nevertheless disposes; and he does not permit the one contemplating, who may perhaps have reached that place, to be at rest; but wondrously, though delightfully, he wearies the one who searches and marvels, and renders him restless. Beautifully the bride expresses both these things in what follows, namely the delight of this kind of contemplation and the restlessness, where she confesses both that she sleeps and that her heart watches (Song 5:2). For in the sleep of most sweet amazement and placid wonder she signifies that she feels rest; but in the wakefulness of no less restless curiosity and laborious exercise she signifies that she suffers weariness. Hence blessed Job: "If I sleep," he says, "I say, When shall I rise? and again I await the evening" (Job 7:4). Do you perceive in these words a holy soul wishing at times to decline, in a certain way, a burdensome sweetness, and again to desire the same sweet burden? For he would not have said, "When shall I rise?" if the repose of his contemplation had altogether pleased him: but also if it had altogether displeased him, he would not again have awaited the hour of rest, that is, the evening.

Song of Songs 5:10 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 28

But is he still black? Far from it! Your beloved is radiant and ruddy. Beautiful indeed is he whom the flowers of roses and the lilies of the valleys surround; that is, the choirs of martyrs and of virgins: and I who sit in the midst am in harmony with both choirs, a virgin and a martyr. For how am I not in accord with the bright choirs of virgins, I a virgin, the son of a Virgin, and the bridegroom of a virgin? How am I not in accord with the rosy choirs of martyrs, I who am the cause, the power, the fruit, and the pattern of martyrdom? Touch me, such a one, in such a way, and say: My beloved is radiant and ruddy, chosen out of thousands (Song 5:10). Thousands upon thousands are with the beloved, and ten hundred thousands around the beloved, and none is equal to the beloved. Will you need to fear lest perhaps by some mistake you fall upon one of the multitude, when seeking him whom you love? You will not at all be in doubt whom to choose. Easily will the one chosen out of thousands meet you, more distinguished than all, and you will say: This one is beautiful in his robe, striding in the multitude of his strength (Isa 63:1).

Song of Songs 5:15 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 6

But those spiritual feet of God, which the penitent must first kiss spiritually, I ought not to pass over. I know your curiosity, which allows nothing to pass by altogether uninvestigated of its own accord. Nor indeed should it be held in contempt to know with what feet Scripture so frequently commemorates that God now stands, as there: We will worship in the place where his feet have stood (Ps 131:7); now walks, as there: And I will dwell in them, and I will walk among them (Lev 26:12; 2 Cor 6:16); now even runs, according to that: He exulted as a giant to run his course (Ps 18:6). If the Apostle rightly judged it fitting to refer the head of Christ to the Divinity (1 Cor 11:3), I think it may also not unfittingly seem to us that the feet pertain to the humanity; of which let us name the one mercy, and the other judgment. These two words are known to you; and from many places of Scripture both together, if you reflect, come to mind. That God indeed took up the foot of mercy in the flesh to which he united himself, the Epistle to the Hebrews teaches, declaring that Christ was tempted in all things according to our likeness without sin, that he might become merciful (Heb 4:15). What of that other one, which has been called judgment? Does not God the man himself openly signify that it too pertains equally to the humanity he assumed, where he declares that power to execute judgment has been given to him by the Father, because he is the Son of Man? (Jn 5:27) With these two feet, then, fittingly coming together under the one head of the divinity, born of a woman, made under the law, the invisible Emmanuel was seen on earth and conversed with men (Bar 3:38). With these certainly he passes through even now, doing good and healing all who are oppressed by the devil, but spiritually, but invisibly. With these feet, I say, he walks through devout minds, unceasingly examining and searching the hearts and inward parts of the faithful. But see whether perhaps these are those legs of the Bridegroom which the Bride so magnificently commends in what follows, comparing them, if I am not mistaken, to marble columns set upon bases of gold (Song 5:15). Most beautifully indeed; since in the incarnate Wisdom of God, which is designated by gold, mercy and truth have met together (Ps 84:11); for all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth (Ps 24:10).

Song of Songs 6:3 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 67

Moreover, the Bride has spoken more rightly, and not putting forward merit but setting forth the benefit first, and confessing that she has been preceded by the grace of the beloved. Rightly indeed. For "who has first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him?" (Rom 11:35.) Finally, hear John, what he perceived in his Epistle on this matter. "In this is love," he says, "not as though we have loved God, but that he first loved us" (1 Jn 4:10). The Prophet, however, even if he was silent about the anticipation of grace, did not deny the following thereof: plainly he was not silent. But receive in another place his more certain confession concerning this matter. "And your mercy," he says (he was speaking to the Lord), "will follow me all the days of my life" (Ps 22:6). Hear also concerning the anticipation, his no less certain and manifest knowledge. "My God," he says, "his mercy will anticipate me" (Ps 58:11); likewise to the Lord: "Quickly," he says, "let your mercies anticipate us, for we have become exceedingly poor" (Ps 78:8). Beautifully the Bride later, if I am not mistaken, places these same words not in the same order, but she too follows the order of the Prophet, speaking in this manner: "I to my beloved, and my beloved to me." Why so? Surely so that she may then prove herself the more full of grace, when she shall have given all to grace, and ascribed to it, of course, both the first and the last parts. Otherwise, how full of grace, if she has anything that is not from grace? There is no place for grace to enter where merit has already occupied. Therefore the full confession of grace marks the fullness of grace itself in the soul of the one confessing. For if anything of one's own is present, to that extent grace must yield to it. Whatever you assign to merits is lacking to grace. I do not want the merit that excludes grace. I shudder at whatever is of my own, insofar as it makes me my own, except that perhaps that is more mine which makes me mine. Grace returns me to myself, justified freely, and so freed from the servitude of sin. For where the Spirit is, there is liberty. She who is truly the Bride recognizes these things and confesses both graces: first indeed, that which is first, by which she was also anticipated; and afterward, the subsequent one as well. And so she says now: "My beloved to me, and I to him"; assigning the beginning to the beloved. In what follows: "I," she says, "to my beloved, and my beloved to me"; granting the consummation to him equally.

Song of Songs 6:9 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 27

Contemplate what a glory is hers who compares herself to heaven, even to that heaven who is so much more glorious as he is divine. This is no rashness, taking her comparison from whence her origin comes. For if she compares herself to the tents of Kedar because of her body drawn from the earth, why should she not glory in her likeness to heaven because of the heavenly origin of her soul, especially since her life bears witness to her origin and to the dignity of her nature and her homeland? She adores and worships one God, just like the angels; she loves Christ above all things, just like the angels; she is chaste, just like the angels, and that in the flesh of a fallen race, in a frail body that the angels do not have. But she seeks and savors the things that they enjoy, not the things that are on the earth. What can be a clearer sign of her heavenly origin than that she retains a natural likeness to it in the land of unlikeness, than that as an exile on earth she enjoys the glory of the celibate life, than that she lives like an angel in an animal body? These gifts reveal a power that is more of heaven than of earth. They clearly indicate that a soul thus endowed is truly from heaven. But Scripture is clearer still: "I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from the throne saying: 'Behold the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell among them.'" But why? In order to win a bride for himself from among men. How wonderful this? He came to seek a bride, but did not come without one. He sought a bride, but she was with him. Had he then two brides? Certainly not. "My dove is only one," he says. Just as he wished to form one flock of the scattered flocks of sheep, that there might be one flock and one shepherd, so, although from the beginning he had for bride the multitude of angels, it pleased him to summon the Church from among men and unite it with the one from heaven, that there might be but the one bride and one Bridegroom. The one from heaven perfects the earthly one; it does not make two. Hence he says: "My perfect one is only one." Their likeness makes them one, one now in their similar purpose, one hereafter in the same glory.

Song of Songs 6:13 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 82

When therefore the soul perceives in itself so great a distance of things, how should it not cry out, placed as it is between hope and despair: "Lord, who is like you?" It is drawn toward despair on account of so great an evil; but it is called back to hope by so great a good. Hence it is that the more it displeases itself in the evil which it sees in itself, the more ardently it draws itself toward the good which it equally perceives in itself, and desires to become what it was made to be: simple and upright, and fearing God, and departing from evil. Why should it not be able to recede from that to which it was able to approach? Why should it not be able to approach that from which it was able to recede? Which two things, however, I would say must be presumed from grace, not from nature, nor indeed even from industry. For "wisdom overcomes malice" (Wis 7:30), not industry or nature. Nor is the occasion for presuming lacking: its conversion is toward the Word. The noble kinship of the soul with the Word is not idle, about which we have been treating now for three days, and the persevering likeness is the witness of that kinship. The Word graciously admits into the fellowship of the Spirit one who is like in nature. And certainly by the reason of nature, like seeks like. The voice of the one seeking: "Return, O Shulamite; return, that we may behold you" (Song 6:12). He will behold the like one, he who was not beholding the unlike one; but he will also present himself to be beheld. "We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn 3:2). Think therefore that that question, "Lord, who is like you?", comes more from the difficulty than from the impossibility. Or, if you prefer this more, it is the voice of one marveling. Truly to be marveled at and wondered at is that likeness which accompanies the vision of God, or rather which is the vision of God; but I say it consists in charity. That charity is the vision, that is the likeness. Who would not be astonished at the charity of God who was spurned and yet calls back? Rightly is that wicked one reproved, who was introduced above, usurping for himself the likeness of God, when, by loving iniquity, he can neither love himself nor God: for thus you have it: "He who loves iniquity hates his own soul" (Ps 10:6). When therefore iniquity is removed from the midst, which causes the unlikeness that is partial, there will be a union of spirit, there will be a mutual vision and a mutual love. Indeed, when that which is perfect comes, that which is partial will be done away with; and there will be between them a chaste and consummated love, a full recognition, a manifest vision, a firm conjunction, an undivided fellowship, a perfect likeness. Then the soul will know, even as it is known (1 Cor 13:10, 12); then it will love, even as it is loved; and the Bridegroom will rejoice over the bride, knowing and known, loving and loved, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God blessed above all things forever. Amen.

Song of Songs 8:5 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 85

"Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord?" To the summit of this mountain, that is, to the perfection of virtue, whoever undertakes to strive, will know indeed how arduous the ascent is, and how vain the effort without the help of the Word. Happy the soul which, with the angels beholding, furnished both joy and wonder at itself, so that it might hear them speaking of it: "Who is this who ascends from the desert, abounding in delights, leaning upon her beloved?" (Song 8:5). Otherwise one strives in vain, if one does not lean upon him. Indeed even leaning against herself she will grow strong, and made stronger than herself she will compel all things for the sake of reason: anger, fear, desire, and joy, as if a certain chariot of the soul, the good charioteer will govern; and will bring into captivity every carnal affection and carnal sense, at the nod of reason, into the obedience of virtue. Why should not all things be possible for one who leans upon him who can do all things? How confident is the voice: "I can do all things in him who strengthens me!" (Phil 4:13). Nothing makes the omnipotence of the Word more clear than this, that it makes all who hope in it omnipotent. Indeed "all things are possible for the one who believes" (Mk 9:22). Is not the one to whom all things are possible omnipotent? So the soul, if it does not presume of itself, but is strengthened by the Word, will be able indeed to have dominion over itself, so that no injustice may have dominion over it. So, I say, leaning upon the Word, and clothed with virtue from on high, no force, no fraud, no allurement will any longer be able either to cast down the one who stands or to subjugate the one who rules. Do you wish not to fear the pusher? "Let not the foot of pride come upon you, and the hand of the one who pushes will not move you. There they fell, those who work iniquity" (Ps 35:13). There the devil and his angels fell, who, although not pushed from without, were nevertheless expelled and could not stand. Indeed "he did not stand in the truth" who did not lean upon the Word, who trusted in his own virtue. And therefore perhaps he wished to sit, because he was not able to stand. For he was saying: "I will sit upon the mountain of the covenant" (Isa 14:13). But, with God judging otherwise, he neither stood nor sat, but fell, the Lord saying: "I saw Satan falling from heaven like lightning" (Lk 10:18). Therefore let him who stands, if he does not wish to fall, not trust in himself, but lean upon the Word. The Word speaks: "Without me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5). So it is: neither to rise to the good nor to stand in the good can we do without the Word. You therefore who stand, give glory to the Word, and say: "He set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps" (Ps 39:3). By whose hand you are raised up, by his virtue you must needs be held. This I say in support of what I said, that we have need of the Word, upon whom we may lean for virtue.

Song of Songs 8:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20

Christian, learn from Christ how you ought to love Christ. Learn a love that is tender, wise, strong; love with tenderness, not passion, wisdom, not foolishness, and strength, lest you become weary and turn away from the love of the Lord. As it is written: "For love is strong as death, jealousy is bitter as hell." Your affection for your Lord Jesus should be both tender and intimate, to oppose the sweet enticements of sensual life. Sweetness conquers sweetness as one nail drives out another.

Song of Songs 8:6 — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 15

Hidden as in a vase, in this name of Jesus, you, my soul, possess a salutary remedy against which no spiritual illness will be proof. Carry it always close to your heart, always in your hand, and so ensure that all your affections, all your actions, are directed to Jesus. You are even invited to do this: "Set me as a seal," he says, "upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm." Here is a theme we shall treat of again. For the moment you have this ready medicine for heart and hand. The name of Jesus furnishes the power to correct your evil actions; to supply what is wanting to imperfect ones; in this name your affections find a guard against corruption, or if corrupted, a power that will make them whole again.