Chapter 3
1. (Verse 1.) In my bed, in the night, I sought the one whom my soul loves: I sought him and did not find him. Therefore, I will arise and search for him in the city, in the marketplace, in the streets, the one whom my soul loves. This soul had already received the good pledges of love, but because we must always be solicitous, always intent, and because the Word of God leaps forth like a young goat or like a young hind; let the soul always be watchful and extend itself towards the one it seeks and desires to hold onto. Therefore, like one who has fallen, I deplored myself, saying, 'In my bed, in the nights, I sought the one whom my soul loves. Whoever seeks diligently, let them seek in their bed, let them seek in the nights; let there be no days off, nor nights off: let no time be empty of the duty of piety; even if they do not find at first, let them persist in seeking.' And therefore, he says:
2. (Verse 2.) Therefore, I will rise up and search in the city, in the forum, in the streets. And perhaps for this reason, he has not yet found, because he searched in the forum, where there are lawsuits: in the streets, where there are markets for goods; for Christ is not obtained with money. Holy devotion does not allow any idle time for preaching to pass by. If students of secular knowledge indulge too little in sleep, how much more so those who desire to know God, should they not be hindered by bodily sleep, except as much as is necessary for nature? David would dampen his bed with tears every night, he would even rise in the middle of the night to confess to the Lord: and do you think that the whole night should be devoted to sleep? Then the Lord should be prayed to more, then protection should be sought, sin should be avoided, when it seems that he has a secret. Then especially when darkness surrounds me, and the walls cover me, it should be considered that God sees all hidden things. Therefore, do not say when surrounded by darkness, who sees me? And who do I truly fear surrounded by walls and enclosed? Because the Face of the Lord is upon those who do evil. Finally, if you do not see the judge, do you not see yourself? Are you not afraid of the testimony of your conscience? Do you not know that the darkness of night is not a covering, but an incentive for sin? When the body burns with sleep and food, even the strength of the mind is loosened by sleep, it is dissolved by sleep. Then impure desire for coitus creeps in, then the heart is disturbed by the filthiness of impurity, chastity is not seen, purity is not considered, the glory of modesty is not valued.
It was night when Judas betrayed, when Peter denied. Therefore, especially at that time, the justifications of God must be meditated upon, the exhortations must be reviewed: let not the precepts concerning chastity be absent, so that the mind occupied with these may quench the ardor of lust, extinguish the burning of the flesh. Keep this in mind: I will wash my bed every night (Psalm 6:7). For who, given to debauchery, wrapped in scandals, washes his bed every night? He who commits things to be wept for does not know how to weep; and though he himself be worthy of tears, he has not tears for his punishment. But he who chastens his own body and is solicitous for himself as a pilot, and groaning and lamenting for the offense of a past transgression, seeks how he may wash it away by tears of repentance, he washes his bed with tears every night. Therefore, let us not sleep through the whole night, but let us devote the greater part of them to reading and prayers. Listen to the voice of the Church seeking Christ even in the nights: 'In my bed, I sought Him whom my soul loves.'
4. Take it according to the letter, because he sought it in the nights by praying, begging, and even weeping. He sought it in the nights; because he has set darkness as his hiding place (Psalm 17:12), so that we may seek him more eagerly. Therefore, the Church, gathered from the Gentiles, sought it in the prophets, and therefore believed. Finally, the coming of the Lord is supported by the testimonies of the prophets, the Evangelists, and Paul, from which it is written: For night reveals knowledge to night (Psalm 19:3). He sought in the nights, in persecutions and adversities, in troubles and harsh pains. Night is for all those who do not have perfect security; hence the Lord says: The night will come when no one can work. While I am in this world, I am the light of this world (John 9: 4). Therefore, let us not work in darkness; for if our works shine, we are not working in darkness, but in light.
5. It is the days on which Christ is present, it is the nights on which he denies himself. It is not great for you if you give thanks to the Lord then, when you are in prosperity and success: but if then you adhere to Christ, when the persecutor harasses you, when some storm disturbs you. Have you lost a son? In that sorrow, in that night, in that destitution, remember the Lord your God; lest, as if not heard, you be ungrateful, and in your distress you transgress. Have you been driven into exile? Remember the Lord your God, lest you prefer the love of your homeland forbidden by God. Have you, overwhelmed by the power of some rich person, lost your own resources and are in need of support? Remember the Lord your God, lest the night of poverty take you away from the affection of devotion. For this is the commandment of the Law, that you seek more diligently in the night, when you are more likely to be heard by the Lord, and that you may be able to say: In my distress I called upon the Lord, and the Lord heard me and set me in a broad place (Psalm 118:5).
6. But to seek superficially does not suffice for favor, but to insist and be diligent in the task. Finally, either the Church or the soul, which sought in the bed, sought in the nights, did not find at first; because perhaps it sought in the bed. But after it arose and went into the city (see that he did not send the disciples to that city where the Lord was to celebrate the Passover, saying (Matthew 26:18): Go into the city to a certain person), afterwards, as I said, it sought in the marketplace, where oil is sold, which they are accustomed to buy while awaiting the Bridegroom; where there is justice, where there are laws. For if the law is spiritual, and the forum is certainly spiritual, where those skilled in eternal law debate. This forum is not tumultuous with lawsuits, but glorious with Christ's tribunals. Where did he seek, you ask? In the forum, and afterwards he sought in the streets, from which those who were invited to the feast of the Evangelical fathers were gathered: and they did not think it necessary to excuse themselves from such banquets. After he sought in the forum, I say, and in the streets, he came across those who wander the city, and only then was he able to find what he was seeking; perhaps he will find more grace in tribulation and fear. Finally, he says later:
7. (Verse 3.) They found me who go around the city, they took my cloak from me. Therefore, there was a struggle: but by what means they did not take this cloak from him, I am stuck trying to discover; unless perhaps because he said there that he asked: Have you seen the one whom my soul loves? She who was speaking about Christ took off her cloak and found the one she was seeking. Learn how Christ is to be sought: certainly by those who seek not superficially, but who violently retain, as it says: I held him and will not let him go, he found with faith, he constrained with meditation.
8. If we receive good custodians, then surely they are angels. But he who transcended angels. He found the word; therefore there was not much distance when he crossed over from them and found Jesus. So how then did they carry the cloak below, unless perhaps because in the process of offense to faith, the Church, while being stripped, is loved more by the Lord, stripping off the old self in order to put on the new, which is not covered by sins but rather clarifies the secrets of the mind, or because she has cast off the garment of secular wisdom in order to come to Christ? And he did not take off the cloak, even after he began to be more perfect.
9. Therefore, let us be mindful of heavenly justifications; so that while we sing them in the secret voice of our mind, we may be mindful in the night of the name of the Lord, and say as it is written: 'This has come to me, because I have sought your justifications' (Psalm 118:56); that is, this memory has come to me, so that I may remember you in the night, not being overcome by drunkenness, not being dissolved in feasts into sleep, not being occupied with worldly cares, so that forgetfulness of your worship does not creep upon me: but by daily meditation, chastising the faculties and exercising the intention of the mind; so that by assiduity, this solemn course may be made for us, so that we may worship the Lord Jesus even in the nights with complete devotion.
10. In my room, in the night, I sought him whom my soul loves. We can understand it thus: he seeks Christ in his room, who seeks him with tranquility, with peace. He seeks in the night, because he spoke in parables; For he has set darkness as his hiding place, and the night reveals knowledge (Psalm XVII, 12). Then, what we say in our hearts should pierce us in our rooms.
11. However, he did not find it in that way, and therefore he says: I will arise, that is, I will raise up and lift up my intention, so that I may search diligently, search earnestly: I will enter into the city. There is also a soul that says: I am a fortified city, I am a besieged city (Isaiah 27:3). Christ is the fortified city, that city is Jerusalem in heaven, in which there are abundant interpreters of divine law and experts in disciplines, through whom the Word of God is sought. He said, 'I shall seek in the forum of that city, in that forum where legal experts discuss laws, where oil is sold, which the virgins of the Gospel buy, so that their lamps always shine, and the smoke of wickedness does not extinguish them. I shall seek in the streets where water overflows from those fountains, from which Solomon says we must drink.'
12. They found me, he says, the guards who go around the city. So while he is searching for Christ, he finds the guards who are in the ministry; he asks them: Have you seen the one whom my soul loves? But the soul that seeks God also passes by the guards. For there are mysteries that even the angels desire to see, as Peter says: They have been announced to you, he says, through those who preached the Gospel to you, with the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, into which the angels desire to look (1 Peter 1:12).
13. (Verse 4.) How little when I passed by them, I found Him, I held Him, and I did not let Him go. Therefore, he who passes by the guards finds the Word. John passed by, who found the Word with the Father. There are also many others who seek Christ in leisure, and do not find Him; and they seek Him in persecutions, and find Him. And thus, as if after temptations, because He is present in the dangers of His faithful: How little, He says, when I passed by them, I found Him, I held Him, and I did not let Him go. For everyone who seeks, finds; and whoever finds, must adhere so as not to lose.
14. And since through the Gospel we see heavenly mysteries foreshadowed on earth, let us come to Mary Magdalene, let us come to the other Mary. Let us consider how they sought Christ in the tomb of his body, where he lay dead, in the nights, when an angel said to them: You seek Jesus who was crucified: he is not here, for he has risen: why do you seek the living among the dead? (Matthew 28:5 et seq.) What do you seek in the tomb of the one who is already in heaven? What do you seek in the bonds of burial, the one who loosens the bonds of all? This is not a place of burial, but of heaven; therefore, one of them said: I sought him, and I did not find him (Song of Songs 3:1). However, while they were going to report to the apostles, Jesus, having compassion on those who were seeking, met them and said: Hail. But they approached, and held his feet, and worshiped him.
15. Therefore Jesus is obliged, and delights in being held thus, because he is held by faith. Finally, that woman who touched him and was cured of a flow of blood also delighted him, of whom he said: Someone touched me; for I perceive virtue to have gone out from me (Luke VIII, 46). Therefore touch him, and hold him by faith, and faithfully bind his feet; so that virtue may go out from him, and heal your soul. And if he says: Do not touch me; you hold him. For I have not yet ascended to my Father, he said (John XX, 17). Once he said: Do not touch me, when he rose again: or perhaps he said to her, what she thought was taken by theft, and not raised by his own power. Finally, in another book you have, because to those who held his feet and worshiped, he said: Do not be afraid (Matt. XXVIII, 10).
So hold on, soul, just as Mary held on and say: I have held him and will not let him go: to whom they both said, we hold you. Go to the Father, but do not leave me, lest I fall again; and with Mary not wandering but holding onto the tree of life, take with you the one who clings to your feet. I will ascend with you, do not let me go, lest the serpent again spew forth its venom, lest it again be able to bite the woman's heel, so as to overthrow Adam. Therefore, let your soul say: I hold you, and I will lead you into the house of my mother, and into her secret place who conceived me (Song of Solomon 3:4); that I may know your mysteries, that I may draw from your sacraments.
17. I held him and will not let him go until I bring him into the house of my mother and into the chamber of her who conceived me. What is the house of my mother and her chamber, if not the innermost and secret nature of your being? Preserve this house, cleanse the innermost parts of this house, so that when the house is unblemished and not tainted by the filth of any adulterous conscience, the spiritual house may rise up in a holy priesthood, built together with the corner stone, and the Holy Spirit may dwell in it. What seeks Christ in this way, what beseeches Christ in this way, is not abandoned by Him: indeed, it is even frequently revisited.
18. Or perhaps the house of the mother is a strong house, in which the discipline of morals shines forth: but that is the secret, in which there are higher mysteries, in which the honey of divine grace is fragrant. Is not the forgiveness of sins sweeter than all honey? Is not the resurrection of the dead more fragrant than every flower? Receive, therefore, Eve, no longer covered by fig leaves, but clothed with the holy Spirit, and with new grace glorious; because now she is not hidden as if stripped, but appears as if surrounded by the splendor of shining garments, because grace clothes her: nor was Adam naked at first when innocence clothed him. Therefore, seeing her clinging to Christ, the Daughters of Jerusalem say (for he graciously often encounters and condescends to those who seek him, in order to uplift them):
19. (Verse 6.) Who is this that comes up from the wilderness? Be like that soul, which stirs up the charity of Christ within itself, which the virtues of heaven marvel at as it ascends; may it ascend without offense and may it depart from this world with joy and delight, like a vine branch, and may it raise itself up to the heights like smoke, emitting the fragrance of a pious resurrection and the sweetness of faith, as it is written: Who is this that comes up from the wilderness, like a vine branch, perfumed with the smoke of incense, myrrh and frankincense from all the powders of the ointment. He expressed its beauty beautifully, with a comparison to dust and a mention of ointment; because in Exodus we read about the fine, compounded incense, which is the prophetic prayer of the saints, that it may be directed before the Lord, as David also says: Let my prayer be directed as incense before your face (Psalm 140:2).
20. Who is this that rises from the desert? This place is a deserted and uncultivated land, covered with the thorns and thistles of our sins. They marvel, of course, how the soul that was left behind in hell may cling to the Word of God and rise up like a vine branch, lifting itself to higher things, like smoke born from fire, and seeking the heights, while also emitting fragrant odors of good works. That odor, however, is the sweetness of devout prayer, which is directed like incense in the presence of the Lord (Ps. 140:2). And in the Apocalypse we read that the smoke of the incense ascended from the prayers of the saints (Rev. 8:4). These incenses are symbolized by the prayers of the angels, namely at that golden altar which is before the throne of God. And like the fragrance of a sweet-smelling prayer, the ointment exudes; because it is composed not of requests for temporal and visible things, but for eternal and invisible things: especially, however, it smells of myrrh and frankincense, because it has died to sin and lives for God. And in the following: 'I shall go,' he says, 'to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.' It follows:
21. (Verse 7.) Behold, sixty strong men in the vicinity of his offspring, armed with drawn swords, and skilled in the discipline of warfare. Who are these strong and skilled in the discipline of warfare, take notice. It is the duty of strong and spiritual men not to conceal when something is impending, but to pretend and as if to explore from a certain lookout of the mind, and to anticipate with prudent thought things that will be advantageous in the future; lest perhaps they may afterwards say: Therefore I fell into these things, because I did not think they could happen. Finally, unless the obstacles are explored, they quickly occupy. In war, an unexpected enemy is hardly sustained, and if it finds them unprepared, easily overwhelms them: thus, unknown evils break the spirit more. Therefore, in these two things is the excellence of the spirit, that first your mind, exercised with good thoughts, sees what is true and honorable: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God also: and let it judge only what is honorable as good. Then let him not be disturbed by any occupations, let him not be swayed by any desires.
And indeed, no one accomplishes this easily: for what is so difficult as to discern, as from a lofty citadel of wisdom, the true worth of riches and all the other things that to many seem great and high? Moreover, how can you firmly establish your judgement, and despise as utterly valueless whatever you have judged to be trifling? Furthermore, if anything unfortunate should happen, and it is regarded as serious and distressing, bear it in such a way that you think nothing has happened besides what is in accordance with nature, when you read: 'Naked I was born, naked I shall depart. What the Lord has given, the Lord has taken away' (Job 1:21); and indeed, he had lost both his children and his possessions: and in all things maintain the role of a wise and just person, just as he did who said: 'As it pleased the Lord, so has it happened. May the name of the Lord be blessed' (Ibid.). And further, as you have spoken like one of the foolish women: if we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not also endure evil things? (Ibid., 2)
23. Therefore, the courage of the mind that wages war with virtues is neither moderate nor separate from others; but rather it alone defends the ornaments of all virtues, and guards judgments, and with an inescapable battle fights against all vices, invincible in labor, strong in danger, more rigid against pleasures, harsh against allurements, to which it is ignorant to yield its ear, and does not say 'welcome,' neglects money, flees avarice as a certain stain that effeminates virtue; for there is nothing so contrary to courage as to be conquered by gain. Having frequently repulsed the enemy, and with the line of the adversaries inclined to flight, while he was engaged in taking the spoils of the fallen opponents, he died a pitiable death, cut down among those he had slain; and the legions, who were in the midst of rejoicing over their victories and busy spoiling the enemy, were brought back to face the foe who had fled.
Therefore, let fortitude repel and crush such a monstrous plague, neither being tempted by desires nor broken by fear; because virtue consists in pursuing all vices aggressively, as if they were poisons of virtue. Let it push away anger with weapons, which takes away reason, and let it avoid sadness as well. Let it also beware the desire for glory, which frequently harms when excessively sought, though always desired. For to be softened by flattery does not seem to be a lack of fortitude alone, but also of cowardice. Seeing these strong camps, Jacob said in spirit, 'These are the camps of God.' (Gen. XXXII, 2).
25. But what are the sixty? We know the week of the old, and the octoechos of the new Testament, namely when Christ rose again, and the day of the new salvation dawned for all: on which day the brilliance of complete and perfect circumcision poured into human hearts. But seven and eight make fifteen. Therefore, these are seven and eight, that is, fifteen, by which Hosea led the prostitute to be hired, whom the Lord had commanded him to hire. Therefore, the week and the octave signify the culmination of the two Testaments and the fullness of faith. However, the number fifteen, which is derived four times, which is sixty, signifies the perfection of the Gospel.
26. What is, then, the plant around which these powerful beings are? 'Naphthali,' he says, 'is a vine let loose, stretching forth its beauty in growth. Another shoot of the vine is cut, which seems useless, so that the vine does not become luxuriant with the exuberance of its shoots, and another is pruned and allowed to remain for a little while, in order to bear fruit, whose splendor is extended in generation; for while it raises itself to the heights, it embraces the vine, and ascending to the summit, it clothes the constant neck of the vine's precious branches with a certain necklace.' He is also beautiful in his generation, because he abounds in full clusters and produces many fruits. This is beautiful, but that is even more beautiful, which signifies the fruitful palm that clings to the spiritual vine, of which we are the branches, and we can bear fruit if we remain in the vine; but if not, we are cut off. The holy patriarch Naphtali was an abundant vine, from which Moses says: Naphtali is satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord; he shall possess the sea and the south (Deut. 33:23); explaining what Jacob had said, what it means to be a relaxed vine, that is, freed from the bonds of death by the grace of faith: in which it is signified that the people of God, called to the freedom of faith and the abundance of grace, are spread throughout the entire world, who by good fruit may clothe themselves with the yoke of Christ, and embrace the true branches of that vine, that is, the mysteries of the Lord's Cross, and may not fear the danger of confessing it; but rather, even in persecutions, may glory in the name of Christ.
27. However, these strong ones hold swords in their hands, which they do not refute for the name of Christ, or by which they distinguish the corporal from the spiritual, the shadow from the truth. For the word of God is living and efficacious, and more penetrating than any two-edged sword, and reaching to the division of the soul and spirit, of joints also and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart: and there is no creature invisible in his sight, but all things are naked and open to his eyes (Hebrews 4:12-13). For the word of God is a two-edged sword. And there are two other swords in the Church, of which it is said: Lord, behold here are two swords, namely of ecclesiastical and worldly power, with which falsehood resists mercy.
28. There is just mercy: but there is also unjust mercy. Finally, in the Law it is written about someone: You shall show no mercy to him (Deut. XIX, 13). And in the books of the Kings of the Law, it is stated that Saul incurred guilt because he had mercy on Agag, the king of the enemy, whom divine judgment had commanded to be destroyed (I Sam. XV, 9). So if someone, moved by the pleas of his children and swayed by the tears of his wife, were to think that he should be released, even though he still has the desire to commit robbery, would he not deliver the innocent to destruction, he who sets free a person who contemplates the destruction of many? Certainly, if he restrains his sword, he dissolves the chains, loosens the exile; but he does not take away the opportunity of robbery by a more merciful way, he who could not extort the will. Then, between the two, that is, the accuser and the defendant, deciding with equal danger of the death penalty, if he does not prove one, if the other is not convicted by the accuser, the judge does not follow what is just; but while he pities the defendant, he condemns the one proving; or while he favors the accuser who cannot prove, he rejects the innocent. Therefore, this cannot be called just mercy.
29. In the Church itself, where it is most fitting to show mercy, the form of justice should be held as strongly as possible, so that no one who abstains from communion is quickly coerced into it with a few tears, temporarily prepared, or even with more abundant weeping, demanding communion in many instances more than necessary, and thus forcing the priest to yield. For when one grants indulgence to the unworthy, it causes many to be provoked to the contagion of falling away. For the ease of forgiveness gives incentive to sinning. This is said so that we may know that mercy is to be dispensed to debtors according to the word of God and according to reason, otherwise the sword will carry out what is its own.
30. (Verses 9, 10.) Solomon the king made for himself a bed of Lebanon wood, its columns were made of silver, its canopy was made of gold, its steps were purple, and its back was adorned with gems. Who is this bed, if not a representation of our body? For in gems, the appearance of the air is seen, in gold, fire, in silver, water, in wood, earth; from these four elements the human body is made, in which our soul rests, so that it may not exist rough from the mountains, deprived of rest from the dry ground; but may rest elevated, supported by the wood, free from vices. Wherefore David also saith: The Lord bringeth help to him upon his bed of sorrow (cf. Psalms, 40:4); for what can be the bed of sorrow but he who cannot feel pain, who has no sense? But the body of sorrow, like the body of death: Unhappy man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death (Romans, 7:24)?
And since we have introduced a verse in which we made mention of the body of the Lord, lest anyone reading this should be disturbed by the fact that the Lord took on a body of pain, let him remember that he mourned and wept for the death of Lazarus, and in his passion he was wounded, and from his wound blood and water flowed, and he breathed out his spirit (John 11:35). Water for cleansing, blood for drinking, and spirit for resurrection. For Christ is to us hope, faith, and love: hope in the resurrection, faith in baptism, and love in the sacrament. However, just as the body took on pain, so also it underwent suffering in weakness; for it turned weakness into the advantage of human flesh: for weakness is loosed by suffering, and death by resurrection. And yet, you should mourn for the world, you should rejoice in the Lord: the sad should turn to penitence, the cheerful to grace, though it is necessary to weep with those who weep, and to rejoice with those who rejoice, as the Teacher of the nations of salvation has prescribed by his salvific teaching (Rom. XII, 15).
32. He built Media with love, on behalf of the daughters of Jerusalem. Who are these daughters? It should not be hidden that the superior ones appear before the general, the weaker ones afterwards. For they are compared to the birth of this world in the womb of a woman; for those who are born in the strength of youth are stronger, those who are born in old age are weaker. For this age has diminished in number like the vulva of a woman giving birth, and like an aging creature, it lays down the strength of its youth, as if a withering flower sheds the vigor of its powers. Therefore, these are the daughters of Jerusalem, that is, the more delicate and weaker souls: to them she shows herself so that her image may shine forth in their confession, shine forth in their love, shine forth in their actions; and if possible, let her whole appearance be expressed in them.
33. Therefore seeing the daughters of Jerusalem, the bride ascending, and not resisting, and being delighted with the odors of her merits, and also recognizing her to be the peaceful bride of that Solomon, they diligently pursue her even to the bed of Solomon: because true rest is owed to her in Christ. For the bed of the saints is Christ, in whom the hearts weary from worldly battles find rest. In this bed Isaac rested, and blessed his younger son, saying: The older shall serve the younger. On this bed lying down, Jacob blessed the twelve patriarchs. On this bed lying down, the daughter of the archsynagogue rose from the dead. On this bed lying down, the only son of a widowed woman, who had died, called back by the voice of Christ, broke the bonds of death. Therefore, leading the bride all the way to the rest of the bridegroom, they sing a wedding song, saying to the daughters of Jerusalem:
34. (Verse 11.) Go forth and see the crown with which his mother crowned King Solomon on the day of his wedding. They sing the wedding song and summon the other powers of heaven or the souls, so that they may see the love that Christ has for the daughters of Jerusalem. Hence, he deserved to be crowned by his mother as a son of love, as Paul shows when he says: Because God has delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). Therefore the Son of Charity is himself Charity: not having charity by accident, but having it in his own substance, as the kingdom of which he says: I was born for this.
And therefore he says, Go forth, that is, depart from the worries and thoughts of the world: depart from bodily difficulties: depart from the vanities of the world, and see how the peaceful king has love on the day of his wedding: how glorious he is, because he has given resurrection to the bodies, and has united souls to himself. This is the great crown of the struggle, this is the splendid gift of Christ's wedding, his blood and passion. For who could give more, who did not even spare himself, and laid down his life for us in death?
36. But what is the crown of glory if not the Church, which crowns its head Christ? What is the joy of the whole earth, if not the house of the Christian people, the court of the saints, of whom it is written: 'Their sound has gone out into all the earth' (Psalm 19:4)? Therefore, because the Church is the crown of glory, it is said: 'Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his espousals, and on the day of the gladness of his heart.'
37. It is said to the souls that they should depart from bodily constraints and enclosures, that they should go beyond corporeal thoughts, that they should depart from desires, and from worries, and from the other passions of this flesh and slippery affection: that they should rise above the world, that they should depart from this world, that they should meet Christ, that they should be prepared with shining burning torches, as if angels of Christ are speaking these words: 'You cannot see His splendor, His glory, unless you depart from the cares of human frailty, O daughters of Jerusalem.' As if to say: Why do you seek the living among the dead? (Luke 24:5) Christ is not sought within this world, but above the world, where he wanted his disciples to be.
38. What is the crown with which Christ is crowned, if not the crown of glory? Joseph had the crown of chastity, Paul of justice, Peter of faith. The crowns of each virtue are. Only Christ has the crown of glory, with which the Church has crowned him. In this crown all crowns are; because glory is not the portion of one crown, but the reward of all crowns.